Patent GB-1413675-A (GB)
Title: Apparatus for the absortion and emission of thermal radiation
IPC: F24S90/00
Filed: 1972-09-18
Abstract: 1413675 Building panels BETEILIGUNGSAG FUR HAUSTECHNIK 18 Sept 1972 [17 Sept 1971] 43156/72 Headings E1B and E1W [Also in Divisions F2 F4 and G1] Apparatus for the absorption and emission of thermal radiation comprises two surface elements each providing a surface for the emission and/or absorption of thermal radiation which are insulated from each other, each surface element being thermally connected to heat storage means, at least one surface element being connected to said storage means by heat pipes containing a vaporizable-condensible heat carrying fluid. As shown the surface elements are in the form of building panels for the roof, wall or ceiling structure. Each roof panel 4 or 36 is filled with heat carrying fluid and contains a corrugated sheet 9 of absorbent paper. Opposite faces 4, 5 of the panel are held spaced apart by protuberances 6, and the panel is contoured to define a tubular section 7 at one edge and a U-section at the opposite edge, thereby permitting a plurality of such panels to be interfittingly disposed side-by-side to form the required building structure, with the tubular sections of adjacent panels being interconnected via pipes 37, 38. The panel 4 is mounted on a concrete baseplate 1 via brackets 2 with a layer of insulation 3. Where the panel 35 is to be mounted as a ceiling element inside a building, closed ducts 31, 32 filled with heat storage substance are attached to the panel. The substance in duct 31 has a phase change temperature in the range 17-19C and that in duct 32 a phase-change temperature in the range 27-33 C. Condensate may be transported against gravity from one set of panels to another by means of a pump 39 or by capillary or wick means, thereby allowing heat transfer to take place in either direction and so permit the building interior to be heated or cooled depending on the prevailing outside temperature; with a valve 34 in conduit 33 linking the sets of panels closed and pump 39 switched off heat neither enters nor leaves the interior of the building. The valve 34 may be thermostatically controlled. In an alternative embodiment (Fig. 4 not shown) the surface elements comprise spaced apart metal sheets (65, 65') each backed by a layer of concrete (64, 64') constituting heat storage means. Serpentine shaped heat pipes having vertical and horizontal pipe sections (61 and 63, 63') interconnect and are in good thermal contact with the metal sheets (65, 65'). In another embodiment (Fig. 5 not shown) wherein the surface elements are disposed vertically and constitute a wall structure, the interconnecting heat pipe sections (70) are inclined to the wall surface to permit condensate flour by gravity to take place. In a further embodiment (Fig. 8 not shown) the heat transfer relationship between the inner and outer surfaces (112 and 111) of the apparatus can be controlled by means of four independently controlled heat pipe circuits and a pair of latent heat storage containers (113 and 114). Each heat pipe is of serpentine configuration in two planes and is closed at one end, the other end being in communication with a condensate container (see Figs. 6 and 7), whereby the amount of condensible-vaporizable fluid within the pipe can be controlled. The apparatus serves either to cool the interior of the building, with heat being stored in the storage container (114) during the day and discharged from the outer surface at night, or for heating the building interior with solar energy which is stored in the container (113).