JPH06272208A - Loop type heat pipe system snow melting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To melt snow uniformly on a horizontal snow melting surface. CONSTITUTION:A vapor pipe part 11b and a liquid return pipe part 11d are communicated with/connected to each other between an evaporation pipe part 11a arranged so that heat can be transferred from a heat source 13 and a condensation pipe part 11c buried just under a road surface S in a position higher than the evaporation pipe part 11a, and a control valve 12 is interposed between the liquid return pipe part 11d and the evaporation pipe part 11a, and operating fluid L is sealed inside, and a loop type heat pipe having high heat transporting capacity is formed. When the condensation pipe part of the heat pipe is arranged almost horizontally, a horizontal road surface can be heated uniformly, and snow can be melted without nonuniformity. Moreover, when the condensation pipe part of the loop type heat pipe is formed of a corrugated pipe, the operating fluid can stay in the pipe inside lower part of this condensation pipe part, and heat is insulated, so that a downward wasteful outflow of heat can be prevented.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a snow melting device using a loop heat pipe.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a heat pipe type snow melting apparatus in which heat is transferred to a place away from a heat source by a thermosyphon type heat pipe and snow is melted by the heat energy released there, the liquid phase condensed in the condensation part of the heat pipe is In order to return the working fluid to the evaporation section by the action of gravity, it was necessary to install the condenser section with an inclination so that the evaporation section side becomes lower. Therefore, for example, in the conventional heat pipe type road snow melting apparatus shown in FIG. 6, the evaporating portion 1a of the heat pipe 1 is immersed in the hot water H flowing in the gutter 2 provided in the roadside zone, and the heat pipe 1 is The condensing part 1b is arranged directly below the road surface 3 of the road where snow is melted. The condensing portion 1b is highest on the tip side (right side in FIG. 3), and is inclined so that it gradually lowers as it approaches the evaporating portion 1a side, so that the condensed working fluid acts by gravity. It is provided so as to return to the evaporation section 1a.

[0003]

Therefore, in the above-described conventional road snow melting device, the condensing portion 1b of the heat pipe 1 buried below the road surface S of the road where snow is melted is buried.
Up to the distance D1 near the tip of the condensation section 1b, that is, near the center line of the road, and the evaporation section 1b of the condensation section 1b.
a), that is, because there is a difference with the distance D2 near the roadside zone, uneven snow melting occurs, and the distance D from the heat pipe 1
There was a problem such as insufficient snow melting action near the roadside where 2 is large.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a loop-type heat pipe type snow melting apparatus capable of uniformly melting snow even on a substantially horizontal ground, parking lot, road or the like.

[0005]

As a means for solving the above-mentioned problems, a loop type heat pipe type snow melting apparatus of the present invention comprises an evaporation pipe portion which is arranged so that heat can be transferred from a heating means, and this evaporation. A steam pipe section connected to the downstream side of the pipe section,
A condensing pipe portion which is continuously provided on the downstream side of the steam pipe portion and which is arranged at a portion where the snow is melted, and a condensing pipe portion which is continuously provided on the downstream side of the condensing pipe portion and has the downstream side through a valve device. An annular pipe line is formed with a liquid return pipe part that is continuously provided on the upstream side of the portion, and a condensable working fluid is enclosed inside the annular pipe line, and the evaporation pipe part is at a position lower than the condensation pipe part. It is characterized in that it is arranged in.

Further, it is characterized in that the condensing pipe portion is laid substantially horizontally. Further, it is characterized in that at least the condensing pipe portion of the annular pipe line is formed of a corrugated pipe.

[0007]

With the above-described structure, in the loop heat pipe type snow melting apparatus of the present invention, when the evaporation pipe is heated by the heating means, the working fluid staying in the evaporation pipe at the lower position is heated. And steam is generated. This vapor moves to the condenser tube section via the steam tube section and is condensed.
At this time, the heat carried by the vapor of the working fluid as latent heat is released, and the released heat causes snow melting. Then, the condensed working fluid flows down from the condensing pipe portion into the liquid return pipe, and further flows back to the evaporation pipe portion via the valve device.

Further, if the condensing pipe portion is provided substantially horizontally, the working fluid condensed in the condensing pipe portion is accumulated below the condensing pipe portion even if there is no flow gradient, and the water level becomes high to some extent. It flows in the direction of the liquid return pipe and returns to the evaporation pipe portion at the lower position. Further, since the condensing pipe portion is laid substantially horizontally, the distance from the horizontal ground surface or the like where the snow is melted to the condensing pipe portion is substantially constant, and uniform snow melting is performed. Furthermore, since the condensing pipe is laid almost horizontally, a part of the condensed working fluid stays,
The lower surface of the condenser tube is covered to limit its function as a condenser, so that heat is prevented from flowing out downwards, and heat is radiated upward as snow is melted, thus preventing wasteful consumption of heat energy. To do.

