GB2618558A

GB2618558A - Air conditioning system

Info

Publication number: GB2618558A
Application number: GB2206802.7A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Ellerker Tony
Original assignee: Urban Cooling Ltd
Current assignee: Urban Cooling Ltd
Priority date: 2022-05-10
Filing date: 2022-05-10
Publication date: 2023-11-15
Anticipated expiration: 2042-05-10
Also published as: GB2618558B

Abstract

An air conditioning system including one or more evaporators (12, 14, 16 fig 1) , a compressor and a condenser each housed within a respective first, second (10) or third (4) spaced apart housing. The or each evaporator, the compressor and the condenser are in fluid communication with each other via conduits to form a cooling circuit. The third housing has a ratio of width to height of 2:1 and houses a condenser coil 110 at an angle of between 20° and 70°. The third housing has an air inlet 124 and an air outlet 122 which may each be connected to respective inlet (6) and outlet conduits (8) and inlet and outlet ports, the inlet and outlets ports may have a closure means that is biased to the closed position by gravity.

Description

Air Conditioning System The present invention relates to an air conditioning system, and, in particular, to an air conditioning system in which all of the components are disposed within a building.

Conventional air conditioning systems are often referred to as "split systems", as the evaporator part of the system is located within a building to be cooled and the compressor and condenser parts of the system are located externally of the building within a single housing.

However, in many areas, externally located compressor/condenser units are not permitted or not desired. This may be because the area is a conservation area or because of local policies regarding items being externally mounted on buildings.

In such cases, it is not possible to install a split air conditioning system in the building.

EP3081868 describes an air conditioning system in which the compressor is separate from the condenser. However, the condenser is located in a loft space where there is no restriction on the size of the condenser housing.

According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided an air conditioning system including one or more evaporators, wherein the or each evaporator is housed within a respective first housing; a compressor housed within a second housing; and a condenser housed within a third housing, wherein the first, second and third housings are spaced apart from each other (i.e. are separate from each other); the or each evaporator, the compressor and the condenser are in fluid communication with each other via conduits to form a cooling circuit; the third housing includes an air inlet disposed on a first side of one or more condenser coils and an air outlet disposed on a second (opposite) side of the condenser coil(s), wherein an air flow path is defined between the air inlet and air outlet and the condenser coil(s) is located within the flow path; wherein the ratio between a width dimension of the third housing and a vertical height dimension of the third housing is greater than 2:1; and the or each condenser coil defines a plane which is angled with respect to the air flow path, wherein the angle between the plane of the condenser coil and the air flow path is from 20° to 70°.

The third housing of the air conditioning system has a length dimension, which is parallel to the air flow path, a width dimension, which is perpendicular to the length dimension and a vertical height (depth) dimension. The skilled person will appreciate that the vertical height refers to the third housing when installed for normal use. The ratio of the width dimension to the vertical height dimension is at least 2:1. In other words, the width of the third housing is at least twice the vertical height of the third housing. Suitably, the ratio of the width dimension to the vertical height dimension is at least 2.5:1; at least 3:1; at least 3.5:1; or at least 4:1.

This ratio of width to vertical height allows the third housing to be located in places which have a minimum height dimension, for example, between a false ceiling and a true ceiling in a building.

The air conditioning system of the invention is intended for location within a building, suitably a domestic building, such as a house, flat or apartment. Accordingly, the condenser is located within a third housing that is intended to be located within a building. The air inlet allows air, for example from outside of the building, to enter the third housing. As the air passes over the condenser, it cools the compressed coolant within condenser coil and at the same time, the air becomes heated. The heated air is then carried away from the condenser coil by the air outlet. Suitably, the third housing is intended to be mounted between a ceiling substrate and a false or suspended ceiling located below the ceiling substrate and spaced therefrom. In order for the third housing to be suitable for location in the gap defined between a ceiling substrate and a false or suspended ceiling substrate, the third housing suitably has a vertical height (depth) dimension d (i.e. a vertical dimension of the third housing when the housing is located for use) which is less than 50cm, for example less than 40cm or less than 30cm. In order to maximise the cooling effect of the airflow over the condenser coil(s), the plane of the coils is angled with respect to the air flow path. This allows a maximum cooling effect while minimising the vertical height of the third housing.

In the context of the present invention, the condenser coil includes two major dimensions (e.g. a length dimension and a width dimension) and as such may be thought of as a substantially two-dimensional array. This two-dimensional array defines a plane of the condenser coil. The skilled person will appreciate that the condenser coil also has a minor, third dimension (e.g. a depth dimension), but this is significantly smaller than the first and second dimensions. Thus, the condenser coil may be a substantially planar component.

