Heat pump with exhaust heat reclaim
AssigneeTrane International Inc.
InventorStephen Stewart Hancock
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An exhaust heat reclaim system may include a diverter valve selectively connected in fluid communication to an exhaust vent tube and an exhaust delivery tube and configured to selectively divert hot exhaust fluid discharged from an exhaust of a power generation device to at least one of the exhaust vent tube and the exhaust delivery tube. The exhaust heat reclaim system may be a component of an HVAC system and be configured to discharge hot exhaust fluid onto a heat exchanger of the HVAC system, where the heat exchanger may be configured to promote heat transfer between the hot exhaust fluid and a refrigerant flowing through the heat exchanger of the HVAC system.
Claims19
A heating, ventilation, and/or air conditioning (HVAC) system, comprising:
- a generator comprising an internal combustion engine, the generator being configured to provide exhaust fluid to an exhaust of the generator;
- a heat exchanger configured to receive a refrigerant;
- and
- an exhaust delivery tube connected to the exhaust and configured to deliver received exhaust fluid into contact with the heat exchanger.
A method of operating a heating, ventilation, and/or air conditioning (HVAC) system, comprising:
- providing a generator comprising an internal combustion engine and an exhaust delivery tube connected to an exhaust of the internal combustion engine;
- producing exhaust fluid as a result of operating the internal combustion engine;
- passing the exhaust fluid through the exhaust delivery tube;
- selectively directing at least a portion of the exhaust fluid from the exhaust delivery tube into contact with a heat exchanger of the HVAC system;
- and
- transferring heat from the exhaust fluid to a refrigerant flowing through the heat exchanger of the HVAC system.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.