Absorption cooling system and cooling method

Abstract

An adsorption cooling system and cooling method as disclosed. An energy storage system is arranged to capture and store energy generated by the adsorption cooling system that is determined to be surplus to the energy needed to meet the current demands for cooling by the adsorption cooling system. The energy storage system is arranged to store said energy for subsequent use.

1 . An adsorption cooling system comprising:
 an energy storage system arranged to capture and store energy generated by the adsorption cooling system that is determined to be surplus to the energy needed to meet the current demands for cooling by the adsorption cooling system,   wherein the energy storage system further comprises a vessel arranged to receive condensate under pressure from the adsorption cooling system and to store said condensate under pressure as energy for subsequent use.   
   
   
       2 . An adsorption cooling system as in  claim 1 , wherein the energy storage system is coupled to an air conditioning system to provide substantially instantaneous air conditioning on demand. 
   
   
       3 . An adsorption cooling system as in  claim 2 , wherein the energy storage system is triggerable from a remote device. 
   
   
       4 . An adsorption cooling system as in  claim 2 , wherein the adsorption cooling system is coupled to the air conditioning system to provide air conditioning under regular usage, the energy storage device being arranged to provide a boost to augment air conditioning provided by said adsorption cooling system and/or to provide air conditioning when said adsorption cooling system is not operational. 
   
   
       5 . An adsorption cooling system as in  claim 1 , wherein the energy storage system is coupled to a refrigeration/freezing system to provide substantially instantaneous refrigeration/freezing on demand,
 wherein the adsorption cooling system is coupled to the refrigeration/freezing system to provide refrigeration/freezing under regular usage, the energy storage device being arranged to provide a boost to augment refrigeration/freezing by said adsorption cooling system and/or to provide refrigeration/freezing when said adsorption cooling system is not operational.   
   
   
       6 . An adsorption cooling system as in  claim 1 , wherein the energy storage system is coupled to an alternate cooling source and is controllable to provide cooling to said alternate cooling source. 
   
   
       7 . An adsorption cooling system as in  claim 1 , wherein the adsorption cooling system includes one or more vessels containing adsorbent. 
   
   
       8 . An adsorption cooling system as in  claim 7 , wherein the adsorbent is mixed with a thermally conductive material. 
   
   
       9 . An adsorption cooling system as in  claim 7 , further comprising one or more heat transfer elements projecting into the adsorbent. 
   
   
       10 . An adsorption cooling system as in  claim 9 , wherein the heat transfer element is part of the vessel containing adsorbent. 
   
   
       11 . An adsorption cooling system as in  claim 1 , wherein the vessel containing adsorbent includes a laminated structure comprising one or more sandwiches interposed between flows of energy, each sandwich comprising a layer of adsorbent material sandwiched between layers of a conductive material, the laminate being arranged such that at least one of the layers of conductive material being substantially adjacent a flow of energy to be captured. 
   
   
       12 . An adsorption cooling system as in  claim 11 , wherein the laminate is rolled in a spiral, the flows of energy passing through the roll. 
   
   
       13 . An adsorption cooling system as in  claim 1 , wherein the energy storage system includes a vessel containing adsorbent. 
   
   
       14 . An adsorption cooling system as in  claim 1 , wherein the energy storage system includes a valve for controlling expansion of the condensate under pressure, the valve comprising one of an ejector valve, an expansion valve or a capillary tube. 
   
   
       15 . An adsorption cooling system as in  claim 1 , wherein the adsorption cooling system is powered at least in part by waste heat energy. 
   
   
       16 . An adsorption cooling system as in  claim 15 , wherein the adsorption cooling system is arranged to capture the waste heat energy from an engine's exhaust gasses. 
   
   
       17 . An adsorption cooling system as in  claim 16 , wherein at least part of the adsorption cooling system is sited remotely of the engine's exhaust, the adsorption cooling system including heat transfer means for transferring heat from the exhaust to the adsorption cooling system. 
   
   
       18 . An adsorption cooling system as in  claim 1 , further comprising a solar energy collection system arranged to capture heat and transfer said heat to the adsorption cooling system. 
   
   
       19 . An adsorption cooling system as in  claim 1 , further comprising an evaporator the vessel being connected to the evaporator to enable controlled expansion of the condensate into the evaporator. 
   
   
       20 . An adsorption cooling system as in  claim 19 , wherein the evaporator is maintained at a sub-atmospheric pressure. 
   
   
       21 . A vehicle including an adsorption cooling system, the adsorption cooling system comprising:
 an energy storage system arranged to capture and store energy generated by the adsorption cooling system that is determined to be surplus to the energy needed to meet the current demands for cooling by the adsorption cooling system,   wherein the energy storage system further comprises a vessel arranged to receive condensate under pressure from the adsorption cooling system and to store said condensate under pressure as energy for subsequent use.   
   
   
       22 . A method of providing cooling comprising the steps of:
 operating an adsorption cooling system to provide cooling;   capturing energy from said cooling system in excess of that needed to provide the cooling, the captured energy comprising condensate under pressure captured from said adsorption cooling system; and   storing the captured condensate under pressure for subsequent access on demand.   
   
   
       23 . A method according to  claim 22 , wherein the step of operating the adsorption cooling system includes capturing waste energy from an engine and converting the waste energy for powering the adsorption cooling system.