Snow/ ice making & preserving methods

Abstract

This invention relates to method and system for making of artificial snow or ice for outdoor as well as indoor artificial ski as well as method and systems for preserving ice for winter recreational activities, all year round for indoor facilities and at least half year or longer for outdoor facilities. It also relates to method and systems for preserving ice using embedded coolant lines capable of absorbing the heat from the thermal storage medium through a coolant and passing on same further to snow / ice layer. It also relates to method and systems for circulating waste snow / ice and using the thermal energy stored for snow making.

Description

[0001]This application claims priority from U.S. provisional Ser. No. 61 / 463,970 filed on Feb. 26, 2011 for the invention titled “Indoor and Outdoor Thermal Storage, Snow and Ice Making Method”.FIELD OF INVENTION[0002]The present invention relates to making of artificial snow or ice for outdoor as well as indoor artificial ski slope for winter recreational activities, all year round for indoor facilities and at least half year or longer for outdoor facilities. Wherein, thermal storage unit is charged by refrigeration means. Cooling is drawn later from the thermal storage means to make snow or ice to be blown over the slope (in case of ice, crushing the ice into smaller pieces first) containing the thermal storage unit which can then keep the ice / snow cold for longer periods of time. In the alternative snow or ice can be produced in an outdoor or enclosed Air Conditioned environment.BACKGROUND[0003]Artificial snow slopes for indoor and outdoor skiing and other winter recreational act...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present invention proposes a new method for efficiently preserving snow / ice and crushed ice in outdoor and indoor facilities, which is easier to operate and more energy efficient compared to current methods. This will allow snow / ice centers to operate for longer periods of time, leading to lower operating costs and reduced carbon footprint. The system can be used in both new and retrofit facilities and offers improved preservation and energy efficiency for both indoor and outdoor facilities.

Problems solved by technology

These methods are mostly used for outdoor slopes, having huge disadvantages in terms of very short period of time the slope can be used due to weather condition, in most cases only 1.5 to 2 months in the Western United States and maybe 2 to 3 months in the Eastern United States.

This thermal storage method is more efficient ice only thermal storage units using only ice, which have been around for decades and do not contain any thermal conductor that would otherwise absorbed the heat in the ice and conduct it away from it via the cooling pipes, making them less efficient.

But at the same time, thermal conductive material suffer from inherent drawback as they also tend to transfer cooling or absorbing heat from objects in contact with the thermal conductive material.

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