WO2013121138A1

WO2013121138A1 - Method and device for regulating the temperature and relative humidity in a building

Info

Publication number: WO2013121138A1
Application number: PCT/FR2013/050282
Authority: WO
Inventors: Edouard Serras; Daniel Ramey; Daniel Bezes
Original assignee: Edouard Serras
Priority date: 2012-02-13
Filing date: 2013-02-12
Publication date: 2013-08-22
Also published as: FR2986857A3; FR2986858A1; FR2986858B1; FR2986857B3

Abstract

Method and device for regulating the temperature and the relative humidity of the air in a building (10) comprising microporous exterior walls (12) and exterior thermal insulation (16) with air gaps (18) for the circulation of air between the walls (12) and thermal insulation (16), and a device (25) for supplying the air gaps (18) with a controlled flow of air, this device (25) comprising several stages in series for heating and humidifying this air and means (60) for measuring the difference in temperature between the external and internal faces of at least one wall (12) so as to control the admission and circulation of air to and in the air gaps (18).

Description

Method and device for regulating temperature and relative humidity in a building

The invention relates to a method and a device for regulating the temperature and the relative humidity of the air inside a building, for example of a dwelling or of another type, commercial, industrial, offices or other.

In document FR2933479-A1, it has already been proposed, to reduce the energy consumption of a building for its heating and air conditioning, to install an external thermal insulation on the microporous external walls of the building by providing circulation spaces of air between these walls and thermal insulation, and to circulate outside air in these spaces to selectively heat or cool the outer walls by absorption or evaporation of water, the walls being stone, bricks, blocks, etc., which are naturally microporous materials with water vapor and moisture while being impermeable to air and water.

In summer, outdoor air has a relatively high temperature and, during certain periods of day or night, low relative humidity. In contact with this air with a wall of the building, a certain quantity of water contained in the microporous material of the wall is vaporized and absorbed by the outside air present in the aforementioned space, which cools the wall and tends to reduce the temperature inside the building. The outside air present in the above space, which has been charged with water vapor, is discharged to the outside.

In winter, the outdoor air that is admitted into the aforementioned spaces must have a high relative humidity. However, this occurs when the outside temperature is the lowest. The number of times that the outside air can be admitted in the aforementioned spaces to heat the walls is therefore limited. This is nevertheless possible because the thermal capacity of the air is much lower than that of the walls. However, it must there is not a rapid renewal of the outside air in these spaces because then the convection effect would prevail over the heating effect by condensation of the water vapor of the outside air.

When cold outdoor air with high relative humidity is admitted into the aforementioned spaces, the walls in contact with this air absorb some of the water vapor from the outside air and are heated by the latent heat of condensation of the water vapour. This results in a surface temperature of the walls on the "air gap" side which is higher than the set temperature in the building (for example 20 ° C). A heating heat flow is thus generated in the walls, which tends to compensate for overall heat losses in the building and to respect the set temperature. The repetition of the cycles (absorption-diffusion / transfer in the wall-desorption) makes it possible to maintain a desired temperature inside the building.

It has been verified on a demonstration home that the annual cost of energy consumption for the regulation of the temperature at about 20 ° C inside the building is thus reduced by about 75% in the Midi Pyrénées region.

However, in winter, when the outdoor air temperature is below 5 ° C, the warming of the walls by the condensation of water vapor from the outside air can be substantially canceled out by the convection cooling of the walls. contact with the cold air, and the aforementioned system loses its effectiveness.

Applications FR1 152307, FR1 152423 and FR1 159335 of the applicant provide a simple, effective and economical solution to this problem.

They propose in particular to adjust the relative humidity of the air admitted into the spaces between the walls and the external thermal insulation, by heating or by cooling and / or by passage of this air in humidifying means arranged upstream of the spaces supra.

The cooling of the air that will be admitted in these spaces For example, its relative humidity can be increased from 40% to 50% to 90% or 95% when its temperature is reduced from approximately 20 ° C to 14 ° C. This cooling can be done advantageously by heat exchange, so without consuming energy, between the air extracted from the building and air taken outside the building. Conversely, if we want to admit air with a lower relative humidity in the aforementioned spaces, we can heat the air by heat exchange between the air taken from inside the building and the air. air taken outside the building.

The humidifying means make it possible to significantly increase the relative humidity and the absolute humidity of the air admitted into the abovementioned spaces, in order to favor the maximum absorption and condensation of water vapor in these walls and the effect of resulting heating. In addition, the heating cycles can be repeated more frequently and spread over 24 hours. Advantageously, the "humidified" air that is admitted into the abovementioned spaces is not outside air, but air taken from inside the building or a mixture of air taken from inside the building. and air taken outside the building.

