JP2005270700A - Dehumidifier - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a dehumidifier capable of being reduced in production cost and enhanced in reliability by simply constituting a flow channel of purge air. <P>SOLUTION: When air to be dehumidified of high pressure and high humidity flows in the dehumidifier from the outside, the air to be dehumidified after dehumidification is discharged to the outside from an outlet 154 for the air to be dehumidified. A part of the air to be dehumidified after dehumidification flows in recessed parts 113 of a hollow fiber membrane support member 111 through a gap 158, which is provided to the boundary between a lid part 151 and a hollow fiber membrane support member 11, and the flow channel of purge air comprising a gap 178. This air to be dehumidified passes through the orifices 161 attached to the recessed parts to be reduced in pressure. The purge air of low pressure and low humidity flows in a boot 135 from a purge flow channel inlet 120. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a dehumidifying device, and more particularly, to a dehumidifying device that can reduce the manufacturing cost and improve the reliability by simply configuring a purge gas flow path.

  Conventionally, a high-pressure, high-humidity dehumidified gas is circulated inside the hollow fiber membrane, and a low-pressure, low-humidity purge gas is circulated outside the hollow fiber membrane. A dehumidifying device for dehumidifying a high-humidity dehumidified gas is known.

  And the dehumidification apparatus of patent document 1 is known as what shows the method of distribute | circulating purge gas to a dehumidification apparatus. In the dehumidifying device of Patent Document 1, a part of the dehumidified gas after dehumidification that has circulated in the hollow fiber membrane is passed through a tubular purge passage that penetrates the inside of the lid that seals the case. By flowing outside, the purge gas can be distributed without providing a separate device or the like outside the case.

Japanese Patent No. 2891953 (Claim 5)

  However, in the dehumidifying device of Patent Document 1, since the purge passage is formed by penetrating the inside of the lid portion in a tubular shape, it may be difficult to process the lid portion. For this reason, the manufacturing cost may increase. In addition, since the purge passage needs to be processed with high accuracy, the reliability of the apparatus may be lowered.

  The present invention has been made in view of such conventional problems, and provides a dehumidifying device that can reduce the manufacturing cost and improve the reliability by simply configuring the purge gas flow path. Objective.

  For this reason, the present invention includes a plurality of hollow fiber membranes made of a polymer permeable membrane, the inside of the hollow fiber membrane is a high pressure region through which the dehumidified gas flows, and the purge gas flows outside the hollow fiber membrane. In the dehumidifying device having a low pressure region, a case portion for holding and housing the hollow fiber membrane, a lid portion for sealing the case portion, a dehumidified gas inflow portion into which dehumidified gas flows from the outside, and the hollow fiber A dehumidified gas outflow part that discharges the dehumidified gas after flowing through the membrane to the outside, and is connected to the dehumidified gas outflow part, and is formed at the boundary between the case part and the lid part, and the hollow fiber A purge gas flow path for flowing a part of the dehumidified gas after flowing through the membrane as the purge gas to the low pressure region is provided.

  The purge gas flow path is formed at the boundary between the case portion and the lid portion. Therefore, unlike the conventional case, the purge gas can be circulated without providing a purge passage inside the lid portion. Thus, the lid portion can be easily processed, and the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

  Further, the present invention is characterized in that a seal member interposed between the case portion and the lid portion is provided, and the purge gas flow path is formed in the seal member.

  By providing a seal member between the case portion and the lid portion, a purge gas flow path is formed in a form utilizing the thickness of the seal member. Therefore, the purge gas flow path can be easily formed, and the reliability of the apparatus can be improved. Further, by configuring the seal member separately from the lid, only one of them can be replaced depending on the degree of corrosion. Further, by providing a seal member between the case portion and the lid portion, it is possible to prevent leakage of the dehumidified gas from between the lid portion and the case portion.

  Furthermore, the present invention is characterized in that the purge gas flow path is a gap formed by notching a portion where the lid portion and the case portion face each other.

  Thereby, since the notch part used as a purge gas flow path is provided in the component surface, a process is easy and reliability is also improved. Further, since metal parts are generally used for the lid part and resin parts are used for the case part, it is possible to perform the process more easily by providing a purge gas flow path by applying notch processing to the case side. .

