JP2007101130A - Gas humidity controller - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a humidity controller of high accuracy and high speed response in micro flow because of needing humidity control gas of micro flow with no problem such as surface damage and blowoff of a surface material particularly in cultural properties and cell culture in view of a strong demand for gas of constant temperature and constant humidity in the fields of testing, manufacturing and storage. <P>SOLUTION: Dry gas is allowed to pass through a constant temperature part 20 to obtain dry gas of predetermined temperature. A part of the dry gas of predetermined temperature is allowed to pass through a humidifying part 22 using the water surface of water in the constant temperature part 20 to obtain saturated gas of predetermined temperature. The dry gas of predetermined temperature and the saturated gas of predetermined temperature are mixed to obtain target gas of predetermined temperature and predetermined humidity. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a device that generates a constant temperature and humidity gas, and particularly relates to a device that controls a gas having a low flow rate with high accuracy.

  A device for controlling the humidity of gas (hereinafter referred to as “gas humidity control device”) is used in situations where a gas with a certain fixed humidity is required, such as an environmental test device and a house.

  As a method for adjusting the humidity of a gas, a shunt method and a two-temperature method are conventionally known. FIG. 4 shows an outline of the diversion method. The dry gas 150 made by the dry gas generator 100 is divided into two, while 152 is introduced into the saturated gas generator 110. The gas 154 that has become saturated with humidity is mixed with the dry gas 150 and introduced into the target humidity generator 120. In the target humidity generator 120, the gas is set to a predetermined temperature to obtain a gas 160 having a predetermined humidity. The humidity is adjusted by adjusting the temperature of the saturated gas generator 110 and adjusting the absolute amount of water vapor in the gas.

  FIG. 5 shows a schematic diagram of the two-temperature method. In the two-temperature method, all the dry gas 150 produced by the dry gas generator 100 is introduced into the saturated gas generator 110. Then, the saturated gas 154 is introduced into the target humidity generator 120. The target humidity generator 120 obtains a gas 160 having a predetermined humidity by setting the saturated gas 154 to a predetermined temperature. The humidity is adjusted at the temperature of the saturated gas generator 110 in the same manner as the shunt method.

  Moreover, there exists what obtains a humidity control apparatus with higher precision by combining a diversion method and a two-temperature method (refer patent document 1).

JP-A-5-071776

  Most of the humidity control devices disclosed so far are mostly humidity control devices that obtain a relatively large flow rate of about several hundred liters / minute. However, environmental testing of precision instruments, electronic components and materials, and microbiology. For applications such as precision measuring instruments for materials, cultural assets and optical devices, food storage, etc., although the flow rate is as low as several tens of liters per minute, it requires a highly conditioned gas. There is.

  Particularly in the preservation of cultural properties and incubators that culture cells, the strong wind generated by a large flow rate has the detrimental effect of causing physical damage to the surface of the cultural properties and blowing off small cells. Therefore, in such a field, it is desired to supply a conditioned gas with a rather small flow rate.

  In such applications, it is necessary to prepare different environments for various types of objects. In other words, it is necessary to provide a large number of small humidity control devices instead of intensively distributing a constant humidity control gas with a large device.

  From this viewpoint, the conventional apparatus has a problem that the flow rate scale that can be provided is too large, and therefore the apparatus itself is too large.

  The following points can be cited as problems from the viewpoint of the humidity control method. First, the shunt method has a problem that the humidity adjustment accuracy is poor, although the response of humidity adjustment is fast. Although the two-temperature method has high accuracy, there is a problem that the response of humidity is slow. In addition, in the conventional diversion method and the two-temperature method, it is necessary to control the temperature at two locations of the saturated gas generator and the target humidity generator, and complicated control must be performed to obtain a gas having a predetermined temperature and a predetermined humidity. There was a problem that had to be done.

  The present invention has been conceived to solve such problems, and provides a humidity control apparatus that is small in size, has high humidity control accuracy, and has a high response speed of humidity control.

  In the present invention, a water temperature is controlled by a single water temperature controller, and a gas having a predetermined humidity is obtained by mixing a dry gas and a wet gas, which are controlled to be substantially the same as the water temperature, at a predetermined ratio.

