CA2572418A1 - Method of supplying heat pump energy in building retrofits - Google Patents
Method of supplying heat pump energy in building retrofits Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- CA2572418A1 CA2572418A1 CA002572418A CA2572418A CA2572418A1 CA 2572418 A1 CA2572418 A1 CA 2572418A1 CA 002572418 A CA002572418 A CA 002572418A CA 2572418 A CA2572418 A CA 2572418A CA 2572418 A1 CA2572418 A1 CA 2572418A1
- Authority
- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- heat
- building
- air
- heating
- heat pump
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Abandoned
Links
Classifications
-
- F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
- F24—HEATING; RANGES; VENTILATING
- F24F—AIR-CONDITIONING; AIR-HUMIDIFICATION; VENTILATION; USE OF AIR CURRENTS FOR SCREENING
- F24F3/00—Air-conditioning systems in which conditioned primary air is supplied from one or more central stations to distributing units in the rooms or spaces where it may receive secondary treatment; Apparatus specially designed for such systems
- F24F3/001—Air-conditioning systems in which conditioned primary air is supplied from one or more central stations to distributing units in the rooms or spaces where it may receive secondary treatment; Apparatus specially designed for such systems in which the air treatment in the central station takes place by means of a heat-pump or by means of a reversible cycle
-
- F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
- F24—HEATING; RANGES; VENTILATING
- F24D—DOMESTIC- OR SPACE-HEATING SYSTEMS, e.g. CENTRAL HEATING SYSTEMS; DOMESTIC HOT-WATER SUPPLY SYSTEMS; ELEMENTS OR COMPONENTS THEREFOR
- F24D5/00—Hot-air central heating systems; Exhaust gas central heating systems
- F24D5/12—Hot-air central heating systems; Exhaust gas central heating systems using heat pumps
-
- Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
- Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
- Y02B—CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO BUILDINGS, e.g. HOUSING, HOUSE APPLIANCES OR RELATED END-USER APPLICATIONS
- Y02B30/00—Energy efficient heating, ventilation or air conditioning [HVAC]
- Y02B30/13—Hot air central heating systems using heat pumps
Landscapes
- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
- Combustion & Propulsion (AREA)
- Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
- General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- Thermal Sciences (AREA)
- Other Air-Conditioning Systems (AREA)
Abstract
Heat pumps, either air-source or ground source, provide a highly efficient means of delivering space heating and cooling. Typical solutions for retrofiting heat pumps to existing buildings' heating system are often costly and/or limits the effectiveness of the heat pump's ability to deliver heat to the building. The nature of the invention consists of delivering heat pump derived energy to the building through its ventilation system.
Specially, heating/cooling coils supplied by the heat pump are installed either in, upstream or downstream of the building's air handling unit(s) (AHUs). The heat pump supplied coils thereby can provide base-level heating to the building via the ventilation air, essentially utilizing the ventilation system as a forced-air heating system. The process of adding heat coils and associated piping loop to the building's ventilation is a relatively minor retrofit, causing limited building disturbance and is an inexpensive retrofit.
Specially, heating/cooling coils supplied by the heat pump are installed either in, upstream or downstream of the building's air handling unit(s) (AHUs). The heat pump supplied coils thereby can provide base-level heating to the building via the ventilation air, essentially utilizing the ventilation system as a forced-air heating system. The process of adding heat coils and associated piping loop to the building's ventilation is a relatively minor retrofit, causing limited building disturbance and is an inexpensive retrofit.
Description
METHOD OF SUPPLYING HEAT PUMP ENERGY IN BUILDING RETROFITS
The subject of this patent is an innovative, cost effective way to deliver heat energy, supplied from heat pumps, to existing buildings.
Background of the Invention Heat pumps, either air-source or ground source, provide a highly efficient means of delivering space heating and cooling. Heat pump technology is well established and there are numerous manufacturers and applications of heat pumps in the Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) industry. Heat pumps use standard compressor technology commonly found in refrigeration. Depending on the source, heat pumps provide from 200% to over 400% energy efficiency. For every unit of electrical energy used by the heat pump, 2 to 4 times as much heat energy is produced.
As such, these systems are environmentally desirable as they greatly reduce building energy consumption, reduce green house gas emissions, and save the owner/operator significant operating costs.
Heat pump technology has progressed substantially in the last twenty years.
