AN AIR CONDITIONING APPARATUS
Technical Field
The present invention relates to air conditioning apparatus.
Background of the Invention Considerable effort is made to imn prove the efficiency of air conditioning systems due to the considerable energy they consume, particularly in the case of rooms that have a large number of occupants such as a school class room.
Despite the above mentioned efforts known air conditioning systems will still consume considerable power and therefore are costly to run. The above discussed problem is addressed by the air conditioning system described in the International Patent application PCT/AU01/00273 (WO 01/69154). Although the air conditioning system described in this International Patent application goes some way to address in the above problem, some improvements can be made.
Object of the Invention It is the object of the present invention to overcome or substantially ameliorate at least one of the above disadvantages.
Summary of the Invention
There is disclosed herein an air conditioning apparatus including: a first air inlet to take air from a room; a second air inlet, the second air inlet being provided to take air from outside the room; a first air outlet to exhaust air to inside the room; a second air outlet to exhaust air to outside the room; a coil through which a refrigerant passes to cool or heat the coil, the coil being in communication with the first air outlet so that air passing through the coil is cooled or heated thereby and is delivered to the first air outlet; a heat exchanger having a first air path and a second air path, the first air path communicating with said first inlet and said second outlet so that air from the room passes therethrough, and said second air path communicates with said second air inlet
and said coil so that air from outside the room is delivered to the coil, said second air path being located adjacent to first air path so that there is heat transferred between the air passing through the first and second air paths; and said coil also communicates with said first air inlet to also receive air from said room.
Preferably, the heat exchanger is an enthalpy heat exchanger.
Preferably, the air conditioning apparatus includes a first fan that draws air from the second air inlet and said second path and delivers the air under pressure to said coil. Preferably, the air conditioning apparatus further includes a second fan, the second fan drawing air from first path and delivers the air to said second outlet.
Preferably, said first air inlet includes a first portion through which air is delivered to the coil, and a second portion through which air is delivered to said first path. Preferably, said first portion includes a filter.
There is further disclosed herein an air conditioning apparatus including: a first air inlet to take air from a room; a second air inlet, the second air inlet being provided to take air from outside the room; a first air outlet to exhaust air to inside the room; a second air outlet to exhaust air to outside the room; and a heat exchanger having a first air path and a second air path, the first air path communicating with said first inlet and said second outlet so that air from the room passes therethrough, and said second air path communicates with said second air inlet and said second air outlet so that air from outside the room is delivered to inside the room, said second air path being located adjacent to first air path so that there is heat transferred between the air passing through the first and second air paths.
Preferably, the heat exchanger is an enthalpy heat exchanger.
Preferably, a first fan that draws air from the second air inlet and said second path and delivers the air under pressure to said coil.
Preferably, a second fan, the second fan drawing air from first path and delivers the air to said second outlet.
Preferably, said first air inlet includes a first portion through which air is delivered to the coil, and a second portion through which air is delivered to said first path.
Preferably, said first portion includes a filter.
There is also disclosed herein an installation including a room, an air conditioning device having an air inlet to take air from the room, and an air outlet to deliver air to the room, a coil through which a refrigerant passes to cool or heat the coil, the coil being located between the device inlet and the device outlet so that air passing therebetween is cooled or heated by the coil, and the air conditioning apparatus described above so that air leaving said first outlet is drawn into said device inlet together with air from said room.
Brief Description of the Drawings A preferred form of the present invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:
Figure 1 is a schematic plan view of an air conditioning apparatus; Figure 2 is a schematic side elevation of the apparatus of Figure 1; and Figure 3 is a schematic side elevation of a modification of the air conditioning apparatus of Figures 1 and 2.
Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments hi Figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawings there is schematically depicted an air conditioning apparatus 10. The apparatus 10 includes a hollow casing 11 that would be mounted in a wall 12. The wall 12 would separate the interior of a room 13 with the exterior 14 of the building having the wall 12.
The air conditioning apparatus includes a first air inlet 15 that receives air from the room 13 and a second air inlet 16 that receives air from the exterior 14. The apparatus 10 further includes a first air outlet 18 that exhausts air to the interior of the room 13, and a second air outlet 17 that exhausts air to the exterior 14.
The apparatus 10 includes a heat exchanger 19, which may be the heat exchanger of International Patent application PCT/AU 01/00273 (WO 01/69154).
However, it should be appreciated that the heat exchanger 19 may be a sensible heat exchanger or an enthalpy heat exchanger. Preferably, the heat exchanger 19 is an enthalpy heat exchanger because of moisture and temperature transfer.
The heat exchanger 19 provides a first air path 20 through which air is taken from the inlet 15 and delivered to the outlet 17 with the aid of a fan 21. The fan 21 takes air from the path 20 and delivers it to the outlet 17. The heat exchanger 19 further includes a second air path 22 that takes air from the inlet 16 and delivers it to a duct 23. The duct 23 communicates with a fan 24 that delivers the air to an evaporator coil 25. A refrigerant would pass through the coil 25 to cool or heat the coil and therefore cool (or dehumidify) or heat the air passing therethrough. That is, a refrigerant would be allowed to expand or condense as it passes through the coil 25 to cool or heat the coil 25. Air leaving the coil 25 is delivered to the outlet 18. The inlet 15 also communicates with the duct 23 so that the fan 24 also draws air from the interior of the room 13. That is, the inlet 15 includes a first portion 26 that provides air for the air path 20, and a second portion 27 that provides air for the coil 25. The inlet air portion 27 is provided with a filter 28.
If the heat exchanger 19 is an enthalpy heat exchanger then heat and moisture transfer takes place between the two paths 20 and 22.
Figure 3 illustrates a modification of the apparatus 10 of Figures 1 and 2. In this embodiment, the coil 25 is not contained in the casing 11. The coil 25 is located in an air conditioning device 29 mounting adjacent a ceiling 30 of the room 13. The device 20 with the coil 25 located therein would receive a refrigerant that is allowed to expand or condense in the coil to cool or heat the coil 25 and the air passing therethrough. More particularly the device 29 has an inlet 32 that takes air from the room 13, with the inlet delivering air to an internal duct that delivers air to the coil and ultimately an air outlet 33. Air passing between the inlet 32 and outlet 33 is heated or cooled by the internal coil of the device 29.
In the embodiment of Figure 3, the apparatus 10 has the outlet 18 directed upwardly at the inlet 23 so that air from the room 13 is mixed from air coming from the outlet 18.
Preferably, the inlet 33 is provided with a filter 31.