Method and apparatus for creating large energy storage mass using renewable energy
OwnerJack Reynold Hendrickson, JR., Thomas C. Esperinventors
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Abstract
A system for cooling residential, commercial, and industrial buildings using renewable cold energy, accessible from the ambient environment, that is stored, at little or no incremental cost, in a large mass of cold water or ice. The cold mass is sized based on the building. The cold storage mass can be constructed using a variety of methods, depending on the climatic region, zoning requirements, terrain, size of land, and availability of water sources, amongst other considerations.
Claims30
An energy storage system and method comprised of creating and storing a large mass of cold water or ice using energy from the ambient environment and storing it for later use;
- the system being sized so that it is capable of storing more than 300 kW-hr of cold energy, either as latent heat of fusion, or as specific heat, wherein the upper temperature limit for heat exchange is 18° C.;
- a method for covering or insulating the large mass;
- a liquid-to-air heat exchanger;
- a control-box to regulate the heat exchanger;
- a system of piping between the stored large mass of cold water or ice and the heat exchanger;
- and a device to regulate the removal of energy from the cold water or ice.
The invention described in 1, wherein the method of capturing cold energy from the ambient environment uses one or more of the following:
- the Iceberg system, the Ice Cube system, the Ice Tray sub-system, the Ice Ditch system and/or the Tippy Bucket sub-system.
The invention described in 1, wherein the method of capturing cold energy from the ambient environment uses an application-specific system in conjunction with one or more of the following:
- the Iceberg system, the Ice Cube system, the Ice Tray sub-system, the Ice Ditch system and/or the Tippy Bucket sub-system.
The invention described in 1, wherein the device to regulate the removal of energy from the cold water or ice is a liquid-to-liquid heat exchanger.
The invention described in 4, wherein the system uses glycol in the piping between the liquid-to-liquid heat exchanger and the liquid-to-air heat exchanger.
The invention described in 1, wherein the device to regulate the removal of energy from the cold water or ice is a drain, and the melt-water that goes through the drain travels, first, through a liquid-to-air heat exchanger, and, then, is used to evaporatively cool a large surface such as a roof or parking lot.
An energy storage system and method comprised of creating and storing a large mass of cold water or ice using energy from the ambient environment and storing it for later use;
- the system being sized so that it is capable of storing more than 3 MW-hr of cold energy, either as latent heat of fusion, or as specific heat, wherein the upper temperature limit for heat exchange is 18° C.;
- a method for covering or insulating the large mass;
- a liquid-to-air heat exchanger;
- a control-box to regulate the heat exchanger;
- a system of piping between the stored large mass of cold water or ice and the heat exchanger;
- and a device to regulate the removal of energy from the cold water or ice.
The invention described in 7, wherein the method of capturing cold energy from the ambient environment uses one or more of the following:
- the Iceberg system, the Ice Cube system, the Ice Tray sub-system, the Ice Ditch system and/or the Tippy Bucket sub-system.
The invention described in 7, wherein the method of capturing cold energy from the ambient environment uses an application-specific system in conjunction with one or more of the following:
- the Iceberg system, the Ice Cube system, the Ice Tray sub-system, the Ice Ditch system and/or the Tippy Bucket sub-system.
The invention described in 7, wherein the device to regulate the removal of energy from the cold water or ice is a liquid-to-liquid heat exchanger.
The invention described in 10, wherein the system uses glycol in the piping between the liquid-to-liquid heat exchanger and the liquid-to-air heat exchanger.
The invention described in 7, wherein the device to regulate the removal of energy from the cold water or ice is a drain, and the melt-water that goes through the drain travels, first, through a liquid-to-air heat exchanger, and, then, is used to evaporatively cool a large surface such as a roof or parking lot.
An energy storage system and method comprised of creating and storing a large mass of cold water or ice using energy from the ambient environment and storing it for later use;
- the system being sized so that it is capable of storing more than 30 MW-hr of cold energy, either as latent heat of fusion, or as specific heat, wherein the upper temperature limit for heat exchange is 18° C.;
- a method for covering or insulating the large mass;
- a liquid-to-air heat exchanger;
- a control-box to regulate the heat exchanger;
- a system of piping between the stored large mass of cold water or ice and the heat exchanger;
- and a device to regulate the removal of energy from the cold water or ice.
