US20070062205A1 - Atomized Liquid Jet Refrigeration System - Google Patents

Atomized Liquid Jet Refrigeration System Download PDF

Info

Publication number
US20070062205A1
US20070062205A1 US11/550,331 US55033106A US2007062205A1 US 20070062205 A1 US20070062205 A1 US 20070062205A1 US 55033106 A US55033106 A US 55033106A US 2007062205 A1 US2007062205 A1 US 2007062205A1
Authority
US
United States
Prior art keywords
refrigerant
chamber
medium
droplets
nozzle
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Abandoned
Application number
US11/550,331
Inventor
Kuo-mei Chen
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Individual
Original Assignee
Individual
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Individual filed Critical Individual
Priority to US11/550,331 priority Critical patent/US20070062205A1/en
Publication of US20070062205A1 publication Critical patent/US20070062205A1/en
Abandoned legal-status Critical Current

Links

Images

Classifications

    • FMECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F25REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
    • F25BREFRIGERATION MACHINES, PLANTS OR SYSTEMS; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS
    • F25B1/00Compression machines, plants or systems with non-reversible cycle
    • FMECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F25REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
    • F25BREFRIGERATION MACHINES, PLANTS OR SYSTEMS; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS
    • F25B19/00Machines, plants or systems, using evaporation of a refrigerant but without recovery of the vapour
    • FMECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F25REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
    • F25BREFRIGERATION MACHINES, PLANTS OR SYSTEMS; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS
    • F25B2339/00Details of evaporators; Details of condensers
    • F25B2339/02Details of evaporators
    • F25B2339/021Evaporators in which refrigerant is sprayed on a surface to be cooled
    • FMECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F25REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
    • F25BREFRIGERATION MACHINES, PLANTS OR SYSTEMS; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS
    • F25B2500/00Problems to be solved
    • F25B2500/01Geometry problems, e.g. for reducing size

