Hybrid heat pump system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11209190-B2
Application number	US-201916440194-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 13, 2019
Priority date	Jun 13, 2019
Publication date	Dec 28, 2021
Grant date	Dec 28, 2021

Abstract

A hybrid heat pump system including first compression means operable to form a refrigerant vapor and increases the pressure of the refrigerant vapor; condensing means to receive pressurized vapor and condense the vapor to a liquid; pressure reduction means through which the liquid refrigerant passes to reduce the pressure of the liquid to form a mixture of liquid and vapor refrigerant; evaporator means to receive the mixture of liquid and vapor refrigerant to evaporate the remaining liquid; second compression means including first and second inlet ports and an outlet port to receive a portion of the refrigerant vapor from the evaporator means and the pressurized vapor from the first compression means; increase the pressure thereof; and pass the pressurized vapor to the condensing means through the outlet port; and a conduit to pass a portion of the refrigerant vapor leaving the first compression means to the second compression means.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A hybrid heat pump system including a thermally-driven absorption sub-cycle and an electrically-driven compression sub-cycle, the hybrid heat pump system comprising:
first compression means, operating as the thermally-driven absorption sub-cycle, operable to form a refrigerant in vapor form and increases the pressure of the refrigerant vapor;
condensing means arranged to receive the pressurized vapor and condense the vapor under pressure to a liquid;
pressure reduction means through which the liquid refrigerant leaving the condensing means passes to reduce the pressure of the liquid to form a mixture of liquid and vapor refrigerant;
evaporator means arranged to receive the mixture of liquid and vapor refrigerant that passes through the pressure reduction means to evaporate the remaining liquid to form refrigerant vapor;
second compression means, operating as the electrically-driven compression sub-cycle, including a single injection-type compressor having a first inlet port and a second inlet port and an outlet port wherein the injection-type compressor is operable to inject the pressurized vapor leaving the first compression means to the second compression means by:
receiving at least a portion of the refrigerant vapor from the evaporator means and the pressurized vapor from the first compression means through the first and second inlet ports respectively;
increasing the pressure thereof; and
passing the pressurized vapor to the condensing means through the outlet port; and

a conduit operable to pass a portion of the refrigerant vapor leaving the first compression means to the second compression means.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the injection-type compressor includes a two-stage compressor, whereby a portion of the refrigerant vapor from the evaporator means is introduced to a first stage of the second compression means and the pressurized vapor leaving the first compression means is injected between the first stage and a second stage of the second compression means subsequent to the first stage.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the injection-type compressor includes a first compressor and a second compressor, whereby a portion of the refrigerant vapor from the evaporator means is introduced to the first compressor and the pressurized vapor leaving the first compression means is injected between the first compressor and the second compressor, and wherein the first and the second compressors are connected in series.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the injection-type compressor a dual-cylinder compressor for each receiving and compressing a portion of the refrigerant vapor from the evaporator means and the pressurized vapor from the first compression means individually and for passing both to the condensing means.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the injection-type compressor includes a first compressor and a second compressor for each receiving and compressing a portion of the refrigerant vapor from the evaporator means and the pressurized vapor from the first compression means individually and for passing both to the condensing means, and wherein the first and the second compressors are connected in parallel.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first compression means further includes:
an absorber that forms a mixture of a refrigerant and an absorbent; and
a generator that receives the mixture from the absorber and heats the mixture to separate refrigerant, in vapor form, from the absorbent.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein the pressure of the refrigerant vapor from the generator is increased by the second compression means.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the pressure at the outlet port is higher than that at the first and second inlet ports, and the pressure at the second inlet port is controlled to be higher than that at the first inlet port by manipulating one or more valves in fluid communication with the first inlet port and/or the second inlet port.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the fluid communication between the first compression means and the condensing means is manipulated by a first valve and the fluid communication between the first and second compression means is manipulated by a second valve.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the pressurized vapor leaving the first compression means and a portion of the vapor leaving the evaporator means are received by the second compression means individually and pressurized by the second compression means and subsequently received and condensed by the condensing means.

11. The system of claim 1 , wherein a portion of the vapor leaving the evaporator means is received and pressurized by the second compression means, and the pressurized vapor leaving the first and second compression means are subsequently received and condensed by the condensing means.

12. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first compression means is activated and the second compression means is deactivated, whereby the refrigerant vapor leaving the evaporator means is received by the first compression means and subsequently received and condensed by the condensing means.

13. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first compression means is deactivated and the second compression means is activated, whereby the refrigerant vapor leaving the evaporator means is received and pressurized by the second compression means and subsequently received and condensed by the condensing means.

14. The system of claim 1 , wherein the injection-type compressor includes at least one of reciprocating compressor, rolling compressor, scroll compressor, screw compressor, and centrifugal compressor.

Assignees

• Univ City Hong Kong

Inventors

• Wu Wei

Classifications

• F25B25/02 Primary

  Compression-sorption machines, plants, or systems · CPC title

• F25B6/04

  arranged in series · CPC title

• F25B7/00

  Compression machines, plants or systems, with cascade operation, i.e. with two or more circuits, the heat from the condenser of one circuit being absorbed by the evaporator of the next circuit (F25B9/00 takes precedence) · CPC title

• F25B1/08 Primary

  using vapour under pressure · CPC title

• F25B41/24

  Arrangement of shut-off valves for disconnecting a part of the refrigerant cycle, e.g. an outdoor part · CPC title