JP2007007540A - Compressed gas dehumidifying apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a compressed gas dehumidifying apparatus which can appropriately decide whether the cooler 35 of a heat exchanger 25 for cooling compressed gas to condense water to dew is eroded or not. <P>SOLUTION: In order to cool the compressed gas compressed by a compressor 10 by heat exchange with a refrigerant cooled by a refrigerating cycle to condense water in the compressed gas to dew and to remove the dew, the compressed gas dehumidifying apparatus is equipped with a refrigerating compressor 21, a condenser 22, an expander 24 and a heat exchanger 25. Further the compressed gas dehumidifying apparatus is equipped with a corrosion testing material which is arranged so as to come into contact with the drain in the discharging channel of drain discharged after dew condensation in the heat exchanger 25 in order to decide a corrosion state in the heat exchanger 25. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a compressor for refrigeration, a condenser to condense and remove moisture in the compressed gas by cooling the compressed gas compressed by the compressor by heat exchange with the refrigerant cooled by the refrigeration cycle. The present invention relates to a compressed gas dehumidifying device including an expander and a heat exchanger.

  The air dryer is used as a dehumidifier for compressed gas that removes moisture from the compressed gas compressed by the compressor. In an air dryer using a refrigeration cycle (hereinafter referred to as a “compressed gas dehumidifying device”), the compressed gas is cooled by exchanging heat with a refrigerant by a heat exchanger, and condensed water is generated, separated, and discharged (hereinafter referred to as “drainage”). Dehumidify by discharging as “drain”.

In the portion of the heat exchanger that is cooled by the refrigerant (hereinafter referred to as “cooler”), the refrigerant is corroded by the compressed gas mixed with the corrosive gas in the surrounding environment and the drain in which the gas is dissolved, and the refrigerant is May leak. It is considered that corrosion is promoted by the state in which the corrosive substance is concentrated by condensed water (drain).
In order to clarify that the cause of the leakage of the refrigerant is corrosion, conventionally, it is necessary to disassemble the heat exchanger and confirm that the copper pipe or the like of the cooler is corroded. The reason why the decomposition is required in this way is that the cooler or the like is housed in the chamber of the heat exchanger and cannot be visually recognized from the outside. However, disassembling a heat exchanger is laborious and expensive, and cannot be disassembled without a dedicated jig.

Furthermore, even if the corrosive gas in the surrounding environment is pointed out at the time when the failure of the compressed gas dehumidifier occurs, there is an aspect that the causal relationship cannot be clearly proved.
Moreover, even if the presence of corrosive gas or the like in the surrounding environment is known, it has been difficult to provide guidance for improving the environment because there is no standard in the past.
Therefore, it is conceivable to provide a viewing window on the outer wall of the heat exchanger and to directly view the inside from the outside. However, it is difficult to provide a viewing window capable of appropriately monitoring the entire cooler from the outside, together with a problem when the inner surface of the viewing window becomes dirty and a problem of manufacturing costs.

On the other hand, for a heat exchange system device such as a radiator, there has been proposed a fluid state detector that can see the degree of corrosivity of a heat exchange fluid such as an engine coolant used in the device (see Patent Document 1). ). This fluid state detector has a configuration in which the corrosive separation means (metal diaphragm) that contacts the heat exchange fluid that is a liquid can be visually confirmed from the viewing window. This detects the corrosiveness of the fluid itself, and does not detect the corrosiveness when the fluid present in the gas is condensed, that is, the environment where the heat exchanger pipe is placed.
Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. 7-104265 (Fig. 4)

The problem to be solved regarding the compressed gas dehumidifier is to determine whether the cooler of the heat exchanger that cools the compressed gas and condenses moisture is corroded due to corrosive gas in the surrounding environment. It is difficult to do.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a compressed gas dehumidifying device capable of appropriately determining whether or not a cooler of a heat exchanger is corroded.

The present invention has the following configuration in order to achieve the above object.
According to one form of the compressed gas dehumidifying device according to the present invention, the compressed gas compressed by the compressor is cooled by exchanging heat with the refrigerant cooled by the refrigeration cycle, thereby condensing moisture in the compressed gas. A refrigeration compressor, a condenser, an expander, and a heat exchanger are provided for removal, and the state of corrosion in the heat exchanger is determined in the drain flow path of the drain that is condensed and discharged by the heat exchanger. In order to achieve this, the present invention is characterized in that a corrosion test material is provided so that the drain comes into contact therewith.

