Patent Application
20180127956
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
This invention relates to improvements in generating water. More particularly, the present invention relates to water captured from the atmosphere by means of freezing and defrosting.
The drought situation globally and specifically in several U.S. Southwestern regions has been determined by experts to be in a state of emergency. Many articles about the drought problem are easily found online. Many case studies for example on the seriousness of the drought in and around the Southern California, Arizona and Nevada regions require attention to focus on providing a solution for this problem.
Various companies manufacture dehumidification machines. These machines are effective at extracting moisture from the environment in damp or humid regions, by reducing the humidity levels which cause harm to the structure of buildings and or to the products being manufactured within them.
The various dehumidification machines are basically the same as air conditioner systems commonly used every day. These systems generate water which is normally discarded into existing drainage systems.
This process of discarding condensate water occurs everywhere air conditioners are used. There is a potential method to reduce water consumption in existing buildings by storing the condensate water for multiuse. The reuse of condensate water can potentially be implemented in combination with the Atmospheric Refrigeration Corporation's system (ARC system), which are the mobile atmosphere freezer units, described herein.
A large need exists globally, especially in arid regions for a device which counters the drought crisis by generating large quantities of usable water from the atmosphere. The Atmospheric Refrigeration Corporation's system (ARC system) in the proposed disclosure provides a solution to the drought situation.
It is an objective of the atmosphere freezer (ARC System) to modify, rearrange and redesign the use of materials and components used in the cryogenics and refrigeration industry with the focus on generating the maximum amounts of usable water that can be obtained from the atmosphere by intentionally freezing coils and or panels then defrosting them, generating large amounts of clean water from the continual freezing and defrosting of coils and or panels installed inside of a “modified cargo container” that houses the (ARC system).
It is another objective of the (ARC system) for thousands of ARC system units to be incorporated into various U.S. Government agencies in order to assist State and Municipal water districts as well as aqueduct, reservoir, lake and river municipal managers by adding large quantities of clean water into their existing infrastructures for delivery to the public. This system can also be used by agriculture departments, water reclamation facilities, large mining projects, large drilling exploration projects, disaster and emergency relief agencies, new or existing housing track developments, new or existing solar farms, golf courses, hotels, hospitals, large commercial buildings and universities. Each of these applications can have the required amount of (ARC system) installations designed to meet their needs based on their available space for the placement of the container(s) housing the atmosphere freezers.
It is still another objective to provide smaller quantities of the (ARC system) for easy and quick incorporation into small farms, communities or villages in drought stricken or arid regions, where installations with as little as 1 to 10 (ARC system) units can greatly assist in overcoming lack of clean water and or supplement the municipal water available to smaller communities anywhere around the world.
Existing atmospheric water generators produce usable water by integrating equipment commonly used in the air conditioning and refrigeration industry which naturally generates pure water as a by-product from capturing condensation. The water produced through these methods is limited by the amount of relative humidity at any given time per geographical region. The invention of the “atmosphere freezer” devise overcomes the relative humidity limitation as the device is designed to intentionally create large quantities of ice from the accumulation of frost on coils which the devise can achieve at any time or geographical region with relative humidity levels below 5% as opposed to the current technology which requires very high levels of relative humidity of 70% or more and at least 30% relative humidity in order to generate any usable quantities of water from capturing condensate alone.
The objective of creating this device is to generate large quantities of clean usable water from high efficiency atmosphere freezing device(s) that generate frost on coils and or panels inside the device and then melting the frost accumulation on the coils and or panels to generate usable water. The amount of water that can be created daily from this device, can serve and facilitate a permanent solution to any region contending with drought or lack of water, unlike current technology which is limited to the relative humidity in the region.
Various objectives, features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments of the invention, along with the accompanying drawings in which like numerals represent like components.
It will be readily understood that the components of the present invention, as generally described and illustrated in the drawings herein, could be arranged and designed in a wide variety of different configurations. Thus, the following more detailed description of the embodiments of the system and method of the present invention, as represented in the drawings, is not intended to limit the scope of the invention, but is merely representative of various embodiments of the invention. The illustrated embodiments of the invention will be best understood by reference to the drawings, wherein like parts are designated by like numerals throughout.
Current air conditioning coil systems used today in most commercial and industrial buildings prove to generate large amounts of condensate water per day. For example, a 200-ton air conditioning system can produce over 6,000 gallons per day based on regional conditions.
The average results using this calculator can be increased with the (ARC System) to meet the goal of “maximum water creation via freezing and defrosting” instead of cooling a building. Using a calculation for the “outside air” factor dramatically effects water production and is 100% of what the (ARC System) uses to produce water vs only using a small portion of the outside air, as is used with typical air conditioning systems which recycle and condition “interior air”.
The data used to calculate the above 6,000 gallons of water per day, was calculated using an outside temperature of 85 degrees F., an inside temperature of 55 degrees F., an outside relative humidity (RH) of 73% and an indoor relative humidity of 50%. These factors are estimated in this application because no indoor air will be used. A 200-ton system was used in this scenario and the outside air that is being used is 100%. This resulting data is another reason why the (ARC System) was invented, to overcome the limitations of relative humidity (RH), as all industry calculations are based on the environment having no less than 30% RH, however with the ARC System, freezing occurs abundantly within RH levels far below 30%, thus freezing and defrosting is much more effective than just capturing the condensate as utilized in other atmospheric water generators.
