Arrangement for either cooling or heating buildings
Patent Information
- Application Number
- EP2024703691
- Authority / Receiving Office
- EP · EP
- Patent Type
- Applications
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Priority Date
- 2023-04-12
- Filing Date
- 2024-01-19
- Publication Date
- 2026-01-14
AI Technical Summary
Infrared dark radiator heating systems are limited to heating only and cannot utilize excess electrical energy, nor can they cool buildings efficiently, especially in cold, sunny, and windy winter days.
An arrangement that includes an elongated housing with a dark radiator unit and an electrically operated cooling and heating unit, connected via a heat exchanger, allowing for selective heating or cooling by using hot or cooled heat transport media, and incorporating additional electrical heating elements and a fan to enhance thermal efficiency.
Enables efficient heating or cooling of a narrow building area with reduced energy consumption, allowing for purely electrical operation and efficient use of energy, especially in winter, and effective cooling in summer with minimal energy use.
Smart Images
Figure EP2024051257_12092024_PF_FP_ABST
Abstract
Description
[0001] Arrangement for selectively cooling or heating buildings The invention relates to an arrangement for selectively cooling or heating buildings according to the preamble of claim 1,
[0002] Heating systems for heating large buildings, such as halls in particular, which comprise a plurality of individual infrared radiators, in particular dark radiators, are known, for example, from DE 10 2007 047 661 A1. The dark radiators comprise a housing suspended horizontally above an area of the building to be heated, open at the bottom, in which a radiant tube is housed, which is exposed to heated exhaust gas by a gas burner. The other end of the radiant tube is connected to an exhaust line and is subjected to negative pressure via a suction fan. Due to the thermal energy thus generated in the radiant tube, it heats up to a temperature in the range of 300°C to 750°C and emits infrared radiation in the manner of a blackbody.This infrared radiation leads to a direct heating of the area occupied by people, animals, and objects below the radiant tube. Compared to conventional building heating systems, which primarily generate warm air and distribute it throughout the building, this offers the advantage that in a narrowly defined area of the building, only the surfaces of people, animals, and objects are heated by the infrared radiation, but not the air volume within the building. Since in this case, no air is heated in the floor area of the building, which then rises upwards and is no longer available as warm air in the area occupied by people, the infrared dark radiator heaters described operate comparatively economically and are therefore preferred for heating halls.
[0003] The aforementioned infrared dark radiator heaters have the problem that they can only be heated with gas, leaving no way of efficiently using them to heat buildings when there is a surplus of electrical energy in the public power grid, such as occurs on cold, sunny, and windy winter days. A further problem is that the heaters can only be used to heat buildings, but not to cool them. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to create an arrangement with which a narrowly defined floor-side space in a building can be selectively heated or cooled while efficiently utilizing the energy used.
[0004] This object is achieved according to the invention by an arrangement having the features of claim 1.
[0005] Further features of the invention are contained in the subclaims.
[0006] According to the invention, an arrangement for heating or cooling buildings, in particular halls, comprises an elongated housing that is closed at the top and open at the bottom, in which at least one dark radiator unit with a radiation tube is accommodated. This tube can be supplied with hot gas by a burner and preferably an associated burner fan. The arrangement is characterized in that it further comprises an electrically operated cooling and heating unit arranged outside the housing, in particular on the roof of the building or hall, which optionally provides a cooled or heated heat transfer medium.The arrangement further comprises a heat exchanger connected to the electrically operated cooling and heating unit via a supply line and return line, which heat exchanger is designed to be supplied with a cooled heat transport medium provided in the cooling and heating unit via the supply line when the burner is deactivated, and with a heated heat transport medium provided in the electrical cooling and heating unit when the burner is activated.
