JP2000070659A - Dehumidifying material and dehumidifier - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enlarge a use range while a high hygroscopic performance is secured in a widely ranged humidity region by replacing a part of a binder with a clay mineral having a hygroscopic property in a dehumidifying material comprising a dehumidifying agent and a binder for holding that. SOLUTION: A dehumidifying rotor 1 is formed in a honeycomb structure disk having a void through which air can pass, and fixed to a central shaft 2 to be rotatively driven by a motor. Then, the dehumidifying rotor 1 is formd in the honeycomb structure from a sheet-like base material 20 such as a corrugated cardboard, a high-temperature resin molded product, or the like, and a dehumidifying material is attached onto a surface of the base material 20 to which respective vents are formed. In this case, the dehumidifying material is formed by mixing a moisture absorbent, a clay mineral having an excellent hygroscopic characteristic, and a binder holding them. Further, zeolite is used as the moisture adsorbent, and alumina silica based gel clay to be called as allophane in a scientific name, which is one kind of ores existing in nature, is used as the clay mineral.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a dehumidifying material which absorbs moisture in a gas to be dried, for example, air, and further relates to a dehumidifying device using the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Dry dehumidifiers are regenerated by adsorbing and removing moisture in the air and releasing the adsorbed moisture when exposed to high-temperature air. A dehumidifier using such a dry type dehumidifier performs dehumidification and humidification in a wide range of humidity from low humidity to high humidity, and has a so-called humidity control function.

FIG. 7 shows a conventional dehumidifier. The disc-shaped dehumidifying rotor 1 carrying a dry dehumidifying material has a honeycomb structure having ventilation holes parallel to the thickness direction, and is driven to rotate about a central axis 2 by a motor (not shown).

The air to be dehumidified is a duct 3 for introducing air to be dried.
Through the suction area 4 of the dehumidifying rotor 1
While passing through the ventilation holes of the dehumidifying rotor 1, moisture is adsorbed by the dehumidifying material carried on the surfaces of the ventilation holes. The dried air from which water has been released is forcibly sucked by the fan 5 and sent to the drying air discharge duct 6 where it is supplied to a predetermined place according to the purpose of use.

On the other hand, the regeneration air sent from the regeneration air introduction duct 7 is heated while passing through the heat source 8 and is sent to the regeneration area 9 of the dehumidifying rotor 1. While the heated regeneration air passes through the ventilation holes of the dehumidification rotor 1, it absorbs moisture adsorbed from the dehumidification material, regenerates the dehumidification rotor 1, and is sucked by the fan 10 to be guided to the regeneration air discharge duct 11. I will Then, the regenerated air containing the water is sent to a predetermined place according to the purpose of use.

As described above, the dehumidifying device has a structure in which moisture adsorption and desorption can be alternately repeated by rotating the dehumidification rotor 1 continuously.

Here, as a moisture absorbent used for the dry dehumidifier, a chemical moisture absorbent such as lithium chloride and a physical moisture absorbent such as activated alumina, silica gel and zeolite are generally widely used. In particular, lithium chloride has a large amount of moisture absorption and is often used in this dry dehumidifier.

[0008]

However, inorganic salts such as lithium chloride have a drawback that when they absorb a large amount of moisture, they deliquefy themselves. If they deliquefy and become liquid, they will flow out of the dehumidifying rotor and fly into the equipment, corroding the equipment, and in severe cases, spilling out of the equipment, contaminating the installation site and adhering to the human body. There was a risk of doing it.

On the other hand, silica gel is widely known as a physical moisture absorbent. However, silica gel has excellent moisture absorption performance in a region where the water vapor partial pressure is high, but the moisture absorption rate is significantly reduced in a region where the water vapor partial pressure is low.
Therefore, it is not suitable as a moisture absorbent when the partial pressure of water vapor is low. Activated alumina has a similar tendency.

Conversely, zeolite can absorb moisture from a region where the partial pressure of water vapor is low. However, even in a region where the water vapor partial pressure is high, the amount of moisture absorption is constant, and the amount of moisture absorption in this region is insufficient. As described above, when the target steam partial pressure is wide, there is no satisfactory hygroscopic agent in the whole range.