Definitions

  • This invention relates to refrigeration systems.
  • CFC chlorofluorocarbon
  • HFC hydrofluorocarbon
  • HCFC hydrochlorofluorocarbon
  • NH 3 ammonium refrigerants.
  • Gaseous refrigerants are compressed to the liquid state through heat exchanges with the environment. Evaporations of liquefied CFC or NH 3 refrigerants provide the cooling mechanism. Because the heat of vaporization of NH 3 is larger than those of CFCs, and that NH 3 is easily compressible to a condensed phase, NH 3 compression refrigeration systems are widely utilized in various manufacturing industries and in large storage facilities. On the other hand, the corrosive characteristics of NH 3 require that special operational precautions to be imposed. Thus, domestic refrigerators and air-conditioners (including motor vehicle ACs) invariably utilize the compression technology of CFC refrigerants.
  • Propane, carbon dioxide, and ammonium refrigerants have been proposed as replacements for the CFC, HCFC, and HFC refrigerants.
  • these refrigerants are inherent hazardous to human health. For example, propane can leak and cause an explosion or a fire.
  • the high pressure of a carbon dioxide refrigeration system often greater than 73 atmospheres, is inherently dangerous.
  • the use of carbon dioxide in confined space also runs the risk of suffocating the inhabitants.
  • ammonium is well-known for its toxicity.
  • water is not used as the refrigerant for a compression cycle refrigerating system.
  • water is the refrigerant for steam jet refrigeration used to air-condition large facilities.
  • a steam jet refrigeration chiller employs the momentum of steam to pump away gaseous water molecules.
  • evaporation of water in the chill tank under reduced pressure cools down the water reservoir in the chill tank.
  • This is an inefficient method that relies on an inexpensive supply of high pressure steam and can only cool the water reservoir to about 4° C.
  • practitioners in the field are convinced that a refrigeration scheme based on a pure water refrigerant cannot go beyond the standard freezing point of H 2 O at 0° C.
  • a refrigeration system that (1) employs a refrigerant that is environmental-friendly, chemically non-corrosive, non-flammable, and physiologically harmless, and (2) provides the same or better performance while consuming the same or less energy as conventional technologies.
  • FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a refrigeration system in one embodiment of the invention.
  • FIG. 2 is a schematic of a nozzle used to generate jets of micron-sized refrigerant droplets in one embodiment of the invention.
  • FIG. 3 is a schematic of a low-pressure heat exchanger for transferring heat away from ambient air to refrigerant droplets in one embodiment of the invention.
  • FIGS. 4 and 5 are charts illustrating the result of an open loop water refrigeration system in one embodiment of the invention.
  • FIGS. 6 and 7 are charts illustrating the result of an open loop alcohol refrigeration system in one embodiment of the invention.
  • a system for controlling temperature includes an atomizer that forms micron-sized hydrogen-bonded refrigerant droplets within a chamber.
  • a vacuum pump is coupled to the chamber to lower its interior pressure. Under these conditions, the refrigerant droplets evaporate while lowering the temperature of its immediate surrounding.
  • the reduced pressure in the chamber delays the freezing of the refrigerant droplets to below 0° C. at about at least one of a heterogeneous nucleation temperature and a homogenous nucleation temperature of the refrigerant droplets at their size.
  • the atomizer includes a pump that forces a hydrogen-bonded liquid refrigerant through a nozzle.
  • a method for controlling temperature includes lowering the pressure within a chamber and generating micron-sized hydrogen-bonded refrigerant droplets within the chamber. Under these conditions, the refrigerant droplets evaporate while lowering the temperature of its immediate surrounding. The reduced pressure in the chamber delays the freezing of the refrigerant droplets to below 0° C. at about at least one of a heterogeneous nucleation temperature and a homogenous nucleation temperature of the refrigerant droplets at their size.
  • the refrigerant droplets are generated by pumping a hydrogen-bonded liquid refrigerant through a nozzle.
  • a liquid jet refrigeration system utilizes the atomization of hydrogen-bonded liquid refrigerants to meet environmental needs, occupational safety standards, and fast cooling rates.
  • the evaporation efficiencies of environmental-friendly hydrogen-bonded liquid refrigerants are greatly enhanced by atomizing them into streams of micron-sized refrigerant droplets.
  • these gaseous refrigerants are easily condensed under compression. Energy consumptions of the liquid jet refrigeration system are more efficient in comparison with those of conventional technologies.
  • these liquid refrigerants evaporate spontaneously under reduced pressure. Meanwhile, the evaporated molecules that escape from the surface carry away the internal energy of the liquid (heats of vaporization). Thus, the evaporation of the liquefied refrigerant (e.g., water initially at 25° C.) cools the remaining liquid into a state of lower temperature under reduced pressure.
  • This refrigeration mechanism can be maintained in principle as long as a good vacuum environment (e.g., better than 0.1 mbar) is created above the liquid surface.
  • the rate of evaporation is not controlled thermodynamically but kinetically.
  • ⁇ P is the pressure difference between the equilibrium vapor pressure of the liquid at temperature T and the gaseous pressure of the environment
  • N A is the Avogadro number
  • M is the molecular weight
  • R is the gas constant
  • A is the surface area of the liquid phase.
  • atomizing the liquid into micron-sized droplets delays the onset of freezing from heterogeneous nucleation because the probability of enclosing impurities (nucleation centers) inside the individual micron-sized droplets is greatly reduced. For example, the chances for a water droplet having a 1 mm diameter to enclose impurities are nine orders of magnitude higher (10 9 ) higher than droplets having a 1 ⁇ m diameter. If impurities are eliminated, a pure micron-sized droplet can be supercooled below its heterogeneous nucleation temperature down to its homogenous nucleation temperature before freezing. All of this allows micro-sized droplets to be cooled to very low temperatures before freezing.
  • the vapor pressure of the liquid state can sustain the vaporization cooling process until nucleation sets in to freeze the micron-sized droplets.
  • the vaporization cooling process would slow and the cooling temperature would reach a limit because the evaporation rates of the solid micron-sized spheres are lower than those of the liquid micron-sized droplets.
  • the equilibrium vapor pressure of liquid is greater than solid.
  • the equilibrium vapor pressure of supercooled water is about 20% higher than ice in the temperature range 0 to ⁇ 25° C.
  • the evaporative cooling is operative for both the liquid and solid micron-sized droplets so long as the external pressure is kept low (e.g., below 0.1 mbar for water).
  • the cooling effect is a kinetic process that relies on the surface area and the vapor pressure at a designated temperature of the refrigerant.
  • the refrigeration performance of the micron-sized droplets in a vacuum environment depends predominantly on the total surface areas of micron-sized droplets and partially on the relative abundances of these droplets in the supercooled and solid states.
  • liquid jet atomization by pumping a liquid through micron-sized pinholes
  • ultrasonic atomization (3) piezoelectric atomization
  • piezoelectric atomization (4) DC-discharge atomization.
  • liquid jet atomization serves the refrigeration purpose quite well.
  • a refrigeration chamber can be cooled from 21° C. to ⁇ 20° C. around 6 minutes.
  • the cooling mechanism is provided by the evaporation of micron-sized refrigerant droplets under reduced pressure.
  • the micron-sized refrigerant droplets are created by pumping the liquid refrigerant through a nozzle having an array of micron-sized pinholes.
  • FIG. 1 illustrates a refrigeration system 10 in one embodiment of the invention.
