JP2009090979A - Small desiccant air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a small air conditioner for a mobile body such as an automobile capable of easily coping with unbalance between heat supply and dehumidification demand and reducing energy consumption for air conditioning caused by dehumidification. <P>SOLUTION: This air conditioner is provided with first adsorbent housing tower 2 and second adsorbent housing tower 3 for housing adsorbent particles, a heat exchanger 9 for heating outside air by exhaust heat of cooling water, etc. from an engine, an inlet side switching valve 4 for selecting outside air from either one of an outside air direct intake port 5 for directly introducing the outside air and a heated outside air intake port 7 for taking the outside air from the heat exchanger 9 and supplying the outside air to either one of the first adsorbent housing tower 2 and the second adsorbent housing tower 3, and an outlet side switching valve 10 for selecting gas of either one of the first adsorbent housing tower 2 and the second adsorbent housing tower 3 and supplying the gas to either one of the inside of a room or the outside. The inlet side switching valve 4 and the outlet side switching valve 10 are synchronized and switched with each other, and adsorption of water of the outside air and a harmful substance to the adsorbent and separation of the adsorbed water and harmful substance from the adsorbent are alternately performed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a desiccant air conditioner that performs dehumidification and the like using an adsorbent, and more particularly to a small desiccant air conditioner having a self-regenerative function that is miniaturized and can be applied to a vehicle or the like.

  Development of effective utilization technology of low-temperature thermal energy below 800 ° C that can be easily obtained by waste heat in chemical processes, waste heat from various equipment or solar heat is a major problem in modern society. Reduction of carbon dioxide emissions, heat island phenomenon This is one of the important issues in addressing environmental conservation issues or energy issues, such as fluctuations in summer power demand. On the other hand, one of the existing technologies considered to be effective is a system using an adsorbent having a high water absorption / desorption property.

  As a system using an adsorbent, a desiccant air conditioning system has been widely used. In a desiccant air-conditioning system that has been put into practical use from the past, for example, as shown in FIG. 7, the processing process and the regeneration process are performed in a face-to-face manner. That is, a dehumidification rotor 101 coated with a desiccant (desiccant) and a sensible heat exchange rotor 102 are arranged in series, and dehumidification and heat exchange of environmental air introduced to the processing side are sequentially performed. The water spray 103 is disposed downstream of the sensible heat exchange rotor 102, and water is sprayed onto the medium-temperature / low-humidity air to remove the heat of vaporization of the water, so that the air becomes low-temperature / high-humidity.

  On the other hand, in the regeneration process, the indoor air of high temperature and high humidity is taken in, converted into low temperature and high humidity air by the evaporative cooler 104, and sent to the sensible heat exchange rotor 102. The sensible heat exchange rotor 102 that has reached a high temperature on the processing side is cooled by the medium temperature and high humidity air. Further, the air heated by the sensible heat exchange rotor 102 and heated to a higher temperature is further heated by the heater 105. Various heaters can be used as the heat source of the heater 105. The dehumidifying rotor 101 is heated by this high-temperature air, the water on the dehumidifying agent is evaporated, and the dehumidifying agent is regenerated.

In the desiccant air conditioning system as described above, the two rotors are formed in a honeycomb shape so that the contact with the air can be satisfactorily performed. By rotating at a low speed, the processing steps and the regeneration process can be performed simultaneously, and packaging has been successful and commercialized. Such a desiccant air conditioner is described in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-35434 (Patent Document 1), Chemical Engineering Society 3rd Autumn Conference C2A04 (Non-Patent Document 1), or the like.
JP 2003-35434 A Chemical Engineering Society 3rd Autumn Meeting C2A04

  In such a conventional desiccant air conditioner, since the desiccant (adsorbent) is held by a rotor formed of a honeycomb-shaped carrier and is rotated integrally, dehumidification and regeneration must be performed at the same time. For this reason, there is a limit to the dehumidifying capacity, and there is a problem that the size cannot be reduced unless the heat supply and the dehumidifying demand match.

  Therefore, the present invention can easily cope with the imbalance between heat supply and dehumidification demand, and reduces the cooling load by dehumidifying, for example, reducing the energy consumption necessary for air conditioning in a small mobile body such as an automobile. The main object is to provide a small desiccant air conditioner that can be used.