Furthermore, if at least the condensation pipe portion of the annular pipe line is formed of a corrugated pipe, it can be bent easily, and workability at site installation is improved. Even if the condensing pipe part is slightly inclined, the working fluid condensed in the concavity of the lower corrugated pipe in this condensing pipe part is retained to reduce the condensing area on the lower surface side and suppress wasteful heat dissipation downward. The heat is dissipated upward to prevent the wasteful consumption of heat energy.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a snow melting device for a substantially horizontal road will be described below with reference to FIGS.

1 to 3 show a first embodiment of the present invention. A road snow melting apparatus using a loop heat pipe 11 is an evaporation pipe portion 11a of a container made of an annular metal pipe.
Is arranged at a position deepest from the road surface S, is connected to a downstream side of the evaporation pipe portion 11a, and is arranged substantially perpendicular to the road surface S direction (upward direction). And the road surface S in the surface pavement layer immediately below the substantially horizontal road surface S which is continuously provided on the downstream side of the steam pipe portion 11b.
A condensing pipe portion 11c arranged in a meandering manner over the entire width of the road on a plane substantially parallel to the condensing pipe portion and a downstream side of the condensing pipe portion 11c. An annular pipe line is formed by a liquid return pipe portion 11d connected to the upstream side of the evaporation pipe portion 11a via a control valve 12. Then, only the condensable working fluid L is enclosed in the annular conduit, and the amount of the enclosed working fluid L is substantially horizontal.
The amount of working fluid L accumulated in the section (1) is taken into consideration, and a larger amount is set than in the case of a normal heat pipe.

Further, the control valve 12 interposed between the liquid return pipe portion 11d and the evaporation pipe portion 11a of the loop heat pipe 11 has a working fluid L from the liquid return pipe portion 11d side to the evaporation pipe portion 11a. The inflow amount of the evaporation pipe 11a
The backflow of the working fluid L from the side to the liquid return pipe portion 11d is prevented.

A liquid pool of the working fluid L is formed in the evaporation pipe portion 11a arranged at the lowest position in the annular pipe line, and further, in the vicinity of the evaporation pipe portion 11a.
An electric heater 13 is arranged as a heat source so as to be able to heat the evaporation pipe portion 11a.

Next, the operation of this embodiment configured as described above will be explained. For example, when snow falls or when the snow on the road surface S is melted, the electric heater 13 of this road snow melting device is used.
When the switch is turned on, the heat of the electric heater 13 heats the evaporation pipe portion 11a of the loop heat pipe 11, and the working fluid L accumulated in the evaporation pipe portion 13 is heated.

The heated working fluid L becomes vapor V, and this vapor V moves from the evaporation pipe portion 11a having a high internal pressure to the condensation pipe portion 11c having a low internal pressure via the vapor pipe portion 11b and is condensed. The heat is taken away by coming into contact with the inner surface of the low temperature pipe in the pipe portion 11c, condensing and returning to the working fluid L in the liquid phase. Therefore, the vapor V of the working fluid L is
The heat energy H transported as latent heat from 1a is released in the condensing pipe part 11c, and the road surface S is heated by this heat energy H, and snow and snowfall on the road surface S are melted.

At this time, since the condensing pipe portion 11c of the loop type heat pipe 11 is buried at a substantially constant depth D from the road surface S, the condensing pipe portion 11c on the road surface S is combined with the soaking characteristics of the heat pipe. It is possible to uniformly melt the snow melting area (the area surrounded by the one-dot chain line in FIG. 1).

The working fluid L condensed in the condensing pipe portion 11c stays in the lower portion of the pipe because the condensing pipe portion 11c is arranged substantially horizontally and is hard to flow, and a certain amount is accumulated and the liquid is returned when the water level rises. It flows down in the direction of the pipe 11d, and the control valve 12
Through and flows into the evaporation pipe portion 11a to be heated again.

Further, since the condensing pipe portion 11c is laid substantially horizontally, the working fluid L in the liquid phase condensed in the condensing pipe portion 11c does not immediately flow down, but is condensed into the condensing pipe portion 11c.
Staying in the liquid return pipe 11d, and when a certain amount of the liquid is retained, the liquid return pipe 11d flows.
As a result, in the condensing pipe portion 11c of the operating loop heat pipe 11, a certain amount of the working fluid L is always retained in the lower portion of the pipe, and the inner surface of the condensing pipe portion 11c is below the liquid surface of the working fluid L. The portion that becomes is no longer acting as a condensing portion, and the vapor V contacts the portion of the inner surface of the pipe exposed on the liquid surface and condenses. Therefore, the heat outflow from the condensing pipe part 11c to the lower side is suppressed, the heat is transferred only from the condensing pipe part 11c to the left and right, and the road surface S is efficiently heated, and wasteful consumption of heat energy is prevented. To be done.