  • System 10 includes a liquid refrigerant reservoir 12 that stores a liquid refrigerant 17 .
  • Liquid refrigerant 17 is preferably in a liquid state at 25° C. and 1 atmosphere.
  • Liquid refrigerant 17 is preferably a hydrogen-bonded liquid such as water, alcohol (e.g., ethanol or methanol), an alcohol/water mixture (e.g., a 70:30 mixture of ethanol and water), or diethyl ether. In one embodiment, pure water refrigerant is used.
  • an atomizer 13 From liquid refrigerant 17 in reservoir 12 , an atomizer 13 generates micron-sized refrigerant droplets 20 .
  • atomizer 13 includes a liquid pump 14 and a nozzle 16 .
  • Liquid pump 14 forces liquid refrigerant 17 through nozzle 16 to inject micron-sized refrigerant droplets 20 into a low-pressure chamber 18 (e.g., a heat exchanger).
  • liquid pump 14 e.g., a NP-CX-100 from Nihon Seimitsu Kagaku of Tokyo, Japan
  • FIG. 2 illustrates the details of nozzle 16 .
  • Nozzle 16 includes a vacuum female fitting 52 and a vacuum male fitting 54 (e.g., VCR® fittings made by Cajon Company of Eastia, Ohio).
  • a nozzle plate 56 is inserted into vacuum female fitting 52 and secured by vacuum male fitting 54 .
  • Nozzle plate 56 has micron-sized pinholes 58 (only one is labeled) that disperse liquid refrigerant 17 as jets of micron-sized refrigerant droplets 20 having a diameter of less than 50 ⁇ m.
  • pinholes 58 have a diameter of 80 ⁇ m and generate refrigerant droplets 20 having a diameter of approximately 10 ⁇ m.
  • nozzle plate 56 is a stainless steel plate having a diameter of 13 mm and a thickness of 1 mm.
  • six or more pinholes 58 are laser-drilled into nozzle plate 56 (e.g., by a COMPEX 200 and SCANMATE 2E laser system made by Lambda Physik of Göttingen, Germany).
  • Nozzle 16 may include a heater 60 (e.g., an electric heater or a water heater that circulates room temperature water around the nozzle) to prevent liquid refrigerant 17 from clogging nozzle 16 when it freezes.
  • a heater 60 e.g., an electric heater or a water heater that circulates room temperature water around the nozzle
  • Parameters such as the flow rate, the applied pressure, the number of pinholes in the nozzle array, and the pinhole size may be modified to generate the micron-sized refrigerant droplets of the appropriate size.
  • a vacuum pump/compressor 22 reduces the pressure within heat exchanger 18 so that refrigerant droplets 20 evaporate when introduced into heat exchanger 18 and absorb heat from the remaining refrigerant droplets and its immediate surroundings.
  • Vacuum pump/compressor 22 can be a mechanical pump or a Roots pump with a backup mechanical vacuum pump (e.g., a RSV 1508 Roots pump made by Alcatel of Annecy Cedex, France, and an SD-450 vacuum pump made by Varian of Lexington, Mass.).
  • the large surface area of the atomized droplets greatly enhances their evaporate rate.
  • the pressure within heat exchanger 18 is reduced to 0.01 mbar.
  • Heat exchanger 18 may include a conduit 24 that carries a medium (e.g., ambient air) that is cooled as the medium travels into and out of heat exchanger 18 .
  • a medium e.g., ambient air
  • the medium can simply be blown over the outer surface of heat exchanger 18 .
  • the remaining refrigerant droplets 20 can cool down to about either the heterogeneous or the homogenous nucleation temperature depending on the purity and the size of the droplets.
  • water droplets of 100 ⁇ m have a heterogeneous nucleation temperature of about ⁇ 30° C. and water droplets of 1 ⁇ m have a homogenous nucleation temperature of about ⁇ 40° C.
  • the small size of refrigerant droplets 20 allows them to cool down to very low temperatures and in the extreme case allows them to supercool down to its homogenous nucleation temperature.
  • FIG. 3 illustrates heat exchanger 18 in one embodiment of the invention.
  • Heat exchanger 18 has an outlet to vacuum pump/compressor 22 located on an opposite end away from nozzle 16 .
  • Heat exchanger 18 can be made of any conventional form, e.g., coil or fin types.
  • the medium that is cooled can be any gaseous or liquefied heat transfer materials. In one embodiment, the medium is used to cool a space such as a room or a refrigeration compartment. Any refrigerant droplets 20 that do not evaporate are collected at the bottom of heat exchanger 18 and returned to reservoir 12 .
  • system 10 is an open loop refrigeration system because liquid refrigerant 17 , like water, can be safely expelled into the environment.
  • vacuum pump/compressor 22 simply expels the gaseous refrigerant into the atmosphere.
  • reservoir 12 can be replaced by a water supply line (e.g., a city supplied water line to a home or a business).
  • system 10 is a closed cycle refrigeration system because liquid refrigerant 17 cannot be safely expelled into the environment.
  • vacuum pump/compressor 22 compresses the gaseous refrigerant into an atmospheric pressure chamber 26 (e.g., another heat exchanger).
  • heat changer 26 may include a conduit 28 that carries another medium (e.g., ambient air) that condenses the gaseous refrigerants as the medium travels into and out of heat exchanger 26 .
  • the medium can simply be blown over the outer surface of heat exchanger 26 .
  • the heated medium can be any gaseous or liquefied heat transfer materials.
  • the heated medium is expelled to the environment.
  • the heated medium is used to heat a space such as a room or a heating compartment.
  • the cooled liquid refrigerant 17 then exits heat exchanger 26 and returns to reservoir 12 .
  • FIGS. 4 and 5 show the experimental results of one embodiment of an open loop refrigeration system 10 using a pure water refrigerant, a 6-pinhole nozzle 16 , and a flow rate of 80 ml/minute.
  • FIG. 4 shows the temperature recorded at location 1 ( FIG. 3 ) around heat exchanger 18
  • FIG. 5 shows the temperatures recorded at location 2 ( FIG. 3 ) at the bottom of heat exchanger 18 .
  • the temperature began to rise at the end of the experiment. This is because the water refrigerant started to clog nozzle 16 when it froze because nozzle 16 was not heated in the experiment.
  • the results show that temperatures as low as ⁇ 25° C. can be achieved, which is unexpected for a water refrigeration system and not disclosed by any known prior art.
  • Applicant believes that the water refrigerant did not cool beyond the heterogeneous nucleation temperature due to the impurities introduced into the water refrigerant by the experimental refrigeration system. These impurities form nucleators around which ice is formed, thereby preventing the water refrigerant from being cooled beyond the heterogeneous nucleation temperature. Even without supercooling, the water refrigeration system was able to provide sufficient cooling for most application. Conventional refinements of the refrigeration system would reduce or remove the impurities and allow supercooling of the water refrigerant to temperatures down to the homogenous nucleation temperature.
  • FIGS. 6 and 7 show the experimental results of one embodiment of an open loop refrigeration system 10 using an ethanol refrigerant (99.5%), a 6-pinhole nozzle 16 , and a flow rate of 80 ml/minute.
  • FIG. 6 shows the temperature recorded at location 1 ( FIG. 3 ) around heat exchanger 18
  • FIG. 7 shows the temperatures recorded at location 2 ( FIG. 3 ) at the bottom of heat exchanger 18 .
  • the temperature began to rise at the end of the experiment. This is because the ethanol refrigerant started to clog nozzle 16 when it froze because nozzle 16 was not heated in the experiment.
  • methanol/water or ethanol/water refrigerant may be used in system 10 .
  • pure water or ethanol/water refrigerant may be used in system 10 .
  • water systems can find their roles in the market of domestic appliances, while pure ethanol, ethanol/water, and methanol/water refrigeration systems can be employed in manufacturing industries and in large storage facilities.
  • hydrogen-bonded liquid refrigerants are not limited to the specific chemical compounds mentioned above.
  • the material, the fabrication method, and the characteristics of the nozzle are not limited to those mentioned above.
  • Liquid atomization by other well-known techniques, such as ultrasonic, piezoelectric, and electric discharge methods, can be used in place of the pump and the nozzle. Numerous embodiments are encompassed by the following claims.