It is a filtered air, cleaner than the outside air, which is thus allowed in the abovementioned spaces, which avoids a progressive closing of the micropores of the walls by the dust and the like contained in the outside air.

The air taken from inside the building has a temperature in the winter of around 18 to 20 ° C and relatively low relative humidity, for example 40%. The passage of this air in the humidifying means makes it possible to increase its relative humidity at a rate of approximately 90% for example, the temperature of this air being lowered to approximately 14 ° C. when the humidifying means are of the adiabatic type. The absolute humidity of the air is also increased, the quantity of water contained in the air passing for example from 4.31 g of water per kg of dry air to 9.64 g / kg dry air, which allows to recover a greater amount of heat by condensation of the water vapor and / or to extend the duration of the heating cycle.

It is thus possible to circulate, in winter, air at 14 ° C and at about 90% relative humidity in the spaces between the external thermal insulation and the walls of the building, which results in a contribution of higher thermal energy inside the building. In addition, maintaining the relative humidity of the air inside the building at around 60% gives a greater feeling of comfort in the building.

To humidify the air and heat it, for example, it can be passed into a hot water tank, preferably solar or geothermal or energy recovery, for example on a stove, on a chimney, in a an industrial building or in a shopping mall, etc., or any other free energy means. The passage of air in this tank increases the relative humidity of the air to near saturation, without significantly lowering the temperature of the water in the tank. This provides a source of moist air that is warmer than the outside air, making it possible to maintain a desired temperature and hygrometry in the building, in winter and whatever the climate of the region where the building is located.

It is also proposed that the air substantially saturated with moisture coming out of the humidifying means, is intermittently blown inside the building.

This allows, in winter, to increase very quickly the relative humidity of the air inside the building, for example to about 60%, which results in a greater sensation of comfort, without to increase the temperature of the air which remains substantially constant inside the building.

The methods and devices described in the aforementioned prior applications by the applicant make it possible to ensure, in all seasons and in all climates, a regulation of the temperature and the relative humidity of the air in a building by the admission and the controlled circulation of air in the spaces between the microporous walls of the building and their external thermal insulation, this air having a temperature and hygrometry that are controlled and determined according to the external conditions and those desired in the building.

The admission and circulation of the air in the abovementioned spaces must be controlled according to the hygrometric state of the microporous wall or walls considered. It is indeed necessary to stop the admission and the circulation of the air in the abovementioned spaces when the hygrometric state of the wall (s) no longer allows an absorption of the humidity of the air present in these spaces (in particular in winter or in cold weather) or, on the contrary, an absorption by the air present in these spaces of the humidity of the microporous wall or walls (in particular in summer or in hot weather). In other words, the microporous walls must be allowed to charge with moisture and then discharge the moisture absorbed cyclically, and correspondingly control the admission and circulation of air in the aforementioned spaces.

This control would be feasible in a simple way if one could reliably measure the hygrometric state of the microporous walls considered. However, hygrometry sensors of this particular type available on the market, are on the one hand very expensive and on the other hand unreliable and unreliable, and they also have a relatively short life, which in practice forbidden to use them in a heating and cooling system of a building.

The present invention is intended in particular to provide a simple, effective and inexpensive solution to this problem.

It also aims to increase to a large extent the temperature and hygrometry of the air admitted in the aforementioned spaces.

It relates to a method and a device of the aforementioned type that allow to optimally control the temperature and humidity of the air admitted into the aforementioned spaces and the admission and circulation of this air in these spaces.

It proposes for this purpose a method of regulating the temperature and the relative humidity of the air in a building with microporous walls and external thermal insulation, in which air circulation spaces at controlled temperature and hygrometry are provided between the external thermal insulation and the walls, the temperature and the hygrometry of the air admitted into said spaces being controlled by passage of this air in humidifying means arranged upstream of these spaces, characterized in that it consists of passing the air several times in humidifying means and in heating means to give it a desired temperature and hygrometry.

The repeated passages of the air in humidifying means and in heating means make it possible to raise its temperature and hygrometry to optimal values allowing a maximum heating of the walls while avoiding any risk of condensation of water in the spaces of air circulation, and also increase the absolute humidity of the air circulating in these spaces.

Advantageously, the air is moistened by passage in water or in a mist of water droplets or through a porous wet membrane and is heated by heat exchange with a hot water circuit, this air being air extracted from the building.

According to another characteristic of the invention, this method also consists in measuring a difference in temperature between the outer and inner faces of at least one microporous wall and in controlling the admission and the circulation of the air in the abovementioned spaces. function of the derivative of this difference with respect to time.

