Fluid collection assembly

Abstract

A fluid collection assembly includes a vaporizer configured to vaporize a refrigerant to separate the refrigerant from a liquid and a sump configured to collect the liquid in a trough formed by a junction of two diagonal sides of the sump. The sump includes a heating element in the trough.

1 . A fluid collection assembly, comprising:
 a vaporizer configured to vaporize a liquid refrigerant in a mixture of liquid refrigerant and another liquid to separate the vaporized refrigerant from the other liquid; and   a sump configured to collect the other liquid in a trough formed by a junction of two diagonal sides of the sump, the sump including a heating element in the trough.   
     
     
         2 . The fluid collection assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the two diagonal sides that form the trough are substantially straight. 
     
     
         3 . The fluid collection assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the sump has a substantially diamond shape and a base of the trough is in the nadir of the diamond. 
     
     
         4 . The fluid collection assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the vaporizer passes through the sump such that a housing of the vaporizer is surrounded by a housing of the sump. 
     
     
         5 . The fluid collection assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the vaporizer includes a housing including a substantially horizontal bottom side, heating piping adjacent to the bottom side, and an electric heating element located adjacent to the bottom side and the heated piping. 
     
     
         6 . The fluid collection assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the vaporizer includes a trough formed by a junction of two diagonal sides of the vaporizer and a vaporizer heating element in the trough. 
     
     
         7 . The fluid collection assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the heating element is an electric heater extending along a length of the trough. 
     
     
         8 . The fluid collection assembly of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a reservoir at an end of the sump to store the other liquid collected by the sump,   wherein an opening at the end of the sump to allow passage of the other liquid from the sump to the reservoir has a shape that corresponds to the shape of the trough of the sump.   
     
     
         9 . The fluid collection assembly of  claim 8 , wherein the reservoir includes a heating element to heat the other liquid collected by the sump. 
     
     
         10 . The fluid collection assembly of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 an evaporator configured to receive a heated mixture of the liquid refrigerant and the other liquid, to cool the mixture, and to transmit the mixture to the vaporizer; and   a liquid rectifier configured to receive the mixture of liquid refrigerant and the other liquid from a port corresponding to a predetermined depth in the evaporator, to heat the mixture, and to return evaporated refrigerant to the evaporator.   
     
     
         11 . The fluid collection assembly of  claim 10 , wherein the liquid rectifier includes an outlet port to output the other liquid separated from the vaporized refrigerant to a compressor. 
     
     
         12 . A chiller system, comprising:
 a first storage container configured to store a mixture of refrigerant and a liquid;   a vaporizer connected to the first storage container to receive the mixture of refrigerant and liquid from the first storage container, the vaporizer configured to vaporize the refrigerant to separate the refrigerant from the liquid;   a sump configured to collect the liquid in a trough formed by a junction of two diagonal sides of the sump, the sump including a heating element in the trough to heat the liquid; and   a compressor connected to the vaporizer and the sump to receive the refrigerant from the vaporizer and the oil from the sump.   
     
     
         13 . The chiller system of  claim 12 , wherein the two diagonal sides that form the trough are substantially straight. 
     
     
         14 . The chiller system of  claim 12 , wherein the sump has a substantially diamond shape and a base of the trough is in the nadir of the diamond. 
     
     
         15 . The chiller system of  claim 12 , wherein the vaporizer passes through the sump. 
     
     
         16 . The chiller system of  claim 12 , wherein the vaporizer includes a housing including a substantially horizontal bottom side, heating piping adjacent to the bottom side, and an electric heating element located adjacent to the bottom side and the heated piping. 
     
     
         17 . The chiller system of  claim 16 , further comprising:
 a condenser configured to generate a hot gas, the condenser connected to the heated piping to run the hot gas through the heated piping to evaporate the refrigerant.   
     
     
         18 . The chiller system of  claim 12 , wherein the vaporizer includes a trough formed by a junction of two diagonal sides of the vaporizer and a vaporizer heating element in the trough. 
     
     
         19 . The chiller system of  claim 12 , wherein the heating element is an electric heater extending along a length of the trough. 
     
     
         20 . The chiller system of  claim 12 , further comprising:
 a reservoir at an end of the sump to store the liquid collected by the sump, the reservoir connected to the compressor to supply the liquid to the compressor,   wherein an opening at the end of the sump to allow passage of the liquid from the sump to the reservoir has a shape that corresponds to the shape of the trough of the sump.   
     
     
         21 . The chiller system of  claim 12 , wherein the first storage container is an evaporator configured to cool a mixture of the refrigerant and the liquid, and the chiller system further comprises:
 a liquid rectifier configured to receive the mixture of refrigerant and the liquid from a port corresponding to a predetermined depth in the evaporator, to heat the mixture, and to return evaporated refrigerant to the evaporator.   
     
     
         22 . The chiller system of  claim 21 , wherein the liquid rectifier includes an outlet port to output the liquid separated from the refrigerant to a compressor. 
     
     
         23 . The chiller system of  claim 21 , further comprising at least one sensor to detect a first characteristic value of the mixture in the liquid rectifier, to compare the first characteristic value to a second characteristic value of the mixture in the evaporator, to compare a difference between the first and second characteristic values to a predetermined value, and to control a flow of the mixture from the evaporator to the liquid rectifier based on the comparison of the difference between the first and second characteristic values.