Demand-Controlled Ventilation Heat Exchange for Room-by-Room Airflow

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing building ventilation systems struggle to adapt air supply and discharge to varying room requirements due to factors like occupancy, moisture production, and sunlight, leading to inefficient energy use and lack of room-by-room regulation.

Innovation Solution

Incorporating flow regulators between the heat exchanger and secondary air supply and discharge ducts, allowing for adjustable air flow per room while maintaining heat exchange efficiency, with a compact design that includes a control system and measuring sensors for automatic regulation.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Adaptability or versatility

If a fixed distribution of supply and discharge air is used in known buildings, then the heat exchange system is simple to design and install, but the ventilation cannot be adapted to actual room requirements

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveventilation adaptabilityVSAvoidsystem complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The system divides the building into multiple independent zones or rooms, each with its own flow regulator. This segmentation allows each room to be controlled independently while maintaining overall system functionality, resolving the contradiction between adaptability and complexity by creating modular control units.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The patent introduces adjustable flow regulators that allow dynamic adaptation of air distribution to changing room requirements. The system transitions from a static fixed distribution to a dynamic adjustable system, enabling ventilation to adapt to occupancy, moisture production, and sunlight variations while maintaining manageable complexity through standardized components.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #15Dynamics

2Adaptability or versatility

If flow regulators are added to enable room-by-room regulation, then ventilation adaptability is improved, but installation complexity and visible connections increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveroom-by-room regulationVSAvoidinstallation simplicity
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSEase of manufacture

Solution Approach 1:

The patent integrates the flow regulator directly into the heat exchange system housing, merging multiple functions (heat exchange and flow regulation) into a single unified component. This eliminates the need for separate external regulators and their associated visible connections, maintaining installation simplicity while achieving room-by-room regulation capability.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Solution Approach 2:

The heat exchange system housing is designed to serve multiple functions: it contains the heat exchange mechanism and simultaneously houses the flow regulator. This multi-functionality reduces the number of separate components needed, simplifying installation while providing the required regulatory capability for each room.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

3Ease of operation

If flow regulators are integrated into the heat exchange system housing, then installation is simplified and connections are hidden, but the housing design becomes more complex

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveinstallation easeVSAvoidhousing design complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The flow regulator is integrated within the existing heat exchange system housing rather than being a separate external component. This merging approach consolidates functions and reduces installation complexity while the housing design complexity increase is offset by the elimination of external connections and mounting hardware.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #5Merging (Combining)

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

Enables flexible and efficient energy management by allowing room-by-room air supply and discharge regulation, improving ventilation and reducing energy consumption through adaptive control of air flow.

Implementation Method 1

The discharged air emits energy to the supplied air at the heat exchanger so that energy for heating or cooling the rooms can be saved.

Methodology Applied
Scientific EffectHeat exchange: Heat Exchanger

Data Source

PatentEP3081874B1Building with demand-controlled heat exchange system for ventilation and heat exchange system
Publication Date: 2018.06.13 VERO DUCO NV
  • EP3081874B1 patent drawingFigure 1~2
  • EP3081874B1 patent drawingFigure 3
  • EP3081874B1 patent drawingFigure 4

AI summary

A building comprises several rooms (1, 2), of which one room is connected to a secondary air supply duct (3, 4) and a secondary air discharge duct (5, 6), and of which another room is connected to another secondary air supply duct and another secondary air discharge duct. There is also a heat exchange system (9) which is connected to the secondary air supply ducts (3, 4) and the secondary air discharge ducts (5, 6) and to a main air supply duct (7) and a main air discharge duct (8), which heat exchange system (9) comprises a housing (12) which contains a supply flow passage (15) and a discharge flow passage (16). The housing (12) is provided with at least one flow regulator (17) which is located between the heat exchanger (12) and a secondary air supply duct (3, 4) and/or at least one flow regulator (17) which is located between the heat exchanger (12) and a secondary air discharge duct (5, 6).