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US 4,124,061 AGranted
Thermal energy storage unit
AssigneeRockwell International Corporation
InventorsRex C. Mitchell, Joseph Friedman, Richard J. Holl, Charles R. Easton
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A thermal storage unit comprising a bed of particulate solid material, a liquid situated in heat-exchanging relation with said bed and cooperating with said bed to define a liquid-solid system containing a thermocline, and means for introducing liquid into and extracting liquid from said liquid-solid system.
Claims5
A thermal storage unit comprising:
- a container,
- a bed of particulate solid material located in said container, the ratio of the void volume to the total volume of said bed being less than about 0.4 and the ratio of the height to the diameter of said bed being within the range of from about 0.2 to 1.5,
- a liquid situated in heat-exchanging relation with said bed and cooperating with said bed to define a liquid-solid system containing a thermocline, and
- means for introducing liquid into and extracting liquid from said liquid-solid system, said means being capable of introducing said liquid in an amount to provide a superficial velocity of said liquid through said container within the range of from about 4 to 20 feet per hour.
1 more element
A thermal storage unit comprising:
- a container,
- a bed of crushed gravel located in said container, the ratio of the void volume to the total volume of said bed being less than about 0.4 and the ratio of the height to the diameter of said bed being within the range from about 0.2 to 1.5,
- a liquid situated in a heat-exchange relationship with said bed and cooperating with said bed to define a liquid-solid system containing a thermocline,
- means for introducing and extracting relatively cold liquid adjacent the bottom of said bed, and
- means for introducing and extracting relatively hot liquid adjacent the top of said bed, both of said means providing for the introduction of liquid in an amount to provide a superficial velocity of said liquid through said container within the range of from about 4 to 20 feet per hour.
2 more elements
A method of storing and recovering thermal energy comprising:
- providing a container having located therein a bed of crushed rock and a liquid in a heat-exchange relationship with said rock,
- establishing a thermocline in said liquid whereby the cold fluid settles to the bottom portion of the container and hot liquid rises to the top portion of the container,
- introducing and extracting cold liquid adjacent the top portion of said container as desired, introducing and extracting hot liquid adjacent the bottom portion of said container as desired, said introduction and extraction of liquid in each instance being at a rate to provide a superficial velocity of said liquid through said container within the range of from about 4 to 20 feet per hour.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.