Cold Room Combination Vent and Light to Prevent Valve Icing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing passive pressure relief vents in cold rooms suffer from issues such as unwanted air migration, condensation, frosting, and icing of valves, leading to operational inefficiencies and safety concerns. Additionally, these vents are often orientation-specific and require different components for varying air flow needs, increasing costs and complexity.
Innovation Solution
A cold room vent that combines a pressure relief ventilator with a light assembly, featuring dual-stage valving for both intake and exhaust, and an octagonal valve body that can be mounted in various orientations. The vent includes resistive heating elements to prevent ice formation on the valves and allows for adjustable air flow through the use of differently weighted valve stems.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If large sized vents are used to move large amounts of air for pressure equalization, then pressure relief capacity is improved, but ice block formation on interior walls increases and air flow velocity decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The vent system is divided into multiple small vents arranged in a gang configuration rather than using a single large vent. This segmentation allows the air flow to be distributed across multiple openings, maintaining higher velocity through each small opening and preventing ice block formation on interior walls while still providing adequate pressure relief capacity for large air movements.
2Device complexity
If passive ports are used to achieve neutral air pressure, then device complexity is reduced, but unwanted air migration increases causing condensation and frosting
Solution Approach 1:
The vent incorporates a pre-heating section that warms the air flow before it enters the cold room through the valve mechanism. This preliminary heating action prevents the air from becoming cold enough to cause condensation and frosting on interior surfaces, while the vent itself remains a relatively simple passive structure without complex active heating systems.
3Ease of operation
If gravitationally-operated valves are used for pressure relief, then ease of operation is improved, but valve fluttering increases causing unnecessary opening and icing
Solution Approach 1:
The vent system includes an intermediary damping mechanism or flow stabilizer that reduces valve fluttering caused by gravitational operation. This intermediary element allows the valve to remain gravity-operated for ease of use while preventing excessive fluttering that would cause unnecessary opening and subsequent icing of the valve mechanism.
4Adaptability or versatility
If multiple differently weighted valve stems are used for adjustable air flow, then adaptability is improved, but device complexity and inventory requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The vent system employs a dynamic adjustment mechanism where a single valve stem can be adjusted to different positions or configurations to provide variable air flow rates. This dynamic approach replaces the need for multiple statically differentially weighted valve stems, maintaining adaptability while reducing device complexity and inventory requirements.
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
The solution effectively prevents ice formation on the valves, allows for flexible mounting orientations, and provides adjustable air flow to manage pressure changes efficiently, thereby reducing operational issues and safety risks in cold rooms.
Implementation Method 1
The vent includes resistive heating elements to prevent ice formation on the valves
Implementation Method 2
Large structures require the movement of a large amount of air to equalize the pressure between the interior and the exterior of the enclosure
Implementation Method 3
A cold room vent according to the present invention is provided that combines a pressure relief ventilator with a light assembly
Data Source
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AI summary
A combination light and pressure relief vent (10) is disclosed which includes a housing (11), a valve assembly (12), and a light assembly (13). The housing include a multi-radial positionable valve body (16), port tube (17), and an outside louver (18). The valve assembly includes a low positive pressure exhaust valve (57), a high positive pressure exhaust valve (59), a low negative pressure intake valve (61), and a high negative pressure intake valve (62). The light assembly includes a heat sink casing (68) which defines a heat chamber (37) and which includes a projection (80) extending into the heat chamber. The casing is coupled to an LED module (57) wherein heat generated by the LED module is transferred through the casing to the heat chamber to warm the valve assembly.