The present invention relates to heat pumps for heating, cooling or for any other application of a heat pump and, in particular, to condensers for heat pumps of this kind.
The water vapor is fed via the suction line 12 to a compressor/condenser system 14 which comprises a flow machine, such as, for example, a centrifugal compressor, exemplarily in the form of a turbo compressor, which in
The flow machine is coupled to a condenser 18 which is configured to condense the compressed operating vapor. By means of condensing, the energy contained in the operating vapor is fed to the condenser 18 in order to be then fed to a heating system via the advance element 20a. The operating fluid flows back to the condenser via the return element 20b.
In accordance with the invention, it is advantageous to withdraw heat (energy) from the water vapor rich in energy by the cooler heating water directly, the heat (energy) being absorbed by the heating water such that same will heat up. An amount of energy is withdrawn from the vapor such that the same is condensed and also participates in the heating cycle.
This means that an introduction of material into the condenser or heating system takes place, which is regulated by an outlet 22 such that the condenser in its condensing space has a water level which, despite continuously feeding water vapor and, thus, condensate, will usually remain below a maximum level.
As has already been explained, it is advantageous to use an open cycle, i.e. evaporating water, which represents the source of heat, directly without a heat exchanger. Alternatively, the water to be evaporated could, however, also be heated up at first by an external heat source using a heat exchanger. However, it may be kept in mind here that said heat exchanger also entails losses and apparatus complexity.
Additionally, it is advantageous, in order to avoid losses for the second heat exchanger, which up to now is usually present on the condenser side, to use the medium there directly, too, i.e. when taking the example of a house featuring underfloor heating, having the water coming from the evaporator circulate directly in the underfloor heating.
Alternatively, a heat exchanger may be arranged on the condenser side, which is fed by the advance element 20a and comprises the return element 20b, wherein said heat exchanger cools the water in the condenser and thus heats up a separate underfloor heating liquid which will typically be water.
Due to the fact that water is used as the operating medium, and due to the fact that only the evaporated part of the ground water is fed to the flow machine, the degree of purity of the water is not important. The flow machine is, as is the condenser and, perhaps, the directly coupled underfloor heating, usually supplied with distilled water such that, compared to present systems, the system entails reduced servicing. In other words, the system is self-cleaning since the system is usually supplied with distilled water only, which means that the water in the outlet 22 is not polluted.
Additionally, it is to be pointed out that flow machines exhibit the characteristic—similarly to a plane's turbine—of not bringing the compressed medium into contact with problematic substances, such as, for example, oil. Instead, the water vapor is compressed only by the turbine or the turbo compressor, but not brought into contact and, thus, polluted with oil or another medium affecting purity.
When there are no other restricting rules, the distilled water discharged by the outlet may then be easily fed again to the ground water. Alternatively, it may, for example, also be seeped in the garden or in an open area, or it may be fed to a water treatment plant via a channel, if rules call for this.
By the combination of water as an operating medium featuring a useful enthalpy difference ratio which is two times better compared to R134a and the consequently reduced requirements to the system being closed (rather, an open system is advantageous), and by using the flow machine, by means of which the compressing factors that may be used are achieved efficiently and without affecting purity, what is achieved is an efficient and environmentally neutral heat pump process which becomes even more efficient when the water vapor is condensed directly in the condenser, since not a single heat exchanger will be required for the entire heat pump process.
In order to achieve a heat pump of high efficiency, it is important for all the components, i.e. the evaporator, the condenser and the compressor, to be designed to be favorable.
DE 4431887 A1 discloses a heat pump system comprising a light-weight large-volume high-power centrifugal compressor. Vapor leaving a compressor of a second stage comprises a saturation temperature which exceeds the surrounding temperature or that of the cooling water available, thereby allowing heat discharge. The compressed vapor is transferred from the compressor of the second stage to the condenser unit which consists of a packed bed provided within a cooling water spraying means on a top, which is supplied by a water circulation pump. The compressed water vapor rises through the packed bed in the condenser where it is in direct counter-flow contact with the cooling water flowing downwards. The vapor condenses and the latent heat of the condensation which is absorbed by the cooling water is emitted to the atmosphere via the condensate and the cooling water which together are discharged from the system. The condenser is rinsed continuously with non-condensable gases, by means of a vacuum pump via a pipeline.
