Light delivery control system and method

• US 20050231711A1
• Filed: 04/19/2004
• Published: 10/20/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 04/19/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Carrier Corporation (Carrier Global Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Carrier Corporation (Carrier Global Corporation)
• Inventors: Vanderspurt, Thomas H., Schmidt, Wayde R., Benoit, Jeffrey T.
• Granted Patent: US 7,307,704 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 356/73
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2201/0826 Fibre array at source, distributing
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/001 the light being emitted along at least a portion of the lateral surface of the fibre
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/14 Mode converters
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/30 Circuit design

Abstract

A system and method that redistributes light from a light source. The controller can redistribute light to make an irradiance profile of the light source more uniform or make the irradiance profile match a fluid flow profile. The irradiance profile may be controlled by modifying light leakage from a plurality of waveguides or changing the light-directing properties of reflectors and/or lenses.

Claims

1. A light delivery control system for a photoreactor, comprising:

a light source that generates light having an irradiance profile; and

a light distributor that distributes light from the light source to modify the irradiance profile of the light source.

2. The light delivery control system of claim 1, wherein the light distributor is at least one waveguide.

3. The light delivery control system of claim 2, wherein said at least one waveguide has a radius of curvature that modifies the irradiance profile.

4. The light delivery control system of claim 2, wherein said at least one waveguide has a structure selected from the group consisting of cylinders, plates, foam, circular cross-section fibers, curved cross-section fibers, and polygonal cross-section fibers.

5. The light delivery control system of claim 2, wherein said at least one waveguide has at least one scattering center.

6. The light delivery control system of claim 5, wherein said at least one scattering center comprises at least one selected from the group consisting of a hollow region, a solid particle, and a liquid crystal material distributed in at least a portion of the waveguide.

7. The light delivery control system of claim 1, wherein the light distributor comprises at least one reflector.

8. The light delivery control system of claim 1, wherein the light distributor comprises at least one lens.

9. The light delivery control system of claim 1, further comprising:

at least one of a fluid flow sensor and a light sensor; and

a controller that receives data from said at least one of the fluid flow sensor and the light sensor and controls the light distributor to modify the irradiance profile based on the received data.

10. The light delivery control system of claim 9, wherein the light distributor is at least one waveguide.

11. The light delivery control system of claim 10, further comprising an actuator controlled by the controller and operably coupled to said at least one waveguide, wherein the actuator controls the amount of light leakage from said at least one waveguide by controlling a radius of curvature of at least one waveguide.

12. The light delivery control system of claim 10, further comprising an actuator controlled by the controller and operably coupled to the waveguide, wherein the actuator controls the amount of light leakage from said at least one waveguide by controlling a cross-sectional area of at least one waveguide.

13. The light delivery control system of claim 10, wherein said at least one waveguide comprises a core having a first refractive index and a cladding having a second refractive index, and wherein the system further comprises an actuator controlled by the controller and operably coupled to said at least one waveguide, wherein the actuator controls the amount of light leakage from said at least one waveguide by controlling a relationship between the first and second refractive indices.

14. The light delivery control system of claim 13, wherein the actuator controls at least one of a temperature, a pressure, a mechanical strain, an electric field, and a magnetic field in an area near said at least one waveguide.

15. The light delivery control system of claim 10, wherein said at least one waveguide has at least one scattering center, and wherein the system further comprises an actuator controlled by the controller and operably coupled to said at least one waveguide, wherein the actuator controls the amount of light leakage from at least one waveguide by controlling a characteristic of said at least one scattering center.

16. The light delivery control system of claim 15, wherein the actuator controlling the characteristic of said at least one scattering center by conducting a step selected from the group of creating, eliminating, and modifying said at least one scattering center.

17. The light delivery control system of claim 15, wherein said at least one scattering center is selected from the group consisting of particles, bubbles, and liquid crystal material, and wherein the actuator controls at least one of a temperature, an electric field, and a magnetic field in an area near said at least one waveguide.

18. The light delivery control system of claim 9, wherein the light distributor comprises at least one reflector, and wherein the system further comprises an actuator controlled by the controller and that controls at least one of a shape, a position and an orientation of the reflector with respect to the light source to modify the irradiance profile.

19. The light delivery control system of claim 9, wherein the light distributor comprises at least one lens, and wherein the system further comprises an actuator controlled by the controller and that controls at least one of a shape, a position and an orientation of said at least one lens with respect to the light source to modify the irradiance profile.

20. The light delivery control system of claim 19, wherein the light distributor further comprises at least one reflector, and wherein the actuator further controls at least one of a shape, a position and an orientation of the reflector with respect to the light source to modify the irradiance profile

21. A method of controlling light delivery to a photocatalytic surface, comprising:

determining a desired irradiance profile for illuminating the photocatalytic surface;

comparing an irradiance profile of a light source with the desired irradiance profile; and

modifying the irradiance profile to match the desired irradiance profile.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the desired irradiance profile is a substantially uniform irradiance profile.

23. The method of claim 21, further comprising monitoring a fluid flow profile, wherein the desired irradiance profile is based on the fluid flow profile.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the modifying step comprises matching the irradiance profile with the fluid flow profile.

25. The method of claim 21, wherein the light delivery to the photocatalytic surface is conducted by a plurality of waveguides, and wherein the modifying step comprises controlling an amount of light leakage from at least one of said plurality of waveguides.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the step of controlling the amount of light leakage comprises controlling a radius of curvature of at least one waveguide.

27. The method of claim 25, wherein the step of controlling the amount of light leakage comprises controlling a cross-sectional area of said at least one waveguide.

28. The method of claim 25, wherein at least one of said plurality of waveguides comprises a core having a first refractive index and a cladding having a second refractive index, and wherein the step of controlling the amount of light leakage comprises controlling a relationship between the first and second refractive indices.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein the step of controlling the refractive index comprises controlling at least one of a temperature, a pressure, a mechanical strain, an electric field, and a magnetic field in an area near said at least one waveguide.

30. The method of claim 25, wherein at least one of said plurality of waveguides has at least one scattering center, and wherein the step of controlling the amount of light leakage comprises controlling a characteristic of said at least one scattering center.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein the step of controlling the characteristic of said at least one scattering center comprises conducting a step selected from the group of creating, eliminating, and modifying said at least one scattering center.

32. The method of claim 30, wherein said at least one scattering center is selected from the group consisting of particles, bubbles, and liquid crystal material, and wherein the step of controlling comprises controlling at least one of a temperature, an electric field, and a magnetic field in an area near said at least one waveguide.

33. The method of claim 21, wherein the light distributor comprises at least one reflector, and wherein the step of controlling the amount of light leakage comprises controlling at least one of a shape, a position and an orientation of the reflector with respect to the light source.

34. The method of claim 21, wherein the light distributor comprises at least one lens, and wherein the step of controlling the amount of light leakage comprises controlling at least one of a shape, a position and an orientation of said at least one lens with respect to the light source to modify the irradiance profile.