Importance

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Abstract

The invention is the design of a heat pump and heating and air conditioning system that improves the performance at part loads, and lowers the operating costs by heat storage and/or modulating the output of the system to meet the heating and cooling needs of the building. The invention uses the technologies of refrigeration, thermodynamics, fluid flow, heat transfer, and solid state electronics. The output and electric power requirements of the system are modulated by an electronic controller that can vary the speed of the compressor motor by changing the frequency of the electric power to the motor of the refrigerant compressor. The two most important components of the system, that are an improvement in the state of the art of heat pumps systems, are the design and use of a modulating thermosiphon evaporator (MTSE) and a zoned heat storage system (ZHSS). The MTSE consists of three or more controllable flow circuits with different size heat transfer co-axial coils that are designed so that the water in each coil is automatically drained when the water flow to the coil is stopped. The ZHSS consists of three or more heat storage zones each containing, heat storage tubes, a tube support and a water flow control device that meters the water flow to each flow area between the tubes. The invention permits a water to air or water to water heat pump system to operate efficiently with system heating output as low as one third of the building design load. The annual cost of electricity of a building, with a modulating heat pump system, is greatly reduced when compared with a conventional heat pump or electric furnace. The invention insures that a water to air or water to water heat pump can operate with higher, constant efficiency, at reduced heating and cooling outputs with reduced annual electric power costs, without freezing water in the evaporator.

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First Claim