The angle between the plane of the condenser coil and the air flow path may be from 300 to 60°, for example, from 40° to 50° or about 45°.

The skilled person will appreciate that the air conditioning system typically further includes a coolant within the cooling circuit, wherein the coolant changes phases between a liquid phase and a gas phase as it moves around the system.

The heated air within the air outlet is suitably vented to the atmosphere externally of the building. Accordingly, the air outlet suitably includes an air outlet conduit which terminates in an outlet port. The outlet port may include one or more fixing elements. These permit the outlet port to be secured to an external wall of the building. The outlet port suitably passes through an external wall of the building. In order to prevent undesired foreign objects entering the building via the outlet port, the outlet port may include a closure element, such as a door or flap or louver arrangement. The closure element may be biased to a closed configuration in which access to and from the air outlet conduit is prevented or restricted. Thus, the closure element may open (i.e. be arranged in an open configuration in which access to and from the air outlet conduit is permitted) as a result of an increase in the air pressure within the air outlet conduit and may close when the pressure within the air outlet conduit drops below a threshold value. The biasing force is suitably provided by gravity.

The air inlet may draw air from the local environment into the third housing or the air inlet may include an air inlet conduit. The air inlet conduit may open to an environment spaced from the third housing. For example, the air inlet conduit may terminate outside of the building, such that external air is directed into the third housing. As with the air outlet conduit, the air inlet conduit may terminate in an inlet port. The inlet port may include one or more fixing elements. These permit the inlet port to be secured to an external wall of the building. The inlet port suitably passes through an external wall of the building. In order to prevent undesired foreign objects entering the building via the inlet port, the inlet port may include a closure element, such as a door or flap or louver arrangement. The closure element may be biased to a closed configuration in which access to the air inlet conduit is prevented or restricted. Thus, the closure element may open as a result of a decrease in the air pressure within the air inlet conduit and may close when the pressure within the air inlet conduit rises above a threshold value. Again, the biasing force is suitably provided by gravity.

The third housing may further include a powered fan to provide a flow of air from the air inlet to the air outlet. In such arrangements, the air flows over the condenser coil. Conventionally, the blades of the powered fan are arranged parallel to the plane of the condenser coil and the diameter of the fan blades is substantially equal to the width and/or length dimension of the condenser coil.

In order to drive an air flow through the third housing and across the or each condenser coil of the present invention, the third housing may include two or more powered fans arranged in series or parallel. The skilled person will appreciate that it is challenging to provide sufficient air flow through the relatively shallow third housing to achieve the desired cooling of the condenser coil(s). In order to address this challenge, two or more powered fans may be arranged in series or in parallel in order to achieve the desired cooling effect. For example, two or more fans may be arranged along an axis which is parallel to the width axis of the third housing. In this way, the powered fans may generate an air flow across the entire width of the third housing, and thus also across the entire width of the condenser coil. For example, the third housing may include three or more powered fans.

It will be appreciated that the condenser may include more than one condenser coil. In such embodiments, the air inlet may be located upstream of the condenser coils and the air outlet may be located downstream of the condenser coils.

By locating the compressor in the second housing and the condenser in the third housing and separating the second and third housings, the second and third housings may be smaller than conventional external housings of known air conditioning systems. Such smaller housings are easier to locate within a building.

In order to provide the third housing with a relatively small depth dimension d, the second housing may include a condenser outlet port and a condenser inlet port. These two ports permit a flow of coolant between the compressor and the condenser. As will be appreciated, heated compressed coolant flows from the compressor to the condenser inlet port, through the condenser where it is cooled and back to the second housing via the condenser outlet port. In such arrangements, the second housing may further include one or more evaporator outlet ports. The evaporator outlet ports permit the compressed, cooled coolant to flow from the second housing to the or each evaporator. In order to complete the circuit, the second housing may further include one or more evaporator inlet ports which receive the expanded coolant from the or each evaporator and return the coolant to the compressor located within the second housing.

By connecting the or each evaporator to the second housing, rather than the third housing, the size of the third housing may be further minimised.