A condenser in which cooling water is in direct counter-flow contact with the condensing vapor, in which the angle between the direction of cooling water on the one hand and the vapor on the other hand is 180 degrees, is of disadvantage in that condensation is not distributed optimally over the volume of the condenser. Condensation here will usually take place only at the interface between water and vapor, which is defined by the cross-section of the condenser. In order to produce a greater condensing performance, the cross-section of the condenser has to be enlarged, or other parameters may be changed, such as, for example, flow through the condenser, vapor pressure in the condenser, etc., which are all problematic on the one hand and, on the other hand, result in an undesired enlargement of the entire system, in particular with regard to enlarging the condensing cross-section. If, however, on the other hand, the system is not enlarged, the result will be that the entire heat pump including a condenser operating in a counter-flow direction does not achieve a performance coefficient which may be used for certain applications where, however, the situation with regard to space is such that enlarging the system has to be ruled out.
According to an embodiment, a condenser may have: a condensation zone for condensing vapor to be condensed in an operating liquid, the condensation zone being implemented as a volume zone including a top end, a bottom end and a lateral boundary between the top end and the bottom end; a vapor introduction zone which extends along the lateral end of the condensation zone and is configured to feed vapor to be condensed into the condensation zone laterally via the lateral boundary; and a condenser casing, wherein a region in the condenser casing is limited by a cage-like boundary object spaced apart from the condenser casing by a distance, wherein the vapor introduction zone is arranged in the distance, and wherein the condensation zone is arranged in the region limited by the cage-like boundary object.
Another embodiment may have a method of using a condenser in accordance with claim 1, wherein a flow of operating liquid takes place in the condensation zone in an advantageous direction and wherein operating liquid vapor enters into the condensation zone from the vapor introduction zone in a cross-flow manner, wherein a flow direction of the operating liquid vapor forms an angle with regard to the advantageous direction of the operating liquid flow which is greater than 10 degrees and smaller than 170 degrees.
According to another embodiment, a method for manufacturing a condenser may have the steps of: providing a condensation zone for condensing vapor to be condensed in an operating liquid, the condensation zone being implemented as a volume zone including a top end, a bottom end and a lateral boundary between the top end and the bottom end; arranging a vapor introduction zone along the lateral end of the condensation zone so that vapor to be condensed is fed into the condensation zone laterally via the lateral boundary and wherein a region in a condenser casing is limited by a cage-like boundary object spaced apart from the condenser casing by a distance, wherein the vapor introduction zone is arranged in the distance, and wherein the condensation zone is arranged in the region limited by the cage-like boundary object.
According to another embodiment, a heat pump may have: an evaporator for evaporating operating liquid; a compressor for compressing operating liquid evaporated in the evaporator; and a condenser in accordance with claim 1, the vapor introduction zone being connected to an output of the compressor.
The present invention is based on the finding that the condensation zone of a condenser on the one hand and the vapor inlet zone of the condenser on the other hand are to be implemented relative to each other such that the vapor to be condensed enters the condensation zone laterally. Thus, without enlarging the volume of the condenser, the actual condensation is made a volume condensation since the vapor to be condensed is not only introduced into a condensation volume or the condensation zone head-on from one side, but laterally and, advantageously, from all sides. This does not only ensure that the condensation volume made available, with equal external dimensions, is enlarged when compared to direct counter-flow condensation, but that at the same time the efficiency of the condenser is improved for another reason.
This reason is that the vapor to be condensed in the condensation zone exhibits a flow direction transverse to a flow direction of the condensation liquid. Thus, the advantageous direction of the vapor to be condensed is not either parallel to the advantageous direction of the operating liquid or anti-parallel to the advantageous direction of the operating liquid, but transverse thereto. This ensures making better use of the condensation volume made available. Additionally, it has been found out that a transverse flow can be achieved already by the fact that the vapor enters the condensation zone laterally.
