Light delivery control system and method

• US 7,307,704 B2
• Filed: 04/19/2004
• Issued: 12/11/2007
• 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.
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen; Sang H.
• Application Number:
  US10/827,655
• Publication Number:
  US 20050231711A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,331 Days
• Field of Search: 356 72- 73, 362290-291, 362/354, 362/342, 378/98.8, 378/98.2, 250/341, 250/359.1, 385/37, 385/40, 359/333, 359/337.3
• 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;

a photocatalytic surface adjacent the light source for receiving the light;

a light distributor that modifies an irradiance profile of the light before the light reaches the photocatalytic surface;

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.

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, wherein the light distributor is at least one waveguide.

10. The light delivery control system of claim 9, 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.

11. The light delivery control system of claim 9, 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.

12. The light delivery control system of claim 9, 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.

13. The light delivery control system of claim 12, 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.

14. The light delivery control system of claim 9, 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.

15. The light delivery control system of claim 14, 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.

16. The light delivery control system of claim 14, 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.

17. The light delivery control system of claim 1, 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.

18. The light delivery control system of claim 1, 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.

19. The light delivery control system of claim 18, 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.

20. The light delivery control system of claim 1, wherein the photocatalytic surface is disposed on a substrate comprising a honeycomb structure.

21. The light delivery control system of claim 1, wherein the photocatalytic surface is disposed on a substrate comprising a ventilation duct.

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

a light source that generates light;

a light distributor that modifies an irradiance profile of the light;

a flow sensor for producing a signal representative of a fluid flow over a photocatalytic surface;

a light sensor for producing a signal representative of the irradiance profile; and

a controller that receives data from the fluid flow sensor and the light sensor and controls the light distributor to selectively modify the irradiance profile in response to the data.

23. The light delivery control system of claim 22, further comprising an actuator controlled by the controller and operatively coupled to the light distributor, wherein the actuator controls an amount of light leakage from the light distributor by controlling a light distributor characteristic selected from a radius of curvature of the light distributor, a cross-sectional area of the light distributor, and a refractive index of the light distributor.

24. The light delivery control system of claim 23, wherein the actuator controls a characteristic selected from a temperature, a pressure, a mechanical strain, an electric field, and a magnetic field to influence the amount of light leakage from the light distributor.