Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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TEMPERATURE AND VAPOUR PRESSURE REGULATION DEVICE FOR A
STRUCTURE
This invention relates to a device for regulating the
temperature and vapour pressure in a structure. More
s particularly, it concerns a constructional element, which is
provided with ducts for heat regulation purposes, wherein
moisture can be drawn into the ducts of the constructional
element.
In known construction and building structures the
to constructional element separating storeys is normally made of
concrete, whereas walls may be made of concrete or a plate
material. The constructional element commonly extends between
the supporting parts of the construction or building
structure, and is either cast on site or in the form of
1s ready-made elements. Working with such constructional
elements of concrete is resource demanding in separate ways.
The use of a heavy material like concrete in the storey-
partitioning element means that the dimensions of the
supporting elements must be increased. Besides, each level
zo must be given an additional height of at least 30 cm in order
to provide space for ducts for the air normally used for
heating and/or cooling of rooms in the construction or
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building structure. These are all conditions that add to the
costs of known structures.
In the cooling of buildings in tropical areas, where the
outdoor temperature can be in the order of 45 °C and the
s relative humidity can be of up to 99 0, it is evident that
condensation of air humidity inside the building can be a
considerable problem. The desired relative air humidity
within buildings in areas of this kind is between 40 and 60
%. Condensation of humidity is also a known problem in
to refrigerating rooms and freezing rooms.
For the cooling of indoor air it is common to use a cooling
plant of the kind in which outdoor air is cooled and blown
into the building both to regulate the indoor temperature and
to lower the relative humidity of the air. It has proved
is necessary to lower the air temperature at the outlet of the
cooling plant to approximately 7 °C to reduce sufficiently
the relative humidity of the air. This condition combined
with the amount of cooled air that will have to be supplied
to the building in order to carry away the thermal energy
ao conducted in through walls, floors and ceilings, entails
relatively high energy consumption.
According to the prior art, in order to reduce the energy
consumption to some extent, it is common in the countries
where it is permitted, to use so-called return air
zs ventilation. That means that only part, for example 20 0, of
the ventilation air supplied to a room is outdoor air,
whereas the remaining portion is mixed-in indoor air which
only needs cooling corresponding to the temperature increase
it has had during its circulation within the building.
so It is also known to cool buildings without outdoor air being
added.
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The method of cooling of this kind according to the prior art
is, as mentioned, relatively energy demanding, especially if
an acceptable indoor air quality is to be maintained. It can
be mentioned that in several countries, including Norway, it
s is not permitted to use return air ventilation. It is also
common that cooling plants of the kind in question emit
considerable noise, and that the necessary air flow volume
leads to uncomfortable draught.
Norwegian patent application 19982520 discloses a device in a
so constructional element included in a construction or building
structure, in which a constructional element is of such
configuration that it comprises a duct system for air. The
air ducts of the system run parallel to each other, the
constructional element being made up of at least three
1s interconnected layers of corrugated plate material. The
layers are oriented in such a way relative to abutting layers
that the corrugations of two adjacent layers are
perpendicular to each other. The intermediate layer between
an upper layer and a lower layer that are essentially
zo horizontal in the position of use of the constructional
element, is formed with a number of transversal through holes
connecting the air ducts of two adjacent air duct systems.
One air duct system can serve as a supply air duct system for
heated or cooled air and the other as an evacuating system or
as return air system.
However, the device according to the Norwegian patent
application mentioned is not arranged to deal with moisture
from the rooms adjacent to the constructional element.
The invention has as its object to remedy the drawbacks of
so the prior art.
The object is realized in accordance with the invention
through the features specified in the description below and
in the following Claims.
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A constructional element, for example to be used as a
ceiling, storey-partitioning element, floor or wall is formed
with air ducts in a corresponding way to that of the
constructional element according to the Norwegian patent
s application 19982520.
The air ducts in the system extend parallel to each other,
the constructional element being made up of at least three
interconnected layers of corrugated plate material. The
layers are oriented in such a way relative to abutting layers
so that the corrugations of two adjacent layers are
perpendicular to each other. The intermediate layer between
the two layers that are the external layers in the position
of use of the constructional element is formed with a number
of transversal through holes connecting the air ducts of two
is adjacent air duct systems. One air duct system can serve as a
supply air duct system for heated or cooled air and the other
as an evacuating system or return air system.
In what follows, the external layer facing away from the room
which is to be temperature-regulated is referred to as the
zo outer layer, whereas the external layer facing in towards the
room which is to be temperature-regulated is referred to as
the inner layer.
The inner layer is provided with through openings, by which
humidity that has condensed onto the layer or onto an
z5 adjacent, preferably porous material can be drawn into the
air duct located within.
The constructional element is suitable for use as a heat
exchanger element in buildings, for example for residential
and industrial purposes, cooling and freezing rooms or in
3o refrigerating and freeing counters.
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Depending on the required energy transfer to/from a room,
more or fewer of the constructional elements in a building
can be formed in accordance with the invention, as the
constructional element has a through-flow of air in an
s essentially closed circuit.
