Air Handling Unit and Method of Operating the Same
AssigneeAiredale International Air Conditioning Limited
InventorsPatrick Cotton, David Wilks, Michael Parker, Steven Charlton
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An air handling unit, particularly for data center cooling, operates to cool a flow of return air from a conditioned space using a flow of ambient air. The return air is recirculated to the conditioned space as supply air. The flow of ambient air can be adiabatically cooled to a lower temperature to provide additional cooling. A flow of makeup air can be joined with the cooled return air to form the supply air, and can be sourced from the ambient environment directly or from the heated flow of ambient air.
Claims20
An air handling unit comprising:
- a first inlet to receive a flow of return air from a conditioned space;
- a first outlet to deliver a flow of supply air to the conditioned space;
- a second inlet to receive a flow of ambient cooling air;
- a second outlet to expel the flow of ambient cooling air;
- a first air flow path extending between the first inlet and the first outlet;
- a second air flow path extending between the second inlet and the second outlet;
- an air to air heat exchanger arranged along both the first and the second flow paths to transfer heat from the flow of return air to the flow of ambient cooling air;
- and
- a make-up air section fluidly coupled to the first air flow path, wherein the flow of supply air comprises:
- ambient air received through the make-up air section;
- and
- the flow of return air.
A method of operating an air handling unit, comprising:
- receiving a flow of return air into the air handling unit from a space being conditioned;
- directing that flow of return air through a first plurality of passages in a heat exchanger;
- receiving a flow of ambient air into the air handling unit;
- directing that flow of ambient air through a second plurality of passages in the heat exchanger;
- transferring heat from the flow of return air to the flow of ambient air within the heat exchanger;
- blending a flow of make-up air into the cooled return air to produce a flow of supply air;
- pressurizing the flow of supply air using one or more supply air blowers;
- and
- directing the flow of supply air from the air handling unit and into the space being conditioned.
An air handling unit comprising:
- an enclosure defining a rectangular prism;
- a return air inlet arranged in a first quadrant of the enclosure;
- a supply air outlet arranged in a second quadrant of the enclosure opposite the first quadrant;
- an ambient cooling air inlet arranged in a third quadrant of the enclosure;
- an ambient cooling air outlet arranged in a fourth quadrant of the enclosure opposite the third quadrant;
- and
- a cross-flow air to air heat exchanger generally centrally located within the enclosure, wherein the second quadrant and the third quadrant are located in the lower half of the enclosure and the first quadrant and the fourth quadrant are located in the upper half of the enclosure.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.