Patent ID: 9671144
Date: 2017-06-06
CPC Classifications: F25B

Claim:
1. A refrigeration system, comprising: a condenser that receives a compressed refrigerant, and condenses the compressed refrigerant to produce a refrigerant condensate; a storage tank that stores the refrigerant condensate; an evaporator that receives a first portion of the refrigerant condensate from the storage tank, and evaporates the first portion of the refrigerant condensate to produce a refrigerant vapor; a mixing chamber that receives the refrigerant vapor from the evaporator, and a second portion of the refrigerant condensate from the storage tank, and produce a refrigerant mixture of the refrigerant vapor and the second portion of the refrigerant condensate; a first refrigerant compressor between the mixing chamber and condenser, having a constant volume, and capable of operating in a heater mode or a cooler mode, the first refrigerant compressor receiving the refrigerant mixture from the mixing chamber, and compressing the refrigerant mixture to produce the compressed refrigerant using thermal energy; a second refrigerant compressor in parallel with the first refrigerant compressor between the mixing chamber and condenser, having a constant volume, and capable of operating in a heater mode or a cooler mode, the second refrigerant compressor receiving the refrigerant mixture from the mixing chamber and compressing the refrigerant mixture to produce the compressed refrigerant using thermal energy; and one or more flow control valves between the mixing chamber and the first and second refrigerant compressors that are configured to cause the first and second refrigerant compressors to be disconnected from the mixing chamber at a same time, cause the first and second refrigerant compressors to be connected with the mixing chamber at a same time, and cause one of the first and second refrigerant compressors to discharge to the mixing chamber without passing through the condenser while the other one of the first and second refrigerant compressors is fed from the mixing chamber.