Condensate-free outdoor air cooling unit

Abstract

A highly efficient condensate-free cooling unit functionally based on vapor-compression refrigeration cycle has been described. The condensate collected from the evaporator of the cooling unit is routed through a sub-cooling heat exchanger where it exchanges heat with the primary heat exchange medium emerging through the condenser of the cooling unit, thus, sub-cooling the primary heat exchange medium to a lower temperature before it enters the expansion valve. Emerging from the sub-cooling heat exchanger, the condensate flows through a condensate outlet pipe into multiple spray nozzles disposed over the condensate outlet pipe. The spray nozzles sprinkle the condensate over the hot air blown into the condenser to reduce its temperature. The cooling unit has a substantially higher coefficient of performance compared to the conventional cooling units utilizing vapor-compression refrigeration cycle, and eliminates the problems of condensate removal persistent in the art.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0001]The present disclosure deals generally with heat exchange devices, and more specifically with cooling devices utilizing the vapor compression refrigeration cycle.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]Vapor compression refrigeration cycles are widely used in many cooling systems for achieving refrigerating effects, including refrigerators, air-conditioning systems, industrial and commercial refrigeration systems and the like. Typical applications of such cooling units include warehouses, offices, private and public residential buildings, hospitals, hotels, restaurants and cafeteria. Succinctly, the process of refrigeration refers to extracting heat from a space and rejecting it elsewhere, thus lowering the temperature of the space. Vapor compression refrigeration cycles use a refrigerant for this process. The cycle includes four elementary components: a compressor, a condenser, an expansion valve, and an evaporator. The circulating refrigerant enters the compre...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present invention is a cooling unit that uses vapor compression refrigeration cycle, making it more efficient than conventional refrigerators and air-conditioning devices. Additionally, it solves the issue of condensate removal in conventional systems.

Problems solved by technology

Appropriate disposal of cooling unit condensate poses a challenging problem.

Providing a separate piping system or condensate collection containers can be burdensome and expensive.

Sometimes, excessive extraction of heat from the air even causes frost or ice to build-up in the evaporator and the surface of its heat exchange tubes, causing the dehumidifier to stop.

Another challenge is increasing the operating efficiency of the cooling units.

Many times, the analysis and identification of this correlation may be time consuming and inaccurate.

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