Moreover, according to one form of the compressed gas dehumidification apparatus concerning this invention, the said to-be-corroded test material is accommodated in the test material storage container connected in the piping which forms the discharge flow path of the said drain so that extraction / insertion is possible. It can be characterized by being.
Moreover, according to one form of the compressed gas dehumidification apparatus concerning this invention, the said test material storage container is provided at least partially transparently so that the corrosion test material accommodated in the inside can be visually observed. Can be a feature.

Moreover, according to one form of the compressed gas dehumidifying apparatus concerning this invention, the said drain can contact the said to-be-corroded test material in the state of the spray mixed with gas, or spraying, and a drain is in the said test material storage container. The drain inlet of the test material storage container is provided substantially above the drain outlet so as to be able to accumulate.
Moreover, according to one form of the compressed gas dehumidifying apparatus concerning this invention, the said drain can contact the said to-be-corroded test material in the state of the spray mixed with gas, or spraying, and a drain is in the said test material storage container. It can be characterized in that at least a part of the test material to be corroded can be immersed in the drain when accumulated, and the test material to be corroded is held substantially in the vertical direction in the test material storage container.

Moreover, according to one form of the compressed gas dehumidification apparatus concerning this invention, the said corrosion-resistant test material is the same material as the material which comprises the cooler which is a part cooled with the refrigerant | coolant in the said heat exchanger. It can be characterized by being.
Moreover, according to one form of the compressed gas dehumidification apparatus concerning this invention, the said to-be-corroded test material is corroded more easily than the material which comprises the cooler which is a part cooled with the refrigerant | coolant in the said heat exchanger. It can be characterized by being a material.

  According to the compressed gas dehumidifying apparatus according to the present invention, it is possible to check the corrosion test material disposed so that the drain contacts with the drain flow path of the drain that is condensed and discharged by the heat exchanger. It is possible to determine the corrosion state in the heat exchanger under the conditions of Since the corrosion test material is disposed in the drain discharge flow path, it is not necessary to disassemble the heat exchanger, and has a particularly advantageous effect that the corrosion state can be determined easily and suitably.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, an example of the best mode of a compressed gas dehumidifier according to the present invention will be described in detail based on the attached drawings (FIGS. 1 and 2). FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram illustrating a compressed gas dehumidifier according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a test material storage container according to the present invention. In addition, although this form is an example of an apparatus which dehumidifies compressed air and it may replace with "gas" and may describe as "air", this invention is not limited to this and generally applies to gas.
The compressed gas dehumidifying device cools the compressed gas compressed by the compressor 10 by exchanging heat with the refrigerant cooled by the refrigeration cycle, thereby condensing and removing moisture in the compressed gas. As a basic configuration, a refrigeration compressor 21, a condenser 22, an expander 24, and a heat exchanger 25 are provided. In this embodiment, the condenser fan 23, the capacity control valve 26, the accumulator 27, the drain discharge pipe 40, the valve 41, the electromagnetic valve type drain trap 60, the controller 61 thereof, and the like are provided. These configurations are the same as those of the refrigerator.

The heat exchanger 25 includes an air inlet 31 and an air outlet 32, and is provided in an airtight chamber shape. The air inlet 31 is connected to the compressor 10 and the air outlet 32 is connected to various pneumatic devices (not shown) that require compressed air.
Further, the heat exchanger 25 is provided with a cooler 35 into which the refrigerant expanded through the expander 24 is introduced. The cooler 35 is cooled by removing the heat of vaporization due to the evaporation (adiabatic expansion) of the refrigerant, and the compressed air is cooled by exchanging heat to be dewed, thereby dehumidifying. Heat transfer fins 36 are attached to the outside of the pipes constituting the cooler 35 in order to efficiently exchange heat.

The heat exchanger 25 is provided with a reheater 38. The reheater 38 performs heat exchange between the hot and humid compressed air introduced from the air inlet 31 and the cooled and dehumidified compressed air discharged from the air outlet 32. As a result, the introduced compressed air is precooled before cooling by the cooler 35, and the compressed air supplied to the pneumatic equipment is reheated to an appropriate temperature and discharged in a dried state.
For example, when compressed air of 40 ° C., relative humidity of 100%, and 0.7 MPa is introduced into the heat exchanger 25 from the air inlet 31, compression of 30 ° C., relative humidity of 30%, dew point of 10 ° C., and 0.7 MPa Air can be discharged from the air outlet 32.
In addition, the structure of the above heat exchanger 25 is a well-known technique, and detailed description is abbreviate | omitted.

