JP2523034Y2 - Electric power storage type snow melting system - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a system for melting snow on a ground surface such as a road.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art It is well known that various types of snow removing or melting methods have been attempted to secure transportation means during the snowy season. As an example, the present inventors have already proposed a device that transports heat directly below the ground surface via a heat pipe and melts snow using the heat. Its main structure is to bury a heat pipe between a relatively high temperature place in the ground and immediately below the surface of the ground to be heated, and to install a heater on a part of the heat pipe as necessary, The heat of the groundwater and the auxiliary heat from the heater are transported directly below the ground by a heat pipe.

With this type of snow melting equipment, natural energy such as geothermal energy can be used as effectively as possible, and since there is no driving means, running costs are not significantly increased.
In addition, snow melting on the ground surface can be performed automatically.

[0004]

The above-mentioned advantages are obtained when the heat pipe is used as the heat transport means. However, if the heat source for melting the snow is determined only from natural energy such as geothermal energy, the amount of heat generated during a temporary large amount of snowfall can be reduced. May not be enough to melt snow enough. Therefore, the above-described auxiliary heater may be used. As the auxiliary heater, an electric heater is frequently used because it is easily controlled, and is small in size and does not require maintenance.

[0005] If such an auxiliary heater is required, the operation cost increases accordingly, but it is possible to stably melt the snow, and thus it is effective for limited uses such as public facilities such as hospitals or private houses. .

However, in the conventional configuration using the auxiliary heater in combination, the auxiliary heater is operated each time the amount of heat is insufficient with natural energy alone, so that there is a problem that electric power having different energy unit prices cannot be effectively used.

Further, since the auxiliary heater is operated in a limited situation such as when the amount of snowfall is large as described above, the frequency of use of the auxiliary heater is extremely low, and as a result, the equipment cost is relatively high.

[0008] The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to provide a snow melting system that can reduce operating costs and equipment costs.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a snow melting system for melting snow on the ground surface by transferring heat through a heat pipe just below the ground surface. A loop-type heat pipe in which an evaporating unit facing a heat storage unit provided with an electric heater and a condensing unit disposed on the ground surface are connected to form a circulation path, and the condensing unit condenses the condensing unit. A liquid reservoir is provided in a pipeline for returning the working fluid to the evaporator, and a flow control valve is provided between the liquid reservoir and the evaporator.

In this invention, a hot water heat exchanger is connected in parallel to the condensing section, and a switching valve for selectively connecting the condensing section and the hot water heat exchanger to the evaporating section. A configuration provided with a mechanism can also be adopted.

[0011]

In this invention, electric power is used as energy for melting snow, and by operating an electric heater,
The heat storage body is heated and heated, and heat is stored here. In this state, if the flow control valve is opened and the working fluid flows from the liquid reservoir to the evaporator, the working fluid is heated and evaporated, and the vapor flows to the condenser. In the snowy season, since the condensing part is cooled by the snow on the ground, the vapor of the working fluid radiates heat here and condenses. That is, the hydraulic fluid transports heat as its latent heat of vaporization and melts snow on the ground. The condensed working fluid is returned to the liquid reservoir through the pipe, and is again supplied to the evaporator via the flow control valve. The snow melting performed in this way is
The heat stored in the heat storage unit is used as a heat source, so it is not necessary to operate the electric heater when melting snow.Therefore, the system of the present invention can reduce operating costs by using late-night power, which has a low energy unit price. it can. In addition, since the liquid reservoir and the flow control valve are provided, the operation of the system can be stopped by closing the flow control valve and stopping the supply of the working fluid to the evaporator, so that snow melting can be performed as necessary.

When a hot water heat exchanger selectively connected to the evaporator by the switching valve mechanism is provided, the steam of the working fluid generated in the evaporator is sent to the hot water heat exchanger by the switching valve mechanism. If it is set to guide, hot water can be obtained by the heat stored in the heat storage body, so the system of the present invention can be diverted to hot water supply equipment, so it can be operated even during periods other than the snow season to increase the operating rate, and as a result In addition, equipment costs can be relatively reduced.

[0013]

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view schematically showing an embodiment of the present invention. The example shown here is designed to melt snow on a pavement road surface 1, and a heat source provided in an underground pit 2. The heat is transported from the section 3 to the heat radiating section 5 directly below the pavement surface 1 by the heat pipe 4. That is, the heat pipe 4 is a loop type heat pipe,
The evaporating section 6 has, for example, a configuration in which a plurality of evaporating pipes are connected between an upper header pipe and a lower header pipe or a meandering pipe (each not shown). A heat storage body (for example, a heat storage brick) 7 whose surface is thermally insulated is attached. Also, a plurality of electric heaters 8 are arranged inside the heater as heat sources.

On the other hand, the condensing section 9 forming the heat radiating section 5
Is a configuration in which one end portions of a plurality of straight tubular heat pipes 11 are connected to a base pipe 10.
Is buried horizontally just below the pavement road surface 1.

An outlet of the evaporator 6 and an inlet of the condenser 9 are connected by a steam pipe 12, and a U vent 13 for preventing backflow is formed in a part of the steam pipe 12. I have. The outlet of the condenser 9 and the inlet of the evaporator 6 are connected by a liquid return pipe 14.
A liquid reservoir 15 is interposed in 4, and a flow control valve 16 is provided between the liquid reservoir 15 and the evaporator 6. That is, the evaporator 6 and the condenser 9 are connected to the steam pipe 1
2 and a liquid return pipe 14 to form a closed circulation circuit as a whole, and a condensable fluid such as Freon, alcohol, water, etc. operates in a state where non-condensable gas such as air is exhausted inside. It is enclosed as a fluid 17.

