B/e Aerospace, Inc.

General Electric Company

Qiao Lu

William J Godecker

Steven Whisler

Ian Douglas Oswald

Timothy Andrew Birkmann

Edward J Bates

Rollie Richard Herzog

Craig Iung-Pei Tsai

Eric Neil Mickelson

James R Forbes

Richard Rizzo

Vishal Bhavsar

Hong Liu

Lisa Gay Smith

Michael Edward Johnson

Michael E Wright

Shon Mattly

Thang Ha

Patricia Gary

Edward M Stoebner

Kai S Hou

Richard Rigney

Tortsten Trumper

A chiller system for a refrigerated space can include a chiller refrigeration system comprising a refrigerant loop for a chiller refrigerant to flow, a compressor, an evaporator, expansion device, and a condenser. The chiller can be positioned directly underneath the refrigerated space to provide cooled air directly to the refrigerated space without ducting. The chiller system can include a condensate path configured to receive condensate from the refrigerated space and to cool the chiller refrigerant in the chiller refrigeration system using the condensate.

Chiller systems

A divided aircraft galley refrigeration system is disclosed. In embodiments, the system includes an evaporating unit positioned within an aircraft galley. In another embodiment, the system includes a refrigeration and heat discharge unit positioned outside of the aircraft galley. In another embodiment, the system includes a liquid refrigerant pipe configured to fluidically couple the evaporating unit and the refrigeration and heat discharge unit. In another embodiment, the system includes a vapor refrigerant pipe configured to fluidically couple the evaporating unit and the refrigeration and heat discharge unit.

Divided refrigeration system for aircraft galley cooling

According to an embodiment, a refrigeration system that cools a compartment includes a compressor, a condenser, a condenser fan, a condenser fan motor, an evaporator, an evaporator fan, an evaporator fan motor, and tubing adapted to transport refrigerant through the refrigeration system in a circulation order from the compressor to the condenser to the evaporator and back to the compressor again. The evaporator fan may be positioned in an air inlet path to the evaporator. The evaporator fan motor may be outside a chilled air circuit of the evaporator.

Vehicle refrigeration equipment having a vapor cycle system

A refrigeration system includes an air chiller, a liquid coolant line that couples the air chiller with a central liquid coolant cooling system of a vehicle, a storage compartment stowage area having an interior for stowing a plurality of removable storage compartments, and a duct system that circulates chilled air from the air chiller through the storage compartment stowage area. The air chiller includes a compressor, a liquid-cooled condenser, an evaporator, and a tubing to circulate refrigerant. The liquid-cooled condenser transfers heat from the refrigerant to the liquid coolant which is then cooled by the central liquid coolant cooling system of the vehicle. The air chiller is situated parallel to the storage compartment stowage area along a plane perpendicular to a direction in which the removable storage compartments are removed and replaced. The duct system circulates chilled air from the evaporator through the interior of the storage compartment stowage area.

Vehicle refrigeration equipment having a liquid heat rejection system

An improved aircraft air chiller unit particularly suited for an aircraft galley that requires refrigerated or cooled beverage/meal carts and/or chilled storage compartments. The chiller of the present invention takes the form of a line replaceable unit ('LRU') and incorporates a liquid-cooled refrigerant vapor compression cycle, arranged in a housing with a vertical orientation. Because of the vertical orientation, ducting on the rear surface of the chiller is omitted, reducing the overall footprint.

Aircraft air chiller with reduced profile

A chiller for an aircraft galley that is sized to be disposed in a compartment for housing beverage carts, the chiller comprising a vapor cycle refrigeration system with a liquid cooled condenser located within the housing and a liquid cooling unit located within the housing. Further, the vapor cycle refrigeration system and the liquid cooling unit have a combined footprint that is less than a footprint of a food and beverage cart within the housing, such that the space occupied by the chiller displaces no more than one beverage cart.

Aircraft galley air chiller system

A reconfigurable vent system in fluid communication with an air chiller to deliver chill air to one or more galley food and beverage storage compartments in parallel is reconfigurable to operate in either of an air-through or an air-over orientation. The reconfigurable vent system comprises a vent in fluid communication with the air chiller via a duct and configured to provide the chill air to the one or more galley food and beverage storage compartments. The vent directs the chill air substantially toward the interior of the one or more galley food and beverage storage compartments in the air-through orientation at a first angle, and the vent directs the chill air substantially around the one or more galley food and beverage storage compartments in the air-over orientation at a second angle different from the first angle.

Reconfigurable chilled air outlet for an aircraft gallery chiller

A thermoelectric cooling device comprises a liquid heat exchanger, at least two air heat exchangers, and at least two thermoelectric modules. The liquid heat exchanger includes a liquid circulation path through which liquid coolant flows to exchange heat with the liquid heat exchanger. Air flows over each of the air heat exchangers to exchange heat with the respective air heat exchanger. A first thermoelectric module is thermally coupled on a first side with a first side of the liquid heat exchanger and on a second side with a first air heat exchanger to transfer heat between the air heat exchanger and the liquid heat exchanger. A second thermoelectric module is thermally coupled on a first side with a second side of the liquid heat exchanger and on a second side with the second air heat exchanger to transfer heat between the air heat exchanger and the liquid heat exchanger.

