GB2114283A

GB2114283A - Space heating

Info

Publication number: GB2114283A
Application number: GB08302291A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Peter Ashworth Webb
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1982-01-30
Filing date: 1983-01-27
Publication date: 1983-08-17
Also published as: GB2114283B; GB8302291D0

Abstract

A method of controlling the space heating within an industrial building (12) comprises collecting air from the lower regions (13), directing it to below the roof (14) or ceiling, and distributing it over the inside of the roof, so as to provide a cool layer adjacent the roof reducing the temperature gradient through it and therefore the heat loss. The collected air may be collected from close to the floor and/ or from under the floor, centrally and/or at the sides and may be directed over one or more walls before or after traversing the roof. An installation (11) for effecting the method comprises air collecting means (16) in the lower regions (13), at least one duct (17) extending upwardly therefrom to just below the roof (14), air moving means (18) such as a fan between the collecting means and the duct, and means (19) at the upper end of the duct for distributing the air over the inside of the roof. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Space heating This invention relates to space heating, e.g., in industrial buildings having walls and roofs, but is equally applicable to the heating of any space within a container having a temperature outside appreciably lower than that required inside.

For any given building or structure the heat loss and therefore the energy input requirement is governed by the temperature difference between the air or atmosphere on the outside and the adjacent air or atmosphere on the inside of any particular section of the fabric. For example, in the case of a typical industrial building of say 8m. average height there could be within the building a temperature gradient in winter varying from 1 2 C at floor level to 29"C at roof level when the ambient temperature outside is 0 C. The rate of energy loss through the roof is a function of the conductivity of the roof which is a constant for all practical purposes and the temperature difference between the air on the inside and the ambient air on the outside which in the example above would be 29"C.

It is known to direct hot air from below the roof of an industrial building through ducting by means of a fan to the floor or lower regions, but, while this makes the lower regions noticeably warmer than they would be with merely the radiant or blown air space heating usually provided, the temperature of the air on the inside of the roof is not appreciably lowered (especially since the directing of air downwards through ducting encourages the convection of warm air from the middle regions to the roof) so the heat loss through the roof remains substantially the same and the energy input requirement is not appreciably reduced.

The object of the invention is to provide a method and means for improving on the current situation.

According to one aspect of the present invention, a method of controlling the space heating within an industrial building (or other space) comprises collecting air from the lower regions, directing it to below the roof (or ceiling) and distributing it over the inside of the roof (or ceiling).

Following the previous example, if the temperature of the inside air in contact with the roof is reduced in this manner by 11 C to 18"C, an energy saving of some 37.9% can be achieved against the heat loss through the roof. Against this saving must be offset the energy required to direct the air upwards, but this will be comparatively low if not negligible after the initial capital cost. Further savings may be achieved by also distributing collected air from the lower regions over the inside of one or more walls of the building (or other space), e.g., downwardly, after traversing the inside of the roof from the middle (or ridge), but the collected air may be directed first to the sides (or eaves) of the roof, and may be first directed up over the inside of one or more walls before being re-directed over the inside of the roof.With a roof consisting of two or more contiguous ridges, collected air may be directed to each side of the underside of the or each valley of the roof.

The air may be collected from close to the floor and/or from under the floor, centrally and/or at the sides.

According to another aspect of the present invention, an installation for controlling the space heating within an industrial building (or other space) comprises means for collecting air from the lower regions, at least one duct extending upwardly from the collecting means to just below the roof (or ceiling), air moving means between the collecting means and the duct for moving the collected air upwards through the duct, and means for distributing the air from the upper end of the duct over the inside of the roof (or ceiling).

The air collecting means may be the lower end of the (or each) duct, or it may be piping extending along and/or under the floor centrally and/or at the sides and provided with intakes, the lower end of the (or each) duct or each intake preferably being provided with a grill, preventing entry of objects liable to block the duct or piping or cause damage to the air moving means within the duct.

The air moving means (for the duct or for each of a number of ducts) may be a fan, blower or pump, or injector, power for the fan, blower or pump normally being electricity, but it could alternatively be driven by steam, gas or fluid, or mechanical means, while an injector could be operated by steam or hot air.

