Liquid chiller system
AssigneeStellar Group, Inc.
InventorLuke T. Facemyer
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A liquid chiller system utilizing a refrigerant capable of possessing a liquid state and a gas/vapor state, the refrigerant being cycled through a closed loop assembly of a compressor, an eccentric condenser and an eccentric evaporator. The eccentric compressor has a lower integrated reservoir and the eccentric evaporator has an upper dedicated reservoir such that separate, dedicated separator or receiver vessels are not required. The eccentric condenser is positioned above the eccentric evaporator such that liquid refrigerant flows by gravity from the eccentric condenser to the eccentric evaporator.
Claims20
A method of operating a liquid chiller system, the method comprising:
- passing a refrigerant in a gaseous stage through a cooling conduit in an upper portion of an eccentric condenser unit;
- lowering a temperature of the refrigerant in a gaseous stage;
- based upon the lowering of the temperature of the refrigerant, converting at least some of the refrigerant from the gaseous stage into a liquid stage;
- storing the refrigerant in a liquid stage in an integrated liquid reservoir located within the eccentric condenser unit below the cooling conduit and containing at least 10% of refrigerant in a liquid stage;
- receiving the refrigerant in a liquid stage from the eccentric condenser via transport piping into an eccentric evaporator;
- flowing a process liquid through process liquid conduits in a lower half of the eccentric evaporator
- partially evaporating the refrigerant in a liquid stage into refrigerant in a gaseous stage within the eccentric evaporator based upon absorption of heat from the process liquid in the eccentric evaporator;
- cooling the process liquid based upon the evaporating the refrigerant in a liquid stage into refrigerant in a gaseous stage;
- containing at least 65% of the refrigerant in a gaseous stage in an integrated refrigerant in a gaseous stage reservoir located within an upper portion of the eccentric evaporator;
- compressing some of the refrigerant in a gaseous stage with a compressor;
- passing the compressed refrigerant in a gaseous stage to the eccentric condenser where the compressed refrigerant in a gaseous stage;
- converting the refrigerant in a gaseous stage into the refrigerant in a liquid stage;
- and
- storing an integrated refrigerant in a liquid stage reservoir comprising sufficient capacity to obviate a need for a separate, distinct reservoir vessel.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.