EP2078903A1 - Device with a function unit for heating and cooling assemblies - Google Patents

Abstract

The arrangement has a functional unit for heating and cooling systems, and a shell device (20) completely surrounding the functional unit. The shell device is equipped with an insulator, which is diffusion-resistant in relation to moisture, where the shell device is formed in a two-piece manner. Pipe lines allow flow of fluids with a temperature, which temporally falls below a dew point of surrounding of the functional unit. A part of the shell device is attached to another part of the shell device in a removable and reclosable manner.

Description

The invention relates to an arrangement with a functional unit for heating and cooling systems, with several connections for pipelines through which fluids pass, wherein the fluids have temperatures which at least temporarily fall below the dew point of the environment of the functional unit or for which the danger or possibility exists in that its temperature falls below the dew point of the environment of the functional unit.

In heating systems that use heat pumps with evaporators and ground collectors or ground probes, a brine mixture is usually used, which is to promote through pipes in the ground and in the house. This brine mixture is usually a water-glycol mixture and serves to lower the freezing point of the liquid used below 0 ° C.

For the heat pump system and its evaporator circuit in addition to the connecting pipes various other components are useful or necessary, such as pumps, shut-off valves, mud flaps, flow indicator, fill and drain valves, branch lines and the like.

For the large number of these components, it has proven useful to combine all relevant hydraulic components for the operation of the heat pump system into a ready-made functional unit. This functional unit then no longer needs to be individually selected, assembled and assembled by the person performing the installation and installation of the heating system, but only the leads leading from outside to these components must be connected. These measures make it much easier for the installer of the heat pump system to plan as well as to install, and he also receives cost certainty. Although the spatial boundary conditions may affect the course of the supply lines in the environment, but it can always be the same ready-made functional unit used.

For these reasons, such prefabricated, prefabricated functional units in various forms have been offered for some time in the heating and solar sectors of various manufacturers. These prefabricated functional units are referred to as "stations" or as a heat pump brine station.

The installation of these stations is preferably carried out within a building envelope, for example in a boiler room. This makes it always possible to have access to the station for maintenance or repair purposes. In boiler rooms, ambient temperatures usually range from about 15 ° C to 30 ° C and relative humidities range from 10% to 70%. However, the temperature level of the flowing in the lines brine mixture, ie the mixture of water and glycol in particular, is in a range between -5 ° C and + 10 ° C, since as mentioned, the brine mixture also passes through ground collectors or ground probes in the ground. This temperature level extends by heat conduction to other components of the station. Thus, many components are below the dew point temperature of the environment for a significant portion of the operating time.

The inevitable consequence of this is that condensation forms on the components. These amounts of condensation can be quite considerable.

Conventionally, this condensation is often accepted on the components. The occurrence of condensation or condensation is of course known. Since the condensation can lead to moisture damage to the surrounding structure, an attempt is made to avoid or reduce at least these moisture damage, for example by collecting the condensation water in tanks.

It is also already tried in some known from the prior art concepts to provide a visual disguise, in order to aesthetically as unattractive condensed water should not be too clear and focus better on a few local areas.

Disadvantages of these previous attempts are that while moisture damage to the structures can be largely avoided or at least delayed, but that it can still come to corrosion damage to the components themselves, also to damage the electronics of the circulation pumps.

Alternatively, one could try to use insulating material and thus to glue the individual components and lines. This approach is well-known in professional refrigeration systems, but is very time consuming and costly when it comes to home heating systems. It should also be taken into account that the specialist personnel involved in heating systems, for example in homes, are not sufficiently familiar with insulating material that is otherwise used in refrigeration plant construction. The handling of this not easy to handle insulating material is therefore rather strange for the heating engineering personnel, so it is not practiced and it can cause difficulties, especially since the components can be constructed quite complicated. The costs could therefore be quite considerable. Only with larger objects is therefore a single insulation with insulating material to be found by specially trained specialist staff.

