Composite Hybrid Panel, or Building Element for Combined Heating, Cooling, Ventilating and Air-Conditioning
An invention of composite, hybrid radiant/forced and natural convection, integrated, sandwiched, multi-role panel (1) optimally integrates heating, cooling, ventilating, air-conditioning, thermo-electric effect, energy recovery, and energy storage functions at very moderate operating temperatures such that it can directly utilize renewable and waste energy resources having very low energy. The composite hybrid panel or building element (1) having a diffuser layer (2) that is thermally conductive, a porous layer (3) providing uniform air diffusion, a thermal insulation layer (4) simply attached or embedded or integrated to a building wall ceiling, floor or stands alone for indoor space partitioning purposes.
1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to composite, integrated, sandwiched, multi-role, hybrid radiant-convective panel or building element, which optimally integrates heating, cooling, ventilating, air-conditioning functions and any other indoor function like air pressure control, thermo-electric effect, energy recovery, and energy storage functions at very moderate temperatures such that it can directly utilize renewable and waste energy resources with very low exergy.
2. Description of Prior Art
Heating, ventilating and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems have to satisfy three primary comfort functions, namely heating and cooling, humidity control, and ventilation. These functions are usually delegated to either a central forced convection air-conditioning system, or unitary air-conditioners, or hydronic heating/cooling systems (like convective fan-coils or radiant panels). In turn, in existing building technology walls, ceilings, and floors are non-HVAC functional, except acting like radiant panels or carrying ducts or chilled beams. On the other hand, radiant panels or chilled beams alone cannot control indoor humidity and cannot satisfy latent thermal loads. They can only satisfy sensible thermal loads.
Building elements, walls, ceilings and floors may be more cost effective and energy efficient if they are directly used for HVAC and other indoor functions and satisfy both sensible and latent loads.
In particular, forced convection air-conditioning through a single duct system compromises the efficiency and comfort functions, which are not truly compatible and sometimes contradictory. Ducts of a central air-conditioning system spanning the entire building are expensive and they are energy, premium space, and material intensive, they need frequent, if not continuous maintenance and inspection for indoor air quality reasons for human health and other functional requirements like clean rooms, hospitals, schools etc, to name a few.
On the other hand, available terminal units of existing technology, whether air or hydronic, primarily function by either thermal convection or radiation, whereas optimum human comfort precisely requires a radiant convective split of 60% by 40%, of which, none of the existing HVAC systems can provide.
Hydronic systems like radiators or radiant panels are more energy distribution efficient but cannot handle latent loads without a secondary air system. For example, a recent DOE (Department of Energy) study classifies ceiling panel cooling as the most energy efficient system (DE-AC01-96CE23798) but requires a secondary air system in order to satisfy latent loads (humidity control of indoor air).
Conventional HVAC systems are designed to use high-energy resources, commonly fossil fuel based, at very low-energy efficiency, like 6%. When these systems are attempted to be coupled with low-energy renewable or waste energy resources, HVAC equipment and terminal units need to be either over sized or resource temperature need to be conditioned, or both, each of which are costly penalties and often diminish the environmental and exergetic advantages of utilizing renewable and waste energy resources. In other words, conventional HVAC systems, which fundamentally remained unchanged for over a century are incompatible with low-exergy renewable and waste energy resources and require substantial equipment over sizing and/or conditioning of the resource temperature with boilers, heat pumps, and chillers. As a result, these energy resources will not economically and rationally substitute fossil fuels unless a new HVAC system is introduced, which may directly utilize them. The only heating and cooling system that can be directly coupled to low-exergy energy resources without any penalty is radiant panel system. However, radiant panel systems cannot handle latent loads like humidity control and a secondary system needs to be introduced to the same indoor space to satisfy latent loads. The so-called hybrid HVAC system is a co-location of at least two different types of heating and a cooling system like a radiant panel and a convective system like a condensing type fan-coil in the same indoor space.