The vapor flow is redirected already due to the mechanism of action of condensation. Due to the surrounding conditions in the condenser, the vapor particles here are “sucked in” by the liquid particles. Redirecting thus is already part of the condensation process which here takes place as a kind of “preliminary stage” of the actual transfer of heat to the operating liquid. It has been found out that “sucking in” vapor into the condenser volume is such a vigorous process that an efficient transverse flow of the vapor in the condensation zone is produced such that the vapor may be introduced into the condensation zone almost in parallel to the direction of the operating liquid. However, due to the lateral introduction, redirecting takes place directly where the condensation zone begins or when the vapor comes close to the condensation zone such that the desired transverse flow direction in the condensation zone is achieved. As has been explained, this is achieved by the vapor not being introduced into the condensation zone head-on, but laterally and, advantageously, completely circumferentially. Additionally, it has been found out that an additional introduction on one of the two front sides of the condensation zone is not absolutely necessary and, thus, does not necessarily have to take place if this is of constructive usefulness. Introducing the vapor into the condensation zone laterally is so effective that an additional introduction at the top and/or bottom boundary of the condensation zone is not absolutely necessary, but may take place if the construction makes it possible.
In the advantageous embodiment of the present invention, the condensation zone is formed by liquid drops trickling, in the condensation zone, from the top to the bottom, mainly due to gravity. The introduction of vapor here takes place in a region separate from the generation of the water drops. In one embodiment, the water drops are generated by a perforated plate at the top of the condensation zone and the vapor is introduced in a region outside of where the liquid drops are generated.
In another embodiment of the present invention, the condensation zone is filled with fillers, such as, for example, Pall rings, wherein particularly fillers of a relatively large surface which are applied loosely in the condensation zone are advantageous so as to cause redirection or turbulence in the liquid in the condensation zone such that vapor not yet condensed will usually find a rather cool area of the condensation liquid and condense there efficiently.
In another embodiment of the present invention, the lateral vapor introduction zone is limited downwards in that there are also filling particles which, due to the processes in the condensation zone, are also wetted with operating liquid, but are not “dropped on” directly. Due to the energetically very strong processes in the condenser, drops are sputtered out of the condensation zone, wherein said drops are still used in the lower boundary of the lateral vapor introduction zone to further improve the efficiency of the condenser.
In an advantageous embodiment of the present invention, the vapor feed from the evaporator is made through the condenser, wherein a compressor wheel is located at least partly above the condensation zone, but separate from the condensation zone. The geometrical design of the suction zone of the compressor and the arrangement of the compressor above the evaporator cause the vapor to be drawn upwards. The vapor is then compressed in the compressor itself, which is advantageously implemented as a radial wheel. However, using the radial wheel at the same time results in the vapor to be redirected laterally/outwards. This means that redirecting by 90 degrees takes place already above the condensation zone. By means of another redirection by 90 degrees, which may be implemented easily and, in particular, in a compact manner, the compressed vapor is then introduced into the vapor introduction zone and, from there, reaches the condensation zone to be condensed there and discharge its energy, by the condensation, to the operating liquid in the condenser.
The feed of the liquid into the condensation zone advantageously takes place such that the liquid already comprises a “spin” when introduced at the top of the condensation zone. This ensures the liquid by itself to flow over the perforated plate above the condensation zone from the inlet within the perforated plate outwards, due to the spin induced by the geometric design of the inlet, such that a fast, efficient and even supply of the condensation zone with a trickling liquid is ensured.
All these measures result in an efficient condenser which, despite its relatively small volume, has a high condenser performance. Thus, a heat pump of small dimensions and considerable performance can be obtained.
