초록 ▼

Useful heat from an ice-maker is efficiently recovered and employed to heat water without any significant increase in the energy normally expanded in making ice. During ice-making, liquid refrigerant from a high-pressure receiver is expanded and supplied to an evaporator where ice-making occurs. Exp

Useful heat from an ice-maker is efficiently recovered and employed to heat water without any significant increase in the energy normally expanded in making ice. During ice-making, liquid refrigerant from a high-pressure receiver is expanded and supplied to an evaporator where ice-making occurs. Expanded refrigerant is returned to a compressor through an accumulator, and high-pressure vapor is condensed by heat-exchange with a circulating stream of water withdrawn from a storage tank. Condensed refrigerant is returned to the receiver through a restrictor. During the harvesting cycle, relatively warm, high pressure vapor from the receiver is fed to the evaporator, and any of it condensed to liquid therein is trapped in the accumulator. The compressor runs continuously throughout harvesting and ice-making, and any refrigerant trapped in the accumulator is used to subcool the high-pressure liquid prior to its expansion in the subsequent ice-making cycle.

대표청구항 ▼

A method of forming ice and heating a liquid such as water, which method comprises withdrawing liquid refrigerant from a reservoir of refrigerant in liquid and vapor form and expanding said withdrawn refrigerant to vapor to lower its temperature below the freezing point of water and create a cold so

A method of forming ice and heating a liquid such as water, which method comprises withdrawing liquid refrigerant from a reservoir of refrigerant in liquid and vapor form and expanding said withdrawn refrigerant to vapor to lower its temperature below the freezing point of water and create a cold source, supplying water and said cold source to ice-maker means and freezing said water to form ice thereupon, returning said expanded refrigerant vapor to a compressor and discharging hot high-pressure vapor therefrom to a condenser, supplying liquid to the condenser where it is heated while condensing said high-pressure refrigerant vapor, returning refrigerant from said condenser to said reservoir through restrictor means which causes a significant pressure drop therein, and upon completion of ice formation of a desired thickness, halting said supply of said cold source to said ice-maker means, withdrawing relatively warm refrigerant vapor from said reservoir and supplying said withdrawn warm vapor to said ice-maker means to harvest said ice formed thereon whereby said returning of said high-pressure refrigerant to said reservoir through restrictor means assures that the transfer of heat to the liquid being heated in said condenser remains substantially constant throughout said harvest.