System for Reducing the Condensing Temperature of a Refrigeration or Air Conditioning System by Utilizing Harvested Rainwater

Abstract

An evaporative air conditioning heat transfer apparatus comprising a collection surface for diverting liquid into a channel, a reservoir capable of receiving and storing the diverted liquid, at least one conduit for transferring liquid from the reservoir to a liquid dispersion point, and a regulator positioned between the reservoir and the liquid dispersion point and configured to control the amount of liquid released at the liquid dispersion point, wherein the liquid dispersion point is configured to distribute the liquid over a condensing coil.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application is related and claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61,766,242 filed on Feb. 19, 2013, the complete and entire disclosure of which is hereby expressly incorporated by reference herein.TECHNICAL FIELD[0002]The present disclosure relates to refrigeration and air conditioning systems and specifically to processes and methods for reducing the condensing temperatures of such systems by sprinkling harvested rainwater over standard (or manufacturer's modified) condensing coils to thereby allow evaporative condensing to take place.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0003]Most air conditioning and refrigeration systems utilize the Carnot Cycle, which is a vapor-compression refrigeration type of system. The basic components of this Carnot Cycle system consist of a compressor, a condenser, an expansion valve, and an evaporator. The majority of the energy input (typically electricity) is supplied to the compressor....

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0042]This particular embodiment may include an apparatus for minimizing the effects of suspended solids in the rainwater such as a gutter leaf guard. Further, to minimize the effects of suspended solids in the rainwater, this embodiment may have filtration devices such as a barrier filter, a screen, a cartridge, a centrifugal separator, or a settling filter.

Problems solved by technology

Water cooled and evaporative cooled equipment can consume nearly half of the energy per ton as air cooled equipment.

Although larger systems utilize water cooled and evaporative cooled equipment for the sake of energy savings, these types of systems have a higher first cost, a higher maintenance cost, and usually require more maintenance time due to water treatment concerns, etc.

If properly maintained, water cooled and evaporatively cooled equipment and systems will have a longer operating life.

Although the energy usage per ton on a water-cooled system is significantly less than an air-cooled system, the first cost of water-cooled systems is significantly more thus relegating water-cooled systems to large commercial and industrial applications.

Once-through water systems have not been popular for many years although are still used on many older-designed and installed systems.

More importantly, the cost of disposal of this once-through water can be two or three or four times the cost of purchasing the water.

The cost of the various types and effectiveness of municipal sewage treatment plants has driven sewage disposal costs up.

The cost of purchasing once-though water and disposing it through the municipal sewage treatment plant can be cost prohibitive.

The other often over-looked but major detriment to once-through water systems relates to the water quality itself Well water contains many dissolved minerals such as iron and calcium carbonate.

These dissolved minerals will foul condensers causing the condensers to gradually lose their heat transfer effectiveness resulting in a major loss of system efficiency and ultimately leading to condenser failure.

There are advantages and disadvantages to water-cooled systems utilizing cooling towers.

These dissolved minerals can scale or foul the heat transfer surfaces.

This high condensing temperature and resultant higher energy input per ton of refrigerating effect is the penalty that owners and users pay to achieve simplicity and a low first cost.

Although evaporative condensers can generate condensing temperatures that approach wet bulb temperatures by 5 to 10 Fahrenheit degrees, the first cost of the evaporative condensers and the physical space required by these over-sized units are detriments.

Adiabatic air-cooled condensers are seldom used due to the complexity of the apparatus and system (installation, operation, maintenance, and higher first cost) as compared with air-cooled condensing systems.

The mineral build-up on the finned condenser from the spraying of city or well water very quickly renders the condenser unserviceable.

At this point, for a variety of reasons, these adiabatic systems have not proven to be viable options for lowering the condensing temperature on residential and small commercial air conditioning and refrigeration systems.

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