[0007] The housing of the arrangement also contains a fan designed to supply the heat exchanger with ambient air, which exits through air outlet openings on the underside of the housing into the area below the housing. This allows the arrangement according to the invention, at low ambient temperatures, particularly in winter, to expose people below the arrangement to infrared heat radiation via the radiant tube heated by the burner and, at the same time, to ambient air heated in the heat exchanger. This advantageously significantly shortens the heating time compared to a pure infrared dark radiator heater.According to a further preferred embodiment, it can additionally be provided that, in the area defined by the preferably U-shaped radiant tube on the underside of the housing, additional electric heating rods are provided, which are also activated to further increase the input of thermal energy and accordingly further shorten the heating time of the area to be tempered. A further advantage of this embodiment is that it enables purely electric operation of the arrangement according to the invention without the use of fossil fuels.
[0008] Due to the elongated shape of the housing, which is suspended several meters above a corridor area or a work area in a hall, only a narrow area of the room is advantageously heated with heat radiation, similar to a heat curtain, and only locally and specifically with warm air blown downwards via the openings, which significantly improves the thermal efficiency of the arrangement for a given heating time.
[0009] In contrast, at high ambient temperatures, such as those found in summer, the electric cooling and heating unit, which operates similarly to a known heat pump and contains a compressor and another heat exchanger, provides a cooled heat transfer medium that is fed to the heat exchanger in the housing of the inventive arrangement via the supply line. The ambient air drawn in by the fan is cooled in a known manner by the fan, which supplies the heat exchanger with ambient air, and then blown out into the space below through the outlet openings provided on the underside of the housing, downstream of the heat exchanger.There, the cooled air emerging from the air outlet openings at a flow velocity that is preferably low compared to conventional air conditioning systems acts on the space below the housing like a spatially confined cold curtain, without mixing the warm air in the adjacent warm areas of the room with the cooled air. This results in a particularly efficient use of the supplied cooling energy compared to conventional air conditioning systems, which require significantly higher energy consumption due to the mixing of supplied cool air and warm air. In the preferred embodiment of the arrangement according to the invention, two dark radiator units with respective radiation rollers and burners are provided on either side of the heat exchanger arranged centrally between them in the housing of the arrangement.This design has the advantage that the housing has a large length-to-width ratio, which means that an elongated room, such as a corridor or a work area in a hall, can be heated very efficiently in winter and cooled locally very efficiently in summer. It is particularly advantageous if the radiant tubes arranged on either side of the central heat exchanger are housed in a known double-walled reflector housing, which has a lower shell facing the floor of the building. The ambient air supplied to the respective burner is drawn through openings in the area of the two longitudinal edges of the housing into the interior of the double-walled reflector housing and is thus preheated during heating operation.This advantageously reduces the energy required to operate the infrared radiation tube in winter.
[0010] In this embodiment, it can also be provided that for cooling operation in summer, the outlet area of the heat exchanger for the cool air is controlled via electrically operated
[0011] The flaps are fluidically connected to the respective interior of the double-jet reflector housing, so that the ambient air cooled in the heat exchanger is also blown out towards the floor via the openings in the area of the long edges of the housing. This increases the size of the actively effective air outlet surfaces during cooling mode in summer, which makes it possible to significantly reduce the flow velocity of the escaping cooled air and, as a result of the reduced outlet velocity, to counteract mixing of the same with adjacent warm air. Due to the cooling zone created like a curtain of cooled air with a low flow velocity, even large areas can be locally air-conditioned very efficiently without causing unpleasant drafts for the occupants in these zones.