In addition to the problem of condensation water is sometimes desired in heat or cooling systems and their piping and a lining and insulation. For this one can push heat-insulating material over the lines or as for example in the DE 296 01 458 U1 or the EP 0 561 037 A1 Slide two half-shells of heat-insulating plastic from each other on the two sides of a pipe string, thereby enclosing the pipe string and locking the half-shells together or similar. For a revision of the affected section of the enclosed tubing, the half-shells are then pulled apart again.

Also from the EP 0 559 066 A1 is a heat insulation shell for fittings or flange connections is known, in which the heat transfer from the valve or flange to the environment should be reduced. Here, a prefabricated insulation is proposed, with the assembly on a construction site to be shortened and simplified.

A prefabricated, thermally insulated pipe as such is used in the DE 20 2006 002 380 U1 proposed. Also, this thermally insulated piping system should be able to be built with little installation effort on a construction site.

While such concepts may be useful in thermal insulation of tubing strings, they are not intended for capturing condensation water and the like. For complete brine stations with a variety of supplying and leading away pipelines such a concept is in any case unsuitable and not thought.

All the more, this applies to those from the DE 298 17 972 U1 known concepts with which also individual pipe sections are enclosed with trays of heat-insulating plastic.

Panels and thermal insulation in general context, for example, are also used for heating and air conditioning in armature retarders of vehicles in the context of DE 198 02 055 A1 known. This concept can not be applied to brine stations and to the problem of the occurrence of condensation.

The object of the invention is therefore to propose a possibility to propose practical solutions for the above-mentioned stations in connection with heat pump systems.

This object is achieved in a generic device in that the arrangement comprises a shell device, that the shell device surrounds the functional unit, and that the shell device is equipped with an insulation which is diffusion-inhibiting to moisture.

With such a device, the tasks are solved. It is possible to equip all components of a so-called brine station at the factory in such a way that the formation of condensation water is very much inhibited and reduced, that even the occurrence of condensation water is almost completely avoided.

This happens because the occurrence of relevant humidity is virtually eliminated within a brine station. The interior of the brine station is isolated from the environment. Moisture from the air in the vicinity of the brine station can then no longer penetrate into the thus encapsulated interior of the brine station due to this isolation.

A moisture diffusion-inhibiting insulation is therefore virtually airtight. An exchange of molecules from the space within the shell means with the space outside the shell means, so with the ambient air, should be excluded as far as possible. So it is about the physical exchange of air molecules including and in particular of water vapor molecules, which is prevented or inhibited according to the invention.

This possibility has not yet been considered in the prior art. There attention was focused exclusively on the energy transfer, which can be done through a half-shell around a pipeline, commonly referred to as heat conduction.

Thus, according to the invention, it is not about a thermal insulation, as is done by half-shells in pipelines, but an insulation that is virtually airtight and diffusion-inhibiting at least to moisture. This places completely different requirements on the material and also on the structural design.

A heat-insulating or heat-conducting as possible lowering shell is usually not diffusion-inhibiting to moisture and vice versa, since it is physically and technically to completely different circumstances. This can easily be recognized by the idea that heat conduction does not occur anyway at approximately the same temperatures inside and outside the shell device, as they are quite real in autumn or spring, for example, while at this time with non-diffusion-inhibiting shell devices water vapor molecules through could pass through the shell. Exactly that should and will be prevented with the invention.

The "airtight" or at least at least against moisture diffusion-inhibiting design of the shell device is thus an essential feature of the invention.

By isolating the resulting box from the outside space, the humidity of the air trapped in the brine station can condense at a maximum when the dew point of the pipes and fittings within the brine station falls below the dew point. However, this quantity is negligibly small due to the narrow and non-inflowing volume.

The brine station is virtually isolated from the environment "airtight". The heating specialist, however, all complex laborious insulation work saves, since they are already implemented in the mass production of ready-made functional unit with their preferred box-like enclosure through the shell means.

