Abstract
Rotor, in particular a rotary heat pump, including a rotational axis, a number of compression ducts in which a working medium, in particular a gas, preferably a noble gas, is guided away from the rotational axis to increase the pressure due to the centrifugal acceleration, a number of expansion ducts in which the working medium is guided towards the rotational axis to reduce the pressure due to the centrifugal acceleration, a number of first heat transfer ducts for the working medium and a number of second heat transfer ducts for a heat transfer medium, in particular a liquid, so that heat is transferred between the working medium flowing in the first heat transfer ducts and the heat transfer medium flowing in the second heat transfer ducts, a number of first (10) and second rotor plates including the compression ducts, the expansion ducts, the first heat transfer ducts for the working medium and the second heat transfer ducts for the heat transfer medium, wherein the first and second rotor plates are connected to each other along their main planes of extension.
Claims
1. Rotor (1), comprising a rotary heat pump, comprising: a rotational axis (2), a number of compression ducts (15) in which a working medium, comprising a gas, is guided away from the rotational axis (2) to increase the pressure due to the centrifugal acceleration, a number of expansion ducts (20) in which the working medium is guided towards the rotational axis (2) to reduce the pressure due to centrifugal acceleration, a number of first heat transfer ducts (18) for the working medium and a number of second heat transfer ducts (22) for a heat transfer medium, comprising a liquid, so that heat is transferred between the working medium flowing in the first heat transfer ducts (18) and the heat transfer medium flowing in the second heat transfer ducts (22), wherein a number of first (10) and second rotor plates (11) comprising the compression ducts (15), the expansion ducts (20), the first heat transfer ducts (18) for the working medium and the second heat transfer ducts (22) for the heat transfer medium, wherein the first (10) and second rotor plates (11) are connected to each other along their main planes of extension.
2. The rotor (1) according to claim 1, wherein wherein the number of first rotor plates (10) each comprise at least one of the compression ducts (15), at least one of the expansion ducts (20) and at least one of the first heat transfer ducts (18) for the working medium and the number of second rotor plates (11) each comprise at least one of the second heat transfer ducts (22) for the heat transfer medium.
3. The rotor (1) according to claim 2, wherein the first rotor plates (10) each comprise at least one flow duct (12) with an essentially radially outward running flow duct section (16) to form one of the compression ducts (15) and/or with an essentially radially inward running flow duct section (19) to form one of the expansion ducts (20) and/or with an essentially circumferentially running flow duct section (17, 21) to form one of the first heat transfer ducts (18), wherein the at least one flow duct (12) comprises an inlet opening (13) for the working medium at a first end and an outlet opening (14) for the working medium at a second end.
4. The rotor (1) according to claim 1, wherein a fan (7) is provided for maintaining the flow of the working medium, the inlet openings (13) being connected to an outlet of the fan (7) and/or the outlet openings (14) being connected to an inlet of the fan (7).
5. The rotor (1) according to claim 2, wherein the first rotor plates (10) each comprise a plurality of flow ducts (12), each with at least one flow duct section (16) running essentially radially outwards and/or with at least one flow duct section (19) running essentially radially inwards and/or with at least one flow duct section (17, 21) running essentially in the circumferential direction.
6. The rotor (1) according to claim 5, wherein the flow ducts (12) of the first rotor plates (10) each comprise a plurality of flow duct sections (17, 21), running essentially in the circumferential direction, at different radial distances from the rotational axis (2) in order to form a plurality of first heat transfer ducts (10).
7. The rotor (1) according to claim 5, wherein two adjacent flow ducts (12) of the first rotor plates (10) are arranged mirrored with respect to a plane of symmetry spanned in the axial and radial directions, the two adjacent flow ducts (12) sharing a common inlet opening (13) and a common outlet opening (14) for the working medium.
8. The rotor (1) according to claim 1, wherein the second rotor plates (11) each comprise at least one inner flow duct (23) and at least one outer flow duct (25), each for forming one of the second heat transfer ducts (22), the outer flow duct (25) being arranged further outwards in the radial direction than the inner flow duct (23).
