JP2007322034A - Humidifier and warehouse using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a humidifier and a warehouse using the same utilizing water and a fuel gas obtained by decomposition of NGH. <P>SOLUTION: This humidifier comprises a NGH tank 12 storing NGH (natural gas hydrate), a NGH decomposing device 13 for producing the fuel gas and the water by decomposing NGH supplied from the NGH tank, a power generator 14 generating electric power by using the fuel gas, and a humidifying portion 11 for discharging the air humidified by using electric power and the water. The electric power is generated by using the fuel gas obtained by decomposing NGH by the NGH decomposing device, and the humidification quantity and the like is controlled by electric power. Further as the water necessary for humidification, the water obtained by decomposing NGH is used, and a large amount of water supplied from the other is not separately received. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a humidifier and a warehouse using the same, and more particularly to a humidifier using a natural gas hydrate (NGH: Natural Gas Hydrate) as a fuel for power generation and a warehouse using the same.

In recent years, natural gas hydrate (NGH) has attracted attention as a fuel in consideration of the global environment (see Non-Patent Document 1). NGH is a clathrate hydrate in which natural gas molecules (guests) mainly composed of methane, ethane, propane, etc. are incorporated into a cluster of water molecules, and is about 170 under an atmospheric pressure environment of minus 20 ° C. Double the gas can be stored. As gas energy, liquefied natural gas (LNG) is well known, but since LNG is manufactured and stored at an extremely low temperature of minus 162 ° C, NGH is used in the entire system of manufacturing, transportation, storage, and gasification. There are many advantages over LNG. NGH is also attracting attention as clean energy because it emits less carbon dioxide and air pollutants than gasoline.
Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding Co., Ltd., “Natural Gas Hydrate (NGH)-Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding”, [online], [Searched May 16, 2006], Internet <URL: http://www.mes.co.jp/mes_technology /NGH.html>

  By the way, when wine or fresh food is stored, it is necessary to keep the storage place at a relatively low temperature and a certain level of humidity. In particular, in the case of wine, if the humidity is too low, the cork is dried, the cork is easily broken when the bottle is opened, and also causes oxidation, so it is necessary to maintain a high humidity state of about 70%.

  However, when the storage location (warehouse) is large, in order to keep the humidity constant, a large amount of water and accurate humidity management are required, which is very difficult.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a humidifier using water and fuel gas obtained by NGH decomposition and a warehouse using the humidifier.

  The above-described object of the present invention is to generate power using an NGH tank storing NGH, an NGH decomposition apparatus that decomposes NGH supplied from the NGH tank to generate fuel gas and water, and the fuel gas. This is achieved by a humidifying device comprising a generator and a humidifying unit that discharges air humidified using the electric power and the water.

  In the humidifying device of the present invention, it is preferable that the humidifying unit includes an intake port and an exhaust port, humidifies the dry air taken in from the intake port with the water, and discharges the humidified air from the exhaust port. .

  In the humidifying device of the present invention, the humidifying section includes a water inlet for introducing the water into the humidifying section, a pressure adjustment valve for adjusting the amount of water from the water inlet, a humidifying pad, and the pressure adjustment. A nozzle for supplying an amount of water controlled by a valve to the humidifying pad, a fan for sending humidified air to the outside, and a controller for controlling the operation of the pressure adjusting valve and the fan using the electric power as power. It is preferable to provide.

  In the humidifying device of the present invention, it is preferable that the humidifying unit further includes a humidity sensor that detects ambient humidity and sends the detected humidity information to the controller.

  In a warehouse using the humidifier of the present invention, it is preferable to adjust the humidity in the warehouse using the humidifier described above.

  In a warehouse using the humidifying device of the present invention, the warehouse is preferably a wine cellar.

  In the present invention, it is preferable that a part of the water obtained by decomposing the NGH is supplied under or around the floor of the warehouse. According to this, since the water obtained by decomposing NGH is cold water, it is possible to reduce the temperature rise of the warehouse by flowing it under the floor of the warehouse.

  According to the present invention, electric power is generated using fuel gas obtained by the NGH decomposition apparatus decomposing NGH, and the amount of humidification and the like can be controlled by this electric power. Moreover, since the water required for humidification can use the water obtained by decomposing | disassembling NGH, the effect that it is not necessary to supply a lot of water separately from others is acquired.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of a humidifier 10 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the humidifier 10 includes a humidifier 11 that generates humidified air, an NGH tank 12 that stores NGH, and an NGH decomposer 13 that decomposes NGH supplied from the NGH tank 12. The NGH decomposition apparatus 13 includes a generator 14 that generates electric power using fuel gas obtained by decomposing NGH. As the generator 14, a gas engine, a gas turbine, a fuel cell, or the like can be used.

