WO2011148235A1

WO2011148235A1 - Instant drinking water cooler with energy saving tank

Info

Publication number: WO2011148235A1
Application number: PCT/IB2010/053831
Authority: WO
Inventors: Mir Hamid Mohammadgahi
Original assignee: Mahboubi, Raheleh
Priority date: 2010-05-23
Filing date: 2010-08-26
Publication date: 2011-12-01

Abstract

An' INSTANT DRINKING WATER COOLER WITH ENERGY SAVING TANK' comprising a tank (3) to contain ice and water(5), an evaporator (4) connected to a refrigeration circuit(1 & 2 ), refrigerant circulates through the coils(4) to cause freezing of the water(5) adjacent the coils (4) to form a block of ice around the coils (4), during night hours the refrigeration system(1,2 & 4) works to make ice with low cost electricity, in the daylight hours a timer(13) got set to shut off the compressor(l) and refrigeration system -as main energy consumer- when the electricity is more expensive. During the day an Infrared Motion Sensor' (14)senses people's motion and commands a pump(7) to circulate water(5) through a plate heat exchanger(8), drinking water(9) passes through an other conduit of the heat exchanger to be cooled because of heat exchange with cold water(5) - a little more than zero degree of centigrade - the period of circulating operation is adjustable depends on traffic of the fountains (10).

Description

Title of Invention: INSTANT DRINKING WATER COOLER

WITH ENERGY SAVING TANK

Introduction :

[1] public drinking water cooler is well known and widespread in many countries as a machine that dispense cool water in public places. For people in a public place there are two usual ways of presenting the cool drinking water. It may either be in a closed container such as a can or a bottle typically stored in a refrigerated cabinet, or it may be dispensed into a cup or glass from a storage device such as a remote tank or main water source which plumbed to the water cooler, most known water coolers simply provide a tap to a water reservoir, they provide cooling by conventional devices such as heat pump or thermoelectric modules.

[2] This invention relates to the cooling of drinking water instantly from main feed

(second said way).

[3] Limitations of present systems:

[4] public places need different amount of water in different times of a day. for example in launch hours people drink more water so in this period water coolers must cool down more water than the other times such as morning time that people drink less water. According to the different water requirement designers of such machines must select a refrigeration system as large as needful to meet the requirement of cool drinking water in peak periods like launch hours, this affair leads to more energy consumption and waste.

[5] function of invented system:

[6] the INSTANT DRINKING WATER COOLER uses an energy saving tank to

produce ice in off-peak hours such as night hours. Ice is a very effective way to cool fluids because of the thermodynamic properties of frozen water. In order for one gram of ice to increase one degree Centigrade, it must absorb 2.10 Joules of energy from its surroundings and for water this amount is 4.18. Once the ice has reached its melting point, each gram of ice must absorb an additional 334 Joules of energy in order to undergo the transformation from the solid phase to the liquid phase. The same effect can be achieved by using any media that undergoes a phase change as it warms . so we can use this potential energy for cooling down fluids like drinking water. Cool storage can shift some or all of the on-peak demand to off-peak hours, said water cooler reserves energy as ice block and water mix in the tank via a simple refrigeration system, reserved energy that used to produce Ice will be applied to cool drinking water via a plate heat exchanger, in this way power of applied compressor would be reduced due to operating at more hours at full load and at nighttime lower condensing temperatures;

[7] When the refrigeration circuit is started up, refrigerant circulating through the

evaporator coils(4) causes the water(5) in tank to freeze around coils(4) , thereby gradually building up a block of ice around the coils(4). This is called the "initial pulldown" and typically takes place in the absence of demand for drinking cool water whilst the public place in which the water cooler is located(lO) is not open or low traffic. There is a sensor (not shown) located within tank(3) which shuts off the refrigeration system(l,2 & 4) when the block of ice has achieved a predetermined thickness. In response to a heat load(6) being placed upon the system, by a demand for chilled water to be pumped in a plate heat exchanger(8) to cool drinking water (9) to be dispensed(lO), water leaves the water bath via outlet(12) and returns via inlet (11), typically at a higher temperature than the water then present in the water bath. If a large amount of water is being dispensed or the water temperature in the place is high the heat load(6) will increase and there will be a tendency for the temperature of the water bath to rise thus melting ice from the tank . When the thickness of the ice-bank is reduced below a certain level, a signal from a sensor (not shown) in the tank will initiate activation of the refrigeration circuit which will act to try to restore the ice by chilling the evaporator coils (4) .

