Burst mode cooling system
Disclosed are systems and methods of rapidly cooling thermal loads by providing a burst mode cooling system for rapid cooling. The burst mode cooling system may include a complex compound sorber configured to rapidly absorb ammonia.
1. A burst mode ammonia based cooling system, comprising:
at least one sorber comprising a complex compound sorbent configured to absorb and desorb ammonia;
at least one heat source thermally connected to the at least one sorber;
one or more condensers in fluid communication with the at least one sorber;
one or more evaporators in fluid communication with the at least one sorber;
a receiver for an activation signal; and
a burst mode controller configured to activate a valve in response to receiving an activation signal from the receiver to provide a burst of heat absorption to a thermal load adjacent to the evaporator, where the absorption period of the complex compound is between 5 seconds and 300 seconds and the desorption period is between 180 seconds and 15 minutes, wherein the absorption period is divided into a plurality of pulse periods and rest periods.
2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the sorbent is one of SrCl 2 , CaBr 2 and MnCl 2 .
3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to control absorption of ammonia at the lean end of a coordination sphere for the complex compound sorbent.
4. The system of claim 3 , wherein the lean end of the coordination sphere is the lower 50% of the coordination sphere.
5. The system of claim 3 , wherein the lean end of the coordination sphere is the lower 30% of the coordination sphere.
6. The system of claim 3 , wherein the controller is configured to control the absorption of ammonia to a SrCl 2 sorbent when three or less moles of ammonia are absorbed to each mole of SrCl 2 .
7. The system of claim 3 , wherein the controller is configured to control the absorption of ammonia to a SrCl 2 sorbent when 3.5 or less moles of ammonia are absorbed to each mole of SrCl 2 .
8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the lean end of the coordination sphere for the SrCl 2 sorbent is the lower 20% of the coordination sphere.
9. The system of claim 3 , wherein the controller is configured to control the absorption of ammonia to a CaBr 2 sorbent when three or less moles of ammonia are absorbed to each mole of CaBr 2 .
10. The system of claim 3 , wherein the controller is configured to control the absorption of ammonia to a CaBr 2 sorbent when 3.5 or less moles of ammonia are absorbed to each mole of CaBr 2 .
11. The system of claim 3 , wherein the controller is configured to control the absorption of ammonia to a MnCl 2 sorbent when three or less moles of ammonia are absorbed to each mole of MnCl 2 .
12. The system of claim 3 , wherein the controller is configured to control the absorption of ammonia to a MnCl 2 sorbent when 3.5 or less moles of ammonia are absorbed to each mole of MnCl 2 .
13. The system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of pulse periods are between 5 and 30 seconds long each.
14. The system of claim 1 , wherein the absorption period is 30 seconds, which is made up of three pulse periods of absorption for five seconds each, with a five second rest period between each pulse period.
15. The system of claim 1 , wherein the thermal mass of the system is less than 7:1, which is the ratio of the total mass (kilograms) of the reactor to the total mass (kilograms) of the complex compound sorbent.
16. The system of claim 1 , wherein the sorber comprises a plurality of porous gas distribution tubes for distributing the ammonia to the complex compound sorbent.
17. The system of claim 1 , wherein the evaporator is configured to mate with a thermal load from a product or device.
18. The system of claim 17 , wherein the thermal load is part of a flash freezing device or product.
19. The system of claim 17 , wherein the thermal load is part of a directed energy weapons system.
20. The system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is linked to a temperature sensor and activates a burst mode cooling cycle when the temperature sensor reaches a predetermined target temperature.
21. The system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is linked to an activation signal, that triggers a burst mode cooling cycle.
22. The system of claim 21 , wherein the activation signal is activated by a predictive process that determines when to activate a burst mode cooling cycle.
23. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one sorber comprises three sorbers.
24. A method in a complex compound sorber system of burst mode cooling a thermal load, comprising:
detecting when to activate a burst mode cooling cycle based on receipt of an activation signal from a receiver;
activating a valve that allows ammonia to flow into at least one sorber, comprising a complex compound sorbent, wherein the sorber is connected to an evaporator and the activation provides a burst of heat absorption at the evaporator; and
controlling an absorption period of the complex compound to between 5 seconds and 300 seconds, wherein the absorption period is divided into a plurality of pulse periods and rest periods; and
controlling a desorption period of the complex compound to between 180 seconds and 15 minutes.
25. The method of claim 24 , wherein the at least one sorber comprises a complex compound sorbent that is one of SrCl 2 , CaBr 2 and MnCl 2 .
26. The method of claim 24 , wherein controlling the absorption period comprises controlling the absorption of ammonia so it binds to the complex compound sorbent at the lean end of a coordination sphere.
27. The method of claim 26 , wherein the sorbent comprises SrCl 2 and the lean end of the coordination sphere for the SrCl 2 sorbent is the lower 20% of the coordination sphere.
28. The method of claim 26 , wherein controlling the absorption period comprises controlling the absorption of ammonia to a SrCl 2 sorbent when three or less moles of ammonia molecules are absorbed to each mole of SrCl 2 .
29. The method of claim 26 , wherein controlling the absorption period comprises controlling the absorption of ammonia to a SrCl 2 sorbent when 3.5 or less moles of ammonia molecules are absorbed to each mole of SrCl 2 .
30. The method of claim 26 , wherein the lean end of the coordination sphere is the lower 50% of the coordination sphere.
31. The method of claim 26 , wherein the lean end of the coordination sphere is the lower 30% of the coordination sphere.
32. The method of claim 26 , wherein controlling the absorption period comprises controlling the absorption of ammonia to a CaBr 2 sorbent when three or less moles of ammonia molecules are absorbed to each mole of CaBr 2 .
33. The method of claim 26 , wherein controlling the absorption period comprises controlling the absorption of ammonia to a CaBr 2 sorbent when 3.5 or less moles of ammonia molecules are absorbed to each mole of CaBr 2 .
34. The method of claim 26 , wherein controlling the absorption period comprises controlling the absorption of ammonia to a MnCl 2 sorbent when three or less moles of ammonia molecules are absorbed to each mole of MnCl 2 .
35. The method of claim 26 , wherein controlling the absorption period comprises controlling the absorption of ammonia to a MnCl 2 sorbent when 3.5 or less moles of ammonia molecules are absorbed to each mole of MnCl 2 .
36. The system of claim 1 , wherein the activation signal is from a temperature sensor.
37. The system of claim 1 , wherein the activation signal is from a system connected to the thermal load.
38. The method of claim 24 , wherein the activation signal is from a temperature sensor.
39. The method of claim 24 , wherein the activation signal is from a system connected to the thermal load.