HEAT OR COLD STORAGE MULTILAYER TOWER

Abstract

A heat or cold storage multilayer tower has athermo-insulated housing with a multilayer system of rigid blocks, Each rigid block has a set of narrow vertical ducts, when these narrow ducts are alternatively open or provided with sealed flexible bags, which are ufabricated from polymer film or metal foil and contain a phase change material (PCM). The rigid block are fabricated from ceramics, glass, glass ceramics, polymer fibro reinforced concrete or glass-fiber reinforced concrete. Hydrostatic pressure of molten PCM in the sealed flexible bags ensures good thermal contact of the sealed flexible bags with internal walls of the corresponding ducts. This construction provides effective heat transfer between a heat transfer fluid (HTF) and PCM in the processes of charging and discharging of the sealed flexible bags with heat or coldwith high values of stored thermal energy for specific volume.

Claims

1. A heat or cold storage multilayer tower comprising: a thermo-insulated housing provided with inlet and outlet connections for feeding and withdrawal of a heat transfer fluid (HTF) from said heat or cold storage multilayer tower; said housing includes several layers of rigid blocks, wherein each said rigid block comprises a set of narrow vertical ducts, which are arranged alternatively with a set of narrow compartments; said narrow compartments are closed at their bottoms and open from above; there are sealed flexible bags, which are arranged in said narrow compartments of said rigid blocks with tight thermal contact between their flexible walls and partitions or internal walls of said rigid blocks; the height of each sealed flexible bag is lower that the vertical length of the narrow ducts; said sealed flexible bags contain phase change material (PCM) and said narrow ducts serve for passage of heat transfer fluid (HTF); said rigid blocks are fabricated from ceramics, glass, glass ceramics, polymer fibro reinforced concrete or glass-fiber reinforced concrete.

2. The heat or cold storage multilayer tower as claimed in claim 1, wherein HTF is a liquid medium and the thermo-insulated housing is provided with a distributor of HTF.

3. The heat or cold storage multilayer tower as claimed in claim 1, wherein the thermo-insulated housing comprises at least one redistributor arranged between the layers of the rigid blocks.

4. The heat or cold storage multilayer tower as claimed in claim 1, wherein each sealed flexible bag is provided with a rigid flat insert with a contour, which conforms the contour of said sealed flexible bag.

5. A heat or cold storage multilayer tower comprising: a thermo-insulated housing provided with inlet and outlet connections for feeding and withdrawal of a heat transfer fluid (HTF) from said heat or cold storage multilayer tower; said thermo-insulated housing includes several layers of rigid blocks, wherein each said rigid block comprises a set of narrow vertical ducts, and said narrow vertical ducts are open or provided with sealed flexible bags alternatively; the height of each sealed flexible bag is lower that the vertical length of said narrow ducts; said sealed flexible bags are in tight thermal contact between their flexible walls and partitions or internal walls of said rigid blocks; said sealed flexible bags contain phase change material (PCM); there is a ceramic, composite or metal grid, which is fastened upon the lower section of each said rigid block in such a way that at least several lines of said ceramic, composite or metal grid are transverse to the direction of said narrow ducts in the horizontal plane;; the frame of the said ceramic, composite or metal grid is joined with the lower section of the lateral walls of said rigid block by stainless steel spring clips; said rigid blocks are fabricated from ceramics, glass, glass ceramics, polymer fibro reinforced concrete or glass-fiber reinforced concrete.

6. The heat or cold storage multilayer tower as claimed in claim 5, wherein HTF is a liquid medium and the thermo-insulated housing is provided with a distributor of HTF.

7. The heat or cold storage multilayer tower as claimed in claim 5, wherein the thermo-insulated housing comprises at least one redistributor arranged between the layers of the rigid blocks.

8. The heat or cold storage multilayer tower as claimed in claim 5, wherein each sealed flexible bag is provided with a rigid flat insert with a contour, which conforms the contour of said sealed flexible bag.

9. A heat or cold storage multilayer tower comprising: a thermo-insulated housing provided with inlet and outlet connections for feeding and withdrawal of a heat transfer fluid (HTF) from said heat or cold storage multilayer tower; said thermo-insulated housing includes several layers of rigid blocks, wherein each said rigid block comprises a set of narrow vertical ducts; said narrow vertical ducts are open or provided with sealed flexible bags alternatively; the height of each sealed flexible bag is lower that the vertical length of said narrow ducts; said sealed flexible bags are in tight thermal contact between their flexible walls and partitions or internal walls of said rigid blocks; said sealed flexible bags contain phase change material (PCM); said sealed flexible bags are joined with crossbars at their upper edges; said flexible bags are hanged on said crossbars, which are supported upon the upper edge of said rigid block; there is a grid that covers the upper section of said rigid block; a frame of said grid is fastened on the walls of said rigid block by stainless steel spring clips; said rigid blocks are fabricated from ceramics, glass, glass ceramics, polymer fibro reinforced concrete or glass-fiber reinforced concrete.

