Arrangement for heating a liquid
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing liquid heating systems, such as instantaneous water heaters and boilers, suffer from inefficiencies in temperature stratification and require significant pre-heating volumes, leading to high energy consumption and waiting times, especially when lower heating capacities are needed.
Innovation Solution
A combined system of an instantaneous water heater and a boiler, utilizing a container with two openings and a pump to manage liquid flow, a vent valve, and a control device to regulate temperature and air release, ensuring continuous heating and minimal volume requirements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Power
If a buffer storage tank is used to store heated liquid, then a lower heating output is sufficient, but the heat source installation disrupts temperature stratification and a significant portion of the total volume must be heated before water of the desired temperature is available
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides the heating function into two separate paths: a first pump delivers heated liquid directly from the heat exchanger for immediate use, while a second pump fills the storage tank. This segmentation allows the system to provide heated liquid instantly without requiring the entire tank volume to be pre-heated, resolving the contradiction between using lower heating output and reducing waiting time.
2Power
If a buffer storage tank is used to store heated liquid, then a lower heating output is sufficient, but temperature stratification within the storage buffer is disrupted
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts the temperature stratification requirement from the storage tank operation by implementing a direct heating path through the first pump. This allows the storage tank to function purely as a volume reservoir without the complexity of maintaining temperature stratification, as the first pump-bypass path provides immediate heated liquid regardless of tank contents.
3Productivity
If the pump delivers more liquid than leaves the heat exchanger, then liquid is drawn from the container, but this requires coordinating flow rates of multiple pumps
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements self-regulation through the opening connection between the storage tank and the heat exchanger inlet. When the first pump delivers more liquid than the heat exchanger can process, the excess automatically flows into the storage tank through the opening, and when the heat exchanger produces excess heated liquid, it automatically draws from the storage tank. This eliminates the need for complex coordination control between the first and second pumps.
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
The system provides continuous heating with minimal volume, reduces energy consumption by minimizing start/stop cycles, and maintains consistent temperature without air bubbles, allowing for efficient and rapid delivery of heated liquid.
Implementation Method 1
the heat exchanger transfers the thermal energy to the liquid
Implementation Method 2
the pump is connected to the opening of the container and to the heat exchanger in such a way that the pump pumps liquid out of the opening and/or from the heat exchanger
Implementation Method 3
a vent pump is provided to remove air and liquid through a return line
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to an arrangement for heating a liquid. An energy unit (1) supplies thermal energy to a heat exchanger (2). The heat exchanger (2) transfers the thermal energy to the liquid which is received by a container (3). The container (3) has an opening (21). A pump (20) is connected to the opening (21) in the container (3) and to the heat exchanger (2) in such a way that it conveys liquid from the opening (21) and/or from the heat exchanger (2).