JP2009285225A - Hybrid drying machine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a drying machine, capable of efficiently dehumidifying, resulting in achieving excellent energy saving performance, and high drying speed by carrying out a process for latent heat that accounts for a significant part of humid air in addition to dehumidifying by a latent heat process in humid air. <P>SOLUTION: The hybrid drying machine is provided with a drying chamber, a heat pump device in which cooling medium circulates through a compressor, a condenser, a restricting device, and an evaporator in this order, and a desiccant rotor device parted to an adsorption zone in which a desiccant rotor carrying desiccant to absorb and desorb water adsorbs water, and a desorption zone to desorb water. Drying air including steam after removing water from drying objects in a drying chamber is sent through the desorption zone of the desiccant rotor device, the evaporator of the heat pump device, the absorption zone of the desiccant rotor device and the condenser of the heat pump device in this order, so that it is regenerated as drying air to return to the drying chamber. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

The present invention relates to a hybrid dryer used for clothes drying, bathroom drying or indoor dehumidification.

Conventionally, heater-type dryers that supply heat necessary for drying with an electric heater have been commercialized, but heat pump-type dryers have been proposed to reduce the required electrical energy.

For example, Patent Document 1 has a configuration in which drying air that has taken water vapor from clothes in a drying chamber is guided to an evaporator of a heat pump device and dehumidified, and then is guided to a radiator (condenser) and reused as drying air. Heat pump-type household clothes dryers have been proposed, and excessive accumulation of heat energy in the dryer is avoided by discharging a part of the drying air after passing through a radiator (condenser). And the technique which prevents the abnormal raise of the refrigerant | coolant pressure in a heat pump apparatus is disclosed.

In the technology of the above-mentioned document, the required electric energy can be reduced by heating with an electric heater by heating with a heat pump. However, for further energy saving, improvement of a heat pump device suitable for drying applications and appropriate drying operation Completion judgment had to be realized at low cost.

In addition, HCFC refrigerants (including chlorine, hydrogen, fluorine, and carbon atoms in the molecule) and HFC refrigerants (including hydrogen, fluorine, and carbon atoms in the molecule) have been used as refrigerants for heat pump devices. As an alternative to the ozone layer destruction or global warming, conversion to natural refrigerants such as hydrocarbons and carbon dioxide existing in nature has been proposed as an alternative to these.

Therefore, it is necessary to realize energy saving to further reduce the indirect influence on global warming by using a refrigerant that does not directly affect ozone layer destruction or global warming.

In response to such a problem, Patent Document 2 proposes a heat pump dryer using effective use of heat energy by heat exchange as a method for realizing further energy saving.

The heat pump dryer can reduce electric energy and contribute to energy saving. However, as seen in Patent Document 2, further improvement for energy saving is necessary. Further, since the dehumidification by the heat pump method is an operation of only sensible heat by cooling, there is a problem that the energy for dehumidification cannot be effectively used. In particular, the relative humidity of the air exhausted from the drying chamber decreases as the drying object progresses, but the relative humidity decreases only with sensible heat treatment. There is also a problem that the drying speed becomes slow.
JP 7-178289 A JP 2003-75065 A

The present invention was devised in view of the above-described situation, and in addition to dehumidification by sensible heat treatment in humid air, by performing the treatment of latent heat occupying an important part of the humid air, as a result An object of the present invention is to provide a dryer that is excellent in energy saving and has a high drying speed.

