Classifications

• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
  • F25D—REFRIGERATORS; COLD ROOMS; ICE-BOXES; COOLING OR FREEZING APPARATUS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • F25D3/00—Devices using other cold materials; Devices using cold-storage bodies
  • F25D3/005—Devices using other cold materials; Devices using cold-storage bodies combined with heat exchangers
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
  • F25C—PRODUCING, WORKING OR HANDLING ICE
  • F25C3/00—Processes or apparatus specially adapted for producing ice or snow for winter sports or similar recreational purposes, e.g. for sporting installations; Producing artificial snow
  • F25C3/04—Processes or apparatus specially adapted for producing ice or snow for winter sports or similar recreational purposes, e.g. for sporting installations; Producing artificial snow for sledging or ski trails; Producing artificial snow
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
  • F25C—PRODUCING, WORKING OR HANDLING ICE
  • F25C2303/00—Special arrangements or features for producing ice or snow for winter sports or similar recreational purposes, e.g. for sporting installations; Special arrangements or features for producing artificial snow
  • F25C2303/048—Snow making by using means for spraying water
  • F25C2303/0481—Snow making by using means for spraying water with the use of compressed air

Definitions

• the present invention relates to making of artificial snow or ice for outdoor as well as indoor artificial ski slope for winter recreational activities, all year round for indoor facilities and at least half year or longer for outdoor facilities.
• thermal storage unit is charged by refrigeration means. Cooling is drawn later from the thermal storage means to make snow or ice to be blown over the slope (in case of ice, crushing the ice into smaller pieces first) containing the thermal storage unit which can then keep the ice/snow cold for longer periods of time.
• snow or ice can be produced in an outdoor or enclosed Air Conditioned environment.
• the heart of the previous invention's thermal storage system is mixing of a good thermal conductor, i.e. Aluminum oxide or alumina into the water before it is frozen and super cooled to around minus -5°C to -30°C (23°F to -22°F) ideally at minus -20 °C (-4°F).
• a good thermal conductor i.e. Aluminum oxide or alumina
• the aluminum oxide or alumina or any other good thermal conductor bound by ice absorbs the heat from the ice and transmits it into the embedded cooling pipes in the ice, that are in turn attached to the refrigeration unit, which are used to cool the thermal storage unit or to take cooling from the thermal storage unit during snow making periods and for air conditioning of the envelope when the thermal storage means is in the "cooling supply mode" of operation.
• This thermal storage method is more efficient ice only thermal storage units using only ice, which have been around for decades and do not contain any thermal conductor that would otherwise absorbed the heat in the ice and conduct it away from it via the cooling pipes, making them less efficient.
• thermal conductive material suffer from inherent drawback as they also tend to transfer cooling or absorbing heat from objects in contact with the thermal conductive material.
• the present invention realized the need for a method that is far more efficient then the current methods in existence today, in terms of ease of operation and higher energy efficiency which will afford the outdoor snow / ice centers extended operations periods by preserving the snow / ice for longer periods of time. While the indoor ski centers will enjoy even higher energy efficiency yielding lower operating costs and reduced carbon footprint.
• the proposed system can be utilized in new built facilities or for retrofit to existing facilities.
• Systems in operation today to a great degree have overcome the problems associated with making snow in confined or enclosed spaces or preserving crushed ice for longer periods of time in outdoor facilities.
• Present invention proposes to address drawbacks in existing technologies with new and novel methods and to provide equipment to overcome problems for both indoor and outdoor snow and crushed ice facilities through much better preservation, energy efficiency and ease of use.
• the present invention proposes to shift the high cooling load to the thermal storage unit, thereby, shifting the electrical consumption to off peak hours to take advantage of lower electricity rates.
• the capacity of the thermal storage means will be significantly greater than that the rate of cooling for snow or ice base as well as indoor air in the envelope which can be significantly greater than the nominal capacity of the refrigeration means by utilizing the huge stored cooling capacity of the thermal storage means, equipment size can be reduced for much lower equipment startup costs and better efficiency.
• the thermal storage means is sized to match the cooling capacity of the refrigeration means which in turn is matched to peek cooling requirement during snow or ice making, since the cooling requirement is high during the snow and ice making operations.
• the equipment size in practice of the refrigeration means can be reduced to 1/10 to 1/30 of the maximum cooling requirement.
• a mass of thermally conductive material is mixed in with a good thermally insulating material, the thermally conductive material having high specific heat and high thermal conductivity while the thermally insulating material having a low specific heat and low thermal conductivity.
• the thermally conductive material can absorb any heat in the thermal storage medium, than transmit the absorbed heat into the coolant running through the embedded coolant lines while the thermally insulating material can keep the thermal storage medium well insulated by keeping the outside heat out of the thermal storage medium, thereby, resist heat transfer and build up in the ice, thus resist melting for a longer period of time, in most, case typically up to 2 to 3 times longer than regular ice or ice and aluminum oxide mix only.
