AIRCONDITIONING -- FOR YOUR PATIO 

With this latest technology there is one disadvantage: you may not be popular with the local fire station .... because neighbors may initially report that your house is on fire! They can even show pictures! It's all part of a new technology called MicroCool. It's airconditioning -- for the outside. Not exclusively but it certainly takes air-conditioning where no man-made rapid temperature drop has gone before. In the process known as "flash-evaporation", vaporized water molecules instantly evaporate causing rapid cooling in the surrounding area. It is not the mist that cools, but the evaporation of the mist ... a natural phenomenon. A tiny nozzle, with an outlet one-tenth the size of a human hair is the secret weapon for this war against desert heat. Ordinary tap or well water (very hard water may require additional treatment) is filtered down to five microns (1/20th the size of a human hair). The water is then pumped up to 800 PSI by a industrial pump/motor combination. From this pump system two manifold feed lines run to the desired area for cooling, typically a patio or swimming area. Two lines of 1/4 inch atomizing tubes are installed along the entire patio overhang (and covered with a facia board), with fogging nozzles set every two feet, thereby enabling one-foot-apart fogging zones to be established. For areas with temperatures up to 1000F only one line is required. For extremely hot temperatures as in Saudi Arabia an additional over-1000F extra line cuts in to play. Doors and windows can be left open; the cool air created on the patio may waft inside! Electrical and water costs are minimal, about 20 cents an hour. Mist evaporation cooling costs are reportedly lower than utilizing standard air conditioning. High winds and very high humidity can reduce efficiency during such temporary periods.

After two years of testing in the desert country of the American Southwest, MicroCool installations are now in auto service centres, retail outlets, hotels, and restaurants including McDonalds and Burger King! One reportedly is in the home of a Saudi prince!

Not only humans are keeping cool. Equestrian centres use the system to keep expensive horses and polo ponies in shape. Hot house owners report their plants now thrive better. Agricultural installations from Napier, New Zealand to Cheshunt, England report improved growth factors with MicroCool. Some locations are now testing this system for growing plants aeroponically (without soil or water). Industrial sites are testing the process to make large indoor work sites more hospitable and experimental work is being carried out in the field of pollution control.

More information: William L. Falkenstein, Marketing Mgr., Environmental Engineering Concepts Inc., 653 Commercial Road, Palm Springs, CA 92262. Phone: 619/322-1111. Fax: 322-4341.

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