FI120218B - A method and apparatus for increasing the yield of the air drying process - Google Patents

Abstract

A method of increasing the yield of an air drying process involves delivering process air to a first process-air chamber (7) in an insulated housing (1) and having a defining wall which accommodates a rotating drying rotor (5). The process air is dehumidified and dried while exchanging moisture with hot regeneration air. The dried and heated process air is sucked into a second process-air chamber (8) which accommodates a high-pressure fan (18) provided with an electric motor (17), such that the process air passes and is heated by the electric motor prior to its delivery to the fan inlet. The pressurized process air of higher temperature is therewith delivered directly to a water-damaged layer or area. The invention also relates to an air drying apparatus which comprises an insulated housing (1) having two mutually delimited chambers (7, 8), of which the first chamber (7) accommodates a low-pressure fan (12) and the second chamber accommodates a high-pressure fan (18) provided with an electric motor (17) and operating in accordance with the method.

Description

The present invention relates to a process for increasing the yield of an air drying process, wherein with regeneration air heated by a moisture exchange, and the air exits the enclosure to be fed, for example, to the water damage surface or area of the building.

The present invention also relates to an air drying apparatus comprising a drying rotor, more particularly of the type set forth in the species definition of claim 1.

The method and the device are above all referred to as so-called.

20 for drying layered structures or other types of structures in buildings requiring particularly high pressures to press air through water-damaged insulation, i. when the air pressure supplied by a conventional dehumidifier is insufficient for this purpose.

Swedish Patent Publication SE-C2-500223 (Swedish Patent Application 9301015-5) (Rentoventa) discloses a method and apparatus for drying structures of water-damaged buildings, for example, insulated concrete floors or subfloors, where , to the room or space above, or to be collected and transported or recycled. This known method involves placing the insulation above the floor or subfloor so that a gap is formed between them, after which hot pressurized air is introduced into the gap to remove moisture-containing air from the water-damaged area.

In connection with this method and other methods and devices currently practically used, the dehumidifier absorbs the wet or damp air to be dried, and the dry air is fed through a hose to a high pressure blower which pressurizes the air. The pressurized dry air is then forced down through the wet insulation 10 while absorbing moisture and sucked back into the dehumidifier as it flows back into the room or space.

Dehumidifiers for use in this type of process are disclosed in SE-C-8804281-7 and its US counterpart US-A-5,147,420 (Corro-venta) and also in SE-C-9102488-5 (Corro-venta Avfuktning).

20 Optimal drying equipment should preferably have the following characteristics: a) It should be easy to handle.

b) It should be easy to install.

c) It shall have as few components as possible.

25 d) It should be as cheap as possible.

e) It must have a low noise level.

(f) It shall supply dry air with the lowest water content possible.

(g) It shall supply air having a relative humidity of as low as possible as low as 30.

(h) It shall supply air which is as hot as possible.

(i) It shall have the lowest possible energy consumption.

35 j) It should be easy to control, ie. it must allow a simple measurement of temperature and air volume 3.

None of the drying equipment currently available satisfies all of these requirements. For example, known devices, or systems, require multiple components such as dehumidifier, high power blowers, hoses, wires, pipes, hose clamps, etc., which complicates the handling and installation of such devices or systems. The on-site user-10 kilos often forgets to bring with them the components that are essential to the operation of the device. In addition, complete systems will normally take up a lot of space and take time to set up.

15 The large number of components used also results in high total installation costs.

Another problem is that conventional dehumidifiers make a lot of noise, and the high pressure blower 20 makes a lot of noise. This noise disturbs people on the ground or in the vicinity of the damage. In certain situations, the noise level must not exceed a certain number of decibels, which means that such a product cannot be used at all.

25

As the dry air from the dehumidifier to the turbine flows through non-insulated hoses, it cools and its relative humidity increases. In addition, most of the energy of the high pressure blower is transferred to the environment rather than to the dry air, which also lowers the temperature and causes a higher relative humidity than would be possible and desirable. The air cooling in the hoses that occurs with high-pressure blowers in today's technology means that the energy of pu-35 blowers will not be fully utilized in practice, which extends the drying time by 3-4 times because 4 colder and wetter air are unable to move water sufficiently out of the water damage area.

The following are very important for the rapid drying of water damage 5: 1) The amount of air passing through the moisture damage area. The higher the air volume, the faster the area dries.

10 2) Relative humidity and temperature of dry air. The lower the relative humidity and the higher the temperature, the greater the amount of water that can be carried away by the air. The higher temperature will also heat the water-damaged material, which increases the water vapor pressure in the pores and thus the volatility of the water. The more water evaporates, the shorter the drying time.

