SUBATMOSPHERIC HEATING AND COOLING SYSTEM

Abstract

Heat and cold supply subatmospheric system for air conditioning refers to the area of heat power engineering, namely energy-saving technologies and is designed for autonomous heating, hot water supply and cold supply of residential, public and industrial buildings. To implement effective heat supply, a vacuum-steam method of heat transfer by steam with a controlled depth of pressure drop is used, heat supply subsystem efficiency reaches 0.9. Cooling supply subsystem, which is integrated with the heat supply subsystem, includes: installation of a non-absorbed absorption water cooling refrigeration machine and a system of air coolers of indirect evaporative cooling in a vacuum environment, while ensuring energy efficiency with an EER of 12.5 kWt/kWt.

Claims

1. Subatmospheric system of heat and cold supply includes: a heat supply subsystem containing a steam boiler, steam and condensate distribution system, device for creating a vacuum-controlled vacuum, device for water separation and air evacuation, system for transferring heat to the premises, device for pumping and raising condensate in a steam boiler with steam-water pump and a distribution system for steam and condensate, heat exchanger for the generator (boiler) of the AWARM unit; cooling supply subsystem, containing the installation of a pump-free absorption water-cooled refrigerating machine (AWARM). device for saturated water vapor evacuation and condensation, device for air coolers supplying with chilled water controlled supply, and air cooling unit for indoor air with air coolers and level tanks, differing in that it uses a vacuum vapor method for thermal energy transferring in a medium with a controlled depth of vacuum, and in the subsystem of cooling supply, to increase the efficiency of the evaporation process, a vacuum is created inside the air coolers sections and further, for pumped out water vapors condensation, and water pre-cooling after condensation of saturated vapors a water separator is used with cooling of water in it by installing AWARM pumpless.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the heat supply subsystem is provided for the safe operation of the steam boiler, the energy supply automatic control and locking in the event of a fuel shut-off, the automatic control of the air separator electromagnetic valves when the subsystem is evacuated, switching depending on the desired operation mode vacuum water ring pump using relay K1 and K2; the cooling supply subsystem is equipped with a solenoid valve to remove excess air through an air separator from the heat supply subsystem, by means of automatic control system (conductometric sensors, level detectors of the automatic control unit, solenoid valves) by filling the level tanks with pre-cooled water.

3. The system according to claim 1, wherein the internal cavity is evacuated in a non-absorbed absorption water-ammonia refrigerating machine.

4. The system according to claim 1, wherein air cooler indirectly evaporative cooling in which the internal cavity of the sections is covered with a capillary-porous material, and also by the presence of water and air back-up device.

5. The system according to claim 1, wherein the leveling tank contains a device for controlling the water level and an air supply pipe for balancing the water and air pressure of its internal cavity and in the air cooler trays.

6. The system according to claim 5, wherein the water level monitoring device includes an automation system (conductometric sensors, automatic control unit level indicator, electromagnetic water supply valve) to maintain the required water level.

7. The system according to claim 1, wherein the steam-water pump generates the working steam when heated from the burner unit and the new portion of water filling into the pump (without creating a vacuum within the pump), only by means of electromagnetic valve.

8. The system according to claim 7, wherein the steam-water pump contains a system of automatic control of its operation (level-measuring column with conductometric sensors, level indicator of the automatic control unit, solenoid valve), water indicator, automatic control system and burner locking, fan for cooling the pump casing.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0027] FIG. 1 shows: subatmospheric heat and cooling supply system layout.

[0028] FIG. 2 shows: indirect-evaporative cooling air cooler circuit premises air, detailed section A layout.

[0029] FIG. 3 shows: level tank arrangement with air coolers detailed section B layout.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0030] Heat and cold supply subatmospheric system includes (see FIG. 1) subsystems: heat supply by the evacuated steam and cooling supply with the non-pump AWARM station and outside air indirect evaporative cooling air coolers.

