Refrigeration – Disparate apparatus utilized as heat source or absorber – With sorption
Reexamination Certificate
2001-06-07
2002-07-02
Esquivel, Denise L. (Department: 1764)
Refrigeration
Disparate apparatus utilized as heat source or absorber
With sorption
C062S480000, C165S104120
Reexamination Certificate
active
06412295
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention concerns a sorption device for heating and cooling gas streams according to the precharacterizing portion of claim
1
.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Sorption devices are apparatuses in which a liquid or solid sorbent takes up a second fluid which boils at a lower temperature, the so-called working fluid, in the form of a vapor while releasing heat (sorption). In the course of this process, the working fluid evaporates in an evaporator while absorbing heat. After the sorbent is saturated, it can again be desorbed when heat is added to it (regeneration). At that time, the working fluid evaporates from the sorbent. The working fluid vapor can be recondensed and can subsequently be vaporized again in the evaporator.
Sorption devices for cooling with solid sorbents are known from the European Patent No. EP 0 368 111 and the German Patent Application [Offenlegungsschrift] No. DE-OS 34 25 419. Sorbent containers that are filled with sorbents draw off the working fluid vapor which forms in an evaporator and take it up in the sorbent packing while releasing heat. Subsequently, the heat of sorption must be dissipated from the sorbent packing. The cooling devices can be used for cooling and heating food products in thermally insulated boxes.
The sorption cooling system known from the European Patent No. EP 0 368 11 1 comprises a portable cooling unit and a stationary charging station that can be separated from the cooling device. The cooling device comprises a sorbent container that is filled with a solid sorbent and an evaporator that contains a liquid working fluid and a heat exchanger embedded therein. The evaporator and the sorbent container are connected to each other via a vapor line that can be shut off. Liquid media which are cooled to the temperature desired by opening and closing the shut-off device flow through a heat exchanger that is embedded in the evaporator. After the sorbent is saturated with the working fluid, it can be heated in the charging station. The working fluid vapor that forms is recondensed in the evaporator. The heat of condensation is discharged by means of cooling water which must flow through the embedded heat exchanger.
The problem to be solved by this invention is to make available a sorption device that is suitable both for the heating and, as an alternative, for the cooling especially of gas streams.
OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This problem is solved by the characterizing features of claim
1
. The dependent claims disclose additional devices and methods in which the sorption device according to this invention can be used.
Thus, a sorption device according to the present invention contains a sorbent inside a sorbent container, a valve, and the liquid working fluid inside an evaporator. Via a sorbent heat exchanger, heat is added to the sorbent during the regeneration phase and removed from the sorbent during the sorption phase. Via a working fluid heat exchanger, heat of evaporation is added to the working fluid during the sorption phase and heat of liquefaction is removed during the regeneration phase. According to the present invention, the quantities of heat are transferred to and from gas streams which in turn are, respectively, fed into and discharged from gas flow channels. According to the present invention, at the inlets and outlets of both the sorbent heat exchanger and the working fluid heat exchanger, there are connecting elements which make possible a readily removable and exchangeable connection to the gas flow channels for feeding in and discharging the gas streams that are to be heated or cooled. In this manner, each sorption device can be used either for heating or for cooling a gas stream since either the sorbent heat exchanger or the working fluid heat exchanger can be connected to the gas flow channel desired. According to the present invention, it is also possible to provide for switching devices for routing the gas streams. The connecting elements and switching devices need not meet any special requirements. They should, however, make it possible to establish a simple, secure, gas-tight, and rapid connection between the flow channels and the heat exchangers. It is useful to ensure that the connections or attachments cannot be mistaken for one another.
If the connecting elements and the gas channels are symmetrically arranged, the sorption device needs to be only turned upside down or tilted so as to make it possible to switch from the heating function to the cooling function. In this case, the sorption device and the channels need not be folded, crossed, twisted or in any other way adjusted to fit the particular installation requirements.
Under certain circumstances, it may be necessary to protect the outlets and the inlets that lead to the gas flow channels by an incorporation of separate gas filters. This is especially true if the sorption device has to be used and exchanged in a poisoned, contaminated or polluted atmosphere. The separate gas filters thus offer protection against unfiltered gases throughout the time the device is used or switched.
It may also be useful if the gas flow channels is connected to a box and if provision is made so that the sorption device can be installed in the box in two different ways or if the gas flow channels can be suitably switched within the box. Depending on the application (heating or cooling), the desired heat exchanger can subsequently be connected to the appropriate gas flow channels. At the same time, the box might also contain the required air and gas supply units (e.g., fans), filters, and energy supply units, and it might be designed in the form of a portable or movable suitcase.
During the regeneration phase, the sorbent is heated and the working fluid vapor is desorbed. This vapor flows through the opened or self-opening valve to the evaporator where it condenses out. At the end of the regeneration phase, the heat supply into the sorbent is interrupted. As a result, the desorption of additional working fluid vapor is concluded. When the vapor valve closes, the working fluid vapor is prevented from flowing back. Subsequently, the desorbed working fluid in the form of a liquid is contained in the evaporator. Now the sorption device is ready and can be stored for any length of time desired. Per kilogram of zeolite, a sorption device according to the present invention is able to store 130 watt hours of cold and 160 watt hours of heat without loss over any length of time desired.
It is useful if the sorbent container and possibly also the sorbent heat exchanger are provided with a temperature-resistant thermal insulation to minimize the dissipation of heat into the surrounding air during the regeneration process. The regeneration can be carried out in a separate regeneration device. It is especially energy-efficient if the gas stream that exits from the working fluid heat exchanger after having absorbed the heat of liquefaction is heated by means of a heater to temperatures of approximately 300° C. and is subsequently introduced into the sorbent heat exchanger. In this manner it is possible to use only one single fan and one single gas stream for both heat exchangers and to preheat the gas stream with the heat of liquefaction. In this manner, the regeneration device can have a simple design, it is safe to operate and, at the same time, it saves energy.
To initiate the sorption phase, the valve is opened. Now working fluid vapor can flow from the evaporator into the sorbent container and can be exothermally taken up by the sorbent. This cools the working fluid vapor in the evaporator as well as the gas stream that flows past inside the heat exchanger. To generate the maximum cooling capacity, the sorbent must be able to transfer its heat of sorption in a heat exchanger to a gas stream. An especially intensive refrigerating effect is achieved if the sorbent container has a sufficiently large heat exchanging surface for the gas stream that flows through it. Preferably, the sorbent is cooled to low temperatures so as to make it
Becky Andreas
Gehse Hartmut
Grupp Christoph
Just Jürgen
Maier-Laxhuber Peter
Esquivel Denise L.
Hoffmann & Baron , LLP
Jones Melvin
Zeo-Tech (Zeolith Technologie GmbH)
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