In the state of the art, for example, the dry air temperature is, for example, 30-35 ° C, whereby the water vapor-20 pressure in the pores is about 35 mm Hg. If the temperature rises to about 60-80 ° C, the water vapor pressure would be about 230 mm Hg, i. about seven times the drying time which is one seventh of the drying time that can be achieved by conventional techniques.

25 3) Today's technology does not utilize all available energy eg. because the air is often cooled in long hoses leading to the water-damaged area, and because the energy of the mouthwashers is not properly utilized.

4) Temperatures and air volumes are not measured in today's state of the art techniques, which means that the plant cannot be controlled optimally.

In view of the foregoing, it is an object of the present invention to provide a novel and simple method and apparatus of the type described above, wherein the drawbacks of the known methods and air dehumidifying devices are eliminated, and the components used are easy to handle at lower cost. and lower noise levels where the available energy is utilized in an efficient way and where control and monitoring is easy.

This object and other objects are achieved by a method according to the invention, of the type defined in the preambles, having the characteristics set forth in the species definition of claim 1.

The invention provides the essential advantage that only a single unit is required, which can be located in a room or space that has been damaged by flood water and in which the entire air treatment takes place. This simplifies installation and handling to a very large extent, while requiring only a very small space to complete the air drying process.

The costs associated with applying the method of the invention can be considered much lower than those associated with this 25-day technique, which requires a large number of components.

Another advantage is the very low noise level because all the components are collected in one heat-insulated and sound-insulated box. This means that people living or working in the vicinity of a moisture damaged area will no longer be exposed to noise pollution. In practice, noise levels can be as low as 46-47 dB, which corresponds to very high noise emission requirements.

6

Because the air is treated in a heat-insulated box and because the air also cools the high-pressure blower electric motor, all of the energy has been recovered and stored for pressurized dry air prior to supplying the air directly to the water-damaged structure.

This means that the structure is significantly heated, for example to 60-80 ° C, whereby the water vapor pressure and water evaporation rate are also increased, which results in a substantially shorter drying time.

The method of the invention can achieve drying times of between 1/5 and 1/10 of the times achieved by today's technology.

15

DE-A1-3815161 (Getro-Gebäudetrock-nung) discloses a device for drying insulated layers in structures of buildings using two high-pressure blowers whose axes are operatively connected to one another by means of one and the same electric motor located in the insulated in a box. Air is drawn directly from the floor structure by one high-pressure blower, then pressurized, then supplied to a drying device located outside the box, then air ducted back to the inlet of the second high-pressure blower where it is again pressurized and then fed to the water damage area. The publication also discloses the possibility of locating the drying device inside the box 30, which implies the use of two nested boxes or boxes. Doing so would increase the complexity, size, weight, and cost of the device or system and would also jeopardize its operation, e.g. because it is not certain where the drying device 35 would then be located in the housing or how the device could be made to work optimally with the 7 high pressure blowers operated by the same electric motor.

In the practice of the invention, the process air supplied by the low pressure blower and heated and dried in the first process air chamber by a drying rotor is sucked into a second housing chamber separated from said first process air chamber by a wall in which the drying rotor is provided. wherein the process air flows past the electric motor and is warmed therewith before being fed to the fan inlet, after which pressurized and elevated temperature air is supplied to the water damage layer or region directly from the second chamber through the outlet of the high pressure fan.

The advantage of the present invention over the last known prior art technique described above is, first and foremost, that the entire air treatment is carried out in an insulated housing containing two separated chambers and that the dry pressurized air (0.5-1.5% relative humidity) heated 60-80 ° C, pressed into the water damage layer or area, which significantly raises the temperature of the structure and greatly increases the water vapor pressure in the pores of the structure, allowing for greater evaporation. The high temperature dry air has a high water absorption capacity and carries water out of the layer or region, which air is again sucked into an insulated enclosure where moisture is removed.

In practice, it is considered most appropriate to supply process air to the first process air chamber through a filter which partially defines an inlet space separated from the process air chamber and to collect solid particles supported by air 8, for example sand.

The energy of the wet regeneration air leaving the housing can be supplied to the incoming process air by means of a heat exchanger or a condenser before the air is drawn into the first process air chamber via the inlet of the low pressure blower. This way the air is even warmer and drier.

In practice, it is further preferred that some of the process air in the second chamber be exited from the second chamber via a separate valve-controlled outlet without passing through a high-pressure blower after being heated by the high-pressure blower motor.

According to another embodiment, the invention relates to an air drying apparatus comprising a drying rotor, the main features of which are set forth in claim 20.

Preferred further developed embodiments of this air drying device are set forth in the following claims.

