JP2006118724A - Humidity control device and its operation method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a water-saving and energy-saving type humidity control device and its operation method by solving an overshoot phenomenon from the aspect of the shape and a material of a humidifying element. <P>SOLUTION: This humidity control device comprises a humidifier 6 comprising an incline honeycomb 1 mounted in a state of being opened at its front and rear both faces and upper and lower both faces, made of inorganic fiber humidity absorbing material and having a thickness in the cross direction of 20-100mm, and a water spray pipe 5 for spraying the water from an upper opening of the incline honeycomb 1, a dew point sensor 7 for detecting a humidity of the air for air conditioning, passing through the humidifier 6, and an on/off control valve 8 for executing and stopping the water spraying to keep the humidity of the air for air conditioning to a specific value on the basis of a result of the detection of the dew point sensor 7. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a vaporization-type humidity control device having high humidity controllability and excellent water-saving ability, and an operation method thereof.

  There are various types of vaporizing humidifiers that allow clean humidification and no risk of condensation, such as dripping type, moisture permeable membrane type, flow down type, rotary type, and suction type. Both methods have a problem in that when the water supply is stopped during the on / off control, humidification continues until the humidifying material having a large water retention amount dries, so-called overshoot phenomenon occurs, and accurate humidity control cannot be performed.

  In order to solve this problem, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-296536 provides humidity detection means for detecting the humidity of air for air conditioning so that the humidity is maintained at a set value based on the detection result of the humidity detection means. A humidity control apparatus for an air conditioning facility provided with a control means for starting and stopping a vaporizing humidifier, and whether or not the humidity tends to recover based on the detection result of the humidity detection means to constitute the control means. A humidity control apparatus for an air conditioning facility is provided that includes a determination unit that determines whether or not and a control unit that outputs a stop signal to the vaporizing humidifier when the determination result of the determination unit is a recovery tendency from insufficient humidity. ing.

On the other hand, JP-A-5-506002 discloses a contact body including a vaporizing humidifier using a skewed honeycomb as a humidifying element, and this contact body can be applied to a cooling device or a humidifier. It is disclosed. In general, when using a vaporizing type humidifier with a slanted honeycomb as a humidifying element, accurate humidity control cannot be performed with the humidifier alone. In order to adjust the humidity by inserting a cooler in the subsequent stage and further increase the lowered temperature, a heater is installed in the subsequent stage of the cooler to adjust the temperature.
JP-A-4-136661 (Claims 1, 1 and 2) Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-296536 (Claims 1, 2 and 3) JP 5-506002 (Claim 1, page 3, column 5, line 42)

  However, the humidity control device described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-296536 is intended to solve the overshoot phenomenon from the mechanical control side, and although the overshoot phenomenon is mitigated, it is sufficiently solved. Not. Moreover, there is no description regarding the material of the humidification element of a vaporization type humidifier. Although it is disclosed that the contact body described in JP-T-5-506002 can be applied to a humidifier, there is no description relating to the material of the humidifying element of the vaporizing humidifier, and a humidity control method is also described. Absent. In the case of a vaporizer-type humidifier using a slanted honeycomb as a humidifying element, which is generally used, because it is continuous water supply, it uses a large amount of water, and also consumes a lot of energy, such as a cooler and a heater. There is a problem of high cost.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to solve the overshoot phenomenon in terms of the shape and material of the humidifying element, and to provide a water-saving and energy-saving humidity control device and its operating method.

  In such a situation, the present inventors have intensively studied, and as a humidifying element, both the front and rear surfaces and the upper and lower surfaces are arranged to be open, and the thickness in the front and rear direction made from the inorganic fiber hygroscopic material has a specific range. It is found that if a watering honeycomb is used and the water sprinkled on the slanting honeycomb is controlled on and off, the humidifying element is easy to get wet and dry easily, so there is no overshoot phenomenon, and not only water saving but also energy saving can be achieved. The invention has been completed.

