WO2004008041A2

WO2004008041A2 - Apparatus for air conditioning

Info

Publication number: WO2004008041A2
Application number: PCT/EP2003/007483
Authority: WO
Inventors: Michel Deneire
Original assignee: Michel Deneire
Priority date: 2002-07-15
Filing date: 2003-07-10
Publication date: 2004-01-22
Also published as: WO2004008041A3; EP1552227A2; BE1015034A7; AU2003250030A8; AU2003250030A1

Abstract

The invention relates to an apparatus (1) for climatiSation which comprises heat exchange elements (2) with a built-in channel system (3) for transferring a fluid, preferably ambient air, whereby the fluid (4) entering in this system (3) can be passed in a feed-pipe (14) to a heat-exchanger (7) at the entrance of a heat pump (8) via a collector channel (5) by means of a pump (6) on this channel (5). The channel volume of the channel system is between 0.004 and 0.008 m³ per m² of heat exchange surface, and the elements are e.g. roof tiles.

Description

APPARATUS FOR CLIMATIZATION

Technical field

The invention relates to an apparatus for climatization equipped with a number of energy- saving components.

Background art

It is known to use installations for climatization based on a better utilization of solar heat by means of e.g. solar panels. These panels are often installed on roofs. The solar heat is then transferred via e.g. heat exchange to a fluid flowing against the underside of the panel faces. The fluid heated up at that place can then be pumped over to e.g. the low- temperature heat exchanger of a heat pump. Since the temperature of the heated fluid is higher than the ambient temperature, this heat exchange automatically results in a higher performance of the heat pump in its high-temperature heat exchanger.

Description of the invention

However, additional energy-saving measures for an economical operation of such climatization circuits, especially those with heat pumps, impose themselves. The present invention thus aims at providing an apparatus in which an important additional energy saving is realized. According to this invention, this is realized by the application in the apparatus of one or more parts which each produce an energy-saving effect. Separately, but especially in cooperation, they can substantially increase the output of the apparatus in synergy.

An important first element for this energy saving relates to the construction of the solar panels themselves. The primary goal of the invention is thus to provide heat exchange elements in a construction which allows the solar heat to be collected and to be transferred to the flowing fluid as efficiently as possible, this fluid being in particular in the form of ambient air. Factors which play an important part are the choice of material for the heat exchange panels, that should be as economical as possible and at the same time have an optimal heat exchange capacity. Dimensioning needs to be linked to the passages in the panels below the upper panel faces for heating up the fluid in order to get a maximum output of the heat exchange.

A second objective concerns the reduction of the energy consumption of the heat pump itself, in particular of the energy needed for the drive of its built-in compressor. A third objective aims at using a (preferably energy-saving) pump for a fast transfer of large air volumes to the heat pump.

According to this invention, the first objective is fulfilled by providing an apparatus for climatization comprising heat exchange elements with a built-in channel system for transferring a fluid whereby in this system the entering fluid, preferably ambient air, can be passed in a feed pipe to a heat exchanger at the entrance of the heat pump through a collector channel connected to this channel system by means of a pump on said channel. The channel system should have a channel volume between 0.004 and 0.008 m³ per m² of heat exchange surface and preferably between 0.005 and 0.007 m³ per m² of heat exchange surface. The minimum cross section dimension "d" of the passage of the channels in the system is preferably 8 mm in order to keep the flow resistance (pressure drop) to a minimum. In an implementation for a roof, the heat exchange elements are preferably roof elements which connect to each other and are placed with an inclination, e.g. roof tiles that are provided with a set of parallel channels with a free entrance for air streaming into the channel system near the roof-gutter and in which the collector channel extends along the roof-ridge.

The base material of the heat exchange elements can be cured clay (as for bricks) or a concrete mixture, but can also be one or other engineering plastic such as PVC, polypropylene or polycarbonate. Preferably, fillers are added to the material of the heat exchange elements, e.g. to increase their heat storage capacities as with e.g. quartz or graphite in powdered form with a grain size of 10 to 30 μm. These fillers can be equally distributed through the entire or practically the entire volume of the heat exchange elements. The concentration of heat accumulating fillers will preferably be the highest near the upper surface and in the central part of the heat exchange element. The plastic zone with quartz or graphite filling will preferably contain up to approximately 50 % volume of this filling in order to realize a practically continuous heat conductive network in the body of the heat exchange element. The underside of this element can have a heat isolating compostion. On economical grounds, recycled waste products can also be used, whether or not combined with heat conductive powders. The heat exchange elements with plastics as base material can be manufactured through injection moulding with suitable moulds. When the upper and/or lower surface of aforementioned elements do not contain heat conductive fillers, a sandwich-injection moulding technique can be applied. The pump which has to supply the large air flow to the heat pump is preferably a volumetric pump as known from e.g. BE 1006323 or WO 91/15661 or an improved version e.g. as known from US patent 4764095. In the latter patent a type of rotary slide compressor is shown wherein a cylindrical housing for the excentrically arranged rotor therein is supported on its outside in a bearing ring. The effect thereof is that loss of power through frictional resistance of the radially movable paddles against the inner wall of the housing is greatly minimised.