Further, inside the underground pit 2, a three-way portion is provided between the vapor pipe 12 on the side closer to the evaporator 6 from the U vent 13 and the liquid return pipe 14 on the side closer to the condenser 9 than the liquid reservoir 15. Switching valves 18 and 19 are interposed, respectively, and a hot water heat exchanger 20 is connected between the three-way switching valves 18 and 19. This heat exchanger for hot water 20
Has a heat exchange coil for flowing the vapor of the working fluid 17 disposed inside the hot water tank, and the heat exchange coil is connected to the steam pipe 12 and the liquid return pipe 14 via the three-way switching valves 18 and 19. It is connected. By switching these three-way switching valves 18 and 19, the evaporating section 6 is connected to the condensing section 9 or to the hot water heat exchanger 20.

The operation of the snow melting system configured as described above will now be described. As the heat for melting the snow, late-night electric power with a low energy unit price can be used. Specifically, the electric heater 8 is energized using a timer or the like to generate heat. Accordingly, the heat storage brick 7 is heated and stored as sensible heat. In this case, unless the working fluid 17 flows into the evaporating section 6 by closing the flow control valve 16, the heat pipe 4 does not operate, and only heat storage in the heat storage brick 7 is performed.

When melting the snow accumulated on the pavement road surface 1, first, the condenser 9 is connected to the evaporator 6 by the three-way switching valves 18 and 19, and in this state, the flow control valve 16
When the working fluid 17 is supplied to the evaporating section 6 by an appropriate amount,
The working fluid 17 receives heat from the heat storage brick 7 and evaporates, and the steam flows to the condenser 9 through the steam pipe 12.
On the other hand, the condensing section 9 is exposed to the heat pipe 11 by the snow on the road surface 1.
, The steam of the working fluid 17 flowing to the condensing section 9 releases heat and condenses. In other words, since the heat pipe 11 carries the heat of the working fluid vapor to just below the road surface 1 and heats the road surface 1 from below, the snow on the pavement road surface 1 is melted.

The working fluid 17 liquefied in the condenser 9 is returned to the reservoir 15 via the liquid return pipe 14 and is again supplied to the evaporator 6.

When there is no need to melt snow during a non-snow season, the three-way switching valves 18 and 19 are switched to connect the hot water heat exchanger 20 to the evaporator 6. In this state, the liquid return pipe 14
When the working fluid 17 flows into the evaporating section 6 from above, the working fluid 17 evaporates and its steam flows to the hot water heat exchanger 20 via the steam pipe 12 and the three-way switching valve 18. Since the temperature of the heat exchanger 20 for hot water is lowered by water or low-temperature hot water, the steam of the working fluid 17 radiates heat here to heat and raise the temperature of the hot water. As a result, the condensed working fluid 17 returns to the liquid reservoir 15 via the other three-way switching valve 19 and the liquid return pipe 14. The hot water thus obtained is used for hot water supply to a kitchen or the like or for heating.

Therefore, in the above-described system, since means for storing heat is provided, it is possible to use late-night electric power having a low energy unit price and to reduce running costs. The working fluid 1 from the liquid reservoir 15 to the evaporator 6
Since the regulating valve 16 for regulating the flow rate of 7 is provided, the stored heat can be taken out and used only when necessary.

Further, since the evaporating section 6 provided with a heat storage body can be selectively connected to the hot water heat exchanger 20, it can be used as a facility for hot water supply or heating except during the snowy season. Since it can be used throughout the year, the operating rate is high and the equipment cost is low.

In the above-described embodiment, the heat storage brick is used as the heat storage element. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and the sensible heat storage element and the latent heat storage element which have been widely used in the past are generally used. Can be used.

The condensing section for radiating heat to the road surface is not limited to the structure using other heat pipes as described in the above embodiment, but also a part of the circulation pipe constituting the loop type heat pipe. The heat radiation area may be widened by meandering or the like.

Further, the switching valve mechanism in the present invention is not limited to the three-way switching valves 18 and 19 shown in the above embodiment.

[0027]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, since the means for storing heat is provided, the unit cost of usable energy can be reduced, and the running cost can be reduced.

Further, since the operating rate is increased by using the heat exchanger for hot water in combination, the equipment cost can be relatively reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically showing one embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Pavement road surface 4 Heat pipe 6 Evaporation part 7 Heat storage material 8 Electric heater 9 Condensing part 12 Steam pipe 14 Liquid return pipe 15 Liquid storage part 16 Flow control valve 17 Working fluid 18 Three-way switching valve 19 Three-way switching valve 20 Heat exchanger for hot water

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Takashi Chiba 1-5-1, Kiba, Koto-ku, Tokyo Inside Fujikura Electric Wire Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Shinji Ishii 1-5-1, Kiba, Koto-ku, Tokyo Fujikura Electric Wire Inside the corporation

Claims (2)

(57) [Scope of request for utility model registration] 1. A snow melting system for melting snow on the ground surface by transferring heat through a heat pipe just below the surface of the ground, wherein the heat pipe includes an evaporator and a ground facing a heat storage unit having an electric heater. A condensing section disposed on the front side is configured as a loop heat pipe connected to form a circulation path, and a liquid reservoir section is provided in a pipe for returning the working fluid condensed in the condensing section to the evaporating section. A power storage type snow melting system, wherein a flow rate regulating valve is provided between the liquid reservoir and the evaporator. 2. A switching valve mechanism for connecting a hot water heat exchanger in parallel to the condensing section and selectively communicating the condensing section and the hot water heat exchanger with the evaporating section. The power storage type snow melting system according to claim 1, wherein the system is provided.