Refrigeration – Processes – Congealing flowable material – e.g. – ice making
Patent
1991-04-22
1993-07-27
Tapolcai, William E.
Refrigeration
Processes
Congealing flowable material, e.g., ice making
472 90, F25C 304
Patent
active
052302180
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
This invention relates to indoor snow making equipment.
For skiing and other winter sports activities it has been proposed to make real snow by artificial means in order to provide the surface for engaging in such activities when naturally produced snow cover is inadequate or absent. However it has been found that when equipment which has successfully produced snow cover outdoors is tried in an enclosed space, i.e., indoors, snow production has been unsatisfactory. In some cases although snow has been formed indoors it has only been for a brief duration and is insufficient for forming a layer for skiing etc.
It has been proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,250,530 to provide tunnels in which artificial snow may be laid down to give an all year round skiing facility. For this purpose air conditioning and temperature controlling facilities are proposed. However the teaching of this patent is insufficient to enable prolonged snow generation to be achieved.
An object of the invention is to provide snow making equipment which overcomes the problems encountered with snow making in confined or enclosed spaces.
According to one aspect of the invention there is provided a method of making snow within a confined envelope of air in which air within the envelope is cooled and maintained at a temperature below the freezing point of water and is maintained at a humidity of less than 100% at the selected temperature, and water droplets are discharged into the envelope in a flow of air to produce snow in said envelope over significant periods of time.
According to another aspect of the invention there is provided snow making equipment which comprises spray generating means for directing a flow of water and air into a cold atmosphere at a temperature below the freezing point of water, air drying means, air cooling means, and means for confining a body of said atmosphere within an envelope, the air crying means and the air cooling means drying and cooling the air in the envelope at least during the operation of the spray generating means to maintain the air within the envelope at below said freezing point and at a moisture content low enough to enable the water from the generating means to be turned into snow in said atmosphere for significant periods of time, whereby the water from the generating means turns into snow in said cold atmosphere.
Preferably the atmosphere is maintained at a temperature of -2.degree. C. or less during snow making and the air at that temperature is maintained at a humidity of below 100%.
During the snow making operation a considerable quantity of latent heat is released and high refrigeration requirements are needed to provide enough cooling effect on the air in the envelope to maintain a temperature of -2.degree. C. or below and to maintain humidity below 100%. Cold, dry air from the air cooling and drying means is introduced into the envelope for this purpose and to maintain the necessary dryness. Such air may be recirculated from the envelope through the air cooling and drying means or the air cooling and drying means may be appropriately located with in the envelope.
In order to reduce the capacity of refrigeration means supplying the air cooling means during snow production, which would otherwise be necessary, thermal storage means is provided so that the rate of cooling of the air in the envelope can be significantly greater than the nominal capacity of the refrigeration means by utilizing the storage capacity of the thermal storage means.
Air cooling means may also be provided for maintaining the envelope at below freezing point during intervals between snow production.
The thermal storage means may take any convenient form. Preferably the refrigeration means utilizes a secondary coolant, for example methylene chloride, which is cooled in a heat exchanger refrigeration cycle and the coolant is used to cool a mass of material of relatively high specific heat and conductivity. Alternatively a relatively large mass of coolant is employed which acts as the thermal storage means.
When the thermal stora
REFERENCES:
patent: 3111011 (1963-11-01), Barlow
patent: 3257815 (1966-06-01), Brocoff et al.
patent: 3350530 (1966-05-01), Dean et al.
patent: 4637222 (1987-01-01), Fujiwara et al.
patent: 4790531 (1988-12-01), Matsui et al.
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