[0031] 1. Heating heat supply subsystem, hot water supply and ammonia strong solution heating with water in the generator (boiler) includes: steam boiler 1, steam collector 2, furnace device 3, plug valve for energy carrier supply 4, valve for boiler filling with water and drainage 5, a water gauge with a water-measuring glass 6, valve 7, check valve 8, steam supply valve in the heat supply subsystem 9, safety valve 10, pressure gauge (PG), pressure sensor (PS), energy carrier automatic control and blockage, actuating mechanism (AM); steam and condensate distribution system in which the central distribution steam manifold 11, valves 12, vertical diverting steam lines 13, steam line to supply steam to the heat exchanger for HWS 14, valve 15, HWS heat exchanger 16, valve for condensate removing 17; AWARM heater steam and condensate distribution system, in which is the vapor supply line to the AWARM generator heater (boiler) 18, steam supply valve 19, condensate line 20, valve 21; heat transfer system to the premises in which are the heating devices 23, valves for temperature quantitative control of steam consumption 24, vertical condensate lines 25, valves 26, valves 27, central condensate collecting line for condensate collection from the entire steam and condensate system 28; condensate collection device comprising a mud collector 29, filter screen 30, condensate collection tank 31 with a water indicator 32, drain valve 33, valve 34 and check valve 35; device for creating a vacuum-controlled vacuum (pressure drop) that includes: valve 22 whereby air and condensate part are removed from the central condensate line to the air separator 36, solenoid valve 37 normally closed to communicate with the air-discharge line by vacuum water-ring pump, Magnetic valve 38, normally open, electric contact pressure gauge (PGS) and automatic control unit (AC); device for collecting and lifting the condensate into the steam boiler by a steam-water pump (SWP) 39 with cooling fins, which includes: burner device 40, inner chimney pipe 41, back draft safety lock 42, water gauge with water glass 43, level gauge column with conductometric sensors 44, solenoid valve normally closed 45, axial fan 46 for pump casing walls cooling, safety valve 47, 48 drain valve for pump pre-charging with water, cork valve 49, non-return valve 50, emergency valve 51, pipeline condensate rising and supply to the boiler 52, drain valve 114, pressure-and-vacuum gage and automatic control unit (AC) which controller is the level indicator.

[0032] 2. Cooling supply subsystem consists of: pumpless AWARM (absorbing water-ammonia refrigeration machine), which includes generator (heater) consisting of separating the strong aqueous ammonia solution 53 and separating the weak solution 54, heat exchanger 55 servicing as strong heater, vacuum valve for refilling the installation with water-ammonia solution 56, valve 57 for heating steam supplying, valve 58 for condensate removing from the heat exchanger, connection tube 59, absorber 60, condenser 61, siphon 62 liquefied ammonia collection, evaporator 63, vacuum tap 64 for AWARM internal cavity vacuuming, heat exchanger 65 for cooling water in the water separator; devices for saturated water vapors coming from air coolers evacuation and condensation and including: water separator 73, heat exchanger 66 for condensed water vapor cooling from air coolers, piping 67 for supplying heated water to the evaporator heat exchanger, expansion tank, valve 68, expansion tank 69, chilled water return line 70, circulation pump 71, drain valve 72, check valve 74, a normally closed solenoid valve 75 for system venting from heat supply to the atmosphere, valve 76 to bypass the evacuated steam-air mixture from the heat supply subsystem and saturated water vapors of the air coolers, valve 77 for air supplying to the central distribution air conduit, the excess water removal, valve 78, excess water removal, vertical pipe 79, valve 80, the vacuum water-ring pump 81, water supply piping 82 to VWP, valve 83, valve 84, piping 85 for steam-air mixture transporting, cooled water central distribution pipeline 86, central distribution air 87, valve 112 for water separator pre-charging 73 with water; air-cooling facilities station, which includes: valve 88 for supplying chilled water to air coolers, solenoid valves normally closed 89, vertical distribution pipes 90 for air and water supply to level tanks, valves for adjusting supplied water and air flow rate 91, level water tanks 92, valves 93, indirect-evaporative cooling air cooler 94, horizontal saturated wet vapor discharge piping 95, valves 96, horizontal pipelines 97 for supplying chilled water to air coolers, valves 98, central vertical piping 99 for supplying a steam-air mixture to the suction body of VWP, valve 111 for level gauge tank pre-filling and air separators trays with distilled or softened water.