• a large mass of coolant or ice slurry mixed in with a good thermal conductor or a good thermal insulator mixed in individually or together, to absorb heat and to insulate can also be used.
• any convenient form can be taken by the thermal storage means of the proposed invention.
• the refrigeration means utilizes a good (single phase or a dual phase coolant, such as ice slurry) secondary coolant, for example Ethylene glycol, which is cooled by a refrigeration unit by running the coolant through a heat exchanger refrigeration cycle, once sufficiently cooled the coolant is then used to cool a mass of thermally conductive material mixed in with a good thermally insulating material, whereas, the thermally conductive material having high specific heat and high thermal conductivity while the thermally insulating material having a low specific heat and low thermal conductivity.
• a good (single phase or a dual phase coolant, such as ice slurry) secondary coolant for example Ethylene glycol
• the thermally conductive material can absorb any heat in the thermal storage medium, than transmit the absorbed heat into the coolant running through the embedded coolant lines while the thermally insulating material can keep the thermal storage medium well insulated by keeping the outside heat out of the thermal storage medium, thereby, resist heat transfer and build up in the ice, thus resist melting for a longer period of time, in most, case typically up to 2 to 3 times longer then regular ice or ice and aluminum oxide mix only.
• a relatively large mass of coolant or ice slurry can be employed which can act as the thermal storage medium.
• a good coolant i.e. Ethylene glycol
• a good phase changing coolant like ice slurry can be employed.
• Ice slurry has greater heat absorption compared with single phase refrigerants (Brine) because the melting enthalpy (latent heat) of the ice is also used, making ice slurry a dual phase and a much more efficient refrigerant.
• a single phase refrigerant is about 45% efficient as opposed to ice slurry which is a dual phase refrigerant and is about 70% efficient.
• the thermal storage means When the thermal storage means utilizes a mass of material, the material is super cooled by the coolant and this material can form a base on which a layer of snow, crushed ice or ice crystals (in dry form) used in ice slurry are deposited to keep the snow or ice cooler much longer.
• the coolant from the refrigeration means is passed through in heat exchanger piping contained within the mass of the material of the thermal storage medium so maximum heat transfer takes place during charging of the thermal storage medium and in reverse order transfer of maximum cooling, from the thermal storage unit to the snow making equipment and the building envelope, during snow, ice, micro crystals ice or ice slurry making periods.
• the base can be inclined to the horizontal using pillars to provide a surface on with snow or crushed ice can be deposited.
• the mass of material can include a good thermal conductor like aluminum oxide and good thermal insulator like cellulose fiber material (alumina and saw dust or cotton fiber) or a thermal insulator by itself in particle form, bound by ice or other binding agents or contained within other solid materials such as cement to provide a solid base.
• the area in between the pillars can be utilized for storing the thermal storage means or equipments.
• thermo storage unit ensures that a super cold base is provided for the snow or crushed ice or micro ice crystals to be deposited on, in order to help prevent it from melting for longer periods of time by providing constant super cooling to the snow, ice or micro ice crystals from underneath.
• the base can be made of insulating materials to help the snow or ice or micro ice crystals from melting while the location of the thermal storage mass my be elsewhere.
• the air within the interior envelope must be kept cool and dry during snow making periods, ideally the humidity level should be less than 100% preferably between 85% to 95% relative humidity and an envelop temperature of between -2°C to -15°C, depending what type of snow is desired to be made. It may also be desirable to cool and dry the air using the significant stored cooling in the thermal storage medium as opposed to cooling and drying it using refrigeration means and dryers. It would also be desirable to pre cool and optionally dry the air as well as pre- cool the water before each is introduced into the lines directed to the "snow guns" sprayers for snow and ice making.
• the snow generation / production can take place by pre chilling water by thermal storage or refrigeration means, preferably by thermal storage means, which can then be routed to snow making gun's mixing chamber to be mixed with, ideally pre-cooled compressed air or high pressure air and then discharge through spray nozzles in the snow gun. Water droplet coming out through the nozzles can than turn into a very fine mist sized droplets, turning into snow flakes in flight before being deposited into the snow surface.
• air and water can be discharged through separate discharge nozzle causing misting of the water droplets just outside the snow gun and then the fine mist can turn into ice or snow crystals in flight, depending on the configuration of the snow guns.
• ice nucleators can be added in the water to facilitate rapid formation of snowflakes or ice, possibly at higher temperatures.
• the temperature of the indoor envelope during snow or ice making periods is kept at -2°C to -15°C, and humidity level of less then 100% but ideally 85% to 95%, causing the water droplet exiting the spray gun nozzles to freeze and turn into snow flakes in flight, eventually landing on the super cold thermals storage unit.
• humidity levels must be reduced before snow making operations are commenced other wise instead of making a lot of snow or ice a lot of slush would be made.
• the air conditioning of the interior envelope may also be provided by thermal storage means instead of refrigeration means to maintain the envelope at below freezing point especially during intervals between snow productions.
