A water distribution apparatus and method including cold and hot water supplies, a fan coil (or chilled beam device), a control valve having cold and hot water inlets and outlets, cold and hot water outputs configured to supply cold and hot water to the fan coil, cold and hot water return inlets configured to receive from the fan coil the water supplied by the cold and/or water outputs and outputting the cold and/or hot water to the cold and hot water supply lines, respectively, via the cold and hot water outlets, respectively. Cold and hot water is supplied from the cold and/or hot water outputs to the fan coil and received into the cold and hot water return inlets, respectively, and the cold and hot water supplied by the cold and hot water outputs to the fan coil is output to the cold and hot water supply lines, respectively.

A refrigerated system includes a vapor compression system defining a refrigerant flow path and a heat recovery system defining a heat recovery fluid flow path. The heat recovery system is thermally coupled to the vapor compression system. The heat recovery system includes a first heat exchanger within which heat is transferred between a heat recovery fluid and an engine coolant and at least one recovery heat exchanger positioned along the heat recovery fluid flow path directly upstream from the first heat exchanger.

A refrigerated system includes a vapor compression system defining a refrigerant flow path and a heat recovery system defining a heat recovery fluid flow path. The heat recovery system is thermally coupled to the vapor compression system. The heat recovery system includes a first heat exchanger within which heat is transferred between a heat recovery fluid and an engine coolant and at least one recovery heat exchanger positioned along the heat recovery fluid flow path directly upstream from the first heat exchanger.

Embodiments of the present invention reduce the amount of energy required to operate air-conditioners and refrigerators by providing a vapor-compression system that harnesses a low- or no-cost source of energy, namely, heat, and uses the harnessed heat to power a new kind of compressor, called a “burst compressor” and a new kind of pump, called a “vapor pump.” The heat-driven burst compressor pressurizes the refrigerant, while also providing “push and pull” vapor refrigerant to the vapor pump. The vapor pump, actuated by the high pressure refrigerant in gaseous form provided by the burst compressor, is configured to pump a combination of gaseous, vaporous and liquid refrigerant out of the receiver tank and inject that low pressure refrigerant mix into the burst compressor, where it is heated to change the state of the refrigerant to a heated, pressurized gas. Then the heated, pressurized gas is released in bursts into the other components of the vapor compression cycle. Thus, embodiments of the present invention use heat to provide cold. Because of this arrangement, vapor-compression systems constructed and arranged to operate according to embodiments of the present invention are able to provide air-conditioning and/or refrigeration much more efficiently and with much less expense than traditional vapor compression systems for air-conditioning and refrigeration.

Embodiments of the present invention reduce the amount of energy required to operate air-conditioners and refrigerators by providing a vapor-compression system that harnesses a low- or no-cost source of energy, namely, heat, and uses the harnessed heat to power a new kind of compressor, called a “burst compressor” and a new kind of pump, called a “vapor pump.” The heat-driven burst compressor pressurizes the refrigerant, while also providing “push and pull” vapor refrigerant to the vapor pump. The vapor pump, actuated by the high pressure refrigerant in gaseous form provided by the burst compressor, is configured to pump a combination of gaseous, vaporous and liquid refrigerant out of the receiver tank and inject that low pressure refrigerant mix into the burst compressor, where it is heated to change the state of the refrigerant to a heated, pressurized gas. Then the heated, pressurized gas is released in bursts into the other components of the vapor compression cycle. Thus, embodiments of the present invention use heat to provide cold. Because of this arrangement, vapor-compression systems constructed and arranged to operate according to embodiments of the present invention are able to provide air-conditioning and/or refrigeration much more efficiently and with much less expense than traditional vapor compression systems for air-conditioning and refrigeration.

A refrigerated transport system comprises: an engine. A vapor compression system comprises: a compressor for compressing a flow of a refrigerant; a first heat exchanger along a refrigerant flowpath of the refrigerant; and a second heat exchanger along the refrigerant flowpath of the refrigerant. A heat recovery system has: a first heat exchanger for transferring heat from the engine to a heat recovery fluid along a heat recovery flowpath; and a second heat exchanger along the heat recovery flowpath. The heat recovery system second heat exchanger and the vapor compression system first heat exchanger are respective portions of a shared tube/fin package.

A refrigerated transport system comprises: an engine. A vapor compression system comprises: a compressor for compressing a flow of a refrigerant; a first heat exchanger along a refrigerant flowpath of the refrigerant; and a second heat exchanger along the refrigerant flowpath of the refrigerant. A heat recovery system has: a first heat exchanger for transferring heat from the engine to a heat recovery fluid along a heat recovery flowpath; and a second heat exchanger along the heat recovery flowpath. The heat recovery system second heat exchanger and the vapor compression system first heat exchanger are respective portions of a shared tube/fin package.

The present invention provides for a combined heat and power system including at least one engine, operatively coupled to a generator, having at least one first heat source adapted to provide a first thermal energy output at a first temperature range, and at least one second heat source adapted to provide a second thermal energy output at a second temperature range, at least one first heat exchanger, operatively coupled to said at least one engine, and adapted to selectively receive and transfer at least a portion of any one or all of said first thermal energy output and said at least one second thermal energy output; and a dynamically adaptive heat storage system.

The present invention provides for a combined heat and power system including at least one engine, operatively coupled to a generator, having at least one first heat source adapted to provide a first thermal energy output at a first temperature range, and at least one second heat source adapted to provide a second thermal energy output at a second temperature range, at least one first heat exchanger, operatively coupled to said at least one engine, and adapted to selectively receive and transfer at least a portion of any one or all of said first thermal energy output and said at least one second thermal energy output; and a dynamically adaptive heat storage system.

A method for controlling a heat pump system. The heat pump system includes a compressor for compressing a working fluid of the heat pump system and an electric motor for providing an output torque for driving the compressor. The method includes the steps of recovering heat emitted from the electric motor by heating the working fluid, providing a first control mode and a second control mode for the electric motor, and controlling the electrical motor in a way creating higher heat losses of the electric motor for a given output torque of the electric motor in the second control mode than in the first control mode.