Water Condenser

Abstract

A water condenser includes a fan which draws a primary airflow through an upstream refrigerant evaporator, through an air-to-air heat exchanger and in one embodiment also an air-to-water heat exchanger uses cold water collected as condensate from the evaporator, the airflow to the evaporator being pre-cooled by passing through the air-to-air heat exchanger and the air-to-water heat exchanger prior to entry into the evaporator wherein the airflow is further cooled to below its dew point so as to condense moisture onto the evaporator far gravity collection. The evaporator is cooled by a closed refrigerant circuit. The refrigerant condenser for the closed refrigerant circuit may employ the fan drawing the airflow through the evaporator or a separate fan, both of which drawing an auxiliary airflow separate from the airflow through the evaporator through a manifold whereby bath the auxiliary airflow and the airflow through the evaporator, or just the auxiliary airflow are guided through the condenser and corresponding fan.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0001]This invention relates to the field of water condensers generally and in particular to a water condenser providing for optimized controlled cooling of an ambient air flow to its dew point temperature so as to condense moisture from the ambient air to provide potable water.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]At any given moment the earth's atmosphere contains 326 million cubic miles of water and of this, 97% is saltwater and only 3% is fresh water. Of the 3% that is fresh water, 70% is frozen in Antarctica and of the remaining 30% only 0.7% is found in liquid form. Atmospheric air contains 0.16% of this 0.7% or 4,000 cubic miles of water which is 8 times the amount of water found in all the rivers of the world. Of the remaining 0.7%, 0.16% is found in the atmosphere; 0.8% is found in soil moisture; 1.4% is found in lakes; and 97.5% is found in groundwater.[0003]Nature maintains this ratio by accelerating or retarding the rates of evaporation and condensation,...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0030]Rather than using a capillary tube metering mechanism for feeding refrigerant fluid into the refrigerant evaporator, such as is normally used for smaller refrigeration systems, the device according to the present invention, may be fitted with an automatic suction valve so as to allow for the device to adapt to varying loads created by different environments. One object is that the condensation process is to provide efficient processing of atmospheric, that is ambient air. Thus the intake air flow downstream of the air filtration may be pre-cooled, prior to entering a refrigerant evaporator used to condense moisture out of the intake air flow, by passing the intake air flow through an air-to-air beat exchanger, itself cooled by cooled air leaving the evaporator. That is, the incoming air flow is cooled before it enters the refrigerant evaporator section by passing it in close proximity in the heat exchanger to the cooled air that is leaving the refrigerant evaporator. Air-to-air heat exchangers may be constructed to be very efficient, reaching 80% efficiency, and therefore reducing the temperature of the incoming air flow towards the dew point prior to the air flow entering the refrigerant evaporator, reduces the temperature differential, or temperature drop that must obtained by passing the air over cooled surfaces in the refrigerant evaporator to obtain the dew point temperature, and thus may have a significant impact upon the efficiency of the condensation process and thus the efficiency of the device. For example the device may thus be optimized to increase the air flow rate and still be able to reduce the air flow temperature to the dew point, or the device will be able to handle very hot inflow temperatures and still reduce the dew point temperature of a reasonable air flow volume over time so as to harvest a useful amount of moisture. Sensors provide temperature, for example ambient, inlet temperatures, refrigerant evaporator inlet

Problems solved by technology

In addition, many of the world's fresh water sources are contaminated.

According to the United Nations, 31 countries in the world are currently facing water stress and over one billion people lack access to clean water.

Half of humanity lacks basic sanitation services and water-borne pathogens kill 25 million people every year.

Furthermore, unless dramatic changes occur, soon, close to two-thirds of the world's population will be living with freshwater shortages.

Current technologies require too much energy to operate efficiently and the resultant cost of the treated water puts these technologies out-of-reach for the majority in need.

Desalination plants exist in rich nations such as the United States and Saudi Arabia but are not feasible everywhere.

The lack of infrastructure in developing nations makes large plants with high-volume production impractical, as there is no way to transport the water efficiently.

The death and misery that flow from unsafe water is ov

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