Refrigeration – Atmosphere and sorbent contacting type
Reexamination Certificate
1999-06-07
2001-03-06
Doerrler, William (Department: 3744)
Refrigeration
Atmosphere and sorbent contacting type
C062S094000, C055S351000, C096S121000, C096S123000, C095S107000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06196014
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to air conditioners, and relates in particular to an air conditioning system having a continuous air processing capability by alternately treating the process air through at least two desiccant members.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 6
shows a prior art example of desiccant assisted air conditioning system same as the system disclosed in a U.S. Pat. No. 4,430,864. The system comprises: a process air passage A; a regeneration air passage B; two desiccant beds
103
A,
103
B; and a heat pump device
200
for desiccant regeneration and cooling of process air. The heat pump device
200
utilizes heat exchangers, embedded in the two desiccant beds
103
A and
103
B, as high and low temperature heat sources. In each of the thermal medium passages, there are opposingly disposed expansion valves
240
A,
240
B and one-way valves
241
A,
241
B, which are arranged parallel to the expansion valves
240
A,
240
B respectively, and the direction of compression of the compressor
230
can be switched by a four-way valve
250
.
In the technology described above, cooling and dehumidifying processes can be explained with reference to a psychrometric chart shown in FIG.
7
. The process air (state K) is withdrawn by a blower
102
through a passage
110
, raised in pressure, and is forwarded to the one desiccant bed
103
A through the passage
111
and the four-way valve
105
and passage
112
A, where the moisture in the process air is adsorbed, to lower its humidity ratio and raise its temperature by the effect of the heat of adsorption. Because the desiccant bed
103
A is cooled by the heat pump
200
through the heat exchanger
220
, the adsorption heat is absorbed and the temperature of the process air does not rise too much, and after saturating (state L), the process air is dehumidified along iso-relative humidity line. The process air which has been dehumidified and maintained at the temperature (state N) is supplied to the conditioning space through the passage
113
A, the four-way valve
106
, passage
114
. An enthalpy difference &Dgr;Q is thus produced between the return air from the conditioning space (state K) and the cooled process air (state N), to provide cooling of the conditioning space.
The regeneration process of the desiccant is performed as follows. Regeneration air (state Q) is withdrawn into the blower
140
through the passage
120
, raised in pressure, and is forwarded to the other desiccant bed
103
B through the passages
121
,
122
, the four-way valve
106
, and the passage
113
B. The desiccant bed
103
B is heated by the heat pump
200
by way of the heat exchanger
210
, so its temperature is raised, and the relative humidity is lowered (state R). The regeneration air which now has a lowered relative humidity passes through the desiccant bed
103
B to remove the moisture from the desiccant material (state T). The regeneration air which has passed through the desiccant bed
103
B passes through the passage
112
B, four-way valve
105
and the passage
124
and is discharged to an outside environment.
After the air conditioning process has been carried out for sometime and the moisture content in the desiccant becomes higher than a certain value, the four-way valve is operated to be switched, so that the air passages for the desiccants and cooling/heating of the heat pumps are interchanged. Thus, the operation is carried on so that the regenerated desiccant is used to continue air conditioning operation while the other desiccant is being regenerated. Therefore, it can be seen that the processes of adsorption and regeneration are conducted in a batch type system.
In the technology described above, heat exchange of the low temperature heat source of the heat pump and the desiccant for adsorption are embedded into a unit, and heat exchange of the high temperature heat source of the heat pump and the desiccant on the regeneration side are embedded into a unit. So, the cooling effect &Dgr;Q is provided by a direct thermal load on the heat pump (refrigeration device), which means that it is not possible to generate more cooling than that allowed by the capacity of the heat pump acting as a refrigeration device. Therefore, this configuration does not provide any advantages worthy of making the apparatus complex. In addition, there has been required two four-way valves, one for reversing the operation cycle of the heat pump and the other for interchanging the passages of the process/regeneration air, which further makes the configuration of the apparatus complex.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a high efficiency air conditioning system in which, while operating on a batch system, desiccant regeneration and process air dehumidification can be carried out simultaneously with a simple configuration.
The object has been achieved in a desiccant assisted air conditioning system comprising: at least two desiccant members; a process air passage for providing a process air to one of the desiccant members for dehumidification of the process air; and a regeneration air passage for providing a regeneration air to the other of the desiccant members for regeneration of the regeneration air, wherein the desiccant members are movable with respect to the process air passage and the regeneration air passage to alternatingly switch each of the desiccant members from one of the regeneration air passage and the process air passage to another.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3488971 (1970-01-01), Meckler
patent: 4180985 (1980-01-01), Northrup, Jr.
patent: 4207084 (1980-06-01), Gardner
patent: 4430864 (1984-02-01), Mathiprakasam
patent: 4474021 (1984-10-01), Harband
patent: 4574874 (1986-03-01), Duran
patent: 4887438 (1989-12-01), Meckler
patent: 5212956 (1993-05-01), Tsimerman
patent: 5325676 (1994-07-01), Meckler
patent: 5448895 (1995-09-01), Coellner et al.
patent: 5509275 (1996-04-01), Bhatti et al.
Armstrong, Westerman Hattori, McLeland & Naughton
Doerrler William
Ebara Corporation
Shulman Mark
LandOfFree
Desiccant assisted air conditioning system does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Desiccant assisted air conditioning system, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Desiccant assisted air conditioning system will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2482064