Adsorption Cooling Systems and Methods (US Patent 9,765,998 B2)

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Key findings

• Working pair / refrigerant: water as refrigerant (pure or with antimicrobial adjuvant; no glycol/antifreeze). Adsorbent is a material with a crystalline structure able to adsorb individual refrigerant molecules — zeolite is the primary example (also molecular sieves, MOFs, activated carbon, lithium chloride, electrically charged sorbents). Evaporator and condenser are combined as a single evaporator/condenser unit.
• Core novel claim — winterization configuration: when ambient nears/below the refrigerant freezing point, the control system adsorbs the water into the crystalline (interstitial) structure of the adsorbent so molecules are stored “separately” and cannot form ice — preventing freeze damage without antifreeze additives. Defined vs. a “storage configuration” where ≥75% of refrigerant is held as liquid in a container.
• Single-bed limitation and two-bed solution: a single adsorbent chamber must go offline to desorb (recharge), interrupting cooling. The two-bed design (cells 204/206) alternates adsorption and recharging to give substantially continuous cooling from the evaporator.
• Heat-source flexibility for desorption/recharge: dedicated heaters (246/248) fueled by source 254 (natural gas, diesel, LP, jet fuel, solar, geothermal, battery), and/or waste heat 256 from a vehicle combustion engine / truck-engine exhaust.
• Target application: cooling a truck sleeper / passenger compartment (202). Heat-transfer medium 212 (with fan 220) distributes cooled air; evaporator temperature regulated within ~52.5–53.0 °F via temperature sensor 232 and adjustable valves 224/226/228.
• Control logic: control system 238 uses temperature sensor 270 (also GPS/pressure/altimeter options) and detector 239; it picks among winterization configurations A/B/C based on how fast ambient temperature is dropping (DIFF LIMIT thresholds in Fig. 5), can act on weather-forecast input, and supports remote/app control.
• Scope: 16 claims, 10 drawing sheets; continuation-in-part chain back to provisional 61/788,574 (filed Mar 15 2013). Includes a hot-surface-driven variant (Fig. 9) and a separate dedicated winterization chamber variant (Fig. 10).