Lightweight portable moisture traps for use with vacuum pumps

Abstract

A portable moisture trap for use with a vacuum pump includes: a housing; a cooling chamber positioned at least partially within the housing including a first inlet port and a second outlet port; a lid that sealably attaches to a top portion of the cooling chamber to seal the cooling chamber; a heat sink residing under the cooling chamber; a thermoelectric device having an upper cooling side and a lower heat generating side residing between the cooling chamber and the heat sink; a fan oriented to blow air upwardly toward the heat sink; and a baffle extending downwardly in the cooling chamber from a location proximate the lid to a location proximate an inner bottom surface of the cooling chamber, with the baffle configured to define a physical barrier to urge air received through the first port to flow down toward the inner bottom surface of the cooling chamber before exiting through the second port, to thereby remove moisture from air traveling through the cooling chamber in response to a vacuum pump in fluid communication with the second port.

That which is claimed is: 
     
       1. A portable moisture trap for use with a vacuum pump, comprising: a housing, a cooling chamber positioned at least partially within the housing, the cooling chamber including a first inlet port and a second outlet port; a lid that sealably attaches to a top portion of the cooling chamber to seal the cooling chamber; a heat sink residing under the cooling chamber; a thermoelectric device having an upper cooling side and a lower heat generating side residing between the cooling chamber and the heat sink, the thermoelectric device being in thermal communication with the cooling chamber and oriented so that the cooling side faces the cooling chamber and the heat generating side faces and is in thermal communication with the heat sink; a fan residing under the heat sink, the fan oriented to blow air upwardly toward the heat sink; and a baffle extending downwardly in the cooling chamber from a location proximate the lid to a location proximate an inner bottom surface of the cooling chamber; wherein the baffle comprises a plate that extends across the cooling chamber so that the first port is on one side of the plate and the second port is on the other side of the plate, and wherein the plate has a bottom edge with alternating downward projections and valleys that resides proximate the inner bottom surface of the cooling chamber, the baffle configured to define a physical barrier to urge air received through the first port to flow down toward the inner bottom surface of the cooling chamber before exiting through the second port, to thereby remove moisture from air traveling through the cooling chamber in response to a vacuum pump in fluid communication with the second port. 
     
     
       2. The portable moisture trap of  claim 1 , wherein the cooling chamber comprises sidewalls defining corners, and wherein the baffle contacts opposing sidewalls or corners. 
     
     
       3. The portable moisture trap of  claim 1 , wherein the heat sink comprises elongated downwardly extending fins, and wherein the housing comprises one sidewall panel that has a cutaway that has a size sufficient to expose at least a major portion of a length of the downwardly extending fins of the heat sink to environmental conditions. 
     
     
       4. The portable moisture trap of  claim 1 , further comprising a power supply attached to the housing to provide power to the thermoelectric cooling device and/or the fan. 
     
     
       5. The portable moisture trap of  claim 1 , wherein the portable moisture trap has a footprint of less than about 100 square inches, and wherein the portable moisture trap weighs less than about 10 pounds. 
     
     
       6. The portable moisture trap of  claim 1 , further comprising a spacer block positioned between the cooling side of the thermoelectric device and the outer bottom surface of the cooling chamber. 
     
     
       7. The portable moisture trap of  claim 6 , wherein the thermoelectric device has a surface area that is about 2.5 square inches or less and is substantially centered on an upper surface of the heat sink, wherein the spacer block has opposing upper and lower surfaces each with a surface area that is larger than that of the thermoelectric device but less than about 4 square inches and has a thickness of between 2 inches to 5 inches and is substantially centered on the thermoelectric device, and wherein the cooling chamber has a bottom surface that has a surface area that is greater than the surface area of the spacer block upper surface and is substantially centered on the spacer block. 
     
     
       8. The portable moisture trap of  claim 6 , further comprising a first insulating material snugly surrounding downwardly extending perimeter sides of the spacer block. 
     
     
       9. The portable moisture trap of  claim 8 , wherein the first insulating material comprises a gasket with an upper portion of the gasket directly contacting a bottom surface of the cooling chamber and a lower portion of the gasket directly contacting an upper surface of the heat sink. 
     
