ES2407906B1 - Air handling system - Google Patents

Abstract

Air treatment system comprising among its elements a dehumidification system comprising at least: # - an air inlet # - an air outlet # - a dehumidifying solution in which the salt is in a concentration within the range of proportions ranging from 35% to 45% and at a temperature within the range of 4 ° C to 8 ° C # - an absorption medium to which the air passes through and to which the dehumidifying solution that once used is evacuated from the medium is transferred of absorption to be subsequently regenerated.

Description

Air handling system

Technical field

The present invention refers to an air humidity treatment system that includes an air dehumidification system in which the dehumidifying solution is a solution of a salt, preferably lithium chloride, which is in a concentration within the range of proportions that go from 35% to 45% and at a temperature within the range of 4ºC to 8ºC. This dehumidification system allows to suppress the bad smell generated by lithium chloride at higher temperatures and all this with an energy saving of 50%, in the treatment of identical volumes of air, compared to other dehumidification systems.

Furthermore, the invention concerns a refrigeration system or an air conditioning system that includes this dehumidification system that uses said dehumidifying solution, being in turn suitable for the air conditioning of buildings as well as for the correction of the sick building syndrome, which It is characterized by the high static electricity generated in air environments with a relative humidity of less than 40%, and the bacteriological properties of lithium chloride.

Finally, a refrigeration system according to this invention is also suitable for any industrial process where desiccation is required, such as: desiccation of food and more specifically desiccation of fruits and vegetables, as a process prior to freezing processes.

Prior State of the Art

According to the Patent Technology Report (ITP) issued by the Department of Patents and Technological Information of the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office on June 18, 2012 at the request of the holders based on a description of the invention, there are three documents that would form part of the prior art prior to the invention.

The first of these would be document US20110101549 which refers to an air conditioning system that allows both humidifying and dehumidifying a stream of air by contacting it with a hygroscopic phase consisting of a lithium chloride solution.

The humidity will be reduced or increased in the air flow depending on the temperature conditions imposed on both phases. Therefore, the lithium chloride solution is used both as a moisturizing and dehumidifying solution.

The system also incorporates a system for the regeneration of the hygroscopic solution and return it to the appropriate conditions for its use. This regeneration system is carried out in two phases and an external agent such as air is required to achieve this end. This means that the solution of lithium chloride used to dehumidify is at room temperature since for its regeneration some heat requires air.

In addition, this document only concerns a humidity control apparatus not referring to cooling or air treatment systems.

The second would be GB1152440 which refers to an integrated air conditioning system in which the dehumidification of the air with a hygroscopic solution of lithium chloride is used for subsequent cooling.

Specifically, two dehumidification systems are used for air dehumidification in which the first one uses a lithium chloride solution and the second one a solid state hygroscopic material. This means that the first system fails to dehumidify properly, so a second system is required.

The system incorporates means to regenerate both the first and the second desiccant that take advantage of the residual heat that evacuates the cooling system as well as external sources of energy, with air and solar energy between them, in search of greater energy efficiency. Therefore, this system is not able to regenerate the dehumidifying material only with the residual heat of the cooling system since these dehumidifying materials are at room temperature and to achieve this end it needs other means increasing the energy costs associated with it.

The third would be WO02066901 which refers to another air conditioning system in which lithium chloride is used at room temperature as a desiccant to remove moisture from the air before cooling. The system includes various modes of operation in which heat is recovered from various sources and together with the air allows the desiccant to regenerate. Once again, when using lithium chloride at room temperature, the system requires, in addition to a large amount of lithium chloride as well as a large absorption sponge thereof to dehumidify the air, other agents, such as For example, air, to be able to reuse said lithium chloride since with the residual heat of the sources that make up the system is not enough.

All these antecedents have in common that they require a high amount of lithium chloride to be able to dehumidify the air and that to reuse it make use of the residual heat of other energy sources that make up the system as well as external agents, for example: air. That is, they fail to regenerate lithium chloride without using external agents.

The present invention has as its main purpose to improve the dehumidifying capacity of the dehumidifying solution and regenerate it only and exclusively through the residual heat of the cooling systems included in the air treatment system to thus reduce the energy and economic costs of the system. as a whole.

Explanation of the invention.

The present invention manages to overcome all the drawbacks as well as defects mentioned above in the state of the art and achieve the purpose described in the previous paragraph.

To do this, first of all, it requires a dehumidifying solution formed by a salt in a concentration that is within the range of proportions that goes from 35% to 45% and that said solution is at a temperature within the range that goes from 4 ° C to 8 ° C.

