U.S. patent application number 11/851892 was filed with the patent office on 2009-03-12 for system and method for heat exchanger fluid handling with atmospheric tower.
This patent application is currently assigned to SPX COOLING TECHNOLOGIES, INC.. Invention is credited to Glenn S. Brenneke, Thomas M. Dendy, Peter W. Falcone, Eldon F. Mockry.
Application Number | 20090065181 11/851892 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 40429302 |
Filed Date | 2009-03-12 |
United States Patent
Application |
20090065181 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Mockry; Eldon F. ; et
al. |
March 12, 2009 |
SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR HEAT EXCHANGER FLUID HANDLING WITH
ATMOSPHERIC TOWER
Abstract
A system connects fluid heat exchange devices such as a
submerged combustion LNG vaporizer and a heating tower. The fluid
handling system has a first heat exchange device having a first
fluid inlet and a first fluid outlet, and a second heat exchange
device having a second fluid inlet and a second fluid outlet. A
first conduit connects the first fluid outlet to the second fluid
inlet, a first reservoir receives fluid from the first fluid
outlet, a second reservoir receives fluid from the second fluid
outlet, a second conduit connects the second reservoir to the first
fluid inlet; and a third, fluid equalization, conduit connected to
the first reservoir and the second reservoir equalizes the fluid
levels in the first and second reservoirs with each other.
Inventors: |
Mockry; Eldon F.; (Lenexa,
KS) ; Brenneke; Glenn S.; (Lee's Summit, MO) ;
Falcone; Peter W.; (Media, PA) ; Dendy; Thomas
M.; (Overland Park, KS) |
Correspondence
Address: |
BAKER & HOSTETLER LLP
WASHINGTON SQUARE, SUITE 1100, 1050 CONNECTICUT AVE. N.W.
WASHINGTON
DC
20036-5304
US
|
Assignee: |
SPX COOLING TECHNOLOGIES,
INC.
SELAS FLUID PROCESSING CORPORATION
|
Family ID: |
40429302 |
Appl. No.: |
11/851892 |
Filed: |
September 7, 2007 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
165/104.28 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F28C 2001/006 20130101;
F28C 1/02 20130101; Y02B 30/70 20130101; F28D 2021/0033 20130101;
F28D 21/0017 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
165/104.28 |
International
Class: |
F28D 15/00 20060101
F28D015/00 |
Claims
1. A fluid handling system, comprising: a first heat exchange
device comprising an atmospheric heat exchange tower having a first
fluid inlet and a first fluid outlet; a second heat exchange device
having a second fluid inlet and a second fluid outlet; a first
conduit connected to the first fluid outlet to the second fluid
inlet; a first reservoir that receives fluid from the first fluid
outlet; a second reservoir that receives fluid from the second
fluid outlet; a second conduit connected to the second reservoir to
the first fluid inlet; and a third, fluid equalization, conduit
connected to the first reservoir to the second reservoir and
equalizes the fluid levels in the first and second reservoirs with
each other.
2. The system of claim 1, wherein the first heat exchange device
comprises an atmospheric heating tower.
3. The system of claim 1, wherein the second heat exchange device
comprises a liquefied natural gas (LNG) vaporizer.
4. The system of claim 2, wherein the second heat exchange device
comprises a liquefied natural gas (LNG) vaporizer.
5. The system of claim 1, wherein the second heat exchange device
is a submerged combustion vaporizer (SCV).
6. The system of claim 2, wherein the second heat exchanger is a
submerged combustion vaporizer (SCV).
7. The system of claim 1, further comprising a weir in fluid
communication with the second fluid outlet, wherein the weir is
disposed between the second fluid outlet and the second reservoir
so the second reservoir receives fluid from the weir.
8. A fluid handling system, comprising: an atmospheric heating
tower having a first fluid inlet and a first fluid outlet; a
submerged combustion vaporizer (SCV) having a second fluid inlet
and a second fluid outlet; a first fluid connection connecting the
first fluid outlet to the second fluid inlet; and a second fluid
connection that connects the second fluid outlet to the first fluid
inlet.
9. The system of claim 8, further comprising at least one pump that
circulates fluid between the heating tower and the SCV.
