The invention relates to a refrigeration method and equipment for cooling the inside of a container, or a coolant circulating in a refrigeration circuit of a vehicle and/or of a supercharger, which uses an air current as a working fluid and comprises the steps of: compressing; cooling in coolers coupled to an ejection cycle; expanding, to reduce the temperature of the air current and obtain mechanical energy from same; refrigerating, to allow an exchange of thermal energy between the air current resulting from the expansion step and the coolant of the refrigeration circuit or the inside of the container; and regenerating, to allow an exchange of thermal energy between the air current resulting from the compression step, reducing the temperature thereof, and the air current resulting from the regenerating step, increasing the temperature thereof.

A rotating machine (100) of the present disclosure includes: a bearing (10); a rotating shaft (20) having a hollow portion (21) included in a portion (20s) supported by the bearing (10); a fluid element (30) attached to one end portion of the rotating shaft (20); an introduction hole (22) that is provided, in the rotating shaft (20), on a back side of the fluid element (30), and that directs a working fluid to the hollow portion (21); and a discharge hole (23) that is provided, in the rotating shaft (20), at a position distant from the introduction hole (22) beyond the portion (20s) supported by the bearing (10), and that directs the working fluid to an outside of the hollow portion (21).

A duct is provided and includes a tubular member having an inlet portion, an outlet portion and a central portion interposed between the inlet and outlet portions and a tributary tubular member fluidly coupled to the tubular member at the central portion. The tributary tubular member includes first and second torus sectors defining first and second apertures, respectively, through which an upstream end of the central portion extends. The second torus sector is disposed within the first torus sector to define a sectioned toroidal annulus about the first and second apertures and between an exterior surface of the second torus sector and an interior surface of the first torus sector.

A water separator includes an outer annular passage extending along a central longitudinal axis of water separator to direct an airflow along a first direction, and an inner annular passage located radially inboard of the outer annular passage and coaxial with the outer annular passage to direct the airflow along a second direction. A coalescer is located along the outer annular passage to coalesce water in the airflow. A water collector is located along the inner annular passage to collect the water. An airflow outlet is located downstream of the water collector through which the airflow exits the water separator.

Vehicles, environmental control systems, and methods for operating an environmental control system are provided. In one example, the environmental control system (ECS) includes an ECS refrigeration unit that is configured to receive ambient air and a first portion and a second portion of hot bleed air. The ECS refrigeration unit is operable to indirectly exchange heat between the first portion of the hot bleed air and the ambient air to form a partially cooled, hot air stream, and to compress, further indirect heat exchange, and expand the partially cooled, hot air stream to form a cooled and expanded air stream. A low limit valve control regulates a low limit valve to control a rate of introduction of the second portion of the hot bleed air to the cooled and expanded air stream to form a combined air stream that when exiting the ECS refrigeration unit is a sub-freezing air stream.

A generator cooling assembly is provided and includes a rotor, a generator assembly and an air-cycle machine (ACM). The generator assembly includes a generator housing, a generator housed in the generator housing and a shaft coupled to the rotor to transmit shaft power from the rotor to the generator to drive the generator. The ACM is housed in the generator housing and is receptive of air. The air is cooled by the ACM and output from the ACM to the generator as fully cooled air to cool the generator.

A refrigeration unit with dynamic air cooling is described. It includes a centrifugal compressor with an electric drive, whose outlet is connected to a working element, whose outlet is connected to the inlet of a turbine. The turbine is connected to an electrical energy generator, where the outlet of the turbine is directed towards a wall-pipe heat exchanger. The heat exchanger is connected to a pump. Between the centrifugal compressor and the working element there is a pipe-wall exchanger of the air-air type, to which a fan is connected. The working element of the unit has a cylindrical hollow profile comprising helical recesses with a substantially oval shape.

A method is disclosed for cooling a heat transfer fluid circulating in a cooling circuit including a chiller. The method includes installing on the circuit a vacuum housing having a heat exchange conduit extending therethrough and partially filled with a coolant and an atmosphere and pre-cooling the atmosphere and coolant within the vacuum housing to a pre-cooling temperature of between 35 and 60 degrees Fahrenheit using a conventional cooling system. Thereafter the pressure in the vacuum housing is reduced to between 1 and 500 millitorr until an initial cooling temperature in the range of of −50 to 35 degrees Fahrenheit is reached and the heat transfer fluid is then circulated through the heat exchange conduit and to the chiller and back. The pressure reduction in is obtained by selectively connecting the vacuum housing to a larger vacuum reservoir which is connected to a vacuum pump.

A system includes a first fluid flow path configured to condition a pressurized medium and deliver the pressurized medium to one or more loads. The first fluid flow path including an air cycle machine. A second fluid flow path is configured to circulate a working fluid. The second fluid flow path includes a heat exchanger thermally coupled to the first fluid flow path. Within the heat exchanger, heat extracted from the pressurized medium is transferred to the working fluid. The second fluid flow path additionally includes a turbine operably coupled to the air cycle machine, a condenser, and a pump operable to circulate the working fluid through at least a portion of the second fluid flow path. The turbine is rotationally driven by expanding the working fluid across the turbine.

A fluid management system and method includes a thermal management system disposed within a housing that includes conduits extending between a source and a destination of a first fluid. The first fluid exchanges heat with cooling devices as the first fluid moves between the source and the destination. A fluid mixture including the first fluid and a second fluid, and an exhaust are generated responsive to the first fluid exchanging heat with the cooling devices. The exhaust directed toward an outlet of the housing. A separator assembly fluidly coupled with and disposed downstream of the thermal management system receives the fluid mixture and separates the first fluid from the second fluid. The first fluid is directed in a first direction out of the separator assembly and the second fluid is directed toward the outlet to be combined with the exhaust.