Finally, the invention provides for a purpose-designed magnet motor which is used for driving the compressor of the heat pump. The energy consumption of customary compressors is indeed not to be underestimated. The magnet motor of this invention includes a rotor, placed in a housing, which rotor carries near a part of its contour edge a permanent magnet with a curved shape and in which housing a number of swivel beams, arranged onto spindles, are mounted in the housing surrounding the contour of the rotor. Each swivel beam supports a permanent magnet element. The curved permanent magnet and the magnet elements repel each other in each other's neighbourhood. The system can also be expanded with a curved permanent magnet which attracts in the proximity of the swiveable magnet elements. By means of a connecting rod, every swivel beam is connected eccentrically to and revolving on a corresponding satellite gear. These satellite gears are positioned around a central gear and mesh on it. The central gear is fixed to the shaft of the rotor. The magnet motor itself can obviously be applied for other applications too, such as auxiliary power-supply on electrically driven appliances with a relatively low power demand like bicycles, trolleys, all sorts of tools and even small cars.

Brief description of the drawings

Exemplary embodiments of one or other components and their operation will now be clarified by means of the enclosed drawings. Meanwhile, additional aspects of the invention will be discussed. Obviously, the invention is not limited to these specific embodiments.

Figure 1 is a schematic view of a cycle for climatization as materialized in the apparatus according to the invention.

Figure 2 is a perspective view of an assembly of four adjacently connected roof tiles with a continuous channel system.

Figure 3 shows the bottom of such a roof-tile in perspective. Figure 4 is a cross-section view of a roof-tile at line 11-11 from figure 2.

Figure 5 is a schematic representation of the magnet motor according to the invention.

Detailed description of the drawings In the apparatus 1 with the cycle for climatization according to figure 1, an inclined roof covering is represented in which the heat exchange elements 2 are built in in the shape of a channel system 3. Via natural convection , the ambient air 4 rises upward near the roof gutter following the slope of the roof through the system 3 of parallel channels 11 to the practically horizontally lying collector channel 5. The air passing through is indeed heated up in the channels by means of heat exchange with the roof covering 2 which is heated up by the sun.

The heated air flow in channel 5 is preferably transferred by means of a volumetric pump via the feed-pipe 14 to the entry of the first (low-temperature) heat exchanger 7 of the compression heat pump 8. As known, the heat exchange takes place by means of a so- called coolant that circulates in the hermetically sealed circuit 52 of the heat pump. The coolant is e.g. from the well-known type R22. The types R407c, R410a and especially R134a are equally appropriate. The heated ambient air gives off (or delivers) its heat to the circulating coolant in the exchanger 7 where it evaporates in the evaporator 53 at its low temperature T1. The vapour flows on to the compressor 9 which further compresses it and thereby increases its temperature. The vapour at high temperature T2 continues on to the high temperature exchanger 54 where it gives back its heat in condenser 55 and condenses. The high-temperature exchanger 54 may be e.g. a boiler serving as feeding reservoir for a hot water radiator system 57 for additional heating. The coolant which condenses again flows on to the throttle valve 56 where its pressure continues to drop and where its temperature cools down to T1.

It is known to install reversible heat pumps. In the closed circuit, a four-way tap can be installed in which the heat pump functions as a heater (see figure 1) in one position and as a cooling unit in the other position. In the embodiment with the cooling unit, the condenser 55 then takes the place of the evaporator 53 (in figure 1 ) and vice versa. The fluid flows through the throttle valve in the opposite direction, but the direction of the fluid current through the compressor stays the same. For the compressor, centrifugal turbo compressors, screw compressors and reciprocating piston compressors can be used. They will preferably be driven by electric induction motors.

