US1500481A - Humidifying system - Google Patents

Description

July s 1924. 1,500,481

J.ARMSTRONG HUMIDI FYING SYS TEM Filed Jan. 50, 1922 L MI.

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JOSEPH ARMSTRONG, or MALDEN, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR To AMERICAN MOIS- TENING COMPANY, or' BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION or MAINE.

HUMIDIFYIN G SYSTEM.

Application filed January 30, 1922. Serial No. 532,804.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, JOSEPH ARMSTRONG,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Malden, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Humidifying Systems, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in humidifying systems. More especially it relates to an improved conditioning chamber of such a system. Where it is impracticable or less desirable to provide separate units for humidifying the atmosphere of a room, it is customary to condition air in one or more large chambers usually located outside of the room, and to conduct it thence through main and branch pipes to the various portions of the room where it is discharged. In such conditioning chambers various means have been provided for supplying the moisture, the most desirable of which, up to the present time, is a battery of jet-forming nozzles arranged to produce, by their combined discharge, a curtain or screen of water vapor extending entirely across the chamber and through whichthe air may be forced under pressure, after having been previously passed over heating coils to make it more susceptible to absorb more moisture in the chamber. After passing through this curtain, the air is, in a sense, super-saturated, for in addition to the moisture which it absorbs, and can carry, it has suspended in it a great number of fine floating particles lof water which later, unless means are provided to entrap them, either settle to the bottom of the duets under the action of gravity, or are thrown against the walls of the ducts where the direction of the latter turns sharply. The amount of these suspended or floating particlesin the moistened air may be somewhat reduced by providing a series of eliminator plates across the discharge end of the conditioning chamber. Although this is perhaps the most etiicient method hitherto proposed, it is not entirely successful in removing the super-saturation, and does not wholly solve the problem of properly condi- 5o tioning the air. y

It is a fundamental feature of the present invention to provide means within the conditioning chamber whereby the dry air entering will be separated into two portions, one of which will pass through the water jets and emerge therefrommore or less super-saturated; and the other of which will pass by and continue beyond the jets, remaining" as dry air until the two portions again'commingle, whereupon, the moisture-absorbing capacity of the dry portion takes up the excess of moisture in the super-saturated portion, thereby producinga resultant mixture which may be of 100% relative humidity. This object is attained by arranging within the conditioning chamber about the battery of nozzles, a plurality of hollow open-ended cylinders, one about each nozzle, with their axes parallel to the direction of flow' of air.

v Each cylinder is of suiiicient diameter to per# mit a suitable spread for the jet, but is long enough to extend beyond the region where the jet impinges upon its inner surface, thereby preventing each jet from contacting with its neighboring jets. The spaces between the cylinders constitute the passages through which the dry air may flow past the jets without touching them to later mix with the wet air at the discharge end of the cylinders. The relative size of the cylinders and the spaces between them can be predetermined to such a nic'ety for a given amount of water and air supply that the resultant mixture will have the most eliicient degree of humidity possible.

One form and arrangement ot cylinders is shown in the drawings herewith, but these are to be considered as merely illustrative of but one embodiment of theinvention. lt. is intended that the patent Shall cover, by suit able expression in the appended claims, whatever features of patentable novelty exist in the invention disclosed.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a conditioning chamber with a portion in section showing the arrangement of nozzles and cylinders within;

Figure 2 is a plan of Figure 1; and

Figure 3 is a View looking into the entrance end of the chamber.

Referring to the drawings, the chamber is shown as rectangular in cross section, having its top 10, bottom l2 and sides 14 made of Sheet metal, and held together and reinforced by suitable angle-iron Straps 16. Relatively dry air is introduced to this chamber from the left, as viewed in Figure l, which after taking up moisture is discharged toward the right into suitable ducts a continuous curtain or screen of water vapor over the entire cross section of the chamber through which the air must pass. This ar'- rangement produces two undesirable results. It creates such a heavy, thick fog of moisture particles, that an appreciable resistance to the flow of air' is set up in the chamber making it necessary to increase the air-moving force and thus adding to the operating expense of the system. And the commingling of the very fine particles forms a large number of relatively heavier particles, too lar e to be absorbed by the air, and yet sufficient y light to be carried along by it. Accordingly, the air passing through the vapor curtain not only absorbs all the moisture it can, but in addition becomes burdened with a certain amount of these heavier suspended particles which later either settle to the bottom of the ducts or are thrown againstthe' side walls thereof at a turn. The collection of such particles eventually forms an appreciable quantity which flows along the duct, more or less of which ultimately drips therefrom to the possible damage of product or fittings in the plant. Heretofore, it has been attempted to entrap these particles by arrangement of zig zag eliminator plates at the discharge end'of the conditioning chamber. But these plates are also objectionable in'that they add still more resistance to the moving medium, and are unsuccessful in that they do not do the work thoroughly.

