GB1587520A - Temperature control systems - Google Patents

Description

(54) IMPROVEMENTS IN TEMPERATURE CONTROL SYSTEMS (71) I, IAN DONALD McKIRDY, 6 Kirkriggs Avenue, Rutherglen, Glasgow, (British), Scotland, do hereby declare the invention, for which I pray that a patent may be granted to me, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: Temperature Control System This invention relates to a temperature control system for a building.

A building, or a specific area within a building, which is used for human habitation requires not only heating or cooling but also ventilation with fresh air drawn from the outside atmosphere and loss of stale air to the outside atmosphere. A temperature difference exists between the inside and outside surfaces of the walls and there will therefore be heat transfer through the walls and also transfer of sensible and latent heat by the exchange of gases passing through the walls.

An object of this invention is to provide an efficient means of controlling the temperature across a wall while providing ventilation.

According to the present invention there is provided a temperature control system comprising a refrigeration cycle having a heating section and a cooling section disposed in respective ducts for installation in walling so that each duct opens on both sides of the walling, and means for guiding air entering at least one of the ducts into heat exchange relationship with the face of the walling adjacent the duct inlet.

A refrigeration cycle is one which when supplied with energy for motivation is capable of absorbing or extracting heat from some part of its environment and rejecting that heat, together with the heat equivalent of the motivating energy, to some other part of its environment at a higher temperature than that temperature at which the heat was absorbed.

In this specification and in the accompanying claims the term "heating section" is used to describe that part of the refrigeration cycle from which heat is given out to the surrounding atmosphere, while the term "cooling section" is used to describe that part of the cycle in which heat is absorbed from the surrounding atmosphere.

The invention allows a building or other enclosed space to be maintained at a different temperature from its surrounding environment, The enclosed space may be of any size and of any complexity and may have internal partitions. The walling separating the enclosed space from its surrounding environment may be of any complexity and may incorporate any number of different building and insulating materials and any number of cavities.

The ducting is preferably arranged so that convection currents produced at the heating and cooling sections of the refrigeration cycle assist the transfer of air into and out of the enclosed space through the walling by having both of the ducts opening into the cooler atmosphere at lower levels than the heights of the respective openings into the warmer atmosphere.

The refrigeration cycle may be of any type, for example it may be electrically driven compression apparatus or it may be absorption apparatus which may use, for heating operation, the same source of heat to power it as is used to heat the enclosed space. The system may have means for changing the ducting of the gases, for example by partially or completely closing off either or both of the inlet and outlet ducting and opening additional vents to the inner and outer parts of the ducting, to allow its use in a conventional refrigeration of air-to-air heat pump mode.

The means for guiding the air may be for example cavities built into the walls, or partitioning such as "facade" barriers constructed close to but spaced from the main walling. The materials of the internal and external facade barriers may be porous to allow gases to enter the cavity through the barrier, or vents may be provided.

The flow of gases through the ducts may depend on the convection currents arising from the density changes in the refrigeration system; alternatively, air flow may be assisted by fans mounted within the ducts or cavities. Any type of conventional heat exchanger may be incorporated into the system to transfer heat from the air being extracted from the cooler atmosphere before the air passes on to the cooling and the heating sections respectively of the refrigeration cycle.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying diagram showing a cross section of a main external wall 1 of a building whose internal temperature (area 2) is to be maintained higher than the external ambient temperature (area 3). Warm air 4 is drawn from inside the building through vents 5 into a cavity 7 between a thin facade wall 6 and the main wall 1. The air in the cavity 7 is restrained in contact with the inner surface of the main wall 1 and is cooled thereby then is drawn into an extract duct 10 through a vent 8.

The duct 10 passes through both the main wall I and an external cavity 9, The extract duct 10 contains an evaporator 12 of an electrically powered compression type of refrigeration system. Within the evaporator 12 matrix the air is cooled to a temperature lower than the outside air temperature and it leaves the duct at 13. Fresh cool air 14 is drawn from the outside atmosphere through vents 15 in an external facade wall 17 into the cavity 9 formed between the external facade wall 17 and the main wall 1. In the cavity 9 the air is preheated by contact with the outer surface of the main wall 1. The air in the cavity 9 is then drawn into an inflow duct 11 at its entry vent 16. The inflow duct 11 passes through both the main wall 1 and the inner cavity 7, and at the inner end of the duct 11 is situated the heater section of the refrigeration system a condenser 18. A compressor 19 of the refrigeration system is also mounted within the duct 11 so that it is cooled by the flow of cool air from outside.

Within the condenser 18 matrix the fresh air is heated and rises through a vent 20 into the building. Where the rate of flow caused by convection currents is insufficient it can be increased by fans 21 and 22 mounted in the extract and inlet ducts 10 and 11 respectively.

The refrigeration system is incorporated into one self-contained unit which can be extracted from its position through the wall and the cavities, and when the interior 2 of the building is to be cooled the unit may be reversed with the condenser 18 matrix within its duct 11 situated in the area 3 on the outside of the wall 1 and the evaporator 12 situated in area 2 within the building.

Claims (6)

1. Temperature control system comprising a refrigeration cycle having a heating section and a cooling section disposed in respective ducts for installation in walling so that each duct opens on both sides of the walling, and means for guiding air entering at least one of the ducts into heat exchange relationship with the face of the walling adjacent the duct inlet.

2. A system according to Claim 1, wherein the guiding means is partitioning for location in spaced relation to the walling to define an air gap therebetween.

3. A system according to Claim 2, wherein the partitioning is apertured on each side of the walling for passage of a respective one of the ducts.

4. A system according to Claim 1,2, or 3, wherein fans are provided in the ducts to create air flow therethrough.

5. A temperature control system substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings.

6. A building having in an external wall a temperature control system according to any one of the preceding claims.