MULTIFUNCTION RESERVOIR FOR A SECONDARY LOOP, CLIMATE CONTROL SYSTEM AND A SECONDARY LOOP CLIMATE CONTROL SYSTEM INCORPORATING THAT MULTIFUNCTION RESERVOIR
A multifunction reservoir for a secondary loop climate control system includes a coolant vessel, a capsule held in the coolant vessel and a phase change material in the capsule. A secondary loop air conditioning system and a secondary loop heat pump system incorporating one or more multifunction reservoirs of the type described are also disclosed.
1 . A multifunction reservoir for a secondary loop climate control system, comprising:
a coolant vessel;
a capsule held in said coolant vessel; and
a phase change material in said capsule.
2 . The multifunction reservoir of claim 1 , further including an inlet port and an outlet port on said coolant vessel.
3 . The multifunction reservoir of claim 2 , further including a modulating functionality feature at one of said inlet port and said outlet port to adjust coolant flow rate.
4 . The multifunction reservoir of claim 3 , wherein said modulating functionality feature is a pulse width modulating solenoid value.
5 . The multifunction reservoir of claim 1 , wherein said phase change material has phase change temperature below 15 degree Celsius for cooling circuit and between 15 to 90 degree Celsius for heating circuit.
6 . The multifunction reservoir of claim 5 , wherein said phase change material is selected from a first group of materials consisting of paraffins or salt hydrates.
7 . The multifunction reservoir of claim 1 , wherein said capsule includes an outer wall made from a second group of metallic materials consisting of aluminum, copper, stainless steel, and carbon steel.
8 . A secondary loop air conditioning system, comprising:
a refrigerant loop adapted to circulate a refrigerant between a compressor, a condenser, an expansion device and a chiller; and
a coolant loop adapted to circulate a coolant between said chiller, a pump, a first cooler and a reservoir having an integrated phase change material feature.
9 . The secondary loop air conditioning system of claim 8 , wherein said reservoir comprises a coolant vessel and said integrated phase change material feature comprises a capsule held in said coolant vessel and a phase change material in said capsule.
10 . The secondary loop air conditioning system of claim 9 , further including an inlet port and an outlet port in said coolant vessel and a modulating functionality feature at one of said inlet port and said outlet port to adjust coolant flow rate.
11 . The secondary loop air conditioning system of claim 10 , wherein said modulating functionality feature is a pulse width modulation solenoid value.
12 . The secondary loop air conditioning system of claim 11 , wherein said phase change material has phase change temperature below 15 degree Celsius.
13 . The secondary loop air conditioning system of claim 12 , wherein said phase change material is selected from a first group of materials consisting of paraffins or salt hydrates.
14 . The secondary loop air conditioning system of claim 13 , wherein said capsule includes an outer wall made from a material selected from a second group of metallic materials consisting of aluminum, copper, stainless steel, and carbon steel.
15 . The secondary loop air conditioning system of claim 8 , further including a second cooler in said coolant loop to provide an air conditioning function to two different zones of a motor vehicle.
16 . A secondary loop heat pump system, comprising:
a first four-way valve;
a second four-way valve;
a cooling circuit in communication with said first four-way valve and said second four-way valve, said cooling circuit including a cold source, a first reservoir, a first heat exchanger and a first pump; and
a heating circuit in communication with said first four-way valve and said second four-way valve, said heating circuit including a heat source, a second reservoir, a second heat exchanger and a second pump wherein said first reservoir includes a first phase change material feature and said second reservoir includes a second phase change material feature.
17 . The secondary loop heat pump system of claim 16 , wherein (a) said first reservoir comprises a first coolant vessel and said first phase change material feature comprises a first capsule held in said first coolant vessel and a first phase change material in said first capsule and (b) said second reservoir comprises a second coolant vessel and said second phase change material feature comprises a second capsule held in said second coolant vessel and a second phase change material in said second capsule.
18 . The secondary loop heat pump system of claim 17 , wherein said first phase change material has a phase change temperature below 15 degree Celsius in the cooling circuit.
19 . The secondary loop heat pump system of claim 17 , wherein said second phase change material has phase change temperature between 15 to 90 degree Celsius.
20 . The secondary loop heat pump system of claim 17 , wherein said first phase change material is paraffin 14-carbons and said second phase change material is paraffin 28-carbons.