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| Solar collector |
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Plumbed thermal energy storage system
| Details |
Inventors: Longardner, William J.; Gustin, Joseph A.; Rafalovich, Alexander P.; Keller, Gilbert P.; Schmidter, Thomas C.;
Assignee: Store Heat & Producte Energy, Inc. (Indianapolis, IN)
Primary Examiner: Rivell; John
Assistant Examiner: Atkinson; Christopher
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Barnes & Thornburg
A thermal energy storage system is operable in heating capacity storage and discharge modes and cooling capacity storage and discharge modes for maintaining a temperature in a vehicle compartment. Each mode includes a thermal charging cycle and a thermal discharging cycle. The thermal energy storage system communicates with a vehicle air conditioning system including a compressor and a vehicle coolant system including a vehicle engine. The thermal energy storage system comprises a thermal storage apparatus housing thermal energy storage material that stores thermal energy. The thermal storage apparatus is connected to the air conditioning system and the coolant system so that a refrigerant or coolant flows through the thermal storage apparatus in heat transfer relationship with the thermal energy storage material. |
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION The present invention relates to a thermal energy storage system.
More particularly, the present invention relates to a thermal energy storage system including at least one thermal storage apparatus configured to be incorporated into the heating and cooling system of a vehicle or the like.
Use of heating and cooling systems for vehicular applications is common and well established to maintain a comfortable environment within the vehicle while the vehicle engine is operating.
When the occupants of the vehicle stop driving and rest in the vehicle, the interior space in the vehicle can become very uncomfortable due to the air temperature within the vehicle increasing or decreasing.
In most vehicles, the heating and cooling system maintains comfort levels within the vehicle only during engine operation.
These heating and cooling systems do not provide space conditioning to the interior of the vehicle when the engine is turned off.
Phase change materials ("PCMs") store heat during phase transition, typically liquid/solid phase transitions.
For example, water, paraffins, alcohol, salts and salt hydrates have notably high energy densities over temperature ranges of practical significance.
A large amount of thermal energy can be stored as latent heat of fusion during the melting of an appropriate PCM.
The stored heat can then be extracted from the liquid PCM by cooling it until it crystallizes.
Thermal energy can also be stored as sensible heat in PCMs.
Various attempts have been made to incorporate PCMs into heating and air conditioning systems, including heat pump systems, solar collection systems, and more conventional heating and air conditioning systems.
For example, U.
S.
Pat.
No.
5,054,540 to Carr describes a cool storage reservoir positioned in the air duct of a vehicle or the like.
A plurality of elongated sealed containers are positioned in the cool storage reservoir, each of the sealed containers being filled with a gas/water medium capable of forming a gas hydrate
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