  In order to solve the above problems, a small desiccant air conditioner according to the present invention includes a first adsorbent storage tower and a second adsorbent storage tower that store adsorbent particles, and a heat exchanger that heats the outside air by waste heat from the engine. Any one of the first adsorbent storage tower and the second adsorbent storage tower is used as the outside air, which is either an external air direct intake port that directly introduces external air or a heated external air intake port that takes in the heated external air from the heat exchanger. An inlet-side switching valve that is selected and supplied to any one of the first adsorbent storage tower and the second adsorbent storage tower. A side switching valve, and by switching the inlet side switching valve and the outlet side switching valve in conjunction with each other, adsorption of moisture and harmful substances from the outside air onto the adsorbent, and adsorption of the adsorbed moisture and harmful substances from the adsorbent To alternate It is intended.

  Another small desiccant air conditioner according to the present invention is the small desiccant air conditioner in which the gas separated by the solid gas separator is introduced into an intake system of an engine.

  Another small desiccant air conditioner according to the present invention is such that in the small desiccant air conditioner, adsorbent particles regenerated by cooling water preheating after the engine is stopped are taken into the dry particle reservoir.

  By adopting a system using adsorbent particles, it can be a small desiccant air conditioner that can be applied to a moving body such as an automobile with a very large number of units in operation, thereby reducing the latent heat load during air conditioning. , Energy saving of about 60% can be achieved. In addition, it is possible to purify the environment by adsorbing toxic substances and releasing them at a high concentration during regeneration before they are introduced into the engine.

  The present invention can easily cope with an imbalance between heat supply and dehumidification demand, and reduces the cooling load by dehumidifying, for example, reducing the energy consumption required for air conditioning in a small mobile body such as an automobile. In order to provide a small desiccant air conditioner that can be used, a dehumidification tower that adsorbs moisture and harmful substances in the outside air to the adsorbent particles and supplies the outside air to the room, and adsorbent particles from the dehumidification tower are used as waste heat from the engine. A regeneration tower that dehumidifies and regenerates, a vacuum pump that sucks the adsorbent particles regenerated in the regeneration tower, a solid-gas separator that separates the adsorbent particles from the regeneration tower from a gas, and a solid-gas separator A particle reservoir for storing adsorbent particles and supplying the adsorbent particles to the dehumidifying tower.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a system configuration of a small desiccant air conditioner. In the air conditioning system 1 shown in the figure, an adsorbent comprising a honeycomb-like fixed particle layer or a fluidized bed having a particle layer height of an allowable pressure loss or less is provided. A first adsorbent accommodating tower 2 accommodated and a similar second adsorbent accommodating tower 3, and an outside air direct intake port (C) 5 for directly taking in outside air containing harmful substances by means of an inlet-side switching valve 4, heat A first supply port (F) 8 that takes in any outside air from a heated outside air intake port (E) 7 that takes in outside air heated by the exchanger 6 and supplies them to the first adsorbent storage tower 2; The supply is switched to one of the second supply ports (D) 9 to be supplied to the adsorbent storage tower 3.

  Further, the outlet side switching valve 10 provided on the outlet side of each adsorbent storage tower includes a first discharge port (G) 11 from the first adsorbent storage tower 2 and a second exhaust from the second adsorbent storage tower 3. One of the gases from the outlet (I) 12 is switched to one of the indoor outlet (J) 13 that supplies the room and the external outlet (H) 14 that discharges to the outside. Various adsorbents conventionally used can be used, and the adsorbent can adsorb various harmful substances such as moisture in the air, CO, HC, and NOx. In the adsorption treatment, a conventional adsorption method such as PTSA (Pressure & Temperature Swing Adsorption) method, PSA method, TSA method, or the like can be used.

  In the air conditioning system 1 shown in FIG. 1, an example in which this air conditioning system is mounted on a vehicle is shown. The heat exchanger 9 introduces cooling water that is supplied from a vehicle-mounted engine 15 to a radiator 16 to dissipate heat. The exhaust air of 15 is used to heat the outside air as described above. In addition to using cooling water as exhaust heat of the engine 15 as shown in the figure, exhaust gas exhausted from the engine is introduced into the heat exchanger 6 so that the outside air is heated and supplied to the adsorbent storage tower. Also good. Moreover, it can also be set as the system using the waste heat of both cooling water and exhaust gas.

  The gas discharged from the external discharge port 12 (H) of the outlet side switching valve 10 may be discharged out of the vehicle or introduced into the intake system of the engine, as shown in the figure. The gas in the adsorbent storage tower may be sucked by the vacuum pump 17 and discharged as described above. When such a vacuum pump 17 is used, the inside of the adsorbent storage tower is depressurized, and in addition to desorption by heating as described later, desorption by depressurization can also be performed.