• thermal storage means can pre-chill the water used to make ice to just above freezing point, thereafter, thermal storage means can supply cooling to the ice making plant to turn chilled water into ice with out engaging any refrigeration equipment.
• the ice or ice micro ice crystals once made, it can then be scraped or crushed and subsequently blown through insulated delivery lines onto the ski slope without engaging the refrigeration equipment to provide the cooling.
• coolant in the heat exchanger in the thermal storage means or the refrigeration mean can be run through ice crystals generating machine making tiny spherical ice crystals which can then be deposited on the ski slope and thermal storage unit in place of crushed ice.
• Ice crystals in the form of millions of spherical micro crystals having a size of 0.1mm to 1mm can be used in place of crushed ice. Due to its round shape and small size these ice crystals can be packed much tighter as opposed to crushed ice having irregular shape and much bigger size.
• this ice Due to much denser packing properties, this ice can retain much better and even cooling - unlike other irregular shaped ice which mostly conducts heat through the air, the round shape of the ice crystals enables them to flow freely around each other, filling all air pockets to uniformly maintain direct contact with each other, thus the desired low temperature are preserved for much longer periods as compared to crushed ice used currently in snow centers.
• the cooling means ideally includes thermal storage means or the thermal storage unit, which is preferably maintained at -10°C to -35°C (-14°F to -31°F) ideally at -30°C (- 22°F) for outdoor centers and, conveniently at about -7°C to -30°C (-19.4°F to -22°F), but ideally at -25°C (13°F), for indoor centers.
• thermal storage means or the thermal storage unit, which is preferably maintained at -10°C to -35°C (-14°F to -31°F) ideally at -30°C (- 22°F) for outdoor centers and, conveniently at about -7°C to -30°C (-19.4°F to -22°F), but ideally at -25°C (13°F), for indoor centers.
• temperature of the thermal storage means rises as cooling is drawn from it and supplied to the enclosed building envelope to make snow indoors, while the drawn cooling for outdoor centers is used to chill water which is than used to make ice, micro ice crystals or
• the refrigeration means through which thermal storage means is cooled has a significantly smaller refrigeration capacity than the very high cooling demand of the system required during snow or ice making, cooling the air inside the building envelope or to make snow or ice.
• thermal storage means supplies the cooling as opposed to the refrigeration means.
• the present invention proposes employing evaporative cooling.
• evaporative cooling essentially a virtual envelope just above the snow / ice surface can be created, having a temperature significantly lower than the ambient air temperature.
• High, medium or low, pressure, misting, atomizing or flash evaporation / atomizing nozzles can be employed to discharge, chilled water, above and around the surface of the snow / ice, typically it would be ideal to place the evaporative nozzles about 8 to 10 feet more or less, above the snow / ice surface.
• the resultant cooling through evaporation is detailed as a following example.
• a temp drop of 37°F can be realized essentially yielding a resulting temperature of 63°F, without the use of any refrigeration means.
• the resulting evaporative cooling thus can reduce the temperature above the ice surface by as much as 20°F to 37°F, the virtual lower temperature envelope, created with the aid of evaporative cooling around the slope, will in turn help preserve the ice for much longer periods of time and mitigate the effects of ice loss due to evaporation.
• Polarity of evaporator nozzles placed above the slope or snow / ice area of say 200 x 80 feet in a grid pattern of say 1 nozzle for every 5 x 5 feet square will yield a total of 640 nozzles over the entire slope.
• a discharge rate of 1 lb/h of water per nozzle will have a combined discharge rate of 640 lbs/h of water.
• 1 lbs of water thus discharged has a potential evaporative cooling power of 890 Btu/h/lbs, at 95°F
• So 640 x 890 569,600.00 btu/h of cooling, representing 47.5 tones of refrigeration capacity every hour without the use of any refrigeration means over the entire snow / ice area. All of this cooling is based on water being sprayed at close to ambient air temperature. The use of chilled water will yield much higher tonnage of cooling with lower temperature over the slope.
• the super cold liquid can be utilized for ice/ snow making. In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the super cold liquid can be utilized for evaporative cooling system.
• the super cold liquid can be utilized as a secondary thermal storage mean.
• Another aspect of the invention is that one or more aspects or implementations as mentioned herein may be combined in one or more ways to perform the invention.
• Figure 1 is a sectional side elevation view of an indoor ski slope.
• Figure 2 is sectional side elevation view of an outdoor ski slope.
• Figure 3 is a view of a small section of snow and of thermal storage unit underneath it, showing the heat exchanger cooling pipes, thermal conducting and thermal insulating material comprising of thermal storage means over a supporting surface (inclined ski slope).
• Figure 4 is a schematic view of an evaporative cooling system.
• Figure 5A is a schematic view of Figure 1.
• Figure 5B is same as Figure 5 A, except a micro ice crystals generator and holding tank for ice slurry is shown in this arrangement while ice slurry is being used as the refrigeration liquid.