9. The rotor (1) according to claim 1, wherein the first rotor plates (10) comprise the second heat transfer ducts (22) for the heat transfer medium.
10. The rotor (1) according to claim 1, wherein the compression ducts (15), the expansion ducts (20) and the first heat transfer ducts (18) for the working medium are formed as indentations (35) starting from an essentially flat first outer surfaces (36A) of the first rotor plates (10), whereby the second heat transfer ducts (22) for the heat transfer medium are formed i. as indentations (35) starting from an essentially flat outer surfaces (36) of the second rotor plates (11) or ii. as indentations (35) starting from an essentially flat second outer surfaces (36B) of the first rotor plates (10).
11. The rotor (1) according to claim 1, wherein the first rotor plates (10) and the second rotor plates (11) are connected to one another via diffusion connections.
12. The rotor (1) according to claim 1, wherein the first (10) and the second rotor plates (11) are each essentially circular or non-circular, and essentially rectangular.
13. Method of manufacturing a rotor (1), comprising a rotary heat pump, comprising the steps: Provision of first rotor plates (10), provision of second rotor plates (11), forming compression ducts (15), expansion ducts (20), first heat transfer ducts (18) for a working medium and second heat transfer ducts (22) for a heat transfer medium in the first rotor plates (10) and/or in the second rotor plates (11), stacking the first (10) and second rotor plates (11), connecting the first rotor plates (10) to the second rotor plates (11) along their main planes of extension, and rotary bearing of a rotor element (4) formed from the first (10) and the second rotor plates (11) about a rotational axis (2).
14. The method according to claim 13, wherein the first rotor plates (10) and the second rotor plates (11) are joined together by diffusion bonding.
15. The method according to claim 13, wherein the compression ducts (15), the expansion ducts (20), the first heat transfer ducts (18) and/or the second heat transfer ducts (22) are formed by etching or milling in the first and/or in the second rotor plates (11).
Description
[0068] The invention is further explained below with reference to an embodiment shown in the drawings.
[0069] FIG. 1 shows a rotor according to the invention for use as a rotary heat pump.
[0070] FIG. 2A, FIG. 2B and FIG. 3 show views of a rotor element formed from first and second rotor plates of the rotary heat pump according to FIG. 1.
[0071] FIGS. 4 to 9 each show a further embodiment of parts of the rotor element.
[0072] FIG. 10A shows a first rectangular embodiment, FIG. 10B and FIG. 10C show a second rectangular embodiment.
[0073] FIG. 11 and FIG. 12 show a further embodiment of the rotor element, in which the working medium and the heat transfer medium are guided in micro ducts of the first and second rotor plates respectively.
[0074] FIG. 13 and FIG. 14 show a further embodiment of the rotor element, in which the working medium and the heat transfer medium are guided in ducts of the first rotor plates, with the second rotor plates arranged as separating plates between the first rotor plates.
[0075] FIG. 1 shows a rotor 1, which in the illustrated version is designed as a device for converting mechanical energy into heat energy (and vice versa). The rotor 1 is used in particular as a rotary heat pump. Depending on the embodiment, the rotor 1 may be accommodated in a stationary housing in which the pressure is below atmospheric. The rotor 1 comprises a rotational axis 2, preferably horizontal in the operating state, about which the rotor 1 is rotated with the aid of a motor 37. To form the rotational axis 2, the rotor 1 comprises two rotary bearings 3. The rotor 1 comprises a rotor element 4, shown only symbolically in FIG. 1, which is connected on one side to connections 5 for a heat transfer medium, in particular water, and on the other side to connections 6 for a working medium, for example a noble gas. Furthermore, a fan 7 is provided to maintain a circular flow of the working medium. The fan 7 is connected to a fan drive 8 in order to rotate a blade wheel of the fan 7 relative to the rotor element 4 set in rotation by the motor 37. Furthermore, rotary feedthroughs 9 for the (water) connections 5 can be seen in FIG. 1.
