Method and apparatus for dew point evaporative product cooling
DCFirst Claim
1. A method to provide indirect evaporative cooling while controlling humidity of the cooled product air by having three plates in parallel:
- a) forming a first space and second space between adjacent plates with the middle plate being a common plate to both spaces;
b) wetting opposing surfaces of the adjacent plates;
c) keeping some surface areas of opposing surfaces dry;
d) passing air in the first space in two types of channels, working channels and product channels;
e) passing air in the second space in working channels and product channels in cross flow to the flow in the first space channels;
f) controlling the humidity in the product channels by the amount of wet surfaces the product air is exposed to in the product channels; and
g) cooling the air in the product channels by the dry surfaces being cooled by heat transfer across the common plate in this area and the evaporation cooling on the opposite surface of the common plate in the adjoining space that is occurring in a wet area of a working channel.
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Abstract
The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for providing enhanced indirect evaporative cooling of air, water, fuel, or other fluids while controlling the humidity. The design makes cooling down to the dew point possible without energy input other than the energy to produce the fluid flow needed. The design makes use of stacked composite plates (7) with channels (1, 2) for fluid flow between adjacent plates. On opposing surface areas of these plates, there are wet areas (4) or dry areas (3). The wet areas (4) provide cooling by conventional evaporation which is in turn used to cool the fluids in contact with the dry areas (3). The benefit is controlled heat transfer, which allows selected cooling of fluid flow such that the temperature as low as dew point are reachable.
37 Citations
26 Claims
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1. A method to provide indirect evaporative cooling while controlling humidity of the cooled product air by having three plates in parallel:
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a) forming a first space and second space between adjacent plates with the middle plate being a common plate to both spaces;
b) wetting opposing surfaces of the adjacent plates;
c) keeping some surface areas of opposing surfaces dry;
d) passing air in the first space in two types of channels, working channels and product channels;
e) passing air in the second space in working channels and product channels in cross flow to the flow in the first space channels;
f) controlling the humidity in the product channels by the amount of wet surfaces the product air is exposed to in the product channels; and
g) cooling the air in the product channels by the dry surfaces being cooled by heat transfer across the common plate in this area and the evaporation cooling on the opposite surface of the common plate in the adjoining space that is occurring in a wet area of a working channel. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. Apparatus for indirect evaporative cooling comprising:
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at least two plates in parallel, each plate having two surfaces, and wherein a) at least part of one of the surfaces is impermeable to the fluid used for evaporation, b) the plates are made of a material that has a wick like capability that transports the liquid used for evaporation to the areas of the plates where evaporation is to occur and once there allows the liquid to evaporate, c) the impermeable areas are thin, so as to allow for heat transfer, d) the opposing surfaces of adjoining plates are of like surface permeability, e) the evaporation occurs in the areas without the impermeable surface and cools the surface and the working air, f) the cooler temperatures due to the evaporation is in heat transfer contact with the impermeable surface and the product air that is in contact with this surface, and g) the apparatus has channel guides, working air channels, and product air channels to direct the flow in a desired path. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
a) one of the quadrants with only working air channels has one half of each quadrant surface covered with plastic, such that the working air enters one channel;
b) the channel is in the non evaporative portion of the channel and gets pre-cooled by adjacent layers;
c) the working air channels also in the quadrant have evaporative cooling in area of their channels; and
d) the channels interface with the first channel plastic surface.
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26. A method to provide indirect evaporative cooling and to control the humidity by having at least two plates with two surfaces wherein there is:
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a) wetting on opposite surfaces of the two plates;
b) keeping some surfaces areas of the opposing surfaces dry;
c) passing air between the plates;
d) controlling the humidity by varying the amount of wet surfaces to which the air is exposed; and
e) cooling the air over the dry areas by heat transfer by having evaporation occurring on the opposite side of each plate in the area.
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Specification