Although the hybrid HVAC system seems to be a possible candidate for better utilization of low-exergy renewable and waste energy resources, it can only optimize the equipment over sizing and temperature conditioning instead of eliminating these costly measures, which diminish major advantages of low-exergy energy resources. For example even after using design and sizing optimization tools developed by the Inventor, a fan-coil and radiant panel combination using 45° C. waste water for space heating requires 60% equipment over sizing and a boiler to peak the resource temperature from 45° C. This example shows that whichever engineering ingenuity and mathematical tools are employed, the feasibility of coupling conventional HVAC systems directly with low-exergy energy resources is quite limited and remains uneconomical.
Conventional HVAC technologies worldwide encounter four major problems:
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- 1- They cannot directly couple with low-exergy energy resources without impairing performance of other green components and without substantial economic and technical penalties.
- 2- They cannot actively control radiant/convective heat transfer split for maximum human comfort.
- 3- Installation, operation, and maintenance are costly and energy and occupied space intensive.
- 4- They require uncomfortably low condensation temperature of humid air in order to control the indoor air humidity. This renders generally a re-heat process and reduces the coefficient of performance (COP) of heat pumps and chillers.
About 90% of HVAC systems use central forced-air distribution, which is the least economical and exergetically most inefficient system. On the other hand, technologies mainly emerging in Europe like chilled beams and similar radiant systems cannot handle latent (humidity control) loads without an additional conventional system.
The apparatus of this invention overcomes these problems mentioned above by combining all HVAC functions into a single terminal unit that can directly couple with low-exergy energy resources. This invention houses all HVAC elements in it or this invention may also be used with any central HVAC system, heat pump system or central heating or cooling system as an n efficient and multi-role terminal unit without housing any HVAC element like dehumidifier etc.
SUMMARYIn accordance with the present apparatus of invention, which is a composite hybrid radiant and convective panel takes the hybrid HVAC concept one big step further and combines different and essential radiant and convective components of HVAC physically into a composite, single terminal unit for total human comfort, and any other building functions and eliminates the four major problems of conventional HVAC system. The same system may equally be effective for animal shelters, greenhouses and storage buildings, libraries, and museums. The invention comprises a thermally active and hydrodynamically porous diffuser plate, which acts as both a radiant and forced/natural convection heat exchange surface and a latent air diffusion surface for total comfort service from such a single surface. This surface is encased in a wall, ceiling or floor panel, encased in an office cubicle partition, or embedded to a section of the building structure or any building element. Heating and cooling of the air diffusing into the indoor space from the composite hybrid panel can be pre-conditioned in a central system or by the panel itself by hydronic pipes or electric cables (heating only) or thermo-electric effect wires (cooling only) or any combination of all these placed behind the porous diffuser plate. These cables, wires, pipes also heat or cool the diffuser plate surface to make it a radiant panel surface at the same time. Conversely pre-conditioned air may also make the diffuser plate surface thermal radiation-wise active without pipes, wires, or electric cables. In summary, diffusing air is heated or cooled and humidity conditioned by different systems in a part of the same encasement or air is pre-conditioned by other external systems outside the encasement. The thermal mass of apparatus stores heat or cold thus shaves-off the peak sensible thermal loads. It may also incorporate a building exterior integrated feature, which collects energy. The same encasement of the apparatus may also house other sanitary, comfort and utility functions like air filtering, air sanitization, ionization, air-pressure control, indoor lighting, electrical power supply lines and or bus-bars, plumbing pipes, internet, wired or wireless communication systems.
The invention also comprises an apparatus and method for dynamically optimum operation control for minimum cost and maximum efficiency, and an operation control algorithm for different objective functions. Objects and AdvantagesAccordingly, besides the objects and advantages of the composite hybrid radiant/convective panel described in my above patent, several objects and advantages of the present invention are:
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- to provide HVAC and other indoor functional walls, ceilings and floors in existing building technology,
- to provide HVAC cheaper than a central, forced-convection system with ducts and reduce its disadvantages or occupying cost-premium indoor space and material and energy intensive capital and operating costs,
- to provide intuitive hybrid HVAC system to optimally satisfy all objective and subjective human comfort requirements in a dynamically optimum cost and maximum energy and exergy efficiency,
- to provide intuitive hybrid HVAC system, which can handle latent loads without a separate air system,
- to provide a hybrid HVAC system that can directly utilize low-exergy energy resources, which otherwise are wasted
- to provide a new hybrid HVAC system such that renewable energy resources may economically and rationally substitute fossil fuels,
- A unified, single apparatus to provide all building functions as necessary,
- A unified, single apparatus that can operate stand-alone (by itself) or can be optimally modulated into other conventional systems.
