Chilled Water Fitting with Phase Change Material Cooling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing sanitary fittings that provide chilled and filtered water are often noisy, expensive to produce, and have limited cold storage capacity, failing to efficiently provide a range of water types including hot and unfiltered options.
Innovation Solution
A device comprising an inflow fitting connected to a cooling device with a heat accumulator made of a phase change material, such as acyclic alkanes, which includes a Peltier element and a water filter, allowing for efficient chilling and filtration of water while being quieter and more cost-effective, with a high storage capacity in a compact form.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If a compression refrigeration machine with aluminum cold accumulator is used, then chilled water can be provided, but the device becomes noisy and expensive to produce
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical compression refrigeration system with a Peltier element-based thermoelectric cooling system. This substitution eliminates the noisy moving parts (compressor, valves, etc.) while maintaining the chilling function through solid-state thermoelectric effect, directly resolving the noise issue.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes phase change materials (PCM) in the heat accumulator that undergo solid-liquid phase transitions at specific temperatures. This phase change mechanism provides passive thermal storage and release, supplementing the Peltier cooling and reducing the load on the active cooling system, thereby maintaining chilled water supply with lower noise.
2Temperature
If a compression refrigeration machine with aluminum cold accumulator is used, then chilled water can be provided, but the production cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the complex mechanical compression refrigeration system with a simpler Peltier element-based thermoelectric cooling system. This substitution reduces manufacturing complexity, eliminates expensive aluminum accumulators and refrigerant handling requirements, and lowers overall production costs while maintaining chilling capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the operating parameters by using low-voltage direct current power supply for the Peltier elements instead of high-power mechanical compression. This parameter change enables the use of simpler, cheaper components and reduces manufacturing costs while achieving the same cooling effect.
3Volume of stationary object
If a compact cooling system is used, then space is saved, but the cold storage capacity is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a nested configuration where the Peltier cooling elements are integrated within or adjacent to the phase change material heat accumulator. This nesting allows the active cooling component and passive thermal storage component to occupy overlapping or adjacent spaces, maximizing cold storage capacity within a compact footprint.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses phase change materials with high latent heat of fusion combined with thermal conductive materials to create a composite heat accumulator. This composite structure provides high cold storage capacity per unit volume, enabling compact design without sacrificing storage capacity.
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 solution provides a quieter, cost-effective, and high-capacity chilled drinking water system that can also dispense filtered, unfiltered, and hot water types, addressing the limitations of prior art by utilizing a phase change material-based heat accumulator and Peltier element in conjunction with a water filter.
Implementation Method 1
The cooling device contains a Peltier element
Implementation Method 2
the storage material being characterized by A) a phase transition enthalpy A in kJ/kg
Implementation Method 3
A phase change material is preferred as the storage material (PCM) used
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
AI summary
The invention relates to a device (100) comprising a) an inlet fitting (101) and b) a cooling device (102), wherein the cooling device (102) i) is fluidly connected to the inlet fitting (101), ii) is arranged upstream of the inlet fitting (101) in an inflow direction, and iii) comprises a heat storage device (103), wherein the heat storage device (103) comprises a storage material, the storage material being characterized by a) a phase transition enthalpy A in kJ/kg, and b) a specific heat capacity B in kJ/(kg·K), wherein A is greater than B by a factor of at least 20. Furthermore, the invention relates to a method and the use of a cooling device and an inlet fitting for providing chilled drinking water.