Chilled beam with ion generator
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Solution Overview
Problem
Chilled beams lack the ability to effectively remove small contaminants such as viruses from supply air, as conventional filters only capture contaminants in the return air path.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating a bipolar ion generator in the primary air inlet duct, plenum, or supply air outlets of chilled beams to ionize and distribute ions directly into the occupied space, enhancing air purification.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If conventional filters are used in the return air path, then dust and particulates are removed from supply air, but small contaminants including viruses cannot be removed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical filtration system with an ionization system that uses electrical fields to generate ions. These ions attach to contaminants including viruses, enabling removal of sub-micron particles that mechanical filters cannot capture. The ion generator creates positive and negative ions that electrostatically bind to airborne contaminants, solving the limitation of filter pore size.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the physical-chemical parameters of air treatment by introducing ionization instead of physical filtration. By generating ions with specific charge characteristics and introducing them into the air stream, the system alters how contaminants are captured - through electrostatic attraction rather than physical blocking - thereby extending effective contaminant size range to include viruses.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If filters are placed in the return air path, then contaminants in return air are collected, but contaminants in supply air cannot be removed
Solution Approach 1:
The ion generator is positioned to treat air in advance of supply to the occupied space. By placing the ion generator in the primary air inlet duct or plenum, ions are introduced into the air stream before it becomes supply air, allowing contaminants to be neutralized or captured upstream rather than relying solely on return air filtration.
Solution Approach 2:
The ion generator acts as an intermediary device between the air handling components and the occupied space. It introduces ions that serve as a mediating mechanism to capture and remove contaminants from the air stream, enabling purification at multiple points in the system rather than being limited to the return air path.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If a bipolar ion generator is added to the chilled beam system, then contaminant removal capability is enhanced, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the ion generator with the existing chilled beam system by integrating it into the plenum or air inlet duct structure. This merging approach allows the ionization function to be added without requiring a completely separate air treatment system, thereby limiting the increase in overall system complexity while still achieving enhanced contaminant removal.
Solution Approach 2:
The chilled beam system is enhanced to perform multiple functions: traditional cooling plus contaminant removal. By making the system multi-functional through the addition of the ion generator, the patent achieves both thermal conditioning and air purification in a single integrated unit, reducing the need for separate dedicated equipment.
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
Effectively removes contaminants from supply air, improving air quality and ensuring uncontaminated air distribution.
Implementation Method 1
a bipolar ion generator may be placed in the primary air inlet duct, in the plenum, in the return air inlet, or in the supply air outlets
Data Source
AI summary
A chilled beam with a bipolar ion generator located in the plenum. Conditioned air flows into the plenum through an air inlet. The plenum is pressurized by the primary air delivered from the HVAC system. The conditioned air exits the plenum through nozzles into a mixing chamber. The increased velocity of the conditioned air exiting through the nozzles induces return air through return an air inlet, past a heating/cooling coil, and into the mixing chamber. The conditioned air and the return air mix in the mixing chamber to create supply air that exits the chilled beam through supply air outlets. The electrodes of the bipolar ion generator are positioned at different locations in the plenum and are oriented in different directions to the direction of the conditioned air flowing into the plenum.