Nevertheless, the solar station is still accessible for maintenance or repair purposes. It must then be opened by the person responsible for the maintenance or repair purposes for this one operation, so that normal, so possibly humid ambient air can penetrate. The penetrating volume of this humid ambient air, however, is limited to the subsequent, soon after the maintenance or repair resuming the Solestation to exactly the volume that is within the wall of the box. This small volume alone is usually insufficient for the formation of significant condensation, since no supply can penetrate from the outside.

It is also conceivable to insert moisture-absorbing pillows or packets into the brine station for this relatively small volume, which after resealing the brine station absorbs the newly infiltrated minor proportion of atmospheric moisture from the penetrated air and allows the moisture content to return to almost zero.

While previous insulating used approximately from the initially described prior art of pure thermal insulation, they are unsuitable for the conditions of use as the brine circuit of heat pumps due to the condensation occurring on the sheathed components. This condensation would lead to structural damage in the installation room.

Instead of the conventionally used uninsulated pump groups in which the resulting condensate is therefore collected by means of a gutter, the invention offers a practical, visually appealing and functional way to prevent such structural damage by the complete avoidance of condensate from the outset.

This does not have to be cut in geometrically complicated components such as pumps, mud flaps, shut-off valves and the like material and then glued together in individual sections Instead, the affected elements are accommodated in the shell device provided according to the invention, which is diffusion-proof or in any case diffusion-inhibiting with respect to the environment and with regard to all penetrations. For the craftsman, this means enormous savings in terms of work and increased functional and cost certainty.

In particular, to maintain this reclosability in the insulating or at least inhibiting or reducing measures, preferably simple geometric shapes for the outer skin, the shell device, the brine station are selected. Preferably, it is about cuboid, box-like elements. Such boxes are also particularly practical and suitable for mass production.

As a result, it can also be avoided that many small cutouts have to be cut and processed from the insulating material, since only the relatively large-area, simple geometric shape of the cuboidal outer shell has to be insulated.

In order to facilitate the maintenance and repair work and nevertheless to facilitate the keeping of the moisture, a removable, defined lid is preferably provided. In this case, the interface between this cover and the remaining basic component of the container or the outer skin of the brine station is preferably defined and kept simple, in order to enable insulation in a particularly cost-effective and reliable manner.

It is also particularly preferred if the outer skin or wall of the brine station and the mentioned cover is formed by two components which can be placed on one another and are compressible with a clamp closure. This embodiment results from the fact that the shell means is formed of two approximately symmetrical shell elements or parts which are connected to each other via an insulating seal. It can then also be provided that the two parts of the shell device by means of a releasable clamping device are clamped against each other.

The attachment of the entire Solestation on the wall about a boiler room is carried out so that the attachment takes place entirely outside the wall, so no fixing screws or similar elements must be passed through the wall of the box-like shell device.

The passages in the side walls of the shell device are limited to a minimum and already provided and insulated in the factory.

It is thus deliberately avoided to place the passage of leads in the area in which the rear shell and the front shell of the shell device meet. While this is about in the DE 296 01 458 U1 is just sought to facilitate the diffusion of the pipe section, which is surrounded by the local thermal insulation, you can see in the preferred embodiments of the invention just from. The rear part of the shell completely absorbs the passages of the pipes, which already substantially facilitates a factory diffusion-inhibiting design and insulation.

As a result, at the same time the insulation of the actual shell boundaries of the front and rear shell against each other is very simplified, since no ducts or pipelines must be considered and instead can be paid attention to a lying in a plane impact surface.

This makes it possible to separate the content of the shell device almost completely against the environment diffusion-inhibiting and reducing, in the ideal case even diffusion-tight.

The actual prefabricated functional unit of the brine station can be completely accommodated in this wall of the shell device, so that it is no longer necessary to glue individual components separately with insulating material.

Preferably, the material used for the wall of the shell means expanded polypropylene (EPP). This material is a polypropylene based particle foam. EPP is characterized by a particularly low weight, also has good thermal insulation properties and can also be obtained inexpensively.