  As described above, according to the present invention, the purge gas flow path that is in communication with the dehumidified gas outflow portion and that circulates a part of the dehumidified gas after flowing through the hollow fiber membrane as a purge gas to the low pressure region. Since it is formed at the boundary between the case portion and the lid portion, the purge gas can be circulated without providing a purge passage inside the lid portion. Therefore, the lid portion can be easily processed, and the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described. The longitudinal cross-sectional view of the dehumidification apparatus which is embodiment of this invention is shown in FIG. In FIG. 1, the dehumidifying apparatus 100 has a box-shaped case 101 having an upper end 101a opened. A purge discharge port 103 for discharging the purge gas to the outside is formed at the bottom 101b of the box-shaped case 101.

  Further, in this box-shaped case 101, a large number of hollow fiber membranes 130 made of a polymer permeable membrane are accommodated by a bellows-like boot 135 while being folded in a U shape. The boot 135 is made of, for example, a semi-rigid plastic material, and the outer diameter of the bundle of the hollow fiber membranes 130 and the inner diameter of the bellows of the boot 135 substantially coincide with each other so that the hollow fiber membranes 130 do not float in the boot 135. Yes.

  The one end portion 130 a and the other end portion 130 b of the multiple hollow fiber membranes 130 are fixedly bound by the consolidated resins 132 and 133, respectively, and the consolidated resins 132 and 133 are supported by the hollow fiber membrane support member 111. Has been. A top view of the hollow fiber membrane support member 111 is shown in FIG.

  1 and 2, the hollow fiber membrane support member 111 is a substantially rectangular parallelepiped member and is fitted so as to close the opening of the upper end 101a of the box-shaped case 101. The hollow fiber membrane support member 111 is fixed to the box-type case 101 with a bolt 109 penetrating the box-type case 101.

  The hollow fiber membrane support member 111 has a cylindrical recess 113 formed at the center of the upper surface 111a. The recess 113 houses an orifice 161 for depressurizing the dehumidified gas from the upper surface 111a side toward the lower surface 111b side. An O-ring 162 is provided on the side of the orifice 161 so that the inside of the recess 113 is kept airtight. Further, a speed reducing portion 164 made of porous plastic or the like is provided on the outlet side of the orifice 161 so as to mute the purge gas ejection sound that has passed through the orifice 161. The orifice 161 may be provided with a throttle mechanism (not shown) that can adjust the amount of pressure reduction from the outside of the dehumidifier 100.

  Further, the hollow fiber membrane support member 111 is formed with cylindrical through holes 115 and 116 penetrating between the upper surface 111a and the lower surface 111b with the concave portion 113 in the center portion interposed therebetween. These through holes 115 and 116 have a slightly larger diameter on the lower surface 111b side than on the upper surface 111a side. In each of the through holes 115 and 116, a solidified resin 132 and 133 in which one end portion 130a and the other end portion 130b of the hollow fiber membrane 130 are fixedly bound is tightly fitted from the lower surface 111b side. From the upper surface 111a of the hollow fiber membrane support member 111, some of the consolidated resins 132 and 133 protrude.

  Further, a gap 105 is formed between the hollow fiber membrane supporting member 111 and the inner surface 101c of the box-shaped case 101 by cutting out a part of the side surface 111c of the hollow fiber membrane supporting member 111. The gap 105 communicates with the outside of the dehumidifier 100 through a purge discharge port 103 formed in the box-shaped case 101.

  Further, the gap 105 communicates with the through hole 115 via a purge flow path outlet 121 opened on the side surface 111 c of the hollow fiber membrane support member 111. The purge flow path outlet 121 is formed below the attachment position of the consolidated resin 132 fitted in the through hole 115.

  Further, a purge channel inlet 120 that communicates between the recess 113 and the through hole 116 is also formed in the recess 113 formed at the center of the hollow fiber membrane support member 111. The purge flow path inlet 120 is also formed below the attachment position of the solidified resin 133 fitted in the through hole 116.

