A heat treatment apparatus includes: a processing container extended in a vertical direction; and a heater provided to surround the processing container. The heater includes: a first insulator of a cylindrical shape that has a ceiling surface and an opening at a lower end; a heat generator provided along a circumferential direction on an inner circumferential side of the first insulating member; and a second insulator arranged along the circumferential direction of the first insulating member at a position adjacent to the heat generating elements.

A gray water heat recovery apparatus has first and second passes in counter-flow orientation. The hot side is gray water. The cold side is fresh water. It extracts heat from the gray water. The fresh water is carried in tubing bundles in series immersed in gray water sumps in a unitary cylindrical plastic, mild steel, stainless steel or copper pipe section that defines multiple flow passages. Both ends of the fresh water bundle assembly extend from the same upper end pipe closure, without a pressurized line wall penetration in the walls of the pipe. There is a non-electrically conductive barrier between the fresh water and gray water flow paths. The apparatus has a leak detection circuit and co-operable bypass valves. The lower manifold has gray water passages between the centering ears. The entire assembly is enclosed in a unitary external housing with axially accessible connection fittings.

There is disclosed a system and method for transferring waste heat from integrated circuits. In an embodiment, the system comprises: a self-contained enclosure having integrated circuits therein, the self-contained enclosure further including: a first fluid circuit configured for removing waste heat from the integrated circuits; an inlet for connection from an external water tank and an outlet for connection to the external water tank, that when connected with the external water tank forms a second fluid circuit; a heat exchanger operatively connected to the first fluid circuit and the second fluid circuit, and configured to transfer thermal energy therebetween; and a control for regulating a temperature gradient and a flow rate in each of the first and second fluid circuits, such that both a desired integrated circuit operating temperature and a desired water tank temperature is achieved. A plurality of self-contained enclosures co-located with water tanks may form nodes of a distributed computing and heating network.

Systems and methods are directed to water heater systems, including combi boilers and instantaneous water heaters, for initiating pre-heat and energy savings operations. Embodiments of the present invention can include at least one heat exchanger configured to heat water; and a control system in communication with the at least one heat exchanger. The control system can be configured to at least determine an expected flow demand for hot water; sense water temperature at one or more locations, including at a domestic hot water outlet; determine an end to the expected flow demand for hot water; upon receiving an indication to end the flow of hot water, initiate a recovery demand determination; and initiate a pre-heat operation based on the recovery demand determination.

The invention relates to a sensible heat storage apparatus that comprises a core material that can be heated to a high temperature while it has been placed in a heat transfer fluid that absorbs essentially all the heat that is lost by any heat leakages from the core material. Accordingly, there is a very low, or almost absent overall heat loss, even though the sensible heat storage apparatus can store heat at a very high temperature. The gist of the invention is further that the high amount of heat can gradually be transferred to the HTF, which heat can in turn be put to use for domestic applications (e.g. domestic hot water and/or space heating) or for steam generation.

The invention relates to a method for maintaining the temperature of fluid media in pipes even in the event of an interruption of the fluid media flow. In a first step, a heat reservoir layer (1) is produced comprising a latent heat reservoir material (2) and a matrix material (3). In a second step, the heat reservoir layer (1) is either arranged around a pipe (4) and subsequently encased with a heat damping material (5) or the heat reservoir layer (1) is brought into contact with heat damping material (5), whereby a heat reservoir damper composite (51) is obtained, and the pipe (4) is then encased with the heat reservoir damper composite (51) such that the heat reservoir layer (1) of the heat reservoir damper composite (51) lies between the pipe (4) and the heat damping material (5) of the heat reservoir damping composite (51).

A free-standing Energy Recovery System enables sanitary recovery of thermal energy with heat transfer from hot waste effluent to incoming domestic water. The source of the effluent may, for example, be conventional commercial ware-washing, clothes washing equipment, pasteurization and other industrial processes.

A medium for energy storage includes a plurality of capsules. Each capsule contains a phase changing material (PCM) configured to undergo a liquid-solid phase transition at a solidification temperature, T.sub.S. The PCM undergoes a relative volume change due to the phase transition. A shell is filled with the PCM. The shell contains a first heat-conducting material, and is configured to comply to the relative volume change. The relative volume change is configured to cause a buoyancy force, which acts on the capsule when the capsule is disposed in water at a water temperature, T.sub.W, to be larger than the capsule's weight for T.sub.w>T.sub.s, and equal to or smaller than the capsule's weight for T.sub.w<T.sub.s. The T.sub.s can be within ±5° F. of a design water temperature T.sub.o at the outlet of a water tank. The capsule can be neutrally buoyant in water at T.sub.o.

The disclosure includes a hot water circulation device, and a hot water device monitoring system including a circulation passage; a circulation pump circulating hot water in the circulation passage; a closed expansion tank in which a water chamber communicating with the circulation passage and an air chamber filled with a predetermined pressure in initial state are partitioned by a diaphragm; and a control unit controlling hot water circulation. The hot water circulation device includes an air chamber pressure sensor detecting pressure in the air chamber; a closing valve cutting off water chamber from the circulation passage; and an open valve opening to atmosphere from between closing valve and water chamber. The control unit closes closing valve and opens opening valve during hot water circulation, detects pressure in the air chamber by the air chamber pressure sensor, and issues a warning notification when the pressure is not within predetermined pressure range.

A dual fluid heat exchange system is presented that provides a stable output temperature for a heated fluid while minimizing the output temperature of a cooled fluid. The heated and cooled fluids are brought into thermal contact with each other within a tank. The output temperature of the warmed fluid is maintained at a stable temperature by a re-circulation loop that connects directly to the mid portion of the tank such that the re-circulated fluid flow primarily warms only a re-circulation section of the tank. The other, lower flow rate, section of the tank may be positioned so that it has a cooler temperature and thus serves to increase the efficiency of the heat exchange by extracting extra heat energy out of the cooled fluid before it leaves the tank. Alternatively, the low flow rate section of the tank may be warmer than the re-circulated section, and thus allow the re-circulated section to be cooler than the output temperature of the warmed fluid.