Apparatus for water recovery including stackable desiccant trays

• Main Authors: BLATT DAVID, BALL JAMES, FLYNN MICHAEL J, TELTZ RICHARD, BECZE CHARLES
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 28.04.2015
• Subjects: AIR-CONDITIONING, AIR-HUMIDIFICATION, VENTILATION, USE OF AIRCURRENTS FOR SCREENING; BLASTING; CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO BUILDINGS,e.g. HOUSING, HOUSE APPLIANCES OR RELATED END-USERAPPLICATIONS; COLD ROOMS; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; COOLING OR FREEZING APPARATUS NOT COVERED BY ANY OTHERSUBCLASS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; HEATING; ICE-BOXES; LIGHTING; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; PERFORMING OPERATIONS; PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL; RANGES; REFRIGERATION MACHINES, PLANTS OR SYSTEMS; REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; REFRIGERATORS; SEPARATION; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS; TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINSTCLIMATE CHANGE; TRANSPORTING; VENTILATING; WEAPONS

A device recovers water from an ambient airstream. The device includes a chamber having a group of trays that hold respective amounts of liquid desiccant. A foam media element in each tray absorbs the desiccant to increase an exposed surface of the desiccant to the airstream. Fans and valves are used to control airflow through the device. A charge cycle circulates air through the device to remove water vapor from the airstream. A subsequent extraction cycle removes water collected in the liquid desiccant by a condenser communicating with the chamber. An integral heat exchanger adds heat to the chamber during the extraction cycle. A controller is used to integrate and control device operation. The desiccant trays may be selectively configurable in an array to best suit the intended installation. The trays may be arranged in column and row configurations, along with adjustable airflow patterns between each of the trays.