Since the variation of this difference in temperature is an image of the variation of the derivative of the hygrometric state of the wall with respect to time, it is possible, from the variations of this difference of temperature, to control efficiently and simply the admission and the circulation of air in the aforementioned spaces.

Moreover, by carrying out this command from the derivative of this difference in temperature, one is freed from all the problems of calibration and drift temperature sensors used.

These sensors may advantageously be of the thermocouple type, which are simple, reliable, accurate and inexpensive and which directly give a measure of a temperature difference.

Advantageously, the air is passed at a constant speed in the abovementioned spaces and the temperature of this air and its hygrometry are regulated for maximum heating of the walls, which makes it possible to avoid all the problems and disadvantages associated with the generation of variable air flow speeds.

According to another characteristic of the invention, between the heating periods of the walls by admission and circulation of hot and humid air in the abovementioned spaces, desorption of the moisture contained in the walls by circulation in these spaces is controlled. air at low humidity.

The invention also proposes a device for regulating the temperature and the relative humidity of the air inside a building with microporous walls and with external thermal insulation, comprising means for controlling the admission and air circulation in spaces formed between the external thermal insulation and the microporous walls, and means for adjusting the temperature and the relative humidity of the air intended to be admitted into the abovementioned spaces, characterized in that that the aforementioned means for adjusting the temperature and the relative humidity of the air comprise several stages of heating means and humidifying means arranged in series and traversed by the aforementioned air.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, each heating means comprises a heat exchanger of which a primary circuit is supplied with air intended to circulate in the abovementioned spaces and a secondary circuit of which is supplied with hot fluid, preferably with water hot from a facility for the production of domestic hot water type free energy, for example solar, geothermal, or heat recovery. The humidifying means of each stage comprise, for example, water spray means arranged in an air passage duct or a porous wet membrane or a water tank traversed by the aforementioned air.

The series setting of the heating and humidification stages makes it possible to increase the temperature of the air which will be admitted in the abovementioned spaces, for example to values of 30 to 35 ° C., and to give it a hygrometry close to 90%, to obtain a very high power of heating microporous walls. We can thus heat the walls very quickly, as will be seen in more detail in the following.

According to another characteristic of the invention, the means for controlling the admission and the circulation of air in the spaces provided between the external thermal insulation and the microporous walls comprise a sensor for measuring the temperature and the temperature. hygrometry of the air in the building and means for measuring a difference in temperature between the outer and inner faces of at least one microporous wall, and means for calculating the derivative with respect to the time of this difference.

Advantageously, the means for measuring the temperature difference comprise thermocouple sensors.

According to another characteristic of the invention, the device also comprises a heat pump for heating (or cooling) the fresh air admitted into the building to replace the air extracted by a VMC installation, as well as a heat exchange heat pipe between the air leaving the aforementioned spaces and the fresh air intended to be admitted into the building, and means to admit into the building the air leaving the heat pipe or to send this air in the collection circuit of the heat pump, depending on its temperature.

Humidifying means, for example wet porous membrane, may be associated with this heat pump to increase if necessary the hygrometry of the air admitted into the building. Alternatively, the device comprises a heat exchanger and hygrometry between the air leaving the aforementioned spaces and the fresh air to be admitted into the building, which allows to recover the heat and humidity of the air leaving the aforementioned spaces to heat and humidify the air that will be admitted into the building.

Advantageously, the device also comprises a photovoltaic panel and a battery for the power supply of the heat pump and possibly the installation of VMC.

In general, the invention makes it possible to regulate the temperature and the relative humidity of the air inside the building, to cover all the thermal losses in the building, including those that are due to the standardized use of controlled mechanical ventilation, and to ensure the heating of sanitary water and this throughout the year without consuming primary energy or producing a surplus of energy.

The invention will be better understood and other characteristics, details and advantages thereof will appear more clearly on reading the description which follows, given by way of non-limiting example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

- Figure 1 is a partial schematic sectional view of a building equipped with a device according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic front view of part of the building of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a device according to the invention; FIG. 4 represents a VERON diagram;

FIGS. 5 and 6 are graphs of the variation of the hygrometric state of a microporous wall and of the derivative of this variation;

- Figure 7 shows schematically an alternative embodiment of the invention.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, a portion of FIG. of a building 10, for example of house or office, or a commercial, industrial or other building, which includes external walls 12 and a roof 14, the outer walls 12 being equipped with an external thermal insulation 16 which cleaning with the outer face of the walls 10 18 air circulation spaces or "air knives".

The outer walls 12 of the building have a microporous structure with water vapor and moisture and impervious to air and water and can be made with common products such as bricks, blocks, stones, etc., which naturally have such a microporous structure.