Abstract

A system for controlling temperature includes an atomizer that forms micron-sized hydrogen-bonded refrigerant droplets within a chamber. A vacuum pump is coupled to the chamber to lower its interior pressure. Under these conditions, the refrigerant droplets evaporate while lowering the temperature of its immediate surrounding. The reduced pressure in the chamber delays the freezing of the refrigerant droplets to below 0° C. at about at least one of a heterogeneous nucleation temperature and a homogenous nucleation temperature of the refrigerant droplets at their size. The atomizer includes a pump that forces a hydrogen-bonded liquid refrigerant through a nozzle.

Description

    CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
  • This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/865,659, filed on Jun. 9, 2004, and incorporated herein by reference.
  • FIELD OF INVENTION
  • This invention relates to refrigeration systems.
  • DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART
  • Conventional refrigeration systems employ the compression technology of chlorofluorocarbon (CFC), hydrofluorocarbon (HFC), hydrochlorofluorocarbon (HCFC), and ammonium (NH3) refrigerants. Gaseous refrigerants are compressed to the liquid state through heat exchanges with the environment. Evaporations of liquefied CFC or NH3 refrigerants provide the cooling mechanism. Because the heat of vaporization of NH3 is larger than those of CFCs, and that NH3 is easily compressible to a condensed phase, NH3 compression refrigeration systems are widely utilized in various manufacturing industries and in large storage facilities. On the other hand, the corrosive characteristics of NH3 require that special operational precautions to be imposed. Thus, domestic refrigerators and air-conditioners (including motor vehicle ACs) invariably utilize the compression technology of CFC refrigerants.
  • Under the Montreal Protocol, CFCs were phased out on January 1996 and HCFCs will be phased out on January 2020 in developed countries. Under the Kyoto Protocol, greenhouse gases emitted by the developed countries must be reduced by 5.2% of the 1990 level from 2008 to 2012. As one of the six greenhouse gases identified in the Kyoto Protocol, HFC refrigerants can no longer be considered as a substitute for CFC refrigerants. The formidable issues of ozone depletion and the greenhouse effect caused by CFC, HCFC, and HFC refrigerants demand a new refrigeration technology.
  • Propane, carbon dioxide, and ammonium refrigerants have been proposed as replacements for the CFC, HCFC, and HFC refrigerants. However, these refrigerants are inherent hazardous to human health. For example, propane can leak and cause an explosion or a fire. The high pressure of a carbon dioxide refrigeration system, often greater than 73 atmospheres, is inherently dangerous. The use of carbon dioxide in confined space also runs the risk of suffocating the inhabitants. Likewise, ammonium is well-known for its toxicity.
  • In the prior art, water is not used as the refrigerant for a compression cycle refrigerating system. A. D. Althouse, C. H. Turnquist, A. F. Bracciano, “Modern Refrigeration and Air Conditioning,” The Goodheart-Willcox Co., South Holland, Ill., 1988, p. 295. However, water is the refrigerant for steam jet refrigeration used to air-condition large facilities. Id. A steam jet refrigeration chiller employs the momentum of steam to pump away gaseous water molecules. Thus, evaporation of water in the chill tank under reduced pressure cools down the water reservoir in the chill tank. This is an inefficient method that relies on an inexpensive supply of high pressure steam and can only cool the water reservoir to about 4° C. In general, practitioners in the field are convinced that a refrigeration scheme based on a pure water refrigerant cannot go beyond the standard freezing point of H2O at 0° C.
  • In the prior art, such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,159,251, 2,386,554, 4,866,947, 5,046,321, and 6,672,091, atomizers have been used instead of the expansion valve in conventional compression cycle refrigerating systems to improve the evaporation rate of the refrigerant.
  • Thus, what is needed is a refrigeration system that (1) employs a refrigerant that is environmental-friendly, chemically non-corrosive, non-flammable, and physiologically harmless, and (2) provides the same or better performance while consuming the same or less energy as conventional technologies.
  • BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
  • FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a refrigeration system in one embodiment of the invention.
  • FIG. 2 is a schematic of a nozzle used to generate jets of micron-sized refrigerant droplets in one embodiment of the invention.
  • FIG. 3 is a schematic of a low-pressure heat exchanger for transferring heat away from ambient air to refrigerant droplets in one embodiment of the invention.
  • FIGS. 4 and 5 are charts illustrating the result of an open loop water refrigeration system in one embodiment of the invention.
  • FIGS. 6 and 7 are charts illustrating the result of an open loop alcohol refrigeration system in one embodiment of the invention.
  • Use of the same reference numbers in different figures indicates similar or identical elements.
  • SUMMARY
  • In one embodiment of the invention, a system for controlling temperature includes an atomizer that forms micron-sized hydrogen-bonded refrigerant droplets within a chamber. A vacuum pump is coupled to the chamber to lower its interior pressure. Under these conditions, the refrigerant droplets evaporate while lowering the temperature of its immediate surrounding. The reduced pressure in the chamber delays the freezing of the refrigerant droplets to below 0° C. at about at least one of a heterogeneous nucleation temperature and a homogenous nucleation temperature of the refrigerant droplets at their size. In one embodiment, the atomizer includes a pump that forces a hydrogen-bonded liquid refrigerant through a nozzle.
  • In one embodiment, a method for controlling temperature includes lowering the pressure within a chamber and generating micron-sized hydrogen-bonded refrigerant droplets within the chamber. Under these conditions, the refrigerant droplets evaporate while lowering the temperature of its immediate surrounding. The reduced pressure in the chamber delays the freezing of the refrigerant droplets to below 0° C. at about at least one of a heterogeneous nucleation temperature and a homogenous nucleation temperature of the refrigerant droplets at their size. In one embodiment, the refrigerant droplets are generated by pumping a hydrogen-bonded liquid refrigerant through a nozzle.
  • DETAILED DESCRIPTION
  • A liquid jet refrigeration system utilizes the atomization of hydrogen-bonded liquid refrigerants to meet environmental needs, occupational safety standards, and fast cooling rates. The evaporation efficiencies of environmental-friendly hydrogen-bonded liquid refrigerants are greatly enhanced by atomizing them into streams of micron-sized refrigerant droplets. In addition to the advantage of the large heats of vaporization of hydrogen-bonded liquid refrigerants, these gaseous refrigerants are easily condensed under compression. Energy consumptions of the liquid jet refrigeration system are more efficient in comparison with those of conventional technologies.
  • After 1950, refrigerants that are liquids at room temperatures (25° C.) and 1 atmosphere have never been considered for refrigeration systems using compression technologies. However, there are many hydrogen-bonded liquids that are environmental-friendly, chemically non-corrosive, non-flammable, and physiologically harmless (e.g., alcohol/water mixtures, such as ethyl alcohol (C2H5OH)). Above all, they exhibit heats of vaporization larger than those of NH3 (ΔHvap 0=40.6 kJ/mole, 43.5 kJ/mole, and 23.35 kJ/mole for water, ethyl alcohol, and ammonia, respectively).
  • According to their phase diagrams and thermodynamic properties, these liquid refrigerants evaporate spontaneously under reduced pressure. Meanwhile, the evaporated molecules that escape from the surface carry away the internal energy of the liquid (heats of vaporization). Thus, the evaporation of the liquefied refrigerant (e.g., water initially at 25° C.) cools the remaining liquid into a state of lower temperature under reduced pressure. This refrigeration mechanism can be maintained in principle as long as a good vacuum environment (e.g., better than 0.1 mbar) is created above the liquid surface.
  • In practice, the rate of evaporation is not controlled thermodynamically but kinetically. According to the kinetic theory of gases, the rate of evaporation N t
    is given by: N t = - Δ PN A A ( 2 π MRT ) 1 / 2 , ( 1 )
    where ΔP is the pressure difference between the equilibrium vapor pressure of the liquid at temperature T and the gaseous pressure of the environment, NA is the Avogadro number, M is the molecular weight, R is the gas constant, and A is the surface area of the liquid phase. When a 1 cm3 liquid droplet is dispersed into 1 μm micro-spheres, the surface area is increased by four orders of magnitude (104). Consequently, the rate of cooling is substantially enhanced by atomizing the liquid into micron-sized droplets (i.e., dispersing a liquid into mist).
  • Furthermore, atomizing the liquid into micron-sized droplets delays the onset of freezing from heterogeneous nucleation because the probability of enclosing impurities (nucleation centers) inside the individual micron-sized droplets is greatly reduced. For example, the chances for a water droplet having a 1 mm diameter to enclose impurities are nine orders of magnitude higher (109) higher than droplets having a 1 μm diameter. If impurities are eliminated, a pure micron-sized droplet can be supercooled below its heterogeneous nucleation temperature down to its homogenous nucleation temperature before freezing. All of this allows micro-sized droplets to be cooled to very low temperatures before freezing.
  • As long as the micron-sized droplets remain in the liquid state, the vapor pressure of the liquid state can sustain the vaporization cooling process until nucleation sets in to freeze the micron-sized droplets. Once the micron-sized droplets freeze, the vaporization cooling process would slow and the cooling temperature would reach a limit because the evaporation rates of the solid micron-sized spheres are lower than those of the liquid micron-sized droplets. This is because thermodynamically, the equilibrium vapor pressure of liquid is greater than solid. For example, the equilibrium vapor pressure of supercooled water is about 20% higher than ice in the temperature range 0 to −25° C.
