Hybrid container cooler

Abstract

A means to conserve substantial amounts of heat and water, and there by reduce capital and operating costs, by combining salient features of strictly forced convection container cooler or strictly evaporative container cooler in to a hybrid container cooler in which heat removed from cooling the containers is recovered for use, typically in the same processes, upstream of the point of recovery. The recovery and reuse of heat correspondingly reduces water evaporated, which is now conserved. The cooler also features suction of cooling air at close to vapor pressure at cooling and substantially reducing volume of this air that is recycled, and is at a relatively constant temperature.

1 . A hybrid container cooler comprising
 a conveyance for containers to be cooled, wherein said conveyance passes through cooling zones;   a series of cooling zones, including a first zone and a last zone, through which the conveyance passes, the zones operating at decreasing temperature ranges in the direction of movement of the conveyance;   a system for introducing cooling fluid into each zone to cool containers on the conveyance;   a system for collecting heated cooling fluid from each zone and causing the cooling fluid to be introduced in the next zone in the direction countercurrent to the movement of the conveyance;   a vapor collection hood for collecting air and evaporated cooling fluid from the cooler;   a condenser operatively connected to the vapor collection hood to condense evaporated cooling fluid and to cool air sucked through the cooler by heat exchange with a second cooling fluid;   a system for returning cooled air from the condenser to at least one zone;   a heat exchanger for cooling hot cooling fluid from the last zone and returning cool cooling fluid to the first zone by heat exchange with a second cooling fluid; and   a system for collecting condensed cooling fluid and hot second cooling fluid from the condenser and hot second cooling fluid from the heat exchanger for recovery of heat.   
   
   
       2 . A method for operating a hybrid container cooler comprising:
 passing objects to be cooled on a conveyance through a series of cooling zones, including a first zone and a last zone,   introducing cooling fluid into each zone to operate the cooling zones at decreasing temperature ranges in the direction of movement of the conveyor, to cool containers on the conveyor,   collecting heated cooling fluid separately for each zone,   introducing the heated cooling fluid from a zone in the next zone in the direction counter-current to the movement of the conveyor,   evaporating at least a portion of the cooling fluid, sucking air and the evaporated cooling fluid on top of the cooling zones,   cooling the air and evaporated cooling fluid with a second fluid to cool the air and condense the evaporated cooling fluid,   returning at least a portion of the cooled air to at least one cooling zone,   removing heat from the cooling fluid exiting the last zone by heat exchanger with a third fluid,   returning thus-cooled cooling fluid to the first cooling zone;   combining the heated second fluid, heated third fluid, and condensed cooling fluid; and   using the thus-combined fluids as a heat source in another process.