In order to achieve the desired diffusion inhibition, the shell device, preferably as a box-like element, is covered with an insulating material for which a closed-cell synthetic rubber is preferably used. For example, the product Armaflex AF offered by the manufacturer Armacell has proved its worth in tests. Closed-cell synthetic rubber has already proven itself in the field of cold insulation for technical refrigeration systems and is characterized by a high water vapor diffusion resistance, the resistance of the tested product Armaflex AF according to EN ISO 12086 and EN 13469 had a water vapor diffusion resistance μ of more than 10000. In addition, this material also has a low thermal conductivity.

Preferably, self-adhesive plate material is used, which can be easily cut to the desired dimensions.

As an alternative to a gluing with a corresponding material, it is basically also conceivable to provide the intended box-like walls of the shell device with a diffusion-inhibiting coating.

Preferably, initially a complete ready-made functional unit is completed in the factory as a system and then inserted into a corresponding wall of the shell device. Connections, which are to lead out of the wall at the finished brine station, are also completely factory-provided and mounted and then the bushings are additional insulated outside the box and carefully glued to the insulation of the tray device. At the tubes themselves are then conveniently mounted outside of the shell device cold ear clips.

To stabilize the overall construction, it is possible to fasten, for example, four cold ear collars used for the pipes in the leadthroughs on a metal plate which runs behind the shell device at a later time.

The specialist responsible for the preparation of the heating system receives the finished arrangement with the shell device with the entire interior and the functional unit of the brine station and can now mount this brine station in its wall in the boiler room of a single family house and connect the required connections from the outside and the entire system Start operation. Optionally, the lid can be removed and then put on and sealed again by clips or other connectors.

Similarly, it is maintained during maintenance or repair work.

The arrangements and brine stations according to the invention are not only interesting for heating systems, but also for cooling systems, as there may also be problems due to condensation.

Figur 1

eine schematische Ansicht einer erfindungsgemäßen Anordnung;

Figur 2

eine schematische Ansicht eines Heizungskellers 10 mit einer erfindungsgemäßen Anordnung;

Figur 3

eine perspektivische Ansicht auf eine andere Ausführungsform einer erfindungsgemäßen Anordnung; und

Figur 4

eine andere Ansicht auf die Ausführungsform aus Figur 3.

In the following a simple embodiment of the invention will be explained in more detail with reference to the drawing. It shows:

FIG. 1

a schematic view of an arrangement according to the invention;

FIG. 2

a schematic view of a boiler room 10 with an arrangement according to the invention;

FIG. 3

a perspective view of another embodiment of an inventive arrangement; and

FIG. 4

another view of the embodiment FIG. 3 ,

In the following, the arrangement according to the invention and its conception in a boiler room 10 at the same time first on the basis of Figures 1 and 2 shown.

A boiler room 10 has, as usual, a floor 11 and walls 12. Inside the boiler room 10 there is a temperature which, depending on the season, is usually between about 15 ° C and 30 ° C, but may also vary slightly above and below. In the boiler room 10 is a heating system, not shown, which may have burners, the fluids can be supplied from solar panels from the roof, may have heat storage, in which the fluids are introduced from the solar system from the roof, and finally to the other pipelines which are connected to ground collectors or ground probes, for example. In order to use geothermal heat, heat pump systems are used, which lead fluids in pipelines into the ground. In order to bring about a heat exchange there, these fluids are mixed with glycol, so that their freezing point is lowered so far that they do not freeze even at temperatures below the usual zero point.

As a result, these fluids in the pipelines from the ground collectors can have very low temperatures, which are around and sometimes below 0 ° C.

This in turn means that moisture from the surrounding air condenses on these pipes, which are also very cold because the ambient air, as stated above, has temperatures of around 15 ° C to 30 ° C and weather-dependent humidity.

The various pipelines, fittings, Abstellorgane and other functional elements of the heating system are summarized according to the invention in a functional unit 14, which is indicated here purely by way of example with different pipes 15 and branches. For a particular heating system with certain functions, this functional unit can be prefabricated and assembled and is then identical, even if the piping in the boiler room 10, of course, very different, depending on the size of the boiler room 10, the location of the feeders and the other Construction. These pipes 15 outside the functional unit 14 are in the FIG. 2 not shown.