The heat pumps are increasingly efficient and reliable. Given their cost and energy effectiveness, they are a desirable system for heating and cooling. Many buildings were built prior to the widespread implementation of heat pump technology. Rising energy costs have building owner/operators interested in retrofitting existing buildings to have their heating and cooling energy supplied by heat pumps.
Description of the Problem Many buildings are heated with either fuel-fired boilers supplying high-grade heat to individual room radiators or electrical resistance heating. The fuel-fired boiler systems often operate with heating loop temperatures between 200 F and 160 F and the radiator fin area is sized accordingly. By contrast, water-to-water or air-to-water heat pumps deliver relatively "lower-grade heat, typically on the order of 120 F
to 100 F.
Because of this lower loop temperature, heat pumps cannot directly utilize building heating loops designed for fuel-fired boilers. The heat pump exiting water temperature is lower than the boilers' return water temperature, so the heat pump does not deliver any heat to an existing building heating loop. Furthermore, the radiators in a boiler supplied building loop have insufficient fin area to be utilized with the lower temperature heat pump supplied water, and therefore the radiators are undersized and cannot meet the peak heating loads.
These issues have limited the implementation of heat pump supplied heating in retrofit applications. Typical solutions are either to install a second or new heating system designed to accommodate the heat pump energy source, or to couple the heat pump system to the existing building loop, only providing seasonal building heating. The former solution can be very capital intensive, negating cost savings afforded by the heat pump. The later solution severely limits the heat pumps' heating potential, reducing the energy cost savings offered by the heat pumps.
The subject of this patent is an innovative, cost effective way to deliver heat energy, supplied from heat pumps, to existing buildings.
Background of the Invention Heat pumps, either air-source or ground source, provide a highly efficient means of delivering space heating and cooling. Heat pump technology is well established and there are numerous manufacturers and applications of heat pumps in the Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) industry. Heat pumps use standard compressor technology commonly found in refrigeration. Depending on the source, heat pumps provide from 200% to over 400% energy efficiency. For every unit of electrical energy used by the heat pump, 2 to 4 times as much heat energy is produced.
As such, these systems are environmentally desirable as they greatly reduce building energy consumption, reduce green house gas emissions, and save the owner/operator significant operating costs.
Heat pump technology has progressed substantially in the last twenty years.
The heat pumps are increasingly efficient and reliable. Given their cost and energy effectiveness, they are a desirable system for heating and cooling. Many buildings were built prior to the widespread implementation of heat pump technology. Rising energy costs have building owner/operators interested in retrofitting existing buildings to have their heating and cooling energy supplied by heat pumps.
Description of the Problem Many buildings are heated with either fuel-fired boilers supplying high-grade heat to individual room radiators or electrical resistance heating. The fuel-fired boiler systems often operate with heating loop temperatures between 200 F and 160 F and the radiator fin area is sized accordingly. By contrast, water-to-water or air-to-water heat pumps deliver relatively "lower-grade heat, typically on the order of 120 F
to 100 F.
Because of this lower loop temperature, heat pumps cannot directly utilize building heating loops designed for fuel-fired boilers. The heat pump exiting water temperature is lower than the boilers' return water temperature, so the heat pump does not deliver any heat to an existing building heating loop. Furthermore, the radiators in a boiler supplied building loop have insufficient fin area to be utilized with the lower temperature heat pump supplied water, and therefore the radiators are undersized and cannot meet the peak heating loads.
These issues have limited the implementation of heat pump supplied heating in retrofit applications. Typical solutions are either to install a second or new heating system designed to accommodate the heat pump energy source, or to couple the heat pump system to the existing building loop, only providing seasonal building heating. The former solution can be very capital intensive, negating cost savings afforded by the heat pump. The later solution severely limits the heat pumps' heating potential, reducing the energy cost savings offered by the heat pumps.
Description of Prior Art There are numerous patents associated with heat pumps and various heat pump applications. Related patents may include:
. CA 2021842 which provides a means of tempering ventilation air supply with heat recovered from exhaust air;
. CA 1102289 which heats mine fresh air utilizing a heat pump recovering heat from mine exhaust air; and . CA 2165673 which provides a means of recovering heat from exhaust air and supplying that heat (with or without supplemental heat) to the building supply air.
Summary of the Invention No prior art has been identified as providing a cost effective solution for adding or retrofitting heat-pump supplied energy to an existing building. The nature of the invention consists of delivering heat pump derived energy to the building through its ventilation system. Specially, heating/cooling coils supplied by the heat pump are installed either in, upstream or downstream of the building's air handling unit(s) (AHUs).