  The humidifying unit 11 includes a controller 15 that controls each part in the humidifying unit using the electric power from the generator 14, a water inlet 16 that takes water decomposed by the NGH decomposition device 13 into the humidifying unit 11, and a controller 15. The pressure adjustment valve 17 that controls the amount of water from the water inlet 16, the nozzle 20 that supplies the amount of water controlled by the pressure adjustment valve 17 to the humidifying pad 19, and the humidifying pad cannot absorb the water. A water tank 21 for temporarily storing water, a drain port 22 for flowing the water stored in the water tank 21 to the outside, a humidity sensor 23 for detecting ambient humidity and sending the detected humidity information to the controller, An air inlet 24 for sucking dry air from the air, a fan 25 for sending out the humidified air controlled by the controller into the warehouse, and an air outlet 26 for sending the air from the fan into the warehouse. Have

  FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of the NGH decomposition apparatus 13.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the NGH decomposition apparatus 13 includes an NGH decomposition tank 131 for decomposing a pellet-shaped NGH (NGH pellet) 130 supplied from the NGH tank 12, and heat for generating hot water for NGH decomposition. An exchanger 132, a pump 133 for supplying a part of water discharged from the NGH decomposition tank 131 to the heat exchanger 132, and hot water from the heat exchanger 132 are supplied to the NGH pellets 130 in the NGH decomposition tank 131. And a nozzle 134 for spraying from above. A net 135 is provided inside the NGH decomposition tank 131, and the NGH pellet 130 and the water 136 in the decomposition tank 131 are separated vertically by this net 135. The fuel gas generated in the NGH decomposition tank 131 is discharged from a gas discharge port 131 a provided above the NGH decomposition tank 131, and the water 136 generated in the NGH decomposition tank 131 is provided below the NGH decomposition tank 131. It is discharged from the drain 131b. The water obtained at this time is cold water, and the water temperature is lower than room temperature. In addition, you may provide the water temperature regulator which adjusts the temperature of the water obtained in the NGH decomposition | disassembly tank 131. FIG. Moreover, you may produce | generate the hot water for NGH decomposition | disassembly using the water supplied from the outside, without utilizing a part of decomposition water as the hot water for NGH decomposition | disassembly.

  And the fuel gas discharged | emitted from the gas discharge port 131a is sent to the generator 14, as shown in FIG. Then, electric power generated in the generator 14 using the fuel gas is supplied to the controller 15.

  Based on the humidity information from the humidity sensor 23, the controller 15 starts the operation of the fan 25 and opens the pressure adjustment valve 17 when the humidity in the warehouse is lower than the set humidity so that the surroundings are at an appropriate humidity. Water from the water inlet 16 is supplied to the nozzle 20, and the water is supplied from the nozzle 20 to the humidifying pad 19. By operating the fan 25 as described above, air flows in such that air is taken in from the air inlet 24 and air is exhausted from the air outlet 26, and is absorbed by the humidifying pad 19 in the middle of the air flow. The vaporization of the generated water is promoted, and high-humidity air can be sent out from the air outlet 26.

  On the other hand, when the humidity in the warehouse becomes higher than the set humidity, the controller 15 stops the operation of the fan 25 and closes the pressure regulating valve 17 to stop the supply of water to the humidifying pad 19.

  In addition, when water is supplied to the humidifying pad 19 (that is, when humidifying the warehouse), water that cannot be absorbed by the humidifying pad 19 is stored in the water tank 21 and then discharged from the drain groove 22 to the outside. Discharged. However, when the inside of the water tank or piping is excellent in corrosion resistance, it may be returned to the water inlet 16 and reused.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the humidifying device 10 can be configured with only the fuel gas and water obtained from the NGH decomposition device 13 without using a special fuel or a large amount of water.

  Next, as an example of the present invention, FIG. 3 shows an example in which a humidifier similar to the above embodiment is used in a wine storage warehouse (wine cellar).

  As shown in FIG. 3, the wine cellar 30 using the humidifier according to the present embodiment includes a warehouse 301 having a floor 302, a wine storage shelf 304 in which a plurality of wines 303 are arranged in the warehouse 301, An air conditioner 305 and a humidifier 100 are provided.