  • Nonetheless, the evaporative cooling is operative for both the liquid and solid micron-sized droplets so long as the external pressure is kept low (e.g., below 0.1 mbar for water). In other words, the cooling effect is a kinetic process that relies on the surface area and the vapor pressure at a designated temperature of the refrigerant. The refrigeration performance of the micron-sized droplets in a vacuum environment depends predominantly on the total surface areas of micron-sized droplets and partially on the relative abundances of these droplets in the supercooled and solid states.
  • There are many techniques to atomize liquids into micron-sized droplets, including (1) liquid jet atomization by pumping a liquid through micron-sized pinholes, (2) ultrasonic atomization, (3) piezoelectric atomization, and (4) DC-discharge atomization. Presently, experiments demonstrate that liquid jet atomization serves the refrigeration purpose quite well. For example, a refrigeration chamber can be cooled from 21° C. to −20° C. around 6 minutes. The cooling mechanism is provided by the evaporation of micron-sized refrigerant droplets under reduced pressure. The micron-sized refrigerant droplets are created by pumping the liquid refrigerant through a nozzle having an array of micron-sized pinholes.
  • FIG. 1 illustrates a refrigeration system 10 in one embodiment of the invention. System 10 includes a liquid refrigerant reservoir 12 that stores a liquid refrigerant 17. Liquid refrigerant 17 is preferably in a liquid state at 25° C. and 1 atmosphere. Liquid refrigerant 17 is preferably a hydrogen-bonded liquid such as water, alcohol (e.g., ethanol or methanol), an alcohol/water mixture (e.g., a 70:30 mixture of ethanol and water), or diethyl ether. In one embodiment, pure water refrigerant is used.
  • From liquid refrigerant 17 in reservoir 12, an atomizer 13 generates micron-sized refrigerant droplets 20. In one embodiment, atomizer 13 includes a liquid pump 14 and a nozzle 16. Liquid pump 14 forces liquid refrigerant 17 through nozzle 16 to inject micron-sized refrigerant droplets 20 into a low-pressure chamber 18 (e.g., a heat exchanger). In one embodiment, liquid pump 14 (e.g., a NP-CX-100 from Nihon Seimitsu Kagaku of Tokyo, Japan) delivers a flow rate of 80 ml/min at a pressure of 30 bar.
  • FIG. 2 illustrates the details of nozzle 16. Nozzle 16 includes a vacuum female fitting 52 and a vacuum male fitting 54 (e.g., VCR® fittings made by Cajon Company of Macedonia, Ohio). A nozzle plate 56 is inserted into vacuum female fitting 52 and secured by vacuum male fitting 54. Nozzle plate 56 has micron-sized pinholes 58 (only one is labeled) that disperse liquid refrigerant 17 as jets of micron-sized refrigerant droplets 20 having a diameter of less than 50 μm.
  • In one embodiment, pinholes 58 have a diameter of 80 μm and generate refrigerant droplets 20 having a diameter of approximately 10 μm. In this embodiment, nozzle plate 56 is a stainless steel plate having a diameter of 13 mm and a thickness of 1 mm. In this embodiment, six or more pinholes 58 are laser-drilled into nozzle plate 56 (e.g., by a COMPEX 200 and SCANMATE 2E laser system made by Lambda Physik of Göttingen, Germany).
  • Nozzle 16 may include a heater 60 (e.g., an electric heater or a water heater that circulates room temperature water around the nozzle) to prevent liquid refrigerant 17 from clogging nozzle 16 when it freezes. Parameters such as the flow rate, the applied pressure, the number of pinholes in the nozzle array, and the pinhole size may be modified to generate the micron-sized refrigerant droplets of the appropriate size.
  • Referring back to FIG. 1, a vacuum pump/compressor 22 reduces the pressure within heat exchanger 18 so that refrigerant droplets 20 evaporate when introduced into heat exchanger 18 and absorb heat from the remaining refrigerant droplets and its immediate surroundings. Vacuum pump/compressor 22 can be a mechanical pump or a Roots pump with a backup mechanical vacuum pump (e.g., a RSV 1508 Roots pump made by Alcatel of Annecy Cedex, France, and an SD-450 vacuum pump made by Varian of Lexington, Mass.). The large surface area of the atomized droplets greatly enhances their evaporate rate. In one embodiment, the pressure within heat exchanger 18 is reduced to 0.01 mbar. Heat exchanger 18 may include a conduit 24 that carries a medium (e.g., ambient air) that is cooled as the medium travels into and out of heat exchanger 18. Alternatively, the medium can simply be blown over the outer surface of heat exchanger 18.
  • As refrigerant droplets 20 evaporate and absorb heat from the remaining refrigerant droplets, the remaining refrigerant droplets can cool down to about either the heterogeneous or the homogenous nucleation temperature depending on the purity and the size of the droplets. For example, water droplets of 100 μm have a heterogeneous nucleation temperature of about −30° C. and water droplets of 1 μm have a homogenous nucleation temperature of about −40° C. Thus, the small size of refrigerant droplets 20 allows them to cool down to very low temperatures and in the extreme case allows them to supercool down to its homogenous nucleation temperature.
  • FIG. 3 illustrates heat exchanger 18 in one embodiment of the invention. Heat exchanger 18 has an outlet to vacuum pump/compressor 22 located on an opposite end away from nozzle 16. Heat exchanger 18 can be made of any conventional form, e.g., coil or fin types. The medium that is cooled can be any gaseous or liquefied heat transfer materials. In one embodiment, the medium is used to cool a space such as a room or a refrigeration compartment. Any refrigerant droplets 20 that do not evaporate are collected at the bottom of heat exchanger 18 and returned to reservoir 12.
  • In one embodiment, system 10 is an open loop refrigeration system because liquid refrigerant 17, like water, can be safely expelled into the environment. In this embodiment, vacuum pump/compressor 22 simply expels the gaseous refrigerant into the atmosphere. In this embodiment, reservoir 12 can be replaced by a water supply line (e.g., a city supplied water line to a home or a business).
  • In one embodiment, system 10 is a closed cycle refrigeration system because liquid refrigerant 17 cannot be safely expelled into the environment. In this embodiment, vacuum pump/compressor 22 compresses the gaseous refrigerant into an atmospheric pressure chamber 26 (e.g., another heat exchanger).
  • Referring back to FIG. 1, heat changer 26 may include a conduit 28 that carries another medium (e.g., ambient air) that condenses the gaseous refrigerants as the medium travels into and out of heat exchanger 26. Alternatively, the medium can simply be blown over the outer surface of heat exchanger 26. As the gaseous refrigerant condenses, it heats the medium. The heated medium can be any gaseous or liquefied heat transfer materials. In one embodiment, the heated medium is expelled to the environment. In one embodiment, the heated medium is used to heat a space such as a room or a heating compartment. The cooled liquid refrigerant 17 then exits heat exchanger 26 and returns to reservoir 12.
  • FIGS. 4 and 5 show the experimental results of one embodiment of an open loop refrigeration system 10 using a pure water refrigerant, a 6-pinhole nozzle 16, and a flow rate of 80 ml/minute. Specifically, FIG. 4 shows the temperature recorded at location 1 (FIG. 3) around heat exchanger 18, and FIG. 5 shows the temperatures recorded at location 2 (FIG. 3) at the bottom of heat exchanger 18. As can be seen in FIGS. 4 and 5, the temperature began to rise at the end of the experiment. This is because the water refrigerant started to clog nozzle 16 when it froze because nozzle 16 was not heated in the experiment. The results show that temperatures as low as −25° C. can be achieved, which is unexpected for a water refrigeration system and not disclosed by any known prior art.
  • Applicant believes that the water refrigerant did not cool beyond the heterogeneous nucleation temperature due to the impurities introduced into the water refrigerant by the experimental refrigeration system. These impurities form nucleators around which ice is formed, thereby preventing the water refrigerant from being cooled beyond the heterogeneous nucleation temperature. Even without supercooling, the water refrigeration system was able to provide sufficient cooling for most application. Conventional refinements of the refrigeration system would reduce or remove the impurities and allow supercooling of the water refrigerant to temperatures down to the homogenous nucleation temperature.
  • FIGS. 6 and 7 show the experimental results of one embodiment of an open loop refrigeration system 10 using an ethanol refrigerant (99.5%), a 6-pinhole nozzle 16, and a flow rate of 80 ml/minute. Specifically, FIG. 6 shows the temperature recorded at location 1 (FIG. 3) around heat exchanger 18, and FIG. 7 shows the temperatures recorded at location 2 (FIG. 3) at the bottom of heat exchanger 18. Again as can be seen in FIGS. 6 and 7, the temperature began to rise at the end of the experiment. This is because the ethanol refrigerant started to clog nozzle 16 when it froze because nozzle 16 was not heated in the experiment.
  • For a fast cooling rate and an ultimate low temperature, methanol/water or ethanol/water refrigerant may be used in system 10. For an environmentally friendly, chemically non-corrosive, non-flammable, and physiologically harmless refrigerant, pure water or ethanol/water refrigerant may be used in system 10. Thus, water systems can find their roles in the market of domestic appliances, while pure ethanol, ethanol/water, and methanol/water refrigeration systems can be employed in manufacturing industries and in large storage facilities.
  • Various other adaptations and combinations of features of the embodiments disclosed are within the scope of the invention. For example, hydrogen-bonded liquid refrigerants are not limited to the specific chemical compounds mentioned above. The material, the fabrication method, and the characteristics of the nozzle are not limited to those mentioned above. Liquid atomization by other well-known techniques, such as ultrasonic, piezoelectric, and electric discharge methods, can be used in place of the pump and the nozzle. Numerous embodiments are encompassed by the following claims.