     
       10. The portable moisture trap of  claim 8 , wherein the cooling chamber is substantially square or rectangular and includes first and second sidewalls that are substantially parallel and third and fourth sidewalls that are substantially parallel, the portable moisture trap further comprising:
 a second insulating material positioned between the first and second sidewalls of the cooling chamber and the housing; and 
 a third insulating material positioned between the third and fourth sidewalls of the cooling chamber and the housing, wherein the second insulating material is different from the third insulating material. 
 
     
     
       11. The portable moisture trap of  claim 10 , wherein the second insulating material comprises fiberglass and the third insulating material comprises foam rubber adhesively attached to the third and fourth sidewalls of the cooling chamber. 
     
     
       12. The portable moisture trap of  claim 10 , wherein the first and second ports extend from the cooling chamber through a respective aperture in the second insulating material and through an aligned aperture in the housing. 
     
     
       13. The portable moisture trap of  claim 1  in combination with: 1) a vessel configured to hold a moist or wet asphalt test sample, wherein the vessel is in fluid communication with the first port; and 2) a vacuum pump, wherein the vacuum pump is in fluid communication with the second port. 
     
     
       14. The portable moisture trap of  claim 1 , wherein the lid comprises an optically translucent or transparent material and is configured to pivotably or releasably sealably connect to the open top portion of the cooling chamber. 
     
     
       15. The portable moisture trap of  claim 1 , wherein the cooling chamber has an inner volume between 14 in 3  to 70 in 3 . 
     
     
       16. The portable moisture trap of  claim 1 , wherein the fan is oriented in a substantially horizontal orientation. 
     
     
       17. The portable moisture trap of  claim 1 , wherein the first port extends through a sidewall of the cooling chamber, and wherein the second port extends through the same or a different sidewall of the cooling chamber. 
     
     
       18. A system for evaluating test samples, comprising:
 a chamber containing moist air and adapted to hold a loose aggregate or compacted asphalt sample; 
 a vacuum pump in fluid communication with the chamber to evacuate moist air from the chamber; 
 a fluid path connecting the chamber and the vacuum pump; and 
 a portable moisture trap positioned in the fluid path to remove moisture from the evacuated air, the portable moisture trap comprising:
 a housing; 
 a cooling chamber at least partially within the housing including a first port and a second port; 
 a lid that sealably attaches to a top portion of the cooling chamber to seal the cooling chamber; 
 a heat sink residing under the cooling chamber; 
 a thermoelectric device having an upper cooling side and a lower heat generating side residing between the cooling chamber and the heat sink, the thermoelectric device being in thermal communication with the cooling chamber and oriented so that the cooling side faces the cooling chamber and the heat generating side faces and is in thermal communication with the heat sink; 
 a fan residing under the heat sink, the fan oriented in a substantially horizontal orientation to blow air upwardly to remove heat from the heat sink; and 
 a baffle extending downwardly in the cooling chamber from a location proximate the lid to a location proximate an inner bottom surface of the cooling chamber; 
 
 wherein the baffle comprises a plate that extends across the cooling chamber so that the first port is on one side of the plate and the second port is on the other side of the plate, and wherein the plate has a bottom edge with alternating downward projections and valleys that resides proximate the inner bottom surface of the cooling chamber, the baffle configured to define a physical barrier to urge air received through the first port to flow down toward the inner bottom surface of the cooling chamber before exiting through the second port; 
 wherein, in operation and in response to operation of the vacuum pump, moist air flows from the chamber through the first port of the cooling chamber, down, through the valleys and adjacent the inner bottom surface of the cooling chamber to remove moisture from the moist air, and substantially dry air flows through the second port of the cooling chamber to the vacuum pump. 
 
     
     
       19. A portable moisture trap for use with a vacuum pump, the moisture trap comprising:
 a housing;   a cooling chamber positioned at least partially within the housing, the cooling chamber including a first inlet port and a second outlet port;   a lid that attaches to a top portion of the cooling chamber to cover the top portion of the cooling chamber;   a heat sink residing under the cooling chamber;   a thermoelectric device having an upper cooling side and a lower heat generating side residing between the cooling chamber and the heat sink, the thermoelectric device being in thermal communication with the cooling chamber and oriented so that the cooling side faces the cooling chamber and the heat generating side faces and is in thermal communication with the heat sink; and   a baffle extending downwardly in the cooling chamber from a location proximate the lid to a location proximate an inner bottom surface of the cooling chamber, the baffle configured to define a physical barrier to urge air received through the first port to flow down toward the inner bottom surface of the cooling chamber before exiting through the second port to thereby remove moisture from air traveling through the cooling chamber in response to a vacuum pump in fluid communication with the second port;   wherein the baffle extends across the cooling chamber so that the first port is on one side of the baffle and the second port is on the other side of the baffle.    
     