  That is, the present invention (1) is a skewed honeycomb having a thickness of 20 to 100 mm in the front-rear direction and formed from an inorganic fiber hygroscopic material, with the front and rear surfaces and the upper and lower surfaces being opened, and the upper surface of the skewed honeycomb. A humidifier comprising a watering pipe that sprinkles from above the opening, a dew point sensor that detects the humidity of the air-conditioning air that has passed through the humidifier, and the humidity of the air-conditioning air is a predetermined value based on the detection result of the dew point sensor And a humidity control device having an on / off control valve for stopping the water spray so as to be maintained.

  Moreover, this invention (2) provides the said humidity control apparatus which is equipped with two or more humidifiers, and performs on-off control of the stop of the watering to each skewed honeycomb.

  Moreover, this invention (3) provides the said humidity control apparatus whose thickness in the front-back direction of a skewed honeycomb is 35-60 mm.

  Moreover, this invention (4) is the said humidity control apparatus whose said inorganic fiber hygroscopic material is a glass fiber, ceramic fiber, or alumina fiber base material containing 1 or 2 or more binders chosen from an alumina, a silica, and a titania. Is to provide.

  In the invention (5), the inorganic fiber hygroscopic material has a drying rate of 0.01 to 0.3 g water / g element / minute, a water absorption time of 25 seconds or less, and a water retention amount per unit mass of 0.3. The humidity control device is provided with a ˜1.5 g moisture / g element.

  Moreover, this invention (6) sprinkles water from the upper surface opening of the 1 or 2 or more skewed honeycomb with the thickness in the front-back direction produced from an inorganic fiber hygroscopic material, and distribute | circulates supply air from a front surface opening Humidity control to obtain air conditioning air, detect the humidity of the air conditioning air, and stop the watering by on / off control so that the humidity of the air conditioning air is maintained at a predetermined value based on the detection result of the dew point sensor A method for operating the apparatus is provided.

  Moreover, this invention (7) provides the operating method of the said humidity control apparatus whose thickness in the front-back direction of a skewed honeycomb is 35-60 mm.

  Moreover, this invention (8) is the said humidity control apparatus whose said inorganic fiber hygroscopic material is a glass fiber, ceramic fiber, or alumina fiber base material containing 1 or 2 or more binders chosen from an alumina, a silica, and a titania. The driving method is provided.

  In the invention (9), the inorganic fiber hygroscopic material has a drying rate of 0.01 to 0.3 g moisture / g element / minute, a water absorption rate of 25 seconds or less, and a water retention amount per unit mass of 0.3. An operation method of the humidity control device which is ˜1.5 g moisture / g element is provided.

  According to the present invention, the front and rear both surfaces and the upper and lower surfaces are arranged to be open, and a skewed honeycomb having a small thickness in the front and rear direction made from an inorganic fiber hygroscopic material is used, and on / off control of water sprayed to the skewed honeycomb is performed. For this reason, the humidifying element is easily wetted and easily dried, so that the overshoot phenomenon is eliminated and accurate humidity control is possible. Moreover, since it is not continuous watering, it can save water, and since a cooler and a heater are unnecessary, installation cost can be reduced and energy saving can be achieved.

  As shown in the schematic diagram of FIG. 1, the humidifier used in the humidity control device of the present invention includes a skewed honeycomb 1 and a watering pipe 5 used as a humidifying element. As the skewed honeycomb 1, a known skewed honeycomb in which the front surface 103, the rear surface 102, the upper surface 101, and the lower surface 104 are arranged to be open can be used. The skewed honeycomb 1 has a honeycomb shape in which a plurality of corrugated sheets 2 and 3 (hereinafter also referred to as “corrugated sheets”) having a corrugated shape propagating in one direction are laminated and adjacent to each other. The corrugated sheets 2 and 3 are honeycomb-like bodies that are laminated so that the wave propagation directions cross obliquely, and are arranged so that the wave propagation directions of every other sheet are substantially in the same direction. . Such a structure of the skewed honeycomb 1 is disclosed in, for example, JP-A-2003-202191.