Reference numeral 50 denotes a corrosion test material, and as shown in FIG. 2, the drain is disposed in contact with the drain flow path of the drain that is condensed and discharged by the heat exchanger 25. The corrosion test material 50 is a test piece for monitoring and judging the corrosion state in the heat exchanger 25.
Further, the corrosion test material 50 is accommodated in a test material storage container 51 connected in a pipe (drain discharge pipe 40) that forms a drain discharge channel. The drain discharge channel is formed by connecting a valve 41, a test material storage container 51, and a drain trap 60 in this order from a drain outlet 33 of the heat exchanger 25 through a pipe (drain discharge pipe 40).
Note that the test material storage container 51 is in a drain discharge flow path, and is a portion in which the flow path is expanded compared to the front and rear drain discharge pipes 40. For this reason, in many cases, the drainage contacts the corroded test material 50 held inside the test material storage container 51 in a state where the drain is mixed with air. This state is similar to the state where the cooler 35 in the heat exchanger 25 is exposed. Therefore, the corrosion state in the heat exchanger 25 can be appropriately determined by observing the state of the corrosion test material 50.

  Further, the test material storage container 51 is at least partially transparent so that the corrosion test material 50 stored therein can be visually observed. The transparent portion may be manufactured so that the inside can be seen with a transparent resin or glass and the pressure of compressed air can be withstood. In this embodiment, the cup-shaped lower main body 52 is formed of a transparent material, and the corrosion test material 50 can be observed from the entire circumferential direction. According to this, it is possible to always monitor, and to properly determine the corrosion state.

Further, the corrosion test material 50 may be structured so that the test material storage container 51 can be easily put in and out and exchanged. Also in this embodiment, the test piece 50 can be easily put in and out of the test material storage container 51 by attaching and detaching the support fitting 53 holding the test material 50 to the test material storage container 51 by screwing. Can be exchanged. Alternatively, the lower main body 52 can be attached to and detached from the upper main body 54 with a ring-shaped screw 55, and the corrosion test material 50 can be easily attached to and removed from the support fitting 53. Reference numeral 56 denotes an O-ring that hermetically seals the upper main body 54 and the lower main body 52.
Further, the corrosion test material 50 of this embodiment is a pipe material made of the same copper material as that of the cooler, and is fitted and held in the support fitting 53. This corrosion test material 50 can be easily attached to and detached from the support fitting 53.
According to the above structure, even if it is not the transparent test material storage container 51, the to-be-corroded test material 50 can be taken out and observed without trouble, and the state of corrosion inside the heat exchanger 25 can be judged.

Further, in the present embodiment, the test material storage container 51 is configured so that the drain can be contacted with the corrosion target test material 50 in a state of spraying or spraying mixed with air and the drain can be accumulated in the test material storage container 51. The drain inlet 58 is provided substantially above the drain outlet 59.
Furthermore, when the drain is mixed with air, it can come into contact with the corrosion test material 50 in a state of spraying or spraying, and when the drain accumulates in the test material storage container 51, at least a part of the corrosion test material 50 becomes the drain. The corrosion test material 50 (in this embodiment, a copper pipe) is substantially held in the vertical direction in the test material storage container 51 so as to be immersed. That is, the corrosion-resistant test material 50 is arranged in a suspended state in the drain discharge flow path.
By comprising as mentioned above, the state to which the to-be-corroded test material 50 in the test material storage container 51 is exposed can be approximated to the state to which the cooler 35 in the heat exchanger 25 is exposed. That is, since the corrosion test material 50 is not simply immersed in the drain or simply brought into contact with air, corrosion caused by mixing of the drain and air can be observed. Therefore, the corrosion state in the heat exchanger 25 can be more appropriately determined by observing the state of the corrosion test material 50.

Incidentally, the electromagnetic drain trap 60 of the present embodiment is controlled by the controller 61 so as to open, for example, once every 60 seconds and for about 0.5 seconds. When the drain trap 60 is opened, the drain is rapidly discharged by the pressure of the compressed air from the heat exchanger 25. At this time, the drain is mixed with air such as mist and is applied to the surface of the corrosion test material 50.
Further, the drain is accumulated in the drain discharge flow path including the inside of the test material storage container 51 until the drain trap 60 is opened and discharged. Thereby, the to-be-corroded test material 50 is immersed in the drain.
The drain trap 60 is not limited to the electromagnetic type, and may be a float type that opens when the drain is accumulated more than a predetermined amount, for example.