The control valve 12 is for adjusting the inflow amount of the working fluid L into the evaporation pipe portion 11a. When the control valve is adjusted to increase the inflow amount, the vapor V generated in the evaporation pipe portion 11a is changed. The generated amount increases, and as a result, the heat transfer amount increases and the snow melting capacity improves. On the contrary, when the inflow amount of the working fluid L is reduced, the amount of generated steam is reduced, and accordingly, the heat transport amount is reduced and the snow melting capability is also reduced.

Therefore, when there is a large amount of snow on the road surface S where the snow melts, when the outside temperature is particularly low, or during heavy snowfall during the heavy snow warning is issued, or when the road surface is liable to freeze, weather conditions are likely to occur. It is necessary to increase the temperature of the electric heater 13 and adjust the control valve 12 to increase the inflow amount of the working fluid L compared with the normal operation to enhance the snow melting capability of this device.

In this embodiment, the electric heater 13 is used as the heat source, but the heat source is not limited to this.

FIGS. 4 and 5 show a road snow melting apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention, in which a corrugated pipe made of stainless steel is used instead of the container made of metal pipe used in the first embodiment. In the condensing pipe portion 21c of the road snow melting device, the working fluid L condensed as shown in FIG. 4 accumulates in a constant amount in each concave portion in the lower part of the inside of the corrugated pipe 20. Working fluid L
When the water level rises up to overflow from the concave portion, a flow is generated in the direction of the liquid return pipe (not shown) (rightward in FIG. 4), and flows back to the evaporation pipe portion (not shown).

As described above, by using the corrugated pipe 20 as a container, since the corrugated pipe 20 has flexibility, the workability at the site is excellent and the surface area of the evaporation pipe portion and the condensation pipe portion 21c can be increased. , Heat transfer capacity can be improved. Further, since a pool of the condensed working fluid L is formed in each of the recesses in the lower part of the tube of the condensing tube portion 21c, heat is prevented from flowing out downward as in the case of the first embodiment, and the upper portion of the upper part is prevented. The road surface S is efficiently heated to melt snow, and wasteful consumption of heat energy is prevented.

Particularly, in this embodiment, the condensing pipe portion 2
Even if the whole or a part of 1c is inclined, the working fluid L is accumulated almost uniformly in the respective recesses of the corrugated pipe 20, so that wasteful heat outflow to the lower side can be suppressed and the road surface can be almost evenly added. It can be heated to prevent the occurrence of snow melting unevenness.

Although the loop heat pipe type snow melting device is applied to the road snow melting device in both of the above embodiments, other than the road, a horizontal runway for an aircraft, a parking lot, or an exercise ground. It can also be suitably implemented in a snow melting device for the like.

[0026]

As described above, in the loop heat pipe type snow melting apparatus of the present invention, the steam passage of the heat pipe and the liquid return passage are separately provided, and the steam flow from the evaporation pipe portion to the condensation pipe portion is provided. Since the passage does not interfere with the liquid flow returning from the condensing pipe part to the evaporating pipe part, conversely, the heat transfer capacity is excellent and a high snow melting capacity is obtained.

Further, by disposing the condensing pipe portion of the heat pipe substantially horizontally, even on a horizontal road or the like, the road surface can be heated substantially uniformly and snow can be uniformly melted.

Further, if at least the condensing pipe portion is formed of a corrugated pipe, the working fluid is retained in the inner lower portion of the condensing pipe portion, and it is possible to prevent wasteful heat flow downward.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a road snow melting device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway sectional view of the condensing pipe portion of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line III-III in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a partially cutaway sectional view showing a condensing pipe portion of a snow melting device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a sectional view taken along line VV of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing an outline of a conventional road snow melting device.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 ... Loop type heat pipe, 11a ... Evaporating pipe part,
11b ... Steam pipe part, 11c ... Condensing pipe part, 11d ... Liquid return pipe part, 12 ... Control valve, 13 ... Electric heater, 20
... Corrugated pipe, 21 ... Condensing pipe part, L ... Working fluid,
V ... Steam of working fluid, H ... Heat.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued Front Page (72) Inventor Tadao Yamada 1007 Izumisawa, Chitose, Hokkaido 151 151 Fujikura, Hokkaido

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An evaporation pipe section arranged so that heat can be transferred from a heating means, a steam pipe section connected to a downstream side of the evaporation pipe section, and a steam pipe section connected to a downstream side of the steam pipe section. And a condensation pipe section arranged in a portion where snow is melted, and a liquid return system that is connected to the downstream side of the condensation tube section and the downstream side is connected to the upstream side of the evaporation pipe section through a valve device. An annular pipe line is formed with the pipe part, a condensable working fluid is enclosed inside the annular pipe line, and the evaporation pipe part is arranged at a position lower than the condensation pipe part. Loop type heat pipe type snow melting equipment. 2. The loop-type heat pipe snow melting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the condensing pipe portion is laid substantially horizontally. 3. The loop-type heat pipe snow melting device according to claim 1, wherein at least the condensation pipe portion of the annular pipe line is formed of a corrugated pipe.