Cooling assembly

Abstract

A process and the required apparatus for air conditioning the interior of a structure is shown which can be run entirely off a DC power source, such as a storage battery. A shell and tube heat exchanger is combined with a mechanical refrigeration system to provide a wet shell side and a dry tube side of the apparatus. In the operation of the air conditioner, a mass of distributed water is established on the wet shell side, and a flow of ambient air is passed through the wet shell side to form a resulting stream of moist air. A flow of ambient air is passed through the dry tube side and a resulting stream of dry cooled air is recovered. The streams of most and cooled air can either be combined or routed separately depending primarily upon the humidity of the surrounding environment to be cooled. The air conditioning unit is not hermetically sealed and the water consumption rate is generally less than that required for a conventional evaporative cooler.

1 . A cooling assembly comprising: 
 a heat exchanger, said heat exchanger including a case member enclosing a wet side in heat exchange relationship with a dry side, said sides being substantially hermetically sealed from one another;    a first air moving member adapted to move air through said dry side to produce a cooled stream of air;    a liquid distributing member within said wet side;    a liquid sump element associated with said wet side and adapted to receive liquid from said wet side and to make said liquid available to said liquid distributing member;    at least two additional air moving members adapted to move air through said wet side from different locations to produce a humidified mass of turbulent air on said wet side;    a mechanical refrigeration unit including a compressor and an associated refrigeration manifold, the refrigeration manifold being located within the liquid sump element for refrigerating liquid contained therein; and    an exhaust duct for conveying cooled air from the dry side of the assembly to the interior of a structure to be cooled.    
   
   
       2 . The cooling assembly of  claim 1 , including an additional conduit which combines the cooled air from the dry side of the assembly with the turbulent air from the wet side and delivers the resultant combined streams to the interior of a structure.  
   
   
       3 . The cooling assembly of  claim 1 , further comprising a DC power source for powering the first and additional air moving members, the DC power source including one or more storage batteries.  
   
   
       4 . The cooling assembly of  claim 3 , further comprising an ambient energy harvesting system operatively associated with the storage batteries for charging the storage batteries.  
   
   
       5 . The cooling assembly of  claim 3 , wherein the DC power source supplies all of the power needs for the cooling assembly.  
   
   
       6 . The cooling assembly of  claim 4 , further comprising an electrical inverter which allows the storage batteries to be charged by an AC power source.  
   
   
       7 . The cooling assembly of  claim 4 , wherein the ambient energy harvesting system includes at least one solar cell.  
   
   
       8 . A cooling assembly for cooling the interior of a structure, the assembly comprising: 
 a heat exchanger, said heat exchanger having a shell side and a tube side;    a first air moving member adapted to move air through said tube side to produce a cooled, relatively dry stream of air;    a liquid dispensing member on said shell side adapted to distribute liquid substantially throughout said shell side;    a liquid sump element associated with said shell side and adapted to receive said liquid from said shell side and to make said liquid available to said liquid dispensing member;    a plurality of air moving members adapted to move air through said shell side from different directions to produce a turbulent mass of air on said shell side;    a mechanical refrigeration unit including a compressor and an associated refrigeration manifold, the refrigeration manifold being located within the liquid sump element for refrigerating liquid contained therein; and    an exhaust duct for conveying cooled air from the dry side of the assembly to the interior of a structure to be cooled.    
   
   
       9 . The cooling assembly of  claim 8 , wherein the tube and shell side air moving members all require electrical power for their operation, the cooling assembly further comprising a battery system, the battery system being adapted to supplying all of the required electrical power for operation of the assembly; and 
 a solar cell system chargingly associated with the battery system.    
   
   
       10 . The cooling assembly of  claim 8 , further comprising: 
 a water supply system associated with the liquid sump and liquid dispensing member on the shell side of the assembly, the water supply system including a water pump positioned between the liquid sump and the liquid dispensing member for maintaining the shell side of the assembly wet with water.    
   