10. A fluid handling system, comprising: first heat exchanging
means having a first fluid inlet and a first fluid outlet; second
heat exchanging means having a second fluid inlet and a second
fluid outlet; first connecting means for connecting the first fluid
outlet to the second fluid inlet; first holding means that that
receives fluid from the first fluid outlet; second holding means
that receives fluid from the second fluid outlet; second connecting
means for connecting the second reservoir to the first fluid inlet;
and fluid level equalizing means for equalizing the fluid levels in
the first and second holding means with each other.
11. The system of claim 10, wherein the first heat exchanging means
comprises an atmospheric heating tower.
12. The system of claim 10, wherein the second heat exchanging
means comprises a liquefied natural gas (LNG) vaporizer.
13. The system of claim 11, wherein the second heat exchanging
means comprises a liquefied natural gas (LNG) vaporizer.
14. The system of claim 10, wherein the second heat exchanging
means is a submerged combustion vaporizer (SCV).
15. The system of claim 11, wherein the second heat exchanging
means is a submerged combustion vaporizer (SCV).
16. The system of claim 10, further comprising a third holding
means in fluid communication with the second fluid outlet, wherein
the third holding means is disposed between the second fluid outlet
and the second holding means so the second holding means receives
fluid from the third holding means.
17. A fluid handling system, comprising: an atmospheric heating
tower having a first fluid inlet and a first fluid outlet; a
submerged combustion vaporizer (SCV) having a second fluid inlet
and a second fluid outlet; first means for connecting the first
fluid outlet to the second fluid inlet; and second means for
connecting that connects the second fluid outlet to the first fluid
inlet.
18. The system of claim 17, further comprising at least one pump
that circulates fluid between the heating tower and the SCV.
19. A fluid handling method, comprising: providing a first heat
exchange device comprising an atmospheric heat exchange tower
having a first fluid inlet and a first fluid outlet, a second heat
exchange device having a second fluid inlet and a second fluid
outlet, a first conduit connected to the first fluid outlet to the
second fluid inlet, a first reservoir that receives fluid from the
first fluid outlet, a second reservoir that receives fluid from the
second fluid outlet; a second conduit that connects the second
reservoir to the first fluid inlet, and equalizing the fluid levels
in the first and second reservoirs with each other.
20. A fluid handling method, comprising: providing an atmospheric
heating tower having a first fluid inlet and a first fluid outlet,
and a submerged combustion vaporizer (SCV) having a second fluid
inlet and a second fluid outlet; circulating fluid from the first
fluid outlet to the second fluid inlet; and circulating fluid from
the second fluid outlet to the first fluid inlet.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The invention pertains generally to the field of hydraulics
and fluid handling. More particularly, the invention relates to a
hydraulic system and method for handling fluids that are used in
heat exchangers. More particularly, the invention pertains to a
system for circulating heat exchange fluid between two heat
exchange devices, where one device is an atmospheric heating or
cooling tower.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Heat exchangers are in wide use in industry. Many of these
heat exchangers involve some form of circulating fluid. The fluid
may be water, water treated with chemicals, or some other liquid.
The words "water" and "fluid" are used interchangeably in this
specification.
[0003] One type of heat exchanger is an atmospheric cooling tower.
Such cooling towers are traditionally used in industrial
applications to cool fluid that is supplied to the tower at a
relatively warm temperature, i.e., above an ambient temperature,
down to a relatively cooler temperature closer to the ambient
temperature. Cooling towers in some cases involve the spraying of
the warm fluid from the top of the tower, sometimes over a fill
medium, and also in some instances using a fan to force air through
the tower so that the water falls through the tower, contacting the
fill medium and the air and falls into a collection basin at the
bottom of the tower. As the warm fluid falls through the tower, it
will generally be cooled to a cooler temperature. These are called
open loop cooling towers because the fluid being cooled contacts
the air. There are also closed loop towers where the fluid being
cooled circulates through a closed coil in the tower, but another
fluid is sprayed over the coil as discussed above. Also, dry
cooling towers use only the coils and do not have the falling spray
water. The details of these and other types of cooling towers are
well known to those skilled in the art.
[0004] It is also possible to operate a cooling tower type
structure to be a heating tower. In such circumstances where the
fluid is supplied to the tower starting at a temperature cooler
than the ambient air temperature, the supply of the cool fluid into
the top of the tower will result in a warming of the fluid so that
the fluid collected at the basin at the bottom of the tower is
warmer than when it entered the tower.