  In addition, annular projecting portions 125 and 126 are formed on the lower surface 111 b of the hollow fiber membrane support member 111 so as to surround the openings of the through holes 115 and 116. One end part 135a and the other end part 135b of the boot 135 that accommodates the hollow fiber membrane 130 are fixed to the annular projecting parts 125 and 126, respectively. Further, a retaining ring 137 is externally fitted to each of the one end portion 135 a and the other end portion 135 b of the boot 135, and the boot 135 is airtightly attached to the hollow fiber membrane support member 111.

  Further, cylindrical baffles 127 and 128 are inserted in the annular projecting portions 125 and 126, respectively. The baffle 127 on the annular projecting portion 125 side is provided so as not to seal the purge flow path outlet 121 and so that its end 127 a is above the opening position of the purge flow path outlet 121. The purge gas that passes through the road exit 121 cannot be circulated unless it bypasses the end 127a of the baffle 127.

  On the other hand, the baffle 128 on the annular projecting portion 126 side is also provided so as not to seal the purge flow path inlet 120 and so that the end portion 128a is above the opening position of the purge flow path inlet 120. The purge gas that passes through the flow path inlet 120 cannot flow unless it bypasses the end portion 128a of the baffle 128.

  On the upper end 101a side of the box-shaped case 101, a rectangular parallelepiped lid 151 is provided with a thin plate-shaped packing 171 described later interposed therebetween. A bottom view of the lid 151 is shown in FIG. 3, and a top view of the packing 171 is shown in FIG. 1, 3 and 4, the lid 151 is fastened and fixed to each other using a plurality of bolt holes 119, 159, 179, etc. formed together with the hollow fiber membrane support member 111 and the packing 171. .

  On the side surface of the lid 151, a dehumidified gas inlet 153 (shown on the left in the figure) for inflow of high-pressure and high-humidity dehumidified gas from outside, and the dehumidified gas after dehumidification flow out to the outside. The dehumidified gas outlets 154 (shown on the right side in the figure) are separated from each other by a separation part 152 at the center.

  Further, a concave portion 155 is formed in a cylindrical shape in the downward direction at a portion where the through hole 115 is formed in the hollow fiber membrane support member 111 at a portion near the dehumidified gas inlet 153 of the lid portion 151. The recess 155 communicates with the dehumidified gas inlet 153.

  A concave portion 156 is also formed in a cylindrical shape in the portion of the lid portion 151 near the dehumidified gas outlet 154 where the through hole 116 is formed in the hollow fiber membrane support member 111. The concave portion 156 is formed into a dehumidified gas. In communication with the outlet 154. The inner diameter of the recess 156 is slightly larger than the inner diameter of the through hole 116. Thereby, a gap 158 is formed between the separation portion 152 of the lid portion 151 and the consolidated resin 133 protruding from the through hole 116 of the hollow fiber membrane support member 111. The gap 158 constitutes a purge gas flow path together with a gap 178 described later.

  The packing 171 is a member of a rectangular thin plate so as to match the shape of the upper end portion 101 a of the box-shaped case 101. The packing 171 is produced by baking NBR (abbreviation of butadiene acrylonitrile rubber, which is a rubber-like substance obtained by copolymerization of butadiene and acrylonitrile) on a SUS plate, for example. It is about 0 mm.

  The packing 171 may be made of a single rubber. However, in consideration of securing the purge gas flow path and dimensional stability, a cork material or a metal plate baked with a rubber material is desirable. The thickness of the packing 171 is also preferably 0.1 mm to 10 mm, and particularly preferably 0.5 to 1.5 mm.

And the through-hole 175 is opened in the packing 171 so that the part in which the through-hole 115 was formed in the hollow fiber membrane support member 111 and the part in which the recessed part 155 was formed in the cover part 151 are included. The packing 171 has a through hole 176 so as to include a portion in which the hollow fiber membrane support member 111 is formed with the recess 113 and the through hole 115 and a portion in which the recess 151 is formed in the lid portion 151. (The positions of the recess 113 and the through holes 115 and 116 in FIG. 4 are indicated by dotted lines).
Further, the packing 171 is provided with annular raised portions 173 and 174 in which the peripheries of the through holes 175 and 176 are raised by about 1 mm. The annular raised portions 173 and 174 are formed on both surfaces of the packing 171. Yes.