  In the present invention, the thickness (t) of the skewed honeycomb in the front-rear direction (circulation direction of the supply air) is 20 to 100 mm, preferably 35 to 60 mm, particularly preferably 45 to 55 mm. When the thickness is less than 20 mm, the humidification efficiency is lowered, which is not preferable. When the thickness exceeds 100 mm, it is difficult to wet and difficult to dry, and an overshoot phenomenon is likely to occur. Conventionally, the thickness of a skewed honeycomb used as a humidifier or an air purifier is 100 mm or more, usually about 200 mm. Therefore, it takes time to wet the entire skewed honeycomb and is difficult to dry. . On the other hand, the skew honeycomb used in the present invention is as thin as the above-mentioned thickness and easily wets and dries even on the material surface, so that the overshoot phenomenon can be surely prevented.

  The height of the cells of the skewed honeycomb, that is, the height of the cell indicating the dimension between the ridges and valleys of the corrugation is usually 2 to 8 mm, preferably 3 to 5 mm. If the cell size is less than 2 mm, the production is difficult and the pressure loss increases, which is not preferable. Further, if the cell size exceeds 8 mm, the humidification efficiency is lowered, which is not preferable. The cell width in the state of the corrugated sheet of the skewed honeycomb, that is, the cell pitch is usually 2.5 to 12.0 mm, preferably 5 to 10.0 mm.

The material of the slanted honeycomb has irregularities on the surface, and the use of a material with a porous inside allows the surface area of the element to be increased, and the water that permeates and flows down to the element exhibits appropriate water retention and is easy to get wet. And it is preferable at the point which is easy to dry. Examples of such a material include a material having a three-dimensional network structure and a predetermined inter-fiber porosity, and specifically, 1 or 2 selected from the group consisting of alumina, silica and titania. An inorganic fiber hygroscopic material containing the above binder can be used. The inorganic fiber hygroscopic material can be produced by a known method. For example, a paper made of glass fiber, ceramic fiber or alumina fiber is mixed with a binder such as alumina sol or a filler such as alumina hydrate. After being dipped or coated, dried and corrugated, then subjected to drying treatment and heat treatment, and further dipped or coated in the slurry as necessary, followed by drying treatment and heat treatment to obtain moisture and organic content. Remove. When silica or titania is contained in addition to alumina, for example, the blending amount of silica and titania is usually 5 to 40 parts by weight with respect to 100 parts by weight of alumina.

  Moreover, the inter-fiber porosity of the inorganic fiber hygroscopic material is usually 65 to 85%, preferably 75 to 82%. By making the inter-fiber porosity within this range, it is easy to wet and dry. Moreover, the inorganic fiber hygroscopic material thickness, that is, the wall thickness is usually 200 to 1000 μm, preferably 300 to 800 μm. When the inorganic fiber hygroscopic material has the porosity and the thickness, the contact efficiency between water and air is increased and the strength is sufficient.

The inorganic fiber hygroscopic material preferably has a drying rate of 0.01 to 0.3 g moisture / g element · min, and more preferably 0.05 to 0.2 g moisture / g element · min. The element refers to an inorganic fiber hygroscopic material. When the drying rate is less than 0.01 g water / g element · minute, an overshoot phenomenon in which humidification is continued for a considerable period of time and the humidity rises easily occurs even when watering is turned off. Further, if the drying rate exceeds 0.3 g moisture / g element · minute, drying is too fast, and when the watering is turned off, the humidity is suddenly lowered and reaches the target dew point range or less. In order to measure the drying speed, first, the masses of the dried inorganic fiber hygroscopic material and the retained inorganic fiber hygroscopic material are weighed, respectively. Next, the water-absorbing inorganic fiber hygroscopic material is placed in a dryer at 105 ° C., and weighed regularly until it reaches a steady state, and the time required to reach a steady state is measured.
Drying rate (g / min) = (W ₂ −W ₁ ) / W ₁ × T (1)
Obtained from (wherein, W ₁ is the mass g of the inorganic fiber absorbent material in the steady state, W ₂ is weight g, T inorganic fiber absorbent material water-retaining shows the required time period to reach steady state.) .