The fact of using a solution under these conditions allows the dehumidifying capacity of said solution to be higher than any of the dehumidifying solutions that have been able to be used so far, so not so much dehumidifying solution will be required to dehumidify the air. This implies that a direct consequence of the use of this dehumidifying solution is that it implies energy savings.

The salts that can be used to form the dehumidifying solution can be: lithium chloride, calcium chloride, sodium chloride, sodium hydroxide, hydroxylamine, copper sulfate, phosphorus oxide, silica gel, etc. However, lithium chloride is preferably used in this invention as it does not block elements of the dehumidification system and also has bactericidal properties.

This dehumidifying solution may use as solvent both water and alcohols.

Therefore, in this invention a solution of lithium chloride will preferably be used, the solvent of which may be water or alcohols, which is within the range of proportions ranging from 35% to 45% and at a temperature within the range from 4 ° C to 8 ° C. In addition to the advantages of this solution in relation to a greater dehumidifying capacity and an energy saving, there is another advantage in relation to the smell of this solution. In the state of the art, lithium chloride solutions are also used at room temperature, so the smell thereof is very unpleasant. However, in this invention when using lithium chloride solution in a temperature range from 4 ° C to 8 ° C it does not make a bad smell.

By means of the aforementioned dehumidifying solution under these proportions as well as temperature conditions, and preferably with the lithium chloride salt, a dehumdification system can be configured in which the absorption medium through which the air to be dehumidified passes has much smaller dimensions. to those used in the state of the art due to the greater dehumidifying capacity of the dehumidifying solution according to the invention. In this way, this invention also has another advantage, such as the fact that the dehumidification system is smaller than any currently existing.

Specifically, this greater dehumidifying capacity of this dehumidifying solution is reflected in that the air at the exit of the dehumidification system using said solution has a higher temperature than the air at the inlet, whereby the relative humidity of the air at the outlet of the dehumidification system is less than that of the air at the entrance of said system.

In addition, one of the aforementioned advantages offered by lithium chloride over other types of salts that can be used in the dehumidifying solution is that lithium chloride does not specifically clog the pores of the absorption medium.

This characteristic, together with the fact that the dehumidifying capacity of this dehumidifying solution is greater, allows the inlet velocity of the air to be dehumidified to be lower than in the dehumidification systems existing in the state of the art, with said characteristic, again, Greater energy savings.

In conclusion, all these advantages provided by this dehumidifying solution and, consequently, this dehumidification system can be summarized in an energy saving of up to 60% compared to existing systems in the state of the art.

In this invention, as in the prior art, the dehumidifying solution (with the specific conditions explained) evacuated in the absorption medium is reused to dehumidify another quantity of air. To regenerate this dehumidifying solution, it must be heated to a temperature within the range of 40 ° C to 60 ° C and for this purpose only residual heat from the system used to cool the dehumidifying solution is used in this invention. Therefore, and therein lies another advantage of the system, no source of accessory or external heat to the system or other agents, such as air, is required.

This also means a great energy saving because no external source of heat is required when the residual heat of one of the cooling means of the dehumidifying solution is used and does not reuse another agent such as the same air.

In addition, this dehumidification system has another advantage since by regenerating the dehumidifying solution evacuated in the absorption medium, it is not necessary to add or use more dehumidifying solution than was initially used. That is, the initial amount of dehumidifying solution used is that which must be used during the entire operating time of the system to dehumidify the air.

This dehumidification system according to the invention allows a new cooling system to be obtained in which the air to be cooled first passes through at least one air cooling system and then through at least one air dehumidification system. This cooling system allows to reduce energy consumption, in large part by the reuse of energy sources, and an optimization of space thanks to its small size.

In turn, this cooling system allows to configure an air conditioning system formed by at least one cooling system and at least one heating system. The main advantage of this air conditioning system is the energy savings that it would have thanks to the lower energy required for the dehumidification system compared to those existing in the state of the art as well as the size of the entire system. It would also allow the use of the cooling system of the cooling system as well as that of the heating system heating means for cooling or heating other elements of the air conditioning system that require a specific temperature and the use of residual energy from the cooling system of the cooling system or of the heating system heating means for heating or cooling other elements of the air conditioning system.

It is also possible to define an air treatment machine by adding a humidification system to the air conditioning system just mentioned. This air treatment machine would maintain the relative humidity and temperature of a space at a certain value. In addition to the main advantage of this system, which is the decrease in the energy consumption of the global system, it allows the treated air speed to be between 2-3 m / s instead of the 4-6 m / s of the systems of Current air treatment or listed in the prior art.