In order to compensate for the above-mentioned drawbacks of the physical moisture absorbent, a dehumidifying material obtained by mixing silica gel and zeolite (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.
A dehumidifier having a structure in which a moisture absorbent mainly composed of silica gel is disposed on the inlet side and a moisture absorbent mainly composed of zeolite is disposed on the exit side, and these are bonded and fixed (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 63-24092
No. 1) has been proposed.

However, in this case, since only zeolite and silica gel are used in a mixed state, the ratio of the hygroscopic agent in the dehumidifying material has not increased, and an intermediate characteristic between the two can be obtained. Alternatively, in a high humidity condition, the results are superior when used alone.
Therefore, satisfactory characteristics cannot be obtained in a wide humidity range from low humidity to high humidity.

Further, in this case, it is necessary to bond the disc-shaped honeycomb structures made of different hygroscopic agents, which causes a problem that the process becomes complicated and the production cost becomes high. Moreover, it is practically difficult to bond the front and back surfaces of both without increasing the pressure loss of the air to be dried.

[0014] In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to provide a dehumidifying material having high moisture absorbing performance in a wide range of humidity. Further, it is another object of the present invention to provide a dehumidifier having a wide range of use by utilizing the excellent moisture absorption characteristics.

[0015]

The object of the present invention is to provide a dehumidifying material comprising a hygroscopic agent and a binder used to hold the hygroscopic agent, wherein a part of the binder is replaced with a clay mineral having hygroscopicity. Things. That is, since the clay mineral has viscosity and becomes strong when dried, it has a function of retaining the moisture absorbent and plays a role of a binder. In addition, since it has a hygroscopic property, it also functions as a hygroscopic agent, and increases the ratio of the hygroscopic agent in the dehumidifying material.

Therefore, if such a dehumidifying material is carried on a carrier, the bonding force of the dehumidifying material to the carrier does not decrease, so that defects such as peeling are eliminated, and a high-quality dehumidifying device can be obtained. It can be manufactured by the same process as conventional. Further, since the ratio of the hygroscopic agent can be increased, the hygroscopic performance can be improved, and a high-performance dehumidifier can be obtained.

As the clay mineral, alumina-silica gel (scientific name: allophane) is used. The feature is that the moisture absorption increases as the humidity increases. Therefore, by combining with zeolite having excellent moisture absorption performance at low humidity, a dehumidifier having high moisture absorption performance in a wide range of humidity from low humidity to high humidity can be obtained.
The range of use expands.

[0018]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A dry dehumidifier according to the present invention comprises a dehumidifying rotor serving as a carrier for supporting a dehumidifying material, a motor for rotating the dehumidifying rotor, and air from one side or the other side of the dehumidifying rotor. Blowing means consisting of a fan and duct for blowing air, consisting of a heat source for regeneration, has the same structure as before, performs dehumidification and humidification, and has a so-called humidity control function that can maintain a predetermined location at a constant humidity. is there.

As shown in FIG. 1, the dehumidifying rotor 1 is a disc having a honeycomb structure having a gap through which air can pass, and is fixed to a central shaft 2 driven to rotate by a motor. The dehumidifying rotor 1 is manufactured in a shape having a honeycomb structure from a sheet-like substrate 20 such as a cardboard paper, a heat-resistant resin molded product, or the like. Here, typical examples of the honeycomb structure include a corrugated corrugated type shown in FIG. 2, a turtle shell type shown in FIG. 3, and a lattice type shown in FIG. In any of the molds, a gap is formed in the axial direction, and this is used as the ventilation hole 21.

A dehumidifying material is adhered to the surface of the substrate 20 forming the ventilation holes 21 of the dehumidifying rotor 1. That is, the dehumidifying material is made into a slurry, adhered to the base material 20 and sintered, or the base material 20 is dipped and sintered in a dehumidifying solution, or the dehumidifying material solution is applied to the base material 20. Then, by sintering, the dehumidifying material is carried on the dehumidifying rotor 1.

The dehumidifying material is obtained by mixing a hygroscopic agent, a clay mineral having excellent hygroscopic properties, and a binder holding both of them. Zeolite is used as the hygroscopic agent, and alumina-silica gel clay, which is a kind of naturally occurring ore and has a scientific name of allophane, is used as the clay mineral.