Claims (38)

1. A compression cycle refrigeration system, comprising:
a chamber;
a vacuum pump coupled to the chamber, the vacuum pump lowering pressure within the chamber to 0.1 mbar or less;
a supply of a liquid hydrogen-bonded refrigerant;
an atomizer coupled between the supply and the chamber, the atomizer outputting micron-sized refrigerant droplets into the chamber;
wherein the refrigerant droplets have diameters that are 50 microns or less, the refrigerant droplets evaporate to form a gaseous refrigerant by absorbing heat from its surrounding, and a low pressure in the chamber delays freezing of the refrigerant droplets to below 0° C. at about at least one of a heterogeneous nucleation temperature and a homogenous nucleation temperature of the refrigerant droplets at their size.
2. The system of claim 1, wherein the pressure within the chamber is 0.01 mbar or less, and the refrigerant droplets have diameters of about 10 microns.
3. The system of claim 1, wherein the atomizer is selected from the group consisting of an ultrasonic atomizer, a piezoelectric atomizer, and an electric discharge atomizer.
4. The system of claim 1, wherein the atomizer includes:
a nozzle; and
a pump coupled between the supply and the nozzle, wherein the pump forces the liquid hydrogen-bonded refrigerant through the nozzle to form the micron-sized refrigerant droplets.
5. The system of claim 4, wherein the nozzle comprises pinholes.
6. The system of claim 5, wherein the pinholes have a diameter of 20 microns or less.
7. The system of claim 4, wherein the nozzle further a heater to heat the nozzle.
8. The system of claim 1, wherein the hydrogen-bonded refrigerant is in its liquid state at 25° C. and 1 atmosphere.
9. The system of claim 1, wherein the hydrogen-bonded refrigerant is water.
10. The system of claim 9, wherein the vacuum pump expels the gaseous refrigerant to the atmosphere.
11. The system of claim 1, wherein the hydrogen-bonded refrigerant is selected from the group consisting of alcohol and alcohol/water mixture.
12. The system of claim 11, wherein the alcohol/water mixture comprises a 70:30 mixture of ethyl alcohol and water.
13. The system of claim 1, wherein the chamber is a heat exchanger including a conduit carrying a medium into and out from the heat exchanger to cool the medium.
14. The system of claim 13, wherein the medium is air used to cool a space.
15. The system of claim 1, wherein a medium is moved over the outer surface of the chamber to cool the medium.
16. The system of claim 15, wherein the medium is air used to cool a space.
17. The system of claim 1, further comprising:
another chamber coupled to between the vacuum pump and the supply, wherein the vacuum pump compresses the gaseous refrigerant into said another chamber, the gaseous refrigerant condenses inside said another chamber to form the liquid refrigerant by loosing heat to its surrounding and is returned to the supply.
18. The system of claim 17, wherein the chamber is a heat exchanger including a conduit carrying a medium into and out from the heat exchanger to absorb heat from the gaseous refrigerant.
19. The system of claim 17, wherein a medium is moved over the outer surface of the chamber to absorb heat from the gaseous refrigerant.
20. The system of claim 17, wherein the supply is further coupled to the chamber to collect any refrigerant droplets that do not evaporate.
21. A method for controlling temperature, comprising:
reducing pressure within a chamber with a vacuum pump to 0.1 mbar or less;
atomizing a liquid hydrogen-bonded refrigerant to form micron-sized hydrogen-bonded refrigerant droplets within the chamber;
wherein the refrigerant droplets have diameters that are 50 microns or less, the refrigerant droplets evaporate to form a gaseous refrigerant by absorbing heat from its surrounding, and a low pressure in the chamber delays freezing of the refrigerant droplets to below 0° C. at about at least one of a heterogeneous nucleation temperature and a homogenous nucleation temperature of the refrigerant droplets at their size.
22. The method of claim 21, wherein the pressure within the chamber is 0.01 mbar or less, and the refrigerant droplets have diameters of about 10 microns.
23. The method of claim 21, wherein said atomizing comprises a method selected from the group consisting of an ultrasonic atomizing method, a piezoelectric atomizing method, and an electric discharge atomizing method.
24. The method of claim 21, wherein said atomizing comprises pumping the liquid refrigerant through a nozzle with a pump.
25. The method of claim 24, wherein the nozzle comprises pinholes, the pinholes comprising a diameter of 20 microns or less.
26. The method of claim 25, further comprising heating the nozzle.
27. The method of claim 21, wherein the hydrogen-bonded refrigerant is in its liquid state at 25° C. and 1 atmosphere.
28. The method of claim 21, wherein the hydrogen-bonded refrigerant is water.
29. The method of claim 28, further comprising expelling the gaseous refrigerant to the atmosphere.
30. The method of claim 21, wherein the hydrogen-bonded refrigerant is selected from the group consisting of alcohol and alcohol/water mixture.
31. The method of claim 30, wherein the alcohol/water mixture comprises a 70:30 mixture of ethyl alcohol and water.
32. The method of claim 21, wherein a medium passed into and out of the chamber to cool the medium.
33. The method of claim 32, wherein the medium is air used to cool a space.
34. The method of claim 21, wherein a medium passed over the chamber to cool the medium.
35. The method of claim 34, wherein the medium is air used to cool a space.
36. The method of claim 21, further comprising:
compressing the gaseous refrigerant with the vacuum pump into another chamber;
condensing the gaseous refrigerant in said another chamber to form the liquid refrigerant; and
returning the liquid refrigerant for use in said atomizing.
37. The method of claim 36, wherein said condensing the gaseous refrigerant comprises passing a medium into and out of said another chamber to heat the medium.
38. The method of claim 36, wherein said condensing the gaseous refrigerant comprises passing a medium over said another chamber to cool the medium.
US11/550,331 2004-06-09 2006-10-17 Atomized Liquid Jet Refrigeration System Abandoned US20070062205A1 (en)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US11/550,331 US20070062205A1 (en) 2004-06-09 2006-10-17 Atomized Liquid Jet Refrigeration System