The thermal insulation 16 which is attached to the outer face of the walls 12 is of any suitable type and is placed so as to arrange with the walls 12 the spaces 18 which have a thickness of a few centimeters and which preferably extend on the entire outer surface of the walls 12.

As represented in FIG. 2, which is a front view of a wall 12 comprising a window F, the spaces 18 may for example each comprise a series of vertical channels 20 of the same width delimited by vertical cleats 19, the channels 20 being fed with in air at their upper ends by a common chamber 21 itself fed by a valve 23 of air inlet. Through their lower ends, the channels 20 communicate with a common chamber 23 equipped with a valve 24 of air outlet, which opens out or in a crawl space under the building 10.

The valves 22, 24 of air inlet and air outlet are advantageously closed at rest and opened by an air overpressure.

The air circulation spaces 18 are supplied with air by a device 25 shown in more detail in FIG. 3 and which supplies the chambers 21 via the valves 22.

The device 25 essentially comprises a dual controlled mechanical ventilation (VMC) installation 26, which is associated in multi-stage outlet of heating means 28 and humidifying means 30, connected at the outlet to means 32 for distributing air to the aforementioned spaces 18 or to the air blowing mouths 34 inside the building.

The installation of VMC 26 comprises, as input, one or more filters 36 traversed by a controlled flow rate of air 38 extracted from the building and means 40 for circulating this air flow, such as fans.

The different stages of heating and humidification are arranged in series, each stage comprising a group of finned tubes (or the like) 28 supplied with hot water from a facility 42 for producing domestic hot water (DHW). free energy, such as a solar-heated, geothermal, heat-recovery plant, etc., and a humidifying means of any suitable type, for example of the adiabatic ultrasonic type, or which is here constituted by means water spray, for example perforated ramp, supplied with water from a network 44 of cold water (water at room temperature generally between 10 and 20 ° C approximately).

The different groups of finned tubes 28 are supplied in series (as shown) or in parallel in domestic hot water.

The finned tubes 28 and the spray bars 30 are arranged in a chamber 46 supplied with air by the VMC 26 installation, this air being extracted from the building and having, for example, a temperature of 20 ° C. and a relative humidity of 50%. (point A of the VERON diagram in Figure 4).

The passage of air in the exchanger 28 of the first stage, which is supplied with domestic hot water at 60-65 ° C, can raise the temperature of the air to 35 ° C for example, while maintaining its constant absolute humidity (point B of the diagram).

The passage of this air in the humidifying means 30 of the first stage makes it possible to raise the relative humidity level of the air, for example up to about 95%, that is to say to virtually saturate this air in water vapor and significantly increase its absolute humidity (point C of the diagram).

This adiabatic humidification is accompanied by a drop in the temperature of the air, which passes for example from 35 ° C to about 19 ° C.

The air then passes into the exchanger 28 of the second stage, which increases its temperature to about 30 ° C., at constant absolute humidity (point D of the diagram), then in the humidifying means 30 of the second stage, which increases by adiabatic way its hygrometry to 95% (point E of the diagram).

The passage of air through a heat exchanger 28 of a third stage makes it possible to raise its temperature to 23 ° C. and slightly lower its hygrometry to 90% (point F of the diagram) to avoid any risk of condensation in the spaces 18 .

It can be seen from the VERON diagram that between points A and F, the air temperature has gone from 20 to 23 ° C, that its hygrometry has gone from 50 to 90% and that its absolute humidity has increased from 7 to 16 g of water per kg of dry air.

We can reverse the order of passage of air in the heating and humidification means. When the humidifying means are upstream of the heating means in the different stages, the VERON diagram of FIG. 3 is moved from point A to point A '(humidification of the air at a humidity of 95%), then to point B '(warming to 35 ° C), then point C (humidification to a relative humidity of 95%), then point D' (warming to 22 ° C with a relative humidity of 90%).

The device 24 can also be supplied with outside air 48, or possibly with a mixture of outside air and indoor air.

The admission into the air spaces 18 at 22-23 ° C. and having a humidity of 90% makes it possible to considerably increase the heating power of the walls 12 by the device according to the invention. Modeling studies confirmed by measurements in the laboratory have shown that, for a given flow of air admitted into spaces 18 with a hygrometry of 90%, the heating energy of a wall 12 is 1, 34Wh / m ² of wall when the air is at 10 ° C, 70.60Wh / m ² (wall surface) when the air is at 14 ° C, 128Wh / m ² when the air is at 20 ° C and about 150Wh / m ² when the air is at 23 ° C. The heating energy of the wall is multiplied by 5 when the temperature of the admitted air goes from 13 ° C to 23 ° C, for the same conditions of flow and hygrometry.

