Double Pipe Vacuum Insulation for Localized Heating
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing heating and cooling systems using cooling-and-heating water pipes struggle with localized temperature control, as the temperature of the heating medium changes en route to the target, making precise localized cooling or heating difficult.
Innovation Solution
A heating and cooling system featuring a double pipe unit with an inner pipe and an outer pipe, where the space between them is maintained at varying degrees of vacuum, allowing for adjustable thermal insulation and localized heat exchange by adjusting the vacuum level at specific sections to control the temperature of the heating medium.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If cooling-and-heating water pipes are used to deliver heating medium from supply section to cooling target or heating target, then the system can provide heating or cooling function, but the temperature of heating medium changes during transmission making localized cooling or heating difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The transmission pipeline is divided into multiple double pipe units, each capable of independent vacuum control. This segmentation allows different sections to have different thermal insulation characteristics, enabling localized temperature control while preventing energy loss in non-localized sections.
Solution Approach 2:
Different sections of the pipeline are equipped with different vacuum degrees in the annular space. Sections requiring heat exchange have lower vacuum degrees (better heat transfer), while sections requiring temperature maintenance have higher vacuum degrees (better insulation). This local quality differentiation resolves the contradiction between preventing energy loss and enabling localized heat exchange.
2Temperature
If the space between inner pipe and outer pipe is maintained at high vacuum for thermal insulation, then temperature changes of heating medium are suppressed, but heat exchange with the heating medium is inhibited
Solution Approach 1:
The vacuum degree in the annular space is made adjustable rather than fixed. Vacuum adjustment mechanisms allow the system to dynamically change the thermal insulation performance of different pipeline sections based on real-time heating or cooling demands, enabling both temperature stability and heat exchange efficiency as needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The physical parameter of vacuum degree is changed to control thermal insulation performance. By adjusting the vacuum degree parameter in different sections, the system can switch between good thermal insulation (high vacuum) and good heat exchange (low vacuum) conditions, resolving the contradiction between temperature stability and heat exchange efficiency.
3Device complexity
If a single double pipe configuration is used throughout the system, then the system structure is simple, but flexibility for localized cooling or heating is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The system is segmented into multiple double pipe units that can be independently configured with different vacuum degrees. This segmentation maintains relative structural simplicity while providing the flexibility to create different thermal insulation patterns for localized cooling or heating requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The double pipe unit is designed as a universal module that can serve multiple functions depending on vacuum configuration. The same basic structure can provide either thermal insulation or heat exchange by simply adjusting the vacuum degree, giving the system high adaptability without requiring completely different structures for different functions.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach enables effective thermal insulation and localized cooling or heating by promoting heat exchange at specific areas, allowing for precise temperature control of the heating medium without altering the supply temperature, thus enhancing the system's flexibility and maintainability.
Implementation Method 1
The space between the inner pipe and the outer pipe is maintained at a vacuum. Thus, effective thermal insulation is achieved between the inner pipe and the outer pipe, and changes in temperature of the heating medium may be suppressed.
Implementation Method 2
the thermal insulation effect of the double pipe unit can be locally changed by making the degree of vacuum in the space between the inner pipe and the outer pipe of the double pipe unit positioned at this area (a heat exchange section) a different degree of vacuum. Thus, heat exchange with the heating medium is promoted at this area
Data Source
AI summary
In order to obtain a heating and cooling system capable of localized cooling or heating a given area, a heating and cooling system includes: a supply section configured to supply a heating medium; and a double pipe unit including: an inner pipe, connected to the supply section, through which the heating medium flows, and an outer pipe disposed at an outer peripheral side of the inner pipe, the outer pipe including a space between the inner pipe and the outer pipe, the space being maintained at a vacuum, portions in which a degree of vacuum of the space is different, or in which the degree of vacuum of the space is adjustable.