According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a building including two or more rooms, wherein the building includes an air conditioning system according to the first aspect of the invention, wherein at least one room includes an evaporator which is housed within a respective first housing; a compressor housed within a second housing is located within the building; and a condenser housed within a third housing is located within the building, but outside of the or each room which includes an evaporator, wherein the first, second and third housings are spaced apart from each other (i.e. are separate from each other); the or each evaporator, the compressor and the condenser are in fluid communication with each other via conduits to form a cooling circuit; the third housing includes an air inlet disposed on a first side of one or more condenser coils and an air outlet disposed on a second (opposite) side of the condenser coil(s), wherein an air flow path is defined between the air inlet and air outlet and the condenser coil(s) is located within the flow path; wherein the ratio between a width dimension of the third housing and a vertical height dimension of the third housing is greater than 2:1; and the or each condenser coil defines a plane which is angled with respect to the air flow path, wherein the angle between the plane of the condenser coil and the air flow path is from 20° to 70°.

In an embodiment of the second aspect of the invention, the air outlet includes an air outlet conduit which terminates in an outlet port, at least a portion of which is located externally of the building.

In an embodiment of the second aspect of the invention, the outlet port passes through an external wall of the building.

The outlet port may be as described hereinabove in connection with the first aspect of the invention.

The air inlet may include an air inlet conduit. The air inlet conduit may open to an environment spaced from the third housing. For example, the air inlet conduit may terminate outside of the building, such that external air is directed into the third housing. As with the air outlet conduit, the air inlet conduit may terminate in an inlet port. At least a portion of the air inlet port may be located externally of the building. For example, the inlet port may pass through an external wall of the building.

The inlet port may be as described hereinabove in connection with the first aspect of the invention.

The second and third housings may be as defined anywhere herein in connection with the first aspect of the invention. For example, the third housing may have a vertical height dimension that is 50cm or less, for example, less than 40cm or less than 30cm.

In a further example, the third housing of the second aspect of the invention may further include a powered fan to provide a flow of air from the air inlet to the air outlet. In such arrangements, the air flows over the condenser coil. In order to drive an air flow through the third housing and across the or each condenser coil, the third housing may include two or more powered fans arranged in series or in parallel; for example, the third housing may include three or more powered fans arranged in series or parallel. The skilled person will appreciate that it is challenging to provide sufficient air flow through the relatively shallow third housing to achieve the desired cooling of the condenser coil(s). In order to address this challenge, two or more powered fans may be arranged in series or in parallel in order to achieve the desired cooling effect.

The skilled person will appreciate that the features described and defined in connection with the aspects of the invention and the embodiments thereof may be combined in any combination, regardless of whether the specific combination is expressly mentioned herein. Thus, all such combinations are considered to be made available to the skilled person.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 shows a schematic representation of a single storey building according to the second aspect of the invention; Figure 2 shows a side elevational view of a second housing which houses a compressor; Figure 3 shows a perspective view of a first embodiment of a third housing which houses a condenser; Figure 4 shows a cross-sectional view through a second embodiment of the third housing; Figure 5a shows a plan view of the third housing shown in Figure 4 without the condenser; and Figure 5b shows a schematic view of the third housing shown in Figure 5a.

For the avoidance of doubt, the skilled person will appreciate that in this specification, the terms "up", "down", "front", "rear", "upper", "lower", "width", etc. refer to the orientation of the components as found in the example when installed for normal use as shown in the Figures.

The present invention provides an air conditioning system that operates along the same principles as most conventional air conditioning systems: a coolant fluid is first compressed by a compressor. This causes the compressed fluid to be heated. The compressed fluid is then cooled by a condenser to provide a compressed, cooled coolant fluid. This compressed, cooled coolant fluid is then directed via conduits to one or more evaporators, where the coolant fluid is allowed to expand. The expansion of the coolant fluid is endothermic, with the result that heat is taken from the environment around the evaporator, thereby cooling the environment around the evaporator. The expanded coolant fluid is then returned to the compressor to re-start the coolant cycle.

The present invention differs from conventional air conditioning systems in that all of its components are located within the building.

A representation of an air conditioning system 2 within a building 1 is shown in Figure 1.

The air conditioning system includes a condenser located within a third housing 4. The third housing includes an air inlet conduit 6 which fluidly couples a first fresh air supply to a first side of the third housing 4 and an air outlet conduit 8 which fluidly couples the opposite side of the housing 4 to an external environment. The housing 4 defines an air flow path between the air inlet conduit 6 and the air outlet conduit 8. A planar condenser coil (not shown) is located within the air flow path defined by the third housing 4 such that the angle of the plane of the condenser coil relative to the direction of the air flow is about 45°. The condenser coil is suitably an aluminium micro-channel condenser coil for maximum efficiency. However, any conventional planar condenser coil may be used.

