Heating System Using A Liquid Heater As The Source Of Heat

Summary of the Invention A heating system, which may be portable or . installed in a residential or other type of building, has as its source of heat a liquid heater in which a body is rotated within a closed chamber containing a liquid which, in turn, is supplied through tubing to a heat exchanger external to the source of heat. The invention provides critical relations between the parts of the liquid heater and also the ratio of the volume of liquid within the closed chamber to the volume in the system external to the closed chamber, and also provides means for reducing the loss of heat by the liquid while in the heat exchanger, thus providing a system of the described type which is successful where other systems of the same type have not been successful.

Background of the Invention

A number of United States patents, and my U.S. patent No. 4,424,797, describe and claim apparatus for producing heat by rotating a cylindrical body within a closed chamber containing a liquid, thereby producing friction and shearing action within the liquid and raising its temperature to a degree which should make the liquid a suitable source of heat when supplied to a heat exchanger forming part of a heating system.

While such liquid heaters, per se, are well known, and have been for a substantial time, no - heating system utilizing such a heater has ever been successfully operated, the basic problem being that while the liquid heater heats the liquid as intended the designed operation of the heating system so dissipates the heat of the liquid that continuous operation is not possible.

It has therefore been the object of this inven- tion to provide a heating system utilizing a liquid heater as the source of heat but having features which makes the system technically and commercially successful, thereby giving utility to the liquid heater, which to date has been an interesting but non-useful source of heat.

Brief Description of the Drawings

The single figure of the drawings is a view of the heating system provided by the invention.

Description of the Preferred Embodiment of the Invention

The preferred embodiment of the heating system provided by the invention- is illustrated in the drawings and comprises a liquid heating unit A, a heat exchanger B, and tubing C, which provides a circulating system for carrying heated liquid from the liquid -heating unit to the heat exchanger, where it loses ^' heat, and back to the heating unit for re-heating.

The liquid heating unit A comprises a housing 2 having an internal chamber which is bounded by cylindrical surface 4, having diameter dl and end walls 6, 8. A partition 10 divides the chamber into a rotor chamber 12 and a pump chamber 14, and has a central opening 16 of diameter d2. A shaft 18 is rotatably mounted in the end walls and extends concentrically through the rotor chamber and the pump chamber and passes through the opening in the partition. Means are provided for rotating the shaft and may take the form of a pulley 20 carried by the shaft outside the housing and connect¬ ed to be driven by a motor (not shown) and belt 22.

The pump chamber has an outlet port 24 and the rotor chamber has an inlet port 26 to which are connected parts of the circulating tube system C.

Within the rotor chamber there is mounted on shaft 18 a rotor body 30 having a cylindrical surface 32 of diameter d3 and end walls 34, 36. The rotor surface 32 is concentric with the cylindrical housing surface 4 and spaced inwardly from it by radial distance d4, leaving an annular space 38 within the housing and surrounding the rotor. The end walls 34, 36 of the_ rotor are parallel to, and spaced inwardly from, the housing end wall 6 and partition 10 and are spaced inwardly from them by distances d5 and d6, respectivel . An impeller-type pump 40 is mounted on shaft 18 within the pump chamber and has radial hollow vanes 42 surrounding a central hub 44 having an inlet recess 46 which faces the central opening in parti¬ tion 10. The heat exchanger B is of conventional structure and comprises a screen 50 supporting a tube 52 which in accordance with known practice is formed into a plurality of parallel sections 54 connected by bends 56 to provide, in conventional practice, a continuous conduit within the screen for the passage of heated liquid.

In accordance with the invention means are provided for continuously providing sufficient heat at the tubing of the heat exchanger to permit success¬ ful operation of a heating system using a liquid heater of the described type as the source of heat. I have found that if the ratio of the inside diameter dl of the chamber housing to the outside diameter d3 of the rotor is at or approximately 5^:4 an optimum frictional and shearing action will be produced within the liquid in the rotor chamber resulting in optimum heating of the liquid in that chamber, and that best results will be obtained if" the radial spacing between the cylindrical surfaces defining the rotor chamber is approximately 3/4 inch. By "approximately" I mean that there may be slight variations without losing the good results provided by practice of the invention.

In addition, in accordance with the invention the distance d5 between rotor end wall 34 and housing end wall 6 must be less than the distance d6 between rotor end wall 36 and partition 10, and that if d6 is made at least 3/4 inch the flow from the rotor chamber to the pump chamber through partition opening 16 will be so improved that optimum results will be produced throughout the entire system.

n further accordance with the invention the ratio between the volume of liquid within the rotor and pump chambers and the volume of liquid in the part of the system external to the rotor and pump chambers should be approximately 2:1, the word "approximately" having the meansing stated above. I have found that with these relations the volume of liquid in the heating unit is sufficient to provide to the heating system external to the heating unit heated liquid in sufficient volume to substan¬ tially overcome the-dissipation of heat in the heat exchanger B and tubing system C.

In addition to these relations and ratios within the heating unit and the heating system the invention provides means for reducing dissipation of heat from the liquid in the heat exchanger. In distinction to the conventional heat exchanger in which the liquid passes through the entire exchanger tubing all liquid delivered to the tubing of the heat exchanger in accordance with the invention passes through only a small part of the entire tubing of the exchanger, thereby reducing dissipation of heat from the liquid and returning the heated liquid to the heating unit at a higher temperature than if, as under convention- al practice, the liquid passed through the entire tubing of the heat exchanger.

The means for providing this result at the heat exchanger comprises a plurality of tubes 60 which branch outwardly from the tube 62 which connects the heat exchanger to the outlet passage 24 of the heating unit, and which are connected to alternate bends 56a of the complete heat exchanger tubing. In addition, the tube 6.4 which leads to the inlet passage 26 of the heating unit is connected through a plurality of branch tubes 66 which are connected to the bends 66a of the heat exchange tubing between the bends 56a to which the inlet tubes are connected.

Because of these connections of the inlet and outlet passages of the heater unit to the heat exchanger tubing, heated liquid from the heater unit is within the heat exchanger for a shorter length of time than is the case in which the liquid passes through the entire heat exchanger tubing system, thereby returning to the heating unit liquid with a greater heat content. It will be understood that while, for the purpose of this description of the preferred embodiment of the invention, the inlet and connections are made to alternate bends of the heat exchanger tube the connections may be made to bends or parts of the tubing spaced more than alternately if it is desired to increase the heat loss by the liquid while in the heat exchanger.

The incorporation into a heating system of the features of this invention results in the maintenance of a sufficiently high percentage of the heat content of the liquid to cause a "flywheel" effect which permits successful use of t..e liquid heater of the described type as the source of heat of a complete heating system.