[0005] It has generally been most common in industrial applications
to utilize heat exchange towers as cooling towers. However, there
are arising certain situations where a heating tower can be
beneficial. One such situation is in the case of liquid natural gas
(LNG) evaporators. In these evaporators, liquid natural gas is
vaporized by the addition of heat. This can result in a supply of
cold fluid which is desired to be warm.
[0006] Turning to a different aspect of LNG vaporization, there are
some known heat exchangers for use in LNG vaporization. One example
is a so-called open rack vaporizer. An open rack vaporizer is
essentially a large water tank having a closed coil submerged in
the tank. The LNG is passed through the closed coils. Water is
drawn from a relatively warm external source, such as sea water,
and is circulated into and through the tank. The LNG is warmed by
the vaporization coil being in contact with the warm sea water. The
water becomes cooled by contact with the vaporization coils and
then is discharged, usually back into the sea. In some instances
there are environmental limits on the use of these evaporators.
[0007] Another type of LNG evaporator is a shell and tube
arrangement with the LNG in tubes that have a shell surrounding the
tubes having warmer water passed through it.
[0008] Yet another type of LNG evaporator is a so-called submerged
combustion vaporizer (SCV). An SCV is similar to an open rack
vaporizer in that it is essentially a tank of water having the
vaporization coils submerged therein. However, rather than
circulating any water into and out of the tank in an SCV, heat is
continually added by means of a gas fired burner submerged in the
tank. The details of SCVs can vary, but in general the gas fired
burner is operated so as to add heat into the water tank at
substantially the same rate at which heat is being drawn out from
the water by the vaporization coil. The amount of heat added by the
submerged burner can be relatively steady, controlled by modulating
the gas burn rate and using the water as a temperature change
buffer. Although the water in the SCV is generally self-contained,
there is some water produced in the combustion process and
condensed out of the hot gas stream. It is removed to prevent
flooding the burner, usually by an overflow outlet port.
[0009] Each of the methods described above is useful in industry
and has various advantages. However, it would be desirable to have
a heat exchange fluid handling system and method that provides in
some instances a more controllable, energy efficient, or otherwise
beneficial-to-operate arrangement.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0010] The invention in one aspect pertains to a fluid handling
system, comprising a first heat exchange device having a first
fluid inlet and a first fluid outlet; a second heat exchange device
having a second fluid inlet and a second fluid outlet; a first
conduit connected to the first fluid outlet to the second fluid
inlet; a first reservoir that receives fluid from the first fluid
outlet; a second reservoir that receives fluid from the second
fluid outlet; a second conduit connected to the second reservoir to
the first fluid inlet; and a third, fluid equalization, conduit
connected to the first reservoir to the second reservoir and
equalizes the fluid levels in the first and second reservoirs with
each other, further comprising a weir in fluid communication with
the second fluid outlet, wherein the weir is disposed between the
second fluid outlet and the second reservoir so the second
reservoir receives fluid from the weir. The second heat exchange
device comprises a liquefied natural gas (LNG) vaporizer.
[0011] Another aspect of the invention pertains to a fluid handling
system, comprising an atmospheric heating tower having a first
fluid inlet and a first fluid outlet; a submerged combustion
vaporizer (SCV) having a second fluid inlet and a second fluid
outlet; first means for connecting the first fluid outlet to the
second fluid inlet; and second means for the second fluid outlet to
the first fluid inlet.
[0012] Yet another aspect of the invention pertains to a fluid
handling method, providing a first heat exchange device having a
first fluid inlet and a first fluid outlet, a second heat exchange
device having a second fluid inlet and a second fluid outlet, a
first conduit connected to the first fluid outlet to the second
fluid inlet, a first reservoir that receives fluid from the first
fluid outlet, a second reservoir that receives fluid from the
second fluid outlet, a second conduit that connects the second
reservoir to the first fluid inlet, and equalizes the fluid levels
in the first and second reservoirs with each other.
[0013] In another aspect of the invention, a fluid handling method
comprises providing an atmospheric heating tower having a first
fluid inlet and a first fluid outlet; a submerged combustion
vaporizer (SCV) having a second fluid inlet and a second fluid
outlet, circulating fluid from the first fluid outlet to the second
fluid inlet, and circulating fluid from the second fluid outlet to
the first fluid inlet.