The zeolite can be arbitrarily selected from synthetic zeolites such as A-type, Y-type and X-type, or natural zeolites such as mordenite, shabasite, fluorite, erionite and ferrierite. Also,
It is also effective to replace the cation in the zeolite with an alkaline earth or transition metal such as magnesium, iron or copper, or a rare earth element such as lanthanum, cerium or praseodymium. Colloidal silica,
Water glass, colloidal alumina and the like can be arbitrarily selected.

Here, among the clay minerals, alumina-silica gel is particularly excellent in adsorption characteristics. FIG. 5 shows the moisture adsorption characteristics. Characteristically, it is similar to silica gel types A and B in that the amount of adsorption increases as the humidity increases, but the total amount of adsorption is higher than that of silica gel A type. Silica gel B type has an extremely high relative humidity (90% R
H or more), it is effective, but such high humidity cannot occur in a normal room, and in applications such as humidity control in a room, the range of environments in which the characteristics can be exhibited is extremely narrow. Not practical. As described above, the alumina siliceous gel has excellent moisture absorption performance among moisture absorbents having a high moisture absorption rate in a high humidity region, and is practical in a normal use environment.

Generally, the ratio of the binder required to hold the moisture absorbent is about 40 to 50% of the dry weight, and the remaining 50 to 60% is the moisture absorbent. If the ratio of the binder is lower than this, problems such as falling off and peeling of the moisture absorbent will occur. However, when the clay mineral is added, it can be guessed that this is due to the specific particle shape and fineness of the clay mineral.However, even if the ratio of the binder is reduced, the holding power of the moisture absorbent does not decrease to a certain ratio. Was confirmed. Specifically, the ratio of the binder can be reduced to 20%, and a maximum of 30% of the reduced amount can be replaced with clay mineral. Therefore, it is possible to increase the ratio of the total hygroscopic agent including the original hygroscopic agent and the clay mineral having the hygroscopic property. On the other hand, if the amount of the clay mineral is small, it becomes impossible to obtain the hygroscopic property at high humidity. Therefore, to obtain sufficient hygroscopic performance, 10% or more is required.

From the above, the ratio of each raw material in the dehumidifier is 50 to 60% for zeolite and 10 to 30 for clay mineral.
% And a binder of 20 to 30%.

Therefore, the ratio of the moisture absorbent in the dehumidifier can be increased without lowering the bonding strength of the dehumidifier to the carrier, and as a result, the moisture absorption performance of the dehumidifier can be improved. Moreover, by combining a zeolite with excellent moisture absorption performance at low humidity and a clay mineral that improves moisture absorption properties at higher humidity, moisture absorption in a high humidity region can be achieved without reducing the content of zeolite that can obtain a low dew point. Therefore, it is possible to realize a dehumidifying material exhibiting better moisture absorbing performance than conventional dehumidifying materials in a wide range from low humidity to high humidity.

Further, since the method of supporting the dehumidifying material on the carrier is a conventionally used method, it is possible to provide an inexpensive dehumidifier having excellent performance without increasing the production cost. .

In the dehumidifying device using this dehumidifying material, comfortable humidity can be obtained in a short time without deteriorating the moisture absorption performance even when the humidity in the room increases. further,
When the humidity is so low that humidification is necessary, the moisture adsorbed from the dehumidifying rotor 1 is returned to the room, and only the dry air is discharged outside the room, whereby the humidity can be increased, and an excellent humidity control function can be obtained. .

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and it goes without saying that many modifications and changes can be made to the above-described embodiment within the scope of the present invention. For example, FIG. 6 shows another embodiment of a carrier for supporting a dehumidifying material. The inside of the dehumidifying rotor 1 is partitioned by a partition wall 22 to form a plurality of storage chambers 23, and the storage chamber 23 is packed so as to have a gap through which the solidified dehumidifying material A can be ventilated. The surface is covered with wire mesh 24,
The air passes through the dehumidifying rotor 1. As described above, the carrier only needs to have a gap through which air passes, and is not limited to the rotor, and may be, for example, a fibrous material.