   
       11 . A cooling assembly for cooling the interior of a structure, the cooling assembly comprising: 
 a stacked chamber arrangement having a centrally located, forced-air evaporative cooling chamber which separates an exhaust air plenum located above the cooling chamber from an air intake plenum located below the cooling chamber, the cooling chamber having a top wall and a bottom wall and surrounding sidewalls and a plurality of vertically arranged riser tubes which connect the intake plenum with the exhaust air plenum, the bottom wall creating a cold water sump region;    an intake fan, located within the air intake plenum, for drawing air upwardly through the plurality of vertical riser tubes which connect the intake plenum with the exhaust air plenum to thereby produce a cooled stream of air;    a liquid distributing member located in the cooling chamber adjacent the top wall thereof;    a pump for pumping water from the sump region of the cooling chamber to the liquid distributing member;    a pair of oppositely arranged fans mounted on the cooling chamber sidewalls for moving air through the cooling chamber from different locations to produce a humidified mass of turbulent air within the cooling chamber;    a mechanical refrigeration unit including a compressor and an associated refrigeration manifold, the refrigeration manifold being located within the sump region of the cooling chamber for refrigerating water contained therein; and    an exhaust duct for conveying cooled air from the exhaust plenum of the assembly to the interior of a structure to be cooled.    
   
   
       12 . The cooling assembly of  claim 11 , wherein the oppositely arranged fans on the cooling chamber sidewalls are mounted over louvers, the louvers being adjustable to direct air in a circular vortex within the cooling chamber, thereby contributing to the turbulence of the air within the cooling chamber.  
   
   
       13 . The cooling assembly of  claim 11 , wherein the vertically arranged riser tubes located within the cooling chamber are copper tubes which are less than about ½ inch in diameter.  
   
   
       14 . The cooling assembly of  claim 13 , wherein the vertically arranged riser tubes are in the range from about ¼ to {fraction (3/8)} inches in diameter.  
   
   
       15 . The cooling assembly of  claim 11 , wherein the refrigeration manifold is a double stock manifold having a front coil layer and a rear coil layer, the front and rear coil layers being spaced apart by means of a plurality of cylindrical spacers.  
   
   
       16 . The cooling assembly of  claim 15 , wherein the cylindrical spacers are less wide than the total width of the manifold, leaving a distance between adjacent spacers, and wherein the cylindrical spacers are also hollow and open at both ends, allowing water in the sump region to flow around and through the spacers.  
   
   
       17 . The cooling assembly of  claim 16 , wherein the double manifold is arranged in a generally horizontal plane within the sump region and wherein the front and rear coil layers of the double manifold contain a pair of flow path splits which act to distribute refrigerant which is communicated from the compressor to the coils.  
   
   
       18 . A direct/indirect evaporative cooling assembly with refrigerated chilled water sump for cooling the interior of a structure, the cooling assembly comprising: 
 a stacked chamber arrangement having a centrally located, forced-air evaporative cooling chamber which separates an exhaust air plenum located above the cooling chamber from an air intake plenum located below the cooling chamber, the cooling chamber, intake plenum and exhaust plenum comprising a shell and tube heat exchanger which encloses a wet side in heat exchange relationship with a dry side, the sides being substantially hermetically sealed from one another; the cooling chamber having a top wall and a bottom wall and surrounding sidewalls and a plurality of vertically arranged riser tubes, the bottom wall creating a cold water sump region as well as the top wall of the air intake plenum and a lower tubesheet for the riser tubes, the top wall of the cooling chamber forming the bottom wall of the exhaust air plenum and an upper tubesheet for the riser tubes;    an intake fan, located within the air intake plenum, for drawing air upwardly through the plurality of vertical riser tubes which connect the intake plenum with the exhaust air plenum to thereby produce a cooled stream of air from the dry side of the assembly;    a liquid distributing member located on the wet side of the cooling chamber adjacent the top wall thereof;    a pump for pumping water from the sump region of the cooling chamber to the liquid distributing member;    a pair of oppositely arranged fans mounted on the cooling chamber sidewalls for moving air through the wet side from different locations to produce a humidified mass of turbulent air on the wet side;    a mechanical refrigeration unit including a compressor and an associated refrigeration manifold, the refrigeration manifold being located within the sump region of the cooling chamber for refrigerating water contained therein; and    an exhaust duct for conveying cooled air from the dry side of the assembly to the interior of a structure to be cooled.    
   
   
       19 . The cooling assembly of  claim 18 , including an additional conduit which combines the cooled air from the dry side of the assembly with the turbulent air from the wet side and delivers the resultant combined streams to the interior of a structure.  
   