In the drawings, closely related figures have the same number but different alphabetic suffixes.
A preferred embodiment of the composite hybrid panel 1 of the present invention is illustrated in
As shown in
As shown in
As a preferred embodiment, the composite hybrid panel 1 operates with a heat pump and satisfies the total sensible indoor space comfort load by radiant and convective components of heat transfer from its porous surface 6.
In this patent, the load split is defined by the symbol PR, which needs to be optimized continuously in order to minimize the cost of the system. An optimum sensible load split control apparatus was invented which continuously optimizes PR by continuously calculating the indoor sensible comfort load q. In cooling q is negative and in heating q is positive by sign convention.
PR=C1|q| (1)
Here PR is the optimum, instantaneous sensible load split between the radiant and convective components of the composite hybrid panel 1, depending upon the instantaneous total sensible load q. In Equation 1, the absolute value of q is used. C′ is a performance characteristic constant:
In Equation 2, x is −1.5 Chp is the life-cycle-cost of the heat pump coupled to the composite hybrid panel system whose life-cycle cost factor is Cp. M is the design spacing of the hydronic tubing, or electric cables, or thermo-electric function wires 5 in the hybrid composite panel 1. α is a constant between 0.001 and 7.0. C1 is constant depending upon the fluid temperature required from the heat pump. The control apparatus is schematically shown in
As a sample application, the control apparatus continuously monitors the mean radiant temperature tmr, average dry-bulb air temperature of the indoor space ta, and AUST (Area weighted uncontrolled indoor surfaces of the indoor space). Using these values, the outdoor temperature and the heat overall load loss (gain in cooling) U of the indoor space. Control is based on two steps. The first step modulates the temperatures of the diffusing air and fluid temperature depending upon the magnitude of q. The second step determines PR, which means how much of the sensible load is going to be satisfied by the radiant surface compared to the total sensible load. Thus, PR is a ratio. If the optimum PR needs to adjust the fluid temperatures, they are adjusted accordingly. If ta, tmr, or AUST are not in acceptable ranges, then the optimum solution is re-adjusted. Fan speeds are also controlled and adjusted.
One another important feature of these active and passive composite hybrid panels is that the indoor air pressure in every zone may be independently adjusted for premium human comfort. For example, when the outdoor air pressure is low, migraine headaches are aggravated in certain people. In such cases, an indoor pressure conditioning may reduce or even eliminate these symptoms. Positive pressurization of indoors on a zone-by-zone basis is also very important for homeland security. If an outside CBR risk evolves, positive pressurization of the building is possible. If an indoor CBR risk evolves, the risk can be isolated by adjusting the indoor air pressures of each zone independently. Active panel “exhales” and passive panel “inhales.” This breathing system spread over the entire large surface area of the panel generates a uniform indoor environment and surrounding. Without any passive panel, the invention relies on air exfiltration from the conditional indoor space. The same invention may also embed air ionizing technique or plasma filtration method. In air ionization air is ionized in a controlled manner in the active panel, and pollutants are collected on the passive panel. On the passive panel, decorative cover is replaced periodically. Because the airflow is slow, dust problem in indoors are generally minimized by this invention.
Another important application of these active and passive panels is that, the same invention may be applied to floors, ceilings, roofs, attic panels, or indoor partitioning walls in part or whole of the invention. For example, the same invention may be used for office cubicles to generate local/personal microenvironment climate, lighting and hub for electronic components, computers, etc. This invention may be applied to any kind of building like but not limited to residential, commercial, industrial, etc. The same invention may be used in ground transportation and sea vessels and aircrafts with the exception in this case that these hybrid composite panels 1 may have no outside connection. The same invention may also be employed in spacecrafts where energy is limited and human comfort is a premium especially in emergency cases: in an emergency, the use of energy can be minimized in the composite hybrid panel 1 simply switching to radiant mode only.
