U.S. patent application number 13/520223 was filed with the patent office on 2013-08-01 for device for temperature control of a room.
This patent application is currently assigned to SGL CARBON SE. The applicant listed for this patent is Werner Guckert, Christian Kipfelsberger, Robert Michels, Siegfried Rauch. Invention is credited to Werner Guckert, Christian Kipfelsberger, Robert Michels, Siegfried Rauch.
Application Number | 20130192793 13/520223 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 43875267 |
Filed Date | 2013-08-01 |
United States Patent
Application |
20130192793 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Guckert; Werner ; et
al. |
August 1, 2013 |
DEVICE FOR TEMPERATURE CONTROL OF A ROOM
Abstract
A device for tempering a room includes at least one component
that forms a thermal accumulator and has a surface oriented towards
the room. Tubes that are thermally coupled to the component can be
traversed by a heating or cooling medium. The tubes are integrated
into a panel that contains expanded graphite or is made of expanded
graphite. The panel is in areal thermal contact with the surface of
the component that faces towards the room.
Inventors: |
Guckert; Werner; (Baar,
DE) ; Kipfelsberger; Christian; (Naila, DE) ;
Michels; Robert; (Thierhaupten, DE) ; Rauch;
Siegfried; (Gersthofen, DE) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Guckert; Werner
Kipfelsberger; Christian
Michels; Robert
Rauch; Siegfried |
Baar
Naila
Thierhaupten
Gersthofen |
|
DE
DE
DE
DE |
|
|
Assignee: |
SGL CARBON SE
WIESBADEN
DE
|
Family ID: |
43875267 |
Appl. No.: |
13/520223 |
Filed: |
December 31, 2010 |
PCT Filed: |
December 31, 2010 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/EP2010/070978 |
371 Date: |
September 27, 2012 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
165/49 |
Current CPC
Class: |
E04B 2001/742 20130101;
F24F 5/0092 20130101; F24D 3/16 20130101; F28F 2255/06 20130101;
Y02E 60/14 20130101; F24F 5/0089 20130101; F28D 20/0056 20130101;
F28F 21/02 20130101; F28F 2225/00 20130101; Y02B 30/00 20130101;
Y02E 60/147 20130101; F28D 20/023 20130101; Y02E 60/142 20130101;
Y02E 60/145 20130101; F24D 3/165 20130101; F24D 2220/006 20130101;
Y02B 30/24 20130101; F24F 5/0021 20130101; F24H 7/06 20130101; F24D
3/148 20130101; F24F 5/0017 20130101; F28F 2275/025 20130101; F24H
7/02 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
165/49 |
International
Class: |
F24D 3/14 20060101
F24D003/14; F24F 5/00 20060101 F24F005/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Dec 31, 2009 |
DE |
10 2009 055 440.8 |
Dec 31, 2009 |
DE |
10 2009 055 441.6 |
Dec 31, 2009 |
DE |
10 2009 055 442.4 |
Dec 31, 2009 |
DE |
10 2009 055 443.2 |
Dec 31, 2009 |
DE |
10 2009 055 444.0 |
Sep 30, 2010 |
DE |
10 2010 041 822.6 |
Claims
1-27. (canceled)
28. A device for controlling a temperature of a room, the device
comprising: at least one component forming a thermal accumulator,
said component having a surface pointing toward the room; a panel
containing expanded graphite or consisting of expanded graphite
disposed in areal and thermal contact with said surface of said at
least one component; and pipes embedded in said panel and thermally
coupled to said component, said pipes being configured to conduct
therethrough a heating or cooling medium.
29. The device according to claim 28, which comprises a layer of
thermally conducting adhesive affixing said panel to said surface
of said component.
30. The device according to claim 28, wherein said pipes extend in
said panel along a serpentine path, in a grid shape, in a spiral
shape, or in a meandering pattern.
31. The device according to claim 28, wherein said panel is in
heat-conducting contact with said surface of said component over an
entire principal surface facing said surface.
