Lg Electronics Inc.

Hojin Seo

Eunjun Cho

Minsoo Kim

Youngmin Lee

Pilhyun Yoon

Jihyeong Ryu

Dongkeun Yang

Seongho Hong

A heat pump and a control method thereof are provided. The heat pump includes an outdoor unit includes a compressor that compresses a first refrigerant, a first outdoor heat exchanger that exchanges heat between the first refrigerant and outdoor air, an expansion mechanism that expands the first refrigerant, and a second outdoor heat exchanger that exchanges heat between the first refrigerant and a second refrigerant; a first refrigerant pipe that connects the compressor, the first outdoor heat exchanger, and the expansion mechanism, and through which the first refrigerant flows; a pressure sensor disposed in the first refrigerant pipe; a second refrigerant pipe connected to the second outdoor heat exchanger, and through which the second refrigerant flows; an indoor heat exchanger that is disposed in the second refrigerant pipe, and exchanges heat between indoor air and the second refrigerant; and a controller that determines a supply of the second refrigerant by determining a flow rate of the second refrigerant based on surging occurring in a pressure of the first refrigerant measured by the pressure sensor, so that the flow rate of the second refrigerant flowing through the second refrigerant pipe is determined only by the pressure value of the first refrigerant measured by the pressure sensor disposed in the first pipe, thereby determining the flow rate of the second refrigerant without a separate flow sensor.

Heat pump and control method therefor

A heat pump including a housing configured to be disposed outdoors; a compressor that compresses a refrigerant; a fluid refrigerant heat exchanger configured to perform heat exchange between the refrigerant and a fluid; an outdoor heat exchanger configured to perform heat exchange between the refrigerant and outdoor air; a pressure sensor configured to detect a pressure of the refrigerant flowing between the compressor and the fluid refrigerant heat exchanger; a first shut-off valve disposed in a pipe connected to a discharge of the compressor; a second shut-off valve disposed between the outdoor heat exchanger and the compressor; and a controller configured to: determine whether the refrigerant leaks, control the first shut-off valve to be closed, when the refrigerant leaks, and control the second shutoff valve to be closed, when the pressure sensed by the pressure sensor is less than a predetermined reference pressure.

Heat pump and method for operating a heat pump

A device is provided that may include a compressor configured to compress a refrigerant, a condenser configured to condense the compressed refrigerant, an expander configured to expand the refrigerant condensed by the condenser, an evaporator configured to evaporate the refrigerant expanded by the expander, a separation mechanism connected to an outlet pipe of the evaporator to separate liquid refrigerant and gaseous refrigerant discharged from the evaporator, a bypass pipe to guide the gaseous refrigerant separated from the liquid refrigerant to the compressor, a first pipe connected to the separation mechanism and through which the liquid refrigerant discharged from the separation mechanism flows, an accumulator connected to the first pipe to separate the gaseous refrigerant, which is not separated from the liquid refrigerant by the separation mechanism, from the liquid refrigerant and discharge the separated gaseous refrigerant, and a second pipe configured to guide the gaseous refrigerant discharged from the accumulator to the compressor.

Device having refrigerant cycle

A heat pump may include a compressor configured to compress a refrigerant, a first temperature sensor configured to detect an outdoor temperature, a second temperature sensor provided in heating pipes connected to a heating device, and a controller. Based on a first sensing value of the first temperature sensor, the controller may be configured to control a compressor, control power to a boiler, and/or calculate an expected efficiency of the heat pump. Based on the expected efficiency and/or a second sensing value of a second temperature sensor, the controller may be configured to control power to the boiler.

Heat pump and method of operating heat pump to control power to boiler based on expected efficiency of heat pump

A heat pump may include a compressor configured to compress a refrigerant, a first temperature sensor configured to detect an outdoor temperature, a second temperature sensor provided in heating pipes connected to a heating device that performs indoor heating and configured to detect a temperature of fluid flowing through the heating pipes, an outdoor heat exchanger configured to perform heat exchange between outdoor air and a refrigerant, a third temperature sensor configured to detect a temperature of the outdoor heat exchanger, and a controller. The controller may be configured to: control power to a boiler and/or to the compressor based on sensing values of the first, second, and third temperature sensors, calculate an expected efficiency of the heat pump based on the sensing value of the first temperature sensor and an initial target temperature, and control power to the boiler based on the expected efficiency.

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Seoul, South Korea

Hojin Seo