It has been demonstrated, as described in my pending applicationSerial No. 472,419, that dry air can be introduced to a stream of vsaturated air to create a mixture having a higher moisture carrying capacity than that of the saturated air alone. If the'stream of moistened air is in a state of over-saturation` the injection of dry air thereinto can be of such quantity as to produce a mixture which will test to any desired degree of humidity. In the present invention a series of cylindrical shells 2l are arranged in the conditioning chamber to provide separate sets of passages for the air that moves through the chamber, in one set of which the air passing through is super-saturated and in the other set of which it is maintained dry until it is allowed to mix with the supersaturated air. 'As shown these hollow cylinders are disposed with uniformity about the chamber so that each is in contact with its neighbor, and those on the outer rows rest against the walls of the chamber. All

may be pinned together and to the casings to hold them securely in place. Figure 3 shows clearly the preferred arrangement of the cylinders and nozzles in which each cylinder of an upper layer is vertically over one in a layer below. The advantage pf this, over a staggered or off-set arrangement, is that the discharge of-excess water from the upper cylinder falls across the openings of the cylinders below, and not across the discharge ends of the spaces between them, thus leaving these spaces free from moisture particles and permitting the dry air from the entrance end of the chamber to enter the major space beyond the cylinders in its initial condition. Figure 3 also illustrates the relative proportion between the total part of the cross area circumscribed by the perimeters of the cylinders and the 'cross area of the spaces between them.

In operation, when the water is turned on in the header main 22, it iows through the feed pipes 24 to each nozzle and by it is jetted into the space confined by its cylinder in a conical spray against the cylinder walls. The excess of water runs forward in the cylinder and falls to the bottom of the chamber whichvmay be pitched downward and be provided with a hopper-like section 26 having a discharge pipe (not shown). The supply of dry air, with suitable velocity, enters the conditioning chamber behind the nozzles, and passes through both the cylinders and through the spaces between them. Tha-t fiowing inside the cylinders is forced through the conical jets of water and becomes highly saturated. In fact, as is usual with air passing through the fine spray of such a nozzle, the air is super-charged. The

remainder of the air which passes through the spaces between the cylinders reaches their discharge ends still dry, where it comvmingles with the super-charged air, im-

mediately creating a mixture of greater moisture carrying capacity than that of the super-charged air alone. As a result the Heating particles arev absorbed by the new mixture and the whole moves on to the discharge end of the chamber. The state of this air as regards saturation will depend on the relative size of the passages through and those between the cylinders, the dryness of the air that passes between, the neness and quant-ity of the spray that is loaded upon the air in the cylinders, and the initial dryness of the air entering the cylinders; but in general it is clear that the result will be a reduction of the super-saturation, and that the various elements can be adjusted so as to leave the air still saturated but better able to carry the whole of its load of moisture without dropping it. Accordingly, the eliminator lplates may be dispensed with,

thus removing1 an element of resistance to fil inode-ei possible to reduce the power needed to move the air. The inventionL also provides for a further saving of power in that it not only doesl away lwith the continuous curtain of water across the chamber, thereby removing the resistance to air low offered by such a water screen, but in that it also enables the discharge of the jet, circumscribed by the cylinder, to create a suction or draft therein, which acts both to draw air through it, and acts at the delivery end of the cylinder to help draw air through the spaces between cylinders, thus aiding in both ways the forced draft of the system.

rlhis elimination of resistance and the adn dition of the jet-formed suction makes the use of a. conditioning chamber, embodying the present invention, much 'less expensive than heretofore from -the viewpoint of power consumption alone; and the absorption of the heavier moisture particles and the resulting formation of a properly humidied body of air, makes it highly economical in its use of water.

lt is thus evident that with a given amount ofwater,a maximum amount of humidity can be imparted to a given quantity of air without having any unabsorbed particles of water suspended therein, and with a greatly reduced expenditure of power than heretofore required. rlhe humidified air is `of extremely even and uniform density due to the distribution of the cylinders and spaces `.throughout the cross section of the cylinders,

whereby there is a general distribution of dry air in the midst of the wet air emerging from the cylinders.

I claim as my invention:

l. Aconditioning chamber of a humidifying system, comprising a casing for iiow of air; straight dividing means therein, providing separate, straight parallel air passages; moistening means in one of said air passages wherebythe air that is moving through it is super-saturated; there being another or said air passages which is free from moisture supply, whereby the air'therein is conducted unchanged tothe end of said dividing means; and there being, beyond said dividing means a discharge duct wherein there is freedom for the air from the said separate passages to continue in the same direction for a distance in contiguitr whereby the excess moisture is retaine in the whole flowing body by absorption into the unmoistened air.

2. A conditioning chamber of a humidifying system having a battery of jet-forming nozzles for imparting moisture to a supply of moving air; an open ended paage for each of said nozzles, for directing a portion of said air through its jet; and other passages, among the first mentioned passages and delivering into the same major "space` whereby a part 0f the air may How past the jets unmoistened to commingle thereafter with the moistened air issuing from the iirst mentioned passages.

3. rl`he combination, in a conditioning chamber of a humidifying system, with a battery of open ended cylinders distributed across the chamber with their axes in the direction of flow of air, of a battery of nozzles, one for the entrance end of each cylinder, adapted to form a conical jet therein spreading toward the discharge end of the cylinder; there being spaces between the cylinders whereby the air which does not enter the cylinders may continue past them in its initial condition to ljoin the air passing through them after the latter has become thus moistened.

4. The combination. in a conditioning chamber of a humidifyingsystem, with a battery of open ended cylinders distributed across the chamber with their axes in the direction of flow of air and with those above vertically over those below, of a battery of nozzles, one `for the entrance end of each cylinder, adapted to form al jet therein spreading toward the discharge end of the cylinder, wherefrom the excess of water in that cylinder falls across the discharge end of a cylinder below; there being spaces between the cylinders whereby the air which does not enter the cylinders may continue past them in its initial condition to foin the air passing through them after the latter has become thus moistened. l

Signed Aat Boston, Massachuetts, thisl twenty-fourth day of January, 1922.

JSEPH RMSTRGNG.

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