[0014] There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, certain
embodiments of the invention in order that the detailed description
thereof herein may be better understood, and in order that the
present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There
are, of course, additional embodiments of the invention that will
be described below and which will form the subject matter of the
claims appended hereto.
[0015] In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment
of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the
invention is not limited in its application to the details of
construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in
the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The
invention is capable of embodiments in addition to those described
and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is
to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed
herein, as well as the abstract, are for the purpose of description
and should not be regarded as limiting.
[0016] As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the
conception upon which this disclosure is based may readily be
utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods
and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present
invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded
as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not
depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0017] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a heat exchange system
according to a first preferred embodiment.
[0018] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a heat exchange system
according to a second preferred embodiment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0019] FIG. 1 illustrates a system involving two heat exchangers
which can be useful for several purposes. One useful purpose for
this heat exchanger system is the vaporization of LNG. Although the
vaporization of LNG will be used as an example throughout the
specification, it will be appreciated that the system could be
useful for the vaporization of other materials and for any other
industrial or other operation where it is desired to add heat to a
material. Also, although one example described below uses an
atmospheric heating tower to add supplemental or entire heat to a
LNG vaporizer such as an SCV, it will be appreciated that some
aspects of the system can be used for an atmospheric cooling tower
to provide supplemental or entire cooling to other individual
systems.
[0020] Turning to FIG. 1, an SCV 10 is shown, which in this
instance is for vaporization of LNG. This SCV 10 has a water inlet
and water outlet so in addition to, or instead of, heat being
supplied to the SCV coil via the SCV gas burner, heat can also be
supplied to the coil by supplying warm water to the SCV 10, and
drawing out cooler water. However, instead of an SCV, the
arrangement could in some applications be a heat exchanger that
adds heat. In this example, the SCV 10 includes an LNG vaporization
coil 12 having a liquid gas inlet 14 and a vaporized outlet 16. LNG
enters the coil at inlet 14 and heat is added to it so that the
vaporized gas exits at outlet 16. The coil 12 is suspended within a
tank 18 which is filled with water or another heat exchange fluid
20. One way of adding heat to the fluid 20 is the use of a gas
combustion device 22, which may burn natural gas and other fuel.
The combustion device 22 may provide hot flue gas via a flue 24
which may be provided beneath the coil 12 to conduct heat into the
fluid 20, and also to exhaust hot gas bubbles over the coil 12,
further adding heat to the material being vaporized.
[0021] In some conditions, the use of the combustion device 22 by
itself may not be the most efficient way to add heat to the system.
Therefore, in the embodiment of FIG. 1 an atmospheric heating tower
30 is also utilized. The heating tower 30 draws air in to a lower
air inlet 32 and exhausts the air out of a fan-powered outlet 34. A
pump 36, labeled P1, is provided to draw fluid out of the SCV 10
via a conduit 35 and pump it through a conduit 37 to a series of
spray heads 38 near the top of the tower 30. The fluid thus drawn
from the SCV is sprayed over a fill material 40 so that as it falls
over the fill material 40 it contacts the air and has heat imparted
to it. This will occur as long as the fluid drawn from the SCV 10
and being sprayed out the nozzles 38 is cooler than the ambient
air.
[0022] After the fluid falls beneath the fill material 40, it is
collected in a lower basin 42. The fluid in the lower basin 42,
which is warmer than the fluid that was drawn from SCV 10, can now
be supplied back to the SCV 10 using a conduit 43 and a pump 44,
labeled P2. The pump 44 supplies the warmer fluid through a conduit
45 which may simply terminate into the SCV, or may distribute the
warm water through a variety of outputs 46.
[0023] It will be appreciated depending upon atmospheric conditions
and other conditions within the equipment, as well as factors such
as gas cost, it may be desirable sometimes to operate only with the
heating tower, for example, if the ambient air is extremely warm
and the heating tower is scaled so that it can add enough heat for
vaporization. However, due to climactic changes, or other design
factors, it may be desirable to operate the SCV part of the time.
It is possible to control and modulate the SCV, as well as the
heating tower, to operate both of them to supply heat at the same
time and at different rates, or to operate only one or the other of
the heating tower and the SCV. In this way, use of fuel can be
reduced, and other operating efficiencies can be obtained.
