A tank contains water heated by a heat pump having a heat exchanger part in a waste-water reservoir or in a waste air conduit and a further heat exchanger part in the water of the tank, heat being picked up in the reservoir or conduit and delivered to the water in the tank. The latter is a closed tank and the space above the water is connected to the inlet of a motor-driven centrifugal turbine. The lower pressure thus formed above the level of the water by the turbine inlet causes evaporation of the water and the turbine compresses this vapor into pressurized steam.
A process and apparatus for producing clean steam by placing impure steam in heat exchange relationship with clean water but physically separated therefrom to produce superheated clean water and vapor, and permitting expansion of the fluids to form clean steam and recyclable hot water.
A vacuum drying apparatus for refuse or the like includes a drying vessel which receives a material, e.g., refuse, to be dried; a heat recoverer connected to the drying vessel through a steam discharge passage extending from the upper portion of the drying vessel; means for exhaust and drainage mounted to the heat recoverer; a heat pump; a radiator provided in the heat pump; heat exchanger for the drying vessel which introduces the heat of a refrigerant flowing through a piping of the heat pump into the drying vessel; and heat exchanger for the heat recoverer which introduces the heat of the refrigerant flowing through the piping of the heat pump into the heat recoverer. The refrigerant piping of the heat pump is capable of being switched over from a flow of the refrigerant through a circulation system for heating the drying vessel and cooling the heat recoverer, and discarding the heat generated by the radiator.
Apparatus for exchanging heat between biothermal and geothermal ground heat sources and a heat pump for a building comprises a tank having a chamber for holding septic waste underground. The tank includes a heat conductive inner membrane for transferring heat to and from the waste. A fluid jacket located outside the chamber passes a heat transfer fluid adjacent a portion of the inner surface of the tank. Waste entry and exit piping transfers the waste to and from the chamber. Fluid inlet piping and outlet piping supplies the heat transfer fluid to and from the heat pump and the fluid jacket. When coupled to a heat pump in the heating mode, heat transfer fluid absorbs heat from biothermal sources within the tank and geothermal sources in and around the tank. In the cooling mode, heat transfer fluid conducts heat from a building to the tank and ground.
An excavationless geothermal system for heating and cooling applications includes a potable water storage container that receives water from a water supply through a supply line and a reversible water meter. The water in the storage container is circulated through a heat pump, and when the temperature of the water in the container is increased or decreased by the heat pump, the water is returned to the supply through the reversible meter.
A system for transportation and storage of liquid carbon dioxide (CO.sub.2) at low pressures in the region of 1600-2300 KPa comprises a mobile supply tank (20a, 20b) and an on side storage tank (70). The mobile supply tank (20a, 20b) and the on site storage tank (70) are thermally insulated and each tank is refrigerated by a refrigeration system (71) with an evaporator located in the upper gas space of each tank. The on site storage tank (70) is filled with liquid CO.sub.2 by a conduit (36a) extending from near the bottom of the mobile supply tank (20a, 20b) via a filling port (72) on the on site storage tank to an opening near the bottom of the on site storage tank. A closed circuit system is achieved by a further conduit (37a) extending via an outlet port (73) from the gas space near the top of the site storage tank (70) to a gas space near the top of the mobile supply tank (20a, 20b).
