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US 5,651,265 AGranted
Ground source heat pump system
OwnerMichel A. Grenierinventor
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OwnerMichel A. Grenierinventor
Estimating the term…
A ground source heat pump system including an indoor fan coil, a high torque compressor, a thermostatic expansion valve (TXV), a suction gas distributor, an accumulator with an internal heat exchanger and an arrangement of check valves to permit a single direction of refrigerant flow in both the heating and cooling modes. Only one TX valve is required providing simplicity for the system. A backflooding control valve is used in the system to control condenser pressures to assure proper refrigerant quantity and pressure at the TX valve. The heat pump also uses a head pressure control valve to maintain a pre-set refrigerant pressure in the ground coil on air conditioning mode. The system charge is the same for heating and cooling and the ground coil consists of a plurality of three pipe units--one pipe for inflow and two for out flow.
In a ground source heat pump system having a refrigerant compressor with high torque starting characteristics, a closed loop refrigerant circuit including a reversing valve, an indoor coil and an outdoor coil the improvement comprising a divided outdoor coil having at least two parallel flow sections and including a head pressure control valve operatively controlling flow of the refrigerant, in the cooling mode, to a selected one of said sections, said control valve being normally closed preventing flow of refrigerant to said one section until such time as the refrigerant reaches a predetermined pressure and first check valve means in parallel with said head pressure control valve means permitting free flow of refrigerant in the opposite direction during operation in the heating mode.
In a ground source heat pump system having a refrigerant compressor with high torque starting characteristics, a closed loop refrigerant circuit including a reversing valve, an indoor coil and an outdoor coil the improvement comprising a divided outdoor coil having at least two parallel flow sections and including a head pressure control valve operatively controlling flow of the refrigerant, in the cooling mode, to one of said sections, said control valve being normally closed preventing flow of refrigerant to said one section until such time as the refrigerant reaches a predetermined pressure and wherein, in the heating mode, the indoor coil is the condenser coil, said system including a refrigerant accumulator, means connecting said accumulator to the intake of said compressor and including a suction gas distributor and heat equalizer in a refrigerant line from said condenser to said accumulator, said distributor and equalizer comprising an enlargement through which the refrigerant passes and a plurality of parallel discrete fluid flow paths located in said enlargement.
A direct expansion ground source heat pump system comprising:
A direct expansion ground source heat pump system comprising:
A heat pump system comprising an indoor unit that includes operatively connected in a system a scroll compressor, a pressure control valve, a refrigerant receiver tank, an accumulator with a heat exchanger coil therein, a thermal expansion valve, directional flow control valve means, an indoor coil, an outdoor coil unit comprising a plurality of heat exchanger pipes for subsurface use and means including valve means for connecting said outdoor coil unit to said indoor unit, said heat pump system in its cooling mode of operation having a refrigerant flow path of hot compressed refrigerant from said compressor to and through said reversing valve to said outdoor coil unit, through said outdoor coil unit, through said pressure control valve to said receiver tank, from said receiver tank through the heat exchanger in said accumulator to and through said indoor coil, to said accumulator and from said accumulator to the suction side of said compressor and signal generating means responsive to the temperature of the refrigerant being returned to the accumulator for actuating said thermal expansion valve, said system in the heating mode of operation as determined by the setting of said reversing valve having a refrigerant flow path from said compressor to said reversing valve to said indoor coil where the flow therethrough is in a direction opposite to the flow when in the cooling mode, from said indoor coil through said pressure control valve to said receiver tank, from the receiver tank through the heat exchanger coil in said accumulator to said thermal expansion valve, from said expansion valve through said ground coil in which the fluid flow direction is opposite to that when in the cooling mode, from said outdoor coil to said accumulator via said reversing valve.
A heat pump system using a heat exchanging fluid existing in gaseous and liquid form comprising:
A direct expansion ground source heat pump system comprising an indoor coil functioning as a condenser in the heating mode, an outdoor sub-earth coil functioning as an evaporator in the heating mode, an accumulator receiving refrigerant from an outflow side of the outdoor coil through a first refrigerant line, a compressor with high starting torque characteristics with a suction side connected to said accumulator and an outlet connected to said indoor coil, a receiver tank for said refrigerant, a second refrigerant line from the outflow side of said condenser to an inflow side of said receiver tank, a pressure flow control valve in said second refrigerant line for maintaining a selected operating pressure of the refrigerant in the system, a third refrigerant line from an outflow side of said receiver tank to an inflow side of said evaporator coil, a thermal expansion valve in said third line and heat sensing means providing an output signal in response to the temperature of the refrigerant returning from said outdoor coil to said accumulator, said thermal expansion valve being responsive to said signal.
A direct expansion ground source heat pump comprising an indoor coil, an outdoor coil, an accumulator, a receiver tank, a compressor having high starting torque characteristics, a reversing valve, a thermal expansion valve and refrigerant lines with valve means operatively interconnecting said components whereby in the cooling and heating modes, as determined by the setting of the reversing valve, the outdoor coil in the cooling and heating mode is respectively a condenser and an evaporator and the indoor coil respectively an evaporator and a condenser, the refrigerant in the condenser being high pressure and in the evaporator low pressure, and wherein, in each mode, said receiver is on the high pressure side with refrigerant flowing unidirectionally to and through said expansion valve and wherein the refrigerant on the suction side of the compressor, passes through a heat equalizer and refrigerant distributor into said accumulator and from said accumulator to said suction side and including heat sensing means associated with said heat equalizer providing a signal to control said thermal expansion valve.
A direct expansion ground source heat pump comprising an indoor coil, an outdoor coil, an accumulator, a receiver tank, a compressor having high starting torque characteristics, a reversing valve, a thermal expansion valve and refrigerant lines with valve means operatively interconnecting said components whereby in the cooling and heating modes, as determined by the setting of the reversing valve, the outdoor coil in the cooling and heating mode is respectively a condenser and an evaporator and the indoor coil respectively an evaporator and a condenser, the refrigerant in the condenser being high pressure and in the evaporator low pressure, and wherein, in each mode, said receiver is on the high pressure side with refrigerant flowing unidirectionally to and through said expansion valve, wherein said outdoor coil being subterranean and including a first flow through section and at least one further flow through section in parallel with said first section, head pressure control valve means operatively preventing refrigerant flow in a first direction through said further section in commencement of a cooling mode operation until such time as the refrigerant to said further section has reached a predetermined pressure and check valve means in parallel with said head pressure control valve means permitting free flow of refrigerant in a direction opposite said one direction during a heating mode operation.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.