• Figure 6A is a view of a waste snow recycling system with a mechanical snow moving tool.
• Figure 6B is same as Figure 6A, except mechanical moving tool has been replaced with FDP spray nozzles to move the snow in the chute.
• Figure 7 is a Psychometric Chart Showing thermodynamic properties of gas-vapor mixtures.
• Figure 8 is a chart showing temperatures delivered by evaporative coolers.
• the present invention generally provides for a method of making snow artificially within an indoor envelope, the envelop comprising a closed environment including a surface on which the snow is to be deposited, the method comprising: maintaining the temperature of the indoor envelope at lower than -2°C and humidity level at less than 100% through air- conditioned cooling fans having heat exchanger piping and vent, at least during snow making; introducing pre-chilled water into the lines directed to the snow gun sprayers; pre- cooling and compressing the air by refrigeration means and air compressor respectively, discharging the pre-chilled water and pre-cooled air through spray nozzles of the spray gun into the body of air in the envelop maintained at temperature lower than -2°C and humidity level at less than 100% causing the water droplet exiting the spray gun nozzles to freeze and turn into snow-flakes in flight.
• the humidity levels of indoor envelop is reduced to 85% to 95% before commencing the snow making operations.
• the temperature of the indoor envelope is maintained at -2°C to -15°C.
• the cooling stored in thermal storage medium is used to provide air conditioning to maintain temperature of indoor envelop below freezing point especially during intervals between snow making.
• the pre-chilled water and pre-cooled and compressed air are discharged from separate spray nozzles causing water droplets to turn into a very fine mist sized droplets.
• Ordinarily refrigeration means are employed for chilling the water before being introduced into the lines directed to the snow gun sprayers.
• the cooling stored in thermal storage medium is used to chill the water as well as to cool and dry the air.
• super cooled water obtained from the recycling of waste snow is used instead of chill water.
• the pre-cooled air is dried before being introduced into the lines directed to the snow guns sprayers.
• the ice nucleators can be added to the water to facilitate rapid formation of snowflakes or ice even at higher temperatures.
• the present invention provides for a system for making snow artificially within an indoor envelope, the envelop comprising a closed environment including a surface on which the snow is to be deposited, comprising: air-conditioned cooling fans consisting of vent and heat exchanger piping for maintaining the temperature of the indoor envelope lower than - 2°C and humidity level to be less than 100% , at least during snow making; Refrigeration means for pre-chilling water before being introduced into the lines directed to the snow guns sprayers; Refrigeration means for pre-cooling the air; Air compressor for compressing the air; and Spray gun for discharging the pre-chilled water and pre-cooled air through spray nozzles into the body of air in the envelop maintained at temperature lower than -2°C and humidity level at less than 100% causing the water droplet exiting the spray gun nozzles to freeze and turn into snow-flakes in flight.
• air-conditioned cooling fans consisting of vent and heat exchanger piping for maintaining the temperature of the indoor envelope lower than - 2°C and humidity level to be less than 100% , at least
• the system is having a thermal insulator layer as a base.
• the system in one of the embodiment of the invention comprises coolant pipes network embedded directly into snow / ice layer.
• the system in its preferred embodiment comprises coolant pipes network installed on a profiled surface of the concrete slab, having recessed surfaces filled with mixture of a thermally conductive material with a thermally insulating material to create a mass which is used as base over layer of snow, crushed ice or dry micro ice crystals are deposited.
• the system in yet another embodiment of invention comprises means for passing the coolant through the coolant pipes of refrigeration unit to cool the mixture as well as water until the water is frozen and mixture is bound by ice and super cooled.
• Support columns can be used to provide support to the base and for sport and recreational activities the base can be inclined to the horinzontal using support columns of varied length.
• the space in between the support column can be used to locate the refrigeration plant and other control equipments used for running the system.
• the system in its preferred embodiment of the invention employs thermal storage means as or in place of refrigeration means.
• the present invention also provides for a method of creating a virtual envelope just above the snow / ice surface in an outdoor envelope through evaporative cooling system for making snow artificially and retaining it, the envelop comprising a open environment, the method comprising: distributing water through an over head insulated water distribution tank having branch lines for distributing water; Pre-chilling water by refrigeration means to a temperature just above the freezing point to have much higher heat absorption capacity than water at ambient temperatures; introducing the pre-chilled water through the chilled water supply lines into the lines directed to the snow guns sprayers; providing pressure in water lines and spray nozzles through High Pressure pump and discharging the pre-chilled water at high pressure through flash evaporator nozzles of the spray gun into the above and around the surface of the snow / ice to spray fine mist of chilled water in the outdoor envelop to provide flash cooling.
• the evaporative nozzles are placed about 8-10 feet from the surface of the snow / ice.
• the air is circulated to speed up rate of evaporation from the flash evaporator nozzles as well as to provide cooling. Fans can be used to circulate the air.