[0033] We give a more detailed description of the air cooler structures and the level gauge tank, as well as the layout of their joint installation (see FIGS. 2 and 3); air cooler 94 consists of: 100-capillary-porous coating sections 103, cavity for collecting and discharging of steam-air mixture mix 101, chilled water storage tray 102, cup-shaped back-up device 104, suction and wetting capillary-porous structure of sections walls for water evaporation between the upper edge of the cup-shaped backup device and the inner surface of the capillary-porous coating along the entire perimeter is 0.5-0.7 mm), fasteners 105; level measuring tank (see FIG. 3), which includes: the tank itself, water gauge 106, nozzle 107 for chilled water and air receiving, nozzle 108 for the excess air preliminary removal during the cooling subsystem start-up, water supplying nozzle 109 to the cooling air coolers supply piping, valve 113 of air admission from the leveling tank cavity for pressure balancing of the air coolers trays and level gauge tank internal cavity, conductivity sensor 110 for upper monitoring (UL) and lower (LL) water levels

[0034] It should be specially noted that, in order to achieve entire system satisfactory level of tightness, after installation is required to perform each subsystem mandatory leak test by test medium of 99% air+1% helium, with test pressure of 0.6 MPa. Use helium leak detector to control leakages.

[0035] Heat and cold supply subatmospheric system (in case of connection of two subsystems in operation at once) is operating as follows: plug valves 4, 49 to be put in the closed position, valves 5, 19, 33, 48, 56, 64, 72, 80, 83, 93, 111, 112, 114 to be put in the closed position, valves 7, 9, 12, 15, 17, 21, 22, 24, 26, 27, 34, 51, 57, 58, 68, 76, 77, 78, 84, 88, 91, 96, 98, 113 (see FIG. 1 and FIG. 3) to the position open.

[0036] Connect flexible hose from the tank with softened water to valve 5, turn the valve to the open position, fill the boiler with water, to the upper level of the boiler water area, through the water gauge 6, after the filling, bring the valve 5 to the closed position. Connect the flexible hose to the steam-water pump valve 48 and bring it to the open position, fill the pump with water to the upper working level through the water gauge 43, turn the valve to the closed position, and disconnect the hose. Connect the flexible hose to the level gauge tank valve 111, bring the valve to the open position, fill with softened water to the upper level (UL) of the level gauge tank through the water gauge 106, turn the valve to the closed position, disconnect the flexible hose.

[0037] Connect the flexible hose to the valve 72, turn the valve to the open position, fill the internal cavity of the heat exchangers 65, 66 with water, until the overflow through the expansion tank valve 69, after filling, turn the valve 72 to the closed position, disconnect the flexible hose.

[0038] Connect the flexible hose to the valve 112, turn the valve to the open position, fill with water until the overflow through the valve 78 and the vertical piping 79 into the central distribution water pipe of the cooled water 86, after filling, bring the valve to the closed position, disconnect the flexible hose.

[0039] Prepare the AWARM into operation in the following order: perform refrigerating machine one-time evacuation of the internal cavity with an auxiliary rotary vacuum pump by means of a vacuum valve 64 with a vacuum value of 0.07 MPa or up to an absolute pressure of 0.03 MPa, after evacuation, filling by means of a valve 56 with a strictly dosed volume of a concentrated aqueous ammonia solution

[0040] After completion of the above-mentioned preparatory activities, the entire system is started up in stages:

[0041] Stage 1. Heat supply subsystem vacuuming and cooling supply subsystem putting into operation is carried out in the following order: energizing of all automatic control systems, regulation and blocking; vacuum water ring pump (VWP) electric motor connection to the power line by means of the relay K1, which provides a constant (not controlled by the automation system controllers) pump operation; turn the valve 83 to the open position, fill the VWP cavity with water, turn on the pump; set on electric contact pressure gauge (PGS), the value of required pressure in the system P.sub.v=0.03 MPa or P.sub.abs=0.07 MPa, and the automatic control unit (AC) will bring the valves 37, 75 to open position, and valve 38 into closed position (to prevent air and water from flowing during the creation of a vacuum in the central condensate line), control for required vacuum achievement according to the pressure gauge (PG) readings installed on the boiler steam tank, when the required vacuum is reached automatics will bring the valves 37, 75, 38 to the starting position; under VWP further operation, the steam-air mixture is continuously removed from the air coolers sections, where a vacuum is created due to the device for supporting water and air coming from the level tanks 92, pumped air with some water quantity, the mixture enters the water separator 73, where condensation of saturated vapors occurs and air return to level tanks.