The heat pump supplied coils thereby can provide base-level heating to the building via the ventilation air, essentially utilizing the ventilation system as a forced-air heating system. The process of adding heat coils and associated piping loop to the building's ventilation is a relatively minor retrofit, causing limited building disturbance and is an inexpensive retrofit. The additional advantage of this approach is that it leaves the building's existing heating system fully intact, functional and unmodified.
This allows the heat pump(s) to operate independently of the building's existing heating system and allows for heating system redundancy in the event of heat supply interruption in one of the systems.
Brief Description of the Drawing Figure 1 illustrates schematically the retrofit application options for heat-pump supplied heating coils installed at an air handing unit.
Detailed Description of the Invention The nature of the invention consists of delivering heat-pump supplied heat energy through addition of heating coils to the building's ventilation system: the heat is then delivered to the building by heating the ventilation air. Typically, this arrangement consists of adding one or several heating coils to the building's Air Handler Unit(s) as illustrated on Figure 1. The typical Air Handler Unit (1) takes both building retumed air from the building (2) and mixes it with fresh air (3) from the outside before delivering to the building (4). The air handier unit typically has an existing heating coil (5) which supplies heat from the building's existing heating loop to temper the cold outside air before it is delivered to the building. The means of delivering supplemental heat from the retrofitted heat pumps is to install one or multiple additional heating coils in any of three locations: inside the air handier (6), immediately downstream of the air handier in the building's trunk duct (7) or at the fresh air intake (8). If the supplemental heat coils are installed at the fresh air intake location (8), the delivery of space heat to the building maybe limited if the fresh air dampers are closed. Furthermore, at this location (position 8), consideration should be given to ensuring freeze protection for the coil during times of heat-pump loop shutdown. The added heat coils then have their hot water delivered from a separate loop (9) to the new/retrofitted heat pump(s). These supplemental, or retrofitted coils thereby deliver space heating energy to the building via the ventilation air, raising the ventilation air temperature to meet the building heating demands. The size and number of coils will need to be determined on a case-by-case basis specific to the building configuration.
In the typical appiication of this invention, the building's base load heating demand is supplied from the retrofitted heat pumps and the heat is delivered to the building via the ventilation system. Peak and/or specific zone heating is then delivered by the building's existing heating system. Under this configuration, the heat pumps will supply the majority of the building's heating load, but will not interfere with the operation of the building's existing heating system. Control of the heat pump retrofit system will need to be determined on a case-by-case basis as every building's systems will be different.
There may need to be some minor modification of the building's existing heating and ventilation control systems to integrate and optimize the retrofitted, heat pump supplied heat source.
Note that if the air handier unit incorporates heat recovery from exhaust air (also known as a Heat Recovery Ventilator (HRV)), the heat-pump supplied heat coils must be installed on the downstream, building side of the HRV. Installing the heat-pump supplied heat coils on the cold, fresh air side of the HRV will provided no heating benefit.
The retrofitted, heat pump supplied coils can also provide cooling to the ventilation air as per the normal appiication.
. CA 2021842 which provides a means of tempering ventilation air supply with heat recovered from exhaust air;
. CA 1102289 which heats mine fresh air utilizing a heat pump recovering heat from mine exhaust air; and . CA 2165673 which provides a means of recovering heat from exhaust air and supplying that heat (with or without supplemental heat) to the building supply air.
Summary of the Invention No prior art has been identified as providing a cost effective solution for adding or retrofitting heat-pump supplied energy to an existing building. The nature of the invention consists of delivering heat pump derived energy to the building through its ventilation system. Specially, heating/cooling coils supplied by the heat pump are installed either in, upstream or downstream of the building's air handling unit(s) (AHUs).
The heat pump supplied coils thereby can provide base-level heating to the building via the ventilation air, essentially utilizing the ventilation system as a forced-air heating system. The process of adding heat coils and associated piping loop to the building's ventilation is a relatively minor retrofit, causing limited building disturbance and is an inexpensive retrofit. The additional advantage of this approach is that it leaves the building's existing heating system fully intact, functional and unmodified.
This allows the heat pump(s) to operate independently of the building's existing heating system and allows for heating system redundancy in the event of heat supply interruption in one of the systems.
