System for Storing Thermal Energy, Heating Assembly Comprising Said System and Method of Manufacturing Said System

Abstract

The present invention relates to a storage system ( 1 ) for storing thermal energy for use in heating a building ( 6 ) or heating water, said system comprising—a cavity ( 11 ) with a bottom surface ( 12 ), at least one side surface ( 13 ) and a top surface ( 14 ),—at least one hose ( 7 ) for transporting a fluid, said hose ( 7 ) being placed inside said cavity ( 11 ) and being arranged to be connected to a heating assembly ( 2 ) for producing and/or using thermal energy, and wherein said cavity ( 11 ) comprises a stone dust material for covering said at least one hose ( 7 ) and only one of said top, side and bottom surfaces ( 14, 13, 12 ) is equipped with an insulating layer ( 15 ), namely said top surface ( 14 ). The invention also relates to a heating assembly ( 2 ) comprising a storage system ( 1 ) and a method for manufacturing a storage system ( 1 ).

1 . A storage system for storing thermal energy for use in heating a building, said system comprising
 a cavity with a bottom surface, at least one side surface and a top surface,   at least one hose for transporting a fluid, said hose being placed inside said cavity and being arranged to be connected to a heating assembly for producing and/or using thermal energy,   
       and characterised in that said cavity comprises a stone dust material for covering said at least one hose and that only one of said top, side and bottom surfaces is equipped with an insulating layer, namely said top surface. 
     
     
         2 . A storage system according to  claim 1 , wherein said at least one hose is placed in an essentially two-dimensional spiral pattern in said cavity. 
     
     
         3 . A storage system according to  claim 1 , wherein said system comprises at least two hoses, at least one of which is a storage hose that is arranged to transport thermal energy into the system and at least one other being a retrieval hose that is arranged to transport thermal energy from the system. 
     
     
         4 . A storage system according to  claim 3 , wherein said at least two hoses are placed at essentially the same distance from the top surface of the cavity. 
     
     
         5 . A storage system according to  claim 1 , wherein said top surface of the cavity is covered by an insulating cover that is arranged to protrude a distance in every direction from said top surface. 
     
     
         6 . A storage system according to  claim 5 , wherein the building is arranged to be placed on said insulating cover. 
     
     
         7 . A storage system according to  claim 1 , wherein said bottom surface of the cavity comprises bedrock. 
     
     
         8 . A storage system according to  claim 1 , wherein said cavity is essentially hemispherical in shape and a radius of the top surface is essentially equal to a distance from the top surface to the bottom surface. 
     
     
         9 . A storage system according to  claim 1 , wherein a temperature in said building is higher than a temperature of said storage system. 
     
     
         10 . A heating assembly for a building, comprising means for producing thermal energy and means for distributing said thermal energy for heating said building, characterised in that said heating assembly comprises a storage system for storing thermal energy, the storage system comprising:
 a cavity with a bottom surface, at least one side surface and a top surface,   at least one hose for transporting a fluid, said hose being placed inside said cavity and being arranged connected to a heating assembly for producing and/or using thermal energy,   
       and characterised in that said cavity comprises a stone dust material for covering said at least one hose and that only one of said top, side and bottom surfaces is equipped with an insulating layer, namely said top surface. 
     
     
         11 . A method for manufacturing a storage system for storing thermal energy for use in heating a building, comprising the steps of:
 creating a cavity   placing at least one hose for transporting a fluid inside said cavity and connecting said hose to a heating assembly for producing and/or using thermal energy,   filling said cavity with a stone dust material in such a way that said hose is embedded in said stone dust material,   
       and characterized in that only one of said top, side and bottom surfaces is equipped with an insulating layer, namely said top surface. 
     
     
         12 . A method for manufacturing a storage system according to  claim 11 , further comprising the step of:
 placing an insulating cover over said cavity.   
     
     
         13 . A method according to  claim 11 , further comprising storing an amount of thermal energy in said storage system so that a temperature in said storage system is lower than a temperature in a building heated by thermal energy from said storage system.