Artificial Underground Water Heat Accumulator

Abstract

Disclosed is a device of a water heat accumulator or storage medium that is composed of water and at least one solid construction material which has a structure with hollow spaces and is specifically designed to absorb the entire amount of water and autonomously retain as much thereof as possible, has a statically load-bearing structure and can thus accommodate a superstructure, and can have water-permeable and/or hygroscopic properties. All additional equipment required for operating and utilizing the heat accumulator is assigned to said water heat accumulator or storage medium. The inventive device is characterized in that the construction material is a foam product or a construction material which is composed of several identical and/or different solid construction materials that are fixedly interconnected.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD[0001]The present invention generally relates to a water heat accumulator, and more particularly, to a water heat accumulator comprising a water-absorbing and load-bearing material.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]Artificial water accumulators are water collection units that may be built aboveground or underground. Depending on need and specific purpose they may take the form of small or large containers or collecting tanks. Because water is a liquid medium it must be collected in a sealed container. Depending upon the selected structural form, such water accumulators must be constructed in a way that is statically load-bearing, and are accordingly very expensive to manufacture, either in a factory or on-site. Water accumulators are generally built either as containers made of steel, of fiberglass-reinforced composite material, or as a reinforced concrete structure.[0003]Water containers have been used as heat accumulators, because water is known to have very good hea...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0029]Advantageously the new construction material may retain water that is absorbed in its cavities independently, i.e. without additional resources, up to a specific saturation point. This characteristic is inherent to the material, and based on the capillary effect acting on small to very small cavities and their connection. Consequentially the storage material may not require additional waterproofing to the outside, and eliminate the risk of water leaking from the heat accumulator to the outside. Preventing water leakage is important to avoid heat loss as well as flooding of soil surrounding the heat accumulator and potentially endangering the base or foundation of a superstructure build over the heat accumulator.

[0030]In some cases the additional external waterproofing that is required in prior art water heat accumulators can be omitted. This allows for smaller, more economical water heat accumulators. However, without external waterproofing a loss of water may occur, e.g. if the storage medium comes into contact with the stone in its trough. Water loss will occur in such small quantities, however, that only minimum heat quantities will be lost from the heat accumulator, and there will be no notable change in the natu

Problems solved by technology

This presents a technological challenge, because once superstructures ha

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