It is generally considered that the thermal losses of a well insulated house with a living area of 120m ² are at most 50kWh / m ² (habitable) / year. The surface of the external walls being of the order of 1 10m ² , the totality of the thermal losses is lower than 50kWh / m ² (surface of wall) / year, that is 137Wh / m ² (surface of wall) per day on average.

Compensation for heat losses can therefore be provided by the device according to the invention in 2 hours of operation in thermal input with air at 14 ° C and in less than 1 hour with air at 23 ° C. It is necessary to take into account the thermal inertia of the walls: a wall heated during 1 hour will take several hours to cool and to return to its initial temperature. It is therefore sufficient with the device according to the invention to heat a wall for 2 hours in total with air at 14 ° C or for 1 hour in total with air at 21 - 22 ° C to compensate for thermal losses on 24h, average over the year. In other words, a device according to the invention that is operated at a third or half of its capacity, alone ensures the compensation of thermal losses throughout the year of a well insulated house without use of electrical energy other than that (very low) required for the operation of a controlled mechanical ventilation system (VMC), the use of which is made compulsory by current regulations.

A building equipped with a device according to the invention is not only of the "low consumption" type, it is also of the "positive energy" type since it produces more energy than it consumes.

The operation of a device according to the invention is for example the following: in summer, when the outside air has a relatively high, for example at least 25 ° C, and a low relative humidity, for example less than 40%, the device according to the invention is controlled to maintain inside the building a temperature of less than 25 ° C, for example around 22 ° C, and a relative humidity of about 60%, which corresponds to a pleasant feeling of comfort. For this, outside air is taken outside the building and is injected directly into the spaces 18 formed between the walls 12 and the external thermal insulation 16. The circulation of air at low speed (typically 0, 5 - 1 m / s) in the spaces 18 allows air absorption of the moisture contained in the walls 12 and the cooling of these walls by evaporation of part of the water they contain.

In order to maintain a relative humidity level of around 50 to 60% in the interior of the building, it is possible to intermittently blow external air inside the building which has passed through the humidifying means. 30 and whose relative humidity has been raised from 30-40% to about 90%. This maintains a feeling of comfort inside the building, avoiding that the relative humidity of the air in the building becomes too low for a given temperature, which would result in a sensation of cold.

The device 25 may also be used to circulate outside air at a higher speed in the spaces 18, especially during the night, when the outside air is at a temperature below 20 ° C, to cool the walls 12 by convection.

It is also possible, intermittently, to blow outside air relatively cold inside the building, for example when the heat was very strong during the day, to evacuate calories.

In winter, when the outside air is at a relatively low temperature, for example at less than 5 ° C, it is advantageous to circulate in the spaces 18 of the air 38 taken from inside the building and of which raised the relative humidity to a value of about 90% and the temperature to 22 ° C for example, with a high absolute humidity. The circulation of this air in the spaces 18 is done at a relatively slow speed (for example 0.6-1 m / s) or intermittently, so that the walls 12 can be recharged in moisture and be warmed by the heat. latent condensation of the water vapor of the air that has been brought into the spaces 18. The walls 12 yield this heat by radiation inside the building, which raises the temperature in the building. The operation of the device is cyclic, hot and humid air being admitted into the spaces 18 for a given time, then this air intake is stopped while the wall radiates heat in the building for a specified period of time, after we admit air again in spaces 18, etc.

The frequency of cycle repetition can be increased by controlling the desorption of the moisture contained in the walls, by circulating dry air in the spaces 18 after a loading cycle of the moisture walls. This dry air, having a hygrometry of less than 30%, absorbs the humidity of the walls in a fast way, after which the loading of the walls in humidity by circulation of hot and humid air (having a hygrometry of at least 90% ) in the spaces 18. The duration of the desorption cycles is thus reduced and the repetition frequency of the sorption cycles is increased, which generally increases the heating power of the device according to the invention.

The distribution means 32 make it possible, if necessary, to rapidly inject a large quantity of hot and moistened air into the building, this air being blown by the mouths 34 connected to the distribution means 32.

In an exemplary embodiment where the device 24 is installed in a medium-sized dwelling house, the installation of VMC 26 can inject into the interior of the house a flow of fresh air 40 preheated by heat exchange with the air extracted 38 in the installation 26, about 150 m ³ / h for the renewal of air in the house, the fans 40 then being driven at low speed. The renewal of the air contained in the spaces 18 can be ensured in a few minutes by the installation 26, with a treated air flow rate ranging from 150 to 500 m ³ / h, the humidifying means 30 being able to ensure a flow rate of air of 500 m ³ / h with a relative humidity of about 60% and a temperature of about 20 ° C in the building. The device according to the invention can provide a thermal power of about 100 W / m ² for 15 minutes every 2 hours, by condensation of the water vapor contained in the air present in the spaces 18.

