Heat recovery unit
OwnerMatthew Stengler, Andrew Lapaireinventors
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A compact heat recovery unit which includes separate and distinct thermal cores housed in their own channels. Each thermal core and its respective channel is moved at intervals. When a thermal core and its channel is inserted into a high temperature fluid flow, the thermal core absorbs the heat. When this heated thermal core and its channel is then later inserted into a low temperature fluid flow, the low temperature fluid is preheated by the heated thermal core. This operation is repeated with at least two independent thermal cores and their respective channels to maintain substantially continual pre-heating of received low temperature fluid. Similarly, the compact heat recovery unit can be used in a cooling application where pre-cooling of received higher temperature fluid is executed.
Claims20
A heat recovery unit for fluids, comprising:
- first and second internal channels within an external housing, each configured to transfer separate fluid flows between a respective pair of pipe adapters in sealed connection to ends of the external housing, where a first fluid flow includes conditioned fluid and a second fluid flow includes ambient fluid different in temperature than the conditioned fluid;
- thermally conductive cores within each of the first and the second internal channels and thermally isolated from each other, where each thermally conductive core transfers thermal energy with the conditioned fluid or with the ambient fluid;
- and
- an actuator configured to move the first and the second internal channels between different pairs of the pipe adapters at intervals.
A system with integrated heat recovery, comprising:
- a thermal appliance configured to condition a fluid by changing its temperature;
- a first piping system configured to transfer the conditioned fluid to the exterior of a structure;
- a second piping system configured to transfer ambient temperature fluid from the exterior of the structure to the interior of the structure;
- and,
- a heat recovery unit having
- first and second internal channels within an external housing, each configured to transfer separate fluid flows between a respective pair of pipe adapters in sealed connection to ends of the external housing, where a first fluid flow includes the conditioned fluid and a second fluid flow includes the ambient temperature fluid;
- thermally conductive cores within each of the first and the second internal channels and thermally isolated from each other, where each thermally conductive core transfers thermal energy with the conditioned fluid or with the ambient temperature fluid;
- and
- an actuator configured to move the first and the second internal channels between different pairs of the pipe adapters at intervals, where one pair of the pipe adapters are connected in line with the first piping system and the other pair of the pipe adapters are connected in line with the second piping system.
A method for operating a heat recovery unit for a dwelling, comprising:
- a) activating a thermal comfort system;
- b) aligning a first internal channel of the heat recovery unit to a fluid outlet for receiving a first fluid from the thermal comfort system;
- c) changing the temperature of a first thermally conductive core in the first internal channel with the first fluid;
- d) switching the first internal channel with a second internal channel of the heat recovery unit having a second thermally conductive core after a predetermined delay of time;
- and,
- e) aligning the first internal channel to a fluid inlet for receiving and changing the temperature of a second fluid with the first thermally conductive core.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.