  More specifically, it is as follows. First, a dry gas is passed through a pipe arranged in a constant temperature bath at a predetermined temperature to obtain a dry gas at a predetermined temperature.

  Next, a part of the dry gas is brought into contact with the liquid level of the water stored in the thermostat. By doing in this way, the dry gas of predetermined temperature can be made into the saturated gas of the temperature.

  Finally, a gas having a predetermined humidity can be obtained at a predetermined temperature by mixing the saturated gas having the predetermined temperature and the dry gas having a predetermined temperature at a predetermined ratio.

  A feature of the present invention resides in that a thermostatic bath used to bring the dry gas to a predetermined temperature and a thermostatic bath that gives moisture to a part of the dry gas that has reached the predetermined temperature are combined. By adopting such a configuration, it is possible to obtain dry gas and wet gas at the same temperature with a small apparatus. Further, since the temperature of both the dry gas and the wet gas can be controlled by the temperature control of 1, the temperature control becomes very simple.

  And since it is the dry gas and wet gas of the same temperature, humidity control should just control only the mixing ratio of two gas, and can provide the humidity control apparatus which was simple and excellent in the precision and the response speed.

(Embodiment)
FIG. 1 shows the configuration of the humidity control apparatus of the present invention. The humidity control apparatus of the present invention includes a cooling unit 10, a container 14, a pump 16, a heating control device 18, and a gas passage (shown by a thick black line) piped between them.

  The piping state of each part and the gas passage will be described along the gas flow. The unconditioned moisture gas 1 is introduced into the gas passage from the gas passage entrance. And it cools through the cooling unit 10. The cooling unit 10 can use a Peltier element or low-temperature ice. In low-temperature ice, moisture in the gas gradually becomes ice and accumulates on the surface, and continuous dehumidification is difficult. However, if Peltier elements can remove frost intermittently or continuously, dehumidification is possible forever. is there. The cooled unconditioned gas 1 becomes a low-temperature saturated gas 2 here.

  In addition, you may obtain dry gas with the dehumidifier by chemical moisture adsorption. That is, the cooling unit 10 is replaced by means for chemically adsorbing moisture. Specifically, a pipe or U-shaped tube filled with a desiccant such as calcium hydride, magnesium perchlorate, aluminum oxide, phosphorus pentoxide, silica gel, or molecular sieves alone or in combination can be used. In this case, the dry gas obtained is not necessarily low temperature. A cooling unit and a dehumidifier by chemical adsorption may be used in combination. In the following description, the description is continued with the low-temperature saturated gas obtained in the cooling unit 10.

  The container 14 has an intake port 13 and an exhaust port 15 and can store water therein. The temperature of this water is controlled, and the constant temperature portion 20 is formed by the gas passage passing through the water and the water. Further, the humidifying part 22 is formed by the water surface and the space of the container 14.

  The low temperature saturated gas 2 enters the constant temperature part 20 through the gas passage. The thermostat 20 has a gas passage immersed in water. This water is water having a desired predetermined temperature. If necessary, the gas passage in this portion has a loop shape, so that the length of the gas passage can be increased, and the temperature can be the same as that of the water in the thermostat 20. In addition, the gas passage that passes through the water of the constant temperature portion 20 is not only in a loop shape, but is branched into a plurality of passages, and the gas flow rate in the branched gas passage is reduced to a predetermined temperature. Also good. The branched gas passage is made into one gas passage again when leaving the thermostat 20. Since this temperature is higher than the temperature of the low-temperature saturated gas 2, it becomes a high-temperature dry gas 3 while flowing therethrough.

  This high-temperature dry gas 3 is diverted by the three-way valve 12, a part thereof goes to the humidifying section 22 (see 4 in the figure), and the rest advances through the gas passage as it is (see 5 in the figure).

  The humidification part 22 is made of the water surface of the container 14 and the constant temperature part 20 with water. In this closed space, it is in a saturated water vapor state at the temperature of water. The high-temperature dry gas 3 is diverted from the three-way valve 12 and enters the humidifying unit 22. And in this humidification part 22, it becomes the saturated gas (it calls high temperature saturated gas) of the temperature of water.