[0042] Stage 2. Boiler and steam-water pump start-up is carried out as follows: steam boiler plug valve 4 and the plug valve 49 of the SWP to be lead to the open position, turn on the burner devices, connect steam boiler automatic control unit and the energy supply blocking device, set to maintaining an absolute steam pressure in the boiler of not more than 0.07 MPa and SWP automatic control unit of the automatic control system serving only to block the energy supply (in the event of a failure in the gas supply); switch on the steam-water pump housing cooling fan 46;

[0043] the steam produced by the steam boiler flows through the valve 12 into the heating system, and through the valve 15 into the hot water supply system; after the heat energy transfer to the steam consumers, the condensate formed in this way through the central condensate line enters the condensate collection tank 31 and then through the solenoid valve 45, which is brought to the open position when the lower water level reaches the SWP during boiling, after the first displacement of the condensate by the pump, controlled by conductometric sensor and level indicator of the automatic control unit (AC) (pump cavity condensate filling is possible without creating a vacuum inside the vacuum, which is necessary for filling the pump cavity in the prototype), when filling the internal cavity of the SWP with condensate and reaching the upper level controlled by the conductivity sensor, the level indicator sends a signal to valve 45 close; when the condensate is heated to boiling, the formed steam inside the pump forces the condensate through the valve 51 and return valve 50 into the boiler, which is located on the roof version.

[0044] Stage 3. Start-up of the pumpless AWARM is performed as follows: valve 19 is brought to the open position, and the steam at a temperature of 90 C. transmits its thermal energy through the internal surface of the heat exchanger 55 to the generator compartment (boiler) 53 to the strong aqueous ammonia solution, absorbent-bent-water at the temperature of heating the solution to 90 C. boils (with the vacuum created inside the AWARM PB=0.07 MPa, the water vapor saturation temperature is 68.7 C.), water and ammonia vapor flow into the condenser 61, water vapor are condensed earlier (on the walls of the inclined tube) and the condensate starts to flow into the compartment of the weak water-ammonia solution 54, forming a weak ammonia solution in water, the ammonia vapor cooled in a condenser condenses in the form of ammonia liquid and accumulates in the siphon 62, the ammonia liquid enters the evaporator 63 from the siphon, where the heat exchanger 65 is arranged to cool the water in the water separator 73, evaporating in the vapor source, ammonia takes away heat from the walls of both the evaporator and the walls of the heat exchanger, thereby creating a cold, from the evaporator the ammonia vapor enters the absorber 60, there, a weak water-ammonia solution from the upper compartment 54 of the generator is fed to the inclined tube 59, in the absorber, ammonia vapors and a weak solution form a highly concentrated solution which, as the absorber overflows, flows into the generator compartment 53, and the cycle repeats; for the intensive transfer of chilled water from the heat exchanger 65 to the heat exchanger 66 of the water separator 73, the circulation pump 71 is activated (the surface areas of the heat exchangers 65 and 66 are calculated so that the temperature of the chilled water in the water separator 73 is +15 C. at the outside temperature up to +35 C.); in the continuous mode of operation of the vacuum water-ring pump from the pipelines 95, the vapor-air mixture removed from the indirect-evaporative cooling air coolers 94 is removed; inside the air coolers sections 100 (see FIG. 2), as a result of the vacuum formation by the back-flow device of the water and air flow 104 and increasing the efficiency of evaporation of water with the use of a capillary-porous coating of the inner wall of the cooler sections, the wall section temperature is reduced to +2 C.; the leveling tanks are supplied with chilled water by means of solenoid valves 89, which are brought to the open position by the command of the automatic control unit (AC) level indicator, triggered from the conductivity sensor of the lower level (LL), and the position is closed from the upper level sensor (UL.) of the level tank 92.

[0045] In the case of a heat and cold supply system with the cold supply subsystem shutdown (usually in the winter period), the following operations should be performed: valves 19, 21, 57, 58 and 96 should be brought to the closed position, the circulating pump 71 should be in the turned off position, turn the valve 72 into the open position, produce water discharge from the heat exchangers 65, 66 and expansion tank 69, re-switch vacuum water pump power supply of the water-ring from the relay K1 to the power supply by means of the relay K2, which is controlled from the automatic block of the electric contact pressure gauge (PGS) installed on the central condensate line.

[0046] In this case, it should be noted that in this case, the SWP operation will be in the periodic mode, depending on the setting of the electric contact pressure gauge (PGS) with a qualitative control of the working vapor temperature.

[0047] In the case of a heat and cold supply system operation in summer, when there is no need for heating of premises, and there is only a need for hot water and cold supply, it is required to switch off steam supply to heating devices (heating elements, radiator, etc) for this purpose valves 12, 27 should be re-set into the closed position.