  The inorganic fiber hygroscopic material preferably has a water absorption time of 25 seconds or less, more preferably 10 seconds or less. If the water absorption time exceeds 25 seconds, humidification is not immediately started even when watering is turned on, which is not preferable in that the humidification response time becomes long. The water absorption time is obtained by dropping 50 μl of water with a dropper onto the inorganic fiber hygroscopic material and measuring the time (seconds) until the water is absorbed by the inorganic fiber hygroscopic material.

The inorganic fiber hygroscopic material preferably has a water retention per unit mass of 0.3 to 1.5 g moisture / g element, more preferably 0.5 to 1.3 g moisture / g element. If the water retention amount is less than 0.3 g moisture / g element, it will be easy to dry, while the humidification will be insufficient, and if it exceeds 1.5 g moisture / g element, it will be difficult to dry and it will be too humid. To measure the water retention amount, first, the mass of the dried inorganic fiber hygroscopic material is weighed. Next, the inorganic fiber hygroscopic material is placed in a water bath and immersed. The inorganic fiber hygroscopic material is taken out from the water tank, weighed, and the following formula (2);
Water retention amount per unit mass (g / g element) = (W ₃ −W ₁ ) / W ₁ (2)
(Wherein, W ₁ is weight g of dry inorganic fibers hygroscopic material, W ₃ in. Which shows the mass g of the inorganic fibers hygroscopic material after water retention) obtained from.

  Next, a humidity control apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining the operation method of the humidity control apparatus of this example. In FIG. 2, the humidity control device 10 includes a humidifier 6 including a skewed honeycomb 1, a water spray pipe 5 that sprinkles water from above the upper surface opening of the skewed honeycomb 1, and the humidity of the air-conditioning air that has passed through the humidifier 6. And an on / off control valve 8 that stops the operation of watering so that the humidity of the air-conditioning air is maintained at a predetermined value based on the detection result of the dew point sensor 7. The skewed honeycomb 1 is installed in a duct 11, an inlet temperature / dew point meter 12 for measuring an inlet temperature and a dew point is installed on the upstream side of the skewed honeycomb 1, and an outlet temperature and a dew point meter are installed on the downstream side of the skewed honeycomb 1. An outlet temperature / dew point meter 13 for measuring the dew point is installed. A rectifying plate 14 is installed on the downstream side of the skewed honeycomb 1 and on the upstream side of the outlet temperature / dew point meter 13. The control unit 9 receives the detection signal of the dew point sensor 7 and transmits an operation signal or a stop signal to the on / off control valve 8 based on the detection signal. The dew point sensor 7 may be a humidity sensor.

As the on / off control method, a known method can be applied. As an example, a target dew point T ₁ for air-conditioning air is set, and an allowable control width ± α is determined for the target dew point T ₁ . For example, when starting up in winter, the dew point is usually low, so the on / off control valve 8 is turned on and watering begins. When the slanting honeycomb 1 serving as a humidifying element reaches the upper limit value T ₁ + α of the control width within a few minutes to 5 minutes, the on / off control valve 8 is turned off by the signals of the dew point sensor 7 and the control unit 9, and the watering is stopped. When watering stops, the humidifying element is a material that is easy to dry, so the dew point tends to decrease almost simultaneously. When the downward trend continues for several minutes and reaches the lower limit value T ₁ -α, the on / off control valve 8 is actuated based on the signal from the control unit 9 to start watering. When watering begins, the dew point tends to increase almost simultaneously because the humidifying element is a material that is easily wetted. When the upward trend continues for several minutes and reaches the upper limit value T ₁ + α, the on / off control valve 8 is turned off and watering stops. Thereafter, the above operating state is sequentially repeated, and the air for air conditioning is continuously obtained within the range of T ₁ ± α of the target humidity.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the humidity control device of the present invention includes two or more (two in this example) humidifiers 6, 6, and the operation of watering the respective skewed honeycombs 1, 1. The stop may be controlled on and off. In this case, the thicknesses of the respective slanted honeycombs 1 and 1 are in the above range, and the water spray is controlled on and off independently. Therefore, even if the amount of humidification applied to the supply air increases, the overshoot phenomenon is caused. Accurate humidity control is possible without generating it. The humidity control apparatus 10a shown in FIG. 3 is suitable when dry air in winter is used as supply air.