When the installation 26 is used in addition to heating by air blowing in the house, the treated air flow is for example 500 m ³ / h, comprising 150 m ³ / h of fresh air 48 and 350 m ³ / h of extract air 38, the air being heated by means 28 supplied with domestic hot water.

The control of the air flow rates in the device 24 according to the invention can be made from measurements of the temperature differences between the inner and outer faces of at least one of the microporous walls 12. It is used for this purpose temperature sensors of any suitable type and preferably thermocouple sensors 60 (FIG. 1) which deliver output signals representing a temperature difference between their cold junctions and their hot junctions.

The difference in temperature between the two faces of a wall 12 is a faithful image of the variation of the hygrometric state of the wall whose appearance has been shown schematically in FIG. 5. In this figure, the curve 50 corresponds to the variation as a function of the time t of a parameter H representative of the humidity of the wall between a value Ho representing a residual humidity of the wall and a value Heq representing a state of equilibrium under the conditions considered.

When humidity-laden air is brought into the space 18 and the wall absorbs some of this moisture, the parameter H will vary from Ho to Heq and asymptotically tend toward Heq over time. Correspondingly, the temperature of the outer face of the wall 12 increases, the heat absorbed by the outer face of the wall is diffused in the wall and the temperature of the inner face of the wall increases. The temperature difference between the two faces of the wall therefore varies as the derivative as a function of time of the parameter H, the variation of this derivative being shown schematically in FIG.

To overcome all the problems of calibration and drift of the temperature sensors, the invention provides to use as the control variable, not the difference in temperature itself, but its derivative as a function of time, whose variation is represented by the curve 52 of FIG. 6, which corresponds to the second derivative of the parameter H as a function of time. Over time, this derivative varies between a maximum value and a substantially zero value towards which it tends asymptotically.

It is therefore possible, from a measured value of the derivative with respect to the time of the temperature difference between the two faces of the wall, to know the hygrometric state of the wall and consequently to control the admission and circulation of the wall. air in the space 18 between this wall and its external thermal insulation, this air having a temperature and a hygrometry determined to ensure optimal regulation of the temperature in the building.

An information processing system is used for controlling the device 25 and for processing the output signals of the temperature sensors 60. This system calculates the values of the derivatives of the signals of the sensors 60 and records these values to reconstruct the curves. Figures 5 and 6 (learning function).

It is possible to accelerate the supply of thermal energy to the walls 12 by controlling the temporary interruption of the supply of water to the humidifying means 30. The spaces 18 are then supplied with hot air at low humidity, having, for example, a temperature greater than 20 ° C and hygrometry less than 50%, which is circulated at a relatively high speed (1 m / s or more) for convective wall heating to compensate for wall cooling by absorption of sound humidity. This results in a sharp decrease in the value of the parameter H as represented at 54. The humidifying means 30 are then refilled with water, and the spaces 18 are re-aired with heated and humidified air so that the parameter H increases again towards the Heq limit value, faster than before. It is known that this limit value is reached when the temperature difference between the two faces of the wall becomes substantially zero. When it becomes negative, heated and humid air can be re-circulated through spaces 18, to reheat the wall and increase its humidity, etc.

It is possible to equip a single wall 12 of the building with temperature sensors, and to control, from the output signals of these sensors, the admission and circulation of air in all the spaces 18, or to equip certain sensor walls and to make an average or a weighting of the control signals obtained to control the admission and the circulation of air in all the spaces 18, or to equip all the walls 12 with sensors and to use the output signals of the sensors of each wall 12 to control the admission and the circulation of air in the space 18 between the wall and its outer insulation.

In an alternative embodiment of the invention, the humidifying means comprise a domestic hot water tank, for example at a temperature of the order of 60 to 65 ° C, in which the air that is going to circulate through the aforementioned spaces 18.

This balloon is associated with heating means which comprise a free source of heat, for example solar or geothermal heating means or heat recovery means on a chimney, on a wood stove, in an industrial environment, in a a large commercial area, etc., depending on the type of building concerned. The balloon is equipped with means for injecting air into the water that it contains, these means comprising, for example, a porous hearth in the air, mounted in the bottom of the balloon and supplied with air taken from the building. The top end of the balloon includes an air outlet duct moistened.

A coil or a set of air passage tubes is also mounted inside the balloon and is supplied with air taken from the building. The outlet of this coil or of this set of tubes is connected with the above-mentioned air outlet duct to a common duct leading to distribution means such as the means 32 of FIG. 3. A controlled flow of outside air can be added to the airflow extracted from the building and circulated in the balloon. The flow rates of extracted air and outside air can be regulated by any appropriate means, for example by valves or valves.