[0076] FIG. 2A, FIG. 2B and FIG. 3 schematically show an embodiment of the rotor element 4, which is made up of a plurality of first rotor plates 10 and second rotor plates 11. For the sake of clarity, only two first rotor plates 10 and two second rotor plates 11 are shown in FIG. 2. In FIG. 3, the flow of the working medium is illustrated with solid lines and the flow of the heat transfer medium is illustrated with dashed lines. The first rotor plates 10 and the second rotor plates 11 are connected to each other on their outer surfaces parallel to their (in operation vertically aligned) main extension or plate planes. The first 10 and the second rotor plates 11 alternate when looked at in the axial direction. In this embodiment, the first rotor plates 10 each comprise several flow ducts 12 through which the working medium flows. The working medium flows into an inlet opening 13 into an initial section of the flow duct 12 and out of an end section of the flow duct 12 via an outlet opening 14. In the embodiment shown, several adjacent flow ducts 12 running parallel to each other are provided per inlet opening 13, cf. the detail B of FIG. 2B highlighted with a circle in FIG. 2A. The inlet openings 13 are connected to an outlet of the fan 7. The outlet openings 14 are connected to an inlet of the fan 7. In the example shown, the outlet openings 14 are arranged in the central regions of the first rotor plates 10 through which the rotational axis 2 passes. To form a compression duct 15, the flow duct 12 comprises a flow duct section 16 leading essentially radially outwards, in which the working medium is guided away from the rotational axis 2 to increase the pressure due to the centrifugal acceleration. The essentially radially outward running flow duct section 16 is adjoined by at least one flow duct section 17 running essentially in the circumferential direction, with which a first heat transfer duct 18 is formed for heat exchange with the heat transfer medium. The circumferential flow duct section 17 is adjoined by a flow duct section 19 running essentially radially inwards, which acts as an expansion duct 20 to reduce the pressure of the working medium due to centrifugal acceleration. The flow duct section 19 leading essentially radially inwards is adjoined by at least one further flow duct section 21 running essentially in the circumferential direction, which is designed as a further first heat transfer duct 18 for heat exchange with the heat transfer medium. The inlet openings 13 and the outlet openings 14 of the first rotor plates 10 are each arranged in alignment. The second rotor plates 11 comprise corresponding pass-through openings 32 for the working medium to pass through.
[0077] In this embodiment, the second rotor plates 11 each comprise second heat transfer ducts 22 through which the heat transfer medium flows. As second heat transfer ducts 22, the second rotor plates 11 each comprise at least one inner flow duct 23 with at least one section 24 running in the circumferential direction to form an inner heat exchanger and at least one outer flow duct 25 with a section 26 running in the circumferential direction to form an outer heat exchanger. Seen in the radial direction, the outer flow duct 25 is arranged further outwards than the inner flow duct 23. The circumferentially running section 24 of the inner flow duct of the second rotor plate 11 extends next to the circumferentially running flow duct section 21 of the first rotor plate 10. The circumferentially running section 26 of the outer flow duct of the second rotor plate 11 extends next to the circumferentially running flow duct section 17 of the first rotor plate 10. The inner flow duct 23 of the second rotor plate 11 comprises an inlet opening 27 for the entry of the heat transfer medium and an outlet opening 28 for the exit of the heat transfer medium. Correspondingly, the outer flow duct 25 comprises a further inlet opening 29 for the entry of the heat transfer medium and a further outlet opening 30 for the exit of the heat transfer medium. The inlet openings 27, the outlet openings 28, the further inlet openings 29 and the further outlet openings 30 are each arranged in alignment. The first rotor plates 10 comprise corresponding feed-through openings 31 for the passage of the heat transfer medium.