The application of air heated up by the sun in the channel system 3 diminishes the gap T2-T1 to be overcome. This increases the profit factor Wf = Qw/W of the heat pump with Qw = Qk + W in which Qw is the amount of heat given off by the medium to be heated and Qk the amount of heat withdrawn from the cold source and W the energy taken up by the compressor. Indeed, the necessary energy W decreases as T2-T1 is taken or chosen smaller and subsequently the profit factor Wf increases accordingly.

The top side of a part of the heat exchange element 2 is shown in figure 2 in the shape of four adjacently connected roof tiles 35 - 38. As customary, these roof tiles have complementary curved edges 39 and 40 at their opposite longitudinal sides. These edges overlap in the roof covering. At the bottom side of the transverse upper edge of each tile, there is an abutment member 41 which hooks up onto the roof covering behind the horizontally placed supporting tile lath 42. This in particular is suggested in figure 3. Below the upper surface of the roof tiles is a series of parallel channels 11 which in successive tiles in line connect to each other in order to make up the channel system 3. The four practically rectangular channels 11 in the demonstrated embodiment each have a transverse dimension d of 11 mm. The overall channel section for each tile amounts here to 11.6 cm². This results in 0.006 m³ of air volume per m² roof surface area. The ambient air flows in from the roof-gutter upwards under the upper surface of the inclined roof through the consecutive entry-openings 43 of each tile to the transversely running collector channel 5 near the upper row of tiles near the roof-ridge. The solar heat collected by the upper surface of the roof-tiles is in fact transferred to the walls of the channels. The air flowing in is heated thus and rises partly due to a natural convection up to collector channel 5. From there, it is pumped over with pump 6 in the feed-pipe 14 to the low-temperature heat exchanger 7 of the heat pump.

Figure 5 shows an example of the magnet motor 10 which includes a rotor 16 mounted in a housing 15 in which the rotor carries a curved permanent magnet 17 near a part of its contour edge. The housing consists of two oppositely situated walls 45 and 46 in which the axes of the various rotatable elements are fixed or have adequate bearings as will be explained further on. The rotor 16 is arranged parallel to the walls and practically central in the housing and is fixed eccentrically on a shaft 34. The curved permanent magnet 17 spans an angle of approximately 140° of the rotor contour. In the housing, six swivel beams 18-23 are mounted on swivel axles 25 around the rotor contour. These swivel beams each carry a permanent magnet element 24 on their inner side facing the rotor contour. The axles 25 of the swivel beams are mounted at their ends in both walls 45 and

46. The permanent magnet 17 and the permanent magnet-elements 24 can possess e.g. a neodymium-iron-boron composition. They are preferably orientated in the motor in such a way that they repel each other when they come close to each other during rotation of the motor. The system can equally be expanded with a permanent magnet 17 which attracts in the vicinity of the permanent magnet elements.

Each swivel beam 18-23 is eccentrically connected by means of a connecting rod 26 and rotatable as some kind of pitman on a corresponding satellite gear 28-33 coupled in the centre of rotation 50. The connecting rods 26 at their turn mesh on a central gear 27 which is rotatable with, and mounted on, spindle 34 of the rotor. The spindles 47 of the gears 28-33 are mounted in the wall 46.

The magnet motor according to figure 5 operates as follows. On its central spindle 34, an electric motor is connected in order to drive the rotor 16 and the central gear 27 following the rotation direction marked by the arrow 49. Due to this, the meshing satellite gears 28- 33 rotate in the opposite direction of the rotor 16. Via the connecting rods 26, they thereby exert a substantially radially oriented back and forth movement on the respective swivel beams 18-23 in the centres of rotation 48. When the motor 15 is turning, the permanent magnet elements 24 alternately approach and move away from the rotor contour and more in particular from the curved permanent magnet 17 that passes by.

Considering now the position of the swivel beam 18 immediately opposite the passing curved permanent magnet 17, we notice immediately that the powerful repulsive force between magnet 17 and the opposite magnet element 24 will force the swivel beam in the centre of rotation 48 substantially radially outwards. The connecting rod 26 will at that point transfer a moment of rotation in the centre of rotation 50 on the corresponding satellite gear 28; which in its turn drags along the central gear 27 in its own turning direction with the rotor following arrow 49. The moment of rotation hereby additionally supplied to the central spindle 34 is superposed on that of the electric motor. If the electric motor is connected near wall 45, the machine to be driven can be coupled e.g. with its spindle on the other end of the spindle 34 extending from wall 46. The machine that is coupled for the application of this invention, is the compressor 9 of the heat pump. The relative positions of the centres of rotation 50 on the consecutive gears 28-33 is obviously chosen in such a way that they allow a quick divergence of the swivel beam in question at the moment when the repulsion forces are substantially at their maximum during the passing by of magnet 17. In figure 5, this is the case for swivel beam 18.