25

The invention will now be explained in more detail below with reference to an exemplary embodiment thereof and also to the accompanying schematic drawing.

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a partially cut-away air drying apparatus according to the invention equipped with a drying rotor.

Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of the 35 rooms in the building where the floor insulation layer has been damaged by water and shows the air dehumidifying device of Figure 19 placed in the room.

Figure 3 finally shows a cross-sectional view of the air drying apparatus shown in Figure 1.

5

The air drying device comprises a housing 1 with sound and heat insulation 3, in which all components of the device are located. The drying rotor 5 is disposed in a recess in the vertical wall 4 and this wall separates the first process air chamber 7 from the second process air chamber 8 with the roughly centered horizontal floor 6 from the second process air chamber 8. The housing is supported by wheels 13 cooperating with the supports 13a. , and is provided with a handle 49 for moving the device.

The treated air 10 enters the first chamber 7 via inlet 2 and passes through a process air filter 9 mounted in a sound-insulated filter box 11 immediately in front of the filter inlet. The filter 9 and the baffle 11 collect any solid particles, such as sand, supported by air.

The process air is forced into the first chamber 7 by means of a low pressure blower 12. Due to the overpressure in the chamber 7, air 21 is forced through the rotor 5, said rotor being provided with channels containing moisture-absorbing material, such as silica gel crystals. The rotor 5 is rotated continuously by means of a motor 14 and a drive belt 15.

30

The majority of the process air 21 pressurized by the fan 12 flows through the first portion of the rotor 5 and is dehumidified therefrom, whereupon the dried air 16 enters the second chamber 8 (cf. arrows 16) 35 where it flows down to the lower part of the apparatus 18 while electric motor 17 cools the engine and further warms the dry air prior to the arrival of said air at the inlet 18a of the high pressure blower 18 by means of said blower.

A second portion 22 of the dehumidified air in the rotor 5 is deflected by a hood 23 provided with heat-releasing means 24 disposed in the second chamber 8 in the immediate vicinity of the rotor. The hot regeneration air - indicated by the arrow October 25 - flows back by a distance which is about a quarter of the rotor 5, where it absorbs the moisture absorbed by the rotor. This air then exits the rotor as wet air 26 and exits the device via the wet air outlet 29 and is transferred to the environment 15 through a hose (not shown). Instead of being provided with a hood 23 which deflects the direction of the partial flow of dry air from the rotor 5, the air can be supplied externally and pressurized by a fan (not shown) and heated by heat-generating means for use as regeneration air.

Prior to this, the energy of the wet regeneration air exiting the housing can be supplied to the process air by means of a heat exchanger or a condenser (not shown) prior to the arrival of said 25 air into the housing 1 via inlet 2.

The rotor 5 is more efficiently regenerated when the heat-generating members 24 in the hood 23 are positioned directly adjacent to the rotor 5 so that the radiant heat is directed directly to the moisture-absorbing material in the rotor.

The dry and hot air leaving the outlet 18b of the high pressure blower 18 has a temperature of about 60-80 ° C and a relative humidity of 0.5-1.5%. The outlet 18b of the high pressure blower 18 is connected to the housing outlet 19 by means of a hose 27 and dry and hot high pressure air is led from the housing through the hose 28 directly to the water-damaged insulation layer 30 underneath the concrete floor 31 of the room 32. the water evaporates and is effectively removed by the support of the hot and dry air, which leaks through the cracks 33 and is absorbed into the inlet 2 of the drying apparatus as described above.

The second process air chamber 8 comprises a second outlet 36, 10 controlled or controlled by a valve member 35 through which dry, hot air 16 not yet pressurized by a high pressure blower 18 may be taken for another drying purpose, e.g. the 15th floor insulation of which has been damaged by water.

The front surface of the housing 1 is provided with a plurality of devices required to control and operate the drying device, which in this case is an electrical connection 40, 20 a time counter 41, air volume and temperature meters 42, two position switches 43, indicator lights 44, 45, humidity regulator 46 and

The partition 4, which receives the rotor 5 by means of a recess 25 therein, and in which the electric motor 14 is also mounted, may be in the form of a cassette and mounted on the top of the housing 1, thereby separating the two process air chambers 7 and 8 in cooperation with the horizontal bottom wall 6. The main part of the second process air chamber 8 30 is located in the lower part of the housing where it receives the high-pressure blower 18. It is obvious that the separation and positioning of the high-pressure blower in the lower part of the housing provides a very compact structure The thermal energy generated by the high pressure blower motor is utilized as much as possible to improve the drying efficiency of the produced air, while the blower motor is satisfactorily cooled by process air before it enters the fan inlet 18a.

5

The temperature and air volume meters 42 provided in the device allow for checking whether the device is in optimum operational condition.

