System and method for humidifying homes and commercial sites

Abstract

Various embodiments are described for humidifying an air stream in a duct are described. In one form the duct is part of a humidification system in a building such as a residence or commercial structure while in another form the duct is part of a standalone unit. The described embodiments use ultrasonic elements for generating a mist composed of droplets and fog and the fog is drawn or pushed by an air stream towards a duct. The duct utilizes a dispersal structure formed of one or a plurality of tubes with openings and distributed at least partly across the duct so that the air stream in the duct can entrain the fog and distribute this in manner whereby the fog can quickly dissipate and evaporate for humidification of the air stream.

1 . An apparatus for applying a fog, formed primarily of fine non-vaporized liquid particles, to humidify a stream of gas passing through a duct, comprising: 
 a fog dispersal structure being arranged in said duct to extend across at least a part of the stream of gas, said structure having apertures past which the gas stream passes;    a liquid container mounted in gas flow communication with the fog dispersal structure and being at ambient pressure;    a plurality of liquid mist producing elements mounted in said container to produce a mist mixture of fog and droplets from liquid within the container; 
 said fog dispersal structure apertures being sized to facilitate said stream of gas within the duct to entrain a flow of fog from inside the container through said apertures into and across said gas stream for its humidification.  
   
   
   
       2 . The humidification apparatus as claimed in  claim 1  wherein said container is remotely spaced from said fog dispersal structure and a conduit for connection between said container and said fog dispersal structure, said conduit being sized to convey fog from said container to said gas stream.  
   
   
       3 . The humidification apparatus as claimed in  claim 1  wherein said fog dispersal structure comprises a dispersion tube having a passage in flow communication with said container and having a plurality of spaced apart apertures sized to enable the fog to pass through at effectively ambient pressure and be injected into the gas stream.  
   
   
       4 . The humidification apparatus as claimed in  claim 3  wherein said fog dispersal structure comprises a plurality of spaced-apart dispersion tubes having passages in flow communication with said container and wherein said dispersion tubes are distributed to extend at least partly across the duct, said tubes having said apertures spaced along the tubes to inject said fog into different regions of the duct and thus distribute said fog for humidification of said gas stream.  
   
   
       5 . The humidification apparatus as claimed in  claim 1  wherein said container has a discharge port, a conduit coupling said discharge port to said fog dispersal structure to convey fog to said gas stream and a fan positioned to move fog through said conduit towards the fog dispersal structure.  
   
   
       6 . The humidification apparatus as claimed in  claim 1  wherein said container is mounted to said duct and has an inlet deflector oriented to deflect a portion of said gas stream from said duct through the container to move the fog through said apertures in the dispersal structure.  
   
   
       7 . The humidification apparatus as claimed in  claim 1  wherein said mist producing elements comprise piezoelectric elements.  
   
   
       8 . The humidification apparatus as claimed in  claim 7  and further including drive circuits to energize said piezoelectric elements and a heat sink in heat removing relationship with said drive circuits, said heat sink being mounted to said duct for cooling by said humidified gas stream.  
   
   
       9 . The humidification apparatus as claimed in  claim 8  wherein said heat sink is mounted downstream of said fog dispersal structure for enhanced cooling by fog injected into the gas stream.  
   
   
       10 . The humidification apparatus as claimed in  claim 1  wherein said mist producing elements comprise foggers for converting pressurized liquid into a mist within said container.  
   
   
       11 . An apparatus for humidifying an air stream passing through a duct with a fog formed of fine non-vaporized water particles, comprising: 
 a plurality of fog dispersion tubes arranged in said duct to extend at least partly across the air stream, said tubes enclosing fog passages and being spaced from each other to enable said air stream to flow between them;    a water container mounted in gas flow communication with the passages of said tubes;    a plurality of water mist producing elements mounted to said liquid container to convert liquid therein to a mist; 
 said tubes having a plurality of openings spaced along said tubes and located so as to enable said air stream as it passes said tubes to impart an aspiration effect through said openings to entrain a flow of said fog from inside the tube passages through said tube openings into and across said air stream for its humidification.  
   