• the refrigeration means are employed to pre-chill the water. But in preferred embodiment of the invention, the cooling stored in thermal storage medium is used to pre-chill the water.
• the water is preferably pre-chilled to at least at temperature of 1°C.
• super cooled water obtained from the recycling of waste snow is used instead of chill water.
• the open environment can be covered with a shed like roof with open front and sides and the shed can be used to install the all or any equipment required for functioning of the method hereinabove.
• the present invention also provides for a evaporative cooling system for making snow artificially and retaining it within an outdoor envelope by creating a virtual envelope just above the snow / ice surface in the outdoor envelop, the envelop comprising an open environment, comprising: Over head insulated water distribution tank; said over head water distribution tank having branch lines for distributing water; Refrigeration means for pre- chilling water to temperature just above the freezing point to have much higher heat absorption capacity than water at ambient temperatures; Chilled water supply line for introducing the pre-chilled water into the lines directed to the Flash evaporator nozzles; High Pressure pump to provide pressure in water lines and spray nozzles; Flash evaporator nozzles connected with over head water distribution tank for discharging the pre-chilled water at high pressure into the above and around the surface of the snow / ice to spray fine mist of chilled water in the outdoor envelop; pluralities of fan engaged to circulate the air to speed up rate of evaporation from the flash evaporator nozzles and cooling; and at least
• the system in one of the embodiment of the invention comprises coolant pipes network embedded directly into snow / ice layer.
• the system in its preferred embodiment comprises coolant pipes network installed on a profiled surface of the concrete slab, having recessed surfaces filled with mixture of a thermally conductive material with a thermally insulating material to create a mass which is used as base over layer of snow, crushed ice or dry micro ice crystals are deposited.
• the system in yet another embodiment of invention comprises means for passing the coolant through the coolant pipes to cool the mixture as well as water until the water is frozen and mixture is bound by ice and super cooled.
• the Controller can be a mechanical, electronic or computer device, programmed and connected to various sensors i.e. temperature, wind, humidity sensors to make the system work automatically.
• the flash evaporator nozzles can be installed in the snow layer and programmed to pop out and pop in when required.
• the system comprises misting nozzles in place of flash evaporator nozzles.
• the system in its preferred embodiment of the invention employs thermal storage means as or in place of refrigeration means.
• the present invention also provides for a method for preserving snow by resisting the heat transfer build up in ice within an envelope to elongate the melting period of snow, providing embedded coolant lines of coolant pipes arranged evenly apart preferably at a spacing of 1-1.5 meters.; passing a cooled coolant through the embedded coolant lines of refrigeration unit capable of absorbing the heat from the thermal storage medium through thermally conductive material and transmitting the absorbed heat into the coolant; cooling and drying the air within envelop to bring down the humidity level by air conditioning means.
• the mixture is used as a base over which layer of snow, crushed ice or dry micro ice crystals are deposited.
• the ice crystals of size 0.1 mm to 1 mm are used.
• the depth of the snow / ice layer is preferably kept between 250mm to 900mm thick.
• the coolant pipes network is embedded directly into snow / ice layer.
• the coolant pipes network is installed on a profiled surface of the concrete slab, having recessed surfaces.
• the recessed area and area around the recessed surfaces is filled with mixture of a thermally conductive material such as aluminum oxide in granular form with a thermally insulating material such as cellulose fibre material in combination of alumina and saw dust or cotton fibre, to create a mass wherein the thermally conductive material is capable of absorbing any heat from the thermal storage medium to transmit it further and the thermally insulating material is capable of keeping the thermal storage medium well insulated by keeping the outside heat out of the thermal storage medium.
• Water is added to the mixture and is frozen by the coolant in the coolant pipes until the mixture is bound by ice and super cooled. Ethylene Glycol or Single phase coolant i.e. Brine is used as coolant.
• the coolant is coolant is cooled by passing through a heat exchanger refrigeration cycle.
• phase changing coolant such as ice slurry is used as coolant.
• a thermal insulator material is made a base below the concrete slab.
• the thermal insulator material is particle form bound by ice or other binding agents or contained within other solid materials such as cement to provide a solid base. Over this solid base layer of snow, crushed ice or dry micro ice crystals are deposited.
• the humidity levels of air is dried to bring humidity level to 85% to 95%.
• the air is cooled to a temperature ranging between -2°C to -15°C.
• the cooling stored in thermal storage medium is used to provide air conditioning i.e. cooling and drying the air.
• the thermal storage medium comprises of large mass of coolant or ice slurry.
• the present invention also provides for a waste snow collection and recycling system
• Waste snow melting tank having at least one inclined Collection Chute for collecting of waste snow and at least one exhaust line for supplying recycled super cool liquid; At least one material moving tool to move waste snow from at least one collection chute into waste snow melting tank; Storage tank having supply line connecting to series of spray nozzles; Spray Nozzles located at top of tank through which the Freezing point depressant agent is sprayed to waste snow; Mixing paddles at bottom of tank to speed up change in phase; and Pump to take away super cold liquid via exhaust line.