32. The device according to claim 28, wherein said panel has a
density between 0.04 and 0.10 g/cm.sup.3.
33. The device according to claim 28, wherein said panel has a
thermal conductivity of more than 2 W/mK.
34. The device according to claim 28, wherein said panel is made of
a mixture of expanded graphite and a binder selected from the group
consisting of a resin and a plastic.
35. The device according to claim 34, wherein a fraction of said
binder is 5 to 50 wt.%.
36. The device according to claim 35, wherein the fraction of said
binder lies between 8 and 12 wt.%.
37. The device according to claim 28, wherein said panel is formed
of a mixture of expanded graphite and a latent heat storage
material.
38. The device according to claim 37, wherein said latent heat
storage material is a phase change material selected from the group
consisting of salt, wax or paraffin.
39. The device according to claim 28, wherein said component
comprises a concrete ceiling or concrete wall.
40. The device according to claim 28, wherein said panel is one of
a plurality of panels with pipes embedded therein affixed adjacent
to one another on said surface of said component.
41. The device according to claim 40, wherein said pipes from
mutually adjacent panels are interconnected to form a pipe circuit
and said pipe circuit is coupled to a conveying device for passing
the heating or cooling medium through said pipes.
42. The device according to claim 28, which comprises a stiffening
layer applied to a surface of said panel facing away from said
component or on both surfaces of said panel.
43. The device according to claim 28, wherein said panel is a plate
disposed in a frame fixed to said component.
44. The device according to claim 43, wherein said frame is made of
a thermally conductive material.
45. The device according to claim 43, wherein said panel is glued
in said frame.
46. The device according to claim 43, wherein said frame is a
cassette that is open on one side.
47. The device according to claim 46, wherein said panel disposed
in said cassette projects over a frame edge thereof on the open
side of said cassette.
48. The device according to claim 43, wherein said frame is
configured as a cassette with a perforated base plate.
49. The device according to claim 48, which further comprises a
non-woven fabric and a perforated graphite film disposed between
said base plate of said frame and said panel.
50. The device according to claim 49, wherein said graphite film is
a film made of expanded graphite with a perforation.
51. The device according to claim 50, wherein said perforated
graphite film is firmly connected to said non-woven fabric.
52. The device according to claim 49, wherein said non-woven fabric
comprises a glass fiber non-woven or a carbon fiber non-woven.
53. The device according to claim 49, wherein said non-woven fabric
comprises a carbon fiber non-woven calendered onto the perforated
graphite film.
54. The device according to claim 28, wherein said panel with said
pipes embedded therein is self-supporting.
55. A method for temperature control of a room bounded at least on
one side by a component, the component having a surface pointing
into the room and a mass of the component forms a thermal
accumulator that is thermally coupled to pipes disposed for
conducting therein a heating or cooling medium, the method which
comprises: providing the pipes embedded in a thermally conducting
panel containing expanded graphite or consisting of expanded
graphite and placing the panel is in flat thermal contact with the
surface of the component pointing into the room; and transferring
at least a part of a thermal energy stored in the heating or
cooling medium by heat conduction from the pipes via the thermally
conducting panel to the thermal accumulator for intermediate
storage, and delivering the thermal energy from the thermal
accumulator to the room in a time-delayed manner.
Description
[0001] The invention relates to a device and a method for the
temperature control of a room according to the preambles of claims
1 and 27.
[0002] So-called concrete core activation systems are known from
the prior art for the air conditioning of rooms having concrete
ceilings or concrete walls. In these systems pipes carrying heating
or cooling media are mounted in, below or on the concrete ceiling
or the concrete wall. By storing the heating or cooling energy in
the concrete mass of the ceiling or the walls and a time-delayed
delivery of the stored heating or cooling energy, an
energy-efficient air conditioning of the rooms can be achieved.
Thus, for example, at night a cooling fluid (for example, water) is
cooled and passed through the pipes in a concrete core activated
ceiling or wall whereby the ceiling or the wall is slowly cooled.
