JP2000117040A - Hollow fiber membrane type dryer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a hollow fiber membrane type dryer capable of comfirming the behavier of the change of dehumidifying efficiency with the lapse of time, surely expecting the exchange time of a hollow fiber membrane module by accurately indicating the humidity of dry air in the secondary side and also facilitating the exchange of the hollow fiber membrane module. SOLUTION: In the hollow fiber membrane type dryer provided with the hollow fiber membrane module 6 in a dryer case 1, a passage for discharging the secondary dried air dehumidified in the hollow fiber membrane module 6 to the downstream side along the inside wall of the dryer case 1 is formed, a humidity indicating member 20 indicating the humidity of the secondary dried air is disposed in the dryer case 1 and the indication of the humidity indicating member 20 is visually confirmed from the outside of the dryer case 1.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a hollow fiber membrane dryer, for example, a hollow fiber membrane dryer for efficiently dehumidifying water vapor in compressed air generated by a compressor or the like to obtain dry air.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A hollow fiber membrane dryer supplies compressed air to the inside of a hollow fiber membrane and discharges only water vapor to the outside of the hollow fiber membrane formed of a hydrophilic resin, thereby dehumidifying the compressed air inside. This is a filter that obtains dry air by drying.

[0003] In this case, if water vapor adheres to the outside of the hollow fiber membrane and the concentration increases, the dehumidifying effect is reduced. Therefore, normally, a part of the dry air is supplied to the outside of the hollow fiber membrane by dehumidifying purge air. The water vapor concentration is always kept low so that continuous dehumidification can be performed. In order to check the dehumidifying efficiency of the humid air, this dryer is provided with a dehumidifying sensor for detecting the dehumidifying efficiency (Japanese Utility Model Registration No. 25666992 and Japanese Patent No. 2622058). Gazette).

[0004]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Utility model registration 256
The dehumidifier disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 6992 is provided with a moisture detecting member in a purge air passage of a cylindrical body, and a visual window through which the detecting member can be visually recognized. However,
The moisture detection member of this device is inserted inside the cylinder,
Since it needs to be arranged, it takes time and effort, and it is not easy to assemble, and it is necessary to provide a dedicated viewing window in the cylinder.

In the dryer disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 2622058, a small chamber is provided at a discharge portion of a dehumidifying gas passage of a container, a humidity indicating material is inserted into the small chamber, and the indicating material is visually observed. It was done. However, this dryer must be provided with a small room, which complicates the structure.Moreover, since a part of the dehumidified gas is taken into the small room, the sensitivity of the humidity display is reduced, and the humidity is displayed on the humidity display material in the small room. There is a possibility that an error may occur between the humidity of the dehumidifying gas and the actual humidity of the entire dehumidified gas.Moreover, since the humidity indicator in the small room is viewed through the small window, it is difficult to understand how the dehumidifying efficiency changes over time, and the hollow fiber membrane module There is a problem that it is difficult to predict the replacement time.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been developed to solve the conventional problems. The purpose of the present invention is to confirm the change of the dehumidifying efficiency with time and to accurately display the humidity of the dry gas on the secondary side. Another object of the present invention is to provide a hollow fiber membrane dryer that can reliably predict the replacement time of the hollow fiber membrane module and can easily replace the hollow fiber membrane module.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention relates to a hollow fiber membrane dryer having a hollow fiber membrane module provided in a dryer case. Forming a flow path through which the side dry gas is discharged downstream along the inner wall of the dryer case, providing a humidity display member for displaying the humidity of the secondary dry gas in the dryer case, and displaying the humidity display member on the dryer. This is a hollow fiber membrane dryer that can be seen from the outside of the case.

In this case, the fixing part of the adapter body is fixed to the dryer case, the adapter body has a connection port connected to the outflow side of the hollow fiber membrane module, and a secondary side dry gas is supplied from the connection port to the dryer case. It is preferable to form an exhaust passage for discharging the gas into the inside.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the hollow fiber membrane dryer according to the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the drawings. In FIG. 1, a fixing portion 3 of an adapter body 2 is hermetically fixed with a nut 4 to a drain mounting opening 1a of a transparent or translucent tubular case 1 formed of a material such as resin or glass. In this case, when the mounting opening 1a is a female screw, a male screw provided on the adapter body 2 may be screwed and connected. As described above, the general-purpose dryer case 1, the later-described head 5, and the mounting port 1a can be used as they are, which is excellent in economy.

In FIG. 2, the adapter body 2 includes:
A connection port 8 for connecting a potting portion 7 on an outflow side of a hollow fiber membrane module 6 described later, and an exhaust passage 9 for discharging a secondary dry gas into the dryer case 1 from the connection port 8 are formed. The head 5 is screwed to the opening of the dryer case 1 via a gasket 10. The head 5 has a wet gas inlet 11 and a dry gas outlet 1.
2, a connection port 14 is formed in the head 5 to connect the potting section 13 on the inflow side of the hollow fiber membrane module 6, and a communication section 14 connects the connection port 14 and the inlet 11.
a is provided.

