JP2003014251A - Dry-room installation - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a dry-room installation, in which operating costs can be reduced. SOLUTION: In the dry-room installation 10, air is conveyed to a heat exchanger 14 to be dehumidified, and the air is dehumidified further by a dehumidifier 18, and sent to a dry room 12. In this case, air dehumidified beforehand by membrane dehumidification equipment 16 is conveyed to the heat exchanger 14. Thus, the air volume to be dehumidified by the dehumidifier 18 is reduced, and regeneration energy required for a dehumidification rotor is reduced. Thus, the operating coasts of the dry-room installation is reduced.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a dry room facility, and more particularly to a dry room facility that requires a low humidity environment such as the production of lithium ion batteries.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Lithium-ion batteries used for batteries of personal computers, mobile phones, electric vehicles, etc. are manufactured by mixing coating materials, coating electrodes, cutting electrodes, winding electrodes,
It is manufactured in the process of packing in a container, injecting electrolyte, caulking, and packing. Among them, the step of injecting the electrolytic solution needs to be performed in a dry air environment having a dew point temperature of about −60 ° C. (water content of 10 ppm) because the electrolytic solution of the lithium ion battery easily reacts with water. In the dry room, the dew point temperature is -60 ° C.
Although the dry air is supplied, the dew point temperature becomes −30 ° C. to −40 ° C. due to the human body load such as an operator. For this reason, a place where the electrolytic solution is handled is a chamber-like small space (hereinafter referred to as “dry chamber”), and dry air is supplied so as to maintain an environment with a dew point temperature of −60 ° C.

FIG. 3 is an overall view showing a schematic configuration of a conventional dry room facility. As shown in the figure, in a low dew point dry room facility, generally, the air cooled by the air conditioner 1 is dehumidified by the dehumidifier 2 and supplied into the dry room 3 as dry air. The dry air supplied to the dry room 3 is returned to the air conditioner 1 as return air, cooled by the air conditioner 1 again, and then supplied to the dehumidifier 2. The dry air thus supplied into the dry room 3 is returned to the air conditioner 1 as return air, but the leaked part from the dry room 3 and the part exhausted for regeneration of the dehumidifying rotor 4 of the dehumidifier 2 are insufficient. In order to compensate for this, outside air is taken into the air conditioner 1.

[0004]

However, since the outside air has high humidity as compared with the return air from the dry room, the dehumidifier 2 must always dehumidify the high humidity air. There was a flaw. Further, the heater 5 is used to regenerate the dehumidifying rotor 4 of the dehumidifier 2, but since it is necessary to dehumidify high-humidity air at all times,
There was a problem that operating costs would be high.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a dry room facility capable of reducing operating costs.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a dry method in which air is introduced into an air conditioner, dehumidified by the air conditioner, dehumidified by a dehumidifier, and blown into a dry room. In the room equipment, there is provided a dry room equipment, characterized in that a film dehumidifying device is installed in front of the air conditioner, and air dehumidified by the film dehumidifying device is introduced into the air conditioner.

According to the present invention, low-humidity air dehumidified in advance by the film dehumidifier is supplied to the air conditioner, and this low-humidity air is dehumidified by the air conditioner and supplied to the dehumidifier. As a result, the amount of dehumidification in the dehumidifier is reduced, and the regeneration energy of the dehumidification rotor is reduced.

[0008]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Preferred embodiments of a dry room facility according to the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a dry room facility 1 according to the present invention.
1 is an overall view showing a schematic configuration of an embodiment of 0. As shown in the figure, the dry room facility 10 of the present embodiment is
It is composed of a dry room 12, an air conditioner 14, a film dehumidifier 16 and a dehumidifier 18. This dry room facility 10
Dehumidifies the air cooled and dehumidified by the air conditioner 14 by the dehumidifier 18 and supplies the dehumidified air to the dry room 12.
The dry air supplied to the air conditioner 14 is returned to the air conditioner 14, and the shortage is compensated by the supply from the film dehumidifier 16 to operate.

The air conditioner 14 is constructed by arranging a first cooler 22, a second cooler 24, and an air conditioner fan 26 in order inside a case 20 in which an air flow path is formed. Air from the film dehumidifier 16 described later is introduced into the case 20 through the air introduction port 20A, and in the process of passing through the case 20, the water contained therein is removed by the first cooler 22 and the second cooler 24. Further, the return air from the dry room 12 is introduced into the case 20 from the return air introduction port 20B via the return air duct 30. The introduced return air is supplied between the first cooler 22 and the second cooler 24, mixed with the air that has passed through the first cooler 22, and passes through the second cooler 24. Then, the air that has passed through the second cooler 24 is blown to the air conditioner fan 26 and is supplied to the dehumidifier 18 from the air outlet 20C via the air duct 28.