All passive and active panels, ceiling, or even floor panels may incorporate artificial lighting elements over a wide surface area in particular but not limited to new low temperature, low energy, and closer to natural day lighting type lighting fixtures such as LED or similar lamp devices. Low intensity lighting over a larger surface are is more energy efficient and closer to natural lighting. These fixtures may be color and intensity variable in order to emulate a complete cycle of day lighting. In particular, this emulation may be useful in aircraft and spacecraft cabins to minimize the rapid earthly time zone changes to emulate the usual 24 hour cycle for astronauts in spacecrafts.
In particular but not limited to hybrid floor panel version, this invention may be used in other functions and applications like but not limited to animal shelters or pens, sport facilities (like outdoor tennis courts in winter), outdoor applications for cafes, greenhouses, public areas, restaurants, zoos, warehouses, controlled climate pharmaceutical and electronics buildings, storage rooms, hospitals, schools, offices, apartments, micro-climate control systems etc.
Another important application of these active and passive panels may be in museums or libraries to generate temporary or permanent display areas with zone control and independent HVAC application such that museum personnel, patrons, and artifacts books etc are maintained in an environment with maximum benefits without any compromise. For example in a library of old books and manuscripts, the air temperature must be low, while the humans must be thermally comfortable. Due to the dual control nature of the composite hybrid panel such that radiant surface temperature and the flowing air temperature can be independently controlled, the air temperature is kept minimal while human thermal comfort requirements are satisfied by the radiant heat transfer component of the composite hybrid panel 1.
This Invention may also be coupled, integrated, and made compatible and able to integrate with new building construction technologies like building, panels for walls, floors, and roofs. The invention maybe embedded into such building panels too.
This Invention may also incorporate natural ventilation through outdoors with a controlled or pre-engineered degree of porosity/permeability of outdoor air. Exhaust of air may be accomplished at the passive panel in a similar fashion. This combination eliminates ducts for indoor air ventilation requirements. These panels may have additional air filter layers for outdoor air.
AdvantagesFurther objects and advantages are enumerated below.
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- 1. As a key feature, this technology operates at very moderate temperatures, so that it can be directly coupled to low-exergy energy resources such as solar, waste, and ground heat. This complete compatibility eliminates the conventional HVAC plants, terminal units, and associated energy losses, may increase the exergetic efficiency from about 15% to 80%, and proportionally eliminates environmental degradation.
- 2. This technology improves the HVAC thermal efficiency by about 12% points and reduces heating and cooling loads by up to 40%. Fossil fuel dependence may be reduced by up to 90%, and electrical power demand is reduced by about 85%. The combined result is a substantial decrease in oil and gas dependency and increased energy security.
- 3. Engineering calculations show that capital cost may up to 70% cheaper, operating and maintenance costs may be up to 80% cheaper, when compared to central air-conditioning systems, after correcting the latter figure for the desiccant cooler.
- 4. This technology can significantly enhance economical and technical feasibility of using heat pumps, solar water heating panels, and wind turbines. For example, if a ground source heat pump is used with this invention, its COP increases typically by 40%, which offsets additional investment and operating costs, and adds positive impact on the environment. If wind energy drives the GSHP, the system becomes completely green as shown in
FIG. 5 . Even if only solar water panels are used, the overall installation cost will compete with conventional HVAC systems, when increased solar panel efficiency is also factored-in. This reveals that solar panel water heaters in building heating and cooling can become perfectly economical even with today's solar panel technology, when they are coupled with the invention. Therefore, this invention provides a huge market and energy savings potential in solar building sector too. The same is also true for micro and district CHP (Combined Heat and Power) and CCHP (Combined Cold Heat and Power) systems. - 5. Better indoor air distribution and circulation improve comfort. Anti-microbial properties of this technology help to sustain a healthier and mold free indoor environment.
