GB2497291A

GB2497291A - Adjustable hot water storage tank

Info

Publication number: GB2497291A
Application number: GB1120850.1A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Christopher John Brooker
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2011-12-05
Filing date: 2011-12-05
Publication date: 2013-06-12
Also published as: GB201120850D0

Abstract

The hot water storage tank has an adjustable hot water storage capacity. The hot water storage tank may comprise five chambers fluidly connected with one another in series, each chamber having a 35 litre capacity. The hot water storage tank may also comprise a cold water inlet in a lowermost of the five chambers and a hot water outlet in an uppermost of the five chambers. The chambers may also be arranged horizontally. Each chamber may contain a respective heating coil (A-E), wherein each heating coil is connected to a boiler via solenoid or manual valves 1-5. Water heated by the boiler may pass through selected heating coils so as to heat water in the respective chamber. By controlling which valves are open, the hot water storage tank can provide different volumes of heated water for use in domestic hot water supply. The hot water tank therefore saves energy when compared with large tanks used in domestic houses having a small requirement for heated water, since less water need be heated. Since any water entering the tank is eventually heated, the hot water tank also prevents Legionella.

Description

Short Title Adjustable hot water storage system.

Detailed Description

The invention that I wish to protect is the idea of being able to adjust your household hot water storage to suit your needs. There would a cylinder suitable for domestic hot water storage, which in an upright or horizontal position has S individual chambers defined by a base, insulated walls and the cylinder roof. The cold water supply passes through all five chambers from bottom to top to avoid standing water and reduce the risk of Legionella.

There are five heating coils, one per chamber, which are heated by the chosen heat source.

Only one of these coils will operate at any one time depending on user settings and heat is supplied via manual valves or solenoid valves. Coils would be rated to suit application.

At present the hot water supply for any premises is determined and the storage required would be sized and installed. There is no option at a later date to alter this if circumstances were to change. This invention allows the user to do just that. There are two versions of the invention which would be manually adjusted by a qualified plumber or the automatic version which is controlled by a programmer or user settings.

Domestic hot water storage is calculated on probability factors. The engineer will design the storage volume based on occupancy, type of building, appliances etc. The only problem with this is that there is no way of knowing how the system will be used.

Example 01: A 3 bedroom house with Bathroom, Ensuite, Cloakroom and Kitchen would be sized around 170L to 200L but in a lot of cases this house could only be occupied by one adult. That individual may have a shower in the morning (45L) and maybe do some washing up in the sink (12L) then use the toilet and wash their hands (5L). This equates to 62L of water used and doesn't even take into consideration the mixing of hot and cold water.

This house would normally have 170L minimum hot water storage which would have been heated up to 60 degrees before that individual woke up ready for the morning. In this instance there is over iDOL of hot water wasted. Even if there were 2 adults and this was doubled, you would still have 46L of hot water not used.

Example 02: A family (2 x adults & 2 x children) may live in a 4 bedroom house with 250L÷ of storage. It would be perfectly adequate with full occupancy but when the children grow up and leave home the hot water demand for that house would reduce dramatically. With a conventional storage system the boiler would still have to heat up 250L÷ of hot water everyday. If the old system was to be replaced, it would still require the full storage in case of visitors or house being sold.

This adjustable system eliminates the wasted water and only heats up the water that is required by the household.

With ever increasing fuel prices this system will come into its own as a moneysaving investment as soon as it is installed.

In a conventional system the additional hot water storage would have to be brought online and offline manually as and when required. The system would have to be drained down and refilled to avoid standing water when not used. The idea behind this chamber is to either do it manually with the help of a plumber or automatically via a programmer and keep a steady flow through all the chambers whatever the demand.

The whole unit will be broken down into 5 x 35L chambers, lx 35L primary chamber and 4 x 35L secondary chambers. This will give S storage options (35L, 70L, 105L, 140L & 175L) to the user and can be adjusted either manually or as part of the programmer or by a separate control near the chamber.

