Heat pump system using latent heat

A method for supplying heat to a consumer comprising the steps of:

• supplying liquid to a reservoir, the reservoir is a rain water collector, a domestic waste collector, a processing tank, or a cooling tank,
• extracting latent heat from said liquid by a heat exchanger separate from the reservoir in heat-exchanging contact with the liquid of said reservoir, and transferring said heat to a refrigerant circulating in a loop comprising said heat exchanger, thereby forming an ice slurry,
• transferring said heat from the refrigerant to the consumer,
• wherein:
• storing the ice slurry in the reservoir such that it melts at least partially, and re-using it as a heat source again containing latent,
• the method further comprising:
• removing portion of the stored ice slurry from the reservoir outward the system and not recycled to the reservoir, and
• replacing the removed ice slurry by an uncontrolled random supply of extrinsic liquid randomly providing additional thermal energy to the reservoir for extracting latent heat from, the extrinsic liquid is rain water, domestic water, process water or fluid, or a combination thereof, originating from one or more of a plurality of sources external to the system and not originating from said ice slurry removed from the reservoir.

A heat pump system comprising:

• a reservoir for storing a liquid and ice slurry, the reservoir is a rain water collector, a domestic waste collector, a processing tank, or a cooling tank,
• a heat-exchanger separate from the reservoir and extracting latent heat from the liquid stored in the reservoir, thereby forming the ice slurry, the heat-exchanger located outside the reservoir and forming part of a circuit comprising:
• a pump for circulating the liquid, and
• a heat pump transferring the extracted heat (i) to a refrigerant circulating in a loop comprising the heat exchanger, and (ii) from the refrigerant to a heat consumer,
• a cooling circuit adapted for delivering cold fluid to a cold consumer and delivering heat to the reservoir, the cooling circuit is a refrigerating or air-conditioning system,
• a plurality of said heat exchanger, a plurality of said heat pump for delivering heat to a plurality of said heat consumer, and a plurality of said circuit circulating liquid stored in the reservoir,
• wherein the heat pump system comprises an uncontrolled random input of extrinsic liquid into the reservoir, an overflow connection from the reservoir to a drain for removing a portion of the ice slurry stored in the reservoir outward the system, and an inlet for replacing the removed portion by the uncontrolled random input of an extrinsic liquid, the extrinsic liquid comprises rain water, domestic water, process water or fluid, or a combination thereof from one or more of a plurality of sources into the reservoir, the extrinsic liquid is liquid originating from the one or more sources external to the system and not originating from the ice slurry removed from the reservoir, and
• the overflow connection removes ice slurry from the reservoir to the drain.