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US10/865,659 US7159407B2 (en) 2004-06-09 2004-06-09 Atomized liquid jet refrigeration system
US11/550,331 US20070062205A1 (en) 2004-06-09 2006-10-17 Atomized Liquid Jet Refrigeration System

Related Parent Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
US10/865,659 Continuation-In-Part US7159407B2 (en) 2004-06-09 2004-06-09 Atomized liquid jet refrigeration system

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
US20070062205A1 true US20070062205A1 (en) 2007-03-22

Family

ID=34978983

Family Applications (2)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
US10/865,659 Expired - Fee Related US7159407B2 (en) 2004-06-09 2004-06-09 Atomized liquid jet refrigeration system
US11/550,331 Abandoned US20070062205A1 (en) 2004-06-09 2006-10-17 Atomized Liquid Jet Refrigeration System

Family Applications Before (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
US10/865,659 Expired - Fee Related US7159407B2 (en) 2004-06-09 2004-06-09 Atomized liquid jet refrigeration system

Country Status (3)

Country Link
US (2) US7159407B2 (en)
EP (1) EP1607697A3 (en)
TW (1) TWI274131B (en)

Cited By (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US20070186567A1 (en) * 2006-02-10 2007-08-16 Theodore Hall Gasteyer Method of inducing nucleation of a material
CN102654326A (en) * 2012-05-28 2012-09-05 中国矿业大学 Double-injection refrigeration device synergized by gas-liquid ejector
CN104864765A (en) * 2015-04-08 2015-08-26 南京阿克赛斯科技有限公司 Vacuum water-feeding system of cooling tower
WO2021007522A1 (en) * 2019-07-11 2021-01-14 Fog Atomic Technologies Llc Burst atomization fractionation system, method and apparatus

Families Citing this family (13)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US8863547B2 (en) * 2006-04-05 2014-10-21 Ben M. Enis Desalination method and system using compressed air energy systems
CN101813352A (en) * 2009-02-25 2010-08-25 王海 Jet-type air conditioner
US8820104B2 (en) * 2010-10-22 2014-09-02 Tai-Her Yang Temperature regulation system with active jetting type refrigerant supply and regulation
US9074783B2 (en) * 2010-11-12 2015-07-07 Tai-Her Yang Temperature regulation system with hybrid refrigerant supply and regulation
KR101912837B1 (en) * 2011-12-21 2018-10-29 양태허 Temperature regulation system with active jetting type refrigerant supply and regulation
CN103216427B (en) * 2013-03-20 2016-05-18 西北大学 Cold water circulating type vacuum pump
CN104776627A (en) * 2015-04-20 2015-07-15 南京祥源动力供应有限公司 Energy-saving type improved freezer circulating water system
US10634397B2 (en) * 2015-09-17 2020-04-28 Purdue Research Foundation Devices, systems, and methods for the rapid transient cooling of pulsed heat sources
US9885002B2 (en) 2016-04-29 2018-02-06 Emerson Climate Technologies, Inc. Carbon dioxide co-fluid
WO2019169187A1 (en) * 2018-02-28 2019-09-06 Treau, Inc. Roll diaphragm compressor and low-pressure vapor compression cycles
US11333412B2 (en) 2019-03-07 2022-05-17 Emerson Climate Technologies, Inc. Climate-control system with absorption chiller
US11221163B2 (en) * 2019-08-02 2022-01-11 Randy Lefor Evaporator having integrated pulse wave atomizer expansion device
WO2021205199A1 (en) * 2020-04-06 2021-10-14 Edwards Korea Limited Pipe arrangement

Citations (8)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3844132A (en) * 1973-09-14 1974-10-29 Inter Process Corp Produce cooler and method of cooling product
US4192630A (en) * 1978-10-18 1980-03-11 Union Oil Company Of California Method and apparatus for building ice islands
US4429735A (en) * 1978-11-07 1984-02-07 Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha Simplified air conditioner
US4567847A (en) * 1983-08-23 1986-02-04 Board Of Regents, The University Of Texas System Apparatus and method for cryopreparing biological tissue for ultrastructural analysis
US4813238A (en) * 1988-03-25 1989-03-21 Tan Domingo K L Atomized instant cooling process
US4866947A (en) * 1988-11-08 1989-09-19 Thermotek, Inc. Method and apparatus for gas conditioning by low-temperature vaporization and compression of refrigerants, specifically as applied to air
US6038869A (en) * 1997-10-31 2000-03-21 Korea Institute Of Science And Technology Method and apparatus for making spherical ice particles
US20040194492A1 (en) * 2002-09-27 2004-10-07 Isothermal Systems Research Hotspot coldplate spray cooling system

