alt.energy.renewable

On Sun, 10 Feb 2008 09:50:17 GMT, "Alex Chiani" wrote:

>
>"Bruce Richmond" ha scritto nel messaggio
>news:88fbafb7-5ad6-4adc-90e8-22c3ba153933@p69g2000hsa.googlegroups.com...
>> Just wondering if anyone has ever heard of one. Seems like a
>> reasonable idea. Works just like an absorption fridge except put the
>> cool outside and the hot inside. All the waste heat would go toward
>> heating the house, as would the heat from the coil. The cooling
>> circuit could cool the air outside in mild climates or the ground in
>> cold climates, making it a geothermal heat pump.
>>
>> Bruce
>
>I'm a great fan of absorption heat pump systems, too. A Swedish company is
>developing a such machine :

How can you be a fan of something that doesn't exist in any meaningful way in the
civilian market?

Absorption ACs are commonly used where waste heat of the appropriate quality is
available. Petrochemical industries, for example.

Conventional absorption ACs achieve a COP of less than 1. That is, they use more
energy to operate than they transport. Contrast that to a conventional AC that has a
COP of from 3 to 5.

>
>http://www.climatewell.com/index.php
>http://www.climatewell.com/index.php?pageId=34

Sorry, but gotta call a bullshit foul on this one, at least based on what they
present. It smells like the gentle Scandinavian version of a scam.

A few clues. First, no meaningful technical or performance information at all. If
the thing works then present ASHRAE-standard performance data. Second, though they
claim to have patented this system, I can find no evidence of it, searching for the
company name, "triple-phase absorption" or "absorption air conditioning". Third,
what little technical information there is, is presented in a deceptive manner. Here,
for instance,

http://www.climatewell.com/index.php?pageId=34

Near the bottom of the page. They've made up something they call "electrical COP"
which has no practical meaning. They claim it to represent the cooling output
divided by the electrical input. Only problem is, electricity does not participate
in the refrigeration process. If they drove the circulation pump using a Sterling
engine powered by the solar heat then the "electrical COP" would be infinity.
bullshit!

The actual definition of COP has no connection to electricity. It is strictly energy
moved divided by energy consumed. The natural gas fired ACs that have been available
at various times that used IC engines and conventional refrigeration cycles had COP
specification even though the only electrical use was for the thermostat.

Once my BS alarm goes off, it takes a lot to reset it.

The other "spec" on that page, the "thermal efficiency" (whatever that means) might
be closer to a COP. A COP of 0.68 for an absorption process using low quality heat
would seem reasonable. I suppose that this is OK if the site has lots of solar
energy available AND the owner can afford the collector array. It would REALLY suck
if one were using it on a district heating system (one of their claimed applications)
where one pays for the BTUs. Even on the heating side, the COP looks to be less than
1 which is what simple resistance heating achieves.

An indication of just how inefficient this system is can be seen on the "contacts"
page (why it is there, who knows?)

http://www.climatewell.com/index.php?pageId=30

Look at the size of those collectors, especially for such a small house in a very
temperate climate. I'd hate to see the size of the collector for a 2000 sq ft house
in Atlanta!

I do have to admit that seeing a blonde haired chick wielding a MIG torch does have
some appeal.... :-) http://www.climatewell.com/index.php?pageId=3

John
--
John De Armond
See my website for my current email address
http://www.neon-john.com
http://www.johndearmond.com <-- best little blog on the net!
Tellico Plains, Occupied TN
A few harmless flakes working together can unleash an avalanche of destruction.