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US 8,418,481 B2Granted
Secondary loop cooling system having a bypass and a method for bypassing a reservoir in the system
AssigneeE. I. Du Pont de Nemours and Company
InventorsBarbara Haviland Minor, Mack McFarland
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An air conditioning or refrigeration system includes a secondary loop cooling system for use with a vapor compression system having a bypass line in order to bypass a reservoir in the secondary loop system. This bypass allows the air conditioning or refrigeration system to cool down more quickly. The secondary loop cooling system uses a non-flammable cooling fluid, which is particularly useful when the refrigerant used in the vapor compression system is flammable.
Claims19
A secondary cooling loop system for use in an air conditioning system of a body to be cooled, comprising:
- (a) a heat exchanger having a first expansion coil for circulating a refrigerant therethrough and a second expansion coil having an inlet and an outlet for circulating a refrigerant therethrough;
- (b) a cooling unit for cooling the solution as it circulates therethrough, the cooling unit having an inlet and an outlet, wherein the inlet is in fluid communication with the second expansion coil of the heat exchanger;
- (c) a reservoir for storing the solution, the reservoir having an inlet and an outlet, wherein the inlet is disposed in fluid communication with outlet of the cooling unit;
- (d) a return line for returning the stored solution from the reservoir back to the inlet of the second expansion coil of the heat exchanger, the return line being disposed in fluid communication with the first outlet of the reservoir and with the inlet of the second expansion coil of the heat exchanger;
- (e) a by-pass line disposed between the outlet of the cooling unit and the second expansion boil of the heat exchanger for bypassing the reservoir and delivering the solution directly from the outlet of the cooling unit to the inlet of the second expansion coil of the heat exchanger;
- (f) a first valve disposed in the bypass line between the outlet of the cooling unit and the inlet of the second expansion coil of the heat exchanger, wherein the first valve opens to deliver the solution directly from the outlet of the cooling unit to the inlet of the second expansion coil of the heat exchanger, thereby bypassing the reservoir;
- and
- (g) a connecting line disposed between the outlet of the cooling coil and the inlet of the reservoir, and a second valve disposed in the connecting line, wherein the second valve opens when the first valve closes to allow the solution to flow into the inlet of the reservoir.
5 more elements
A secondary cooling loop system for use in a vapor compression air conditioning system of an automobile, comprising:
- (a) heat exchanger means having a first expansion coil for circulating a refrigerant therethrough and a second expansion coil for circulating a cooling solution therethrough;
- (b) cooling means for cooling the solution as it circulates therethrough, the cooling means having an inlet and an outlet, wherein the inlet is in fluid communication with the second expansion coil of the heat exchanger means;
- (c) reservoir means for storing the solution, the reservoir means having an inlet and an outlet, wherein the inlet is disposed in fluid communication with outlet of the cooling means;
- (d) means for circulating the stored solution from the reservoir back to the heat exchanger means, the circulating means having an inlet disposed in fluid communication with the outlet of the reservoir means and an outlet disposed in fluid communication with the inlet of the second expansion coil of the heat exchanger means;
- (e) by-pass means disposed between the outlet of the cooling means and the inlet of the pump means for bypassing the reservoir means and delivering the solution directly from the outlet of the cooling means to the inlet of the second expansion coil of the heat exchanger means;
- (f) first valve means disposed in the bypass line between the outlet of the cooling means and the inlet of the second expansion coil of the heat exchanger means, wherein the first valve means opens to deliver the solution directly from the outlet of the cooling means to the inlet of the second expansion coil of the heat exchanger means, thereby bypassing the reservoir means:
- and
- (g) a connecting line disposed between the outlet of the cooling coil and the inlet of the reservoir, and a second valve disposed in the connecting line, wherein the second valve opens when the first valve closes to allow the solution to flow into the inlet of the reservoir.
5 more elements
A method for bypassing a reservoir in a secondary cooling loop system for use in a vapor compression air conditioning system of an automobile, comprising the steps of:
- (a) circulating a refrigerant through a first expansion coil of a heat exchanger, and circulating a cooling solution through a second expansion coil of the heat exchanger;
- (b) cooling the solution as it circulates through a cooling unit, wherein the cooling unit is disposed in fluid communication with the second expansion coil of the heat exchanger;
- (c) opening a first valve disposed in a connecting line disposed between the outlet of the cooling unit and the inlet of the second expansion coil of the heat exchanger to deliver the solution directly from the outlet of the cooling unit to the inlet of the second expansion coil of the heat exchanger, thereby bypassing the reservoir;
- (d) circulating the solution from the by-pass line back to the inlet of the second expansion coil of the heat exchanger:
- and
- (e) closing a second valve disposed in a connecting line between the outlet of the cooling unit and the inlet of the reservoir.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.