Embodiments of the present invention will be detailed subsequently referring to the appended drawings, in which:
a is a schematic illustration of volume condensation including cross-flowing between the vapor and the liquid;
b is a schematic illustration of a section through the condenser including dumped turbulence generators, such as, for example, Pall rings;
a is a schematic illustration of a known heat pump for evaporating water;
b shows a table for illustration of pressures and evaporating temperatures of water as an operating liquid; and
The condenser includes a condensation zone 100 for condensing vapor to be condensed in an operating liquid, the condensation zone being formed as a volume zone. In particular, the condensation zone includes a top end 100a, a bottom end 100b and a lateral boundary 100c. The lateral boundary is arranged between the top and bottom ends. The condenser additionally includes a vapor introduction zone 102 which extends along the lateral ends 100c of the condensation zone 100 and is configured to feed vapor to be condensed into the condensation zone 100 laterally via the lateral boundary 100c of the condensation zone 100. In an advantageous embodiment, which is discussed exemplarily making reference to
Furthermore, it is advantageous to implement the condensation zone such that the area of the lateral boundary of the condensation zone is larger than an area of the top or bottom boundary. Thus, the shape of the condensation zone may be cylindrical or cuboid, the height advantageously being greater than a diameter or diagonal, etc.
Also illustrated in
Additionally, there is a grating 209 configured to support fillers not shown in
The result is a situation, as is exemplarily illustrated in
The condenser of
In addition, a vapor feeder is provided which, as is shown in
Not shown in
Reference is made to
a shows an alternative implementation of the condenser in which the operating liquid is fed from below and the vapor is fed from above. The inventive condenser may also be employed for counter-flow feeding of vapor and operating liquid, since, in the vapor introduction zone 102, the vapor is directed automatically into the condensation zone 100 so as to achieve transverse flow volume condensation. In particular,
It has been shown making reference to
In addition, the operating liquid feed comprises a pipe for providing the operating liquid from the bottom to the top, and the distributor plate 212 which is mounted to a pipe end in order to distribute the operating liquid over the entire top end of the condensation zone, the distributor plate 212 comprising openings which are implemented such that an operating liquid flowing on the distributor plate penetrates these openings and trickles into the condensation zone over an area.
The condenser casing extends, as is exemplarily shown in
In addition, as has been illustrated making reference to
The objects include dumped individual plastic parts which are arranged on top of one another such that the liquid on the one hand and the vapor to be condensed on the other hand are able to move between the objects.
Particularly, the region or condensation zone is limited by the cage 207 which keeps the objects in the condensation zone and away from the vapor introduction zone. In one embodiment of the present invention, the diameter of the entire condenser is in the range of 400 mm. However, efficient condensers with diameters between 300 mm and 1000 mm may also be produced.
A heat pump comprising a condenser in particular includes an evaporator for evaporating an operating liquid, as is exemplarily illustrated in
Additionally, the compressor includes a radial wheel which is arranged at least partly above the condensation zone and separate from the condensation zone. In particular, this radial wheel is configured to be introduced into the region 213 of
However, hollow cylinders, hollow cuboids or similar elements may also be used which occupy a certain volume but leave a relatively large amount of space such that various edges and bridges are present. These edges and bridges serve for operating liquid passing through these fillers to be continuously exposed to turbulence and vortexing such that a warm region of an operating liquid droplet, for example, which has just been condensed, is again exposed to turbulence such that the coldest possible region of the operating liquid presents itself for each vapor particle willing to condense.
While this invention has been described in terms of several embodiments, there are alterations, permutations, and equivalents which fall within the scope of this invention. It should also be noted that there are many alternative ways of implementing the methods and compositions of the present invention. It is therefore intended that the following appended claims be interpreted as including all such alterations, permutations and equivalents as fall within the true spirit and scope of the present invention.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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102012220199.8 | Nov 2012 | DE | national |
This application is a continuation of copending International Application No. PCT/EP2013/072900, filed Nov. 4, 2013, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, and additionally claims priority from U.S. Application No. 61/722,978, filed Nov. 6, 2012, and German Application No. 102012220199.8, filed Nov. 6, 2012, both of which are also incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
Number | Date | Country | |
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61722978 | Nov 2012 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | PCT/EP2013/072900 | Nov 2013 | US |
Child | 14703526 | US |