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US 4,363,218 AGranted
Heat pump using solar and outdoor air heat sources
AssigneeHalstead Industries, Inc.
InventorOtto J. Nussbaum
Life of this patent
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AssigneeHalstead Industries, Inc.
InventorOtto J. Nussbaum
Estimating the term…
A heat pump system uses a non-reversing refrigeration circuit having a water-cooled condenser and a counterflow chiller fed by a thermostatic expansion valve to permit operation at close to zero superheat. To protect the compressor in the refrigeration circuit from possible flood-back at this low superheat, a combination suction-liquid heat exchanger-suction accumulator is employed. A hold-back valve serves to maintain constant compressor suction pressure regardless of evaporator pressure fluctuations caused by changing chiller fluid temperatures. The system is designed to operate in four distinct modes: (1) water source heat pump heating; (2) direct solar heating; (3) air source heat pump heating; and (4) heat pump cooling. To switch the refrigeration circuit to heat pump mode from the cooling mode or vice versa, four three-way valves and three fluid pumps are selectively operated. The fluid circuit of the system consists of two separate coils in an air-handling unit. One coil is connected to the solar collector circuit and may be used for either heating or cooling. A second coil is connected to the condenser circuit and works during the heat pump cycle.
A heat pump including the combination of:
A heat pump system including the combination of a solar radiation heat exchanger, an outdoor air heat exchanger, a pump, a storage tank, first conduit means for interconnecting said outdoor air heat exchanger and said solar radiation heat exchanger with said pump and said storage tank, means for interrupting communication between said storage tank and either of said solar radiation heat exchanger and said outdoor air heat exchanger, first and second heat exchangers, a compressor, second conduit means interconnecting said compressor and said first and second heat exchangers for operation in a non-reversing refrigeration cycle, expansion valve means in said second conduit means for said first heat exchanger, third conduit means for interconnecting said storage tank and said first heat exchanger, first and second indoor heat exchangers, fourth conduit means interconnecting said second heat exchanger and said first indoor heat exchanger, fifth conduit means for interconnecting said second indoor heat exchanger with said storage tank, and pump means in said third conduit means for feeding a fluid medium from said storage tank to said first heat exchanger, said means for interrupting communication including a valve to direct the output of a fluid medium from said storage tank through said first heat exchanger and through said second indoor heat exchanger for return to said storage tank.
A heat pump method including the steps of:
A heat pump system including the combination of a solar radiation heat exchanger, an outdoor air heat exchanger, a pump, a storage tank, first conduit means for interconnecting said outdoor air heat exchanger and said solar radiation heat exchanger with said pump and said storage tank, means for interrupting communication between said storage tank and either of said solar radiation heat exchanger and said outdoor air heat exchanger, first and second heat exchangers, a compressor, second conduit means interconnecting said compressor and said first and second heat exchangers for operation in a non-reversing refrigeration cycle, expansion valve means in said second conduit means for said first heat exchanger, third conduit means for interconnecting said storage tank and said first heat exchanger, first and second indoor heat exchangers, fourth conduit means interconnecting said second heat exchanger and said indoor heat exchanger, said means for interrupting communication including first and second valves having a condition in which a fluid medium is circulated from said storage tank through said first heat exchanger and said second indoor heat exchanger, and second valve means in said fourth conduit means for interconnecting said second heat exchanger with said outdoor air heat exchanger while interrupting communication with said indoor heat exchanger.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.