Refrigeration – Atmosphere and sorbent contacting type
Reexamination Certificate
2002-11-20
2003-11-11
Doerrler, William C. (Department: 3744)
Refrigeration
Atmosphere and sorbent contacting type
C062S094000, C062S092000, C062S238200, C062S324100
Reexamination Certificate
active
06644059
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a dehumidifying apparatus, and more particularly to a dehumidifying apparatus having a high moisture removal.
BACKGROUND ART
As shown in
FIG. 17
, there has heretofore been available a dehumidifying apparatus
11
having a compressor
1
for compressing a refrigerant C, a condenser
2
for condensing the compressed refrigerant C to heat process air A, an evaporator
3
for depressurizing the condensed refrigerant C with an expansion valve
5
and evaporating the refrigerant to cool the process air A to a temperature equal to or lower than its dew point. The evaporator
3
cools the process air A from an air-conditioned space
10
to a temperature equal to or lower than its dew point to remove moisture from the process air A, the condenser
2
heats the process air A which has been cooled to a temperature equal to or lower than its dew point, and the heated process air A is supplied to the air-conditioned space
10
. With the illustrated dehumidifying apparatus
11
, a heat pump HP is constituted by the compressor
1
, the condenser
2
, the expansion valve
5
, and the evaporator
3
. The heat pump HP pumps heat from the process air A which flows through the evaporator
3
into the process air A which flows through the condenser
2
.
The conventional dehumidifying apparatus
11
having the heat pump HP cannot supply dry air having an absolute humidity of 4 g/kgDA or lower. The reason is that since the operating temperature of the evaporator
3
in the heat pump HP is equal to or lower than the freezing point, the removed moisture is deposited as frost on the heat transfer surface to inhibit the heat transfer, and hence the apparatus cannot continuously be operated.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a dehumidifying apparatus which can prevent moisture removed from air from being deposited as frost on a heat transfer surface of an evaporator in a heat pump to continuously supply dry air having an absolute humidity of 4 g/kgDA or lower.
DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION
To achieve the above object, according to an aspect of the present invention, as shown in
FIG. 1
, for example, there is provided a dehumidifying apparatus comprising: a moisture adsorbing device
103
for removing moisture from process air A and for being regenerated by desorbing moisture therefrom with regeneration air B; and a heat pump HP
1
having a condenser
220
for condensing a refrigerant C to heat said regeneration air B at the upstream side of said moisture adsorbing device
103
, an evaporator
210
for evaporating said refrigerant C to cool said regeneration air B to a temperature equal to or lower than its dew point at the downstream side of said moisture adsorbing device
103
, a pressurizer
260
for raising a pressure of said refrigerant C evaporated by said evaporator
210
and delivering said refrigerant C to said condenser
220
, and a first heat exchanger
300
for exchanging heat between said regeneration air B flowing between said moisture adsorbing device
103
and said evaporator
210
and the regeneration air B flowing between said evaporator
210
and said condenser
220
; wherein said regeneration air B is used in circulation.
With the above arrangement, since the dehumidifying apparatus has the condenser, the evaporator, and the first heat exchanger, the regeneration air is circulated such that it is heated by the condenser, regenerates the moisture adsorbing device to increase the amount of moisture contained in the regeneration air, is cooled by the first heat exchanger, is cooled and condensed by the evaporator to reduce the amount of moisture contained in the regeneration air, and is heated by the first heat exchanger. When the regeneration air is cooled by the first heat exchanger, the moisture thereof may partly be condensed, reducing the amount of moisture contained in the regeneration air. The regeneration air is cooled (precooled) by the first heat exchanger prior to cooling in the evaporator, and is heated (preheated) by the heat exchanger after cooling by the evaporator. Therefore, the dehumidifying apparatus can be operated at a low sensible heat factor.
Since the moisture of the process air is adsorbed by the moisture adsorbing device, the humidity of the process air is greatly reduced, and hence dry air can be supplied. The expression that the regeneration air is used in circulation means that after having regenerated the moisture adsorbing device, e.g., the desiccant of a desiccant wheel, the regeneration air flows a circulating circuit so that most of the regeneration air can be used again as regeneration air, without being discharged directly into the atmosphere (no regeneration air may be discharged into the atmosphere, or part of regeneration air may be discharged into the atmosphere).
In the first heat exchanger, the refrigerant is evaporated and condensed typically under an intermediate pressure between the condensing pressure in the condenser and the evaporating pressure in the evaporator.
In the dehumidifying apparatus, the first heat exchanger
300
may comprise a thin pipe group connecting the condenser
220
and the evaporator
210
to each other, for passing the refrigerant therethrough; wherein the thin pipe group may be arranged so as to introduce the refrigerant condensed by the condenser
220
to the evaporator
210
and also to bring said refrigerant into alternate contact with the regeneration air flowing between the moisture adsorbing device
103
and the evaporator
210
and the regeneration air flowing between the evaporator
210
and the condenser
220
.
With the above arrangement, since the thin pipe group into which the refrigerant is introduced is brought into alternate contact with the regeneration air flowing between the moisture adsorbing device and the evaporator and the regeneration air flowing between the evaporator and the condenser, heat exchange between these two flows of the regeneration air can be performed by the refrigerant. The connection between the condenser and the evaporator includes indirectly connecting the condenser and the evaporator with a pipe, a pipe joint, or the like.
In the dehumidifying apparatus, as shown in
FIG. 1
, for example, the first heat exchanger
300
may have a first compartment
310
for passing the regeneration air between the moisture adsorbing device
103
and the evaporator
210
, and a second compartment
320
for passing the regeneration air between the evaporator
210
and the condenser
220
, the thin pipe group being connected to the condenser
220
through a first restriction
330
, extending alternately through the first compartment
310
and the second compartment
320
repeatedly, and then being connected to the evaporator
210
through a second restriction
250
.
With the above arrangement, since the dehumidifying apparatus has the first restriction and the second restriction, while the refrigerant is passing through the first restriction and the second restriction, the refrigerant develops a pressure drop across each of the first restriction and the second restriction. The refrigerant passing through the first compartment is evaporated and the refrigerant passing through the second compartment is condensed under an intermediate pressure between the condensing pressure of the refrigerant in the condenser and the evaporating pressure of the refrigerant in the evaporator. Therefore, the heat exchanger acts as an economizer, and the coefficient of performance (COP) of the heat pump is increased.
As shown in
FIG. 13
, for example, the dehumidifying apparatus may have a plurality of thin pipe groups
51
(
52
,
53
) connected to the condenser
220
through first restrictions
331
a
(
332
a,
333
a
) and alternatively extending through the first compartment
310
and the second compartment
320
repeatedly and then connected to the evaporator
210
through corresponding second restrictions
331
b
(
332
b,
333
b
), and a plurality of combinations of the first restrictions
331
a,
332
a,
333
a
and the second restrictions
Maeda Kensaku
Nishiwaki Shunro
Armstrong Westerman & Hattori, LLP.
Doerrler William C.
Ebara Corporation
Shulman Mark S.
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