US2224221A - Gas and liquid contact apparatus - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 10, 1940.

H. GALSON GAS AND LIQUID CONTACT APPARATUS Filed June 7, 1939 INVENTOR 6490/19 A. q'Q/so z ATTORNEY Patented n... 10, 1940 UNITED STATES" I PATENT OFFICE Carrier Corporation, tion of Delaware Syracuse, N. Y.', a corpora- Application June 7, 1939, Serial No. 277,898 3 Claims. (01. 261-103) This invention relates to the conditioning of air or other gases, and more particularly to gas and liquid contact apparatus.

The general object of the'invention is to provide an improved gas and liquid contact apparatus capable of effecting efficient humidification of a stream of air or other gas passed therethrough.

It is another object of the invention to provide an improved gas and liquid contact apparatus which oflers relatively little resistance to the flow of air therethrough, and which is adapted to eifect removal of dirt particles and other foreign matter from the air.

It is another object of the invention to provide an improved gas and liquid contact apparatus suitable for humidifying and similar purposes, in which liquid to be evaporated is spread over a relatively large surface from which it is 0 evaporated into the stream of gas passing through the apparatus proximate such surface, the now of gas through the apparatus being substantially unimpeded.

It is another object of the invention to pro-,

25 vide an improved gas and liquid contact apparatus particularly well suited for humidification I purposes, which is relatively simple and inexpensive to construct, and which, in operation, is entireiy reliable. 7

It is another object of the invention to provide a humidifying unit which may quickly and easily be assembled and disassembled for purposes of cleaning, inspection, repair or replacement.

. A feature of the invention resides in the pro- 35 vision of a plurality of parallel spaced screens of suitable material such as wire or the like, and means for wetting the surfaces of said screens, the screens being arranged so that the air to be treated by the wetted surfaces thereof passes 40 in a plurality of streams through the spaces between adjacent screens.

Another feature of the invention resides in the provision of a humidifying device including a plurality of screens of wire or'the like, arranged insubstantial parallelism in spaced relation with each other to provide a plurality of passageways therebetween for the flow-of air or other gas which is to be humidified, the screens being maintained in desired spaced relationship by crimping portions of the screens, the crimped portions serving as spacer elements.

By virtue of this arrangement, assembly of a humidifier unit in accordance with the invention may be accomplished simply and quickly, for it is necessary only to insert the screens one behind invention will be more apparent from the following description to be read in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which: r

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view, partly in section, of an air conditioning apparatus embodying 1 the invention;

Fig. 2 is a front elevational view, partly in section, of the apparatus of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a view in perspective of one of the v gas and liquid contact units adapted to be empioyed in the apparatus of Figs. 1 and 2;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3; I

Fig. 6 is a view in perspective of one of the crimped screens employed in the unit of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 7 diagrammatically illustrates the application of the invention in a modified manner.

Referring now to the drawing, the numeral l0 designates generally a casing having an airinlet opening ll formed in the lower portion of pm of the walls thereof, and a plurality of air outlet openings l2 formed in the upper portion of the casing. The casing contains one or more fans l3 driven in any suitable manner. As shown, three fans are provided, driven by motor l4, connected by belt l5 to the shaft l6 upon which the rotary portions of the fans are mounted. Preferably, the inlet opening ll of the casing is provided with a suitable grille ll of any desired type. Fans I3 draw air through the inlet opening ll upwardly through the interior of the cabinet Ill, and then discharge such air through the outletopenings l2.

Within the cabinet l0 above the inlet opening ll, are-provided one or more contact units generally. designated l8. These are preferably removably mounted within the cabinet M as upon flange supports IS. The bottom portion of cabinet I0 comprisesa sump to which water is supplied through supply line 2| under the control of a suitable float-controlled valve or the like 22. Water is withdrawn from the sump 20, through the strainer 23, by pump. 24 and is supplied through line 25 to spray header 26. The sprayed water passes through the contact devices l8, and the unevaporated portion thereof returns to the sump 20 for recirculation.

Above the spray header 23 is provided an eliminator 21 adapted to prevent the passage of entrained water particles to the outlet end of the cabinet iii. If desired, 'a heater 23 for heating the Water supplied to spray header 23 may be provided. Fittings 23 provide for the suitable supply and return of any desired heating medium, such as steam. It is to be understood that an electrical heating device, or any other suitable heating means may be employed.

If desired, heating coils may be provided within the cabinet Ill for heating the air or other gas passed therethrough. Steam or other suitable heating medium is supplied to the coils 30 through connection 3!, and is relieved from the coil 33 through connection 32.

Fig. 3 illustrates, in perspective, one of the contact units employed in the apparatus above described. Each unit comprises a pair of side members 33 having flanges 3d and 35 at the upper and lower portions thereof respectively. Within the side walls 33, and supported between the flanges and 35, are a plurality of screens 36 extending across the unit 88 and arranged so as to provide a plurality of substantially parallel passages 37 therebetween. The air circulated through the apparatus by the fans I3 is drawn upwardly through the passages 31 formed between the screens 36. Preferably the screens 36 are arranged substantially in parallelism, and preferably the .passages 31 are all of uniform width. a

The ends of each unit l8 are closed by end members 38 having flange portions 39. Bolts 40 extending through the side walls 33 and the flange portions 33 of the end members 38, serve to hold the end members 38, and hence the screens 36, in place in the unit. One end member 33 is provided at each end of the unit.