[0012] In other words, with the arrangement according to the invention, a significantly larger area below the housing of the arrangement according to the invention can be cooled in summer to a room temperature that is comfortable for people with reduced energy consumption. The control of the arrangement according to the invention is preferably carried out via a central electronic control device, to which electrical power is preferably supplied centrally via the power grid, e.g. 10 kW, and which then takes over the control of the burners, if necessary the ventilation flaps, as well as the cooling and heating unit and the electric heating rods of the additional heater. The arrangement according to the invention has the particular advantage that the supplied electrical power in the cooling and heating unit, which has a compressor and an additional heat exchanger, is converted very efficiently into heat or cooling power due to the heat pump effect. In addition, only one high-voltage line with e.g.10 kW is required to operate the optional electric heating elements in winter. In other words, only one power supply is required for cooling in summer and for (supplemental) electric heating in winter, which significantly reduces installation costs.Optionally, in order to save fuel for the burner in winter operation, it can be provided that the exhaust pipe, through which the exhaust gas from the burner or burners is led to the outside after exiting the respective radiant tube, also feeds a heat exchanger, which can be, for example, the previously mentioned additional heat exchanger of the cooling and heating unit, or a heat exchanger thermally coupled to it, which is adapted to the temperatures of the exhaust gas from the burners, so that the residual heat contained in the exhaust gas can be recovered by the cooling and heating unit and, during heating operation, can be fed back to the heat exchanger in the housing of the arrangement.
[0013] The invention is described below with reference to the drawings using exemplary embodiments.
[0014] The drawings show:
[0015] Fig. 1 is a schematic side view of the arrangement according to the invention suspended from the ceiling of a building, comprising a housing with two dark radiator units arranged therein and a centrally arranged heat exchanger, which is supplied with a heat transfer medium via a supply line and return line from a cooling and heating unit arranged on the roof of the building. Fig. 2 is a schematic view of the underside of the housing of Fig. 1.
[0016] Fig. 3 shows the arrangement according to the invention of Figs. 1 and 2 with a double-shell reflector housing during heating operation, and
[0017] Fig. 4 shows the arrangement according to the invention of Figs. 1 and 2 with a double-shell reflector housing during cooling operation in summer. As shown in Figs. 1 to 4, arrangement 1 for selectively heating or cooling buildings 100 comprises an elongated housing 6 which is closed at the top and open at the bottom and in which at least one dark radiator unit 2.1; 2.2 is accommodated with a radiant tube 4 which can be supplied with hot gas by a burner 5. In order to heat the radiant tube 4 for heating operation in winter to a temperature of, for example, 700 CC. The exhaust gas from the burner 5 is discharged from the building 100 by a fan (not further specified) via an exhaust line 28. The arrangement 1 further comprises an electrically operated cooling and heating unit 8 arranged outside the housing 6 for providing a cooled or heated heat transport medium, e.g., a liquid coolant used in refrigerators and air conditioning systems as well as heat pumps, as well as a heat exchanger 10 connected to the cooling and heating unit 8 via a supply line 12a and return line 12b.
[0018] The electrically operated cooling and heating unit 8 is designed according to the invention to be supplied with cooled heat transfer medium via the supply line 12a when the burner 5 is deactivated and with heated heat transfer medium when the burner 5 is activated. The housing 6 of the arrangement 1, which is preferably suspended at a height of, for example, 3 to 4 m above a room area to be heated or cooled, e.g., a corridor area or a work area not shown in detail, also contains a fan 14. This fan is designed to supply the heat exchanger 10 with ambient air, which is preferably sucked in via air inlet openings not shown in detail, which are formed on the top side or in a lateral central section of the housing 6. After flowing through the heat exchanger 10, the cooled ambient air exits via air outlet openings 16, which are arranged on the underside of the housing 6, as shown in Fig.3. Although the arrangement 1 according to the invention can, in the simplest case, only have a single dark radiator unit 2.1 or 2.2, in the preferred embodiment of the invention shown in Figures 1 to 4, it comprises two such dark radiator units 2.1, 2.1, which are accommodated in the housing 6 opposite one another in relation to the preferably centrally arranged heat exchanger 10. As is only schematically indicated in the drawings by a dotted line, each of the dark radiator units 2.1, 2.2 preferably has a double-walled reflector housing 20 which is open downwards towards the floor of the building 100 and in which the radiation tube 4 is preferably