The membrane dehumidifying device 16 is a gas drying device, and when high-humidity air is sent to the air inlet at a constant pressure,
The contained polymer membrane allows the contained water to permeate in the outer peripheral direction of the membrane, and the air whose humidity has become extremely low is discharged from the air outlet. The compressed air supply duct 34 is connected to the air inlet of the film dehumidifier 16.
Compressed air is supplied from a compressed air supply device (not shown). A duct 32 communicating with the air inlet 20A of the air conditioner 14 is connected to the air outlet of the membrane dehumidifier 16, and the low-humidity air generated by the membrane dehumidifier 16 is connected to the duct 32. Air is supplied to the air conditioner 14 via the.

The dehumidifier 18 is constructed by housing a rotating dehumidification rotor 38 in a case 36 formed in a cylindrical shape. The inside of the case 36 is partitioned by a partition plate 40 into a dehumidifying section 42 and a regenerating section 44. The air is supplied to the dehumidifying unit 42 and dehumidified by the dehumidifying rotor 38 that rotates in the process of passing through the dehumidifying unit 42. The dehumidifying rotor 38 that has been used for dehumidification is regenerated in the process of rotating and passing through the regeneration unit 44, and is again used for dehumidification.

The dehumidifying rotor 38 is made of a honeycomb-shaped non-woven fabric impregnated with a dehumidifying agent such as lithium chloride or silica gel, and is rotated by a motor (not shown).

In the dehumidifying section 42, an aftercooler 46 is arranged at a subsequent stage position of the dehumidifying rotor 38. Air conditioner 1
The air supplied from No. 4 through the air duct 28 is introduced into the dehumidification section 42 from the air introduction port 42A. Dehumidifier 4
The air introduced into 2 is dehumidified while passing through the dehumidification rotor 38. The air dehumidified by the dehumidifying rotor 38 is cooled by the aftercooler 46, and then the air is discharged from the air outlet 42B through the air supply duct 48 to the dry room 12.
Supplied within.

The regeneration section 44 is partitioned by a partition plate 50 into a regeneration zone 44A and a purge zone 44B. Part of the air cooled by the air conditioner 14 is supplied to the regeneration air introduction port 52A of the purge area 44B via the branch air duct 28A branched from the air duct 28. The air supplied to the purge area 44B cools the dehumidifying rotor 38 by passing through the dehumidifying rotor 38, and thereafter,
It is introduced into the regeneration area 44A.

The air introduced into the regeneration zone 44A is heated by the heater 54 installed in the regeneration zone 44A. Then, this overheated air is transferred to the dehumidifying rotor 3
By passing through 8, the dehumidifying rotor 38 is regenerated.

The air passing through the dehumidifying rotor 38 is exhausted from the regeneration air outlet 52B, is blown into the regeneration duct 56 by the regeneration fan 58, and is guided to the regeneration air return port 52C. Then, it is guided again from the regeneration air return port 52C into the regeneration section 44 and mixed with the air before being heated by the heater 54. An exhaust duct 60 is connected to the regeneration duct 56.
By opening and closing the damper 62 provided at 0, a part of the air exhausted from the outlet 54 is exhausted to the outside air.

The operation of the dry room facility 10 of the present embodiment configured as described above is as follows.

First, the dehumidifying rotor 38 is rotationally driven, and the air conditioner fan 26 and the regeneration fan 58 are rotationally driven. At the same time, a compressed air supply device (not shown) is driven to supply compressed air to the film dehumidifier 16.

When the compressed air is supplied to the membrane dehumidifier 16, the moisture in the compressed air is removed by the membrane dehumidifier 16, and the moisture of low humidity is introduced into the air conditioner 14 from the air inlet 20A. It

The air introduced into the air conditioner 14 passes through the first cooler 22 and the second cooler 24 by being blown to the air conditioner fan 26. Then, in the course of passing through the first cooler 22 and the second cooler 24, it is cooled and the contained water is removed.

On the other hand, when the air conditioner fan 26 is rotationally driven, the air in the dry room 12 is supplied from the return air introduction port 20B into the air conditioner 14 through the return air duct 30. The return air introduced from the return air inlet 20B is the first
It is supplied between the cooler 22 and the second cooler 24 and mixed with the air that has passed through the first cooler 22. Then, by passing through the second cooler 24, this mixed air is blown from the air outlet 20C as air having a dew point temperature of about -10 ° C.

The air blown from the air outlet 20C of the air conditioner 14 is supplied to the air inlet 42A of the dehumidifier 18 through the air duct 28. The air supplied to the air introduction port 42A is dehumidified in the process of passing through the dehumidification rotor 38, then cooled by the aftercooler 46, and then becomes dry air having a dew point temperature of about -60 ° C from the air outlet 42B and is blown. To be done.

A part of the air blown from the air outlet 20C of the air conditioner 14 is supplied to the regeneration air introduction port 42A of the dehumidifier 18 through the branch duct 28A. Then, from the regeneration air introduction port 42A to the purge area 44B.
And is cooled by cooling the dehumidifying rotor 38 by passing through the purge area 44B.

The air that has cooled the dehumidifying rotor 38 is directly introduced into the regeneration zone 44A and heated by the heater 54. Then, the heated air is used for the dehumidification rotor 3
By passing through 8, the dehumidifying rotor 38 is regenerated.

