Aerosol Cooling via Indirect Liquid Pre-cooling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Aerosols used for cooling tools on machine tools are environmentally burdensome and costly due to high disposal requirements, necessitating a more efficient and eco-friendly cooling method that can be integrated with existing machinery.
Innovation Solution
The method involves indirectly cooling aerosols using a liquid cooling medium by routing both through adjacent guides before mixing, allowing for temperatures to drop to -70°, with the cooling medium fed through multiple lines and mixed using magnetic switching valves and parallel expansion nozzles, enabling retrofitting of existing machine tools.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If the amount of aerosol is increased to achieve strong tool cooling, then cooling effectiveness is improved, but environmental burden and disposal costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The aerosol is pre-cooled in the guide by cooling lines before being delivered to the tool. This preliminary cooling action reduces the aerosol temperature and increases its density, allowing more effective cooling with less aerosol quantity, thereby reducing environmental burden while maintaining cooling effectiveness
Solution Approach 2:
The temperature parameter of the aerosol is changed through pre-cooling in the guide. By lowering the aerosol temperature before delivery, the cooling effectiveness is enhanced without increasing the aerosol amount, thus resolving the contradiction between cooling performance and environmental impact
2Quantity of substance
If the aerosol is cooled to reduce the amount needed, then environmental burden is reduced, but the complexity of the cooling system increases
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling lines are nested inside the aerosol guide structure. This integration allows the cooling function to be added without requiring separate external cooling equipment, thereby reducing system complexity while still achieving aerosol pre-cooling and reduced aerosol quantity requirements
3Adaptability or versatility
If existing machine tools are retrofitted with cooling lines, then the method can be applied to current equipment, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The guide structure serves multiple functions: it guides the aerosol flow and simultaneously houses the cooling lines for pre-cooling the aerosol. This multi-functionality allows existing machine tools to be retrofitted without adding separate complex cooling systems, enabling widespread application while limiting complexity increase
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach significantly reduces aerosol usage while maintaining effective tool cooling, utilizing environmentally friendly cooling mediums like CO2 and nitrogen, and allows for direct or indirect cooling depending on tool configuration, enhancing contact surface area for improved cooling efficiency.
Implementation Method 1
the aerosol is first indirectly cooled by a liquid cooling medium by conducting the aerosol and the cooling medium through adjacent guides
Implementation Method 2
the aerosol is first indirectly cooled by a liquid cooling medium by conducting the aerosol and the cooling medium through adjacent guides
Data Source
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AI summary
The method involves cooling aerosols (1) by fluid coolant (2) e.g. fluid carbon dioxide or fluid nitrogen, indirectly by passing through the aerosol and the coolant into a directly adjacent aerosol hose (10) before mixing the aerosol with the coolant. The coolant is fed into two cooling lines (6), which run within a deflector pipe (13) or the aerosol hose. The aerosol and the coolant are mixed together in a tool clamp of a machine tool by a rotary feedthrough. The coolant is conducted from a proportional valve in desired dosage into two magnetic switching valves (4).