arranged horizontally. The double-walled or double-shell reflector housing 20 has an interior space 21 and, in the region of the longitudinal edges of the housing 6, has a plurality of further openings 18 communicating with the interior space 21, which openings 18 are arranged in the lower, iethe shell of the reflector housing 20 facing the radiation tube 4. During heating operation, ambient air is sucked in through these additional openings 18 in a known manner, which air is then guided through the interior 21 to the burner 5 and supplied thereto as preheated air. This construction makes it possible to use the thermal energy content of the air heated by contact with the reflector housing 20 to preheat the combustion air supplied to the burner 5 and thus to at least partially recover it. As can be seen from the illustrations in Figures 2, 3 and 4, the interior 21 of the double-walled reflector housing 20 of preferably each dark radiator unit 2.1, 2.2 can be fluidly connected via an electrically actuated ventilation flap 26 to the area 11 of the heat exchanger 10 or housing 6, in which the cooling or hot air exits therefrom.This makes it possible, in cooling mode, to guide cooled air from the outlet area 11 into the interior 21 of the double-walled reflector housing 20 and through this to the previously mentioned further openings 18, through which the cooled air also exits in cooling mode at a comparatively low flow velocity, e.g. 0.5 to 5 m / s, in order to thereby form a type of cooling curtain in the area immediately below the elongated housing 6, within which the cooled air, at a comfortable temperature for people, exits over a large area.
[0019] By designing and orienting the additional openings as nozzles 18, which are variable, in particular, with regard to their nozzle cross-section and / or discharge direction, in conjunction with the diverging of the downwardly flowing cooling air, it is possible to form a definable climate zone in which there is no excessive mixing of the supplied cooled air with the warm ambient air, as is generally observed in known air conditioning units. In the preferred embodiment of the arrangement 1 according to the invention shown in the figures, a total of two dark radiator units 2.1, 2.1, each with radiation tubes 4 and burners 5, are arranged in the housing 6, between which the heat exchanger 10 is preferably installed centrally.This results in a particularly compact design which allows the cooling air to be introduced via the electrically operated ventilation flaps 26 into both interior spaces 21 of the respective reflector housings 20, from where it flows to the further openings.
[0020] 18. The electrically operated ventilation flaps 26 are closed during heating operation in winter, which is indicated by the radiant tubes 4 and electric heating rods 24 marked with dotted crosses in Fig. 3, so that no thermal energy provided by the cooling and heating unit 8, in addition to the warm air sucked in via the further openings 18, reaches the burners 5 in the area of the radiant tubes 4.
[0021] This allows arrangement 1 to be operated with an overall higher efficiency during heating operation.
[0022] Although it is provided in the preferred embodiment of the invention that the outlet area 11 of the heat exchanger 10 for the cool air is fluidly connected to the respective interior 21 of the double-walled reflector housing 20 during cooling operation via an electrically actuated flap 26, so that the ambient air cooled in the heat exchanger 10 is additionally supplied in the cooling operation via the interior 21 of the double-walled reflector housing 21 of both dark radiator units 2.1, 2.2 to the further openings 18 in the region of the longitudinal edges of the housing 6 on both sides of the central heat exchanger 10, it is also possible to close one or both flaps 26 with the aid of the control device 22, or to open them only partially.This allows the cooled air to be directed exclusively to the central outlet openings 16, or to these and simultaneously only to the other outlet openings 16 of the first or second dark radiation unit 2.1. In conjunction with a speed of the fan 14 that can be varied by the control device 22, this results in the possibility of highly variable air distribution, which can further increase the efficiency of the arrangement according to the invention. As can be seen from the illustration in Figures 2 to 4, the respective radiation tube 4 of each dark radiation unit 2.1, 2.2 is preferably U-shaped, so that in the area bordered by the radiant tube 4 on the underside of the housing 6, additional electrical heating elements, in particular heating rods, 24 can be arranged, which are supplied with electrical current by the control device 22 during heating operation in order to make them glow in the manner known for such heating rods. This opens up the possibility of operating the arrangement according to the invention purely electrically in winter in a CO2-saving manner, for example when there is a surplus of electrical energy in the grid due to a surplus of solar and wind energy. This allows the demand for gas required to heat the radiant tubes, and thus the CO2 emissions of the arrangement according to the invention during heating, to be further reduced in an ecologically advantageous manner.