• the pump may be located outside the waste snow melting tank.
• the system comprises at least one material moving tool to move waste snow from collection chute into waste snow melting tank.
• the system comprise plurality of spray nozzles installed in collection chute to spray FDP on waste snow to partially melt waste snow to enable it to pass through the incline chute easily due to better flow properties and gravity.
• the system comprises liquid separators to extract FDP from the liquid after cooling is extracted from such liquid.
• the present invention also provides for a method of waste snow collection and recycling comprising: Collecting waste snow in a waste snow melting tank through at least one inclined Collection Chute; Moving the waste snow from the chute using material moving tool into waste snow melting tank; Delivering Freezing Point Depressant agent from a storage tank to spray nozzles through supply line connecting series of spray nozzles; Spraying the Freezing Point Depressant agent over waste snow through spray nozzles located at top of tank causing the snow or ice to turn to liquid; Rotating the mixing paddles at bottom of tank to speed up change in phase from solid ice or snow to liquid; Taking away super cold liquid from tank via exhaust line through a pump.
• the pump is located outside the waste snow melting tank.
• the waste snow can be moved from collection chute into waste snow melting tank through a material moving tool.
• plurality of spray nozzles installed in the collection chute sprays FDP on waste snow to partially melt waste snow enabling it to pass through the incline chute easily due to better flow properties and gravity.
• the super cold liquid can be used for snow making and as thermal storage mean.
• the FDP is extracted from the liquid through liquid separators after cooling for any further use.
• FIG. 1 a drawing of an interior building envelope is shown in which snow or ice is to be produced for recreational purposes.
• the building can conveniently be of any size and shape, ideally a rectangular or tubular configuration but spherical or cylindrical shape may also be build.
• the building is shown at 100 with snow making equipment installed inside.
• a dividing inclined concrete slab 105 cuts the interior space into top and bottom sections, section above the slope and snow 101 defines the interior air envelope that is to be maintained ideally at below zero degrees Celsius.
• Flat area at the top of the slope 105 is shown at 105 A while bottom flat area is shown at 105B.
• 105, 105A and 105B being the surface of the slope to be covered with snow or crushed ice.
• insulation could be any good conventional insulating material or a super insulator like AerogelTM or any other engineered or natural insulator or a combination thereof.
• the thermal storage means 1 15 comprising of heat exchanger piping network, a good thermal conductor mixed in with a good thermal insulator (natural or engineered) bound together by ice, ideally the thermally conductive material used can be aluminum oxide in granular form, while saw dust can be a good thermally insulating material, or an engineered material with a good thermal conductor and a good thermal insulator mixed into together and bound by ice.
• Above the thermal storage unit 115 and resting on it is a snow or crushed / granulated ice layer 120.
• an equipment room 130 containing refrigeration plant along with other control equipment In the lower section of the concrete slope 105 is an equipment room 130 containing refrigeration plant along with other control equipment, alternatively the equipment room can be placed elsewhere in the building or outside the building.
• Supporting the concrete slope are series of support columns 135A and 135B.
• a chair lift system is shown at 140 taking skiers to the top of the slope, while an area of winter wonder land and an alpine cafe is shown at 145 along with a hotel 150 at the base of the slope 105B with hotel room balconies at 155 overlooking the winter wonder land 145.
• An area containing food court and observation area is shown at 160.
• a series of snow or ice making snow guns are evenly arranged as shown at 165, each gun strategically located to produce and deposit the snow evenly over the slope 105, 105A and 105B, alternatively snow making machines may be located on the walls or the floor level, while a series of A/C cooling fans are shown at 170 comprising of vent and heat exchanger piping to supply cool air to the envelope.
• Series of light fixtures are shown at 175.
• a gully / chutes 180 for collection of waste snow. After passing through chutes 180, waste snow is deposited into waste snow recycling and melting tanks 185.
• Figure 2 is same as Figure.1, except it depicts an outdoors snow or ice slope 200 having no air conditioned interior envelope.
• the slope may be covered or uncovered having a shed like roof with open front and sides.
• the concrete slab 105 is conveniently located on ground level, on a prepared slope made of an artificial incline as shown at 230 while the roof structure of the slope is shown at 220 with a series of support columns 225. All systems are identical to Figure 1, except for the following items being added while envelope air conditioning items 101 and 170 have been deleted.
• 420 and 425 are over head water distribution trunk and branch lines for the evaporative cooling system installed to cool the area 201 above the slope 105, 430 are individual flash evaporator nozzles used to spray pressurized chilled water ideally but not necessarily at or near 0°C (32°F) to flash cool the air above the snow or ice surface, whereby, the resulting cooler ambient air temperatures facilitate retarding the melting and loss of ice due to high temperatures and evaporation of snow or ice layer 120.
