Method of and apparatus for supplying treated air to spaces having different cooling requirements

Abstract

Fresh, outside air may be supplied to a first space, such as a dining area of a restaurant or the like, while air from the first space may be recirculated through an air conditioning unit for cooling or heating the air, which is returned to the first space. Also, air from the first space is transferred to a second space, such as a cooking room of a restaurant or the like, which contains heat producing cooking equipment, the latter resulting in the second space having additional cooling requirements. Such transfer air is passed through a chilling device, in which the air contacts water, as through sprays or a water bath, to cool the water to a temperature close to the dew point of the air, and also to correspondingly cool the air furnished to the second space. When cooling of air to the first space is required, either the recirculated air, but preferably the fresh air, is cooled by the chilled water produced by the chilling device. For heating purposes, water may be heated by the hot gases rising from the cooking equipment through a hood by which such hot gases are removed. Either the chilled water or the heated water may be transferred to a heat transfer unit for cooling or heating, respectively, the fresh air or the recirculated air. When the energy transfer unit is mounted in a position, as on a roof, in which cold outside air, as in the winter, may tend to freeze water in the unit, when the air treatment equipment is shut down, a non-freezing solution, such as aqueous ethylene glycol, may be circulated through the energy transfer unit from a protected heat exchanger through which heated or chilled water from the hood or the chiller, respectively, is circulated. Transfer air from the first space may be sent to a third space, such as other employee spaces of the restaurant or the like, either in addition to the air transferred to the second space, or first to the third space and from there to the second space. Other features are also disclosed.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.