The cooling energy stored in the concrete ceiling or wall can then
be released into the room during the day in particular in the warm
summer months, to slowly lower the room temperature in the
room.
[0003] However, the installation of such thermally activatable
ceilings or walls is restricted to new buildings. When renovating
old buildings, such concrete core activation of the ceilings or
walls cannot be installed subsequently. In the case of ceilings or
walls with concrete core activation it is furthermore
disadvantageous that pipes laid in the concrete ceiling or wall
could be unintentionally damaged, for example, by the drilling of
holes. Repair of damaged pipes is scarcely possible since the pipes
embedded in concrete are difficult to access for a repair. The
statics and the stability of ceilings or walls provided with pipes
also suffer from the pipes embedded in concrete. Furthermore, the
manufacture of such concrete core activation systems is very time
consuming and costly. Another disadvantages lies in the inertia of
the thermal system which is based on the time-delayed release of
the thermal energy stored in the concrete accumulator mass to the
room to be temperature controlled.
[0004] In order to eliminate these disadvantages, temperature
control systems are known from the prior art which can also be
provided subsequently on pipe-free ceilings or walls. These
temperature control systems usually comprise ceiling or wall
elements in which pipes are disposed which can be acted upon with a
heating or cooling medium. These ceiling or wall elements are fixed
to the ceiling or wall. The thermal energy stored in the heating or
cooling medium which is passed through the pipes is diverted via a
frame or a lining of the ceiling or wall elements in to the room to
be temperature controlled by thermal radiation and free convection.
Such a system is described for example in EP 1371915 A1 in which
phase change materials are used as thermal accumulators.
[0005] These temperature control systems have the disadvantage that
the thermal energy from the heating or cooling medium flowing into
the pipelines is released directly and instantaneously by thermal
radiation and convection into the room. In these temperature
control systems the surfaces of the ceilings or the walls are also
occupied by the ceiling or wall elements. This has the result that
the ceiling or wall surface is thermally separated from the room to
be temperature controlled which is why the mass of the ceilings or
the walls cannot be used for storage cooling (or heating) in the
night.
[0006] Starting from this, it is the object of the present
invention to provide a device and a method for the temperature
control of a room in which the mass of the ceilings or walls can be
used as a thermal accumulator without pipes for the passage of a
heating or cooling medium for thermal actuation of the accumulator
needing to be incorporated in the ceilings or walls. It is
furthermore the object of the invention to provide the most
energy-efficient temperature control system with short response
times. Furthermore, it should be made possible to install these
temperature control systems subsequently, including when renovating
old buildings.
[0007] These objects are solved with a device for the temperature
control of a room having the features of claim 1 and by a method
having the features of claim 27. Preferred embodiments of the
device according to the invention can be deduced from subclaims 2
to 26.
[0008] The invention is explained in detail hereinafter by means of
exemplary embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings.
In the drawings:
[0009] FIG. 1: shows a schematic sectional view of a device
according to the invention for temperature control of a room in a
first embodiment;
[0010] FIG. 2: shows a schematic sectional view of a ceiling or
wall element for a temperature control device according to the
invention in a second embodiment;
[0011] FIG. 3: shows a schematic sectional view of the second
embodiment of a temperature control device according to the
invention with the ceiling or wall element from FIG. 2.
[0012] FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of a temperature control
device according to the invention. This comprises an element 10
provided on a component 5 made of concrete or brick. The component
5 can comprise a ceiling or a wall or a floor of the room R to be
temperature controlled. The component 5 can also be constructed
from another conventional building material that is capable of
storing heat and/or cold, such as clay or natural stone. The
element 10 then accordingly comprises a ceiling, wall or a floor
element which is disposed on the surface 11 of the component 5
pointing into the room. As a result of its large mass, the
component 5 forms a thermal accumulator in which thermal energy (in
the form of heat or cold) can be stored.
[0013] The element 10 comprises a panel 1 containing expanded
graphite or consisting completely of expanded graphite.