[0023] In addition, the efficiency of the arrangement 1 in heating mode can be increased by the electrically operated cooling and heating unit 8 containing an additional heat exchanger and a compressor, which is supplied with exhaust gas from the burner 5 of one or both dark radiator units 2.1, 2.2 via an exhaust line 28, as indicated in Fig. 1. This opens up the possibility of recovering the residual heat contained in the exhaust gas and supplying it to the heat exchanger 10 in heating mode via the heat transport medium and the supply line 12a. Due to the heat pump effect used in this way, the electrical energy supplied to the cooling and heating unit 8 to operate the compressor is used considerably more efficiently than with purely electrical heating using heating rods.
[0024] The electrically operated cooling and heating unit 8 is preferably arranged on the roof of the building 100, which results in a spatial separation between the housing 6 with the heat exchanger 10 arranged therein, which leads to a thermal separation which further increases the efficiency of the arrangement according to the invention.
[0025] As indicated in the drawings by the dotted lines, the electrically operated cooling and heating unit 8 and the burner 5, as well as the fan 14 and the heating elements 24 for the additional heating, are controlled by a common central electronic control device 22, which is supplied with electrical energy via a mains connection and an associated power supply line, such that during heating operation in winter the burner 5 is activated and the radiant tube is supplied with hot gas and at the same time the heat exchanger 10 is supplied with heated heat transport medium by the electrically operated cooling and heating unit 8 via the supply line 12a.
[0026] In contrast, control in cooling mode in summer is achieved by deactivating burner 5, activating fan 14, and supplying cooled heat transfer medium to heat exchanger 10 via supply line 12a by the electrically operated cooling and heating unit 8. The electrically operated ventilation flaps 26 are preferably completely closed in heating mode, and are fully or partially opened individually or jointly in cooling mode, depending on the required cooling capacity.
[0027] List of reference symbols 1 arrangement according to the invention
[0028] 2.1, 2.2 Dark radiator unit
[0029] 4 radiation tube
[0030] 5 burners
[0031] 6 Housing 8 Cooling and heating unit
[0032] 10 heat exchangers
[0033] 11 Outlet area of the heat exchanger for cooling / heating
[0034] 12a inlet line
[0035] 12b Return line 14 Fan
[0036] 16 Air outlet opening downstream of the heat exchanger 10
[0037] 18 air outlet openings on the longitudinal edges of the double-jet housing
[0038] 20 double-shell reflector housing
[0039] 21 Interior of the double-shell reflector housing 22 Control device
[0040] 24 electric heating elements for additional heating
[0041] 26 electrically operated ventilation flaps
[0042] 100 buildings
Claims
Claims 1. An arrangement (1) for heating or cooling buildings (100), comprising an elongated housing (6) closed at the top and open at the bottom, and at least one dark radiator unit (2.1; 2.2) with a radiation tube (4) accommodated in the housing (6), which can be supplied with hot gas by a burner (5), characterized in that the arrangement (1) further comprises an electrically operated cooling and heating unit (8) for providing a cooled or heated heat transport medium, and a heat exchanger (10) connected to the latter via a supply line (12a) and a return line (12b), which is designed to be supplied with cooled heat transport medium via the supply line (12a) when the burner (5) is deactivated and with heated heat transport medium when the burner (5) is activated, and in that a fan (14) is further arranged in the housing (6). which is designed toto supply the heat exchanger (10) with ambient air, wherein the ambient air, after flowing through the heat exchanger (10), is fed to air outlet openings (16) which are arranged on the underside of the housing (6).