However, indicated is a shell means 20, the total in FIG. 1 is shown larger. This shell device 20 consists of a rear shell 21, which is also in the FIG. 2 can be seen, and from a front shell 22. Between the two parts 21, 22 of the shell device 20 is the functional unit 14 with the connections for the pipes 15 and the other elements.

The rear shell 21 is fixed to one of the walls 12 of the boiler room 10. In this case, not by the rear shell 21 itself a fastener out, but (not shown) outside the shell by means of corresponding projections or clips a possibility of attachment to the wall 12 created.

After mounting the rear shell 21 with the functional unit 14 on the wall 12, the front shell 22 is also connected to the rear shell 21.

This is done in particular by means of a clamping device 30, which may have snap closures, for example.

All bushings through the shell device 20, in particular thus through the rear shell 21, are already carefully insulated at the factory, in particular with a closed-cell synthetic rubber. This insulation therefore already exists upon delivery of the shell device 20 together with the functional unit 14.

The heating specialists on site need only the already protruding through the rear shell 21 outwardly ports of the pipes 15 with in the FIG. 2 not shown, located in the boiler room 10 piping connect.

In principle, it would be possible to keep the front shell 22 already connected to the rear shell 21 during these entire processes. For practical reasons, however, you will still read before the start-up of the heating system still located in the functional unit 14 elements, perform maintenance, etc ..

In any case, the rear shell 21 and the front shell 22 are connected to each other, these two shells 21, 22 are separated by a possible smooth parting plane, wherein in the parting plane also the insulation of the preferred closed-cell synthetic rubber or other suitable diffusion-reducing or diffusion-inhibiting material, which can also be attached here already factory.

By the snap fasteners of the clamping device 30, the two shells 21, 22 are clamped to each other and thus form a total as possible diffiusionsreduzierenden or diffusion-inhibiting character. Basically possible, although in the embodiment in the Figures 1 and 2 not shown, it would be to glue the interface with a self-adhesive diffusion-proof insulating tape for diffusion-tight completion.

As tests have shown, even creates a virtually diffusion-preventing insulating shell for the connections of the pipes 15 of the heat pump system.

In principle, it would be possible to pump the relatively small interior of the shell device 20 between the rear shell and the front shell 22 still empty or defined to fill with dry air. However, this room is comparatively small. The air in it through the single opening contains a very defined and limited amount of humidity, which is practically not sufficient to produce significant amounts of condensation. This slight amount may optionally be removed by moisture-absorbing or -adsorbierende bags or the like in the interior of the shell device 20, if desired. A subsequent flow of moisture-containing air is not possible here due to the diffusion-inhibiting insulation.

The entire complicated branches, aggregates and the like of the functional unit 14 are thus completely protected against condensation.

If maintenance or repair of the functional unit 14 is to take place, which may be the case at longer intervals, then a short-term and limited opening of the shell device 20 is required, through which, as in the first start-up, only a once again narrowly limited moisture-containing air volume into the Interior of the shell device 20 can flow. Here then again in a similar form can be proceeded.

In the FIGS. 3 and 4 an alternative embodiment of the invention is shown. Here is a perspective view of one in the FIG. 3 opened and in the FIG. 4 to see closed construction. The construction corresponds to the first embodiment in a number of elements Figures 1 and 2 , Thus again a shell device 20 can be seen. In the FIG. 3 one sees the rear shell 21 and largely accommodated in this the functional unit 14 with the connections for the pipes 15 and the other elements.

In addition, it can be seen that a base plate 23 is provided. This base plate 23 is located behind the shell 21 of the shell device 20. It can (not shown) are attached to one of the walls 12 of the boiler room 10. The rear shell 21 may be glued to the base plate 23 or attached in another form; This attachment can also be done indirectly via the functional unit 14.