[0014] The production of expanded graphite (expanded graphite) is
known inter alia from U.S. Pat. No. 3,404,061-A. In order to
produce expanded graphite, graphite intercalation compounds or
graphite salts such as, for example, graphite hydrogen sulphate or
graphite nitrate are heated in a shock manner. The volume of the
graphite particles is thereby increased by a factor of about
200-400 and at the same time the bulk density decreases to values
of 2-20 g/l. The expanded graphite thus obtained consists or worm-
or concertina-shaped aggregates. If completely expanded graphite is
compacted under the directional action of pressure, the layer
planes of the graphite are preferably arranged perpendicular to the
direction of action of the pressure, where the individual
aggregates become entangled. In this way, self-supporting surface
structures such as, for example, webs, plates or moulded bodies can
be produced from expanded graphite.
[0015] In order to stiffen and increase the stability of these
graphite panels or moulded bodies, the expanded graphite can be
mixed with curing binders such as, for example, resins or plastics,
in particular elastomers or duromers. In order improve the
stability of panels made of expanded graphite, it is particularly
suitable to mix the expanded graphite with thermoplastic and/or
thermosetting plastics which can be introduced into the expanded
graphite for example by impregnation or by means of a powder
method. After the binder mixed with the expanded graphite has been
cured, the graphite moulded bodies or plates made from these
mixtures have a sufficient stability for the intended application
provided according to the invention. The graphite panels produced
in this way are in particular self-supporting and can readily be
fixed to components such as ceilings or walls, for example by
adhesive bonding or screwing.
[0016] Pure expanded graphite, in the same way as mixtures of
expanded graphite with binders, has a very good thermal
conductivity. The thermal conductivity of a mixture of expanded
graphite with a binder is still very high with a 50 wt. % binder
fraction according to the type of binder used. Insofar as graphite
panels are mentioned in the following, these are understood as
panels which either consist of pure expanded graphite or a mixture
of expanded graphite with a binder.
[0017] It is also possible to manufacture graphite panels from
mixtures of expanded graphite with phase-change materials (PCM,
phase change materials). For this purpose, common phase-change
materials, for example based on paraffin, wax or salt can be added
during the manufacture of the graphite panels. Such a graphite
panel with a phase-change material can be used in the temperature
control systems according to the invention as additional thermal
accumulators (latent heat accumulator) along with the component 5
acting as a thermal accumulator.
[0018] Pipes 9 are embedded in the graphite panel 1 shown in FIG.
1. The pipes 9 are preferably arranged in a serpentine shape in the
interior of the panel 1. Other laying patterns of the pipes such
as, for example, a spiral-shaped, grid-shaped or meander-shaped
arrangement or an arrangement only in the edge zones of the panel 1
is feasible. The ends of the pipes 9 running in the panel 1 are
connected to a conveying device for passing a heating or cooling
medium (such as, for example, hot or cold water) through the pipes
9. In order to provide the entire surface 11 of the component 5
pointing into the room R with elements 10, a plurality of such
elements 10 can be arranged behind one another or adjacent to one
another and fixed on the surface 11. The ends of the pipes 9 of
each element 10 are then connected to the associated ends of the
adjacent elements 10 to form a pipe circuit and the pipe circuit is
coupled to the conveying device for passage of the heating or
cooling medium.
[0019] The fixing of the elements 10 is preferably accomplished by
a thermally conducting adhesive 4, by which means one principal
surface 12 of the panel is adhesively bonded to the surface 11 of
the component 5. As a result of the adhesive bonding, the principal
surface 12 of the panel 1 is in flat thermal contact with the
surface 11 of the thermal accumulator formed by the component 5,
preferably over the entire principal surface 12.
[0020] The other principal surface 13 of the panel 1 can be
provided with a stiffening layer 6 as in the exemplary embodiment
shown in FIG. 1. The stiffening layer 6 can for example comprise a
plaster layer or a glued-on hard cardboard or plasterboard layer.
