Midwest Research Institute

Ren S Anderson

Todd B Vinzant

Steven Slayzak

Robert B Farrington

Daniel M Blake

Joseph P Ryan

Ronald D Judkoff

A method, and systems for implementing such method, for purifying and conditioning air of weaponized contaminants. The method includes wetting a filter packing media with a salt-based liquid desiccant, such as water with a high concentration of lithium chloride. Air is passed through the wetted filter packing media and the contaminants in are captured with the liquid desiccant while the liquid desiccant dehumidifies the air. The captured contaminants are then deactivated in the liquid desiccant, which may include heating the liquid desiccant. The liquid desiccant is regenerated by applying heat to the liquid desiccant and then removing moisture. The method includes repeating the wetting with the regenerated liquid desiccant which provides a regenerable filtering process that captures and deactivates contaminants on an ongoing basis while also conditioning the air. The method may include filtration effectiveness enhancement by electrostatic or inertial means.

Using liquid desiccant as a regenerable filter for capturing and deactivating contaminants

The cabin cooling system includes a cooling duct positioned proximate and above upper edges of one or more windows of a vehicle to exhaust hot air as the air is heated by inner surfaces of the windows and forms thin boundary layers of heated air adjacent the heated windows. The cabin cooling system includes at least one fan to draw the hot air into the cooling duct at a flow rate that captures the hot air in the boundary layer without capturing a significant portion of the cooler cabin interior air and to discharge the hot air at a point outside the vehicle cabin, such as the vehicle trunk. In a preferred embodiment, the cooling duct has a cross-sectional area that gradually increases from a distal point to a proximal point to the fan inlet to develop a substantially uniform pressure drop along the length of the cooling duct. Correspondingly, this cross-sectional configuration develops a uniform suction pressure and uniform flow rate at the upper edge of the window to capture the hot air in the boundary layer adjacent each window.

Vehicle cabin cooling system for capturing and exhausting heated boundary layer air from inner surfaces of solar heated windows

Growing community of inventors

Broomfield, CO, United States of America

Ren S Anderson