To eliminate any risk of Legionella the cold feed to the primary chamber passes through all other standby chambers (A, B, C, D & E). Chamber A is the primary chamber. When only 35L is required the primary flow from the boiler would heat this chamber only. As more hot water is required an extra chamber would be heated to support the primary chamber.

Manual or Solenoid valves will be used (1, 2,3,4 & 5) to control primary flow to each of the chambers. The primary Flow & Return from the boiler begins flowing through only one of the additional chambers depending on settings/requirements.

Manual Valve sequence is as follows:- 1. When valve 1 is open and the remaining is closed the coil in cylinder E would heat the entire unit.

2. When valve 2 is open and remaining is closed the coil in cylinder D would heat cylinders A, B, C & D only.

3. When valve 3 is open and remaining is closed the coil in cylinder C would heat cylinders A, B & C only.

4. When valve 4 is open and remaining is closed the coil in cylinder B would heat cylinders A & B only.

5. When valves is open and remaining is closed the coil in cylinder A would heat cylinder A only.

Solenoid Valve sequence is as follows:- 1. When Solenoid valve 1 is open and the remaining is closed the coil in cylinder E 2. When Solenoid valve 2 is open and remaining is closed the coil in cylinder D would heat cylinders A, B, C & D only.

3. When Solenoid valve 3 is open and remaining is closed the coil in cylinder C would heat cylinders A, B & C only.

4. When Solenoid valve 4 is open and remaining is closed the coil in cylinder B would heat cylinders A & B only.

5. When Solenoid valves is open and remaining is closed the coil in cylinder A would heat cylinder A only.

The total capacity of the whole unit and the individual capacity of each chamber can be adapted to suit each application. The number of chambers can also be altered.

For the purposes of this patent application an example of 175L total capacity will be used but the uses are unlimited.

In a hospital where certain wards are not used or in an office where certain floors are not used this system would allow adequate water to be available but eliminate the cost of heating it when not required and dramatically reduce the risks of Legionella forming within the system when standing for long periods unused.

The system would have all the necessary pressure and temperature relief valves installed but these have been omitted from the drawings for clarity.

The system could be installed vertically or horizontally to suit plant space on larger projects.

Description of drawings.

Figure 1 Manual Adiustment.

Chamber A is the primary chamber. As more hot water is required, Manual valves will be opened or closed (1,2,3,4 & 5) to control primary flow to one of the 5 chambers. A qualified plumber would be called as and when required by user.

Figure 2 Automatic Adiustment.

Chamber A is the primary chamber. As more hot water is required, Solenoid valves (1, 2, 3, 4 & 5) will be automatically opened or closed to control primary flow to one of the 5 chambers. Adjustment would be automatic as user selects desired storage.

The Cost Saving Benefits The cost saving benefits of both of the above example would be as follows:-When first filled or left unused for a long period the boiler would have to heat the water from 10 degrees (incoming cold water main temperature) to 60 degrees (temperature required at outlets).

The boiler would be rated to reheat the cylinder within 30 minutes.

1. The total 175L capacity (cylinders A, B, C, D & E) of water to be heated by 50 degrees in 30 minutes would require 20.4KW.

2. 20.4KW would heat 140L (cylinders A, B, C & D) in 16 minutes.

3. 20.4KW would heat 105L (cylinders A, B & C) in 12 minutes.

4. 20.4KW would heat 70L (cylinders A & B) inS minutes.

5. 20.4KW would heat 35L (cylinder A) in 4 minutes The storage adjustment mentioned earlier could produce dramatic annual cost savings due to less running time for reheat 30 minutes compared to 4 minutes. The cylinder will obviously retain heat from previous reheats so reheat times will be less for all options.

The construction of the unit would determine the heat losses but for the purposes of this patent application it is estimated that it would lose 1.42KW Hours per 24 Hr period.