• flash evaporative system can be installed just under the snow layer 120 (not shown) similar in fashion to automatic lawn sprinklers, flash evaporator nozzles can pop out as needed to spray chilled water under high pressure to spray fine mist of chilled water just above the surface of the snow / ice layer 120 to provided flash cooling, thereby, dropping the temperature which can help resist or prolong the melting of the snow or ice layer as a result of lower temperatures.
• 215 are a series of fans that can be engaged to move the air to speed up rate of evaporation from the flash evaporator nozzles and subsequent cooling if there is no wind present.
• the rate of flash evaporation and activation of flash evaporator nozzles can be controlled by a controller, the controller can be mechanical or electronic or can be a computer, monitoring and controlling various aspects of the facility, thereby, allowing the system to be automatically controlled.
• Various operations can be started or shut down by programming of the controller which can be hooked up to various sensors, i.e. temperature, wind, humidity etc., as well as when and at what speed the fans are to be operated under various weather conditions, during no or little wind conditions, this will ensure that there is no buildup of high humidity levels above the slope, if the air becomes stagnant, with the accompanying high levels of latent heat.
• Wind, temperature, wind and humidity sensors can be connected to the controller to activate various components of the flash evaporator system.
• misting nozzles may also be used.
• Water at standard ambient temperature used for flash evaporative cooling can drop the temperature by as much as 10°F to 37°F depending on temperature, wind and humidity. However, if chilled water at or near 0°C is used in place of water at ambient temperature than the resulting drop in temperature can be significantly greater, as chilled water has much higher heat absorption, capacity. Since there is an abundant of stored cooling in the thermal storage means 115 water can be chilled by using a very small amount of that stored cooling for flash evaporative cooling without the need for expanding additional energy to chill the water by running power hungry refrigeration unit.
• FIG 3 is a close up of a section of ski slope 105 showing the thermal storage means, supporting surface, insulation and snow layer, several coolant pipes 305 are shown that make up the heat exchanger piping of the thermal storage unit.
• coolant pipes are arranged evenly apart denoted by "w”, ideally at a spacing of 1 to 1.5 meters apart, dictated by the size of the pipes and parallel to one another and perpendicular to the length of the slope 105, running over the entire length of the slope from top to bottom.
• Coolant pipes are embedded in mixture of thermally conductive and thermally insulating material, such material comprising of (activated alumina) aluminum oxide in granular form and wood saw dust laying on a flat surface, bound together with ice 115.
• the mixture of aluminum oxide and saw dust may be bound with cement this may be in a mixing ration more of less, in the range of 9% to 40% by volume.
• the coolant pipes network 305 can be installed on a profiled surface 310, of the concrete slab 105, having recessed surfaces, there as the pipes can be located in the said surfaces. The recessed area and area around the recessed surfaces can be filled with mixture of alumina and saw dust. Thereafter, water can be added and frozen by the coolant in the coolant pipes until the fixture of Alumina and saw dust are bound by ice and super cooled.
• Snow or ice is formed and deposited on surface of thermal storage unit 1 15, snow / ice 120 is kept cool by surface of 1 15 which in turn is kept cool by coolant pipes 305, resting on concrete surfacel05 that in turn is insulated by insulation 1 10. Depth of the snow is represented by "d”.
• piping 305 imbedded in alumina and saw dust mixture bound by ice or alumina and saw dust mixed into concrete slab may be eliminated and cooling pipes may be directly embedded into snow / ice layer to keep it cool.
• i represents isothermals that from in the snow, these are points of same temperature within the snow which, if uneven, will give rise to portions of the snow which are of too high a temperatures that may cause band of snow with uneven consistency in part of the snow layer.
• the coolant lines under the snow have to be arranged so as to distribute cooling as evenly as possible to ensure that an even snow / ice quality is maintained throughout the snow surface, the arrangement in Figure 3, is intended to achieve the stated goals by evenly distributing the cold temperatures while preventing heat transfer through a thermally conductive layer as well as a thermally insulating layer which are formed of alumina and saw dust embedded in ice.
• the depth of the snow / ice layer is of a thickness of 250mm to 900mm (9.8in to 35in), as this depth of snow / ice can be ideal to maintain the temperatures on the surface to maintain the desired quality of the snow / ice on the surface.
• FIG 4 is a schematic view of a simple flash evaporative cooling system.
• 400 is a chilled water supply line to the evaporative cooling insulated water supply tank 405
• 410 is a high pressure pump attached to main supply line 415 which in turn feeds trunk lines 420A, 420B etc.
• 425-1, 425-2 and 425-3 etc are series of branch lines to which evaporative nozzles 430s are attached, the fine mist coming out of 430-1, 430-2, 430-3 etc., is depicted by 435-1, 435-2, 435-3 etc.
• High pressure pump 410 is necessary to provide enough pressure in the water lines and the spray nozzles 430 to cause the water coming out of the same to come out with adequate force to create a rapid and fine mist so flash evaporation takes place.
• FIG. 5 A depicts a schematic view of Fig.1 an A/C evaporator is shown at 520 while the condenser for the A/C unit is located outside the building and is not shown, in the drawing.