To insure the maintenance of the desired spacing between adjacent screens, each of the screens is crimped or bent at a plurality of points. The crimped portions thus formed, indicated at M,

serve to space the screens automatically and with,

the utmost simplicity. Thus, in assembling the unit 18, one of the end members 38 is bolted to the side walls 33 and the crimped screens are then inserted between the opposite side walls 33 and flanges 34 and 35. The screens thus supplied within the outer casing will be automatically spaced from each other by the crimped portions 4| thereof, and when a suflicient number of screens have been supplied the other end member 38 is bolted to the side walls .33. The unit is then completely assembled in a firm, secure and permanent manner, and may. be stored, shipped or used as desired. If for any reason it is desired to disassemble the unit, this may also be done very readily so as to facilitate inspection, repair or replacement of any of the parts of the unit.

It will be appreciated that as assembled the crimped portions 4| of adjacent screens must not be in line with each other, since this would cause nesting of the screens and prevent the maintenance of the desired spaced relationship therebetween. Accordingly, the crimped portions 5! hand crimped portion M and the left hand end of the screen 36 is less than the distance between the right hand crimped portion ill and the right hand end of the screen 36. The screens as thus uniformly crimped during manufacture, may be nested and stored conveniently and compactly. However, when the screens are arranged for insertion in a unit i8, alternate screens are rotated through an angle of so as to produce the staggered arrangement of the crimped portions which is shown in Figs. 3 and 5.

While any suitable material may be used for forming the screens, these are preferably formed of relatively fine wire having a diameter, for ex ample, of the order of .047 inch and galvanized after weaying. The screens are spaced within the unit i8 so that there are preferably approximately live to the inch.

The vast surface of the screen assembly past which the air flows, provides for eflicient vaporization of the liquid with which the surface is Wetted. At the same time, the resistance to air flow through the parallel air passages is relatively low due to the fact that the air passages 37 are of substantial thickness and extend uninterruptedly in the direction of the initial air flow.

Further, since the spaces between theadjacent screens are relatively large, the unit does not clog up, either because of deposits in the water or air-borne impurities, the size of the air passages 31 being suflicient to permit larger particles, as well as the small particles, to be washed down from the surfaces of the screens and to be deposited in the sump 20.

While the invention has been described in conjunction with a counter-current flow of air and liquid, and while the screens have been shown as arranged in vertical position, it is to be understood that the invention is not thus limited. Fig,

'7, for example, illustrates an alternative form of the invention in which the unit I8 is arranged in such manner that the screens 36 are horizontally disposed. A fan 42 forcibly circulates air through the unit I8 and a spray header 43 supplies spray to the unit H3, in the same direction as the air flow. As in the apparatus illustrated in Fig. 1, the eliminator 21 removes entrained water particles from air which has passed through the unit l8.

Because of the foraminous nature of the screen sheets, gas or air, in addition to flowing through the main passages, may flow through the sheets from one passage to another. This cross flow causes turbulence which materially assists both the humidification and cleaning action of the apparatus.

Since many changes may be made in the invention without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that the foregoing description and the accompanying drawing be regarded as illustrative only and not in a limiting sense.

I claim:

1. In a humidifier device of the character described, a casing, means for routing air through the casing, a removable liquid and gas contact unit within the casing, said unit comprising a plurality of closely packed metallic screens having portions thereof crimped for the maintenance of desired spacing between adjacent screens, said screens providing a plurality of closely spaced parallel passages, the screens afiording communication between passages, a spray device above the unit, and means for forcibly spraying liquid upon the screens whereby horizontal as well as vertical filaments comprising the screens receive liquid discharged from the spray.

2. In a humidifier device of the character described, a casing, means for admitting air into the casing adjacent one end thereof and for discharging it at the other end thereof, a fan within the casing, a gas and liquid contact unit removably mounted within the casing, said unit comprising a pair of oppositely positioned members and an intermediate end member removably at tached to the opposite members, a plurality of metallic screens removably and slideably positioned within and substantially filling the unit, said screens providing a plurality of parallel passages extending in the direction in which air flows through the device, a spray positioned above the unit for forceably delivering liquid upon the screens, the liquid flowing in a downwardly direction through the unit, the air passing through the unit in an upwardly direction in contact with the screens.

3. In a humidifier device of the character described, a casing, a fan within the casing for routing air therethrough, screen holding members comprises a separable unit positionedwithin the casing, a plurality of metallic screen sheets slideably and removably positioned between the holding members, spacing means integral with and forming part of the screen material for providing a plurality of parallel air passages when the screen sheets are packed'one behind the other, a spray device positioned above the unit for forceably delivering liquid upon the packed screens, the air flowing through said passages in contact with the wetted screens.

HENRY L. GALSON.

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