Finally, all the systems described in this invention have a modular feature which facilitates their integration into other facilities as well as the use of resources already existing in said facilities, reducing the economic cost of implementing such systems as well as energy consumption.

Brief description of the drawings

The foregoing and other advantages and features will be more fully understood from the following detailed description of some embodiments with reference to the attached drawings, which should be considered by way of illustration and not limitation, in which:

-

fig. 1 represents a dehumidification system according to the invention in the simplest and simplest possible version; - fig. 2 shows a dehumidification system in which the dehumidifying solution is initially at room temperature;

-

fig. 3 illustrates a dehumidification system in which the dehumidifying solution evacuated in the absorption medium is regenerated; - fig. 4 represents a refrigeration system comprising a dehumidification system according to the invention; - fig. 5 shows an air conditioning system comprising a cooling system and a heating system; - fig. 6 illustrates another air conditioning system which further comprises a system of

air humidification; - fig. 7 represents an air humidification system; - fig. 8 shows an air treatment system comprising a system of

air conditioning according to the invention; and-fig. 9 illustrates another air treatment system that allows reuse of the air that has been treated through a trapdoor.

Detailed description of an embodiment example

Fig. 1 illustrates the most basic embodiment of a dehumidification system according to the invention. Thus, a dehumidification system formed by an air inlet zone (1), an air outlet zone (2), a dehumidifying solution (3) that is dropped onto an absorption means (4) can be observed, generally a drop separator made of porous type material, such as cardboard, and with dimensions adapted to the amount of air that is intended to be dehumidified, until said absorption means (4) is completely saturated. The distribution of the dehumidifying solution (3) can be produced by any possible form or method, preferably using sprinklers.

This dehumidifying solution (3) is a solution of a salt, usually lithium chloride, whose solvent can be water or alcohols, which is in a range of proportions that goes from 35% to 45% and at a temperature within the range that goes from 4 ° C to 8 ° C.

According to the figure, the air passes, preferably perpendicularly, the absorption means (4) in such a way that when coming into contact with the dehumidifying solution (3) the water molecules contained in the air are associated with the molecules of the salt contained in the dehumidifying solution (3) separating the water molecules contained in the air and saturating the dehumidifying solution (3) until it reaches the point of clogging.

Therefore, the evacuated dehumidifying solution (5) is a saline solution saturated with water, the salt being in a concentration below 45%.

The example of embodiment shown in Fig. 2 is very similar to that in Fig. 1 with the only difference that the salt solution, usually lithium chloride, in a proportion ranging from 35% to 45% is found in a tank (6) at room temperature, therefore, to be used as a dehumidifying solution, it must be cooled to a temperature in the range of 4ºC to 8ºC. For this, cooling means (7), generally a thermal cooling battery fed through a heat pump, are used on said tank (6) in such a way that the dehumidifying solution

(3) that is obtained is of identical properties to that used in Fig. 1.

For its part, Fig. 3 shows, in addition to the exemplary embodiment of an air dehumidification system, a regeneration system for the dehumidifying solution evacuated (5) from the absorption means (4).

Thus, the dehumidifying solution evacuated (5) from the absorption medium (4), which is saturated with water, accumulates in a depolumination tank (8) which is heated through heating means (9) to that the evacuated dehumidifying solution (5) contained therein can be descaled and can recover the salt concentrations it had before coming into contact with the air.

In order to achieve the desolumination of the evacuated dehumidifying solution (5) stored in the decolmation tank (8), the heating means (9) heat said decolmation tank (8) to a temperature that is within the range of values from 40 ° C to 60 ° C using the residual heat of the cooling means (7), generally, the residual heat of the heat pump used to power the thermal cooling battery. In this way, it is possible to evaporate the excess water contained in the evacuated dehumidifying solution (5) so that it is no longer decolmated and can be reused to dehumidify the air.

Then, to reuse said evacuated dehumidifying solution (5) but decolmated, it is forwarded to the tank (6), generally through a pump.

Fig. 4 shows an exemplary embodiment of a cooling system where the air first passes through a cooling system (11) and then passes through a dehumidification system (10) of the type illustrated in Fig. 3.

It is also possible, in another embodiment of a cooling system (12) according to Fig. 4, that the user can select by means of controllers if he wants to operate only the cooling system (11) or only the dehumidification system ( 10) or both systems simultaneously.

In another embodiment of this cooling system (12) according to the invention, the same thermal battery that is used to cool the tank (6) of the dehumidifying solution of the dehumidification system (10) can be used as a cooling system (11) from air.