The air distributing means may be the upper end of the (or each) duct, or it may be piping extending centrally (below the ridge) or at the sides (or eaves) of the roof and provided with outlets, which may be provided with protective grills or with diffusers in the form of hoods and/or adjustable deflectors.

The (or each) duct or piping may be a square or rectangular, or round or oval or elliptical cross-section and may be made of galvanised sheet steel, aluminium or stainless steel sheet, or other suitable metal, or GRP or plastics such as PVC.

The air distributing means may alternatively consist of an inner skin spaced from the roof (or ceiling) with the upper end of the (or each) duct discharging into the space between the roof (or ceiling) and the inner skin, which latter may be continued down adjacent all or part of any one or more of the walls of the building (or other space).

According to a further aspect of the present invention, an installation for controlling the space heating within an industrial building (or other space) comprises lower means for collecting air from the lower regions and for directing it upwardly adjacent a wall of the building, and upper means for re-collecting the upwardly directed air adjacent the roof (or ceiling) and for distributing the re-collected air over the inside of the roof (or ceiling). Both means may include air moving means; or only the lower means may include air moving means, the upper means then being a curved (or bent) duct.

Various embodiments of methods and installations in accordance with the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figures 1 to 6 are diagrammatic crosssections of industrial buildings showing various methods and installations in accordance with the invention; Figure 7 is a diagrammatic isometric view of an industrial building showing details of an installation in accordance with the invention; Figure 8 is a detailed fragmentary crosssection of an industrial building showing an installation in accordance with the invention; Figure 9 corresponds to Fig. 8 but relates to another installation in accordance with the invention; and Figure 10 is a perspective view of an installation in accordance with the invention ready for fixing in an industrial building.

In Fig. 1 an installation 11 in an industrial building 1 2 collects air from the lower regions 13, directs it to below the roof 14 (but it could equally be the ceiling), and distributes it over the inside of the roof. The installation 11 is mounted centrally below the ridge 1 5 of the roof 14 and consists of air collecting means 1 6 such as a grill for collecting air from the lower regions 13, a duct 1 7 extending upwardly from the collecting means, air moving means 18 such as a fan or blower between the collecting means and the duct for moving the collected air upwards through the duct, and means 1 9 such as a deflector for distributing the air from the upper end of the duct over the inside of the roof 14.

In Fig. 2 two installations 11 are mounted one adjacent each of the side walls 20 of a building 1 2 and have means 1 6 for collecting air from the lower regions 13, air moving means 1 8 and ducts 1 7 for directing the collected air upwardly towards the underside of the roof 14 where distributing outlets 1 9 direct the air over the underside of the roof from near the eaves 21 towards the ridge 15.

The collected air may also be directed over the insides of the walls 20 of the building 12, either upwardly (as in Figs. 3 and 4) before being directed over the underside of the roof 14, or downwardly (as in Fig. 5) after being directed over the underside of the roof. In Figs. 3 and 4 each installation comprises lower means 11 A for collecting air from the lower regions 1 3 and for directing it upwardly adjacent a wall 20 of the building 12, and upper means 11 B for re-collecting the upwardly directed air adjacent the roof 14 and for distributing the re-collected air over the inside of the roof. The lower means 1 1A consist of collecting means 16, short ducts or outlets 17 and air moving means 18.The upper means 11 B in Fig. 3 merely consist of curved lengths of ducting both re-collecting and re-directing the air, while in Fig. 4 the upper means 11 B consist of collecting means 16, air moving means 1 8 and distributing means 1 9. In Fig. 5 the air collecting means 1 6 of a centrol installation 11 is disposed beneath the floor 22 and provided with intakes 23 provided with grills, and the air distributing means 1 9 has an inner skin 24 spaced from the roof 14, with the upper end of the duct 1 7 discharging into the space between the roof 14 and the inner skin, which on one side is continued down adjacent all the wall 20 while at the other side it is continued part way down the wall 20 to effect directing of the air down the wall.

In Fig. 6 the roof 14 consists of two contiguous ridges 1 5 and the collected air from the installation 11 is directed by the distributing means 1 9 to each side of the underside of the valley 25 of the roof.

