Self-contained evaporative air conditioner system

Abstract

A self-contained evaporative air conditioner system includes a housing having a central chamber, a lower chamber, and an upper chamber; a heat exchanger positioned in the central chamber; an air nozzle and a water nozzle for creating a mist of water droplets suspended in air in the lower chamber; an ambient air vent for introducing non-pressurized ambient air to the lower chamber; a vacuum assembly for creating a partial vacuum in the upper chamber to draw the mist and ambient air through the heat exchanger to remove heat from the heat exchanger through evaporative cooling; a return air vent for receiving air to be conditioned; and a fan for drawing air from the return air vent through the heat exchanger to remove heat from the air without permitting the air to mix with the mist and ambient air drawn through the heat exchanger.

Having thus described the preferred embodiment of the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be protected by Letters Patent includes the following: 
     
         1 . A self-contained evaporative air conditioner system comprising:
 a partially enclosed housing having a central chamber, a lower chamber, and an upper chamber;   a heat exchanger positioned in the central chamber and having an inlet in communication with the lower chamber, an outlet in communication with the upper chamber, and a plurality of passageways between the inlet and the outlet;   an air nozzle and a water nozzle positioned in the lower chamber for introducing pressurized air and water in the lower chamber to create a mist of water droplets suspended in air;   an air nozzle and a water nozzle positioned in the lower chamber for introducing pressurized air and water in the lower chamber to create a mist of water droplets suspended in air;   an ambient air vent for introducing non-pressurized ambient air to the lower chamber for mixing with the pressurized air and water;   a vacuum port formed in the upper chamber;   a vacuum assembly coupled with the vacuum port for creating a partial vacuum in the upper chamber to draw the mist and ambient air from the lower chamber through the heat exchanger to remove heat from the heat exchanger through evaporative cooling;   a return air vent formed in the central chamber for receiving air to be conditioned from a conditioned space; and   a fan for drawing air from the return air vent through the heat exchanger to remove heat from the air without permitting the air to mix with the mist and ambient air drawn through the heat exchanger.   
     
     
         2 . The air conditioner system of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a water pump for delivering pressurized water to the water nozzle; and   an air pump for delivering pressurized air to the air nozzle.   
     
     
         3 . The air conditioner system of  claim 2 , further comprising a damper mounted in the ambient air vent for regulating an amount of ambient air drawn into the lower chamber. 
     
     
         4 . The air conditioner system of  claim 1 , further comprising a condensation reservoir positioned in the lower chamber for collecting water condensation. 
     
     
         5 . The air conditioner system of  claim 4 , further comprising a condensation pump coupled with the condensation reservoir for pumping the water condensation to the water nozzle. 
     
     
         6 . The air conditioner system of  claim 1 , wherein the heat exchanger comprises:
 a bottom plate that defines an upper wall of the lower chamber, the bottom plate having a plurality of holes formed therein;   a top plate that defines a lower wall of the upper chamber, the top plate having a plurality of holes vertically aligned with the holes in the bottom plate; and   a plurality of vertically-extending metal tubes positioned between the bottom and top plates and connecting aligned pairs of holes in the bottom and top plates.   
     
     
         7 . The air conditioner system of  claim 1 , further comprising a control system for operating the air conditioner in a first stage when ambient temperatures are below a threshold temperature and a second stage when ambient temperatures are above the threshold temperature, wherein the control system activates the high pressure air nozzle in the second stage but not in the first stage. 
     
     
         8 . The air conditioner system of  claim 1 , further comprising a vacuum equalizer plate positioned in the upper chamber between the vacuum port and the outlet of the heat exchanger for partially equalizing vacuum pressure across the outlet of the heat exchanger. 
     
     
         9 . The air conditioner system of  claim 4 , further comprising a moisture extractor positioned in the upper chamber between the vacuum port and the outlet of the heat exchanger for removing moisture from air before it is discharged from the vacuum port. 
     
     
         10 . The air conditioner system of  claim 9 , wherein the moisture extractor delivers the extracted moisture to the condensation reservoir in the lower chamber. 
     
     
         11 . A self-contained evaporative air conditioner system comprising:
 a partially enclosed housing having a central chamber, a lower chamber, and an upper chamber;   a heat exchanger positioned in the central chamber and having an inlet in communication with the lower chamber and an outlet in communication with the upper chamber, the heat exchanger comprising:
 a bottom plate that defines an upper wall of the lower chamber, the bottom plate having a plurality of holes formed therein; 
 a top plate that defines a lower wall of the upper chamber, the top plate having a plurality of holes vertically aligned with the holes in the bottom plate; and 
 a plurality of vertically-extending metal tubes positioned between the bottom and top plates and connecting aligned pairs of holes in the bottom and top plates, the lower open ends of the tubes defining the inlet to the heat exchanger and the upper open ends of the tubes defining the outlet to the heat exchanger; 
   an air nozzle and a water nozzle positioned in the lower chamber for introducing pressurized air and water in the lower chamber to create a mist of water droplets suspended in air;   an air nozzle and a water nozzle positioned in the lower chamber for introducing pressurized air and water in the lower chamber to create a mist of water droplets suspended in air;   an ambient air vent positioned in the lower chamber for introducing non-pressurized ambient air to the lower chamber for mixing with the pressurized air and water;   a vacuum port formed in the upper chamber;   a vacuum assembly coupled with the vacuum port for creating a partial vacuum in the upper chamber to draw the mist and ambient air from the lower chamber through the heat exchanger to remove heat from the heat exchanger through evaporative cooling;   a return air vent formed in one side of the central chamber for receiving air to be conditioned from a conditioned space; and   a fan positioned in a second side of the central chamber for drawing the air from the return air vent and through the heat exchanger to remove heat from the air without permitting the air to mix with the mist and ambient air drawn through the heat exchanger.   
     
     
         12 . The air conditioner system of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 a water pump for delivering pressurized water to the water nozzle at 400-50,000 psi; and   an air pump for delivering pressurized air to the air nozzle at 25-1,000 psi.   
     
     
         13 . The air conditioner system of  claim 12 , further comprising a damper mounted in the ambient air vent for regulating an amount of ambient air drawn into the lower chamber. 
     
     
         14 . The air conditioner system of  claim 11 , further comprising a condensation reservoir positioned in the lower chamber for collecting water condensation. 
     
     
         15 . The air conditioner system of  claim 14 , further comprising a condensation pump coupled with the condensation reservoir for pumping the water condensation to the water nozzle. 
     
     
         16 . The air conditioner system of  claim 11 , further comprising a control system for operating the air conditioner in a first stage when ambient temperatures are below a threshold temperature and a second stage when ambient temperatures are above the threshold temperature, wherein the control system activates the high pressure air nozzle in the second stage but not in the first stage. 
     
     
         17 . The air conditioner system of  claim 11 , further comprising a vacuum equalizer plate positioned in the upper chamber between the vacuum port and the outlet of the heat exchanger for partially equalizing vacuum pressure across the outlet of the heat exchanger. 
     
     
         18 . The air conditioner system of  claim 1 , further comprising a moisture extractor positioned in the upper chamber between the vacuum port and the outlet of the heat exchanger for removing moisture from air before it is discharged from the vacuum port. 
     
     
         19 . The air conditioner system of  claim 9 , wherein the moisture extractor delivers the extracted moisture to the condensation reservoir in the lower chamber.