  The function of the switching valve in the system as described above is that when the inlet side switching valve 4 and the outlet side switching valve 10 are switched and used in conjunction with each other as shown in FIG. Water is introduced into the second adsorbent storage tower 3 through the outside air direct intake port 5 (C) and the second supply port 6 (D) of the valve 4, and moisture and harmful by the adsorbent in the second adsorbent storage tower 3. The outside air that has been adsorbed and dehumidified and purified is supplied to the room through the second outlet 13 (I) and the outlet 14 (J) of the outlet side switching valve 10. Since the air into the room is dehumidified as described above, the air conditioning load can be reduced by the dry air cooling tower, and an air conditioning system with good thermal efficiency can be obtained.

  On the other hand, in the switching state of each switching valve as shown in FIG. 1, moisture and harmful substances are adsorbed to the internal adsorbent by the action of the second adsorbent storage tower 3 in the first adsorbent storage tower 2. When the outside air is preliminarily heated using the engine exhaust heat in the heat exchanger 6, the outside air passes through the heated outside air intake port 7 (E) and the first supply port 8 (F) of the inlet side switching valve 4. Heated outside air is introduced into the first adsorbent storage tower 2. At that time, the gas of these systems is sucked and flows by the operation of the vacuum pump 17 as necessary.

  As described above, the adsorbent that adsorbs moisture and harmful substances as described above is released from the adsorbed material by the heated outside air introduced into the first adsorbent containing tower 2 in this manner, and the first exhaust of the outlet side switching valve 10 is removed. It is discharged to the outside through the outlet 11 (G) and the external discharge port 12 (H) or to the intake system of the engine. When exhausted to the intake system of the engine, the system can be depressurized by the intake negative pressure of the engine without using the vacuum pump 17, and the desorbed gas from the adsorbent introduced into the intake system is It is incinerated in the engine and purified by adsorption with an adsorbent or catalytic reaction in the exhaust purification system of the engine.

  When the concentration of moisture and harmful substances adsorbed by the adsorbent in the second adsorbent storage tower 3 is increased as described above, the switching valves are switched as shown in FIG. That is, for the inlet side switching valve 4, the outside air direct intake port 5 (C) and the first supply port 8 (F) are communicated, and the heated outside air intake port 7 (E) and the second supply port 6 (D ). In addition, the outlet side switching valve 10 is linked to this, communicating the first outlet 11 (G) and the indoor outlet 14 (J), the second outlet 13 (I) and the external outlet 12 (H ).

  By switching the flow path as described above, the second adsorbent storage tower 3 that has adsorbed moisture and harmful substances as described above is introduced into the first adsorbent storage tower 2 and the moisture and Heated outside air from the heat exchanger 6 that has been releasing harmful substances is introduced, and the adsorbed moisture and harmful substances are released. The separation gas is discharged out of a moving body such as a vehicle or the intake system of the engine by the switching of the outlet side switching valve 10 shown in FIG. 2, and performs the same operation as described above. The outside air introduced into the adsorbent storage tower may be room air.

  The switching valve as described above can be implemented using various switching valves conventionally used. For example, a switching valve body 21 as shown in FIG. 3 is used, and a port member as shown in FIG. By using the switching valve 20 in combination, the switching operation of the flow path as described above can be performed.

  That is, in the example of the switching valve 20 shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the switching valve body 21 (V) is divided into a first valve portion 22 and a second valve portion 23 in the longitudinal direction, and the first valve portion 22 is divided. Is in the position of the port members (U, K, L, R) arranged vertically and horizontally as shown in FIG. 4 (b) when the switching valve body is in the first position state shown in FIG. 3 (a). When it does, it will be in the switching state of the inlet side switching valve 4 and the outlet side switching valve 10 shown in the said FIG.

  On the other hand, when the switching valve body 21 is moved in the longitudinal direction of the valve body and moved from the position of FIG. 3A to the position of FIG. 3B, the flow path is switched because the port member is fixed. The switching state of the inlet side switching valve 4 and the outlet side switching valve 10 shown in FIG.

  For example, it is possible to easily switch to the state shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 by using the switching valve as described above, and the adsorbents in the first adsorbent storage tower 2 and the second adsorbent storage tower 3 are Without moving between the towers, the adsorption of moisture and harmful substances by the adsorbent and the regeneration treatment of the adsorbent adsorbing these can be performed continuously. It should be noted that the above operation can be performed using another type of switching valve.

  Similarly, outside air is introduced into the first adsorbent storage tower 2 by switching the flow path of the inlet side switching valve shown in FIG. , And adsorbed harmful substances, dried and cleaned outside air is supplied for indoor air conditioning. By repeating the above operation, the air conditioning load is reduced and cleaned by moisture adsorption of air into the room, and in parallel, the regeneration of the adsorbent with increased concentration of moisture and harmful substances is continued. It can be carried out.