  In the humidity control apparatus of the present invention, the supply air that normally passes through the dust filter is used. Thereby, the wetting and drying characteristics of the skewed honeycomb as the humidifying element can be more effectively brought out. The temperature of the air-conditioning air that has passed through the skew honeycomb may be adjusted by a heater. The water sprinkled down from the upper surface of the skewed honeycomb may be drained as a drain or may be used in a circulating manner.

  EXAMPLES Next, although an Example is given and this invention is demonstrated more concretely, this is only an illustration and does not restrict | limit this invention.

  The humidity control apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 2 incorporating the following slanted honeycomb as a humidifying element is used, and the operation is performed under the following operating conditions. The dew point and temperature of the air) were observed. In addition, Example 1 assumes low humidity, ie, January in winter. The result is shown in FIG.

(Manufacture of skewed honeycomb)
The E glass fiber paper was dipped in a slurry in which aluminum hydroxide and alumina sol were mixed and then dried, and was subjected to corrugation processing at a pitch of 11 mm, a peak height of 6 mm, and a skew angle of 30 degrees to obtain a corrugated molded body. The corrugated compacts were laminated so that the corrugations crossed alternately and fired at 700 ° C. The fired body was cut into a width of 200 mm, a height of 400 mm, and a thickness of 50 mm to obtain an inorganic fiber hygroscopic material. The inorganic fiber hygroscopic material was fitted into a stainless outer frame to obtain a humidifying element body. The obtained inorganic fiber hygroscopic material was composed of 90% by weight of the alumina compound and 20% by weight of E glass fiber, and had a bulk specific gravity of 1.1 by Archimedes method and a porosity of 80% by Archimedes method.

(Operating conditions)
・ Control target dew point value: 13.9 ± 1.5 ℃ assuming 20% outside air introduction ratio ・ Control method: ON / OFF control valve 8 is turned on when dew point is 13.5 ℃ or less, dew point 13.9 ℃ On / off control / supply air that turns off the on / off control valve 8 when the above is reached; Air that has passed through the dust removal filter at a temperature of 21 ° C. and a dew point of 11.0 ° C .; Processing air volume; 12 m ³ / min. 5m / sec)
・ Watering method: Water is sprayed from the watering pipe 5 at a flow rate of 1.2 liters / minute, and the drainage is not circulated.

  As is clear from FIG. 4, in Example 1, the dew point of the outlet air reaches the control target value after about 5 minutes after the start of watering (indicated by “watering on” at the time of start-up in the figure). The operation of the on / off control valve was repeatedly stopped in a cycle of 3 to 5 minutes, and the humidity could be accurately controlled within the target control range without causing an overshoot phenomenon.

  The same procedure as in Example 1 was performed except that the supply air was air having a temperature of 21 ° C. and a dew point of 13.0 ° C. that passed through the dust removal filter. That is, Example 2 assumes the interim period of April. The result is shown in FIG.

  As is apparent from FIG. 5, in Example 2, the on / off control valve is repeatedly stopped in a cycle of about 30 minutes, and humidity control can be accurately performed within the target control range without causing an overshoot phenomenon. It was. The reason why the time until the start of watering is longer than that in Example 1 is that the time for drying the humidifying element is delayed because the supply air is moist.

  This was performed in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the supply air was changed to an air whose temperature passed through the dust removal filter was 18.2 ° C. and the dew point was 10 to 12 ° C. That is, it is assumed that the inlet dew point fluctuates in Example 3. The result is shown in FIG.

  As is apparent from FIG. 6, in the third embodiment, the on / off control valve is repeatedly stopped in a cycle of about 3 to 5 minutes, and the humidity is accurately within the target control range without causing an overshoot phenomenon. I was able to control it.

Comparative Example 1
The same method as in Example 1 was performed except that the thickness of the skewed honeycomb was changed to 50 mm instead of 50 mm. The result is shown in FIG.

