| abstract |
A chemical heat pump system is disclosed for use in heating and cooling structures such as residences or commercial buildings. The system is particularly adapted to utilizing solar energy, but also increases the efficiency of other forms of thermal energy when solar energy is not available. When solar energy is not available for relatively short periods of time, the heat storage capacity of the chemical heat pump is utilized to heat the structure as during nighttime hours. The design also permits home heating from solar energy when the sun is shining. The entire system may be conveniently rooftop located. In order to facilitate installation on existing structures, the absorber and vaporizer portions of the system may each be designed as flat, thin wall, thin pan vessels which materially increase the surface area available for heat transfer. In addition, this thin, flat configuration of the absorber and its thin walled (and therefore relatively flexible) construction permits substantial expansion and contraction of the absorber material during vaporization and absorption without generating voids which would interfere with heat transfer. n The heat pump part of the system heats or cools a house or other structure through a combination of evaporation and absorption or, conversely, condensation and desorption, in a pair of containers. A set of automatic controls change the system for operation during winter and summer months and for daytime and nighttime operation to satisfactorily heat and cool a house during an entire year. The absorber chamber is subjected to solar heating during regeneration cycles and is covered by one or more layers of glass or other transparent material. Daytime home air used for heating the home is passed at appropriate flow rates between the absorber container and the first transparent cover layer in heat transfer relationship in a manner that greatly reduce eddies and resultant heat loss from the absorbant surface to ambient atmosphere. |