   
   
       12 . The apparatus as claimed in  claim 11  wherein said water container is mounted externally to said duct.  
   
   
       13 . The apparatus as claimed in  claim 11  wherein said liquid container is mounted to a bottom of said duct.  
   
   
       14 . The apparatus as claimed in  claim 11  wherein said liquid container is mounted inside said duct.  
   
   
       15 . The apparatus as claimed in  claim 11  wherein said tubes have their passages sealed at an end to enhance the flow of fog from said openings.  
   
   
       16 . The apparatus as claimed in  claim 11  and further including, a heat sink mounted inside said duct and located downstream of said tubes; and a drive circuit coupled to said water mist producing elements, said drive circuit being in heat conducting relationship with said heat sink, whereby humidified air passes in heat exchanging relationship with said heat sink to remove heat from said heat sink and keep said drive circuit at a cooled temperature.  
   
   
       17 . The apparatus as claimed in  claim 11  wherein said water container has an input port located so as to be in air flow communication with said air stream at a location that is upstream of said fog dispersal structure to enhance the flow of fog to said tubes.  
   
   
       18 . The apparatus as claimed in  claim 17  wherein said water container has a diverter facing said air stream to divert air flow into said water container from said duct.  
   
   
       19 . The apparatus as claimed in  claim 11  wherein said tubes are positioned so that the air stream in effect moves across the tube openings to aspire fog therefrom.  
   
   
       20 . The apparatus as claimed in  claim 11  and further including a fan placed to supply air through said water container and into said tubes to drive fog through said tube openings into the air stream.  
   
   
       21 . The apparatus as claimed in  claim 11  wherein said tubes are cylindrical in cross-section.  
   
   
       22 . The apparatus as claimed in  claim 11  wherein said tubes have an oval cross-sectional shape and wherein said tube openings are located on segments of said oval tubes having least curved portions.  
   
   
       23 . The apparatus as claimed in  claim 11  wherein said tubes have a rectangular cross-section.  
   
   
       24 . The apparatus as claimed in  claim 11  wherein said tubes have a triangular cross-section.  
   
   
       25 . A method for humidifying a gas stream passing through a duct with a fog formed of fine non-vaporized liquid particles comprising the steps of: 
 forming a mist of a liquid in a container wherein the mist is formed of droplets and said fog;    extracting said fog from the mist by entraining a flow of the fog from the container; and    distributing said fog at least partly across the duct to directly inject the fog into the gas stream in the duct for fog vaporization therein.    
   
   
       26 . The method as claimed in  claim 25  and further comprising the steps of: 
 forming said mist at a location that is remote from said duct; and    conveying said fog through a conduit to said duct.    
   
   
       27 . In a self contained room humidifier for delivering humidified air into a room where air is drawn from the room prior to discharge back into the room and wherein a housing duct has an inlet for receiving air from the room and an outlet for discharging humidified air back into the room, and wherein a mist generator is disposed to deliver fog, formed of non-vaporized liquid particles, to said housing duct with a fan to move air through said housing duct, the improvement comprising: 
 a fog dispersal structure placed within said housing duct and positioned to distribute fog from said mist generator across said housing duct wherein the length of said housing duct as measured from said fog dispersal structure to said outlet is less than six feet.    
   
   
       28 . An apparatus for humidifying a stream of gas passing through a duct with a fog formed of fine non-vaporized liquid particles, comprising: 
 a liquid container remotely mounted from said duct;    a plurality of liquid mist producing elements mounted in said container to produce a mist mixture of fog and droplets within the container;    an elongate conduit coupling the container to said duct and being sized to convey fog from the container to said duct; and    a fan mounted to drive air through said container and deliver said fog for to the duct through said conduit.