[0078] In the embodiment of FIG. 2A, FIG. 2B and FIG. 3, the first 10 and the second rotor plates 11 are circular in the direction of view of the rotational axis 2. Each of the first rotor plates 10 comprises several, for example 12, flow ducts 12, which are identically formed and distributed at different angular positions over the first rotor plates 10. As mentioned above, a plurality of flow ducts 12 can also be provided at each angular position, which extend side by side from the inlet opening 13 to the outlet opening 14. In the embodiment shown, the flow ducts 12 comprise a plurality of flow duct sections 21 running in the circumferential direction in a radially inner region of the first rotor plate 10 and a plurality of flow duct sections 17 running in the circumferential direction in a radially outer region of the first rotor plate 10, which are each arranged in loops at different radii R1, R2, R3 relative to the rotational axis 2. Accordingly, the second rotor plates 11 comprise several, for example 12, inner flow ducts 23 and several, for example 12, outer flow ducts 24. In the embodiment shown, the inner flow ducts 23 of the second rotor plates 11 each comprise a plurality of circumferentially running sections 24 as inner heat exchangers and a plurality of circumferentially running sections 26 as outer heat exchangers, which extend next to the circumferentially running flow duct sections 21 in the radially inner region of the first rotor plate 10 or next to the circumferentially running flow duct sections 17 in the radially outer region of the first rotor plate 10. In the embodiment of FIGS. 2A, 2B and FIG. 3, the working medium is compressed or expanded during heat transfer.
[0079] FIG. 4 shows a further embodiment, exemplified by one of the first rotor plates 10, in which two adjacent flow ducts 12 are arranged mirrored with respect to a plane of symmetry S extending in the axial and radial directions. The two adjacent flow ducts 12 each share a common inlet opening 13 and a common outlet opening 14 for the working medium. In this embodiment, the flow ducts of the second rotor plates 11 run congruently with the flow ducts 12 of the first rotor plates 10 in the area of the heat transfer ducts and are preferably run through in counterflow.
[0080] FIG. 5, FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 each show a further embodiment in which the working medium is compressed or expanded during the heat transfer.
[0081] According to FIG. 5, the working medium is compressed during the external heat transfer, preferably in order to achieve low temperature differences between the working medium and the heat transfer medium on the sink side at low spreads or at an essentially constant temperature of the heat transfer medium on the sink side.
[0082] Furthermore, the working medium is expanded during internal heat transfer in order to achieve a low temperature difference between the working medium and the heat transfer medium on the source side at low spreads or at an essentially constant temperature of the heat transfer medium on the source side. Low temperature differences between the working medium and the respective heat transfer medium lead to low exergy losses and a high efficiency (COP) of the entire system. The prerequisite is that the respective heat transfer medium is fed through the ducts with the working medium using the counterflow principle.
[0083] According to FIG. 6, the working medium is compressed during the external heat transfer, preferably in order to achieve low temperature differences between the working medium and the heat transfer medium on the sink side at low spreads or at an essentially constant temperature of the heat transfer medium on the sink side.
[0084] Furthermore, the working medium is also compressed during internal heat transfer in order to achieve a low temperature difference between the working medium and the heat transfer medium on the source side when the heat transfer medium on the source side has a high spread. The respective heat transfer medium and the working medium are guided through the ducts using the counterflow principle.
[0085] According to FIG. 7, the working medium is expanded during the external heat transfer in order to achieve low temperature differences between the working medium and the heat transfer medium on the sink side when the heat transfer medium on the sink side has a high spread.
[0086] Furthermore, the working medium is compressed during the internal heat transfer in order to achieve a low temperature difference between the working medium and the heat transfer medium on the source side when the heat transfer medium on the source side has a high spread. The respective heat transfer medium and the working medium are guided through the ducts using the counterflow principle.
[0087] FIG. 8 shows a further embodiment in which no intermediate compression or intermediate expansion of the working medium takes place. For this purpose, the working medium flows through only one flow duct section 21 running in circumferential direction per flow duct 12 in the radially inner region of the first rotor plate 10, i.e. not several flow sections 21 connected to one another in loops as in FIG. 2A, FIG. 2B and FIG. 3. Accordingly, the working medium in the radially outer region of the first rotor plate 10 flows through only one flow duct section 17 running in the circumferential direction per flow duct 12, i.e. not several flow duct sections 17 connected to one another in loops as in FIG. 2A, FIG. 2B and FIG. 3.