The air inlet conduit 6 and the air outlet conduit 8 both terminate at their distal ends (i.e. the end opposite to the third housing 4) in ports which include closure elements (not shown in Figure 1).

The air inlet port closure element includes a plurality of hinged flaps which close under the action of gravity, but which are urged open via a flow of air being urged into the air inlet conduit 6. Similarly, the air outlet port closure element includes a plurality of hinged flaps which close under the action of gravity, but which are urged open via a flow of air being urged out of the air outlet conduit 8. Such closure ports or vents are well known and need not be shown or described in detail herein.

The third housing 4 has a depth dimension (shown as "d" in Figure 3) of about 30cm and is located in a gap defined between a ceiling substrate and a false or suspended ceiling of the building 1. In this way, the third housing 4 is not visible within the building 1.

As shown in Figure 1, the system further includes a second housing 10 within which is housed a compressor (not shown). Again, the compressor may be any conventional compressor and will not be described in detail herein.

In addition to the conduits which couple the compressor located within the second housing 10 to the condenser located within the third housing 4, the second housing includes conduits which fluidly connect the second housing 10 to a first evaporator 12, a second evaporator 14 and a third evaporator 16. Each of the first, second and third evaporators are located within respective first housings and are located in different parts of the building 1.

A second housing 10a is shown in more detail in Figure 2.

The second housing 10a differs from the second housing 10 shown in Figure 1 in that the second housing 10a is configured for use with just two evaporators 12, 14. The second housing 10a includes a compressor (not shown) which may be any known compressor for use with split air conditioning systems. A coolant outlet from the compressor is fluidly coupled to a condenser outlet port 20a, which in turn is fluidly coupled via one or more conduits to a condenser inlet port 26 of the third housing 4 (shown in Figure 3). In this arrangement, the heated compressed coolant from the compressor is transported from the second housing 10a to the condenser 4 via the ports 20a and 26 and the intermediate conduit(s). The cooled compressed coolant fluid exits the condenser 4 via a condenser outlet port 28 carried by the third housing 4 (shown in Figure 3) and is returned to the second housing 10a via one or more conduits and a condenser inlet port 20b.

The returned cooled compressed coolant fluid is then distributed from the second housing 10a to the two evaporators 12, 14. In more detail, the second housing 10a includes a first evaporator flow port 18b and a first evaporator return port 18a; and a second evaporator flow port 18d and a second evaporator return port 18c. It will be appreciated that the evaporator flow ports 18b, 18d are fluidly coupled to a flow manifold within the second housing 10a, which in turn is coupled to the condenser inlet port 20b. Similarly, the evaporator return ports 18a, 18c are fluidly coupled to a return manifold within the second housing 10a, which in turn is fluidly coupled to a compressor inlet, where the coolant cycle re-starts.

It will be appreciated that the compressed coolant fluid expands within the evaporators 12, 14, whereupon is cools the environment around the evaporators 12, 14. Thus, the coolant returning from the evaporators 12, 14 to the return ports 18a, 18c is at a lower pressure than the coolant flowing to the evaporators 12, 14 from the flow ports 18b, 18d.

Figure 3 shows a third housing 4 in more detail. The condenser coil is disposed in a central section 4a of the housing 4. On one side of the housing 4 is provided an air inlet 22 which is fluidly coupled to the air inlet conduit 6. On the opposite side of the housing 4 is provided an air outlet 24 which is fluidly coupled to the air outlet conduit 8. In this way, air from the external environment flows into the housing via the air inlet conduit 6 and the air inlet 22, across the condenser coil and back out to the external environment via the air outlet 24 and the air outlet conduit 8.

The third housing 4 further includes four mounting brackets 30 via which the third housing may be secured to a ceiling substrate.

Figures 4, 5a and 5b show a second embodiment of a third housing 104. The third housing 104 is divided into two chambers: a condenser chamber 106 and a fan chamber 108.

As shown in Figure 4, the condenser chamber 106 includes a condenser 110 arranged as a planar component. The condenser 110 is arranged in the condenser chamber 106 such that the plane of the condenser is angled with respect to the air flow direction (shown by arrow A), with the angle being about 300. The condenser chamber 106 further includes a drip tray 112, which includes an outlet port 114.

The fan chamber 108 includes four powered fans 116 arranged in parallel along a fan axis parallel to a width dimension W of the housing 104. The fans are commercially available fans and need not be described in more detail herein.

The third housing includes an air outlet 122 and an air inlet 124, to which are connected air conduits 6,8.

The third housing has a width dimension (shown as Win Figure 5b) and a height dimension. The width in the embodiment shown in Figures 4, 5a and 5b is 1200mm and the height dimension (h) is 246mm. This results in a ratio W:h of 4.88:1.

