Process for dehumidifying air in an air-conditioned environment with climate control system

An air conditioning system for cooling and decreasing relative humidity of a flow of air, the system comprising:

• a compressor, a condenser, an expansion valve and an evaporator interconnected in series in a closed loop for circulating refrigerant therethrough, the evaporator positioned in series to receive the flow of air therethrough to be cooled and dehumidified;
• a first conduit transmitting a flow of liquid refrigerant through the expansion valve to the evaporator to vaporize at least a portion of the cooling refrigerant and to effect cooling for refrigeration of the flow of air;
• a second conduit coupling an outlet of the evaporator to an inlet of the compressor to transmit refrigerant vapor to the compressor to be compressed;
• a third conduit coupling an outlet of the compressor to an inlet of the condenser to convey compressed vapor refrigerant from the compressor into the condenser to be condensed into liquid refrigerant at a first pressure and first temperature;
• a pump, for boosting a pressure of the condensed liquid refrigerant by an incremental pressure to a second pressure;
• a fourth conduit coupling the outlet of the condenser to the inlet of the pump for transmitting liquid refrigerant discharged from the condenser to the pump;
• a fifth conduit an outlet of the pump to the condenser for transmitting liquid refrigerant to the condenser for desuperheating the superheated compressed vapor refrigerant in the condenser;
• and
• a reheater positioned adjacent the evaporator receiving cooled air therefrom and coupled to an outlet of the pump including surfaces for receiving liquid refrigerant from the pump to subcool the liquid refrigerant to a second temperature less than the first temperature and to effect a partial reheating of the flow of air cooled by the evaporator thereby decreasing the relative humidity of the flow of the air.

An air conditioning system for cooling and decreasing relative humidity of a flow of air, the system comprising:

• a compressor, a condenser, an expansion valve and an. evaporator interconnected in series in a closed loop for circulating refrigerant therethrough, the evaporator positioned in series to receive the flow of air therethrough to be cooled and dehumidified;
• a first conduit transmitting a flow of liquid refrigerant through the expansion valve to the evaporator to vaporize least a portion of the liquid refrigerant and to effect cooling for refrigeration of the flow of air;
• a second conduit coupling an outlet of the evaporator to an inlet of the compressor to transmit refrigerant vapor to the compressor to be compressed;
• a third conduit coupling an outlet of the compressor to an inlet of the condenser to convey superheated compressed vapor refrigerant from the compressor into the condenser to be condensed into liquid refrigerant at a first pressure and first temperature;
• a pump;
• at fourth conduit coupling the outlet of the condenser to the inlet of the pump for transmitting liquid refrigerant discharged from the condenser to the pump;
• a fifth conduit coupling an outlet of the pump to the condenser for transmitting liquid refrigerant to the condenser for desuperheating the superheated compressed vapor refrigerant in the condenser;
• a reheater positioned adjacent the evaporator receiving cooled air therefrom and coupled to an outlet of the condenser including surfaces for contacting liquid refrigerant from the condenser to subcool the liquid refrigerant to a second temperature less than the first temperature and to effect a partial reheating of the flow of air cooled by the evaporator thereby decreasing the relative humidity of the flow of the air;
• and
• means, coupled between the inlet of the evaporator and the outlet of the condenser, for controlling the climate within the flow of air.

A method for improving operation of an air conditioning system for cooling and decreasing relative humidity of a flow of air which includes a compressor, a condenser, an expansion valve, and an evaporator connected in series by conduit for circulating refrigerant in a closed loop therethrough, the evaporator positioned to receive a flow of air, the method comprising:

• transmitting liquid refrigerant through the expansion valve into the evaporator;
• vaporizing at least a portion of the liquid refrigerant to effect cooling of the flow of air;
• transmitting vaporized refrigerant from the outlet of the evaporator to the inlet of the compressor;
• compressing the vaporized refrigerant to produce superheated compressed vapor refrigerant;
• transmitting the superheated compressed vapor refrigerant from an outlet of the compressor to an inlet of the condenser at a first temperature and first pressure;
• condensing the compressed vapor refrigerant;
• discharging liquid refrigerant at a second temperature less than the first temperature;
• pressurizing and transmitting a first portion of the discharged liquid refrigerant to the inlet of the condenser to provide desuperheating to the superheated compressed vapor refrigerant;
• transmitting a second portion of the liquid refrigerant from the condenser to an inlet of a reheater, the reheater positioned adjacent the evaporator to receive the cooled flow of air from the evaporator;
• subcooling the liquid refrigerant in the reheater to a third temperature less than said second temperature and partially reheating the cooled flow of air received by the reheater from the evaporator thereby decreasing the relative humidity of the cooled flow of the air;
• and
• controlling the flow of liquid refrigerant through the reheater so as to control the climate of the flow of air.