  As shown in FIG. 1, when the packing 171 is sandwiched between the hollow fiber membrane support member 111 and the lid 151, the lower surface 151b of the lid 151 near the separation portion 152 and the hollow fiber are equal to the thickness of the packing 171. A gap 178 is formed between the membrane support member 111 and the upper surface 111a near the recess 113 (the position of the gap 178 is shown in FIG. 4). The gap 178 is provided on the through hole 116 side so as to communicate with the gap 158 described above and constitute a part of the purge gas flow path.

  In such a configuration, when a high-pressure and high-humidity dehumidified gas flows into the dehumidified gas inlet 153 of the lid 151 from the outside of the dehumidifier 100, the dehumidified gas passes through the recess 155 of the lid 151 and is hollow fiber. It reaches one end 130a of the film 130 (indicated by an arrow A in FIG. 1). The dehumidified gas that has reached one end portion 130 a of the hollow fiber membrane 130 flows through the inside of the hollow fiber membrane 130, reaches the other end portion 130 b, and flows out into the concave portion 156 of the lid portion 151. As a result, the dehumidified gas after dehumidification that has flowed out into the recess 156 flows out from the dehumidified gas outlet 154 of the lid 151 to the outside of the dehumidifier 100 (indicated by an arrow B in the figure).

  On the other hand, a part of the dehumidified gas that has flowed into the recess 156 passes through a purge gas flow path including a gap 178 and the like provided at the boundary between the lid 151 and the hollow fiber membrane support member 111. It flows into the recess 113 of the hollow fiber membrane support member 111 (indicated by arrow C in the figure). The dehumidified gas is depressurized by passing through the orifice 161 attached to the recess 113, and further decelerated and silenced by the decelerating unit 164 on the outlet side of the orifice 161.

  The purge gas having a low pressure and low humidity reaches the purge flow path inlet 120 from the recess 113 and bypasses the end portion 128a of the baffle 128 into the bellows-shaped boot 135 (that is, outside each hollow fiber membrane 130). Inflow (indicated by arrow D in the figure). At this time, the purge gas is allowed to flow around the other end portion 130b of the hollow fiber membrane 130 by flowing around the end portion 128a of the baffle 128 and flowing into the boot 135, thereby ensuring a long flow path length. Further, it is possible to avoid the purge gas being blown directly into the hollow fiber membrane 130 by the baffle 128. Furthermore, by configuring the boot 135 in a bellows shape, a turbulent flow is generated in the purge gas that has flowed into the boot 135, and the water permeated and separated by the hollow fiber membrane 130 can be efficiently scavenged and removed.

  Thereafter, the purge gas in the boot 135 bypasses the end portion 127a of the baffle 127 on the one end portion 130a side of the hollow fiber membrane 130 and flows out into the gap 105 from the purge flow path outlet 121 (arrow E in the figure). ). Also in this case, the purge gas can be circulated to the vicinity of the one end portion 130a of the hollow fiber membrane 130 by the baffle 127, so that a long channel length can be secured. The purge gas is discharged from the dehumidifier 100 through the gap 105 through the purge discharge port 103 formed in the box-shaped case 101.

  Here, the concave portion 155 of the lid portion 151 and the inner side of the hollow fiber membrane 130, the concave portion 156 of the lid portion 151, the gap 158, and the gap 178 indicated by the arrows A to C described above are high-pressure dehumidified gas that flows. An area. In contrast, the outside of the hollow fiber membrane 130 indicated by the arrows D and E, and the inside of the box-shaped case 101 excluding the gap 105 and the boot 135 can be said to be a low-pressure region through which a low-pressure purge gas flows.

  And in the arrow A part, the recessed part 155 is a high pressure area | region, and there exists a possibility that a dehumidified gas may leak out of the dehumidification apparatus 100 from between the cover part 151 and the hollow fiber membrane support member 111, but the cover part 151 and the hollow fiber By providing the packing 171 between the membrane support members 111, it is possible to prevent leakage of the dehumidified gas from between the lid portion 151 and the hollow fiber membrane support member 111. Also, in the portion indicated by the arrow B, the concave portion 156 is a high-pressure region. However, due to the packing 171 between the lid portion 151 and the hollow fiber membrane support member 111, the portion covered between the lid portion 151 and the hollow fiber membrane support member 111 is covered to the outside. Leakage of dehumidified gas can be prevented.