Thermoelectric cooling device including a liquid heat exchanger disposed between air heat exchangers

An exemplary refrigeration system for cooling food or beverages may use a liquid cooling system of a vehicle. The refrigeration system may include a compartment in which the food or beverages may be placed and removed, a chilled liquid coolant system having a connection through which liquid coolant is received from the liquid cooling system of the vehicle, and a heat exchanger operationally coupled with the chilled liquid coolant system and the compartment to transfer heat from the compartment into the liquid coolant. The refrigeration system may also include a second chilled coolant system through which a second coolant flows and a second heat exchanger operationally coupled with the second chilled coolant system and the compartment to transfer heat from the compartment. The chilled liquid coolant system and the second chilled coolant system may operate together as a cascade cooling system.

Refrigeration systems and methods for connection with a vehicle's liquid cooling system

A storage compartment cooling apparatus includes a liquid circulation system that circulates a liquid coolant, a heat exchanger that cools an interior of a storage compartment using the liquid coolant, a bypass line through which the liquid coolant selectively bypasses the heat exchanger, one or more valves that controllably increase and decrease the flow of the liquid coolant through the heat exchanger and the bypass line, and a controller that controls the one or more valves. A storage compartment cooling system includes a liquid coolant distribution loop that distributes a chilled liquid coolant to a plurality of the storage compartment cooling apparatuses coupled in series and a recirculation cooling device that includes a chiller that chills the liquid coolant to have a temperature lower than an ambient temperature and a circulation unit that circulates the chilled liquid coolant through the liquid coolant distribution loop. A method of controlling the storage compartment cooling system includes reversing a direction of flow of the liquid coolant in the liquid coolant distribution loop.

Aircraft galley liquid cooling system

A vapor cycle refrigeration system includes a thermoelectric device (TED) as a sub-cooler to sub-cool liquid refrigerant exiting a condenser to increase cooling capacity of an evaporator and pull down temperature within a refrigerated compartment quickly. The TED sub-cooler is turned off after initial temperature pull down and is not operated during steady state operation for maintenance of the compartment temperature.

Vehicle refrigerator having a liquid line subcooled vapor cycle system

A point-of-use air chiller unit for an aircraft galley cart compartment is provided comprising a generally flattened rectangular case, comprising two main surfaces having a substantially larger surface area than four remaining surfaces of the case, a condenser, a compressor, an evaporator, and an evaporator fan, wherein the condenser, compressor, and evaporator are connected in a standard refrigeration manner, and a plane parallel to the main surfaces passes through the condenser, the compressor, the evaporator, and the evaporator fan.

Wall-mounted point-of-use air chiller for aircraft galley cart compartment

A thermoelectric cooling system includes a thermoelectric device that transfers heat from a cold side to a hot side via a Peltier effect, an air heat exchanger that transfers heat from air to the cold side, and a heat sink that transfers heat from the hot side to a fluid coolant. The system also includes a temperature sensor that measures a temperature of air, and a controller that controls a flow of electrical power to the thermoelectric device according to a temperature measurement. The system also transfers heat from the air heat exchanger to the heat sink via the thermoelectric device according to a heat conduction effect due to a temperature difference between the air heat exchanger and the fluid coolant. The controller may reduce an effective voltage across the thermoelectric device to reduce power consumption of the thermoelectric device.

Thermoelectric cooling system for a food and beverage compartment

An aircraft galley refrigeration system is provided which, in one embodiment, includes: first and second galleys; a first chiller for providing a first heat transfer fluid to the first galley; a second chiller for providing a second heat transfer fluid to the second galley; and a heat exchanger including a first circuit and a second circuit, the first circuit connecting the first galley with the first chiller, and the second circuit connecting the second galley with the second chiller. In another embodiment, the system includes a first cooling subsystem with a first heat transfer fluid, a second cooling subsystem with a second heat transfer fluid, and a heat exchanger that thermally couples the first and second cooling subsystems for distributing heat between the first and second heat transfer fluids.

Aircraft galley refrigeration system with multi-circuit heat exchanger

A controller for a thermoelectric cooling system comprises a sensor input that receives input from a sensor that measures a performance parameter of a thermoelectric cooling system. The thermoelectric cooling system comprises a plurality of thermoelectric devices electrically coupled in a combination of in series and in parallel with one another and electrically driven by a common driver. The controller also comprises a voltage control signal output, a processor, and a non-transitory memory having stored thereon a program executable by the processor to perform a method of controlling the thermoelectric cooling system. The method comprises receiving sensor data from the sensor input, determining a parameter of the voltage control signal based on the input sensor data, and transmitting a voltage control signal having the parameter to the driver to control heat transfer by the plurality of thermoelectric devices. The voltage control signal may include a pulse width modulation signal having a pulse width modulation duty cycle, or a variable voltage control signal having a percentage of the maximum voltage of the variable voltage control signal.

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Placentia, CA, United States of America

Qiao Lu