- 6. Because the conditioned airflow rate is reduced by about 50% and complete zoning is possible, the bio-terror risk in a 15-m indoor radius decreases in similar proportion.
- 7. The building sector will significantly save energy and fossil fuel with the proposed technology and saved fossil fuels will be allocated to uses that are more rational.
- 8. Higher exergy and energy efficiency of the invention will contribute to improvement of the environmental quality and sustainability.
The invention is a complete package of integrated, composite hybrid radiant/forced and natural convection heat transfer wall panel for hybrid HVAC, which can be directly coupled to renewable or waste energy sources. This is an important step for environmental issues and energy economy. The invention has its own dedicated dynamic control apparatus (
Because a simple shop technology and a waste material supply are sufficient, production investment shall be minimal and attractive. With a combination of strong commercial and industrial interest among homeowners, contractors, and decision-makers, and ease of manufacturing, commercialization of the proposed technology is feasible and will be seamless with the HVAC market.
Conclusion, Ramifications, and ScopeAn invention of composite, integrated, sandwiched, multi-role composite radiant wall panel optimally integrates heating, cooling, ventilating, air-conditioning, thermo-electric, energy recovery, and energy storage functions at very moderate temperatures such that is can directly utilize renewable and waste energy resources having very low exergy. The same panel may also modularly integrate or connect with/to other building functions, plumbing functions, electric/electronic functions, and indoor air pressure control functions. The above-mentioned functions may all be present or only some of these functions may be present. The panel may be completely opaque, completely transparent, or semi-transparent. Direct compatibility with low-exergy energy resources eliminates costly equipment over sizing and resource temperature conditioning associated with conventional HVAC systems. Significant implications are the cost effective utilization of abundantly available low-exergy energy resources in all types of buildings, consequential substitution of fossil fuels in the building industry, and proportional reduction of harmful emissions on a macro scale, overall cost reduction of buildings, cost and thermally, exergetically effective energy conserving building envelope. This invention optimally combines radiant and convective heat transfer and collectively maximizes all human comfort requirements by integrating HVAC functions with all other building functions into a single element in energy efficient, economically effective, innovative, single-source manners. More uniform, mold-free, and healthier indoor air distribution and complete zoning capability improves the indoor air quality, human comfort, and reduces risks of airborne CBR agents (Chemical, Biological, and Radiological) from homeland security perspectives. This system is easy to install, operate, and maintain both in existing and new buildings. A simple shop using 100% recyclable waste material and fossil fuel by-products can manufacture the composite hybrid panel structure. In a typical house this system can reduce HVAC loads by 40%, increase overall thermal efficiency by 12% points, improve exergetic efficiency from 15% to 80%, eliminate fossil fuel dependency by 90%, and reduce bio-terror risk. The investment cost will be 70% cheaper and the operating cost will be one-fifth when waste heat is used. The composite hybrid wall panel may replace conventional boilers, furnaces, and chillers at the plant level, bulky air-conditioning ducts and terminal HVAC units at the terminal level, adds a desiccant cooling system at an intermediate level, and precisely embeds radiant and connective heat transfer at the 60% by 40% split, that may also be adjusted with an innovative control algorithm. Ground source heat pumps (GSHP), solar panels (SP), and wind turbines (WT) may mutually enhance their attributes with the invention. This invention primarily targets walls, which have the same heating and cooling effectiveness.
Claims
1. A composite, multi-layered, sandwiched, hybrid total heat and mass transfer panel or building element that are all encased together to form a totally enclosed conduit, that can deliver both actively, or passively and independently controlled all three possible components of heat transfer in air-conditioning, namely radiant, forced-convection and natural-convection by the panel itself in either indoor heating or cooling modes, which may have latent or sensible cooling components, whereas this panel may be functional as a total, stand-alone HVAC system (heating, ventilating and air-conditioning) or functional in any other applications, any of which may require a variable split of thermal radiation, forced-convection and natural-convection heat transfer, ventilation and air-conditioning, characterized by comprising a front cover, a porous layer, which provides a more uniform air diffusion and also acts as a medium of thermal storage, wherein said panel has a ventilation, a combined forced and natural convection heating and cooling, a thermal radiation heating and cooling, and air-conditioning functions all of which may co-exist or any one of them or some of them in any combination or ratio may be actively or passively adjusted and delivered to exist at any time of operation, depending upon the optimum operating conditions required and indoor functions in demand.
