System and method for maintaining air temperature within a building HVAC system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9310087-B2
Application number	US-201013499188-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 29, 2010
Priority date	Sep 29, 2009
Publication date	Apr 12, 2016
Grant date	Apr 12, 2016

Abstract

A system and method for conditioning air is provided. A building has a hot water source and a cold water source. The system includes at least one heating-cooling unit, a primary water storage device, at least one heat pump, and a controller. The heating-cooling unit transfers heat into or out of air passing within an air handling system of the building. The primary water storage device stores a volume of water within a predetermined temperature range. The primary water storage device is in communication with the hot water source and the cold water source. The heat pump is connected to the primary water storage device and a chilled beam. The controller selectively drives the heat pump to transfer heat between the primary water storage device and the chilled beam. The controller selectively controls the system to transfer heat into or out of the primary water storage device.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system for conditioning air within an air handling system of a building, which building has a hot water source and a cold water source, the conditioning system comprising:
at least one heating-cooling unit connected to the air handling system, which at least one heating-cooling unit is operable to transfer heat into or out of air passing within the air handling system of the building, and which at least one heating-cooling unit includes at least one chilled beam;
a primary water storage device operable to store a volume of water within a predetermined temperature range, which primary water storage device is in communication with the hot water source and the cold water source;
at least one first heat pump connected to the primary water storage device and the at least one chilled beam of the at least one heating-cooling unit; and
a controller adapted to selectively drive the first heat pump to transfer heat between the primary water storage device and the chilled beam of the at least one heating-cooling unit, and adapted to selectively control the system to transfer heat into or out of the primary water storage device to maintain the water within the primary storage device within the predetermined temperature range, and adapted to operate a second heat pump to transfer heat from the hot water source to the primary storage device to increase the temperature of water disposed within the primary water storage device.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first heat pump is a water-to-water heat pump.

3. The system of claim 1 , further comprising an air-source heat pump that is operable to transfer heat between the water within the primary storage device and ambient air, wherein the controller is adapted to control the transfer of heat between the water within the primary storage device and ambient air.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is adapted to selectively transfer heat from the primary storage device to the cold water source to decrease the temperature of water disposed within the primary water storage device.

5. The system of claim 4 , wherein the cold water source is a potable source of cold water within the building.

6. The system of claim 4 , wherein the hot water source is a potable source of hot water within the building.

7. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a hot water storage device and a second heat pump, wherein a second heat pump is connected to the primary water storage device and the hot water storage device, and the controller is adapted to selectively operate the second heat pump to transfer heat from the hot water storage device to the primary storage device to increase the temperature of water disposed within the primary water storage device.

8. The system of claim 7 , further comprising a cold water storage device and a third heat pump, wherein the third heat pump is connected to the primary water storage device and the cold water storage device, and the controller is adapted to selectively operate the third heat pump to transfer heat from the primary water storage device to the cold water storage device to decrease the temperature of water disposed within the primary water storage device.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the at least one heating-cooling unit and at least one of the first heat pump are configured in a modular unit disposed within the system.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein one or more modular units is sized to fit within a ceiling space of a building.

11. A method for conditioning air within an air handling system of a building, which building has a hot water source and a chilled water source, the method comprising the steps of:
transferring heat into or out of air passing within the air handling system of the building using at least one heating-cooling unit connected to the air handling system, which at least one heating-cooling unit includes at least one chilled beam;
storing a volume of water within a primary water storage within a predetermined temperature range, which primary water storage device is in communication with the hot water source and the cold water source;
transferring heat between the primary water storage device and the chilled beam of the at least one heating-cooling unit; and
transferring heat into or out of the primary water storage device to maintain the water within the primary storage device within the predetermined temperature range, said transferring heat into or out of the primary water storage device including transferring heat from the hot water source to the primary storage device to increase the temperature of water disposed within the primary water storage device.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein a water-to-water heat pump transfers heat between the primary water storage device and the chilled beam of the at least one heating-cooling unit.

13. The method of claim 11 , further comprising the step of: transferring heat between the water within the primary storage device and ambient air using an air-source heat pump.

14. The method of claim 11 , wherein the step of transferring heat into or out of the primary water storage device to maintain the water within the primary storage device within the predetermined temperature range includes the step of:
selectively transferring heat from the primary storage device to the cold water source to decrease the temperature of water disposed within the primary water storage device.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the hot water source is a potable source of hot water within the building.

16. The method of claim 11 , wherein the step of transferring heat into or out of the primary water storage device to maintain the water within the primary storage device within the predetermined temperature range includes the steps of:
selectively transferring heat from a hot water storage device to the primary storage device using a water-to-water heat pump to increase the temperature of water disposed within the primary water storage device; or
selectively transferring heat from the primary storage device to a cold water storage using a water-to-water heat pump to decrease the temperature of water disposed within the primary water storage device.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the cold water storage device is connected to the source of cold water within the building.

18. The method of claim 16 , wherein the hot water storage device is connected to the source of hot water within the building.

19. The method of claim 11 , further includes providing a plurality of heating-cooling units and a plurality of first heat pumps, which heating-cooling units and first heat pumps are configured in modular units disposed within the system; and
wherein the step of transferring heat into or out of air passing within the air handling system of the building uses the modular units.

20. The method of claim 19 , further comprising the step of disposing one or more of the modular units within a ceiling space of the building.

21. The method of claim 19 , wherein the modular units are disposed on a plurality of floors of the building and the step of transferring heat into or out of air passing within the air handling system is performed on a floor-by-floor basis.

Assignees

• Grabon Michel
• Yuan Shui
• Kuang Yuhui
• Luo Dong
• Oggianu Stella M
• Carrier Corp

Inventors

• Grabon Michel
• Yuan Shui
• Kuang Yuhui
• Luo Dong
• Oggianu Stella M

Classifications

• F25B2400/06

  Several compression cycles arranged in parallel · CPC title

• F24H4/04

  Storage heaters · CPC title

• F24D5/12

  using heat pumps · CPC title

• F24H6/00

  Combined water and air heaters · CPC title

• F24F3/08 Primary

  with separate supply and return lines for hot and cold heat-exchange fluids {i.e. so-called "4-conduit" system} · CPC title