As in particular in the FIG. 4 can be seen, the front shell 22 of the shell device 20 in this embodiment is approximately plate-shaped. This front shell 22 is connected to the rear shell 21 and the functional unit 14 on the wall 12 only after mounting the base plate 23 with the rear shell 21 and the functional unit.

This happens in the illustrated embodiments of FIGS. 3 and 4 by means of a self-adhesive diffusion-proof insulating tape 31.

It is thus completely unnecessary to provide collecting devices for condensate in these complicated fittings. A protection of the existing electronics or reading instruments is no longer required. This creates a significant cost reduction here.

Compared to the conventionally occurring amounts of water, which can be one to two liters per day at such stations, occurs a dramatic Simplification, which also leads to a substantially error-free functionality, makes the disposal of condensation unnecessary and visually much more appealing.

Due to the fact that drip pans are eliminated, there are no more hygiene problems due to contaminated water in these drip pans. It also eliminates the risk of moisture damage, if the flow of such drip pans should be clogged once.

The mounting options for the stations with the functional units 14 are significantly expanded, since no longer has to be considered how the conventional accumulating condensation can be eliminated.

It is even possible to install the stations differently with the functional units, such as horizontal or vertical, while conventionally due to the consideration of the condensate usually only one installation option was given.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

10

boiler room

11

Floor of the boiler room

12

Walls of the boiler room

14

functional unit

15

Pipelines and branches

20

cup means

21

rear shell

22

front shell

23

baseplate

30

Clamping device, for example with snap closures

31

electrical tape

Claims (13)

Arrangement with a functional unit (14) for heating and cooling installations, with a plurality of connections for pipelines (15) through which fluids pass,
wherein the fluids have temperatures which at least temporarily fall below the dew point of the environment of the functional unit (14) or for which the danger or possibility exists that their temperature falls below the dew point of the environment of the functional unit (14),
characterized,
in that the arrangement has a shell device (20),
that the shell means (20) surrounds the functional unit (14), and
in that the shell device (20) is provided with an insulation which is diffusion-inhibiting to moisture. Arrangement according to claim 1,
characterized,
in that the shell device (20) completely surrounds the functional unit (14). Arrangement according to claim 1 or 2,
characterized,
that the shell means (20) is completely diffusion-inhibiting. Arrangement according to one of the preceding claims,
characterized,
that the shell device (20) is formed in two parts,
that the two parts together completely surround the functional unit (14),
is that part of the shell means (20) fixedly attachable,
that the other part of the tray means (20) is removably and recloseably attached to the first part of the tray means (20), and
that the two parts of the shell means (20) of the reclosing each other diffusion-inhibiting connectable. Arrangement according to claim 4,
characterized,
that the two parts of the shell means (20) are connected to each other via an insulating gasket or a tape (31). Arrangement according to one of the preceding claims,
characterized,
that the two parts of the shell means (20) are tensioned against each other by means of a releasable clamping device (30). Arrangement according to one of the preceding claims,
characterized,
that the shell device is made of an expanded polypropylene (EPP). Arrangement according to one of the preceding claims,
characterized,
that the isolation is effected by means of a closed-cell synthetic rubber. Arrangement according to one of the preceding claims,
characterized,
that the shell device (20) is constructed box-like. Arrangement according to claim 9,
characterized,
that the shell device (20) is constructed in two parts, and
that the two parts of the shell means (20) are separated by a parting plane, so that the superposed parts of the Both parts of the shell means (20) are smooth and geometrically simple. Arrangement according to one of the preceding claims,
characterized,
that passages for the connections of the pipes (15) in the shell means (20) are provided only in one of the two parts of the shell means (20), preferably in a wall closer rear shell (21), and
that the other part, which constitutes a front shell forming a removable lid, is formed without such a passage. Arrangement according to one of the preceding claims,
characterized,
in that the shell device (20) is provided with insulation which is diffusion-tight with respect to moisture. Arrangement according to claim 12,
characterized,
in that the shell device (20) is provided with an insulation which is airtight.

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