Back to results
US 2003/0150226 A1Published application
System and method for cooling air
OwnerTim Allan Nygaard Jenseninventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A system and method for cooling air includes using a refrigerant cooling system and further using a refrigerant liquefaction subsystem or method that includes using a heat sink cooler (“pre-cooler”) to cool the heat sink coolant before it is used to cool the refrigerant in the condenser. One aspect of the refrigerant liquefaction subsystem may use a water mist, which may be prepared by atomizers, high pressure nozzles, piezo-electric ultrasonic nebulizers, or the like, to cool the heat sink coolant.
Claims28
A method for cooling air with a refrigerant system, the method comprising:
- passing air, which is at a temperature TA1, that is to be cooled over an evaporator that contains a refrigerant that becomes vaporized and that removes heat from the air to produce conditioned air at a temperature TA2, where TA2<TA1;
- passing the refrigerant to a compressor where the vaporized refrigerant is compressed;
- passing the refrigerant to a condenser unit that removes heat from the refrigerant such that between the refrigerant passing the compressor and condenser, substantially all the refrigerant is placed in a liquid state;
- passing the refrigerant to an expansion device that expands the refrigerant while passing it to the evaporator, which allows for the refrigerant to be vaporized in the evaporator as the air at TA1 is cooled;
- passing a first heat-sink coolant at a temperature THS1 over a heat-sink coolant cooler to lower the temperature of the heat-sink coolant to a temperature THS2 to form a second heat-sink coolant;
- and
- passing the second heat-sink coolant over the condenser to remove heat from the refrigerant in the condenser.
4 more elements
An improved refrigerant cooling system of the type having:
- an evaporator for removing heat from the air to be cooled such that the temperature is lowered from TA1 to TA2 and whereby the removed heat is delivered to the refrigerant in the evaporator and whereby the refrigerant is vaporized,
- a compressor fluidly coupled to the evaporator to receive refrigerant therefrom and to increase the pressure of the refrigerant,
- a condenser fluidly coupled to the compressor for receiving refrigerant from the compressor and cooling the refrigerant, whereby the compressor and condenser are operable to convert the refrigerant to a liquid state, and
- an expansion valve fluidly coupled to the condenser for receiving liquid refrigerant from the condenser and for lowering the pressure of the refrigerant, the expansion valve also being fluidly coupled to the evaporator for delivering the refrigerant to the evaporator;
- wherein the improvement comprises a heat-sink coolant cooler subsystem that uses sprayed water to cool a heat-sink coolant before it passes over the condenser.
2 more elements
A refrigerant cooling system comprising:
- an evaporator for removing heat from the air to be cooled such that the temperature is lowered from TA1 to TA2 and whereby the removed heat is delivered to the refrigerant in the evaporator and whereby the refrigerant is vaporized;
- a refrigerant liquefaction subsystem comprising:
- a compressor fluidly coupled to the evaporator to receive refrigerant therefrom and to increase the pressure of the refrigerant,
- a condenser fluidly coupled to the compressor for receiving refrigerant from the compressor and cooling the refrigerant, whereby the compressor and condenser are operable to move the refrigerant to a liquid state, and
- a heat sink air cooler unit for cooling air that is used as the heat sink for the condenser;
- an expansion valve fluidly coupled to the condenser for receiving liquid refrigerant from the condenser and for lowering the pressure of the refrigerant, the expansion valve also being fluidly coupled to the evaporator for delivering the refrigerant to the evaporator;
- wherein the refrigerant liquefaction subsystem further comprises:
- a condenser fan,
- an enclosure formed of panels and formed with a first opening on a first end and a second opening proximate the condenser fan,
- a water supply line,
- a control valve coupled to the water supply line for selectively controlling the water flow in the water supply line,
- a plurality of water atomizers coupled to the water supply line downstream of the control valve, the atomizers operable to produce a water mist that is delivered to a water mist zone;
- a controller having a microprocessor, the controller coupled to the control valve,
- a by-pass gate formed on a portion of the enclosure;
- a by-pass gate actuator coupled to the by-pass gate for selectively opening closing the by-pass gate, and wherein the actuator is coupled to the controller,
- a plurality of sensors coupled to the controller, the sensors operable to measure the wet-bulb temperature and dry-bulb temperature of air located on an outside portion of the enclosure;
- and
- wherein the controller is programmed with prices of electricity and water and programmed to monitor inputs from the sensors and to selectively control the control valve and by-pass gate to cool the heat-sink air with the atomizers or to by-pass the atomizers to optimize cost savings.
15 more elements
A refrigerant cooling system comprising:
- an evaporator for removing heat from the air to be cooled such that the temperature is lowered from TA1 to TA2 and whereby the removed heat is delivered to the refrigerant in the evaporator and whereby the refrigerant is vaporized;
- a refrigerant liquefaction subsystem comprising:
- a compressor fluidly coupled to the evaporator to receive refrigerant therefrom and to increase the pressure of the refrigerant,
- a condenser, which has a first condenser coil and a second condenser coil, the condenser fluidly coupled to the compressor for receiving refrigerant from the compressor and cooling the refrigerant, whereby the compressor and condenser are operable to convert the refrigerant to a liquid state, and
- a water supply line for supplying water directly onto the first condenser coil;
- an expansion valve fluidly coupled to the condenser for receiving liquid refrigerant from the condenser and for lowering the pressure of the refrigerant, the expansion valve also being fluidly coupled to the evaporator for delivering the refrigerant to the evaporator.
3 more elements
A refrigerant cooling system comprising:
- an evaporator for removing heat from the air to be cooled such that the temperature is lowered from TA1 to TA2 and whereby the removed heat is delivered to the refrigerant in the evaporator and whereby the refrigerant is vaporized;
- a refrigerant liquefaction subsystem comprising:
- a compressor fluidly coupled to the evaporator to receive refrigerant therefrom and to increase the pressure of the refrigerant,
- a condenser fluidly coupled to the compressor for receiving refrigerant from the compressor and cooling the refrigerant, whereby the compressor and condenser are operable to convert the refrigerant to a liquid state, and;
- an expansion valve fluidly coupled to the condenser for receiving liquid refrigerant from the condenser and for lowering the pressure of the refrigerant, the expansion valve also being fluidly coupled to the evaporator for delivering the refrigerant to the evaporator;
- water reservoir tank;
- and
- a heat exchanger for rejecting heat from the refrigerant after the compressor and before the condenser and wherein the heat is rejected to water from the water reservoir tank.
5 more elements
A method of retrofitting an roof unit or split unit air conditioning unit having a condenser coil, the method comprising the steps of:
- placing a plurality of fluidly coupled conduits proximate an exterior of the units condenser coils;
- coupling the conduits to a water supply source;
- and
- attaching a plurality of misting nozzles to the conduits.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.