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US 11,892,208 B2Granted
Method and apparatus for isothermal cooling
AssigneeRolls-Royce North American Technologies Inc.
InventorEugene Charles Jansen
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A cooling apparatus includes: a first fluid flowpath including the following elements, in downstream flow sequence: a subcooler having a first side in fluid communication with the first fluid flowpath and a second side configured to be disposed in thermal communication with a source of cooling fluid; a flow control valve; a primary evaporator assembly including at least one primary evaporator configured to be disposed in thermal communication with a primary heat load; and a pressure regulator operable to maintain a refrigerant saturation pressure within the primary evaporator at a predetermined set point.
Claims17
A cooling apparatus comprising:
- a source of cooling fluid that stores cooling fluid therein;
- a first fluid flowpath in fluid communication with the source of cooling fluid to receive the cooling fluid from the source of cooling fluid, the first fluid flowpath including the following elements, in downstream flow sequence:
- a subcooler having a first side in fluid communication with the first fluid flowpath and a second side configured to be disposed in thermal communication with the source of cooling fluid;
- a flow control valve;
- a primary evaporator assembly including at least one primary evaporator configured to be disposed in thermal communication with a primary heat load;
- a pressure regulator operable to maintain a cooling fluid saturation pressure within the primary evaporator at a predetermined set point;
- a second fluid flowpath coupled to the source of cooling fluid and configured pass a portion of the cooling fluid through the second side of the subcooler and return the portion of the cooling fluid to the first fluid flowpath downstream of the primary evaporator assembly, wherein the second fluid flowpath includes a flow restrictor located upstream of the subcooler and configured to expand the portion of the cooling fluid from liquid to vapor;
- and
- a third fluid flowpath that conducts vapor from the source of cooling fluid to the first fluid flowpath at a location downstream of the primary evaporator assembly.
6 more elements
A cooling apparatus comprising:
- a first fluid flowpath including the following elements, in downstream flow sequence:
- a subcooler having a first side in fluid communication with the first fluid flowpath and a second side configured to be disposed in thermal communication with a cold sink;
- a flow control valve;
- a primary evaporator assembly including at least one primary evaporator configured to be disposed in thermal communication with a primary heat load;
- a pressure regulator operable to maintain a refrigerant saturation pressure within the primary evaporator at a predetermined set point;
- a second fluid flowpath is configured to extract refrigerant from the first flowpath, pass the refrigerant through the second side of the subcooler, and return the refrigerant to the first fluid flowpath;
- and
- a suction accumulator, wherein the second fluid flowpath and the first fluid flowpath both flow into the suction accumulator,
- wherein the first fluid flowpath further comprises one or more secondary evaporators downstream of the primary evaporator assembly, configured to be disposed in thermal communication with a secondary heat load, wherein the primary evaporator assembly and the secondary evaporators are positioned in series.
6 more elements
A cooling apparatus comprising:
- a first fluid flowpath including the following elements, in downstream flow sequence:
- a separator vessel;
- a subcooler having a first side in fluid communication with the first fluid flowpath and a second side configured to be disposed in thermal communication with a cold sink;
- a flow control valve;
- a primary evaporator assembly including at least one primary evaporator configured to be disposed in thermal communication with a primary heat load;
- a pressure regulator operable to maintain a refrigerant saturation pressure within the primary evaporator at a predetermined set point;
- and
- a second fluid flowpath having a first end connected in fluid communication with the first fluid flowpath at a point downstream of the separator vessel, wherein the second fluid flowpath is configured to extract refrigerant from the first flowpath, pass the refrigerant through a flow restrictor and the second side of the subcooler, and return the refrigerant to the first fluid flowpath at a second end, wherein the flow restrictor is disposed upstream of the subcooler in the second fluid flowpath and configured to expand the portion of the cooling fluid from liquid to vapor.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.