   
       20 . The cooling assembly of  claim 18 , further comprising a DC power source for powering the intake and additionally arranged fans, the DC power source including one or more storage batteries.  
   
   
       21 . The cooling assembly of  claim 20 , further comprising an ambient energy harvesting system operatively associated with the storage batteries for charging the storage batteries.  
   
   
       22 . The cooling assembly of  claim 20 , wherein the DC power source supplies all of the power needs for the cooling assembly.  
   
   
       23 . The cooling assembly of  claim 18 , further comprising an electrical inverter which allows the storage batteries to be charged by an AC power source.  
   
   
       24 . The cooling assembly of  claim 21 , wherein the ambient energy harvesting system includes at least one solar cell.  
   
   
       25 . The cooling assembly of  claim 18 , wherein the refrigeration compressor is a DC compressor which is located in a storage area on top of the exhaust plenum of the assembly.  
   
   
       26 . The cooling assembly of  claim 18 , wherein the liquid distributing member includes a distribution header located in the cooling chamber adjacent the top wall thereof, and wherein the cooling chamber further includes pads of evaporative media arranged in the chamber between the vertical riser tubes to surround and contact the tubes, whereby cold water is introduced from the sump region of the cooling chamber and pumped through the distribution header onto the evaporative media to thereby cool the riser tubes in the cooling chamber.  
   
   
       27 . The cooling assembly of  claim 18 , wherein the compressor and refrigeration manifold are operated to cool the water in the sump region to near freezing temperature.  
   
   
       28 . The cooling assembly of  claim 18 , wherein an electrical inverter is located within the exhaust plenum of the assembly which allows the unit to be operated off AC current, the location of the inverter within the chilled exhaust plenum serving to prolong its useful life by lowering its operating temperature.  
   
   
       29 . A cooling assembly for cooling the interior of a structure, the cooling assembly comprising: 
 a stacked chamber arrangement having a centrally located, forced-air evaporative cooling chamber which separates an exhaust air plenum located above the cooling chamber from an air intake plenum located below the cooling chamber, the cooling chamber having a top wall and a bottom wall and surrounding sidewalls and a plurality of vertically arranged riser tubes which connect the intake plenum with the exhaust air plenum, the bottom wall creating a cold water sump region;    an intake fan, located within the air intake plenum, for drawing air upwardly through the plurality of vertical riser tubes which connect the intake plenum with the exhaust air plenum to thereby produce a cooled stream of air;    a liquid distributing member located in the cooling chamber adjacent the top wall thereof;    a pump for pumping water from the sump region of the cooling chamber to the liquid distributing member;    an evaporative media located in the cooling chamber surrounding and contacting the vertical riser tubes, the evaporative media being wet by water pumped through the liquid distributing member;    a pair of oppositely arranged fans mounted on the cooling chamber sidewalls for moving air through the cooling chamber from different locations to produce a humidified mass of turbulent air within the cooling chamber;    a mechanical refrigeration unit including a compressor and an associated refrigeration manifold, the refrigeration manifold being located within the sump region of the cooling chamber for refrigerating water contained therein;    an exhaust duct for conveying cooled air from the exhaust plenum of the assembly to the interior of a structure to be cooled;    wherein the cooling chamber has a pair of auxiliary refrigeration jacks which comprise an inlet and outlet point for chilled water in the sump region of the assembly; and    wherein the auxiliary refrigeration jacks are connected by a suitable conduit to an auxiliary heat exchange device located at a remote location within the structure to be cooled.    
   
   
       30 . The cooling assembly of  claim 29 , wherein the auxiliary heat exchange device is a housing containing a fluid pump, a heat exchange coil and a fan, water from the cold water sump of the cooling assembly being pumped through the coil and circulated back to the sump, the fan creating an exhaust air flow over the coil to provide additional cooling to the structure.  
   
   
       31 . The cooling assembly of  claim 30 , wherein the pump and fan both operate off DC power, and wherein the conduit which connects the auxiliary heat exchange device to the cooling assembly also has associated therewith a power line for supplying DC current from the main cooling unit to the auxiliary heat exchange device.  
   
   
       32 . The cooling assembly of  claim 31 , wherein the inlet and outlet water conduits and DC power line are all contained within a common sheath which is run from the main cooling assembly to the auxiliary heat exchange device.