The air which has circulated in the water of the balloon passing through the porous sole is substantially saturated with moisture at the temperature of the water contained in the balloon and is mixed at the outlet of the balloon with air which has circulated in the coil and which has been heated without being humidified. In this way hot, unsaturated moisture air is obtained which can be mixed with outside air to supply the spaces 18.

For example, with a flask containing 500 liters of water at 50 ° C., the spaces 18 can be supplied with air having a temperature of 21 ° C. and a relative humidity of 90%, which is obtained by mixing air extracted from the building at a temperature of 21 ° C and a hygrometry of 50% and outside air at 10 ° C and a hygrometry of 80%, the flows of extracted air and outside air respectively being 27.5% and 72.5% of the total flow, the distribution of the extracted air being 17.9% of the total flow in the coil and 9.6% of the total flow through the porous sole. For a total flow rate of 300 m 3 / h, the temperature drop of the water in the flask is 4.6 ° C per hour.

Several hot water tanks can be arranged in series, each comprising heating means and humidifying means by passage of the air in the hot water, for heating and humidifying the air of the type shown. in figure 4.

In any case, it is avoided to feed the spaces 18 with saturated air in moisture, so as not to cause condensation of water inside these spaces.

The general operation of the device according to the invention can be controlled by a temperature and humidity sensor of the air, which is installed in the building. It is also possible to install in the spaces 18 known means for measuring the temperature, the hygrometry and the speed of the air flowing in these spaces. The output signals of the sensor and of these measuring means are transmitted to the aforementioned information processing system for controlling the device according to the invention.

The invention also proposes using a heat pump (PAC) to use the thermal energy of the air coming out of the air slats or spaces 18 in order to heat (in winter or in cold weather) or to cool (in summer or in warm weather) the new outdoor air admitted into the building. It is thus possible, for example, to give fresh air admitted into the building a temperature of about 20 ° C when the outside air is at an initial temperature of between -8 ° C and + 40 ° C. For this and as shown in FIG. 7, a heat pump 56 associated with a heat pipe 58 is mounted between an air outlet of the spaces 18 and means of admission of air into the building, such as the mouths 34 for blowing of Figure 3.

An inlet of the heat pipe 58 is supplied with air 60 leaving the spaces 18, this air having a temperature of about 20 ° C., and another inlet of the heat pipe is supplied with fresh outside air 62 having a temperature between about -5 ° C. and + 40 ° C for example. An output of the heat pipe is connected to means such as a valve 63 controlled as a function of temperature, the blowing outlets 34 and the capture circuit 68 of the heat pump. The air 60 that has circulated in the heat pipe is rejected outside at 64 and fresh air 62 that has circulated in the heat pipe out of 66, or to be admitted into the building by the blowing vents 34 when its temperature is 18 ° C to 20 ° C, or to enter the capture circuit 68 of the heat pump 56 when its temperature is below 18 ° C, this air is then rejected outside in 70.

The heat pipe 58 allows a transfer of the thermal energy between the air 60 leaving the spaces 18 and the fresh air 62 with a yield greater than 90%. Thus, in winter or in cold weather, when the outside air 62 is at a negative temperature, the capture circuit 68 of the heat pump is always supplied with air at a positive temperature, which avoids any risk of icing of this circuit .

The heating circuit 72 of the heat pump is supplied with fresh outside air 74, when the temperature of this air is typically between -5 ° C and + 5 ° C. The air 76 leaving the circuit 72 has a temperature of about 18-20 ° C and is admitted into the building through the blowing vents 34.

The heating circuit 72 of the heat pump is also connected to the installation 42 of domestic hot water for heating or preheating the sanitary water intended to be stored in a hot water tank at a temperature of the order of 60-65 ° C, this installation comprising for example a solar panel for heating water by "greenhouse effect".

When the outside air temperature 62 is for example greater than 10 ° C, can be passed through the heat pipe 58 a larger outside air flow and share the air 66 in a flow that will be admitted into the building by the blowing outlets 34 and at a rate that will pass into the collection circuit 68 of the heat pump for heating the domestic water.

It is possible under these conditions to heat the water of a balloon

300 liters in about 3 hours using a low power heat pump (1 to 2 KW) with a high coefficient of performance (COP) that can be greater than 5 due to the air temperature supplied to the capture circuit 68 .

The heat pump 56 is electrically powered by a photovoltaic panel 78 of small size installed on the roof of the building 10 and a 48-volt battery 80 which serves to store the electrical energy produced by the panel 78. Advantageously, the thermal energy generated in operation by the panel 78 is recovered and transferred to the capture circuit 68 of the heat pump. It is also possible to supply the VMC installation 26 of FIG. 3 with the energy produced by the photovoltaic panel 78.