The invention described in 13, wherein the method of capturing cold energy from the ambient environment uses one or more of the following:
- the Iceberg system, the Ice Cube system, the Ice Tray sub-system, the Ice Ditch system and/or the Tippy Bucket sub-system.
The invention described in 13, wherein the method of capturing cold energy from the ambient environment uses an application-specific system in conjunction with one or more of the following:
- the Iceberg system, the Ice Cube system, the Ice Tray sub-system, the Ice Ditch system and/or the Tippy Bucket sub-system.
The invention described in 13, wherein the device to regulate the removal of energy from the cold water or ice is a liquid-to-liquid heat exchanger.
The invention described in 16, wherein the system uses glycol in the piping between the liquid-to-liquid heat exchanger and the liquid-to-air heat exchanger.
The invention described in 13, wherein the device to regulate the removal of energy from the cold water or ice is a drain, and the melt-water that goes through the drain travels, first, through a liquid-to-air heat exchanger, and, then, is used to evaporatively cool a large surface such as a roof or parking lot.
An energy storage system and method comprised of creating and storing a large mass of cold water or ice using energy from the ambient environment and storing it for later use;
- the system being sized so that it is capable of storing more than 300 MW-hr of cold energy, either as latent heat of fusion, or as specific heat, wherein the upper temperature limit for heat exchange is 18° C.;
- a method for covering or insulating the large mass;
- a liquid-to-air heat exchanger;
- a control-box to regulate the heat exchanger;
- a system of piping between the stored large mass of cold water or ice and the heat exchanger;
- and a device to regulate the removal of energy from the cold water or ice.
The invention described in 19, wherein the method of capturing cold energy from the ambient environment uses one or more of the following:
- the Iceberg system, the Ice Cube system, the Ice Tray sub-system, the Ice Ditch system and/or the Tippy Bucket sub-system.
The invention described in 19, wherein the method of capturing cold energy from the ambient environment uses an application-specific system in conjunction with one or more of the following:
- the Iceberg system, the Ice Cube system, the Ice Tray sub-system, the Ice Ditch system and/or the Tippy Bucket sub-system.
The invention described in 19, wherein the device to regulate the removal of energy from the cold water or ice is a liquid-to-liquid heat exchanger.
The invention described in 22, wherein the system uses glycol in the piping between the liquid-to-liquid heat exchanger and the liquid-to-air heat exchanger.
The invention described in 19, wherein the device to regulate the removal of energy from the cold water or ice is a drain, and the melt-water that goes through the drain travels, first, through a liquid-to-air heat exchanger, and, then, is used to evaporatively cool a large surface such as a roof or parking lot.
An energy storage system and method comprised of creating and storing a large mass of cold water or ice using energy from the ambient environment and storing it for later use;
- the system being sized so that it is capable of storing more than 3000 M/W-hr of cold energy, either as latent heat of fusion, or as specific heat, wherein the upper temperature limit for heat exchange is 18° C.;
- a method for covering or insulating the large mass;
- a liquid-to-air heat exchanger;
- a control-box to regulate the heat exchanger;
- a system of piping between the stored large mass of cold water or ice and the heat exchanger;
- and a device to regulate the removal of energy from the cold water or ice.
The invention described in 25, wherein the method of capturing cold energy from the ambient environment uses one or more of the following:
- the Iceberg system, the Ice Cube system, the Ice Tray sub-system, the Ice Ditch system and/or the Tippy Bucket sub-system.
The invention described in 25, wherein the method of capturing cold energy from the ambient environment uses an application-specific system in conjunction with one or more of the following:
- the Iceberg system, the Ice Cube system, the Ice Tray sub-system, the Ice Ditch system and/or the Tippy Bucket sub-system.
The invention described in 25, wherein the device to regulate the removal of energy from the cold water or ice is a liquid-to-liquid heat exchanger.
The invention described in 28, wherein the system uses glycol in the piping between the liquid-to-liquid heat exchanger and the liquid-to-air heat exchanger.
The invention described in 25, wherein the device to regulate the removal of energy from the cold water or ice is a drain, and the melt-water that goes through the drain travels, first, through the liquid-to-air heat exchanger, and, then, is used to evaporatively cool a large surface such as a roof or parking lot.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.