Patent ID: 6880351

Claim:
A system for cooling of onboard food carts on aircraft, comprising: a first refrigerant working fluid; a second refrigerant working fluid; a plurality of chiller heat exchangers for transferring heat from said first refrigerant working fluid to said second refrigerant working fluid; an onboard food cart galley plenum for receiving an associated food cart; a galley plenum heat exchanger for transferring heat from said onboard food cart galley plenum to said first refrigerant working fluid for cooling said associated onboard food cart; a valve for controlling the flow of said first refrigerant working fluid through said galley plenum heat exchanger so as to control the cooling capacity of said galley plenum heat exchanger; a plurality of recirculation pumps for circulating said first refrigerant working fluid through said plurality of chiller heat exchangers and through fluid conduits to said galley plenum heat exchanger, said plurality of recirculation pumps being located remotely with respect to said galley plenum heat exchanger; an expansion tank for accommodating any expansion or contraction of said first refrigerant working fluid, said expansion tank being located remotely with respect to said galley plenum heat exchanger; a plurality of chiller pumps for circulating said second refrigerant working fluid through said plurality of chiller heat exchangers and through fluid conduits to a plurality of third heat exchangers, said plurality of chiller pumps, said plurality of chiller heat exchangers, and said plurality of third heat exchangers being located remotely with respect to the cabin area of the aircraft; a blower for blowing air through said galley plenum heat exchanger to cool said air; a display indicating a status of said plurality of recirculation pumps, said valve, and said blower, said display including an interface for controlling said plurality of recirculation pumps, said valve, and said blower in order to control the temperature within said food cart; and ducts to direct said cooled air into said food cart.