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Irrigation reservoir cooling system

Irrigation reservoir cooling system description/claims

The present invention relates to a combined space-cooling and irrigation system.

Ground temperatures four feet below grade are a constant 50° F. to 56° F. from the east coast of North America to the west coast and from Atlanta Ga. to Sudbury, Ontario. This vast area has cool ground temperatures and hot summers with attendant cooling and irrigation requirements.

Cooling systems which make use of the relative coolness of underground water sources, such as wells or municipal water mains, are well known in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,375,831, 4,946,110, 5,727,621, 6,041,613 and 6,688,129 disclose the concept of using the coolness of ground water to acclimatize living space. Also known in the art are systems for controlling irrigation, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,134,269, 4,393,890 and 4,693,419. However, none of the above patents combine a space cooling system, which makes use of underground water for cooling needs, with an irrigation system.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,140,829 to Barwacz teaches a space-cooling system using a heat exchanger for ground water that has been slightly chilled by a heat pump. The heat pump cools the incoming ground water and uses the return flow of warmed ground water, or at least a portion of the return flow, to evaporate the heat pump's refrigerant gas. The heated discharge water can be used as pre-heated household water, or discharged for irrigation or to a drainage system. Barwacz therefore discloses the use of ground water for heat exchange purposes and then using the water for irrigation or household uses. However, there is no disclosure of a closed loop cooling system that would allow for humidity control. Furthermore, there is no teaching concerning a balancing of irrigation needs and cooling needs.

The present invention provides a system that makes use of the relative coolness of underground water for cooling needs when the water is needed for irrigation in any event.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a system that reduces electric energy consumption for cooling purposes by making use of the relative coolness of the ground water that is used for irrigation purposes.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a system that warms water to be used for irrigation purposes.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an integrated irrigation and cooling system that operates automatically.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a system that reduces electric energy consumption for cooling purposes by making use of cool external temperatures

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a closed loop cooling system that allows for humidity control.

The above objectives are accomplished by a novel irrigation reservoir cooling system and method of operation. The system is operated by an automated control unit specifically programmed to manage cooling and irrigation needs generally as follows. 1) When space cooling is needed, for example, during the solar heat gain of the day, the system pumps cool underground water (ground water) from a pressurized municipal (city) water supply, a well, or a deep pond, through a heat exchanger on the way to a reservoir. The water is pumped (transported) by providing the system with a water pump or by connecting the system to a pressurized municipal water supply. 2) The water pumped through the heat exchanger cools fluid in a separate closed circuit. The closed circuit includes at least one fluid chiller, which is sufficient to provide cooling when irrigation water is not needed, for example, during the night, on rainy days or in the winter. 3) The cooled fluid in the closed circuit is then used for cooling purposes, for example, to cool the air circulated through a house or building using a commercially available fan coil unit. 4) The reservoir releases collected water for irrigation purposes at appropriate times, normally at night.

The irrigation reservoir cooling system is ideal for cooling buildings that use irrigation systems such as estate homes and golf and country clubs.

In one embodiment, the system is provided with a secondary heat exchanger to further exploit the low temperature of ground water for cooling purposes. The secondary heat exchanger can be any device or system that is operable to receive and exchange heat with a source of water, such as a dehumidifier.

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