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US 4,071,079 AGranted
Heat-storage unit and system
AssigneeSadao Shimoda
InventorHans Engelbrecht
Life of this patent
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AssigneeSadao Shimoda
InventorHans Engelbrecht
Estimating the term…
A heat storage unit using salt or a salt mixture. Heat is extracted from the unit by converting water to steam and a series of pipes is provided extending to different depths in the salt. The pipes extend to different heights at the top of the unit so that water first overflows into the pipe extending the shortest distance into the salt. This results in the salt in the unit solidifying from the top downwards, thereby obviating problems caused by molten salt migrating to spaces at the foot of the container caused by contraction of salt on solidification. A heating system uses several such units with electrical heating between the units and pumped circulation of the condensate from the generated steam. An alternative system uses steam generated in such units selectively to drive a turbine for refrigeration equipment in a cooling system or to heat the heat exchange medium in a heating system.
A heat accumulator unit comprising an accumulator medium comprising a salt, a container for said medium, means for supplying heat to the accumulator medium, a steam generator forming a part of said container and having a steam outlet adapted to be coupled to a heat utilization means, said generator including steam generating pipes of different lengths immersed to different depths into the salt, means for feeding water to the steam generator in predetermined quantities, including means for supplying the water inlets of the pipes by overflow, each pipe having a water inlet and a steam outlet, the pipe inlets being so arranged in the steam generator that the pipe with the least immersion depth is supplied by overflow with water first and each successively more deeply immersed pipe is successively supplied with water by overflow with the most deeply immersed pipe supplied last.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.