Compact Chiller with External Heat Exchanger for Universal Lab Cooling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional chillers are bulky, heavy, and complex, limiting their widespread use due to fixed reservoir capacities, which restricts cooling functionality and requires purchasing more expensive and larger chillers for increased capacity needs, making them economically inefficient and space-consuming.
Innovation Solution
A compact chiller design with a heat exchanger external to the housing, allowing for universal use with various reservoir sizes and configurations, integrating a compressor, condenser, and temperature controller within a standalone unit, and optionally including a pump for circulation, enabling flexible and cost-effective cooling solutions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional all-in-one chiller design is used, then cooling functionality is provided, but size and weight increase
Solution Approach 1:
The chiller is divided into two separate parts: a compact housing containing the compressor, condenser, and temperature controller, and an external heat exchanger that interfaces with the cooling medium. This segmentation allows the main cooling mechanism to be miniaturized while the heat exchange function is performed externally, reducing overall device weight and size.
Solution Approach 2:
The heat exchanger is extracted from the housing and positioned externally. This extraction removes the bulky reservoir and heat exchange components from the main unit, allowing the housing to be compact and lightweight while still providing full cooling functionality through the external heat exchanger.
2Ease of manufacture
If fixed reservoir capacity is used, then manufacturing simplicity is maintained, but adaptability decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The heat exchanger is designed with a universal interface that can accommodate various reservoir sizes and configurations. The external heat exchanger can be configured to work with different cooling media and vessel types, allowing a single chiller design to serve multiple applications and capacity requirements without compromising manufacturing simplicity.
3Adaptability or versatility
If multiple chillers with different reservoir capacities are purchased, then adaptability is improved, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
A single chiller with an external, configurable heat exchanger can replace multiple chillers with different fixed reservoir capacities. The heat exchanger can be adjusted or reconfigured to work with various cooling requirements, providing the versatility of multiple devices while maintaining the simplicity of a single unit.
4Area of stationary object
If compact design is implemented, then space utilization is improved, but cooling performance may deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
By extracting the heat exchanger from the housing, the patent achieves a compact footprint for the main unit while maintaining adequate heat exchange surface area in the external component. This allows the chiller to occupy minimal laboratory space while preserving cooling performance through the externally positioned heat exchanger that can be optimized for thermal efficiency.
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 compact design reduces size, weight, and complexity, providing improved cooling performance and temperature ranges, allowing for multiple applications with a single chiller, conserving lab space and reducing costs by eliminating the need for multiple equipment purchases.
Implementation Method 1
a heat exchanger, wherein the heat exchanger is configured to be exposed to a liquid, vapor or other medium in a vessel, and from which heat is to be removed by the heat exchanger
Implementation Method 2
from which heat is to be removed by the heat exchanger
Implementation Method 3
a condenser
Implementation Method 4
a compressor
Data Source
AI summary
Provided herein are compact chiller and cooler apparatuses, devices and systems. Chiller apparatuses disclosed herein include a refrigeration system contained in a central housing with an external heat exchanger or “cold finger” designed to be universally applicable to cooling various sizes and configurations of water baths and laboratory applications needing a cooling capacity. Chiller apparatuses disclosed herein are designed to be universally used with rotary evaporators, vacuum ovens, centrifugal concentrators and freeze dryers.