Similar installations to those shown in any of the preceding Figures may be provided at intervals along the length of an industrial building to provide a substantially uniform effect throughout the length of the building.

Alternatively, e.g. as shown in Fig. 7, a single upward duct 1 7 and air moving means 1 8 can serve a building of modest length, by providing air collecting means 1 6 drawing air from the whole length of the building, and likewise-air distributing means 1 9 discharging to the whole length of the roof 14.

Underfloor air collecting means 1 6A is shown at one side as piping with floor mounted intakes 23, while at the other side the air collecting means 1 6B is shown as piping on the side wall 20 with side mounted intakes 26, the two pipes 16A, 1 6B coming together at the intake to the air moving means 1 8. The upward duct 1 7 leads to piping 1 9 along the underside of the ridge 1 5 of the roof 14 and provided with outlets 27 at intervals on both sides.

Fig. 8 shows in detail an installation 11 basically similar to that of Fig. 2, the air moving means 1 8 and air collecting means 1 6 being mounted on a bracket 28 on a wall 20 below the level of a window 29 but to one side thereof, while the air distributing means 1 9 is suspended by a chain 30 from the roof 14 close to the eaves 21, with the duct 1 7 fitted between the two. In Fig. 9 the installation consists of lower means 1 1A and upper means 11 B as in Fig. 3, but otherwise the detail is the same as in Fig. 8, except that the upper means 11 B consists of a curved length of ducting.

In Fig. 10, a centrifugal fan 18 with axial intake 1 6 is fixed to a duct 1 7 having wall mounting brackets 31 and carrying a distributor 1 9. The size of the fan 18, the crosssection of the duct 1 7 and distributor 19, and the length of the duct 1 7 can be varied to suit different heights and/or widths of buildings.

Claims

1. A method of controlling the space heating within an industrial building comprising collecting air from the lower regions, directing it to below the roof and distributing it over the inside of the roof.

2. A method as in Claim 1, wherein collected air from the lower regions is also distributed over the inside of at least one wall of the building.

3. A method as in Claim 2, wherein the collected air is distributed over the inside of the wall after traversing the inside of the roof from the middle.

4. A method as in Claim 2, wherein the collected air is first directed up over the inside of the wall before being re-directed over the inside of the roof.

5. A method as in Claim 1, for use with a roof consisting of at least two contiguous ridges, wherein collected air is directed to each side of the underside of the valley of the roof.

6. A method as in any one of the preceding Claims, wherein the air is collected from close to the floor.

7. A method as in any one of Claims 1 to 5, wherein the air is collected from under the floor.

8. A method as in any one of the preceding Claims, wherein the air is collected from centrally of the building.

9. A method as in any one of Claims 1 to 7, wherein the air is collected at the sides of the building.

10. An installation for controlling the space heating within an industrial building comprising means for collecting air from the lower regions, at least one duct extending upwardly from the collecting means to just below the roof, air moving means between the collecting means and the duct for moving the collected air upwards through the duct, and means for distributing the air from the upper end of the duct over the inside of the roof.

11. An installation as in Claim 10, wherein the air collecting means is an intake with a grill.

12. An installation as in Claim 10 or Claim 11, wherein the air moving means is a fan powered by electricity.

1 3. An installation as in any one of Claims 10 to 12, wherein the air distributing means is piping provided with outlets provided with diffusers.

1 4. An installation as in any one of Claims 10 to 12, wherein the air distributing means consists of an inner skin spaced from the roof with the upper end of the duct discharging into the space between the roof and the inner skin.

1 5. An installation as in Claim 13, wherein the inner skin continues down adjacent at least part of at least one wall of the building.

16. An installation for controlling the space heating within an industrial building comprising lower means for collecting air from the lower regions and for directing it upwardly adjacent a wall of the building, and upper means for re-collecting the upwardly directed air adjacent the roof and for distributing the re-collected air over the inside of the roof.

1 7. An installation as in Claim 16, wherein both means include air moving means.

18. An installation as in Claim 16, wherein only the lower means includes air moving means.

1 9. A method of controlling the space heating within an industrial building substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to any one of Figs. 1 to 7 of the accompanying drawings.

20. An installation for controlling the space heating within an industrial building substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to any one of the accompanying drawings.