Patents by Inventor Johan Van Bael
Johan Van Bael has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
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Patent number: 11125510Abstract: A heat exchanger with integrated thermal storage, for example, having a new tertiary side utilising phase change material in between and in thermal contact with the primary and secondary circuits, e.g. of a plate heat exchanger. The tertiary side helps reduce e.g. leak flows in district heating applications, or reduce energy losses in periods of low flow through the heat exchanger. By including thermal energy storage in a heat exchanger or reactor, response times of the systems are reduced as well as internal energy losses, and external energy storage units are reduced in number or are potentially rendered obsolete.Type: GrantFiled: December 20, 2018Date of Patent: September 21, 2021Assignee: VITO NVInventors: Johan Van Bael, Robbe Salenbien
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Patent number: 10883728Abstract: A method and system that allows thermal energy to be supplied at different temperature levels to consumers, where each consumer is provided with its desired temperature whenever that is necessary. The method or a system for supplying consumers with heat energy or with cooling energy includes a set of three or more conduits for carrying a heat transfer fluid, each conduit carrying fluid at one of three or more different temperatures or temperature ranges, a plurality of heating and/or cooling consumer appliances distributed along the length of the conduits, each consumer appliance being linked to one of a plurality of pairs of conduits such that either: a consumer appliance is linked on a high temperature side, or a consumer appliance is linked on a low temperature side; a number of heat or cold generators, each pair of conduits being connected to at least one of the generators.Type: GrantFiled: March 26, 2015Date of Patent: January 5, 2021Assignee: VITOInventors: Dirk Vanhoudt, Johan Van Bael
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Publication number: 20200400385Abstract: A heat exchanger with integrated thermal storage, for example, having a new tertiary side utilising phase change material in between and in thermal contact with the primary and secondary circuits, e.g. of a plate heat exchanger. The tertiary side helps reduce e.g. leak flows in district heating applications, or reduce energy losses in periods of low flow through the heat exchanger. By including thermal energy storage in a heat exchanger or reactor, response times of the systems are reduced as well as internal energy losses, and external energy storage units are reduced in number or are potentially rendered obsolete.Type: ApplicationFiled: December 20, 2018Publication date: December 24, 2020Applicant: VITO NVInventors: Johan VAN BAEL, Robbe SALENBIEN
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Patent number: 10712050Abstract: A multi-stage heat engine having an evaporator, a condenser, expander stages; vapour compression stages; tanks for holding gaseous phases of a fluid. The compressor stages is adapted to compress the gaseous phase in the adjacent tank with a higher pressure than which occurred at expansion and to move the compressed fluid to the next adjacent tank at a higher pressure, the expander stages are adapted to expand a part of the compressed fluid in each tank, to expand the fluid in the adjacent tank at a lower pressure, the compressor and expander sections are adapted to output the gaseous phase at the highest pressure to the condenser and the liquid phase at the lowest pressure to the evaporator, where the output of the condenser are fed back to the tank at the highest pressure and the output of the evaporator is fed back to the tank at the lowest pressure.Type: GrantFiled: May 22, 2015Date of Patent: July 14, 2020Assignee: VLAAMSE INSTELLING VOOR TECHNOLOGISCH ONDERZOEK (VITO)Inventor: Johan Van Bael
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Patent number: 9618215Abstract: The present invention relates to energy supply systems which comprise an energy storage unit and an energy production unit. Control methods according to the invention advantageously allow to calculate an operational cost of the energy supply system based on the energy flux that can be supplied by the system and the energy flux that is demanded externally from the system. The operational cost can be calculated for all possible values of the above parameters in advance. The calculated parameters can be stored in an array in a device implementing methods of the invention. Methods of the invention allow to operate an energy supply system so as to guarantee that at any instant a predetermined (nonzero) amount of energy flux can be supplied by the energy storage unit.Type: GrantFiled: August 21, 2009Date of Patent: April 11, 2017Assignee: VITO NVInventors: Johan Van Bael, Hans Hoes, Fjo De Ridder
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Publication number: 20170089612Abstract: A multi-stage heat engine having an evaporator, a condenser, expander stages; vapour compression stages; tanks for holding gaseous phases of a fluid. The compressor stages is adapted to compress the gaseous phase in the adjacent tank with a higher pressure than which occurred at expansion and to move the compressed fluid to the next adjacent tank at a higher pressure, the expander stages are adapted to expand a part of the compressed fluid in each tank, to expand the fluid in the adjacent tank at a lower pressure, the compressor and expander sections are adapted to output the gaseous phase at the highest pressure to the condenser and the liquid phase at the lowest pressure to the evaporator, where the output of the condenser are fed back to the tank at the highest pressure and the output of the evaporator is fed back to the tank at the lowest pressure.Type: ApplicationFiled: May 22, 2015Publication date: March 30, 2017Applicant: VLAAMSE INSTELLING VOOR TECHNOLOGISCH ONDERZOEK (VITO)Inventor: Johan VAN BAEL