Combinations of plaster layers and textile materials embedded
therein such as, for example, nets, woven fabrics, knitted fabrics,
crocheted fabrics or the like, are also possible. As a result of
the stiffening layer 6, on the one hand the stability of the
graphite panel 1 can be increased and on the other hand the
principal surface 13 of the panel 1 pointing into the room R can be
clad in a visually attractive manner. The application of a
stiffening layer 6 is particularly appropriate for panels 1 made of
pure expanded graphite (without added binder).
[0021] The pipes 9 running in the panel 1 can be incorporated
during the manufacture of the graphite panel 1. The pipes 9
preferably comprise pipes made of metal, for example copper, or
plastic pipes, for example made of polypropylene or cross-linked
polyethylene. However pipes made of metal are to be preferred
because of the better heat transfer. As shown in the exemplary
embodiment in FIG. 1, The pipes 9 can be completely embedded in the
panel 1. However, it is also possible to arrange the pipes 9 so
that they end flush with a principal surface 12 or 13 of the panel
1.
[0022] For embedding the pipes 9 in the panel 1, during manufacture
of the panel, the pipes 9 can be laid in the filling of worm- or
concertina-shaped aggregates and this combination can be pressed in
a known manner by action of pressure (for example by means of
rollers or pressure plates) to form a dimensionally-stable graphite
panel 1. In order to increase the stability of the panels, one of
the aforementioned binders can be added during the production
process. The graphite panels 1 thus produced with pipes 9 embedded
therein typically have thicknesses between 8 and 50 mm. The density
of the graphite panels 1 is usually in the range of 0.01 to 0.5
g/cm.sup.3 (depending on the fraction of added binder). The
graphite panels 1 have a thermal conductivity of 3 to 6 W/mK.
[0023] As a result of the good thermal conductivity of the graphite
panel 1, a certain proportion of the thermal energy stored in a
heating or cooling medium passed through the pipes 9 can initially
be passed by heat conduction from the pipes 9 to the free principal
surface 13 of the panel 1 and released from there by thermal
radiation and free convection to the room R to be temperature
controlled. This release of heat (or release of cold when a cooling
medium is passed through the pipes) takes place very rapidly with
the result that the room can be heated (or cooled) very rapidly.
Another portion of the thermal energy stored in the heating or
cooling medium is transferred by heat conduction from the pipes 9
via the heat conducting panel 1 to the thermal accumulator formed
by the component 5. By this means, the thermal accumulator is
heated (or cooled when a cooling medium is passed through the
pipes). The thermal accumulator can then release the thus
intermediately stored thermal energy in a time-delayed manner to
the room, where the good thermal conductivity of the panel 1
ensures that this is accomplished largely free from losses. The
heating (or cooling) of the room R accomplished in this manner
takes place on a longer time scale (of a few hours). The
temperature control system according to the invention is therefore
able to bring the room R to be temperature controlled to a desired
room temperature both rapidly and also slowly using the thermal
accumulator. Thus for example, at night in summer the thermal
accumulator can be cooled by passing a cooling medium (for example
cold water) through the pipes 9. During the day the thermal
accumulator can then be used for cooling the room by means of a
time-delayed release of cold to the room.
[0024] In a corresponding manner, in winter during the day the
temperature control system according to the invention can firstly
be heated for instantaneous heating of the room by passing a
heating medium through the pipes. At the same time the thermal
accumulator is loaded with heat. At night the flow of the heating
medium can be stopped since the time-delayed release of heat from
the loaded thermal accumulator is sufficient to keep the room at a
(lower) room temperature at night.
[0025] FIGS. 2 and 3 show another exemplary embodiment of a
temperature control system according to the invention. The same or
corresponding parts in FIGS. 2 and 3 are provided with the same
reference numbers as in FIG. 1.
[0026] In the exemplary embodiment of a device according to the
invention for the temperature control of a room R shown in FIG. 3,
a ceiling element 10 is fixed to a component 5 formed as a concrete
ceiling. The component 5 forms a thermal accumulator with the
concrete mass of the ceiling as accumulator mass. The ceiling
element 10 has a frame 2 which is fixed to the surface 11 of the
component 5 pointing into the room R, in particular is screwed
thereon. The frame 2 is configured as a cassette which is open on
one side (i.e. its upper side). The frame 2 is preferably made of a
thermally conductive material such as, for example a metal sheet.