The narrow profile of the third housing 4, 104 requires a relatively small gap between the ceiling substrate and the suspended or false ceiling located beneath the ceiling substrate, which in turn has minimal impact on the effective ceiling heights of the room within which the third housing is located.

The evaporators 12, 14, 16 shown in Figure 1 are conventional evaporators and need not be described in detail herein.

Claims

Claims 1. An air conditioning system including one or more evaporators, wherein the or each evaporator is housed within a respective first housing; a compressor housed within a second housing; and a condenser housed within a third housing, wherein the first, second and third housings are spaced apart from each other; the or each evaporator, the compressor and the condenser are in fluid communication with each other via conduits to form a cooling circuit; the third housing includes an air inlet disposed on a first side of one or more condenser coils and an air outlet disposed on a second side of the condenser coil(s), wherein an air flow path is defined between the air inlet and air outlet and the condenser coil(s) is located within the flow path; wherein the ratio between a width dimension of the third housing and a vertical height dimension of the third housing is greater than 2:1; and the or each condenser coil defines a plane which is angled with respect to the air flow path, wherein the angle between the plane of the condenser coil and the air flow path is from 200 to 700.
2. An air conditioning system according to Claim 1, wherein the air outlet includes an air outlet conduit which terminates in an outlet port.
3. An air conditioning system according to Claim 2, wherein the outlet port includes a closure element.
4. An air conditioning system according to Claim 3, wherein the closure element is biased to a closed configuration.
5. An air conditioning system according to Claim 4, wherein the biasing force is gravity.
6. An air conditioning system according to any of Claims 1 to 5, wherein the air inlet includes an air inlet conduit
7. An air conditioning system according to Claim 6, wherein the air inlet conduit terminates in an inlet port.
8. An air conditioning system according to Claim 7, wherein the inlet port includes a closure element.
9. An air conditioning system according to Claim 8, wherein the closure element is biased to a closed configuration.
10. An air conditioning system according to any of Claims 1 to 9, wherein the third housing includes a powered fan to generate an air flow from the air inlet, across the condenser coil and into the air outlet.
11. An air conditioning system according to Claim 10, wherein the third housing includes two or more powered fans arranged in series or in parallel.
12. An air conditioning system according to any of Claims 1 to 11, wherein the second housing includes one or more evaporator flow ports and one or more evaporator return ports, wherein the or each evaporator flow port is fluidly coupled to an inlet port of a respective evaporator, and the or each evaporator return port is fluidly coupled to an outlet port of a respective evaporator.
13. An air conditioning system according to Claim 12, wherein the system includes a return conduit which connects a condenser outlet port to the or each evaporator flow ports.
14. An air conditioning system according to any of Claims 1 to 13, wherein the vertical height dimension of the third housing is 50cm or less.
15. A building including two or more rooms, wherein the building includes an air conditioning system as defined in any of Claims 1 to 14, wherein at least one room includes an evaporator which is housed within a respective first housing; a compressor housed within a second housing is located within the building; and a condenser housed within a third housing is located within the building, but outside of the or each room which includes an evaporator, wherein the first, second and third housings are spaced apart from each other; the or each evaporator, the compressor and the condenser are in fluid communication with each other via conduits to form a cooling circuit; the third housing includes an air inlet disposed on a first side of one or more condenser coils and an air outlet disposed on a second side of the condenser coil(s), wherein an air flow path is defined between the air inlet and air outlet and the condenser coil(s) is located within the flow path; wherein the ratio between a width dimension of the third housing and a vertical height dimension of the third housing is greater than 2:1; and the or each condenser coil defines a plane which is angled with respect to the air flow path, wherein the angle between the plane of the condenser coil and the air flow path is from 200 to 70°.
16. A building according to Claim 15, wherein the air outlet includes an air outlet conduit which terminates in an outlet port, wherein the outlet port passes through an external wall of the building.
17. A building according to Claim 15 or Claim 16, wherein the air inlet includes an air inlet conduit.
18. A building according to Claim 17, wherein the air inlet conduit terminates in an inlet port, at least a portion of which is located externally of the building.
19. A building according to Claim 18, wherein the inlet port passes through an external wall of the building.
20. A building according to any of Claims 15 to 19, wherein the third housing includes a powered fan to generate an air flow from the air inlet, across the condenser coil and into the air outlet.
21. A building according to Claim 20, wherein the third housing includes two or more powered fans arranged in series or in parallel.