[0024] In the example shown in FIG. 1, the pumps 36 and 44 are
operated at substantially the same flow rate so that the fluid is
basically pumped in a cycle out of the SCV towards the heating
tower, and then back from the heating tower back into the SCV. This
is a first embodiment. However, one aspect of this system is that
in most conditions the atmospheric heating tower will actually
generate additional fluid in the form of water due to condensation
that occurs in the tower. Therefore, some provision can be
provided, such as an overflow discharge port 50 provided at a
maximum desired fluid level of the basin 42. An overflow discharge
port 52 can similarly be provided in the SCV 10.
[0025] The system described in FIG. 1 does have some possible
disadvantages. For example, if the pump 44 fails, or if the
conduits associated with pump 44 fail, it is possible that the
re-supply of fluid back into the SCV 10 could be reduced or blocked
entirely. In such a case, if the pump 36 continues to run, it is
possible that water will continue to be pumped out of the SCV 10
and the SCV 10 could be "run dry" or at least partially dry. This
condition can be undesirable. The water that is pumped out from the
SCV 10 by the pump 36 would be added into the heating tower, but
would fall into the basin 42 as overflow and be discharged out the
overflow discharge port 50.
[0026] Another possible undesirable condition is if pump 36 fails.
In such a case, it is possible that the pump 44 will feed excess
water into the SCV 10 which is not removed, which could in some
instances "swamp" the SCV burner.
[0027] Depending on the relative installation height of the SCV 10
and the heating tower 30, it may be possible to operate a system
using only one pump (pump 36), if the heating tower were installed
high enough that its head distance could provide the function
presently shown by the pump 44. However, in most practical
installations it is expected that a two pump system would be more
desirable.
[0028] It can some times be desirable to have a system that would
maintain the operating fluid levels at desired levels where a first
heat exchanger (such as an SCV, for example) is connected to a
second heat exchanger (such as a heating tower, for example). It
can also some times be desirable to accommodate the failure of the
pumps that are running in either direction from one device to
another. It is noticed that while the examples of an SCV and an
atmospheric heating tower are given, the systems described herein
could be applied to any types of heat exchangers that involve the
addition and removal of fluid from the heat exchangers to provide
fluid communication between the heat exchangers, with at least one
of the heat exchangers having a fluid level that is vented to the
atmospheric pressure.
[0029] Turning now to FIG. 2, a second embodiment of an improved
fluid handling system is shown in which reference numerals in FIG.
2 depict like components as in FIG. 1. Continuing with FIG. 2, the
SCV 10 is shown having a fluid 20 at an operating level L1. As
discussed above, it is typically desirable to have L1 to be
maintained in a range so that it is not too high such that it would
swamp the burner, and not too low such that it would fail to add
heat to the coils, which could lead to coil freezing or other
undesirable situations.
[0030] Somewhat similar to the embodiment of FIG. 1, the heating
tower 30 can be connected to the SCV 10 such that the heating tower
30 can supply warmed water to the SCV. In the case of such a
supply, L1 will raise to a level and fluid will exit the SCV via a
main outlet port 60, which may have a valve associated therewith.
The exiting fluid flows from the main outlet port 60 into a holding
weir 62. Should the valve associated with the port 60 be closed, or
should the increase in the fluid level L1 become greater than
handled by the outlet 60, as the fluid level L1 raises, it will
reach an overflow port 64. Upon reaching the height of the overflow
port 64, fluid will exit the SCV and also enter the weir 62. This
provides a beneficial feature by which the fluid level in the SCV
will not swamp the burner.
[0031] The weir chamber 62 has a sidewall 66, and as the level in
the weir chamber 62 exceeds the height of the sidewall 66, the
fluid will further be transferred into a buffer tank 68. A conduit
35 for drawing water out of the holding reservoir 68 leads to the
pump 36 which pumps the fluid through conduit 37 and up to the
nozzles 38 in the heating tower.
[0032] The fluid is passed over the fill medium 40 and falls into
the basin 42. Fluid is drawn from the basin 42 out by the pump 44
via conduit 43 and is supplied back to the SCV through the supply
openings 46. Should the rate of supply of water into the basin 42
exceed the rate of the withdrawal of fluid from the basin 42, the
level L2 of the basin fluid will increase. Should the level L2 of
the basin fluid exceed a predetermined level, basin fluid will flow
into a holding reservoir 70 as shown.