Air, which is conducted in between two abutting layers, flows
alternately along and across the corrugations of the layer,
which has the effect that an essentially turbulent form of
flow arises. A turbulent flow has the effect that a
so substantial improvement of the heat transfer between gas and
layer is achieved compared to laminar flow. In principle, the
air flowing in between layers can spread through transversal
and longitudinal corrugations over the entire area of the
layer.
is With cooled air, for example having a temperature of 17 °C,
flowing between said layers, said surfaces work as a cooling
element and can keep the indoor temperature at a desired
level. The air flowing between the layers can flow, for
example, in a direction from a cooling unit in the space
ao between the intermediate layer and the outer layer, after
which it flows, at one or more points in the portion of the
constructional element opposite to the cooling unit, through
the intermediate layer and back to the cooling unit in the
space between the intermediate layer and the inner layer.
zs The air is then cooled to a degree corresponding to the heat
quantity that has been added to it, after which it is
circulated back between the layers. Thus, it is not necessary
to cool new outdoor air in order to maintain the cooling
effect of the building elements.
so Any ventilation air, which, with the use of the invention,
does not have to contribute to cooling, can be supplied to
the building in a substantial smaller amount compared to the
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prior art. Normally it will not be necessary to cool this
flow of air.
As the side of the corrugated inner layer of the
constructional element which is placed on the side of the
s constructional element facing the room is perforated, the
excess humidity which is supplied to the building, for
example together with the ventilation air and settles on the
relatively cold inner layer, will be drawn into the cavity
between the perforated inner layer and the intermediate
so layer. The humidity then follows the cooling air to the
cooling unit where it condenses and is carried away.
In what follows is described a non-limiting example of a
preferred embodiment which is visualized in the accompanying
drawings, in which:
is Figure 1 shows schematically a sectional plan view II-II of
Figure 2 of a building, in which the ceiling, floor and walls
are provided Wlth corrugated plates according to the
invention;
Figure 2 shows schematically a section I-I of the building of
zo figure 1;
Figure 3 shows a perspective section of the floor of figure
2, in which three corrugated layers lying on top of each
other are placed in a covering way over the foundation. The
slab of the floor is not shown; and
as Figure 4 shows, in a section, an alternative embodiment, in
which the constructional element is used as a storey-
partitioning element in a building, and in which the walls
are also formed by constructional elements according to the
invention.
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In the drawings the reference numeral 1 identifies a building
comprising walls 2, 4, 6, 8, a floor 10 and a ceiling 12.
Other necessary structural details like doors and windows are
not shown.
s The floor 10 and the ceiling 12 are provided with three
covering corrugated layers, one above the other, in the form
of plates 14, 16 and 18, and 14', 16' and 18', respectively,
in which the corrugations of the intermediate plate 16, 16'
lie at an approximately right angle relative to the
so corrugations of the outer plate 14, 14' and the inner plate
18, 18'. The plates 14, 16 and 18, and 14', 16' and 18',
respectively, are connected to each other and to the floor 10
and ceiling 12 by means of, for example, glue, screws, dowels
or by means of other securing means known in themselves. The
1s interconnected plates 14, 16 and 18 form a constructional
element 19 which may be load-bearing. The walls of the
building are also provided with a constructional element 19.
A cavity 20, see figure 3, located between the outer plate 14
and the intermediate plate 16, and a cavity 22 located
ao between the intermediate plate 16 and the inner plate 18, are
sealingly defined by the walls 2, 4, 6, 8 and basically form
a closed cavity each.
A cooling unit 24 of a kind known per se is placed on the
wall 2 and is arranged to circulate cooled air in the floor
as 10. The outlet side of the cooling unit 24 is connected to
the cavity 20 located between the outer corrugated plate 14
and the intermediate corrugated plate 16 by means of an
admission duct 26. Cooled air flows in the cavity 20 like the
arrow A shows, see Figure 3, to at least one through opening
30 28 of the intermediate plate 16 near the wall 6. From the
openings 28 the air flows like the arrow B shows, through the
cavity 22 back to the cooling unit 24 by a return duct 30.
The cooling unit 24, the corrugated plates 14, 16 and 18 of
the floor 10, the openings 28 and the ducts 26 and 30 thus
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form an in principle closed cooling circuit which is arranged
to keep the floor temperature at a desired level.
Correspondingly, the corrugated plates 14', 16' and 18' of
the ceiling 12, together with the cooling unit 24' and
s necessary ducts and openings, form an in principle closed
cooling circuit in the ceiling.
Ventilation air is supplied to the building via a blower 32.
Excess humidity in the supplied ventilation air will condense
onto the coldest surface in the building, being the inner
so plates 18, 18' by the use of the invention. By providing the
inner corrugated plate 18, 18' with perforations 34, the
condensed humidity can be drawn into the space 22 and follow
the cooling air to the cooling units 24, 24' where the
humidity condenses and is drained away. The inner corrugated
Zs plate 18 can possibly be replaced by a porous plate, not
shown. A volume of air corresponding to the volume of
ventilation air flowing in through the perforations 34 flows
out into the surroundings from the cooling units 24, 24'.
In an alternative embodiment, see figure 4, constructional
ao elements 19 are dimensioned for, and used as, respectively,
the supporting partitioning floors 36 and walls 38, and floor
10.
By the use of the method according to the invention a
substantial improvement of the indoor climate is achieved
a5 compared to the prior art, while at the same time the
reduction in the amount of air that needs to be cooled
entails a considerable reduction in the use of energy.
The use of the constructional element 19 in cooling and
freezing plants, not shown, will have the effect that there
3o will be an improved environment in the plant.
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