Meanwhile, a starting and supporting weaker repulsion force is already at work opposite the swivel beam 19 because of the relatively large angle of approximately 140° over which the magnet stretches out over the rotor contour.

It is naturally possible to increase the influencing powers on the central spindle 34 by means of mechanical, magnetic or electromagnetic manipulation of the magnetic fields. It is likewise possible to mount several consecutive magnet motor units 15 one after the other on the same spindle 34. When two units 15 are applied, the magnet 17 in the second unit will preferably have another angle position compared to the magnet 17 in the first unit. This way, five and more units can be linked one after the other on the same main spindle 34.

The invention is not limited to the described embodiments. Instead of roof tiles, larger roof elements 2 can obviously be applied with an appropriate channel system. Separately, under the roof covering, known heat isolating plates or mats can be attached, e.g. when the roof covering itself contains heat conductive fillers throughout its entire mass. The roof covering can be equipped at its upper surface with a metal plate or a metal covering which e.g. carries a black top layer as well improving the heat collection. Against this plate, a filled plastic layer can be applied through injection moulding. In a roof covering from press-moulded tiles in cured clay with internal channels; graphite powder can also be evenly spread as a heat accumulating filler.

Naturally, the operation of the different elements of the whole apparatus, especially of the pump 6 and the motor 10 of the compressor, will have to be controlled co-ordinately, with adequately coupled regulating and control equipment in function of the capacity of the heat pump and of the required temperatures T1 and T2. The collector channel 5 as well as the feed-pipe 14 to the heat pump will preferably be isolated.

Claims

C AIMS

1. An apparatus (1) for climatisation comprising heat exchange elements (2) with a built- in channel system (3) for transferring a fluid whereby the entering fluid air (4) in this system (3) can be passed in a feed-pipe (14) to a heat-exchanger (7) at the entrance of a heat pump (8) via a collector channel (5) connected to the system by means of a pump (6) on this channel (5) and in which the channel system has a channel volume between 0.004 and 0.008 m³ per m² of the heat exchange surface.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the fluid is ambient air.

3. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1 or 2 in which this channel volume is between 0.005 and 0.007 m³ per m² of the heat exchange surface.

4. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1 or 2 in which the minimum cross section dimension "d" of the passage of the channels (11) in the channel system is 8 mm.

5. Apparatus in accordance with claim 2 or 3 in which the heat exchange elements (2) are roof elements that are connected to each other and that are placed with an inclination, said elements being provided with parallel channels (11) with a free entrance for incoming ambient air (4) in the channel system (3) near the roof gutter (12) and in which the collector channel (5) is situated near the roof-ridge (13).

6. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1 in which the base material of the heat exchange elements (2) is a plastic material.

7. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1 in which fillers are added to the material of the heat exchange elements (2).

8. Apparatus in accordance with claim 7 in which fillers are added that increase the heat accumulating capacity of the heat exchange elements (2).

9. Apparatus in accordance with claim 8 in which the concentration of heat accumulating material is highest near the upper surface and in the central part of said elements (2).

10. Apparatus in accordance with claim 7 in which the fillers contain recycled waste products.

11. Apparatus in accordance with claim 5 in which the roof elements (2) are roof tiles.

12. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1 in which the pump (6) is a volumetric pump.

13. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1 in which the heat pump (8) comprises a compressor (9) which is partly driven by a magnet motor (10).

14. Apparatus in accordance with claim 13 in which the magnet motor (10) comprises a rotor (16) mounted in a housing (15) of which the rotor, near a part of its contour edge, carries a curved permanent magnet (17) and whereby in the housing near the rotor contour a number of swivel beams (18-23) are mounted on spindles (25) which each carry a permanent magnet element (24), in which the magnet (17) and the magnet elements (24) repel in each others presence, and in which each swivel beam (18-23) is excentrically and rotatably coupled on a matching satellite gear (28-33) by means of a connecting rod (26), which gears (28-33) mesh on a central gear (27) that is mounted on the spindle (34) of the rotor.