  Usually, in order to obtain a high-temperature saturated gas, a method of blowing a gas into water is taken, but when the gas flow rate is small, the hydrostatic pressure becomes resistance and a stable gas flow rate cannot be obtained. On the other hand, since the constant temperature dry gas is blown into a saturated steam atmosphere at a predetermined temperature, the present invention can obtain a stable gas flow rate.

  The high-temperature dry gas 5 that has not been diverted by the three-way valve 12 passes through the gas passage. The gas passage enters the humidification unit 22 again. Here, since the high-temperature dry gas passes through the gas passage, the temperature is kept constant, but the humidity does not change.

  The high-temperature saturated gas 6 that has exited the humidifying section 22 and the high-temperature dry gas 7 that has not been split by the three-way valve 12 merge together to become the target desired gas 8 and are discharged from the outlet of the gas passage. The humidity of the desired gas 8 to be obtained is adjusted by adjusting the three-way valve 12 and adjusting the amount of the high-temperature dry gas 4 flowing to the humidifying unit 22.

  To adjust the temperature of the water in the constant temperature unit 20, first, the water in the constant temperature bath is guided to the outside by the pump 16, and is cooled by the cooling device 17. In this embodiment, the cooling unit 10 is used. Thus, the cooling unit 10 and the water cooling device 17 can be combined to reduce the size of the entire humidity control device.

  The water cooled by the cooling device 17 is heated by the heating control device 18 to a desired temperature. By warming the water once cooled in this way, it becomes possible to raise or lower the temperature of the water. The heating control device 18 monitors the temperature of the water in the constant temperature unit 20 and adjusts the heating amount based on the water temperature. Of course, the input power of the Peltier element may be adjusted. The flow rate of the pump 16 may also be controlled. In other words, the heating control device 18 controls the temperature of the water in the constant temperature unit 20, and is one temperature control that keeps the temperature of the water constant by controlling one or more of heating, cooling, and flow velocity. Device.

  Water heated to a predetermined temperature by the heating control device 18 is sprayed (26) on the water surface of the constant temperature unit 20 by the humidifying shower 24. Here, since spraying on the water surface is just performed in the humidification part 22, the humidity in the humidification part becomes a saturated water vapor state at a predetermined temperature. Further, the humidity can be quickly followed even when the temperature of the thermostatic chamber is changed.

  Although not shown in the figure, the humidity control apparatus can be controlled with higher accuracy by covering the outside with an appropriate heat insulating material and blocking outflow / inflow of heat. Also, since the water inside is discharged as a wet gas, it is necessary to supply it from the outside. If a water level sensor and a water supply pipe for this purpose are provided inside the container, it is not necessary to open the container 14 when replenishing water. Similarly, if the container 14 is provided with a drain outlet and a drain pipe for exchanging the internal water, maintenance can be facilitated.

  The usage of this humidity control device is as follows. An appropriate amount of water 20 is placed in the container 14. The water is preferably pure water, but an additive may be added to the water as necessary. A predetermined temperature is set in the heating control device 18 and the water in the constant temperature unit 20 is set to a predetermined temperature.

  Thereafter, untreated gas is introduced into the gas passage. The three-way valve 12 is operated so that all the gas flows through the humidifying unit 22. And it confirms that saturated gas of predetermined temperature is obtained at the exit of a gas passage.

  Next, the three-way valve 12 is operated to flow all the gas as it is without passing through the humidifying part 22 (route 5 in the figure). Since moisture is present in the tube near the gas passage outlet, it is allowed to flow for a while to dry the moisture near the outlet. And it confirms that the dry gas of predetermined temperature is obtained with a gas at the mouth. Here, by providing the gas passage with a port 30 through which the gas from the humidifying section 22 (6 gas in the figure) can be taken out before joining with the dry gas 7, it is possible to save the trouble of drying the vicinity of the gas passage outlet. . Further, the take-out port 30 can also be used as a pressure control valve when the internal temperature of the humidifying unit 22 is raised.

  Then, the three-way valve 12 is operated again to allow a part of the dry gas to flow to the humidifying unit 22 until a gas having a desired humidity is obtained. At this time, a gas having a predetermined temperature and a predetermined humidity can be easily obtained by monitoring the humidity of the gas obtained by attaching a hygrometer to the outlet of the gas passage.

