US 4,293,323 AGranted

Waste heat energy recovery system

OwnerFrederick Coheninventor

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Abstract

A heat exchange element is inserted directly into a water heater storage tank of a new or existing water heating system. The heat exchange element is provided with standard pipe thread connections and adapted to be installed in standard threaded openings in conventional tanks. The heat exchange element is an elongate outer tube inserted vertically through the top of the tank having the bottom end of the tube closed, and a concentric inner tube open at the bottom end. The inner tube is connected to the output of a refrigeration or air conditioning system compressor to receive the superheated refrigerant gas. The outer tube is connected to the condenser of the system. The heat from the refrigerant is transferred to the water in the storage tank thereby utilizing energy otherwise wasted. A tempering valve is used with the water storage tank to limit hot water output to a desired temperature.

Claims6

Dependent claims

A water heating system utilizing waste heat from a refrigeration system comprising:

a water storage tank having a cold water inlet line and a hot water outlet line, said water storage tank having a boss having a threaded opening therethrough;
a heat exchange unit disposed in said water storage tank and having an inlet port for connecting to the outlet of the compressor of said refrigeration system and an outlet port for connecting to the inlet of the condenser of said refrigeration system, said heat exchange unit having a threaded portion thereof adapted to match said threaded opening in said water storage tank for installation of said heat exchange unit in said water storage tank;
means for controlling the temperature of water issuing from said hot water outlet line to be below a predetermined temperature;
and
said heat exchange unit comprising:
an outlet chamber attached to said threaded portion;
an elongate outer tube having a closed end and an open end thereof, said open end of said outer tube communicating with said outlet port via said outlet chamber;
and
an elongate inner tube disposed within said outer tube, said inner tube having a first open end adjacent said closed end of said outer tube, and a second open end communicating with said inlet port.

6 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.