[0033] The holding reservoir 70 is in fluid communication with the
holding reservoir 68 via a flow equalization pipe 72. Thus, the
level L3 of the holding reservoir 70 will generally stay
substantially equal to the level L4 of the holding reservoir 68. In
this way, if either the heat exchanger basin 42 or the SCV fluid 20
is receiving an oversupply of fluid, the oversupply of fluid is
deposited into the holding reservoirs 68 and 70, where they will
equalize. Since the pump 36 draws from conduit 35 which is in fluid
communication with both holding reservoirs 68 and 70, some fluid
will always be available to be pumped into the heating tower.
[0034] As has been noted above, in some instances the heating tower
will add water to the system via condensation. Thus, the additional
water will overflow into the holding reservoirs 68 and 70, causing
L3 and L4 to increase. A single overflow bleed device 80 can be
provided at either the holding reservoirs 68 or 70. In the example
shown, the overflow bleed device 80 is provided on the reservoir 68
such that when L4 reaches a suitably high level, the excess fluid
will be removed. The height of the bleed device 80 will generally
be less than a wall 82 that defines a side of the reservoir 70 and
a wall 84 that defines a height of the weir chamber 62. Thus, the
two separate overflow discharges such as 50 and 52 in FIG. 1 are
not reached. However, for redundancy in case of blockage of the
flow equalization pipe 72, an additional overflow discharge (not
shown) can be added to holding reservoir 70.
[0035] A benefit of the arrangement illustrated in FIG. 2 is that
in the case of a failure of either of the pumps 36 and 40, by
virtue of the flow equalization pipe 72, the problems of swamping
the burner, emptying the SCV or draining of the whole system can be
avoided. For example, if pump 36 fails, pump 44 will draw water out
of the basin 42 and supply it to the SCV 10. However, all the water
that is added to the SCV 10 will exit via the outlet tube 64 and
main port 60 to avoid an overflow, and will enter the weir 62 and
the reservoir 68, and by virtue of the flow equalization pipe 72
the levels L3 and L4 will rise together. As the level L3 reaches
the height of the port 43, the water will be fed directly to the
basin 42 and continue to re-circulate as described above. In such a
system, the heating tower will not be adding heat to the water, but
essentially a short circuit is created such that water is not lost
and the SCV can continue to operate on its own.
[0036] In the case of a failure of pump 44, pump 36 will withdraw
fluid from the reservoir 68 and pump it through the cooling tower
30. Since pump 44 is inoperative, the fluid in the basin will rise
such that it exits the weir 41 and enters the reservoir 70,
traveling through the flow equalization pipe 72 back to the
reservoir 68. In this case, another short circuit is provided where
the heating tower will operate but will not be interacting in any
way with the SCV. Thus, the SCV can continue to operate on its
own.
[0037] Valves 90 and 92 can be provided as shown so that the SCV 10
can be isolated from the heating tower when desired. The valve at
the outlet port 60 may also be closed in connection with this.
[0038] In the illustrated embodiment of FIG. 2, it will be
appreciated that the levels L4 and L3 will tend to stay equalized
with each other due to the flow equalization pipe 72. The reservoir
68 is depicted as being essentially attached to the SCV 10, and the
reservoir 70 as essentially attached to the cooling tower 30.
However, when the terrain of installation requires that the cooling
tower be of a substantially different elevation from the SCV, then
suitable plumbing modifications can be made so that these
reservoirs can exist at the same height.
[0039] Similarly, in the illustration of FIG. 2, the levels L1 and
L2 are shown as being substantially the same. However, again, where
the cooling tower 30 is installed at a substantially different
elevation than the SCV 10, these levels do not need to be the same
as each other. Rather, suitable plumbing can be implemented to
connect to the reservoirs to their respective heat exchange
devices.
[0040] The many features and advantages of the invention are
apparent from the detailed specification, and thus, it is intended
by the appended claims to cover all such features and advantages of
the invention which fall within the true spirit and scope of the
invention. Further, since numerous modifications and variations
will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired
to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation
illustrated and described, and accordingly, all suitable
modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within
the scope of the invention.
* * * * *