Hilux 4x4 Forum

How does a heat pump work?

Is this the same as the heat pumps they now sell or is this something different?


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This as far as I understand is something new ... the old 'heat pumps' AFAIK were more like heat exchange units.


On a different subject, but also energy related, I had some bookmarked info on the use of capacitors to replace conventional batteries (bookmarks now lost due to PC crash a couple of months back). This one guy replaced his car battery with 6 or 8 capacitors, each about the size of a large torch battery, coupled together with some sort of voltage regulator. IIRC it performed as well as a battery in every respect except that the charge leaked out too quickly and ran down faster than the normal lead-acid battery. I think the best he achieved was to still be able to start the car after it had stood for a week. The benefits however were that recharge time was almost instantaneous and that it only weighed about 300g as opposed to the 16 - 18 kg of a battery. The life of capacitors is also infinitely longer than batteries.

and they will shock the living shyte out of you if you're not careful...

ThysdJ wrote:and they will shock the living shyte out of you if you're not careful...

Been there, done that ............

I'm always very sceptical when I see these new energy saving devices... but this one has a huge backer!

One of NASA's teams assisted with the bearing design:
http://spinoff.nasa.gov/spinoff2000/ip3.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Piet that is a VERY good example of a somebody that noticed a "fault" and capitalised on it to produce a new machine ....


When water is pumped "too fast", you get turbulent flow. The "turbulence" is a source of energy LOSS in a normal system. He has now taken that to the extreme by creating a machine which ONLY create turbulence, and to the extent that it causes a LOT of lost energy, so much so that you can heat water with it.


In a way similar to an old incandescent light bulb - you pass "too much" current through a piece of wire and it heats up. You pass WAY too much current through the wire and it heats up "white hot" - thus emiting light.


back to this "new heat pump" - would love to see the maths of how it "creates" energy .... on the face of it not possible.



That said, let's look at the classic air conditioning heat pump - now also used to heat water. Mechanical energy is used to PUMP a refrigerant inside a closed circuit. Due to pressure manipulation, via an expansion valve, an isentropic thermodynamic process takes place and the refrigerant "picks up heat" and "transports" it to a point where the gas pressure is again manipulated, via the compressor and the "heat" is now "discharged". The MECHANICAL and ELECTRICAL energy follows all rules of energy conservation. BUT the "heat energy" being carted in the refrigerant is actually 3 to 4 times MORE than the electrical energy that was put into the system !! We now use this principle to supply THREE TIMES more heating power to water than the power being drawn from Eskom.


I dont see that happening in this guys wheel though ... Would LOVE to know the maths behind his system !!

jip, this is the stuff that pays my bills .. heat flow

Come Chris lets build one... I'll bring the beer!

Found this one quite interesting too: