Title: Apparatus and method for producing water from air
Abstract: An apparatus and method are extracting water from the ambient air comprising drawing air through an particle ionizer grid, evaporator plates of a refrigerant system the system and recirculating the ionized air and mixing said ionized air with ambient air and recycling said mixed air through said ionizer and evaporator plates to extract moisture from the air. The system utilizes sensors to constantly sense and predictively respond to multiple parameters, monitored at multiple points in the system to predictively and efficiently adjust the system operation to continually maximize the extraction of water regardless of ambient temperature and humidity.
Patent Number: 7,000,410 Issued on 02/21/2006 to Hutchinson
| Inventors:
|
Hutchinson; John (Silver City, NM)
|
| Assignee:
|
Ecotek International, Inc. (Silver City, NM)
|
| Appl. No.:
|
977143 |
| Filed:
|
October 29, 2004 |
| Current U.S. Class: |
62/93; 62/285 |
| Current Intern'l Class: |
F25D 17/06 (20060101) |
| Field of Search: |
62/93,272,285,291
95/269
|
References Cited [Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Jones; Melvin
Parent Case Text
The present application claims the priority date of U.S. patent application Ser.
No. 60/519,308 files on Nov. 12, 2003 in the name of John Hutchinson, the same
inventor hereof.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A system for extracting water from ambient air, said system comprising,
a) a housing;
b) first fan means for drawing ambient air into a first section of said housing;
c) a particle ionizer, said fan means driving said ambient air through said ionizer
to ionize the air;
d) a refrigerant system including evaporator plate array positioned to have the
ionized air pass adjacent said plate array to cool said air, said refrigerant system
cooling said air to a temperature below the dew point of said air to cause water
vapor condensation on said plates.
e) second fan means for drawing ambient air into a second section of said housing;
f) chamber means for mixing said ionized air and ambient air; and
g) a conduit for conducting said mixed air from said chamber means to re-circulate
and feed back into the stream of air inputted into said ionizer; and,
h) means for collecting the water condensed on said plates.
2. A system as in claim 1 further including
a) microprocessor means;
b) sensor means for sensing multiple system criteria including temperature of
ambient air, the humidity of the air, the dew point; and
c) software program means for enabling said microprocessor means to predicative
provide control commands in response to inputs from said sensor means whereby the
system is caused to provide a maximum output of condensation regardless of temperature
and humidity variations.
3. A method of extracting water from air, said method consisting of the steps of:
a) drawing a first volume of air into a housing;
b) ionizing said air;
c) cooling said air;
d) drawing a second volume of air into said housing; and
e) mixing said ionized air with said second volume of air.
4. A method of extracting as in claim 3 further including the steps of
a) providing a housing having at least two separate chambers;
b) drawing ambient air into a first of said chambers;
c) driving said ambient air in said first chamber through an ionizer;
d) passing the ionized air over said plates to cool said air;
e) cooling said air to a temperature below the dew point of said ionized air;
d) drawing warm ambient air into the second of said chambers;
e) mixing said cool ionized air and warm ambient air; and
f) conducting said mixed air to re-circulate and feed back into the stream of
air inputted into the ionizer.
5. A method as in claim 3 wherein
a) when said ionized air is cooled below the dew point water vapor coalesces
and develops relatively large water globules on said ionized air particles.
6. A method as in claim 3 further including the steps of:
a) sensing multiple system criteria including the temperature of ambient air,
the humidity of the air, the dew point, etc.; and
b) applying fuzzy logic algorithms for predicatively providing control commands
in response to inputs from said sensor means.
7. A system for extracting water from air, said system comprising,
a) a housing for the system;
b) first means for drawing ambient air into said housing;
c) an ionizing grid for ionizing said drawn air;
d) a refrigeration subsystem for cooling said drawn air below its dew point; and
f) means in said housing for recirculating said drawn air; and
g) water collecting means mounted to receive water from said refrigeration subsystem.
8. A system as in claim 7, said system further comprising
a) said housing includes a main air inlet housing for the system;
b) a fan for drawing ambient air into said housing;
c) an array of water evaporator water condensing plates positioned to have air
pass through said array to cool said air;
d) a refrigeration subsystem comprising a compressor, a refrigerant liquid that
is compressed by said compressor, said evaporator plates receiving and expanding
said liquid and whereby the liquid cools said evaporator plates to a temperature
below the dew point of ambient air drawn into said housing; and
e) a particle ionizer positioned in the path of the ambient air drawn into said housing;
f) said housing being configured to provide a return path for said ambient air
to recirculate said ambient air through said ionizer and said array of condensing
plates; and
g) water collecting means mounted to receive water from said water condensing plates.
9. A system as in claim 8 wherein
a) said housing includes a second inlet for drawing ambient air into said housing,
said second inlet being positioned to enable ambient air to be drawn over said
compressor to cool said compressor;
b) said housing includes a mixing/weather chamber wherein said ionized air is
mixed with air drawn through said second inlet; and
c) said housing includes conduit means for recirculating said mixed air with
air entering said housing through said main inlet.
10. A system as in claim 7 wherein said ionizing grid is an electrostatic grid.
Description
TECHNICAL FIELD OF INVENTION
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for producing, that
is, extracting water from the moisture in atmospheric air.
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
There are many areas of the world in which fresh water is in critical demand.
Also, there are many instances where fresh water is in demand for emergencies,
such as when a water line to a given area is destroyed.
Many methods and apparatus are in use to recover fresh water from salt water
or brackish water. Methods and apparatus are also known that remove moisture from
air, either to reduce humidity or to generate fresh drinking water. Recently a
number of companies have developed relatively small units to produce fresh drinking
water, and many patents have been issued directed to such products, including U.S.
Pat. Nos. 5,400,607; 5,259,203; and 5,056,593. However, It has been found that
the apparatus and methods as disclosed in the prior art, although quite workable,
appear to be relatively in efficient in extracting water from the ambient air;
or, said machines are dependent on high moisture content in the air, and/or just
do not provide significant outputs of fresh water.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
An apparatus and method are disclosed for efficiently extracting significant
quantities
of water from the air. The inventive equipment utilizes a condenser type refrigerant
system to extract the water from the air. Condenser type refrigerant systems, per
se, are known in the art; however in the inventive system, unique techniques are
utilized that include means for drawing air through the system and recirculating
the air through an air ionizer enabling the extraction of maximum moisture from
the air. In addition, sensors that are mounted at multiple points in the system,
constantly sense and predicatively respond to multiple parameters to efficiently
operate the system to continually maximize the extraction of water from the air
regardless of ambient temperature and humidity. The process of constant monitoring
by the multiple sensors as well as creating a stable air mixing/weather chamber
for recirculated air, coupled with the capability to coalesce relatively higher
amounts of water vapor on each particle of air results in a stable environment
for extraction of water vapor in the air. These features eliminate the variations
in output of prior art units. Fuzzy logic modules in the system are fed by the
multiple sensors and computer logic sequences are tested and updated to thereby
create a unique logic through repetition.
The foregoing features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent
from the following more particular description of the invention. The accompanying
drawings, listed herein below, are useful in explaining the invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 shows a sketch of the inventive system that also indicates the recirculating
air flow and the mixing of incoming ambient air with a previously cooled air; FIG.
1 also shows the re-circulation of the air through a high intensity electrostatic field;
FIG. 2 is a sketch of a partial overhead view to show the multiple evaporator
plates and depicts the recycling air flow over the evaporator plates;
FIG. 3 is a front view of the system housing; and
FIG. 4 shows an outline of the system of FIGS. 1 and 2 and indicates the multiple
sensors positioned throughout the system.
DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION
FIG. 1 shows a view of the inventive water producing or water extracting system
11. The system
11 is a unique and a significant improvement over
known types condensing units for extracting water from the ambient air. In one
embodiment of the invention, the housing
12 for the system
11 is
approximately 16 feet in length, 4 feet in width and 8 feet in height and preferably
made of stainless steel. The housing
12 comprises a standard type of construction
including an inner wall, an outer wall and insulation between the two walls. The
housing and system are designed for portability.
Refer now to FIG. 3 as well as FIG. 1. Metal louvers
14 are mounted
at the front of the housing
12. The louvers are hydraulically controlled
by a hydraulic actuator
29 to close and open, controllably allowing the
ambient air
16 into the system. A fan
20 mounted in the front of
the housing and behind the louvers
14 pulls the ambient air
16 into
the housing in a horizontal front to back direction. In the embodiment of FIGS.
1 and 3, the fan
20 is approximately 36 inches in diameter and is hydraulically
operated both in speed of rotation and blade pitch. A hydraulic apparatus, of known
design, indicated by numeral
24, is mounted in a compartment
26 beneath
the fan. Water pumps and purifying equipment
23, of known design, are located
in a compartment
25 located adjacent compartment
25.
Refer now to FIGS. 1 and 2. Note that FIGS. 1 and 2 are relatively reversed
with respect to each other to better show various features of the invention. A
chamber
31 is formed behind fan
20 for purposes which will become
clear. Next, a particle ionizer, electrical ionizer grid
30 is positioned
behind the fan
20 and mounted transverse to the air flow. The grid extends
across the width of the housing
12. The ionizer grid
30 is formed
of stainless steel and copper and is a known type of ion grid utilizing a high
voltage. In operation, as the air particles pass through the ionizer
30,
the particles are charged positively or negatively. It has been found that water
vapor adheres better or more fully to a charged particle, with the result that
more water vapor collects on a charged particle than would collect on a non-charged
particle. This concept is utilized in the present invention.
Next an array or banks of flat plate evaporators (air cooling) plates
32,
of suitable known design, are mounted behind the ionizer grid
30. FIG. 2
shows a top view of the banks of plates
32. Refer no also to FIG. 4 that
shows the refrigerant system of the invention including the banks of plates
32
connected to receive a glycol mixture of cooling liquid from the condenser
41
through suitable valving
42 and lines
47, as indicated in FIG. 4.
The glycol mixture is pumped through the evaporators plates
32 and returns
through lines
47A to recycle the operation, as is well known.
Referring again to FIG. 1, V-positioned plates
33 that function
as water collectors are mounted under the evaporator plates
32. The V-shaped
plates direct the water
35 to a holding tank
34. FIG. 4 shows the
pumps
43, of known design that remove the water from the holding tank
34,
and pass it through standard filters and purifiers
23 to an outlet line
46 for use.
FIGS. 1 and 4 show an air mixing chamber
50 that is formed behind the
evaporator plates
32 (note again that the view of FIGS. 1 and 4 are relatively
reversed). In the embodiment of the invention being described, air mixing chamber
50 has the approximate dimensions of 4 ft. in length, 4 ft. in width and
4 ft. in height and forms the rear part of the housing
12. Chamber
50
has an outlet
19 and associated louvers
14 that permit air to controllably
exit from housing
12 to the atmosphere.
As best seen in FIG. 4, a fan
60 pulls ambient air
16 into the
chamber
50. The ambient air passes over the compressor
40 and condenser coils
41 and cools the equipment and enters chamber
50 as warmer moist
air
16B. In chamber
50, the warm air
16B is pushed upwardly
and mixes with the cooled ionized air
16A that exits the cooling plates
32. As shown in both FIGS. 1 and 4, the mixed air
16A+
16B
is drawn upwardly into a feedback conduit
58 by a group of fans
39
and is fed into input chamber
31 and mixed with air in the main air stream
16 provided by fan
20. This air flow
16+
16A+
16B
is then further ionized and cooled. As can be readily appreciated the air is thus
caused to flow in a recycling loop.
The motor/compressor
40 and the condenser
41 are of standard design
and are mounted in the lower section of chamber
50. As mentioned, fans
60
pull ambient air
16 through a side inlet that provides ambient air for cooling
the condenser
41.
Multiple sensors
21, indicated by the large black dots in FIG. 4
are mounted throughout the system. In one embodiment some twenty-five sensors are
used. The sensors
21 selectively sense temperature, humidity, dew point,
rpm of the various fans, pitch of the fans, cfm (cubic feet per minute) of air
flow, voltage, current, coolant, pressure etc., that is, the sensors monitor all
of the pertinent parameters of the operating system. The sensors
21 are
of suitable known types and mounted to best determine the parameter being monitored.
A microprocessor module or chip
56 receives and processes the outputs from
the sensors
21. A microprocessor controller
57 is connected to module
56. As noted above, a) the process of mixing the ambient air and the ionized
air, b) the temperature and flow volume of the coolant provided to the evaporator
plates
32 to cool the air below the dew point, and c) the process of adjusting
the air that is fed back into the main air steam an all other system components
are controlled by microprocessor module
56 in response to inputs from the
sensors
21. A fuzzy logic program is utilized by the microprocessor module
56 is employed to provide predictive and learned control for the system.
The operation of the system will now be described in further detail. Ambient
air
16 is controllably pulled into the system by the fan
20. The
incoming air
16 passes through an air filter system and is then forced through
the ionizer grid
30. The air
16 is ionized and the air particles
are positively or negatively charged and exit as ionized air
16A.
As mentioned above, it has been found that the water vapor collects more on the
charged air particles than would collect normally on non-charge particles and forms
relatively larger globules of water. When the charged particles, charged by the
ionizer grid
30, pass by the plate evaporators (cooler) plates
32,
the ionized air
16A particles tend to stick better or more fully to the
evaporators plates
34. As the air cools below the dew point, moisture is
extracted from the air. That is, the water vapor on the air particles condenses
and through gravity falls into the water collector tank
34. The air flow
continues into an air mixing chamber
50.
Refer now to FIG. 4 and air mixing chamber
50. (Note that FIG. 1 is
relatively reverse from FIG. 4.) The ambient air
16 is pulled in by fans
60 into chamber
50. As it is drawn into chamber
50, the ambient
air
16 passes through the motor/compressor
40 and hot condenser coils
41 and helps cool the condenser coils and becomes relatively warm. This
warm moist air
16B is mixed with the cold ionized air
16A exiting
the cooling plates
32. Fans
39 mounted in a feedback conduit
58
draw the air from chamber
50 upwardly over the evaporator plates and back
to input chamber
31 in front of the ionizer grid
30 and into the
main air flow.
Air mixing chamber
50 is configured to swirl and mix the air inputs, as
indicated by the arrows in FIG. 4.
In response to the inputs from sensors located in chamber, sensors
21
cause
the warm moist air
16B and the ionized colder air
16A to be mixed
until a temperature and specific humidity is obtained as determined by the sensors
located in chamber
50. The fans
39 draw this mixed air through return
conduit
58. Conduit
58 conveys the mixed air
16A and
16B
back into the main air stream to be re-circulated through the air cooling plates
32 to re-cycle the air. This recirculation of the air through the ionizer
30 and the plates
32 provides a significant increase in the efficiency
and in the total water output of the system
11.
Some other system details will now be described. The entering ambient air
16
is drawn through the fan
20 at between 10 cfm and 2500 cfm. The box or module
for mounting the fans is formed of stainless steel. A system of hydraulically operated
slats
14 open and close under the control of a motor drive which responds
linked to the system microprocessor which, in turn, is linked to sensors that measure
ambient air temperature, humidity and dew point, etc. The monitoring system for
the louvers is also linked to the motors that determine the rotational speed (rpm)
of the fan
20. The sensor output is used by the microprocessor
56
as one of the parameters to measure and calculate the cubic feet per minute of
air required to condense the maximum amount of water at the various temperatures
and humidity; this is done in a continuous manner.
