Patent ID: 7698906

Claim:
An evaporative chiller comprising: a saturator with a liquid inlet at an upper end and a liquid outlet at a lower end, wherein a volume of cooling liquid is drained by gravity through the saturator upon being fed into the liquid inlet, the cooling liquid having a higher temperature proximate to the upper end than proximate to the lower end to provide a temperature gradient in the cooling liquid in the saturator; and means for delivering a volume of air to the saturator at a first temperature near the liquid inlet of the saturator and a second temperature near the liquid outlet of the saturator that is lower than the first temperature and wherein the air delivered to the saturator is directed to flow through the saturator transverse to a direction of flow of the cooling liquid in the saturator; and wherein the air delivering means comprises an air-to-fluid heat exchanger comprising: a first thermal storage matrix positioned along a first side of the saturator through which the air is delivered to the saturator; a second thermal storage matrix positioned along a second side of the saturator through which the air is output from the saturator after being cooled by the cooling liquid; and means for flowing a fluid through the first thermal storage matrix from a lower portion to an upper portion, from the upper portion of the first thermal storage matrix to an upper portion of the second thermal storage matrix, through the second thermal storage matrix from the upper portion to a lower portion, and from the lower portion of the second thermal storage matrix to the lower portion of the first thermal storage matrix.