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Pitch

A Technology that uses hollow bricks filled with zeolite pellets to extract solar heat during day & releases the heat at night saving energy


Description

Summary

My concept proposes for hollow bricks made up of clay as construction material, which will be filled with Zeolite pellets, which can store up to four times more heat than water, loss-free for lengthy periods of time. Theoretically we can store heat in these pellets, and then extract exactly the same amount of heat after an indeterminate amount of time.

The hollow bricks used widely as construction material will be filled will zeolite pellets, this will absorb heat during day time and at night water will be sprayed on these pellets with the help of a tubular arrangement, this will trigger an exothermic reaction releasing heat. This heat will warmup the bricks and hence keep the building or home warm at night without spending any money on expensive heaters or more importantly without burning fossil fuels and because of which it reduces greenhouse emissions because a large part of energy used by buildings are for heating and cooling.

It can also be used with lumber & insulation also where hollow bricks are not widely used, here the aluminium bags will be filled with zeolite pellets and a small water tube will be connected to these aluminum pouches and embedded within the lumber & insulation. During day time the heat from outside will be trapped in the zeolite pellets and during night this energy can be released from the pellets by flowing a small quantity of water through these tubes which will start an exothermic reaction releasing heat energy.
This could work very well in places like  Amarillo, Texas where even 70-degree temperature swing are possible.


Is this proposal for a practice or a project?

Practice


What actions do you propose?

Working

The zeolite pellets filled in the hollow bricks of the house gets heated up during day and it will continuously absorb heat and this heat is stored in the zeolite pellets, this is possible due to large surface area of zeolite pellets, a single gram of the material has a surface area of 1000 square meters (10,700sqft).During night there will be provision to add little amount of water into the pellets, then the heat absorbed will be released and it will warm the house during night and chilling cold.

Bricks are the ideal candidates for the task as it is easy to mould and handle. It is also cheap.

Alternatively the zeolite pellets can also be filled in the aluminium pouches & embedded in hollow wooden panels and can be used in roofing of houses.

It can be used with lumber & insulation also where hollow bricks are not widely used, here the aluminium bags will be filled with zeolite pellets and a small water tube will be connected to these aluminum pouches and embedded within the lumber & insulation.

Hydrophilic zeolites have almost ideal properties for use in thermal storage systems. 


Who will take these actions?

  • I plan to test out a scaled working model in collaboration with MIT students & under the expert guidance of MIT Professors and staff.
  • The working model will be pitched to construction companies, they will be made aware of the benefits of using such a technology and implement in a few newly constructed buildings.
  • Measure quantifiable results and highlight the same in building sectors to encourage existing buildings to adopt this technology.


Where will these actions be taken?

These actions will be taken in United States & countries with diurnal weather. This technology is best suited for countries that exhibit Diurnal temperature variation, "In meteorologydiurnal temperature variation is the variation between a high temperature and a low temperature that occurs during the same day".[9]

High desert areas typically have the greatest diurnal temperature variations. Low lying, humid areas typically have the least. This explains why an area like the Snake River Plain can have high temperatures of 38 °C (100 °F) during a summer day, and then have lows of 5–10 °C (41–50 °F). 

Texas and Oklahoma Panhandles experience some wide temperature fluctuations, sometimes within a single day.  The high plains is in a unique region of the United States which sees some of the largest temperature swings. During the winter and spring  temperature swings of 50 degrees or more within one calendar day are observed which makes the weather extreme.

Apart from this it is also best suited for Deserts weather, desserts which cover one-third of the earth's land surface area. 


In addition, specify the country or countries where these actions will be taken.

United States


Country 2

Canada


Country 3

Algeria


Country 4

Australia


Country 5

Saudi Arabia


Impact/Benefits


What impact will these actions have on greenhouse gas emissions and/or adapting to climate change?

In 2016, about 40% (or about 39 quadrillion British thermal units) of total U.S. energy consumption was consumed by the residential and commercial sectors. (1)

Heating and cooling account for about 48% of the energy use in a typical U.S. home, making it the largest energy expense for most homes.(2)

Building heating both commercial and residential together is responsible for 30% of energy-related CO2 emissions.(3)

The building sector is also responsible for approximately two-thirds of halocarbon and approximately 25–33% of black carbon emissions(4)


What are other key benefits?

The method is cost effective way of extracting heat from buildings during day time and storing it in zeolite pellets and this energy will be given out during night when it is cold by allowing a small amount of water to come in contact with the zeolite pellets.

Zeolite pellets can be filled in hollow bricks, hollow wooden panels and roof tops. This system can be applied to new houses as well as existing houses and buildings.


Costs/Challenges


What are the proposal’s projected costs?

The cost mainly depends on the size and dimensions of house or building under consideration but the cost of Zeolite pellets is very less and it may be only a fraction of cost of an air conditioning system. The whole system is expected to be definitely less than the cost of an air conditioning system as required in the challenge brief.

Prices for zeolites vary with zeolite content & processing. Prices listed in industrial minerals & rocks for industrial or agricultural applications were $30 to $70 per ton for granular products down to mesh -40 mesh to -325 mesh.[10]


Timeline

  • A working scaled model with take - 6 Months.
  • Pilot implementation will take - 1 year.
  • Building safety clearance - 3 months
  • Commercial launch - 2 years+

 


About the author(s)

I am a passionate Innovator, inventor and the winner of 35 grand innovation challenges till date, spanning across various industries solving a variety of problems, I use cross pollination of technology across a industries to solve simple & complex problems. Since climate change is a complex problem that is faced by humanity, I am trying to make novel innovations in this sector through my various innovation projects & inventions.

I am a graduate in Mechanical engineering & I have acquired various professional skills and certifications as part of my innovation projects in multiple fields of Engineering.I am also the founder of Givemechallenge.com an online platform which is an innovation portal for making innovation opportunities accessible to all.


Related Proposals

N.A


References

  1. U.S Energy Information administration - EIA
  2. U.S Department of energy - Heating & cooling
  3. International Energy Agency Energy technology perspectives 2012 OECD/IEA, Paris (2012)

  4. Ürge-Vorsatz D, Eyre N, Graham P, Harvey D, Hertwich E, Jiang Y, et al. Chapter 10 – energy end-use: building. In: Global energy assessment – toward a sustainable future. Cambridge, UK and New York, NY, USA: Cambridge University Press; Laxenburg, Austria: International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis; 2012. p. 649–760.

  5. Innovations report - New zeolite can store more heat

  6. Zeolites and Heat Storage

  7. National weather service -50 Degree Temperature Ranges

  8. 70-degree temperature swing possible here

  9. Diurnal temperature variation

  10. Zeolites by Robert L. Virta