  The humidifier 100 has substantially the same configuration as the humidifier 10 shown in FIG. 1, and includes a humidifier 111, an NGH tank 112, an NGH decomposer 113 that decomposes NGH supplied from the NGH tank 112, The NGH decomposition apparatus 113 includes a generator 114 that generates electric power using fuel gas obtained by decomposing NGH. The humidifier 100 differs from the humidifier 10 in that the water from the NGH decomposition apparatus is supplied not only to the humidifier 111 but also to the floor 302 of the warehouse, and the electric power generated by the generator 114 is supplied to the humidifier 111. In addition to this, the air conditioner 305 is also supplied.

  The configuration inside the humidifying unit 111 is the same as that of the humidifying unit 11 shown in FIG.

  Thus, according to the present embodiment, by installing the humidifying unit 111 of the humidifying device 100 in the warehouse 301, the humidity in the warehouse 301 for storing wine can be maintained at an appropriate humidity.

  Further, as described above, the power from the generator 114 is also used for the air conditioner 305. That is, the temperature in the warehouse 301 can be adjusted only by the electric power generated using the fuel gas from the NGH decomposition device 131 without supplying energy from others.

  Furthermore, by supplying the water from the NGH decomposition apparatus 131 to the floor 302 of the warehouse, cooling in the warehouse 301 is assisted, and appropriate temperature adjustment in the warehouse 301 can be performed together with the air conditioner 305.

  The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention, and these are also included in the scope of the present invention. Needless to say.

  For example, although the embodiment of FIG. 3 has been described with respect to an example in which the present invention is applied to a wine cellar, the present invention can also be applied to a convenience store, a showcase such as a supermarket, and the like.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the heat exchanger 132 is used in order to produce | generate the hot water for decomposing | disassembling NGH, some fuel gas discharged | emitted from the NGH decomposition | disassembly apparatus was replaced with a heat exchanger. It may be used to generate hot water.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although cooling in a warehouse is assisted by flowing a part of water obtained by decomposing | disassembling NGH under the floor of the said warehouse, it is not limited to the floor under a warehouse. It is only necessary to be able to flow around the warehouse.

It is a schematic diagram which shows the structure of the humidification apparatus 10 which concerns on preferable embodiment of this invention. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of an NGH decomposition apparatus 13. FIG. It is a schematic diagram which shows the structure of the wine cellar 30 by one Example of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10,100 Humidifier 11,111 Humidifying part 12 NGH tank 13 Decomposition apparatus 14,114 Generator 15 Controller 16 Water inlet 17 Pressure adjustment valve 19 Humidity pad 20 Nozzle 21 Water tank 22 Drain outlet 23 Humidity sensor 24 Inlet 25 Fan 26 Air outlet 30 Wine cellar 130 NGH pellet 131 NGH decomposition tank 131 NGH decomposition device 131a Gas discharge port 131b Drain port 132 Heat exchanger 133 Pump 134 Nozzle 135 Net 136 Water 301 Warehouse 302 Cooling pipe 303 Wine 304 Wine storage shelf 305 Air conditioner

Claims (7)

An NGH tank in which NGH is stored;
An NGH decomposition apparatus that decomposes NGH supplied from the NGH tank to generate fuel gas and water;
A generator for generating electric power using the fuel gas; and
A humidifier comprising: a humidifying unit that generates air humidified using the electric power and the water.   The said humidification part is provided with an inlet port and an exhaust port, humidifies the dry air taken in from the said inlet port with the said water, and discharges the humidified air from the said exhaust port. Humidifier.   The humidifying unit includes a water inlet for introducing the water into the humidifying unit, a pressure adjusting valve for adjusting the amount of water from the water absorbing port, a humidifying pad, and an amount controlled by the pressure adjusting valve. A nozzle that supplies water to the humidifying pad, a fan that sends out humidified air to the outside, and a controller that controls the operation of the pressure adjusting valve and the fan using the electric power as power. Item 3. A humidifier according to item 1 or 2.   The humidification device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising a humidity sensor that detects ambient humidity and sends the detected humidity information to the controller.   A warehouse, wherein the humidity in the warehouse is adjusted using the humidifying device according to any one of claims 1 to 4.   The warehouse according to claim 5, wherein the warehouse is a wine cellar.   The warehouse according to claim 5 or 6, wherein a part of the water obtained by decomposing the NGH is supplied under or around the floor of the warehouse.

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