The equipment involved in the process stated above is the same in essence as is used in the cryogenics and refrigeration industry except the unique (ARC System) is intentionally freezing and defrosting the atmosphere on the coils and or panels to generate maximum usable water thereby overcoming the limitations of relative humidity through cryogenics as freezing can occur within minimal RH levels, while maintaining flexibility for delivery to any area around the world via the containerized systems.
The louvers or roll up openings will be divided into several sections across both of the long sides of the container. Each section will open vertically from the top to the bottom of each section of the container to allow for maximum atmospheric air management onto the coil and or panel systems being frozen and defrosted within.
These figures show 6 to 12 or more fans 21 installed flush along the top of the container which draw air through the louvered or roll up sides providing the required atmospheric air to maximize freezing on the coils and or panels. The optional solar panel array will be significantly cooled from underneath the solar panels by the fans used to draw the atmosphere into the container which is cooled by default from the air drawn over the frozen coils and or panels which are continually being defrosted. This aspect of the system improves the performance of the solar panel array as heat generation is a major factor that limits solar panel performance. The solar panels generate large amounts of heat from absorption of the suns energy which reduces the panels ability to create electricity. With the cold air cooling the bottom of the panels, the solar panel array's performance and longevity increases.
In
The coils and or panels continually alternate in functioning as either an evaporator (cooling cycle) or as a condenser and gas refrigerant storage 26 (heating cycle) to eliminate the extra apparatuses typically found in air conditioning and refrigeration systems. Thus, while one bank of coils is freezing, another bank of coils is defrosting using the heat gathered from freezing the adjacent side of the system, creating a semi-closed loop system effectively utilizing the byproducts generated from itself.
The liquid cryogenic storage tank(s) 24 and condenser and gas refrigerant storage 26 tanks, circulates cryogen and or gas refrigerant through insulated pipes 23, where it passes through-an expansion or compression valve, (depending on whether freezing or defrosting is required) then back to the compressor or the liquid cryogenic storage tank(s) 24 to repeat the cycle. The frozen coils draw the moisture from the environment causing the accumulation of ice to develop on the surface of the coils when in the freezing cycle. The frozen coils are then defrosted by sending heated cryogen or gas refrigerant into the frozen coils causing them to melt the ice which just formed on the coils and or panels, the melted ice falls by gravity into a water collection basin 27 underneath the coils and or panels 22. The collected water flows along the inclined bottom portion 29, through the drain aperture 28, which delivers water into pipes connected to the existing waterway(s).
Temperature and pressure sensors 31 are used to regulate the flow of cryogen or refrigerant within the coil 22 and or panel system. This allows the system to automatically regulate the amount of time to freeze or defrost the coils. This invention is intended to maximize the use of the first law of thermodynamics which states energy can only be transformed, never lost or destroyed; such as compressed gas creates heat, while expanded gas creates cold, thus one system performing two functions is an effective use of this law.
These units can be delivered and fully operational within a very short period of time. Depending on the geography or topography of the installation, hundreds of units can be interfaced end to end weekly in various locations, to ultimately create many large-scale installations. ARC Systems are designed as needed per end user, with the geographical factors taken into consideration to maximize the ability of each installation to efficiently create large volumes of water 24 hours a day 365 days a year. The end result being many billions of gallons of clean water being delivered annually into existing waterways for public and/or private use in various locations domestically and abroad.
Another logical application is with our military installations. This system can provide large quantities of clean water for our troops anywhere they are located as well as relocation of the units to another site when needed. The application for mobile water installations is endless. From large mining projects to large agriculture operations.
For example, several hundred units can be installed along the sides of Lake Mead to deliver water back into the reservoir to offset their drought battle. This idea can be duplicated as needed anywhere in the world.
Drought Crisis
Water municipalities and districts are the primary targeted end users as many are facing a very serious water supply crisis and do not have any foreseeable solution at this time. With the ARC system, they will be able to generate water for the public and reduce if not eliminate the burden of water conservancy placed on the public. Desert hotels currently recycle most of the waste water they create. This fact makes desert hotels candidates for systems that make water from the air to supplement their water needs in addition to their recycling efforts.
It is another contemplated embodiment to use internally installed turbines 20 propelled by the cryogen or refrigerant gas. These turbines will be connected to generators similar to the generators used on small windmills which are proven to generate large amounts of electricity when wind conditions permit. The main advantage of the ARC System turbines is that it is not dependent on wind. The turbines are spun by the cryogenic or refrigerant gas continually at a minimum of 22-psi which is the equivalent of external winds of over 60-mph. Turbine generators can be used to charge the batteries and to run the equipment directly when needed. An automated onboard “wide area network” communication device can be incorporated into the ARC systems to ensure reliability and remote management and the servicing of the ARC units.
Thus, specific embodiments of an atmosphere freezer (ARC system) have been disclosed. It should be apparent, however, to those skilled in the art that many more modifications besides those described are possible without departing from the inventive concepts herein. The inventive subject matter, therefore, is not to be restricted except in the spirit of the appended claims.
This application claims the benefit of Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/418,614 filed Nov. 7, 2016 the entire contents of which is hereby expressly incorporated by reference herein.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62418614 | Nov 2016 | US |