2. The composite hybrid heat and mass transfer panel or building element of claim 1 further comprising heating and or cooling elements in the form of liquid circulating (hydronic pipes), and or electric cables and or thermo-electric effect wires.
3. The composite hybrid heat and mass transfer panel or building element of claim 1 further comprising a thermally conductive diffuser layer, which is a thermal storage medium and also makes the airflow and temperature distribution on the panel surface more uniform.
4. The composite hybrid heat and mass transfer panel or building element of claim 3 wherein said diffuser layer is composed of stainless steel wool from metal scrap or other recycling materials in order to further improve the thermal and temperature distribution.
5. The composite hybrid heat and mass transfer panel or building element of claim 1, further comprising a thermal insulator layer having fire resistant properties that is attachable to a building wall, ceiling or floor or usable as an indoor partition.
6. The composite hybrid heat and mass transfer panel or building element of claim 1 wherein said porous layer is composed of glued wood chips and/or auto tires or other recycled materials.
7. The composite hybrid heat and mass transfer panel or building element of claim 1 further comprising an electrostatic, ionic, plasma and HEPA air filter and/or UV lamps.
8. The composite hybrid heat and mass transfer panel of claim 1 that can be directly embedded in to a green building and environment system comprising an energy supply including at least one of wind turbines (WT), solar photovoltaic arrays, and solar hot water panels, and comprising ground source heat pumps (GSHP), a thermal energy storage medium (TES), and a heat transferring liquid circuit,
- wherein said GSHP provides heat (in winter) from or rejects heat (in summer) to the ground and seasonal energy storage, and activates said sensible cooler by absorption,
- wherein said TES reduces the peak values of thermal loads and the green energy demand, said energy supply delivering additional heat, and wherein said hydronic circuit conditions ventilation air, and provides energy to said composite hybrid panel tubing.
9. The composite hybrid heat and mass transfer panel or building element of claim 8 wherein said pane comprises at least one heating clement directly transferring heat from/to the ground by use of the heat pipes.
10. The composite hybrid heat and mass transfer panel or building element of claim 1, wherein said porous layer, said front cover, and a thermal insulator layer establish a passive panel.
11. The composite hybrid heat and mass transfer panel or building element of claim 1, wherein said porous layer, a thermal insulator layer, and an air diffuser layer establish an active panel.
12. Two composite hybrid heat and mass transfer panels of claim 1, wherein said porous layer, and an air diffuser layer are arranged back to back without a thermal insulator layer to establish a stand-alone two directional active panel system for indoor partitioning, wherein both or any of the composite hybrid panels comprise LED or similar lighting elements on the panel surface and/or electric power and/or electronic data transfer lines and/or bus bars.
13. A method for using the composite hybrid heat and mass transfer panel or building element of claim 1, wherein said porous layer and a thermal insulator layer establish a passive panel and said porous layer, a thermal insulator layer and an air diffuser layer establish an active panel, the method comprising the steps of: placing said passive panel at an opposite facing side of said active panel so as to provide a continuously breathing system such that said passive panel inhales and said active panel exhales during operation.
14. A method for using the composite hybrid panel or building element of claim 13 comprising the steps of ionizing air in a controlled manner on said active panel, and collecting pollutants on said passive panel.
15. The method for using composite hybrid panel or building elements of claim 13, wherein the indoor air pressure is adjusted in a controlled manner.
Type: Application
Filed: Aug 31, 2005
Publication Date: Apr 17, 2008
Inventors: Birol Kilkis (Istanbul), Alphan Manas (Istanbul)
Application Number: 11/577,295
International Classification: E04C 2/34 (20060101); F28F 13/12 (20060101); F25B 29/00 (20060101); F24F 7/00 (20060101);