Family Cites Families (33)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US1619194A (en) * 1922-11-29 1927-03-01 Chicago Pneumatic Tool Co Working substance for heat engines
US1619196A (en) * 1925-03-12 1927-03-01 Chicago Pneumatic Tool Co Process of transforming heat
US1845356A (en) * 1928-08-24 1932-02-16 Paul F Scholbe Refrigerant
US1892741A (en) 1928-08-24 1933-01-03 Paul F Scholbe Refrigerant
US1882257A (en) * 1931-05-18 1932-10-11 Randel Bo Folke Means and method of refrigeration
US2158741A (en) * 1936-08-01 1939-05-16 Evans Prod Co Vehicle body air circulating and conditioning apparatus
US2159251A (en) * 1936-11-14 1939-05-23 Robert T Brizzolara Refrigeration method and apparatus
US2366554A (en) * 1942-04-10 1945-01-02 American Optical Corp Eye testing apparatus
US2386554A (en) 1943-06-29 1945-10-09 John R Holicer Method and apparatus for storing, atomizing, and generating liquefied petroleum gases
US3909957A (en) * 1971-07-14 1975-10-07 Arjun Dev Passey Apparatus for freeze-drying
DE2651871C2 (en) * 1976-11-13 1984-12-06 Linde Ag, 6200 Wiesbaden Method and device for cooling objects or substances
US4221240A (en) * 1978-09-29 1980-09-09 Air Conditioning Corporation Apparatus and method for absorbing moisture removed from fluid-jet loom
US4608119A (en) * 1980-08-22 1986-08-26 Niagara Blower Company Apparatus for concentrating aqueous solutions
US4821794A (en) * 1988-04-04 1989-04-18 Thermal Energy Storage, Inc. Clathrate thermal storage system
US5046321A (en) * 1988-11-08 1991-09-10 Thermotek, Inc. Method and apparatus for gas conditioning by low-temperature vaporization and compression of refrigerants, specifically as applied to air
CH678099A5 (en) * 1988-11-17 1991-07-31 Basten Maria Sibylle
JPH03143502A (en) * 1989-10-30 1991-06-19 Tonen Corp Ultrasonic concentrator
DE4005228A1 (en) * 1990-02-20 1991-08-22 Wolf Gmbh Richard LITHOTRIPSY DEVICE WITH A PLANT FOR TREATING THE ACOUSTIC COUPLING MEDIUM
JP3281019B2 (en) * 1992-01-30 2002-05-13 同和鉱業株式会社 Method and apparatus for producing zinc particles
BE1006656A3 (en) * 1992-01-31 1994-11-08 Bernard Thienpont Method and devices for food processing.
JP2512852B2 (en) * 1992-07-16 1996-07-03 鹿島建設株式会社 Refrigerant for ice making
AUPN629295A0 (en) * 1995-10-31 1995-11-23 University Of Queensland, The Method and apparatus for separating liquid mixtures using intermittent heating
AU2326297A (en) * 1996-03-06 1997-09-22 I. Belloch Corporation Method for treating liquid materials
US6503480B1 (en) * 1997-05-23 2003-01-07 Massachusetts Institute Of Technology Aerodynamically light particles for pulmonary drug delivery
US5788667A (en) * 1996-07-19 1998-08-04 Stoller; Glenn Fluid jet vitrectomy device and method for use
CA2303399A1 (en) * 1997-09-23 1999-04-01 Ib2, L.L.C. Rapid thermal cycle processing methods and apparatus
US6180843B1 (en) * 1997-10-14 2001-01-30 Mobil Oil Corporation Method for producing gas hydrates utilizing a fluidized bed
JPH11280650A (en) * 1998-03-25 1999-10-15 Mitsuhiro Kanao Freezer having fluid avoiding stroke pump
US6518349B1 (en) * 1999-03-31 2003-02-11 E. I. Du Pont De Nemours And Company Sprayable powder of non-fibrillatable fluoropolymer
US6601776B1 (en) * 1999-09-22 2003-08-05 Microcoating Technologies, Inc. Liquid atomization methods and devices
US6672091B1 (en) * 2002-01-23 2004-01-06 Randy Lefor Atomization device for a refrigerant
US7000691B1 (en) * 2002-07-11 2006-02-21 Raytheon Company Method and apparatus for cooling with coolant at a subambient pressure
US6793007B1 (en) * 2003-06-12 2004-09-21 Gary W. Kramer High flux heat removal system using liquid ice

Patent Citations (8)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3844132A (en) * 1973-09-14 1974-10-29 Inter Process Corp Produce cooler and method of cooling product
US4192630A (en) * 1978-10-18 1980-03-11 Union Oil Company Of California Method and apparatus for building ice islands
US4429735A (en) * 1978-11-07 1984-02-07 Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha Simplified air conditioner
US4567847A (en) * 1983-08-23 1986-02-04 Board Of Regents, The University Of Texas System Apparatus and method for cryopreparing biological tissue for ultrastructural analysis
US4813238A (en) * 1988-03-25 1989-03-21 Tan Domingo K L Atomized instant cooling process
US4866947A (en) * 1988-11-08 1989-09-19 Thermotek, Inc. Method and apparatus for gas conditioning by low-temperature vaporization and compression of refrigerants, specifically as applied to air
US6038869A (en) * 1997-10-31 2000-03-21 Korea Institute Of Science And Technology Method and apparatus for making spherical ice particles
US20040194492A1 (en) * 2002-09-27 2004-10-07 Isothermal Systems Research Hotspot coldplate spray cooling system

Cited By (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US20070186567A1 (en) * 2006-02-10 2007-08-16 Theodore Hall Gasteyer Method of inducing nucleation of a material
US9453675B2 (en) * 2006-02-10 2016-09-27 Sp Industries, Inc. Method of inducing nucleation of a material
CN102654326A (en) * 2012-05-28 2012-09-05 中国矿业大学 Double-injection refrigeration device synergized by gas-liquid ejector
CN104864765A (en) * 2015-04-08 2015-08-26 南京阿克赛斯科技有限公司 Vacuum water-feeding system of cooling tower
WO2021007522A1 (en) * 2019-07-11 2021-01-14 Fog Atomic Technologies Llc Burst atomization fractionation system, method and apparatus

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
EP1607697A3 (en) 2007-03-14
TW200540380A (en) 2005-12-16
US20050274130A1 (en) 2005-12-15
EP1607697A2 (en) 2005-12-21
US7159407B2 (en) 2007-01-09
TWI274131B (en) 2007-02-21

Similar Documents

Publication Publication Date Title
US20070062205A1 (en) Atomized Liquid Jet Refrigeration System
EP4006445A1 (en) Carbon dioxide refrigerating system and refrigerating method thereof
JP2512852B2 (en) Refrigerant for ice making
US5400615A (en) Cooling system incorporating a secondary heat transfer circuit
WO2014057656A1 (en) Heat exchanging device and heat pump
CN104838151A (en) Ejector and heat pump device using same
CN103403476A (en) Thermally activated pressure booster for heat pumping and power generation
EP0138041B1 (en) Chemically assisted mechanical refrigeration process
WO2002016836A1 (en) Stirling cooling device, cooling chamber, and refrigerator
KR101998814B1 (en) Evaporator with improved cooling efficiency
WO2006087549A2 (en) Heat engines and compressors
JPH0339867A (en) Jet ejector type refrigeration method and apparatus
JP2004300928A (en) Multistage compressor, heat pump and heat utilization device
JP2000204360A (en) Direct expansion- and direct contact-type refrigerant for ice making
JP2996518B2 (en) Heat storage type air conditioning equipment and air conditioning method
JP2006105526A (en) Mixed refrigerant refrigerating cycle
Khan et al. LPG Refrigeration and Burner System with Low Operating Cost
US20230060116A2 (en) Vacuum cooling system and method
KR100836273B1 (en) Evaporating apparatus combining with expansion using the liquid medium injection type
KR200151248Y1 (en) Refrigerant low-temperaturizing device of cooler
CN117168010A (en) Water vapor refrigerant and application thereof
JPH09318182A (en) Absorption room cooler
JPH0712412A (en) Refrigerating cycle and refrigerating device
Nelson EVAPORATORS FOR CO2 REFRIGERATION
CN1339366A (en) Air conditioner using fuel engine heat to refrigerate and heat

Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
STCB Information on status: application discontinuation

Free format text: ABANDONED -- FAILURE TO RESPOND TO AN OFFICE ACTION