Evaporative Cooling Slurry Phase Change Material Water Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing evaporative cooling devices require a significant amount of water to cool air, which can become prohibitively expensive as water supplies dwindle.
Innovation Solution
An indirect evaporative cooling system that utilizes a slurry of water and phase change material as the cooling fluid, which is circulated through a cooling coil and a thermal battery bank to absorb and store heat, reducing the amount of water needed for cooling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If traditional evaporative cooling devices use large amounts of water for cooling, then cooling effectiveness is maintained, but water consumption increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent utilizes phase change material (PCM) that transitions between solid and liquid states to store and release thermal energy. The PCM absorbs heat during melting phase change and releases heat during freezing phase change, enabling the cooling system to maintain effectiveness while using significantly less water compared to traditional evaporative cooling devices that rely solely on continuous water evaporation.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the thermal properties of the cooling medium by using a slurry containing phase change material particles suspended in water. This slurry formulation allows the system to operate with reduced water quantity while maintaining cooling performance through the phase transition capabilities of the PCM particles.
2Volume of moving object
If the cooling device size is reduced to decrease water reservoir capacity, then water storage capacity decreases, but device compactness improves
Solution Approach 1:
The phase change material provides high latent heat storage capacity per unit volume, allowing the system to store sufficient cooling energy in a compact configuration. The PCM's ability to store large amounts of thermal energy during phase transition enables reduced device size while maintaining adequate cooling capacity.
Solution Approach 2:
The slurry formulation combines PCM particles with water to create a composite cooling medium that integrates both phase change capabilities and fluid flow properties. This composite approach allows the system to achieve compact design with reduced water reservoir capacity while maintaining cooling effectiveness through the synergistic properties of the slurry mixture.
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 system achieves the same cooling effect with a smaller device size, significantly reducing water consumption while maintaining effective air cooling.
Implementation Method 1
An indirect evaporative cooling system that utilizes a slurry of water and phase change material as the cooling fluid, which is circulated through a cooling coil and a thermal battery bank to absorb and store heat
Implementation Method 2
a first heat exchanger containing a first cooling fluid to be circulated through the heat exchanger, and a fan configured to generate an inlet air stream through the first heat exchanger
Implementation Method 3
a fan configured to generate an inlet air stream through the first heat exchanger
Data Source
AI summary
An evaporative cooling system includes an indirect cooling coil containing a cooling fluid to be circulated and a blower assembly configured to generate an inlet air stream through the indirect cooling coil. The cooling fluid in the indirect cooling coil is a slurry of water and phase change material.