  Further, the packing 171 is a member for preventing leakage of the dehumidified gas. In the portion indicated by the arrow C, a gap at the boundary between the lid portion 151 formed by the thickness of the packing 171 and the hollow fiber membrane support member 111 is formed. By using 178 as the purge gas flow path, the purge gas can be circulated without providing a tubular purge passage inside the lid portion 151 as in Patent Document 1 of the related art.

  Therefore, the lid 151 can be easily processed as compared with the conventional case, and the manufacturing cost can be reduced. In addition, since the purge gas flow path can be formed simply by forming the through hole 176 in the packing 171, high-precision processing can be easily performed, and the reliability of the apparatus can be improved. Furthermore, by configuring the packing 171 and the lid portion 151 separately, only one of them can be replaced depending on the degree of corrosion of the gap 178 portion.

  In the present invention, it has been described that only a gap 178 formed by the thickness of the packing 171 constitutes a part of the purge gas flow path, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, the lower surface 151 b of the lid portion 151 and the upper surface 111 a of the hollow fiber membrane support member 111 face each other between the concave portion 156 of the lid portion 151 and the concave portion 113 of the hollow fiber membrane support member 111. Notching a part of the separation part 152 of the lid 151 (indicated by the part F in FIG. 1) and a part of the upper surface 111a in the vicinity of the recess 113 of the hollow fiber membrane support member 111 (indicated by the part G in the figure). Thus, the purge gas flow path may be enlarged. Thereby, the purge gas can be circulated without being retained in the gap 178.

  Further, in the present invention, the dehumidifying device 100 has been described as including the packing 171, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and the dehumidifying device 100 may be configured without the packing 171. In this case, a portion where the lower surface 151b of the lid portion 151 and the upper surface 111a of the hollow fiber membrane support member 111 face each other between the concave portion 156 of the lid portion 151 and the concave portion 113 of the hollow fiber membrane support member 111 (that is, the above-mentioned By purging the portion 151 of the lid portion 151 and the portion G of the hollow fiber membrane support member 111 or one of the portions F and G), purge gas is supplied to the boundary between the lid portion 151 and the hollow fiber membrane support member 111. A gap for distribution can be formed (not shown). Also in this case, the purge gas can be circulated without providing a tubular purge passage inside the lid portion 151.

The longitudinal cross-sectional view of the dehumidification apparatus which is embodiment of this invention Top view of hollow fiber membrane support member Bottom view of the lid Top view of packing

Explanation of symbols

100 Dehumidifier
101 Box-type case
111 Hollow fiber membrane support member
130 Hollow fiber membrane
151 Lid
154 Dehumidified gas outlet
178 gap
161 Orifice
171 Packing

Claims (3)

Provided with a plurality of hollow fiber membranes made of polymer permeable membrane, the inside of the hollow fiber membrane as a high pressure region through which the dehumidified gas flows, and the outside of the hollow fiber membrane as a low pressure region through which purge gas flows In the dehumidifying device, a case portion for holding and storing the hollow fiber membrane, a lid portion for sealing the case portion, a dehumidified gas inflow portion into which dehumidified gas flows from the outside, and after passing through the hollow fiber membrane A dehumidified gas outflow part that discharges the dehumidified gas to the outside, and is connected to the dehumidified gas outflow part, and is formed at the boundary between the case part and the lid part, and after passing through the hollow fiber membrane A dehumidifying apparatus comprising a purge gas flow path for allowing a part of the dehumidified gas to flow as the purge gas to the low pressure region. The dehumidifying device according to claim 1, further comprising a seal member interposed between the case portion and the lid portion, wherein the purge gas flow path is formed in the seal member. The dehumidifying device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the purge gas flow path is a gap formed by cutting out a portion where the lid portion and the case portion face each other.

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