The frame 2 has a base plate 2a and four side walls 2b disposed
thereon or formed integrally with the base plate 2a. At least the
base plate 2a (and optionally also the side walls 2b) is formed
from a perforated sheet (i.e. a metal sheet with a perforation). A
graphite panel 1 is inserted in the frame 2. The composition of the
graphite panel 1 corresponds to the panel 1 of the exemplary
embodiment from FIG. 1. As in this exemplary embodiment pipes 9 are
also embedded in the graphite panel 1 and run there in a
serpentine, grid, spiral or meander shape. The graphite panel 1 is
preferably adhesively bonded flat on the surface 11 of the
component 5 by means of a thermally conductive adhesive 4. The
principal surface 12 of the graphite plate 1 is therefore
expediently in thermal contact with the surface 11 of the component
5 over its entire surface. The adhesive layer 4 can however also be
omitted (see below).
[0027] A non-woven fabric 3 and a graphite film 15 are preferably
disposed between the base plate 2a of the frame 2 and the graphite
panel 1. The non-woven fabric 3 can for example comprise a glass
fibre or a carbon fibre non-woven. In combination with the
perforation of the base plate 2, the non-woven fabric 3 ensures
good sound absorption of the ceiling element 10. The graphite film
15 comprises a thin film of expanded graphite. The thickness of the
graphite film 15 is preferably between 0.05 mm and 3 mm, in
particular between 0.2 and 3 mm.
[0028] The non-woven fabric 3 and the graphite film 15 disposed
thereon preferably comprises a non-detachable composite which can
be produced for example by calendering. Such a composite can
particularly expediently be produced from a carbon fibre non-woven
and a graphite film 15 of expanded graphite. When calendering a
thin film of expanded graphite with a carbon fibre non-woven, the
carbon particles of the non-woven surface and the surface of the
graphite film become entangled with one another so that a firm and
non-detachable composite is formed between the carbon fibre
non-woven 3 and the graphite film 15. It is particularly
appropriate to use a perforated graphite film 15. Perforation of
the graphite film specifically increases its flexibility and
thereby facilitates the handling of the film. Since graphite
comprises a brittle material, there is the risk of the film tearing
or breaking when handling thin films of expanded graphite. This
risk can be reduced significantly by perforation of the graphite
film 15.
[0029] FIG. 2 shows a sectional view of a ceiling element 10 such
as can be used in the exemplary embodiment of the temperature
control device according to the invention shown in FIG. 3. As can
be seen from FIG. 2, the upper principal surface 12 of the graphite
panel 1 projects over the upper edge 2c of the side walls 2b of the
frame 2. When using such a ceiling element 10, the adhesive bonding
of the graphite panel 1 to the surface 11 of the component 5 can be
omitted. For fixing the ceiling element 10 to the component 5, the
frame is specifically screwed onto the component 5. When screwing
the frame 2 to the surface 11 of the component 5, the graphite
panel 1 is compressed until the principal surface 12 of the panel 1
ends flush with the upper edge 2c of the side walls 2b of the
frame. The compression of the graphite panel 1 is made possible by
the deformability of the expanded graphite. The graphite material
of the panel 1 compressed in the perpendicular direction to the
surface 11 is expediently in thermal contact with the surface 11
over the entire principal surface 12 after fixing the ceiling
element 10 to the component 5. As a result of the good
deformability of the graphite material of the panel 1, unevennesses
and protrusions in the surface 11 of the component 5 can also be
compensated.
[0030] The arrangement of the ceiling element 10 or plurality of
adjacent ceiling elements on the surface 11 of the component 5
corresponds to the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 1 described above.
The mode of operation of the temperature control device of FIG. 3
is the same as in the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 1.
* * * * *