     
       20. The moisture trap of claim 19, wherein the cooling chamber is rectangular or square and comprises four sidewalls.  
     
     
       21. The moisture trap of claim 20, wherein the first port extends through one of the sidewalls and the second port extends through an adjacent one of the sidewalls.  
     
     
       22. The moisture trap of claim 20, wherein the first port extends through one of the sidewalls and the second port extends through an opposite one of the sidewalls.  
     
     
       23. The moisture trap of claim 20, wherein the first and second ports extend through the same sidewall.  
     
     
       24. The moisture trap of claim 20, wherein the baffle extends across the cooling chamber from one of the sidewalls to an opposite one of the sidewalls.  
     
     
       25. The moisture trap of claim 20, wherein the four sidewalls define four corners, and wherein the baffle extends across the cooling chamber from one of the corners to an opposite one of the corners.  
     
     
       26. The moisture trap of claim 19, wherein the baffle is configured to be slidably inserted into the cooling chamber.  
     
     
       27. The moisture trap of claim 19, wherein the housing comprises a top portion having an aperture through which the cooling chamber can be accessed.  
     
     
       28. The moisture trap of claim 27, wherein the top portion of the cooling chamber extends through the housing aperture and through the top portion of the housing.  
     
     
       29. The moisture trap of claim 19, wherein the lid comprises an optically translucent or transparent material and is configured to allow a user to view the interior of the cooling chamber.  
     
     
       30. The moisture trap of claim 19, wherein the lid is configured to sealably attach to the top portion of the cooling chamber to seal the cooling chamber.  
     
     
       31. The moisture trap of claim 19, further comprising a fan oriented to blow air toward the heat sink.  
     
     
       32. The moisture trap of claim 19, wherein the cooling chamber comprises a bottom surface having a surface area of less than 15 inches.  
     
     
       33. The moisture trap of claim 19, wherein the cooling chamber has a height between 1 inch and 5 inches.  
     
     
       34. The moisture trap of claim 19, wherein the cooling chamber has an inner volume between 14 in 3  to 70 in 3 .  
     
     
       35. The moisture trap of claim 19 in combination with: 1) a vessel configured to hold a moist or wet asphalt test sample, wherein the vessel is in fluid communication with the first port; and 2) a vacuum pump, wherein the vacuum pump is in fluid communication with the second port.  
     
     
       36. A system for evaluating test samples, the system comprising:
 a chamber containing moist air and adapted to hold a loose aggregate or compacted asphalt sample;   a vacuum pump in fluid communication with the chamber to evacuate moist air from the chamber;   a fluid path connecting the chamber and the vacuum pump; and   a portable moisture trap positioned in the fluid path to remove moisture from the evacuated air, the portable moisture trap comprising:
 a housing; 
 a cooling chamber at least partially within the housing including a first port and a second port; 
 a lid that attaches to a top portion of the cooling chamber to cover the top portion of the cooling chamber; 
 a heat sink residing under the cooling chamber; 
 a thermoelectric device having an upper cooling side and a lower heat generating side residing between the cooling chamber and the heat sink, the thermoelectric device being in thermal communication with the cooling chamber and oriented so that the cooling side faces the cooling chamber and the heat generating side faces and is in thermal communication with the heat sink; and 
 a baffle extending downwardly in the cooling chamber from a location proximate the lid to a location proximate an inner bottom surface of the cooling chamber, the baffle configured to define a physical barrier to urge air received through the first port to flow down toward the inner bottom surface of the cooling chamber before exiting through the second port, wherein the baffle extends across the cooling chamber so that the first port is on one side of the baffle and the second port is on the other side of the baffle; 
   wherein, in operation and in response to operation of the vacuum pump, moist air flows from the chamber through the first port of the cooling chamber, down and adjacent the inner bottom surface of the cooling chamber to remove moisture from the moist air, and substantially dry air flows through the second port of the cooling chamber to the vacuum pump.