Brief Description of the Drawing Figure 1 illustrates schematically the retrofit application options for heat-pump supplied heating coils installed at an air handing unit.
Detailed Description of the Invention The nature of the invention consists of delivering heat-pump supplied heat energy through addition of heating coils to the building's ventilation system: the heat is then delivered to the building by heating the ventilation air. Typically, this arrangement consists of adding one or several heating coils to the building's Air Handler Unit(s) as illustrated on Figure 1. The typical Air Handler Unit (1) takes both building retumed air from the building (2) and mixes it with fresh air (3) from the outside before delivering to the building (4). The air handier unit typically has an existing heating coil (5) which supplies heat from the building's existing heating loop to temper the cold outside air before it is delivered to the building. The means of delivering supplemental heat from the retrofitted heat pumps is to install one or multiple additional heating coils in any of three locations: inside the air handier (6), immediately downstream of the air handier in the building's trunk duct (7) or at the fresh air intake (8). If the supplemental heat coils are installed at the fresh air intake location (8), the delivery of space heat to the building maybe limited if the fresh air dampers are closed. Furthermore, at this location (position 8), consideration should be given to ensuring freeze protection for the coil during times of heat-pump loop shutdown. The added heat coils then have their hot water delivered from a separate loop (9) to the new/retrofitted heat pump(s). These supplemental, or retrofitted coils thereby deliver space heating energy to the building via the ventilation air, raising the ventilation air temperature to meet the building heating demands. The size and number of coils will need to be determined on a case-by-case basis specific to the building configuration.
In the typical appiication of this invention, the building's base load heating demand is supplied from the retrofitted heat pumps and the heat is delivered to the building via the ventilation system. Peak and/or specific zone heating is then delivered by the building's existing heating system. Under this configuration, the heat pumps will supply the majority of the building's heating load, but will not interfere with the operation of the building's existing heating system. Control of the heat pump retrofit system will need to be determined on a case-by-case basis as every building's systems will be different.
There may need to be some minor modification of the building's existing heating and ventilation control systems to integrate and optimize the retrofitted, heat pump supplied heat source.
Note that if the air handier unit incorporates heat recovery from exhaust air (also known as a Heat Recovery Ventilator (HRV)), the heat-pump supplied heat coils must be installed on the downstream, building side of the HRV. Installing the heat-pump supplied heat coils on the cold, fresh air side of the HRV will provided no heating benefit.
The retrofitted, heat pump supplied coils can also provide cooling to the ventilation air as per the normal appiication.
Claims (9)
1. A method of delivering space-heating energy.
2. The method of space-heat delivery claimed in Claim 1 wherein said heat is generated from a heat-pump, either one or several air-to-air and/or ground source heat pumps.
3. The method of space-heat delivery claimed in Claim 1 wherein the heating energy is supplied to existing buildings.
4. The method of space-heat delivery claimed in Claim 1 wherein the application is a retrofit to an existing building.
5. The method of space-heat delivery claimed in Claim 1 and Claim 3 wherein said heat is distributed by raising said building's ventilation air temperature.
6. The method claimed in Claim 5 consists essentially of utilizing said existing ventilation system as a forced air heating system.
7. The method claimed in Claim 5 consists of one or several heating coils installed in said ventilation system to transfer the heat from the heat pump(s) to the ventilation air.
8. The method claimed in Claim 5 consists of said heating coils located at any of three locations: 1) inside the building's air-handler unit(s), 2) downstream of the building's air handler unit(s) in the building's ventilation duct system;
and/or 3) at the fresh air intake.
and/or 3) at the fresh air intake.
9. The application of the method of space-heat delivery claimed in Claim 1 can also be utilized for delivery of cooling to the building.
Priority Applications (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA002572418A CA2572418A1 (en) | 2006-12-27 | 2006-12-27 | Method of supplying heat pump energy in building retrofits |
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA002572418A CA2572418A1 (en) | 2006-12-27 | 2006-12-27 | Method of supplying heat pump energy in building retrofits |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA2572418A1 true CA2572418A1 (en) | 2008-06-27 |
Family
ID=39551453
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA002572418A Abandoned CA2572418A1 (en) | 2006-12-27 | 2006-12-27 | Method of supplying heat pump energy in building retrofits |
Country Status (1)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| CA (1) | CA2572418A1 (en) |
-
2006
- 2006-12-27 CA CA002572418A patent/CA2572418A1/en not_active Abandoned
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