Open Loop CO2 Cooling Apparatus for Carbon-Neutral Buildings
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional air-handling systems in buildings exhaust high concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) to the atmosphere, contributing to increased carbon emissions, as they do not utilize the CO2 present in building exhaust air for cooling purposes.
Innovation Solution
An open loop cooling apparatus that captures CO2 from return air, expands and uses it as a coolant to cool supply air, and stores it in tanks for later sale, eliminating the need for a conventional compressor and reducing water consumption by reusing condensed water.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-generated harmful factors
If conventional HVAC systems exhaust CO2 from building exhaust air, then the building can maintain normal air circulation, but CO2 emissions increase and cooling efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The system captures CO2 from building exhaust air (which would otherwise be wasted) and converts it into a useful cooling resource. The CO2 is pressurized, expanded through an evaporator coil to provide refrigeration, and the warmed CO2 is recirculated back through the system. This transforms the harmful CO2 emission into a beneficial cooling medium, simultaneously reducing CO2 emissions and improving cooling efficiency without requiring traditional refrigerants.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the physical parameters of CO2 by pressurizing it to a liquid state and then expanding it back to gas phase through the evaporator coil. This phase change enables CO2 to function as an effective refrigerant, allowing the system to achieve efficient cooling while utilizing the building's own exhaust CO2 rather than discharging it directly to the atmosphere.
2Object-generated harmful factors
If CO2 is captured and used for cooling, then CO2 emissions are reduced, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system integrates multiple functions into a unified CO2-based cooling system. The same CO2 capture and processing infrastructure serves both as a carbon reduction mechanism and as a complete refrigeration system. The CO2 is captured, pressurized, expanded for cooling, and the warmed CO2 is recirculated back through the evaporator, creating a closed-loop system that eliminates the need for separate traditional refrigerant systems while achieving both carbon reduction and cooling objectives.
3Temperature
If conventional compressors are used for cooling, then cooling performance is maintained, but water consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The CO2 system serves itself through a closed-loop recirculation process. The CO2 that is warmed after passing through the evaporator coil is automatically recirculated back through the evaporator to be cooled again, creating a self-sustaining cycle that eliminates the need for external water-based cooling towers or condensers. This self-service mechanism maintains cooling performance while eliminating water consumption associated with traditional vapor-compression refrigeration systems.
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 solution reduces CO2 emissions by reusing CO2 as a coolant, generating hydrocarbon fuel as a secondary energy source, and lowering water usage, thereby contributing to a more carbon-neutral building environment.
Implementation Method 1
an expansion valve receptive of pressurized gas from the gas capturing and collecting elements and configured to expand the pressurized gas
Implementation Method 2
an evaporator coil downstream from the expansion valve through which the pressurized gas, having been expanded in the expansion valve, passes to cool air flowing over the evaporator coil
Implementation Method 3
an evaporative cooling environment into which the return air is directed
Data Source
AI summary
An open loop cooling apparatus is provided. The open loop cooling apparatus includes gas capturing and collecting elements, an expansion valve receptive of pressurized gas from the gas capturing and collecting elements and configured to expand the pressurized gas, an evaporator coil downstream from the expansion valve through which the pressurized gas, having been expanded in the expansion valve, passes to cool air flowing over the evaporator coil and one or more storage tanks receptive of the pressurized gas from the evaporator coil for later sale.