Refrigerant isolation for cooling solutions

Abstract

An isolation core is used to isolate an air conditioning (AC) unit and an external environment such as an enclosure to be cooled. An isolation core may take the form of a cross-flow or counterflow heat exchanger which acts to thermally couple the flows of an AC unit and an enclosure air inlet and return without permitting the flows to intermix. The isolation core thus facilitates cooling of enclosures while isolating flammable refrigerant from the enclosure air, requiring the refrigerant to remain within the AC unit even if an interior component of the AC unit such as a cooling coil, etc., leaks.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A device, comprising:
 an isolation core configured to couple to an air conditioner, the isolation core further configured to:
 form a sealing barrier between air of the air conditioner and air of an associated enclosure; and 
 thermally couple cooled air of an airflow circuit with a second, isolated airflow circuit of the enclosure. 
   
     
     
         2 . The devices of  claim 1 , wherein each of the airflow circuit of the air conditioner and the second, isolated airflow circuit of the enclosure transit through the isolation core. 
     
     
         3 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the isolation core comprises an airflow return configured to return the airflow circuit of the air conditioner back to the air conditioner. 
     
     
         4 . The device of  claim 1 , where the isolation core comprises:
 a first set of airway conduits configured to form part of the airflow circuit of the air conditioner; and   a second set of airway conduits configured to form part of the second, isolated airflow circuit of the enclosure.   
     
     
         5 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the isolation core is a heat exchanger. 
     
     
         6 . The device of  claim 5 , wherein the heat exchanger is a cross-flow heat exchanger. 
     
     
         7 . The device of  claim 5 , wherein the heat exchanger is a counterflow heat exchanger. 
     
     
         8 . The device of  claim 1 , comprising a damper configured to operate responsive to a temperature threshold. 
     
     
         9 . The device of  claim 8 , wherein the damper opens to ambient in response to the temperature threshold. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the damper acts to close the airflow circuit of the air conditioner and open an ambient airflow circuit. 
     
     
         11 . A system, comprising:
 an isolation core; and   an air conditioner having a set of cooling coils for cooling an airflow circuit and conducting air of the airflow circuit towards the isolation core;   the isolation core being configured to:
 couple to the air conditioner; 
 form a sealing barrier between air of the air conditioner and air of an associated enclosure; and 
 thermally couple cooled air of the airflow circuit with a second, isolated airflow circuit of the enclosure. 
   
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein each of the airflow circuit of the air conditioner and the second, isolated airflow circuit of the enclosure transit through the isolation core. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 11 , comprising an airflow return configured to return the airflow circuit of the air conditioner back to the air conditioner. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 11 , where the isolation core comprises:
 a first set of airway conduits configured to form part of the airflow circuit of the air conditioner; and   a second set of airway conduits configured to form part of the second, isolated airflow circuit of the enclosure.   
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the isolation core is a heat exchanger. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the heat exchanger is a cross-flow heat exchanger. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the heat exchanger is a counterflow heat exchanger. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 11 , comprising a damper configured to operate responsive to a temperature threshold. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 18 , wherein the damper opens to ambient in response to the temperature threshold. 
     
     
         20 . A method, comprising:
 coupling an isolation core and an air conditioner having a set of cooling coils for cooling an airflow circuit such that air of the air conditioner is conducted into the isolation core and returns to the air conditioner without mixing with any external air; and   configuring the isolation core to:
 form a sealing barrier between air of the air conditioner and air of an associated enclosure; and 
 thermally couple cooled air of the airflow circuit with a second, isolated airflow circuit of the enclosure formed by the isolation core.