An apparatus for heating water has a tank for storing water and an air conditioning system that defines a refrigerant flow path through which refrigerant flows. The refrigerant flow path passes through a heat exchanger so that refrigerant heat is contributed to the tank. The heat exchanger houses a phase change material. A controller controls operation of the water heating apparatus.

Ruptureable, dual reagent mono-capsules are disclosed that have a core composition, which includes a first reagent, encapsulated within a polymer wall, and a shell connected to an exterior surface of the polymer wall by a surfactant. The shell is made from a second reagent that is chemically bonded to the surfactant by a chemical electrostatic interaction. Upon rupture of the polymer wall of the mono-capsule, the first reagent and the second reagent chemically react with one another to form a reaction product.

A drying device for processing a gas to be dried, in particular air, comprises an air/air exchanger which includes an inlet for the gas to be dried and an outlet for the dried gas, an evaporator which receives the gas to be dried from the air/air exchanger, the evaporator being formed by means of a plurality of adjacent layers. The layers comprise at least a first layer configured for the passage of a refrigerating fluid, at least a second layer configured to receive the gas to be dried from the air/air exchanger and a plurality of third layers configured to receive a phase change material. The layers are arranged in a sequence which comprises in alternation a first layer, a third layer, a second layer and a further third layer.

An energy transportation and grid support system utilizes at least one transportable containment module capable of storing thermal or chemical energy typically produced from renewable or geothermal sources and providing connectivity with energy conversion equipment typically located in a land or sea-based operating facility. The system includes circuitry to hookup to an adjacent electricity grid for the provision of grid support and/or piping to move thermal energy typically used to drive steam turbines generating electricity. The operating facility also includes a communication arrangement to link with and exchange operations control data with a grid or heating operator and the energy transportation operator. The invention is directed to both apparatus and method for the energy transportation and grid support system.

A heat accumulator device for accumulating sensible heat in molten salts, including: -a heat accumulator vessel for receiving molten salt, a separating layer being disposed in the heat accumulator vessel in order to separate a cold region, in which cold molten salt is present, from a hot region, in which hot molten salt is present, and the cold region being located below the hot region; - a device for loading and unloading the heat accumulator vessel, which device is connected to the cold region and to the hot region; and - a volume compensation device for compensating a temperature-related change in the volume of the molten salt, the volume compensation device interacting with the cold region and/or with the separating layer.

A cold storage material, which has a large specific heat and a small magnetization in an extremely low temperature region and has satisfactory manufacturability, is provided, and a method for manufacturing the same is provided. Further, a refrigerator having high efficiency and excellent cooling performance is provided by filling this refrigerator with the above-described cold storage material. Moreover, a device incorporating a superconducting coil capable of reducing influence of magnetic noise derived from a cold storage material is provided. The cold storage material of embodiments is a granular body composed of an intermetallic compound in which the ThCr.sub.2Si.sub.2-type structure 11 occupies 80% by volume or more, and has a crystallite size of 70 nm or less.

A heat storage device of the present disclosure includes a latent heat storage material and a container. The latent heat storage material is water-soluble. The container houses the latent heat storage material and is formed of a main material being aluminum or an aluminum alloy. The container has a joining portion and a first coating. The first coating covers at least the joining portion on an inner surface of the container. On a surface of the first coating, a first element and fluorine are present. The first element is an element other than aluminum and having a lower ionization tendency than potassium.

A heat dissipation device includes a base plate and a plurality of fins arranged on the base plate. Each fin includes a fin body including a first metal sheet and a second metal sheet coupled to each other, wherein the fin body is curved and includes a first portion and a second portion transverse to the first portion, an evaporation channel defined in the first portion, one or more connecting channels disposed in the first portion and in fluid communication with the evaporation channel, a condensation channel defined in the second portion, and one or more auxiliary channels disposed in the second portion and in fluid communication with the one or more connecting channels and the condensation channel.

In one aspect, composite construction materials are described herein. In some embodiments, a composite construction panel comprises a substrate layer, a cover layer separated from the substrate layer by one or more spacers, and at least one mat disposed between the substrate layer and the cover layer, wherein the mat comprises at least one phase change material disposed in at least one phase change region.

The disclosed technology includes methods of extracting geothermal energy, generally comprising the steps of: insertion of a thermal mass into a Heat Absorption Zone, absorbing heat in thermal mass, raising the thermal mass to a Heat Transfer Zone, and transferring the heat from the thermal mass. The acquired heat can be used to generate electricity or to drive an industrial process. The thermal mass can have internal chambers containing a liquid such as molten salt, and can also have structures facilitating heat exchange using a thermal exchange fluid, such as a gas or a glycol-based fluid. In some embodiments, two thermal masses are used as counterweights, reducing the energy consumed in bringing the heat in the thermal masses to the surface. In other embodiments, solid or molten salt can be directly supplied to a well shaft to acquire geothermal heat and returned to the surface in a closed loop system.