• a primary thermal storage unit is shown at 115, comprising of cooling supply lines grid 305.
• Thermal storage unit comprising of a good thermal conductor, a good thermal insulator, each in 5 to 50 percent by weight, ideally 5% to 15% each by weight, more of less as desired, bound together by ice.
• Thermal storage means 1 15 is ideally kept at - 10 °C to - 35°C (14°F to -29°F), cooling is draw from the thermal storage unit as needed to cool the building envelope and to satisfy other cooling requirements by supply line 522A, after running the coolant through a series of air handling units 170 to cool the building envelope the spent coolant starts its return journey via return lines 522B back to the thermal storage unit via the A/C unit 520, to be cooled for another return trip to air handling units.
• the coolant is cooled by the A/C unit so it can take away the built up heat from the thermal storage unit. While during normal operation and especially during periods of snow making periods, cooling is drawing from the thermal storage means.
• Any water used for snow / ice making can be chilled by the thermal storage means, alternatively the same water can be chilled by the secondary thermal storage means.
• a secondary thermal storage unit is shown at 525 while a series of coolant heat exchanger grid lines located inside 525 are shown at 526. Coolant is supplied for various needs by supply line 526 A, after the coolant passes through air handling units 170 it is returned via return line 526B to be recharged by the secondary thermal storage unit 525, thereafter, the cycle is repeated as needed. Cooling for the secondary thermal storage unit comes from change of phase of waste snow in the waste snow / ice recycling tank.
• a natural or preferably engineered freezing point depressing agent (FDP) or a combination of the two, having an eutectic temperature of -60°F to -100°F is sprayed inside the waste snow / ice recycling tank 185, causing the snow / ice to turn into liquid, the waste snow having a temperature of -1°C to -4°C to undergo phase change, where the resulting liquid can have temperatures in the range of -60°F to -100°F.
• FDP freezing point depressing agent
• return line 526B can be routed through the A/C unit to partially cool the refrigerant liquid before it enters the secondary thermal storage unit grid piping 526.
• An air compressor with air drying units is employed at 528. Air compressor 528 can be used to supply compressed air to snow making "snow guns" 165, via supply line 530 while chilled water can be supplied by chilled water supply tank 527.
• a floor drain is provided at 529.
• FIG 5B a schematic view of Figure 1A and Figure IB and is nearly identical to Figure 5A, only those items that are different from Figure 5A will be discussed here.
• This embodiment uses ice slurry as the coolant.
• a micro ice crystal generator to produce ice slurry has been added at 532 which is being supplied cooling from supply and return refrigerant lines 531 coming from the A/C unit 520 (not shown) as shown in Figure 5A.
• ice slurry is being produced by micro crystals ice generator 532.
• a waste snow collection and re-cycling system 810 is the waste snow or ice collected in a collection chute 180, 815 is an auger type material moving tool to move waste snow from collection chute 180 into waste snow melting tank 185.
• Spray nozzles 825 used to spray freezing point depressing (FPD) agent onto the waste snow 810, causing it to change phase from solid to liquid.
• Spray nozzles 825 being fed by supply line 820 form FDP agent storage tank (not shown).
• Spray of FDP can cause the snow or ice to turn to liquid while its temperature can drop by as much as 50°F to 100°F depending on the type of FDP used and it's eutectic temperature, thereby, increasing the stored thermal capacity of the resulting liquid by as much as 50 to 100 times.
• FDP spray nozzles can be placed in the chute 180 to partially melt the waste snow there by making is pass through the inclined chute easily due to better flow properties and gravity.
• Figure 7 is a Psychometric chat showing physical and thermodynamic properties of gas-vapor mixtures and resultant temperature delivered by flash evaporative coolers, this chart depicts yield rates for water at ambient temperature.
• the proposed system can use chilled water at or near 0°C there by yielding much lower resulting ambient temperatures as chilled water can have much better heat absorption.
• the water can be pre-chilled by routing it through super cold thermal storage unit storing an abundant of cooling.
• Figure 8 is a chart showing temperatures delivered by an evaporative cooler, looking at the chart at an ambient temperature of 90°F and a relative humidity of 15%, an evaporative cooling system can drop the temperature down to 69°F a difference of 21°F without the used of an A/C unite.
• Any or all components of the proposed technology can be used for thermal storage to be used for any and all A/C or refrigeration purposes other than indoor or outdoor snow / ice centers.
• the proposed technology can also be used exclusively to provide thermal storage for building, industrial application or for any other type of air conditioning and refrigeration purposes.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
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• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
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• 2012
  • 2012-02-25 JP JP2013555420A patent/JP2014506668A/ja active Pending
  • 2012-02-25 US US13/385,625 patent/US20130264032A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2012-02-25 WO PCT/US2012/000108 patent/WO2012115718A2/en active Application Filing
  • 2012-02-25 CN CN201280020842.2A patent/CN103562661A/zh active Pending

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