[0088] FIG. 9 shows a further embodiment in which the first rotor plates 10 and/or the second rotor plates 11 each comprise at least one recess 33. The recesses 33 can be arranged in such a way that heat transfer between the flows of the working medium in flow ducts 12 at different angular positions of the respective first rotor plates 10 is reduced, in particular essentially inhibited. Furthermore, the recesses 33 can be used to reduce, in particular essentially inhibit, the heat transfer of the heat transfer media in the flow ducts of the second rotor plates 11 at neighboring ducts. Furthermore, the recesses 33 can be arranged in such a way that the heat transfer between the working medium and the heat transfer medium can essentially only take place at those locations at which the heat transfer is desired.
[0089] FIG. 10A shows a first embodiment in which the first 10 and the second rotor plates 11 are non-circular, here essentially rectangular, when viewed in the direction of the rotational axis 2. In the embodiment shown, the two shorter sides of the first 10 or second rotor plates 11 are formed in a curved manner and the two longer sides of the first 10 or second rotor plates 11 are formed in a straight manner.
[0090] FIG. 10B and FIG. 10C show another essentially rectangular embodiment of the rotor element. In FIG. 10B, one of the first rotor plates 10 is shown, with the ducts of the adjacent second rotor plate 11 drawn in dashed lines. FIG. 10C shows the second rotor plates 11. This embodiment results in the following differences to the embodiments described above.
[0091] As can be seen from FIG. 10B, in this embodiment the first rotor plate 10 comprises a plurality of flow ducts 12 for the working medium, preferably extending between 10 and 200, preferably essentially parallel, which extend between the inlet openings 13 and at least one outlet opening 14, here a common outlet opening 14. For the sake of clarity, seven flow ducts 12 per quarter of the first rotor plates 10, i.e. a total of 28 flow ducts 12, are illustrated in FIG. 10B. The flow ducts 12 each comprise one of the compression ducts 15 leading outwards away from the rotational axis 2, an outer one of the first heat transfer ducts 18, an expansion duct 20 and an inner one of the first heat transfer ducts 18. The first heat transfer ducts 18 for forming the outer heat exchanger and the first heat transfer ducts 18 for forming the inner heat exchanger are each arranged at different distances from the rotational axis 2. The first heat transfer ducts 18 on the outside are each connected to the corresponding first heat transfer ducts 18 on the inside, so that the differences in the distances from the rotational axis 2 are essentially the same. Thus, for example, the innermost duct of the parallel first heat transfer ducts 18 of the inner heat transfer, leading essentially in the circumferential direction, is also connected to the innermost duct of the parallel first heat transfer ducts 18 of the outer heat transfer, leading essentially in the circumferential direction. The two radii of the connected inner and outer heat transfer ducts 18 are designed so that the temperature difference between the inner and outer heat transfer ducts is essentially the same in all parallel ducts. This enables essentially the same temperature curves and constant heat transfer performance in all parallel heat transfer ducts, which keeps exergy losses low and prevents preferential flow due to increased or decreased pressure difference.
[0092] Furthermore, in the embodiment of FIGS. 10B, 10C, the working medium flows transversely to the heat transfer medium in the heat transfer area, whereby low temperature differences (and thus low exergy losses) nevertheless occur. In FIG. 10A, this is shown using the external heat transfer by compressing the working medium in each of the parallel ducts during the heat exchange in such a way that a constant temperature is established in this duct. The temperature spread for the crossflowing heat transfer medium can be set via the number and radius difference in the heat transfer area of the parallel ducts. Due to the high number of parallel ducts (with the same radial extension as in the designs with loops described above) and the comparatively short duct length, the pressure loss is reduced compared to the other designs. The same effect can be achieved in the area of internal heat transfer if each of the parallel inner ducts is expanded during the heat exchange with the heat transfer medium via a radius reduction in the direction of flow in such a way that the temperature within a duct is kept constant.