Further, the corrosion test material 50 may be the same material as the material constituting the cooler 35 that is a portion cooled by the refrigerant in the heat exchanger 25. According to this, by observing the state of the corrosion test material 50, the corrosion state in the heat exchanger 25 can be appropriately determined.
Furthermore, the material to be corroded may be a material that is more easily corroded than the material constituting the cooler 35 that is a portion cooled by the refrigerant in the heat exchanger 25. According to this, the progress of corrosion can be suitably predicted, and advance measures can be taken. Aluminum is an easily corroded material. In addition, the material of the test piece installed as the corrosion test material 50 may be appropriately selected according to the environmental conditions to be monitored. The heat transfer fins 36 are made of aluminum and serve as a material for determining the corrosion state in the heat exchanger 25.
Further, a plurality of corrosion test materials may be simultaneously monitored, for example, by arranging test pieces of copper pipes and aluminum pipes side by side in the test material storage container 51.

Moreover, according to the compressed gas dehumidification apparatus concerning the above structure, by observing the to-be-corroded test material 50 in the test material storage container 51, it is possible to predict the possibility of a problem due to corrosion, so it is possible to take preventive measures. It becomes possible.
Furthermore, the presence of the corrosive gas can be clearly pointed out by the discoloration or the corrosion state of the corrosion test material 50 when a failure occurs due to the corrosive gas in the surrounding environment.
Further, by looking at the amount of drain accumulated in the transparent test material storage container 51, there are the following advantages. First, it is possible to easily grasp the operating situation including the failure of the drain trap. In addition, the type that can adjust the discharge amount of the drain trap can easily adjust the proper discharge amount. And it can grasp | ascertain whether the performance (dehumidification capability) of a compressed gas dehumidifier is fully exhibited.
Furthermore, the quality of the maintenance of the system (gas compressor, air filter, etc.) can be judged by observing the state of the drain (color, presence of impurities, oil amount, etc.) accumulated in the transparent test material storage container.

Further, in addition to the above configuration, a copper wire or the like is placed in the test material storage container 51 in the same manner as the above-described corrosion test material 50, and the copper wire or the like is always energized and the copper wire is corroded by corrosion. The corrosion state may be detected by taking out an electrical signal when the wire is disconnected.
As described above, the present invention has been variously described with reference to preferred embodiments. However, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and many modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. Of course you get.

It is a circuit diagram showing one embodiment of a compressed gas dehumidifier according to the present invention. It is sectional drawing which shows one Embodiment of the test material storage container which concerns on this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Compressor 21 Refrigeration compressor 22 Condenser 24 Expander 25 Heat exchanger 35 Cooler 40 Drain discharge pipe 50 Corrosion test material 51 Test material storage container 52 Lower body 58 Drain introduction port 59 Drain discharge port

Claims (7)

In order to condense and remove moisture in the compressed gas by cooling the compressed gas compressed by the compressor by heat exchange with the refrigerant cooled by the refrigeration cycle, a compressor for freezing, a condenser, an expander, and With a heat exchanger,
In order to determine the corrosion state in the heat exchanger, a corrosion test material disposed so that the drain contacts is provided in a drain flow path of the drain that is condensed and discharged by the heat exchanger. A compressed gas dehumidifying device.   2. The compressed gas dehumidifying device according to claim 1, wherein the corrosion test material is accommodated in a test material storage container connected in a pipe forming the drain discharge channel. .   3. The compressed gas dehumidifying device according to claim 2, wherein the test material storage container is at least partially transparent so that the corrosion test material stored therein can be visually observed.   The drain inlet of the test material storage container can be contacted with the test object to be corroded in a state where the drain is mixed with gas or sprayed, and the drain can be accumulated in the test material storage container. 4. The compressed gas dehumidifying device according to claim 2, wherein the compressed gas dehumidifying device is provided substantially above the drain outlet.   The drain can be contacted with the material to be corroded in a state of spraying or spraying mixed with gas, and at least a part of the material to be corroded can be immersed in the drain when the drain accumulates in the test material storage container. The compressed gas dehumidifying device according to claim 2, 3 or 4, wherein the corrosion test material is held long in the vertical direction in the test material storage container.   The said corrosion test material is the same material as the material which comprises the cooler which is a part cooled with the refrigerant | coolant in the said heat exchanger, The 1, 2, 3, 4 or characterized by the above-mentioned. The compressed gas dehumidifier according to claim 5.   The said corrosion test material is a material which is more easily corroded than the material which comprises the cooler which is a part cooled with the refrigerant | coolant in the said heat exchanger. Or the compressed gas dehumidifier of 5.

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