[8] Water from tank should be circulated in a closed loop through a pipe line that

includes a circulator pump(7) , a plate heat exchanger(8) and an adjustment valve(13) by extracting it from outlet(12) which extends into the upper portion of tank(3) . Recirculated water is returned to tank(3) via pump (7) and inlet(l 1) which extends to near the bottom of tank(3) . In this case heat exchanger(8) used for transferring heat flow from cooling medium (5) to drinking water(9) . such exchangers have 2 transmission lines that each line composed of an inlets and an outlet . water passes from both line but one of them is connected to the circulating line and the other connected to the drinking water through the pipeline from main source, noted that the pressure of drinking water in inlet should be more than the head-loss of the exchanger to have a high performance heat exchange, the pressure of circulating line comes from circulator pump, a Photoelectric sensor(14) that Embedded around the fountain(lO) switch on the pump when people cross the water cooler so cold water(5) passes the circulating circuit and drinking water (9) will be cooled down too .

[9] reservoir tank and all of the pipes isolated to prevent energy loss, a timer(15) applied to shut off the refrigeration system(l,2 & 4) in electricity peak demand hours of the day. in many countries the price of electricity in the peak demand hours are several times higher than peak-off times like after midnight hours, so the price of energy usage in said water cooler is several times lower, the timer will control system to shut off in peak demand hours, it is possible because of suitable capacity of the tank to reserve the energy in ice shape, when the amount of ice decreased the sensor that inserted in the tank(3) will command to start the refrigeration system(l,2 & 4) unless it occurred in the peak demand times.

Claims

[Claim 1 ] 1. An' INSTANT DRINKING WATER COOLER WITH ENERGY

SAVING TANK' comprising a tank (3) to contain ice and water(5), an evaporator (4) connected to a refrigeration circuit(l & 2 ), the evaporator being in the form of a rectangular, refrigerant circulates through the coils(4) to cause freezing of the water(5) adjacent the coils (4) to form a block of ice around the coils (4), during night hours the refrigeration system(l,2 & 4) works to make ice with low cost electricity . in the daylight hours a timer(13) got set to shut off the compressor(l) and refrigeration system -as main energy consumer- when the electricity is more expensive . During the day an 'Infrared Motion Sensor' (14)senses people's motion and commands a pump(7) to circulate water(5) through a plate heat exchanger(8) . drinking water(9) passes through an other conduit of the heat exchanger to be cooled because of heat exchange with cold water(5) of the tank- a little more than zero degree of centigrade - the period of circulating operation is adjustable depends on traffic of the fountains (10).

2. said water cooler according to Claim 1, characterized in a tank(3) to have after midnight (peak-off hours) energy (as ice) storage tank that is isolated with poly-urethane . said water cooler uses the reserved ice to cool drinking water(9) during daylight hours and specially in peak demand hours that the energy's cost is more than the peak-off hours in many countries, so it is a peak shaver drinking water cooler.

3. An' INSTANT DREINKING WATER COOLER WITH ENERGY SAVING TANK' according to Claim 1 or 2, characterized in applying a timer(15) to switch on / off the refrigeration system(l,2 & 4) during the off / on-peak temperature demand hours, it is possible to switch off the refrigeration system(l,2 & 4) because of the great amount of energy that reserved during the night time.

4. An' INSTANT DRINKING WATER COOLER WITH ENERGY SAVING TANK' according to Claim 1 , characterized in that an 'Infrared Motion Sensor'(14) controls the consumption of the stored energy regard to traffic around the water cooler taps(10). as a matter of fact the pattern of energy usage depend on this sensor. Said sensor starts the circulating pump(7). Cold water of the tank passes through a conduit of a plate heat exchanger(8). warm Drinking water(9)passes through an other conduit of the plate heat exchanger .in this way the operation of heat transfer occurs between water (5) that surrounded the block of ice in the tank and drinking water(9) through a plate heat exchanger(8).

5. An' INSTANT DRINKING WATER COOLER WITH ENERGY SAVING TANK' according to Claim 1 or 4 comprising that temperature of drinking water is adjustable by setting the circulated water's(5) flow rate, it could be set applying a simple valve(13) in the pipe line before the plate heat exchanger, this valve(13) could control the water flow rate in heat exchanger(8) and also drinking water temperature.

6. said water cooler according to Claim 1, characterized in an 'Infrared Motion Sensor' that could adjust the period of circulating operation depends on traffic of the fountains (10). said sensor commands pump (7) to circulate water(5) for a period of time (about several minutes)