Fig. 5 shows an embodiment of an air conditioning system (15) according to the invention which is formed by a cooling system (12) and a heating system

(13) in such a way that the air in the air inlet zone (1) can be sent to the heating system (13) or to the cooling system (12) by means of a switch (14) that allows the user to be selected by which of the two systems wants the air to pass.

In another embodiment of this air conditioning system according to the invention, the same thermal battery that is used to cool the tank (6) of the dehumidifying solution of the dehumidification system (10) of the refrigeration system (12) can be used as a cooling system. cooling (11) of the air cooling system (12).

In another embodiment of this air conditioning system according to the invention, the same thermal battery that is used to cool the tank (6) of the dehumidifying solution of the dehumidification system (10) of the cooling system (12) can also generate the necessary calories to heat the air inside the heating system.

In another embodiment of this air conditioning system (15a), Fig. 6, in addition to having a cooling system and a heating system (13), it has a humidification system (17) located next to the heating system (13 ) in such a way that the heated and dry air leaving the heating system (13) passes through the humidification system (17) leaving the air at a specific relative humidity.

The humidification system (17) used for this air conditioning system (15a) is shown in Fig. 7 and is preferably formed by an air inlet zone (1), an air outlet zone (2), a solution humectant (16) that is dropped on an absorption medium (18), generally a drop separator made of porous type material, such as cardboard, and with dimensions adapted to the air that is intended to be humidified, until said medium Absorption (18) is completely wet. The fall or pouring of the wetting solution (16) can be produced by any possible form or method, preferably using sprinklers.

This moisturizing solution (16) is preferably hot water at a temperature within the range of 65 ° C to 70 ° C that is obtained from the outside taking advantage of some existing service in the facilities of the area of the air that is intended to be heated or from an accumulator of hot water included in the machine.

In this way, the air perpendicularly passes through the absorption means (18) in such a way that when they come into contact with the wetting solution (16) the water molecules expand in the air until reaching the desired relative humidity concentration.

Then, the evacuated humectant solution (19) is stored in a tray (20) that is heated through a heating circuit (21) at a temperature that is within the range of 75 ° C to 85 ° C causing it to evaporate the evacuated humectant solution (19). The steam generated by the evaporation of the evacuated humectant solution

(19)

 it rises in parallel to the absorption medium (18), generally a drop separator made of porous type material, such as cardboard, increasing the concentration of molecules of the wetting solution (16) that are absorbed by the air that passes perpendicularly the mentioned means of absorption.

In another embodiment of this wetting system (17) for heating the tray

(twenty)

 where the evacuated humectant solution (19) is stored in the absorption medium

(18)

 the heating system elements (13) that allow the heating of the air or the thermal battery used to cool the tank (6) of the dehumidifying solution (3) of the dehumidification system (10) of the cooling system can be used (12) if it is also capable of generating calories.

Fig. 8 shows an exemplary embodiment of an air treatment machine (22) from the invention.

Following the illustrated in this figure, the air enters through the outside air intake (23) and then enters the supply circuit (24). When entering this drive circuit it goes through:

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first an air filter (25) whose purpose is to retain airborne particles so that the type and size of said air filter (25) will be in line with the type and size of particles that are intended to be retained;

-

then an air conditioning system (15a) of the type shown in Fig. 6, which will pass through a cooling system (12) or heating (13) and humidification (17) depending on the demand of the user;

-

then, another air filter (26) of type and size according to the particles that are intended to be retained at the exit of the air conditioning system; and, finally, a drive turbine (27) that allows the air to be pushed into the enclosure.

Another embodiment of this air treatment machine (32) is shown in Fig. 9, which also has a return air intake that allows the air to be recovered from the enclosure, to which the air should be treated, and reused. In this case the air that is recovered from the enclosure and that enters through the return air intake (28) is passed through an air filter (29) of type and size according to the particles that are intended to be retained and then by a return turbine (30). The air is then reused by passing it to the supply circuit through a trapdoor (31) whose opening can be regulated in such a way that it allows the return air to be recovered in proportions from 0% to 100%. That means that in the case of working in 0% return ratios the renovation would be total when taking the air only and exclusively from outside.

In this case where the system is formed by two turbines, a drive turbine and a return turbine through which the air is circulated from an outside intake to the interior of the enclosure at a certain speed, this speed is usually found within the range of 2 to 3 m / s.