The plate evaporators
32 are mounted within a stainless steel insulated
rectangular tube and comprise four rows of collector plates. The plate evaporators
are fed by the and motor
40 compressor
41, which pump a glycol mixture
through valve
42 and lines
47 to evaporators
32. The fluid
then circulates back through lines
47 to the condenser coils; the fluid
is circulated at a relatively low fluid pressure. As noted above, the mixed air
and the ambient air passing over the evaporators are cooled below the dew point
and condense, resulting in the extraction of water from the air. The air being
recycled and processed is thoroughly mixed and comprises new ambient air entering
through the inlet chamber
31 and mixed air coming through conduit
58.
The cycle automatically repeats.
The foregoing cycling can be appreciated from FIG. 4 and mixing/weather chamber
50. The updraft air fans
60 draw warm air
16B that has passed
over the hot condenser coils up through the condenser compartment
48 to
mix with cool air
16A coming from the evaporators. This action causes the
air in chamber
50 to become more dense with water vapor. When the selected
proper temperature and humidity of the air in the air mixing chamber
50
are attained, the mixed air comprising
16A and
16B exits through
t
58 and the air is cycled backed over the array of evaporators
32
by the bank of fans
39 and air is pushed down into the inlet chamber
31
where it mixes with ambient air
16. The mixed air then again passes through
the ionizer module
30, to be charged, and is once again passed through the
plate coil evaporators
32 to condense and provide water globules. The sensors
and the microprocessor modules automatically control the entire process.
The pumps for the compressor and filter systems are monitored by the microprocessor
modules
56 and computer control
57 turn the motor compressor
40
pumps fluid on and off as determined by the program and microprocessor module
56.
The louvers
14 and the fans
20 are opened and adjusted under the
control of the microprocessor modules to admit the needed ambient air at specific
temperatures and humidity in response to the data obtained by the sensors to thereby
create maximum water condensing on the flat plate collectors.
The ionizer or ion particle generator grid
32 is constructed from stainless
steel and high tensile copper wires. The wires are strung across the width of a
plate frame with a 3/16 inch horizontally spacing between the wires. Rows of wires
fill the frame from top to bottom. In the center of each row a wire is attached
to the front rows pointing into the air mainstream. The front rows of wires are
attached by shielded hi-voltage wire to a transformer. The rear wires are attached
to transformer ground to set up an ion field. The incoming air if forced through
this ion field, and particle ionization occurs. The operation of the ionizer grid
is standard and well known.
The ion field provided grid
30, in concert with an exact control of the
temperature and humidity of the air prior to the air being forced across the flat
plate collector banks, enables larger coalesced particles to stick to the cold
sink of the plates. Also the air recirculating from the mixing chamber
50
back into the main air stream in inlet chamber
31, provides air that has
picked up more water vapor on the air particles in the air mixing chamber
50.
This air which is again forced across the ion field where it coalesces even more.
The system continues this automatic cycle. The advantageous result is that a higher
percentage of moisture is gathered, and secondly the output of collected water
on a consistent basis is stabilized throughout a range of varying ambient temperatures
and humidity.
Stated in another way, the process of constant point monitoring of the system
operation by multiple sensors in addition to creating a stable mixing chamber to
draw and mix ambient air with recirculating ionized air coupled with the capability
to coalesce a higher amount of moisture on each particle, results in a stable environment
for air and water vapor.
The system microprocessor module
56 preferably utilizes fuzzy logic algorithms
for control operation. The system and computer logic sequences are tested millisecond
intervals thereby creating a system logic through repetition. This enables the
changing air flow to be anticipated. Air is caused to flow through the system at
the proper amount and at an exact timing to keep a stable flow within the system
while taking into account the variations in ambient temperatures and humidity.
Basically the inventive system anticipates the required air flow, and forces air
through the system to provide a maximum output regardless of the varying ambient
temperatures and humidity.
The microprocessor module
56 shown in FIG. 1 and computer control collect
and process the data from sensors such as humidity, dew point, temperature, fan
speed, ion level, fluid pressures, ambient air, voltages, water purification quality
as a diagnostic and control program for the system
11.
While the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference
to preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the
art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing
from the spirit and scope of the invention.
*