As described above, the inside of the dry room 12 is made dry by supplying the dry air dehumidified by the dehumidifier 18. And dry room 12
The dry air supplied therein is returned to the air conditioner 14 through the return air duct 30 and is reused.

At this time, the air conditioner 14 is installed in the dry room 12
The air supplied from the film dehumidifier 16 is supplied with low humidity (previously removed from the water content). Since air having a humidity equal to or higher than that of the return air from the dry room 12 is supplied, the amount of dehumidification to be dehumidified by the dehumidifier 18 in the subsequent stage can be reduced. This facilitates the regeneration of the dehumidifying rotor 38, and the energy (regeneration energy) of the heater 54 required for regenerating the dehumidifying rotor 38 can be reduced. As a result, operating costs can be reduced.

Further, since the air having a low humidity equal to or higher than that of the return air from the dry room 12 is supplied to the air conditioner 21, the first cooler 22 can be omitted. As a result, it is possible to further reduce operating costs and
It is also possible to reduce equipment costs.

In the present embodiment, the membrane dehumidifying device 16
Compressed air is supplied to the equipment, but large-scale manufacturing plants with dry room equipment generally use large amounts of compressed air, so they have equipment to produce the compressed air required during peak usage hours. Often. Therefore, it is possible to easily obtain the compressed air to be supplied to the membrane dehumidifier 16 using the existing equipment.

In the present embodiment, the membrane dehumidifying device 16
Is installed in a place apart from the air conditioner 14, and air from the film dehumidifier 16 is supplied to the air conditioner 1 via a duct (or pipe) 32.
However, as shown in FIG. 2, the film dehumidifier 16 may be built in the air conditioner 14. As a result, by directly supplying the compressed air to the air conditioner 14, it is possible to prevent an increase in the amount of moisture that occurs during the supply of the compressed air through the duct, the pipe or the like, and the heater 54 used for the regeneration of the dehumidification rotor 38 can be prevented. The required energy (regeneration energy) can be reduced. As a result, the operating cost can be further reduced.

Further, the humidity of the air dehumidified by the film dehumidifier 16 may be measured, and the current value (heating amount) of the heater 54 may be controlled based on the measured value. That is, as shown in FIG. 2, the film dehumidifier 1 is provided at the subsequent stage of the film dehumidifier 16.
A humidity sensor 64 that measures the humidity of the air dehumidified in 6 is installed, and the controller 66 controls the current value of the heater 54 based on the detection value of the humidity sensor 64. The controller 66 increases the current value of the heater 54 when the detected value of the humidity sensor 64 is larger than the preset value, and decreases the current value of the heater 54 when the detected value is smaller. This allows the heater 54 to be operated at an appropriate current value (heating amount).
Can be operated, and the operating cost can be further reduced.

The dry room facility 10 shown in FIG.
In this case, the humidity sensor 64 may be installed in the duct 32 to measure the humidity of the air dehumidified by the film dehumidifier 16.

[0033]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The low-humidity air that has been dehumidified in advance by the membrane dehumidifier is supplied to the air conditioner, and the low-humidity air is dehumidified by the air conditioner before being supplied to the dehumidifier, so the amount of dehumidification in the dehumidifier decreases. Thereby, the regeneration energy of the dehumidifying rotor is reduced, and the operating cost can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall view showing a schematic configuration of an embodiment of a dry room facility according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an overall view showing a schematic configuration of another embodiment of the dry room facility according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an overall view showing a schematic configuration of a conventional dry room facility.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 ... Dry room facility, 12 ... Dry room, 14 ...
Air conditioner, 16 ... Membrane dehumidifier, 18 ... Dehumidifier, 20 ... Case, 22 ... First cooler, 24 ... Second cooler, 26 ... Air conditioner fan, 28 ... Air duct, 30 ... Return air duct, 32
... duct, 36 ... case, 38 ... dehumidifying rotor, 40 ... partition plate, 42 ... dehumidifying section, 44 ... regeneration section, 46 ... aftercooler, 48 ... air supply duct, 50 ... partition plate, 56 ... regeneration duct, 58 ... regeneration fan, 60 ... exhaust duct, 62 ... damper, 64 ... humidity sensor, 66 ... control device

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. In a dry room facility in which air is introduced into an air conditioner, dehumidified by the air conditioner, dehumidified by a dehumidifier, and then blown into a dry room, a membrane dehumidifier is installed in front of the air conditioner. The dry room facility is characterized in that the air dehumidified by the film dehumidifier is introduced into the air conditioner. 2. The dehumidifier, while alternately moving the dehumidifying agent to the dehumidifying section and the regenerating section, allows the air from the air conditioner to pass through the dehumidifying section to dehumidify the air with the dehumidifying agent, A dehumidifier that regenerates the dehumidifying agent by allowing heated air heated by a heater to pass through the regeneration unit, and a humidity sensor that detects the humidity of air dehumidified by the film dehumidifier is installed, and the heater is the humidity. The dry room facility according to claim 1, wherein the heating amount is controlled based on the detection value of the sensor.