Finally, the air treatment machines to be able to provide the air (22 or 32) at a temperature and relative humidity can also use both: measuring devices such as temperature sensors, relative humidity, concentration, pressure, air velocity, etc,

-

control devices such as valve actuators, heat or cold pumps, gate motors, trapdoor motors, etc, and

-

start and stop relays such as heat battery, hot water accumulator, turbines, etc.

A person skilled in the art will be able to make modifications and variations from the exemplary embodiment shown and described without departing from the scope of the present invention as defined in the appended claims.

Claims (28)

one.

Solution of a salt to be used as a dehumidifier in which the salt is in a concentration within the range of proportions that goes from 35% to 45% characterized in that the solution is at a temperature within the range of 4ºC to 8ºC .

2.

Solution according to claim 1 characterized in that the salt is lithium chloride.

3.

Solution according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the solvent is water or alcohols.

Four.

Air dehumidification system comprising at least:

! an air inlet (1) ! an air outlet (2) ! a dehumidifying solution (3) characterized in that it further comprises an absorption means (4) to which the air passes through and to which the dehumidifying solution (3) is transferred, which once used is evacuated from the absorption means

5.

Air dehumidification system according to claim 4 characterized in that the dehumidifying solution (3) is a solution according to claim 1.

6.

Air dehumidification system according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that the absorption medium (4) is in the same temperature range as the dehumidifying solution (3).

7.

Air dehumidification system according to claim 4, 5 or 6 characterized in that the absorption means (4) is a drop separator.

8.

Air dehumidification system according to claim 4, 5, 6 or 7 characterized in that the dehumidifying solution (3) is inside a tank (6).

9.

Air dehumidification system according to claim 8 characterized in that the tank (6) has cooling means (7) or has cooling means (7) connected.

10.

Air dehumidification system according to claim 9 characterized in that the cooling means (7) is a thermal battery.

eleven.

Air dehumidification system according to any one of claims 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 or 10, characterized in that it also comprises means of decolmation.

12.

Air dehumidification system according to claim 11, characterized in that the decolmation means transfer the dehumidifying solution evacuated and decolmated to the tank (6) containing the dehumidifying solution (3).

13.

Air dehumidification system according to claim 11 or 12, characterized in that the decolmation means comprise at least one tank (8) in which the evacuated dehumidifying solution (5) and heating means (9) of the evacuated dehumidifying solution are received (5).

14.

Air dehumidification system according to any of claims 9, 10, 11, 12 or 13 characterized in that it uses the residual heat energy of the cooling means (7).

fifteen.

Air dehumidification system according to the preceding claim characterized in that the heating means (9) of the evacuated dehumidifying solution (5) partially derives its energy from the residual heat of the cooling means.

16.

Cooling system (12) comprising at least one cooling system or means (11) characterized in that it comprises at least one of the dehumidification systems claimed in claims 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 or 15

17.

Cooling system (12) according to claim 16, characterized in that the cooling means or system (11) is arranged so that the incoming air is cooled first and then dehumidified.

fifteen

18.

Cooling system (12) according to claim 16 or 17, characterized in that the user can select through controllers that the air is cooled only, that it is dehumidified only or that it is cooled and dehumidified.

19.

Air conditioning system (15) comprising at least one cooling system

(12) and a heating medium or system (13) characterized in that the cooling systems (12) are claimed in claims 16, 17 or 18.

twenty.

Air conditioning system (15) according to claim 19, characterized in that it can be selected through controllers (14) that the air passes only through the cooling systems (12), which passes only through the heating means or systems (13), that passes through the cooling systems (12) and through the means or heating systems (13) or that passes through the means or heating systems (13) and through the cooling systems (12).

twenty-one.

Air conditioning system (15a) according to claims 19 or 20 characterized in that it further comprises an air humidification system (17).

22

Air conditioning system (15a) according to claim 21, characterized in that the absorption means (18) of the air humidification system and the dehumidification system (4) of the air of the cooling system (12) are of the same type.

2. 3.

Air treatment system (22 or 32) characterized in that it comprises at least some of the air conditioning systems (15 or 15a) claimed in claims 19, 20, 21 or 22.

24.

Use of the refrigeration system (12) according to claims 16, 17 or 18 for the desiccation of food.

25.

Use of the refrigeration system (12) according to claims 16, 17 or 18 for drying fruit.

26.

Use of the air conditioning system (15 or 15a) according to claims 19, 20, 21 or 22 for the air conditioning of buildings.

27.

Use of the cooling system (12) according to claims 16, 17 or 18 for the correction of the sick building syndrome.

28.

Use of the cooling system (12) according to claims 16, 17 or 18 for industrial dehumidification processes.