[0030]

EXAMPLES Examples using the dehumidifying material of the present invention will be specifically described below. In the dry dehumidifier shown in FIG. 7, a dehumidifying material is carried on a dehumidifying rotor having a honeycomb structure as shown in FIG. In addition, a known technique was used for the means for sending the air to be dried and the air for regeneration, the method for rotating the dehumidifying rotor, and the like.

Table 1 shows the mixing ratio of each raw material of the dehumidifying material.
In the present example, zeolite was used as a moisture absorbent, and alumina siliceous gel (scientific name: Allophane) was used as a clay mineral, specifically, a product commercially available from Shinagawa Kasei Co., Ltd. under the trade name of "Secard" was used. . As a conventional dehumidifying material as a comparative example, a mixture of zeolite and silica gel was used, and as the silica gel, general powdery A-type silica gel was used.
Colloidal silica was used as a binder.

Then, the respective raw materials were mixed according to the ratios shown in Table 1 to form a slurry, and a dehumidifying rotor (250 m in diameter) was used.
m, thickness 30 mm, surface area 30 m ² / cc), and dried at 150 ° C. for 2 hours. The viscosity was adjusted so that the supported amount was constant, and the supported amount was 7 for each sample.
It was unified to 0 g / l.

[0033]

[Table 1]

Examples A1 to A4, Comparative Examples B and C1 to C4
With respect to the sample (1), evaluation was made on the adhesion to the substrate and the moisture adsorption performance. That is, first, the adhesion to the substrate was strictly evaluated by blowing the N ₂ blow on the sample, and visually checking the desorption and peeling of the dehumidifying material and changes in weight. On the other hand, regarding the moisture adsorption performance, the adsorption capacity was evaluated in a constant temperature and humidity chamber of 23 ° C. under each of the constant humidity conditions of 30, 50, and 80% RH. Table 2 shows the results regarding the adhesion to the substrate and the moisture adsorption performance.

[0035]

[Table 2]

First, the adhesiveness to the base material will be described. In any of Examples A1 to A4, the powder of the dehumidifying material falls off and peels off.
No weight loss occurred. On the other hand, although the reference B and the comparative example C1 did not have any problem, the comparative examples C2 to C4 all caused powder removal of the dehumidifying material and weight loss.

From the above results, at least half of the binder content of 40% can be replaced with allophane. According to the conventional dehumidifier having good adhesiveness, the total amount of the hygroscopic agent is 65%, whereas according to the present embodiment, the total ratio of the hygroscopic agent can be increased to 80%. That is, even if the comparison is made only by the content ratio of the hygroscopic agent, it is possible in this embodiment to increase the ratio of the hygroscopic agent by 15% as compared with the conventional example.

Next, the results of the evaluation of the amount of adsorbed water are shown in each sample as the amount of adsorbed water with respect to a fixed volume when the amount of adsorbed water is saturated. In Examples A1 to A4 and Comparative Examples C1 to C4, the performance was improved as compared with Comparative Example B as a reference. In both cases, as the ratio of the hygroscopic agent increases, the hygroscopic performance increases. When the example and the comparative example were compared with the same hygroscopic agent ratio, the result of the present example was superior. This is considered to be due to the fact that allophane has better moisture absorption properties than silica gel as shown in FIG.

As a comprehensive evaluation, Comparative Examples C2 to C4 to which silica gel was added had poor adhesion to the substrate, and there was a high risk of causing problems such as powder removal of the dehumidifying material in actual use, so that they could not be used. On the other hand, the present embodiment is applicable at least when the ratio of the binder is up to 20%, and in this case, the hygroscopic property is about 1.
5 times improvement.

Example A1 in which allophane is 5%
In Comparative Example 1, the moisture absorption performance was improved as compared with Comparative Example B, but was not significantly improved as compared with Comparative Example C1. Therefore, if allophane is 10% or more, the moisture absorption performance is greatly improved. Then, the binder needs to be 20% or more, and the zeolite contains 50 to 60%, so that allophane can be mixed up to 30%.

Next, dehumidifying rotors carrying the respective dehumidifying materials of the above Examples and Comparative Examples were prepared, incorporated in a dry dehumidifier, and the moisture absorption performance was examined in a constant temperature and constant humidity chamber. The evaluation conditions are as follows. Table 3 shows the results.