[0093] In FIG. 11 and FIG. 12, a part of the rotor element 4 of the embodiment according to FIG. 2A, FIG. 2B and FIG. 3 is shown in greater detail. Accordingly, several, in the shown example six, flow duct sections 21 essentially in circumferential direction in the radially inner area, flow duct sections 17 essentially in circumferential direction in the radially outer area of the first rotor plates 10, sections 24 of the inner heat exchanger essentially in circumferential direction and sections 26 of the outer heat exchanger of the second rotor plates 11 essentially the circumferential direction extend next to each other. Furthermore, an end plate 34 without ducts can be seen in FIG. 9 and FIG. 10.
[0094] As FIG. 11 and FIG. 12 show, the flow ducts 12 of the first rotor plates 10 and the second heat transfer ducts 22 of the second rotor plates 11 are each formed as indentations 35, which are recessed relative to the flat outer or bonding surfaces 36 of the first 10 and second rotor plates 11 respectively. The closed ducts for the working and heat transfer medium respectively are formed by stacking the first 10 and second rotor plates 11. The first rotor plates 10 and the second rotor plates 11 can be connected to each other via diffusion connections. These connections are described, for example, in EP 3 885 691.
[0095] In FIG. 13 and the detailed view of FIG. 14 marked with a rectangle in FIG. 13, a further embodiment of the rotor is shown, whereby only the differences to the preceding embodiments are discussed below. In the embodiment of FIG. 13 and FIG. 14, the first rotor plates 10 comprise not only the compression ducts 15, the expansion ducts 20 and the first heat transfer ducts 18 for the working medium, but also the second heat transfer ducts 22 for the heat transfer medium. For this purpose, the first rotor plates 10 comprise on their first outer surfaces 36A the indentations 35 for forming the compression ducts 15, the expansion ducts 20 and the first heat transfer ducts 18 for the working medium and on their second outer surfaces 36B indentations 35 for forming the second heat transfer ducts 22 for the heat transfer medium. The second rotor plates 11 are arranged between the first rotor plates 10 as separating plates free of the indentations 35, in order to close off the indentations 35 of the first rotor plates 10 in order to form the flow ducts 12 and the second heat transfer ducts 22.
REFERENCE NUMBER LIST
[0096] 1 Rotor [0097] 2 Rotational axis [0098] 3 Rotary bearings [0099] 4 Rotor element [0100] 5 Water connections [0101] 6 Gas connections [0102] 7 Fan [0103] 8 Fan drive [0104] 9 Rotary feedthroughs [0105] 10 First rotor plates [0106] 11 Second rotor plates [0107] 12 Flow ducts of the first rotor plates 10 [0108] 13 Inlet openings of the flow ducts 12 [0109] 14 Outlet openings of the flow ducts 12 [0110] 15 Compression duct [0111] 16 Radially outward running flow duct section [0112] 17 Circumferentially running flow duct section [0113] 18 First heat transfer duct [0114] 19 Radially inward running flow duct section [0115] 20 Expansion duct [0116] 21 Circumferentially running flow duct sections [0117] 22 Second heat transfer ducts [0118] 23 Inner flow ducts of the second rotor plates 11 [0119] 24 Circumferentially running sections of the inner flow ducts [0120] 23 [0121] 25 Outer flow ducts of the second rotor plates 11 [0122] 26 Circumferentially running sections of the outer flow ducts [0123] 25 [0124] 27 Inlet openings [0125] 28 Outlet openings [0126] 29 Further inlet openings [0127] 30 Further outlet openings [0128] 31 Feed-through openings of the first rotor plates 10 [0129] 32 Pass-through openings of the second rotor plates 11 [0130] 33 Recesses [0131] 34 End plate [0132] 35 Indentations [0133] 36 Exterior or bonding surfaces [0134] 37 Motor
