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US 6,581,384 B1Granted
Cooling and heating apparatus and process utilizing waste heat and method of control
OwnerDwayne M. Bensoninventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The present invention provides a process and apparatus for utilizing waste heat to power a reconfigurable thermodynamic cycle that can be used to selectively cool or heat an environmentally controlled space, such as a room or a building. The present invention also provides a method of controlling the system, while allowing large variations in the heat input energy rate. The system provides a design which reasonably balances the need to maximize efficiency, while also keeping the design cost effective.
Claims9
An apparatus for heating and cooling, comprising:
- pump means for pressurizing an intermediate pressure liquid to create a high pressure liquid;
- heater means for heating said high pressure liquid to a superheated fluid;
- expander means for expanding said superheated fluid, creating an intermediate pressure gas;
- first heat exchanger means for a first energy transfer from said intermediate pressure gas from the expander outlet to said high pressure liquid, creating an intermediate temperature, intermediate pressure gas;
- compressor, operatively connected to said expander, means for compressing the working fluid from a low pressure gas to a pressure equal to the outlet of said first heat exchanger;
- second heat exchanger means of condensing the combined fluid streams from said first heat exchanger and said compressor by energy transfer to a second fluid of lower temperature, creating said intermediate pressure liquid,
- expansion valve means of expanding said intermediate pressure liquid to create a low pressure liquid,
- third heat exchanger means of vaporizing said low pressure liquid by energy transfer from a third fluid, creating a desired cooling effect in said third fluid;
- reversing valve means of reversing said condensing and said vaporization processes to create a desired heating effect in said third fluid.
6 more elements
apparatus for heating and cooling comprising:
- a working fluid capable of both gas and liquid phases over the operating range of pressures and temperatures, a high pressure liquid pump, a heater using an external heat source, a first conduit connecting said pump to said heater, a gas expander type prime mover, a second conduit connecting said heater to said prime mover, a first heat exchanger between the outlet of said prime mover and said first conduit, a gas compressor, a common shaft which connects said prime mover to said compressor, a third conduit connecting said first heat exchanger hot-side outlet and said compressor outlet to a reversing valve or valves, a fourth conduit connecting said reversing valve or valves to a second heat exchanger, said second heat exchanger is operatively between a lower temperature second fluid and said fourth conduit, a fifth conduit between said second heat exchanger and a first check valve, a sixth conduit between said fifth conduit and a flow restriction to the working fluid, a seventh conduit between said flow restriction and a third heat exchanger, said third heat exchanger is operatively between the seventh conduit and a third fluid, which is the fluid that is desirably heated or cooled, an eighth conduit between the seventh conduit and a second check valve, a ninth conduit from both said first check valve and said second check valve to said high pressure liquid pump, a tenth conduit conducting the working fluid between said third heat exchanger and said reversing valve or valves, an eleventh conduit from said reversing valve or valves to said compressor.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.