  In the above example, the first adsorbent containing tower 2 and the second adsorbent containing tower having the same structure containing the adsorbent are used to perform adsorption and regeneration by switching the flow path. In the invention, for example, the same operation can be performed by circulating adsorbent particles as shown in FIG. That is, in the air-conditioning system shown in FIG. 5, moisture and harmful substances in the outside air introduced by blowing outside air into the dehumidifying tower 31 that forms a fluidized bed of adsorbent particles therein and mixing with the adsorbent particles in a fluidized bed state. To adsorb.

Note that the fluidized bed in the dehumidifying tower 31 does not excessively increase the thickness of the fluidized bed and does not increase the intake resistance of the air conditioner. The particle layer height at that time is at least about 10 to 20 mm in combination with the blower, that is, the pressure loss at that time is about 10 to 20 mmH ₂ O. In forming the fluidized bed in the dehumidifying tower 31, as shown in the figure, the dispersion plate of the fluidized bed may be inclined and the degree of the inclination may be adjusted to facilitate the movement of particles.

  As described above, the outside air that has passed through the dehumidifying tower 31 is dehumidified and harmful substances are removed, and is introduced into an air conditioner or the like as air-conditioning air in a room with a reduced load of the air conditioner, particularly due to dehumidification. Further, the adsorbent particles that have been dehumidified and adsorbed with harmful substances in the dehumidifying tower 31 fall freely into the regeneration tower 32. In the illustrated embodiment, the adsorbent particles that have entered the regeneration tower 32 are heated by a heat exchanger 35 that uses the heat of the cooling water from the engine 33 to the radiator 34 to remove the adsorbed water. In addition, as means for utilizing the exhaust heat from the engine, the heat of the exhaust gas can be used in addition to the cooling water.

  The adsorbent particles regenerated by releasing moisture in the regeneration tower 32 are sucked by the vacuum pump 36 and rise, and the adsorbent particles and the gas are separated and separated by a solid-gas separator 37 using a filter or cyclone. The later particles are discharged to the dry particle reservoir 39 when the particle solenoid valve 38 is released, and the regenerated adsorbent particles in the dry particle reservoir 39 are led to the dehumidifying tower 31 when the particle solenoid valve 40 is released, and the above operation is performed. repeat. The gas separated by the solid-gas separator 37 contains moisture and harmful substances, and the gas containing these is discharged out of the moving body or introduced into the intake system of the engine to purify the engine. These purifications are performed using

  In the system as described above, the adsorbent particles that have adsorbed moisture are regenerated using the exhaust heat of the engine cooling water. Therefore, the adsorbent can be regenerated in the regeneration tower even after the engine is stopped using the heat. In particular, by making the dry particle reservoir 39 sufficiently large, the imbalance between the waste heat from the engine and the load of the air conditioning in the vehicle can be adjusted by the adsorbent particles in the dry particle reservoir 39 portion.

  In the above example, the dehumidification tower 31, the regeneration tower 32, the solid gas separator 37, and the like are connected by the particle circulation pipe to continuously perform the treatment. However, for example, the dehumidification tower 31 and the regeneration tower 32 are porous. An adsorbent particle storage container comprising a wall is detachably provided, for example, the adsorbent regenerated by the regeneration tower 32 can be taken out while being put in the container, and the regenerated adsorbent container is brought into the house to be used as a home air conditioner. It can also be used for the desiccant air conditioning system.

  For example, it is possible to operate the adsorption heat pump using waste heat such as cooling water of an automobile engine as shown in FIG. 6 and use the obtained cold water for cooling. That is, in the example shown as a plan view in FIG. 6, the first adsorbent container 41 filled with adsorbent particles is disposed in the adsorption heat exchanger 42 on the adsorption side, and the first adsorbent container 41 includes the interior thereof. As shown in the figure, a cooling pipe 43 that flows from the inlet to the outlet is provided. The adsorption heat exchanger 42 communicates with an evaporator 47, and a cold water pipe 48 through which cold water flows from an inlet to an outlet is provided in the evaporator 47 as shown in the figure.

  Similar to the first adsorbent container 41, a second adsorbent container 44 filled with adsorbent particles is disposed in a desorption heat exchanger 45 on the desorption side, and the inside of the second adsorbent container 44 is, for example, an engine As shown in the figure, a heating pipe 46 is provided through which warm water such as cooling water flows from the inlet to the outlet. The desorption heat exchanger 45 on the desorption side communicates with the condenser 50, and a cooling water pipe 51 is provided in the condenser 50 so that the cooling water flows from the inlet to the outlet as shown in the figure.