2. Arrangement according to claim 1, characterized in that the at least one dark radiator unit (2.1, 2.1) has a double-walled reflector housing (20) in which the radiation tube (4) is arranged, and in that the double-walled reflector housing (20) has an interior space (21) and in the region of the longitudinal edges of the housing (6) has a plurality of further openings (18) through which ambient air can be sucked in during heating operation, which can be guided through the interior space (21) of the double-walled reflector housing (20) to the burner (5) and can be supplied to the burner as preheated air.
3. Arrangement according to claim 2, characterized in that the interior (21) of the double-walled reflector housing (20) is fluidly connectable to the outlet region (11) of the heat exchanger (10) for the cooled or heated ambient air via an electrically actuated ventilation flap (26) in order to guide cooled air from the outlet region (11) into the interior (21) of the double-walled reflector housing (20) and through this to the plurality of further openings (18) during cooling operation.
4. Arrangement according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that two dark radiator units (2.1, 2.1) with respective radiation tubes (4) and burners (5) are accommodated in the housing (6), between which the heat exchanger (10) is preferably arranged centrally.
5. Arrangement according to claim 4, characterized in that the heat exchanger (10) and the outlet area (11) for the air blown by the fan (14) the air conveyed to the air outlet openings (16) is accommodated centrally in the housing (6), and that the radiation tubes (4) of the dark radiator units (2.1, 2.1) arranged on both sides of the heat exchanger (10) are each accommodated in a double-walled reflector housing 20 with an interior space (21), which in the region of the longitudinal edges of the housing (6) has a plurality of further openings (18) through which ambient air can be sucked in during heating operation and can be guided through the interior space (21) of the respective double-walled reflector housing (20) to the associated burner 5.
6. Arrangement according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the air outlet openings (16) have the outlet area (11) of the heat exchanger (10) for the cooled air during cooling operation, each via an electrically actuated flap (26) with the respective interior space (21) of the double-walled reflector housing (20), so that the ambient air sucked in by the fan (14) and cooled in the heat exchanger (10) in cooling operation additionally via the interior space (21) of the double-walled reflector housing (21) of both dark radiator units (2.1, 2.2) to the further openings (18) in the area of Longitudinal edges of the housing (6) on both sides of the central heat exchanger (10).
7. Arrangement according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the radiation tube (4) of each dark radiator unit (2.1, 2.2) is U-shaped, and in an area bordered by the radiation tube (4) on the underside of the housing (6) additional electrical heating elements (24), in particular heating rods, are arranged, which can be supplied with electrical current during heating operation in order to additionally increase the input of thermal energy.
8. Arrangement according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the electrically operated cooling and heating unit (8) contains a further heat exchanger and a compressor which can be supplied with exhaust gas from the burner (5) of at least one dark radiator unit (2.1, 2.2) via an exhaust line (28) in order to recover residual heat contained in the exhaust gas and to supply this to the heat exchanger (10) via the heat transport medium during heating operation.
9. Arrangement according to claim 8, characterized in that the exhaust pipe (28) within the building (100) is preferably thermally insulated, and / or that the electrically operated cooling and heating unit (8) is arranged on the roof of the building (100).
10. Arrangement according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the electrically operated cooling and heating unit (8) and the burner (5) are controlled by an electronic control device (22) which can be supplied with electrical energy via a mains connection and an associated power supply line, such that the burner (5) can be activated during heating operation and the radiant tube (4) can be supplied with hot gas and at the same time the heat exchanger (10) can be supplied with heated heat transport medium by the electrically operated cooling and heating unit (8) via the supply line (12a), and that in Cooling operation of the burner (5) can be deactivated and the fan (14) can be activated at the same time and the heat exchanger (10) can be supplied with cooled heat transport medium via the supply line (12a) by the electrically operated cooling and heating unit (8).