Water minimizing method and apparatus for use with evaporative cooling devices

Abstract

An evaporative cooling system includes a primary cooling unit that utilizes a cooling fluid flowing through a primary heat exchange medium to cool supply air flowing past the primary heat exchange medium, a bleed line and a secondary cooling unit disposed upstream of the primary cooling unit with respect to a flow direction of the supply air. The primary cooling unit includes a supply line for supplying the cooling fluid to the primary heat exchange medium, a reservoir for collecting the cooling fluid supplied to the primary heat exchange medium, and a pump for recirculating the cooling fluid collected in the reservoir back to the supply line. The bleed line bleeds a portion of the recirculating cooling fluid from the primary cooling unit. The secondary cooling unit includes a secondary heat exchange medium that receives the cooling fluid bled from the primary cooling unit through the bleed line. By either pumping or wicking, any excess bleed fluid is refed to the secondary heat exchange medium, or directed to a tertiary heat exchange medium, to enable complete evaporation of the bled fluid.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An evaporative cooling system comprising:
 a primary cooling unit that utilizes a cooling fluid flowing through a primary heat exchange medium to cool supply air flowing past the primary heat exchange medium, the primary cooling unit including a supply line for supplying the cooling fluid to the primary heat exchange medium, a return reservoir for collecting the cooling fluid supplied to the primary heat exchange medium, and a pump for recirculating the cooling fluid collected in the reservoir back to the supply line;   a bleed line configured to bleed a portion of the recirculating cooling fluid from the primary cooling unit; and   a secondary cooling unit disposed upstream of the primary cooling unit with respect to a flow direction of the supply air, the secondary cooling unit comprising a secondary heat exchange medium configured to receive the cooling fluid bled from the primary cooling unit through the bleed line,   wherein any excess bleed cooling fluid that is not completely evaporated by the secondary heat exchange media is directed to a heat exchange medium for further evaporation.   
     
     
         2 . The evaporative cooling system according to  claim 1 , wherein the primary cooling unit comprises a direct evaporative cooler. 
     
     
         3 . The evaporative cooling system according to  claim 1 , wherein the primary cooling unit comprises an indirect evaporative cooler. 
     
     
         4 . The evaporative cooling system according to  claim 1 , wherein the secondary heat exchange medium comprises evaporative cooling media. 
     
     
         5 . The evaporative cooling system according to  claim 1 , wherein the secondary heat exchange medium is of modular form, with each module of the secondary heat exchange medium being individually replaceable. 
     
     
         6 . The evaporative cooling system according to  claim 1 , further comprising a controller for controlling the magnitude of the portion of the recirculating cooling fluid bled from the primary cooling unit. 
     
     
         7 . The evaporative cooling system according to  claim 6 , wherein the controller senses a condition of the recirculated water and accordingly controls the magnitude of the portion of the recirculating cooling fluid bled from the primary cooling unit. 
     
     
         8 . The evaporative cooling system according to  claim 1 , wherein the excess bleed cooling fluid is redirected to the secondary heat exchange medium by wicking or pumping. 
     
     
         9 . The evaporative cooling system according to  claim 8 , wherein the secondary heat exchange medium is positioned in a drain pan so that any excess recirculating cooling fluid from the secondary heat exchange medium is captured in the drain pan and maintains contact with a lower edge of the secondary heat exchange medium. 
     
     
         10 . The evaporative cooling system according to  claim 8 , wherein the secondary heat exchange medium is positioned in a sump so that any excess recirculating cooling fluid from the second heat exchange medium is captured in the sump and pumped back to the secondary heat exchange medium. 
     
     
         11 . The evaporative cooling system according to  claim 1 , further comprising auxiliary evaporative cooling media, wherein any excess recirculating cooling fluid from the secondary heat exchange medium is directed to the auxiliary evaporative cooling media. 
     
     
         12 . A gas conditioning system comprising:
 a primary conditioning unit configured to condition a gas flowing therethrough, the primary conditioning unit utilizing a conditioning fluid to condition the flowing gas;   a bleed line configured to bleed a portion of the conditioning fluid from the primary conditioning unit; and   a secondary conditioning unit disposed upstream of the primary conditioning unit with respect to a flow direction of the gas, the secondary conditioning unit utilizing the conditioning fluid bled from the primary conditioning unit through the bleed line to pre-condition the flowing gas, wherein any excess bleed water that is not completely evaporated by the secondary conditioning unit is directed to a conditioning unit for further evaporation.   
     
     
         13 . The gas conditioning system according to  claim 12 , wherein the primary conditioning unit comprises a direct evaporative cooler. 
     
     
         14 . The gas conditioning system according to  claim 12 , wherein the primary conditioning unit comprises an indirect evaporative cooler. 
     
     
         15 . The gas conditioning system according to  claim 12 , wherein the secondary conditioning unit pre-conditions the flowing gas by cooling the flowing gas via evaporative cooling media that uses the conditioning fluid received through the bleed line. 
     
     
         16 . The gas conditioning system according to  claim 12 , wherein the conditioning fluid is recirculated through the primary conditioning unit and the bleed line bleeds the portion of the recirculating conditioning fluid from the primary conditioning unit. 
     
     
         17 . The gas conditioning system according to  claim 12 , further comprising a controller for controlling the magnitude of the portion of the recirculating conditioning fluid bled from the primary conditioning unit. 
     
     
         18 . The gas conditioning system according to  claim 12 , wherein the excess bleed conditioning fluid is redirected to the secondary conditioning unit by wicking or pumping. 
     
     
         19 . The gas conditioning system according to  claim 18 , wherein the secondary conditioning unit is positioned in a drain pan so that any excess recirculating conditioning fluid from the secondary conditioning unit is captured in the drain pan and maintains contact with a lower edge of the secondary conditioning unit. 
     
     
         20 . The gas conditioning system according to  claim 18 , wherein the secondary conditioning unit is positioned in a sump so that any excess recirculating conditioning fluid from the second conditioning unit is captured in the sump and pumped back to the secondary conditioning unit. 
     
     
         21 . The gas conditioning system according to  claim 12 , further comprising an auxiliary conditioning unit, wherein any excess recirculating conditioning fluid from the secondary conditioning unit is directed to the auxiliary conditioning unit. 
     
     
         22 . A method of cooling supply air in an evaporative cooling system, the method comprising:
 supplying cooling fluid to a primary evaporative heat exchange medium;   bleeding a portion of the cooling fluid supplied to the primary evaporative heat exchange medium;   supplying the bled cooling fluid to a secondary evaporative heat exchange medium;   flowing the supply air through the primary evaporative heat exchange medium and the secondary evaporative heat exchange medium; and   directing any excess bleed cooling fluid that is not completely evaporated by the secondary heat exchange media to a heat exchange medium for further evaporation.   
     
     
         23 . The method according to  claim 22 , wherein the excess bleed cooling fluid is redirected to the secondary heat exchange medium by wicking or pumping. 
     
     
         24 . The method according to  claim 23 , further comprising capturing the excess bleed cooling fluid in a drain pan and maintaining the excess bleed cooling fluid in contact with a lower edge of the secondary heat exchange medium. 
     
     
         25 . The method according to  claim 23 , further comprising capturing the excess recirculating cooling fluid from the second heat exchange medium in a sump and pumping the excess recirculating cooling fluid back to the secondary heat exchange medium. 
     
     
         26 . The method according to  claim 22 , further comprising directing the excess recirculating cooling fluid from the secondary heat exchange medium to auxiliary evaporative cooling media.