Air conditioner and control method therefor

An air conditioner, comprising:

• an indoor unit;
• an outdoor unit;
• and
• a processor configured to control the indoor unit and the outdoor unit,
• wherein the indoor unit or the outdoor unit includes:
• a carbon dioxide remover configured to filter carbon dioxide from indoor air to supply clean air into a room, and discharge the filtered carbon dioxide to the outside;
• and
• an oxygen generator configured to separate oxygen from outdoor air introduced from the outside to supply the separated oxygen into the room, and discharge residues from which the oxygen is separated to the outside, and
• wherein the processor is configured to control the carbon dioxide remover and the oxygen generator to discharge the filtered carbon dioxide and the residues to the outdoor together.

An air conditioner, comprising:

• a carbon dioxide remover configured to operate in a carbon dioxide removal mode in which carbon dioxide is filtered from the indoor air to supply clean air into a room and a carbon dioxide discharge mode in which the filtered carbon dioxide is discharged to the outside;
• an oxygen generator configured to operate in an oxygen separation mode in which outdoor air introduced from the outside is pressurized and separated into oxygen and residues to supply into the room and an oxygen discharge mode in which the separated residues are discharged to the outside;
• and
• a processor configured to simultaneously perform the carbon dioxide discharge mode and the residue discharge mode so that the filtered carbon dioxide and the separated residues are discharged together.

A method for controlling an air conditioner, comprising:

• operating a carbon dioxide remover to absorb carbon dioxide from indoor air with an adsorbent to filter the carbon dioxide and supply clean air into a room;
• operating the carbon dioxide remover to remove the adsorbed carbon dioxide to discharge the adsorbed carbon dioxide, and simultaneously operating an oxygen generator to pressurize outdoor air introduced from the outside to separate oxygen from residues to supply into the room;
• and
• controlling the carbon dioxide remover and the oxygen generator to simultaneously discharge the removed carbon dioxide and the residues.