Conventionally, it is possible to control the operation of the heat pump 56 at the temperature of the outside air 74 so as to obtain a substantially constant temperature of the air injected into the building through the vents 34.

Advantageously, the heat pump 56 is of the reversible type, so that it can cool, in summer or in hot weather, the outside air admitted into the building.

Alternatively, the heat pump 56 may be replaced by a heat exchanger and water of a type commercially available (marketed under the brands MITSUBISHI and HELIOS for example) which allows to recover the heat and hygrometry of the air leaving spaces 18 to heat and humidify the air to be admitted into the building.

In general, the installation of FIG. 7 makes it possible, by consuming only free electrical energy produced by a photovoltaic panel, to renew the air of a building with fresh air having a predetermined temperature which is substantially constant throughout the entire period. year, for example from 18 to 20 ° C, and heat a hot water tank of a standard volume. The renewal of the air extracted by a VMC of the building by fresh air at 18-20 ° C (instead of 0-5 ° C in winter or 30-35 ° C in summer in the prior art) greatly reduces the need for heating in winter and cooling in summer.

Claims

1. Method for regulating the temperature and the relative humidity of the air in a building with microporous walls (12) and with external thermal insulation (16), in which spaces (18) for circulation of air at temperature and hygrometry are controlled between the external thermal insulation and the walls, the temperature and hygrometry of the air admitted into the spaces (18) being controlled by passage of this air in humidifying means (30) arranged upstream of the spaces ( 18), characterized in that it consists in passing the air several times in humidifying means (30) and in heating means (28) to give it an optimum temperature and hygrometry desired.

2. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that it consists in humidifying the aforementioned air by passing this air in water or in a mist of water droplets or through a porous membrane wet.

3. Method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that it consists in heating the aforementioned air by heat exchange with a circuit (42) of domestic hot water.

4. Method according to claim 1, 2 or 3, characterized in that the moistened and heated air is air (38) extracted from the building.

5. Method according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that it also consists in measuring a temperature difference between the outer and inner faces of at least one microporous wall (12) and to control the admission and the circulation of air in the aforementioned spaces (18) as a function of the derivative of this difference with respect to time.

6. Method according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that it consists of passing the air at a constant speed in the above-mentioned spaces and to adjust the temperature of this air and its hygrometry for maximum heating of the walls .

7. Method according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that, between the heating periods of the walls (12) by admission and circulation of hot and humid air in the spaces (18), desorption of the moisture contained in the walls by circulation in the spaces (18) of air is controlled at low humidity.

8. Method according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that humidified air is intermittently blown inside the building to increase the relative humidity of the air in the building.

9. Device for regulating the temperature and relative humidity of the air inside a building with microporous walls (12) and with external thermal insulation (16), comprising means for controlling the admission and air circulation in spaces (18) between the outer thermal insulation (16) and the microporous walls (12), and means for adjusting the temperature and relative humidity of the air to be admitted in the aforementioned spaces, characterized in that the aforesaid means for adjusting the temperature and the relative humidity of the air comprise several stages of heating means (28) and humidifying means (30) arranged in series. and crossed by the aforementioned air.

10. Device according to claim 9, characterized in that each heating means comprises a heat exchanger of which a primary circuit is supplied with air for circulating in the aforementioned spaces and a secondary circuit (28) is supplied with hot fluid from hot water from a facility (42) for producing free hot water type heat, for example solar, geothermal, or heat recovery.

1 1. Device according to Claim 9 or 10, characterized in that the said means for controlling the admission and the air circulation in the abovementioned spaces comprise a sensor for measuring the temperature and hygrometry of the air in the room. building and means (60) for measuring a difference in temperature between the outer and inner faces of at least one microporous wall, and means for calculating the derivative with respect to the time of this difference, the measuring means of 'a temperature difference comprising thermocouple sensors (60).

12. Device according to one of claims 9 to 1 1, characterized in that it comprises a heat exchanger and hygrometry or a heat pump (56) for heating (or cooling) the fresh air (76) admitted to the building to replace the air extracted from the building by a VMC installation (26).

13. Device according to one of claims 9 to 12, characterized in that it comprises a heat pipe (58) for heat exchange between the air (60) exiting spaces (18) above and the fresh air (62) to be admitted to the building.

14. Building according to all of claims 12 and 13, characterized in that it comprises means (63) to admit into the building air (66) leaving the heat pipe (58) or to send this air in the circuit sensing (68) of the heat pump (56) as a function of its temperature.

15. Building according to claim 12, characterized in that it comprises a photovoltaic panel (78) and a battery (80) for the power supply of the heat pump (56) and possibly the installation of VMC (26). ).