EP0236660A1

EP0236660A1 - Heating system

Info

Publication number: EP0236660A1
Application number: EP86850085A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Kimmo Puolitaival; Kauko Rahko; Heinz Ekman
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1985-01-15
Filing date: 1986-03-10
Publication date: 1987-09-16
Also published as: JPS62218740A; FI72798B; FI72798C; SU1386044A3; FI850177L; FI850177A0

Abstract

A procedure for improving the efficiency of a heating system, the heating system comprising one or several heater elements (7) inside which, in an enclosed space (2,5,6), is circulated a heat transfer fluid of which the pressure increases exponentially with increasing temperature. The object of the invention is to improve the efficiency of the heating system. This is carried out in the invention in that the temperature and pressure of the heat transfer fluid contained in the heater element (7) are varied by switching the heating of the heat transfer fluid alternatingly on and off.

Description

The present invention concerns a procedure for improving the efficiency of a heating system, the heating system comprising one or several heater elements, inside which in an enclosed space is circulated a heat transfer fluid the pressure of which fluid increases exponentially with increasing temperature; and a heating system in which the procedure is applied.
Through the Finnish patent application No. 831221 is known a heater element or radiator with a horizontal heat exchanger consisting of a tubular container containing a fluid, such as freon, both in gaseous and liquid form. The freon evaporates with the aid of a heat source inside the heat exchanger, such as a heating conduit passing therethrough. To the container has been connected a heatreleasing element, from which the fluid in gaseous form releases heat into ambient air and at the same time condenses, and the element consists of a plurality of vertical pipes connected to the top margin of the container.
A radiator of type is clearly superior in efficiency and economy to radiator of prior art in which the heat transfer fluid was merely water. Nevertheless, with continuously increasing energy costs, there is need to further develop the heating systems with a view to reducing the energy consumption. The object of the present invention is to teach a procedure for improving the efficiency of the heating system. Therefore, the procedure of the invention is characterized in that the temperature and pressure of the heat transfer fluid contained in the heater element are varied by switching the heating of the heat transfer fluid alternatingly on and off.
An advantageous embodiment of the procedure of the invention is characterized in that in the heating system is used, towards heating the heat transfer fluid, water circulating through all the heater elements of the system, its circulation being alternatingly switched on and off with the aid of a valve inserted in the water pipe.
Another advantageous embodiment of the procedure of the invention is characterized in that for heat transfer fluid is used freon 12.
The heating system is which the procedure of the invention is applied is characterized in that the temperature and pressure of the heat transfer fluid contained in the heater element are varied by alternatingly switching the heating of the heat transfer fluid on and off.
An advantageous embodiment of the heating system of the invention is characterized in that the duration of the heat transfer fluid heating period is about 10% of the duration of the idle period. The idle period is understood to be the phase in which heating takes place in the normal way.
The efficiency of a heating system provided with the characteristic features presented in the foregoing has been found to be considerably superior to that before.
In the following, the invention is described more in detail with the aid of an example, referring to the drawing attached, wherein

Fig. 1 presents the vertical section of a radiator appropriate for use in the present invention.
Fig. 2 presents schematically a house heating system in which the procedure of the invention is applied.

Thus, in Fig. 1 is presented the radiator or heater element known through the Finnish patent application No. 831221, in which the procedure of the present invention can be applied. The radiator comprises a horizontal heat exchanger 1 consisting of a tubular container 2 containing a fluid, such as freon or equivalent, both in gaseous and liquid form, which evaporates with the aid of a heating conduit 3 passing through the heat exchanger. To the container 2 is connected a heat-releasing element 4, in which the fluid in gaseous form releases heat to the ambient air and condenses at the same time. The element 4 is composed of a plurality of vertical pipes 5 connected on the top margin of the container 2. In Fig. 1, the pipes 5 have been connected, two and two, by their top ends with a horizontal pipe section 6.
In Fig.2, the heater elements of the kind described above are indicated by reference numeral 7. The house heating system depicted in Fig. 2 comprises additionally a heating boiler 8, a water pipeline 9 and a shut-off valve 10.
The normal situation was previously that the water circulates in the system all the time, whereby the surface temperature of the heater elements 7 has settled on a certain level. In the procedure of the present invention, the water circulation is automatically interrupted with the shut-off valve for a certain period, for instance for a few minutes, whereby the water is momentarily heated to a temperature considerably higher than that which it would have if it were circulating all the time. When the water has reached an appropriate temperature, the valve 10 opens and the water is again allowed to circulate in the heater elements 7. The hot water causes the freon in the heater elements to be heated and to evaporate in an instant. Hereby the surface temperature of the heater element rises rapidly above the temperature which would have been achieved with continuous water circulation, and it goes down very slowly back to this said temperature. The advantage is gained owing to the pressure of freon increasingly exponentially in relation to the temperature.
In precise measurements which have been carried out, the improvement of efficiency has been indisputable. In one experiment, the surface temperature of the radiator had stabilized at 54° in continuous operation. The radiator was then tipped over on its side, whereby the gaseous freon could not ascend in the pipes 5 and remained instead in the heat exchanger 1 to be heated further. The radiator was kept lying on its side for three minutes, during which time the surface temperature of the radiator at a given point decreased to 48°, whereafter the radiator was placed upright once more and the freon could ascend. The surface temperature of the radiator rose to 60° in one minute and began thereafter to go down very slowly, reaching the limit of 54° only after half an hour. In this way, the surface temperature of the radiator could be held most of the time over 54°, which is the mean temperature in a continuously operating radiator. Naturally, tipping over radiators cannot be considered in actual practice, but it was easy to demonstrate by this experiment that a remarkable improvement in efficiency is achieved with the aid of the invention, seeing that the fundamental principle of the procedure of the invention is the same as in the experiment. The invention is based on increasing the temperature of the freon momentarily considerably above the average temperature.
It is obvious to a person skilled in the art that the invention is not confined to the embodiments presented in the foregoing and that it can be varied within the scope of the claims following below.

Claims

1. A procedure for improving the efficiency of a heating system, the heating system comprising one or several heater elements (7) inside which in an enclosed space (2,5,6) is circulated a heat transfer fluid the pressure of which increases exponentially with increasing temperature, characterized in that the temperature and pressure of the heat transfer fluid contained in the heater element (7) are varied by switching the heating of the heat transfer fluid alternatingly on and off.

2. Procedure according to claim 1, characterized in that the heating system is used, towards heating the heat transfer fluid, water circulating through all the heater elements (7) of the system, its circulation being alternatingly switched on and off with the aid of a valve inserted in a water pipeline (9).

3. Procedure according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that for heat transfer fluid is used freon-12.

4. A heating system in which a procedure according to claim 1 is applied, in said heating system having been provided one or several heater elements (7) in which circulates, in an enclosed space (2,5,6), a heat transfer fluid of which the pressure increases exponentially with increasing temperature, characterized in that the temperature and pressure of the heat transfer fluid contained in the heater element (7) have been varied by switching the heating of the heat transfer fluid alternatingly on and off.

5. Heating system according to claim 4, characterized in that in the heating system is used, towards heating the heat transfer fluid, water circulating through all the heater elements (7) of the system, its circulation being alternatingly switched on and interrupted with the aid of a valve (10) inserted in the water pipeline (9).

6. Heating system according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that the duration of the heat transfer fluid heating period is about 10% of the duration of the idle period.