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Publication number: 20170030590Abstract: A method and system that allows thermal energy to be supplied at different temperature levels to consumers, where each consumer is provided with its desired temperature whenever that is necessary. The method or a system for supplying consumers with heat energy or with cooling energy includes a set of three or more conduits for carrying a heat transfer fluid, each conduit carrying fluid at one of three or more different temperatures or temperature ranges, a plurality of heating and/or cooling consumer appliances distributed along the length of the conduits, each consumer appliance being linked to one of a plurality of pairs of conduits such that either: a consumer appliance is linked on a high temperature side, or a consumer appliance is linked on a low temperature side; a number of heat or cold generators, each pair of conduits being connected to at least one of the generators.Type: ApplicationFiled: March 26, 2015Publication date: February 2, 2017Applicant: VITOInventors: Dirk VANHOUDT, Johan VAN BAEL
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Patent number: 9506670Abstract: A method for buffering thermal energy comprises a thermal buffering medium contained by a thermal energy buffer. The volume of the thermal buffering medium is subdivided in one or more parts such that the different parts of the volume of the thermal buffering medium together form the total thermal buffering medium. The thermal energy buffer comprises a temperature sensor for each part. A controller has at least one signal representing at least one thermal energy value related to the thermal energy buffer. The thermal energy values comprise a predetermined minimum amount of thermal energy present in the thermal energy buffer. The controller controls a heater such that the amount of thermal energy present in the thermal energy buffer is higher than or equals the predetermined minimum amount of energy present in the thermal energy buffer.Type: GrantFiled: June 4, 2012Date of Patent: November 29, 2016Assignee: VLAAMSE INSTELLING VOOR TECHNOLOGISCH ONDERZOEK (VITO)Inventors: Koen Vanthournout, Johan Van Bael, Bert Claessens, Reinhilde D'Hulst
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Publication number: 20150153071Abstract: A method for buffering thermal energy comprises a thermal buffering medium contained by a thermal energy buffer. The volume of the thermal buffering medium is subdivided in one or more parts such that the different parts of the volume of the thermal buffering medium together form the total thermal buffering medium. The thermal energy buffer comprises a temperature sensor for each part. A controller has at least one signal representing at least one thermal energy value related to the thermal energy buffer. The thermal energy values comprise a predetermined minimum amount of thermal energy present in the thermal energy buffer. The controller controls a heater such that the amount of thermal energy present in the thermal energy buffer is higher than or equals the predetermined minimum amount of energy present in the thermal energy buffer.Type: ApplicationFiled: June 4, 2012Publication date: June 4, 2015Applicant: VLAAMSE INSTELLING VOOR TECHNOLOGISCH ONDERZOEK (VITO)Inventors: Koen VANTHOURNOUT, Johan VAN BAEL, Bert CLAESSENS, Reinhilde D'HULST
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Publication number: 20140190680Abstract: A method for buffering thermal energy comprises a thermal buffering medium contained by a thermal energy buffer. The volume of the thermal buffering medium is subdivided in one or more parts such that the different parts of the volume of the thermal buffering medium together form the total thermal buffering medium. The thermal energy buffer comprises a temperature sensor for each part. A controller has at least one signal representing at least one thermal energy value related to the thermal energy buffer. The thermal energy values comprise a predetermined minimum amount of thermal energy present in the thermal energy buffer. The controller controls a heater such that the amount of thermal energy present in the thermal energy buffer is higher than or equals the predetermined minimum amount of energy present in the thermal energy buffer.Type: ApplicationFiled: June 4, 2012Publication date: July 10, 2014Applicant: VLALAMSE INSTELLING VOOR TECHNOLOGISCH ONDERZOEK (VITO)Inventors: Koen Vanthournout, Johan Van Bael, Bert Claessens, Reinhilde D'hulst
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Publication number: 20110166718Abstract: The present invention relates to energy supply systems which comprise an energy storage unit and an energy production unit. Control methods according to the invention advantageously allow to calculate an operational cost of the energy supply system based on the energy flux that can be supplied by the system and the energy flux that is demanded externally from the system. The operational cost can be calculated for all possible values of the above parameters in advance. The calculated parameters can be stored in an array in a device implementing methods of the invention. Methods of the invention allow to operate an energy supply system so as to guarantee that at any instant a predetermined (nonzero) amount of energy flux can be supplied by the energy storage unit.Type: ApplicationFiled: August 21, 2009Publication date: July 7, 2011Inventors: Johan Van Bael, Hans Hoes, Fjo De Ridder