  Therefore, this control system is capable of constantly obtaining a gas having a predetermined temperature and a predetermined humidity by controlling the three-way valve 12 and the heating control device 18 while monitoring the temperature and humidity of the gas obtained from the gas passage. It is easy to add to the invention.

  The feature of the present invention is that the water surface of the humidifying part 22 and the water of the constant temperature part 20 are the same and are in one container 14. By doing in this way, since the control which adjusts the temperature of the constant temperature part 20 and the humidification part 22 can be performed by 1 system | strain, a simple and highly reliable humidity control apparatus can be obtained.

  In addition, since saturated gas and dry gas at the same temperature are mixed, the response speed when the three-way valve is moved is high. Therefore, there is no need to feed back the humidity of the desired gas 8.

The settable range in the present invention is a temperature from 0 ° C. to 100 ° C. at 1 atm, and the relative humidity can be from the dehumidifying limit ability to 100%.
(Embodiment 2)

  FIG. 2 shows another embodiment of the present invention. Compared with FIG. 1, in this Embodiment, the three-way valve | bulb 12 is lose | eliminated and the mixing part 13 which mixes the high temperature dry gas 7 and the high temperature saturated gas 6 by a fixed ratio is included. That is, compared with Embodiment 1, there is a difference between whether the flow rate is limited when the high-temperature dry gas is introduced into the humidifying unit 22 or mixing with the high-temperature dry gas after leaving the humidifying unit 22.

In the present embodiment, since the dry gas is introduced into the humidifying unit 22 without controlling the flow rate, it is better to provide a back pressure valve or the like at the entrance to the humidifying unit 22 so that there is no backflow. For example, when the temperature rises, the pressure increases due to the evaporation of water in the humidifying unit 22, and there is a possibility that the gas flows back into the gas passage.
(Embodiment 3)

  FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, the humidifying shower 24 only circulates the water in the constant temperature unit 20 regardless of the temperature adjustment of the water. That is, the water in the constant temperature unit 20 is circulated by the pump 19.

  In the figure, the configuration including the mixing unit 13 described in the second embodiment has been described. Needless to say, the shower 24 in the first and second embodiments may be configured as shown in FIG.

  In addition, through the first to third embodiments, the humidifying shower 24 is installed in the humidifying unit 22, and the description has been made. However, if the dry gas and water injected by the humidifying unit 22 can be given, the present invention is particularly limited. It is not a thing. That is, the humidifying shower 24 may not be provided, or a means for increasing the contact area between the dry gas and moisture by means other than the humidifying shower 24 may be used.

  For example, a wire mesh is disposed in the humidifying unit 22 to transmit water to the wire mesh, water is sprayed and discharged into the humidifying unit 22, and minute water droplets are generated in the humidifying unit 22 using an ultrasonic vibrator. , Etc. can be used.

  The humidity control apparatus of the present invention can perform highly accurate humidity adjustment within a relatively small flow rate range. Further, the apparatus can be reduced in size. Therefore, it can be used for various test / experimental devices, storages, and other welfare garbage and compost processing that are attracting attention as an environmental industry.

The figure which shows the structure of embodiment of this invention The figure which shows the structure of other embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the structure of other embodiment of this invention. Diagram explaining the outline of the conventional bisection method Diagram explaining the outline of the conventional two-temperature method

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Cooling part 12 Three-way valve 14 Container 16 Pump 18 Heating device 20 Constant temperature part 22 Humidification part 24 Humidification shower 26 Shower

Claims (5)

  A gas humidity control apparatus that mixes a dry gas and a wet gas, the temperature of which is controlled by a water temperature controller, at a predetermined ratio. A container having an exhaust port and storing water therein;
A gas passage having an inlet and an outlet for gas, passing from the outside of the container through the internal water to the outside of the container, and
A water temperature controller for controlling the temperature of the water, a shunt for discharging a part of the gas passing through the gas passage into the container, a gas from the exhaust port, and a gas from the outlet are combined into one. A gas humidity control device consisting of a confluence device for discharging.   The gas humidity control apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a pretreatment unit for the gas before the inlet.   The gas humidity control apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the pretreatment unit is a gas cooler. The gas humidity control apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the pretreatment unit is a gas dehumidifier.

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