10. The heat or cold storage multilayer tower as claimed in claim 9, wherein said HTF is a liquid medium and the thermo-insulated housing is provided with a distributor of HTF.

11. The heat or cold storage multilayer tower as claimed in claim 9, wherein the thermo-insulated housing comprises at least one redistributor arranged between said layers of said rigid blocks.

12. A heat or cold storage multilayer tower as claimed in claim 9, wherein the rigid blocks are provided with a ceramic, composite or metal grids, which are fastened on the upper sections of said rigid blocks in such a way that at least several lines of each said ceramic, composite or metal grid are transverse to the direction of the narrow ducts of its rigid block in the horizontal plane; the frames of the said ceramic, composite or metal grids are joined with the upper sections of the lateral walls of said rigid blocks by stainless steel spring clips.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING

[0048] FIG. 1a is a vertical cross-section of a metal mold for fabrication of rigid blocks with narrow ducts, which are alternatingly open and closed at their bottoms.

[0049] FIG. 1b is a view from above of the metal mold for fabrication of the rigid blocks with narrow ducts, which are alternatingly open and closed at their bottoms.

[0050] FIG. 1c shows the vertical cross-section of the metal mold with a filling fluidly material.

[0051] FIG. 1d and FIG. 1e are a vertical cross-section and a view from above of the fabricated rigid block with narrow ducts, which are alternatingly open and closed at their bottoms.

[0052] FIG. 2a and FIG. 2b are horizontal and vertical cross-sections of the rigid block with the alternative arrangement of open narrow ducts and the semi-open ducts, which are closed at their bottoms and provided with sealed flexible bags containing PCM.

[0053] FIG. 3a is a vertical cross-section of a rigid block with a set of narrow open ducts.

[0054] FIG. 3b and FIG. 3c are a vertical cross-section and a view from below of a grid applied for holding of sealed flexible bags with PCM in a part of the narrow ducts of the rigid block.

[0055] FIG. 3d is a vertical cross of the rigid block with the set of the narrow open ducts, when a part of the narrow open ducts is provided with the sealed flexible bags containing PCM and the grid is installed on the bottom section of the rigid block.

[0056] FIG. 3e is a view from above of the rigid block with the set of the narrow open ducts, when a part of the narrow open ducts is provided with the flexible bags containing PCM and the grid is installed on the bottom section of the rigid block.

[0057] FIG. 4a and FIG. 4b are vertical longitudinal and transverse cross-sections of a sealed flexible bag with a flat insert shaped as a frame.

[0058] FIG. 5a and FIG. 5b are vertical longitudinal and transverse cross-sections of a sealed flexible bag with a crossbar joined with the upper edge of the sealed flexible bag.

[0059] FIG. 6a is a vertical cross of the rigid block with the set of the narrow open ducts, when a part of the narrow open ducts is provided with sealed flexible bags containing PCM and joined with crossbars at their upper edges; these sealed flexible bags are hanged on the crossbars, which are supported on the upper edge of the rigid block. There is a grid that covers the upper section of the rigid block.

[0060] FIG. 6b is a view from above of the rigid block according FIG. 6a.

[0061] FIG. 7a shows a vertical cross-section of a heat or cold storage multilayer tower with an arrangement of rigid blocks provided with sealed flexible bags containing PCM.

[0062] FIG. 7b shows a lateral detail section I of the heat or cold storage multilayer tower with the arrangement of the rigid blocks provided with the sealed flexible bags containing PCM.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0063] FIG. 1a is a vertical cross-section of a metal mold for fabrication of rigid blocks with narrow ducts, which are alternatingly open and closed at their bottoms.

[0064] It comprises a bottom section 101, walls 102, parallelepipeds 103 of a large height, parallelepipeds 104 of a lower height.

[0065] FIG. 1b is a view from above of the metal mold for fabrication of the rigid blocks with the narrow ducts, which are alternatingly open and closed at their bottoms.

[0066] It comprises the bottom section 101, walls 102, parallelepipeds 103 of the large height, parallelepipeds 104 of the lower height.

[0067] FIG. 1c shows the vertical cross-section of the metal mold with a filling fluidly material.

[0068] It comprises the bottom section 101, walls 102, parallelepipeds 103 of the large height, parallelepipeds 104 of the lower height and the fluidly filling material 105.

[0069] FIG. 1d and FIG. 1e are a vertical cross-section and a view from above of the rigid block fabricated after solidification of the fluidly filling material; it comprises narrow ducts 106 and 107, which are alternatively open and closed at their bottoms and divided by partitions 108, lateral walls 109 and bottom sections 110.

[0070] FIG. 2a and FIG. 2b are horizontal and vertical cross-sections of the rigid block with the alternative arrangement of open narrow ducts and the semi-open ducts, which are closed at their bottoms and provided with sealed flexible bags containing PCM.

[0071] It comprises the alternatively open and closed at their bottoms narrow duct 201 and 202, which are divided by partitions 203, lateral walls 204, bottom sections 205, flexible sealed bags 206 with PCM 207 .