Compared with other significant advantages of the prior art device provided by the invention, the system is not a closed system; The dehumidifier's low-pressure blower absorbs air freely from the room and forms a low-cost, lightweight, low-energy unit.

Furthermore, the insulated box 1 does not contain a separate, complete dehumidifier, but the entire product is incorporated in a single integrated unit-20, i.e. it does not consist of different discrete assembled units. In addition, the high pressure blower 18 of the dehumidifier presses dry air directly into the water damage layer through hose 28, i.e.. it is not connected to other device components via multiple suction hoses.

25

All these features of the device according to the invention give rise to a small, lightweight and easy-to-handle device that can be easily moved between different applications.

30

Claims (10)

A method for increasing the yield of an air drying process, in which a drying rotor (5) supplied in a process air chamber (7) in a heat and sound insulated housing (1) is supplied by a fan (12) to be dehumidified and dried during moisture exchange with heated regeneration air and the air discharge from the housing (1) via an outlet (19) to be supplied e.g. a water-damaged layer or area (30) in a building, characterized in that the dehumidified and heated process air in the drying rotor (5) is sucked into a second chamber (8) in the housing (1), which is bounded by said first chamber (7). ), said second chamber (8) being provided with a high pressure fan (18) driven by an electric motor (17) such that the process air flows past the electric motor (17) and is heated by means thereof before being supplied to the fan inlet (18a). ; and that the pressurized process air of higher temperature is supplied to the water-damaged layer or region (30) directly from the outlet (20) of the second chamber, to which the outlet (18b) of the high-pressure fan is connected. Process according to Claim 1, characterized in that the process air is supplied to said first process air chamber (7) via a filter (9) which partially limits an inlet, defined from the space air chamber (7), the task of which is to collect airborne solid particles, such as sand. 30 Method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the energy in the wet regenerating air from the housing (1) is supplied to the incoming process air by means of a heat exchanger or condenser before said air is sucked into the first process air chamber (7) via the low pressure fan. inlet (2). Method according to any of claims 1-3, characterized in that a portion of the process air in the second chamber (8) after heating by means of the high-pressure fan motor (17) discharges from the second process air chamber 5 (8) via a separate valve controlled outlet without passing the high pressure fan (18). An air drying system equipped with a dryer rotor and comprising: a) an insulated housing (1) intended to be placed in a moisture-damaged room or space and with an inlet (2) and outlet (19); b) a drying rotor (5), which is accommodated in a recess in a wall (4) in the housing and contains channels with moisture absorbing means, e.g. silica gel crystals, and which rotor receiving wall (4) separates the first and second process air chambers (7, 8) of the housing (1) from each other; c) a motor (14) which preferably drives the rotor (5) continuously; D) a low-pressure fan (12) in the first chamber (7) for pressurizing air supplied via the inlet (2) such that said air flows through the first portion of the rotor (5); e) existing in the second chamber (8) air heating means (23, 24), said heated air being conducted as regenerating air countercurrent through the second portion of the rotor (5); and f) a wet regeneration air outlet (29), characterized in that the second process air chamber (8) contains a high-pressure fan 30 (18) provided with electric motor (17), which is supplied with the dehumidified air dehumidified from said first portion of the rotor. so that said air passes through the electric motor (17) and is further heated by means of it before it enters the inlet of the high pressure fan (18a), and after pressure is applied directly to the water-damaged layer or area (30) via the outlet (19) of the housing, to which the high pressure fan outlet 18b) is connected. An installation according to claim 5, characterized by a partially delimited space (11) in the housing inside the inlet of a process air filter (9), which is intended to collect airborne solid particles, e.g. sand. Installation according to claim 6, characterized by a heat exchanger or condenser device for supplying the energy from the housing (1) exiting wetting the regeneration air energy to the process air before said air enters the housing via the inlet (2). Installation according to any of claims 5-7, characterized in that the second chamber (8) is provided with a valve controlled second outlet (36) for process air which is heated by means of the high pressure fan electric motor (17), but not yet is pressurized by said fan. Installation according to any of claims 5-8, characterized in that the wall (4) receiving the rotor (5) defines the first process air chamber (7) from the second process air chamber (8) together with a limiting wall or the center of the housing. a floor (6); And that the high-pressure fan is mounted in the housing and the lower part of the second chamber, substantially below said horizontal wall or floor (6). Installation according to any of claims 5-9, characterized in that the side of the housing occupying the inlet and outlet of the installation (2, 19) is provided with a plurality of control and indicating means for the installation, such as operating time meters ( 41) air volume and temperature indicators (42) control lights (44, 45), hygrostat (46) 35 and overheating protection (47).