Further, the hollow fiber membrane module 6 is hermetically fixed in the module case 15 when a semipermeable hollow fiber membrane element 16 is inserted into the module case 15 to manufacture the potting portions 7 and 13. The module case 15 is formed with a purge hole 17 for purging a part of the dry gas flowing out of the potting portion 7 on the outflow side into the hollow fiber membrane element 16.
Outflow hole 1 is located inside the potting portion 13 on the inflow side of No. 6.
8 is discharged to the outside together with the water vapor outside the hollow fiber membrane of the hollow fiber membrane element 16 through the outlet hole 18 and the purge passage 19 formed in the head 5.

Reference numeral 20 denotes a humidity display member, which is mounted on the outer wall of the module case 15 so as to surround the humidity display member 20 formed of, for example, a cobalt-carrying film. The humidity display member 20 may be provided on the inner wall of the adapter body 2 or the dryer case 1, instead of being provided on the outer wall of the module case 15. Further, in FIG.
Reference numeral 1 denotes a flow path of the dryer case 1 for discharging a dry gas, and reference numerals 22 and 23 denote O-rings.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described. The wet gas such as compressed air supplied from the inlet 11 of the head 5 enters the inflow side 13 of the hollow fiber membrane module 6, and the semi-permeable hollow fiber membrane of the hollow fiber membrane element 16 separates water vapor to form dry air or the like. The separated water vapor is discharged to the outside of the hollow fiber membrane, and the dry gas on the secondary side exits from the inside of the hollow fiber membrane module 6 to the outflow side 7, and passes through the discharge passage of the adapter body 2. 9 and is discharged into the dryer case 1.

As described above, the humidity of the secondary-side dry gas discharged into the dryer case 1 is displayed by the humidity display member 20. For example, when the humidity display member 20 is a cobalt-carrying film, it exhibits a blue color when the dehumidification efficiency is high, but exhibits a red color when the dehumidification efficiency decreases, and since the humidity display member 20 is in a film form, It is possible to display not only a part of the humidity in the dryer case 1 but a certain wide range of humidity. Therefore, the appearance of this display can be easily confirmed visually from the outside of the transparent or translucent dryer case 1, so that the temporal change of the dehumidifying efficiency of the hollow fiber membrane module 6 can be reliably grasped,
The replacement time of the hollow fiber membrane module 6 can be accurately predicted, and the dry gas on the secondary side in the dryer case 1 is discharged downstream from the outlet 12 of the head 5.

A part of the dry gas on the secondary side enters the hollow fiber membrane module 6 through the purge hole 17 of the hollow fiber membrane module 6 as a purge gas, and the steam outside the hollow fiber membrane of the hollow fiber membrane element 16 is vaporized. At the same time, the air is discharged to the outside through the purge passage 19 of the head 5 from the outflow hole 18 provided on the inflow side 13 of the hollow fiber module 6. Therefore, since the outside of the hollow fiber membrane of the hollow fiber membrane element 16 is always kept at a low concentration of water vapor, efficient continuous dehumidification is performed.

[0016]

As is apparent from the above, the present invention has the following effects. That is, unlike the conventional example, without providing a small window in the dehumidifying gas passage, the present invention allows the humidity display material to be viewed from the outside of the dryer case, so that the secondary side can be used without taking a complicated structure. The humidity of the dry gas can be accurately grasped. Further, since the humidity of the secondary dry gas actually discharged to the downstream side is directly displayed, it is possible to reliably grasp the humidity with a small error.

Furthermore, the state of the dehumidification efficiency of the hollow fiber membrane module over time can be confirmed, and the replacement time of the hollow fiber membrane module can be easily predicted. In addition, for example, if a humidity indicating material is provided on the outer wall of the hollow fiber membrane module, it is easy to assemble the humidity indicating material. It is possible to take out the dryer and replace the humidity indicating material.

Further, since the dryer in the present invention has a structure using an adapter body, a hollow fiber membrane type dryer having a humidity display function can be constituted by using a container and a head which are generally used as they are. Therefore, the cost can be reduced as compared with the conventional example, and there are effects such as excellent economic efficiency.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing an example of a hollow fiber membrane dryer according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of the adapter main body in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line BB of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a partial sectional view showing a case of the hollow fiber membrane module of FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Dryer case 2 Adapter body 3 Fixing part 5 Head 6 Hollow fiber membrane module 7 Outflow side 8 Connection port 9 Exhaust passage 11 Inlet 12 Outlet 13 Inflow side 14 Connection port 15 Module case 16 Hollow fiber membrane element 18 Outflow hole 19 Purge passage 20 Humidity display member

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 4D006 GA41 HA01 JA01Z JA25C JA30A JA70Z MA01 MB03 PB65 PC72 4D052 AA01 EA02 FA01 FA03 GA03 GB03 GB08

Claims (2)

[Claims] In a hollow fiber membrane type dryer in which a hollow fiber membrane module is provided in a dryer case, a secondary-side dry gas dehumidified by the hollow fiber membrane module is discharged downstream along the inner wall of the dryer case. Forming a path, providing a humidity display member for displaying the humidity of the secondary-side dry gas in the dryer case, and displaying the humidity display member on the outside of the dryer case. Thread membrane dryer. 2. A fixing portion of an adapter body is fixed to the dryer case. The adapter body has a connection port connected to an outflow side of the hollow fiber membrane module, and a secondary-side dry gas supplied from the connection port to the dryer case. The hollow fiber membrane dryer according to claim 1, wherein an exhaust passage for discharging the gas into the hollow fiber membrane is formed.