[0072] FIG. 3a is a vertical cross-section of a rigid block with a set of narrow open ducts.

[0073] It comprises the open narrow ducts 301 divided by partitions 302 and lateral walls 303.

[0074] FIG. 3b and FIG. 3c are a vertical cross-section and a view from below of a grid applied for holding of sealed flexible bags with PCM in a part of the narrow ducts.

[0075] They comprise frame 304 lines 305 of the grid.

[0076] FIG. 3d is a vertical cross of the rigid block with the set of the narrow open ducts, when a part of the narrow open ducts is provided with the flexible bags containing PCM and the grid is installed on the bottom section of the rigid block.

[0077] It comprises: frame 304; lines 305 of the grid; the open narrow ducts 301 of the rigid block, which are divided by partitions 302; the lateral walls 303; the grid is fastened on the bottom section of the rigid block by stainless steel spring clips 306.

[0078] The sealed flexible bags 307 are provided with PCM 308.

[0079] FIG. 3e is a view from above of the rigid block with the set of the narrow open ducts, when a part of the narrow open ducts is provided with the sealed flexible bags containing PCM and the grid is installed on the bottom section of the rigid block.

[0080] It comprises: frame 304; lines 305 of the grid; the open narrow ducts 301 divided by partitions 302; the lateral walls 303; this grid is fastened on the bottom section of the rigid block by the stainless steel spring clips 306.

[0081] The sealed flexible bags 307 are provided with PCM.

[0082] FIG. 4a and FIG. 4b are vertical longitudinal and transverse cross-sections of a sealed flexible bag with a flat insert shaped as a frame.

[0083] They comprise the sealed flexible bag 401 itself, a rigid insert shaped as frame 402 and PCM 403.

[0084] FIG. 5a and FIG. 5b are vertical longitudinal and transverse cross-sections of a sealed flexible bag with a crossbar joined with the upper edge of the sealed flexible bag.

[0085] FIG. 6a is a vertical cross of the rigid block with the set of the narrow open ducts, when a part of the narrow open ducts is provided with the sealed flexible bags containing PCM and joined with crossbars at their upper edges; these sealed flexible bags are hanged on the crossbars, which are supported on the upper edge of the rigid block. There is a grid that covers the upper section of the rigid block.

[0086] It comprises: frame 604 and lines 605 of the grid; open narrow ducts 601, which are divided by partitions 602 of the rigid block; the lateral walls 603 of the rigid block; the grid is fastened on the upper section of the rigid block by stainless steel spring clips 606. The sealed flexible bags 607 with PCM 608 and upper crossbars 609 are hanged on crossbars 609 in a part of the open narrow ducts 601.

[0087] Crossbars 609 are supported by the lateral walls 603 of the rigid block.

[0088] FIG. 6b is a view from above of the rigid block according the FIG. 6a.

[0089] It comprises: frame 604 and lines 605 of the grid; open narrow ducts 601, which are divided by partitions 602 of the rigid block; the lateral walls 603 of the rigid block; the grid is fastened on the upper section of the rigid block by stainless steel spring clips 606. The sealed flexible bags 607 and upper crossbars 609 are hanged by crossbars 609 in a part of the open narrow ducts 601.

[0090] Crossbars 609 are supported by the lateral walls 603 of the rigid block.

[0091] FIG. 7a shows a vertical cross-section of a heat or cold storage multilayer tower with arrangement of rigid blocks provided with sealed flexible bags containing PCM.

[0092] It comprises: a thermo-insulated housing 701 with inlet and outlet connections 702 and 703; distributor 704; supporting rings 705; perforated supporting plates 706; rigid blocks 707 and sealed flexible bags 708 filled with PCM 709.

[0093] FIG. 7b shows a lateral detail section I of the heat or cold storage multilayer tower with arrangement of rigid blocks provided with sealed flexible bags containing PCM.

[0094] It comprises: the thermo-insulated housing 701; supporting rings 705; perforated supporting plates 706; rigid blocks 707 and the sealed flexible bags 708 filled with PCM 709.

REFERENCES CITED

[0095] TABLE-US-00001 U.S. Pat. Documents 4086958 May 1978 Lindner et al. 4088183 May 1978 Anzai et al. 4111260 September 1978 Bricard et al. 4234782 November 1980 Barabas et al. 4241782 December 1980 Schoenfelder 4270523 June 1981 van Heel 4286574 September 1981 Vrolyk et al. 4371029 February 1983 Lindner et al. 4408659 October 1983 Hermanns et al. 4524756 June 1985 Laverman 4807696 February 1989 Colvin et al. 4993481 February 1991 Kamimoto et al. 6037032 March 2000 Klett et al. 6116330 September 2000 Salyer 7222659 May 2007 Levin 2002/0000306 January 2002 Bradley Foreign Patent Documents 57-204796 December 1982 JP

OTHER REFERENCES

[0096] Peter R. Payne, Which material uses the least energy?, Chemtech, September 1980, pp. 550-557. cited by other.