Air volume to be treated: 30 m ³ / hour Regeneration air volume: 22 m ³ / hour Rotor rotation speed: Using the optimum value (20 to 50 rotations / hour) Regeneration gas temperature: 190 ° C. Constant temperature and humidity chamber temperature: 23 ° C

[0043]

[Table 3]

This table shows that the absolute humidity on the inlet side of the air to be treated (described at the top of the table) decreased to the absolute humidity shown in the table after passing through each dehumidifying rotor. As shown in this table, Comparative Example B (Zeolite 60
%, Binder 40%), Examples A1 to A4 showed excellent moisture absorption performance. Also, the effect became even higher as the proportion of allophane increased.

As described above, by replacing a part of the binder with a clay mineral having hygroscopicity, it is possible to obtain a dehumidifying material having excellent hygroscopic properties as compared with conventional dehumidifying materials in a wide range of humidity. It is a dehumidifier excellent in quality that can be produced and does not cause defects such as peeling during use.

[0046]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, the dehumidifying material is composed of the hygroscopic agent, the hygroscopic clay mineral, and the binder, so that the clay mineral contains both the binder and the hygroscopic agent. As a result, the ratio of the hygroscopic agent is increased while maintaining good adhesion to the carrier, and the hygroscopic performance of the dehumidifying material is improved.

By combining a zeolite having excellent moisture absorption performance at low humidity with a clay mineral having a higher moisture absorption property at higher humidity, the zeolite can obtain a low dew point without reducing the content of zeolite at high humidity. Can be added, so that a dehumidifying material exhibiting excellent moisture absorption performance in a wide range from low to high humidity can be obtained.

In the dehumidifying device using this dehumidifying material, a comfortable humidity can be obtained in a short time without lowering the moisture absorbing performance even when the humidity increases. Further, when the humidity is so low that humidification is required, the humidity can be increased by releasing the moisture adsorbed from the dehumidifier. Therefore, an excellent humidity control function can be achieved in a wide range of humidity.

Further, as the method for supporting the dehumidifying material on the carrier, a conventionally used method can be used, so that it is possible to provide a dehumidifying device having excellent performance at a low cost without increasing the production cost. It becomes possible.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a dehumidifying rotor according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a corrugated honeycomb structure of a dehumidifying rotor.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a tortoiseshell honeycomb structure of a dehumidifying rotor.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a lattice-type honeycomb structure of a dehumidifying rotor.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the hygroscopic performance of various hygroscopic agents.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a dehumidifying rotor according to another embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a schematic configuration diagram of a dehumidifier.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Dehumidification rotor 3 Dry air introduction duct 4 Adsorption area 5 Fan 6 Dry air discharge duct 7 Regeneration air introduction duct 8 Heat source 9 Regeneration area 10 Fan 11 Regeneration air discharge duct 20 Substrate 21 Ventilation hole

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F-term (reference) 4D052 AA08 CB01 DA06 DB01 FA01 GA03 GB01 GB02 GB03 GB09 GB12 GB13 GB14 GB17 HA01 HA02 HA03 HA39 HB02 4G066 AA12D AA20D AA22D AA61B AA62B AA63B AA71D AE06 FA23 BA03 GA32

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A hygroscopic agent, a hygroscopic clay mineral,
A dehumidifying material characterized by being mixed with a binder for holding both. 2. The dehumidifying material according to claim 1, wherein the clay mineral is an alumina-silica gel. 3. The dehumidifying material according to claim 2, comprising 10 to 30% by weight of a clay mineral. 4. The dehumidifying material according to claim 3, wherein the hygroscopic agent is a synthetic zeolite or a natural zeolite. 5. A dehumidifier in which a dehumidifying material is carried on a carrier having a void through which a gas to be dried can pass, and wherein the moisture is adsorbed by the dehumidifying material while the gas to be dried passes through the carrier. A dehumidifier, wherein the material includes a hygroscopic agent, a clay mineral having hygroscopicity, and a binder for holding both. 6. The dehumidifying apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the carrier has a honeycomb structure, and a dehumidifying material is adhered to an inner surface thereof.