  As is clear from FIG. 7, in Comparative Example 1, although the on / off control valve was repeatedly stopped in a cycle of about 10 to 15 minutes, the dew point continued to rise and water was retained even after the watering was turned off. Overshoot continued for more than 10 minutes due to the influence of moisture, and the humidity could not be accurately controlled within the target control range.

Comparative Example 2
The same procedure as in Example 1 was performed except that the element was processed with a stainless foil having the same shape and dimensions as in Example 1 instead of the thickness of the skewed honeycomb of 50 mm. The result is shown in FIG.

  As is clear from FIG. 8, in Comparative Example 2, the response time from the start of control (in the figure, at 7 minutes on the time axis) until the outlet dew point starts to increase is long, and the target is reached even after 30 minutes. The range was not reached. For materials with low water absorption, the target dew point could not be reached due to the low water content.

It is a schematic diagram of the humidifier used with the humidity control apparatus of this Embodiment. It is a flowchart of the humidity control apparatus of this Embodiment. It is a flowchart of the other humidity control apparatus of this Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the driving | running result of the humidity control apparatus of Example 1. FIG. It is a figure which shows the driving | running result of the humidity control apparatus of Example 2. FIG. It is a figure which shows the driving | running result of the humidity control apparatus of Example 3. FIG. It is a figure which shows the driving | running result of the humidity control apparatus of the comparative example 1. It is a figure which shows the driving | running result of the humidity control apparatus of the comparative example 2.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Slanting honeycomb 2, 3 Corrugated sheet 5 Sprinkling pipe 6 Humidifier 7 Dew point sensor 8 On-off control valve 9 Control part 10 Humidity control apparatus 11 Duct 12 Inlet temperature and dew point meter 13 Outlet temperature and dew point

Claims (9)

A skewed honeycomb having a thickness of 20 to 100 mm in the front-rear direction and made of an inorganic fiber hygroscopic material, the front and rear surfaces and the upper and lower surfaces being opened, and a water spray pipe that sprinkles water from above the upper surface opening of the skewed honeycomb. A humidifier comprising:
A dew point sensor that detects the humidity of the air-conditioning air that has passed through the humidifier;
A humidity control apparatus comprising: an on / off control valve that stops the operation of watering so that the humidity of the air-conditioning air is maintained at a predetermined value based on a detection result of the dew point sensor.   The humidity control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein two or more humidifiers are provided, and the operation stoppage of water spraying to each skew honeycomb is controlled on and off.   The humidity control apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the thickness of the skew honeycomb in the front-rear direction is 35 to 60 mm.   The inorganic fiber hygroscopic material is a glass fiber, a ceramic fiber or an alumina fiber base material containing one or more binders selected from alumina, silica and titania. The humidity control apparatus according to 1.   The inorganic fiber hygroscopic material has a drying rate of 0.01 to 0.3 g moisture / g element / minute, a water absorption time of 25 seconds or less, and a water retention amount per unit mass of 0.3 to 1.5 g moisture / g element. The humidity control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the humidity control apparatus is provided.   Sprinkling water from the top opening of one or more skewed honeycombs having a thickness in the front-rear direction of 20 to 100 mm made from the inorganic fiber hygroscopic material, and supplying air from the front opening to obtain air-conditioning air, A method of operating a humidity control device, wherein the humidity of air-conditioning air is detected, and the watering is stopped by on / off control so that the humidity of the air-conditioning air is maintained at a predetermined value based on the detection result of the dew point sensor .   The operating method of a humidity control apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the thickness of the skew honeycomb in the front-rear direction is 35 to 60 mm.   The humidity according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the inorganic fiber hygroscopic material is a glass fiber, ceramic fiber or alumina fiber base material containing one or more binders selected from alumina, silica and titania. Operation method of the control device.   The inorganic fiber hygroscopic material has a drying rate of 0.01 to 0.3 g moisture / g element / minute, a water absorption rate of 25 seconds or less, and a water retention amount per unit mass of 0.3 to 1.5 g moisture / g element. The operation method of the humidity control apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the humidity control apparatus is provided.

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