Nebulizer systems to generate a mist of micro-droplets of a liquid for the purpose of freshening the atmosphere. Nebulizer systems having a small size that can be mounted on a sales stall to humidify and freshen fresh products displayed for sale, or in a vehicle to humidify and freshen the air and make it pleasant to breathe.

An environmental control system for a building in a geographic location and having a heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) system includes at least one computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon that, when executed by at least one processing device in communication with the external application, enables the at least one processing device to receive weather data characterizing a weather forecast over a predetermined time period for the geographic location, receive free-cooling window data, determine, based on the weather data and free-cooling window data, an available free-cooling time window, and issue to the external application an executable command to the HVAC system to enter free-cooling mode during the available free-cooling time window.

An extremum-seeking control system for a chilled water plant includes a feedback controller and an extremum-seeking controller. The feedback controller is configured to operate equipment of the chilled water plant to achieve a condenser water temperature setpoint. The equipment include at least one of a chiller compressor, a condenser water pump, and a cooling tower fan. The extremum-seeking controller is configured to provide the condenser water temperature setpoint to the feedback controller. The extremum-seeking controller is configured to determine an optimal value for the setpoint condenser water temperature setpoint by perturbing the condenser water temperature setpoint with a stochastic excitation signal, monitoring a power consumption of the equipment resulting from the perturbed condenser water temperature setpoint, estimating a gradient of the power consumption with respect to the condenser water temperature setpoint, and modulating the condenser water temperature setpoint to drive the estimated gradient to zero.

An evaporator includes a housing with a first end and a longitudinally opposite second end, a hydrophobic membrane arranged within the housing fluidly coupling the first end of the housing to the second end of the housing, and a hydrophilic surface. The hydrophilic surface is arranged within the housing between the first end and the second end of the housing and is spaced apart from the hydrophobic membrane to draw liquid water away from the hydrophobic hollow fiber membrane. Spacesuits and environmental control methods are also described.

A coaxial ventilator (20) exchanges atmosphere between parts of a building (22) that are at differing heights. The coaxial ventilator (20) includes an outer conduit (24) that extends from an upper end (42) thereof downward to a lower end (44) thereof. The outer conduit (24) surrounds an inner conduit (62) that extends substantially the entire length of the outer conduit (24). Both the outer and inner conduits (24, 62) are open at their respective upper ends (42, 66) and lower ends (44, 68). Temperatures of atmosphere both surrounding and within the outer conduit (24) and the inner conduit (62) induce an exchange of atmosphere between the coaxial ventilator (20) and surrounding atmosphere.

A system and method for conditioning air is provided that optimizes the use of sustainable and locally sourced materials with agrarian, residential, and industrial applications. The system can be formed with a porous siliceous, or siliceous and aluminous material that is sufficiently porous, to allow conditioning fluid to flow there through. The material can also be formed into a structure that includes one or more passageways configured to allow air to be conditioned to also pass there through. The structure can be configured to cause the conditioning fluid passing through the porous portions of the structure to intersect and mix with air passing there through. The structure may include a plurality of passageways and intersections and may include a plurality of air inlets and outlets for air passage. The system may additionally include a means for storing, collecting, and driving conditioning fluid through the system and a means for collecting solar radiation to drive airflow and regenerate conditioning fluid.

An open-type ceiling refrigeration system is disclosed, including a ceiling, an evaporation pipe fixedly connected to the ceiling and slantly arranged, a water inlet pipe, and a water removal assembly for absorbing water vapor. An output end of the water inlet pipe is connected to the input end of the evaporation pipe, and the water inlet pipe is connected to a three-way valve; and the water removal assembly is located below the evaporation pipe and includes a water sealing cavity, the output end of the evaporation pipe is connected to the water sealing cavity by means of a recovery pipe, the water sealing cavity is connected to a first pipeline extending upwards and communicated with the input end of the evaporation pipe, a lower end of the first pipeline is connected to a molecular sieve for limiting water vapor from passing through.

Systems and methods are disclosed for air flow optimization. In certain embodiments, the technology is a system comprising sensors, injectors, actuators, and a system processor. In order to optimize the air flow, the system processor directs the injectors to expel aerosol particles into an environment, such that the aerosol particles can be measured by the one or more sensors. Flow intensity map generation is then used to map the aerosol particles and air flow is changed to optimize aerosol particle concentration using the actuators.

A data center cooling system includes an evaporative cooling system. The evaporative cooling system includes fans configured to circulate outside air at ambient conditions through an entry zone of a data center, and atomizers positioned upstream of the entry zone configured to spray atomized water into the circulating outside air. The atomized water evaporates in an evaporation zone and cools the outside air to produce cooled air, which is directed through racks of computers positioned downstream of the evaporation zone.

A system and method for advanced digital economization for an HVAC system having an economizer. A digital processing unit is configured to open a damper of an economizer within a dead-band range that allows for preemptive cooling prior to a call for cooling. This economization strategy allows for free cooling (outside air) without having to pay energy costs for cooled (air-conditioned) air. The system and method can be used with or without demand control ventilation (DCV). The method also includes a “self-learning” strategy with outside air and return air sensor to regularly sense past economizer damper modifications and average out recent readings to help set the dead-band range. The method can include the ability to work in conjunction with a variable supply fan speed control, provide fault detection, self-correct, auto-configure, and report system status.