Heating the house with ice

Any heating is energy production (mainly by a chemical method of fuel oxidation), or the transfer of energy by a heat carrier by heat pumps. This topic relates to the modification of a ground source heat pump. The information will be of interest to those who are familiar with the principle of its work.

The title of the article sounds paradoxical, but this method can be briefly described just like that. The physical phenomenon of energy release during the water-ice phase transition is used:

It is known that when water freezes, it releases a lot of thermal energy (330 kJ / kg), this is almost 80 times more than it is released during its cooling by 1 g. In this process of freezing, water does not change its temperature (-1C) until its entire volume freezes.

The system is not a ground heat exchanger like in a ground-water heat pump, but a heat pump water-water: the heat exchanger itself is installed in a concrete or other reliable container, buried to a depth of 4 m, and pour water. The heat pump extracts heat from the water, and when it freezes, the water gives off even more heat.

Frozen water in the extreme cycle of the process. What's next? It will no longer be possible to pump heat out of the ice. Does the system stop? Yes, and the heat pump must switch to the second unit, the second tank. And the first goes into defrosting mode. But the heat from the ground will melt this ice for months. This is the main disadvantage of the system. You also need a reliable capacity. Ice expands when water freezes and can deform concrete rings.

To speed up the thawing process, solar collectors are used:

In Siberian frosts, in cloudy weather, they do not work, but in clear sunny weather they can give out a certain amount of thermal energy to thaw an underground tank with water. After the water in the second circuit freezes, the collectors switch to it, and the system switches to extracting heat from the first. As it becomes clear, we need automation, controllers that monitor the temperature of the water.

The main numbers that say how much heat (energy) is contained in a certain container:

According to my calculations, this heat in winter will be enough for 10 days to heat a house with an area of ​​120 m2 (if not right, correct it).

There is information that such a heating system from the energy of the water-ice phase transition was put into operation near Hamburg and has been operating since 2015. Capacity 1.5 million liters of water heats 500 houses. In Europe, such a system using solar collectors is quite applicable. And there its plus will be that there is no need to drill wells for heat exchangers of traditional ground-water heat pumps. Less cost for these works.

At one time, a video came across where a retired inventor poured water on the wall of his house, it froze and he argued that when it freezes, heat is released, which compensates for the heat loss of the house.

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Photos are taken from open sources, from Yandex. Pictures

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