  When the adsorption heat pump having the above-described configuration is operated, the water vapor of the surrounding air is absorbed by the adsorbent particles in the first adsorbent container 41 which is initially dried, and thereby the adsorption-side adsorption heat exchanger 42. The water in the evaporator 47 communicating with the water evaporates and the internal temperature decreases. Thereby, the cold water flowing in the cold water pipe 48 in the evaporator is cooled, and the cold water from the cold water outlet is used for cooling the inside of the vehicle. Further, the adsorbent that generates heat by adsorbing moisture in the first adsorbent container 41 is cooled by the cooling water flowing through the cooling pipe 43, and the adsorption of moisture is promoted.

  On the other hand, the second adsorbent container 44 containing the adsorbent that has adsorbed water vapor as described above is heated by warm water such as engine cooling water flowing through the internal heating pipe 46 to absorb the adsorbed water. The adsorbent particles are desorbed and gradually dried. The desorbed water vapor is cooled and liquefied by the cooling water pipe 51 in the condenser 50. The liquefied water flows to the evaporator 47 side through a flow path (not shown), and the above operation is repeated. Further, the inside may be decompressed.

  When the adsorbing capacity of the adsorbent in the first adsorbent container 41 decreases due to the continuation of such an operation, this is replaced with the second adsorbent container 44 and the above operation is repeated. When the pipes are provided in the first and second adsorbent containers, the replacement can be easily performed by replacing the containers by attaching and detaching the pipes while sealing the pipes at the pipe desorption valve portion. Even with such a system, it is possible to effectively use the adsorbent particles for cooling or the like by using the waste heat of the engine.

  In the above example, an example of using as a moving air conditioning system for an automobile or the like has been shown. It can be set as the air-conditioning system which utilizes various waste heats effectively, such as use of waste heat.

  In the above example, a dehumidification system using particles is constructed, and downsizing is performed in a place where there is sufficient exhaust heat, such as an automobile. At the same time, harmful substances introduced into the vehicle are adsorbed when outside air is introduced, and high-concentration harmful substances generated during regeneration are returned to the engine to simultaneously purify the environment.

  In addition, the above problem can be solved by moving the adsorbent particles themselves, and even if there is a time mismatch between air conditioning demand and heat supply by collecting exhaust heat such as engine cooling water and exhaust gas. Can be overcome.

  In the above system, the circulation of particles can be performed smoothly, and the dehumidification effect and the heat of adsorption are investigated, and it is confirmed that the system can be regenerated by low-temperature exhaust heat.

  The present invention is an air conditioner such as a moving body equipped with an engine. In particular, the waste heat of the engine can be effectively used for the air conditioner. It can be effectively used for a small air conditioner for a room provided with equipment.

It is a figure which shows the 1st operation state in an air-conditioning system block diagram. It is a figure which shows the 2nd operation state in an air-conditioning system block diagram. It is a figure which shows the switching valve body in the example of the switching valve used for an air conditioning system, (a) shows a switching valve body 1st position, (b) shows a switching valve body 2nd position. It is a figure which shows the example of the switching valve used for the said example, (a) shows a decomposition | disassembly state, (b) shows an assembly state. 1 is a system configuration diagram of an embodiment of the present invention. It is another block diagram of an air conditioning system. It is a figure which shows the conventional desiccant air conditioning system.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Air conditioning system 2 1st adsorbent accommodation tower 3 2nd adsorbent accommodation tower 4 Inlet side switching valve 5 Outside air direct intake 6 Heat exchanger 7 Heated outside air intake 8 First supply port 9 Second supply port 10 Outlet Side switching valve 11 First discharge port 12 Second discharge port 13 Indoor discharge port 14 External discharge port 15 Engine 16 Radiator 17 Vacuum pump

Claims (3)

A dehumidification tower that adsorbs moisture and harmful substances of the outside air to the adsorbent particles and supplies the outside air into the room;
A regeneration tower for dehumidifying and regenerating the adsorbent particles from the dehumidification tower by waste heat from the engine;
A vacuum pump for sucking the adsorbent particles regenerated in the regeneration tower;
A solid-gas separator for separating adsorbent particles from the regeneration tower from a gas;
A compact desiccant air conditioner comprising a particle reservoir for storing adsorbent particles from the solid-gas separator and supplying the adsorbent particles to the dehumidifying tower.   The small desiccant air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the gas separated by the solid-gas separator is introduced into an intake system of an engine.   The small desiccant air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the dry particle reservoir also takes in adsorbent particles regenerated by cooling water preheating after the engine is stopped.