The above object of the present invention is achieved by the following means.
(1) Adsorption zone in which a desiccant rotor on which a desiccant that adsorbs and desorbs moisture is adsorbed with a heat pump device configured so that a drying chamber and a refrigerant circulate in the order of a compressor, a condenser, an expansion device, and an evaporator And a desiccant rotor device divided into a desorption zone for desorbing moisture,
Drying air containing water vapor from which moisture has been removed from the object to be dried in the drying chamber is arranged in the order of the desorption zone of the desiccant rotor device, the evaporator of the heat pump device, the adsorption zone of the desiccant rotor device, and the condenser of the heat pump device. A hybrid dryer having a configuration in which it is regenerated as drying air and returned to the drying chamber by passing it through.
(2) An adsorption zone in which a desiccant rotor carrying a desiccant that adsorbs and desorbs moisture is adsorbed with a heat pump device configured to circulate a drying chamber and a refrigerant in the order of a compressor, a condenser, an expansion device, and an evaporator And a desiccant rotor device divided into a desorption zone for desorbing moisture,
Drying air containing water vapor from which moisture has been removed from the object to be dried in the drying chamber is arranged in the order of the condenser of the heat pump device, the desorption zone of the desiccant rotor device, the evaporator of the heat pump device, and the adsorption zone of the desiccant rotor device. A hybrid dryer having a configuration in which it is regenerated as drying air and returned to the drying chamber by passing it through.
(3) A desiccant rotor carrying a desiccant agent capable of adsorbing and desorbing moisture and a heat pump device configured such that a drying chamber and a refrigerant circulate in the order of a compressor, two separated condensers, a throttling device, and an evaporator A desiccant rotor device that is partitioned into an adsorption zone that adsorbs moisture and a desorption zone that desorbs moisture;
One of the condensers separated into two of the heat pump device, the dehydrating zone of the desiccant rotor device, and the heat pump device for drying air containing water vapor from which moisture has been removed from the object to be dried in the drying chamber Of the desiccant rotor device, the adsorption zone of the desiccant rotor device, and the other condenser of the heat pump device are passed through in this order to regenerate the drying air and return it to the drying chamber A hybrid dryer.
(4) The hybrid dryer according to any one of (1) to (3), wherein the desiccant agent comprises a polyacrylate polymer.

In the hybrid dryer of the present invention configured as described above, not only sensible heat processing but also latent heat processing can be performed efficiently, so that the drying speed can be increased, Further energy saving can be realized.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a hybrid dryer according to a first embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 7 is a compressor, 8 is an evaporator that evaporates the refrigerant and cools and dehumidifies the drying air, 6 is a throttling device such as a capillary tube for maintaining the pressure difference of the refrigerant, and 11 is a condenser that condenses and dries. It is a condenser that heats the working air, and these are connected in order by piping, and a refrigerant is sealed to form a basic configuration of the heat pump device.

Reference numeral 10 denotes a rotor that carries a desiccant agent that adsorbs moisture in the air and that can desorb moisture in the air, and is a desiccant rotor that repeats dehumidification by adsorption and regeneration by desorption by rotating. Reference numeral 4 denotes a desorption zone in which moisture is desorbed from the desiccant rotor 10, and 12 is an adsorption zone in which moisture is adsorbed to the desiccant rotor 10, and the desorption zone 4 and the adsorption zone 12 are partitioned by a partition plate 5 to constitute a desiccant rotor device. To do. The air flowing through the desorption zone 4 and the air flowing through the adsorption zone 12 are almost in counterflow.

Furthermore, 2 is a drying chamber (for example, a rotating drum) in which the drying object 1 is placed, 3 is a blower fan for blowing air from the dryer, and 9 is a drain outlet for discharging drain generated by cooling and dehumidifying the evaporator. is there. In addition, the arrow of FIG. 1 shows the flow of air.

Next, the operation will be described. The air in the entire dryer is circulated through the dryer as indicated by the arrows in the figure by the blower fan 3. When the drying air heated by heat exchange with the condenser 11 is sent to the drying chamber 2 containing the drying target object 1, the drying target object 1 and the drying air are separated from the drying target object 1 due to the relative humidity difference between the drying target object 1 and the drying air. The humidity moves to the drying air and the object 1 to be dried is dried, while the drying air has a higher relative humidity. This air follows the air flow indicated by the arrow and is first guided to the desorption zone 4 and passes through the rotating desiccant rotor 10. At this time, the desiccant rotor 10 desorbs and regenerates moisture from the relationship of the relative humidity difference, while the relative humidity of the air that has passed is further increased.

Next, the air whose relative humidity is increased passes through the evaporator 8 and is cooled below the dew point so that moisture in the air is condensed and dehumidified as water droplets. However, since the temperature is lowered simultaneously in the dehumidification by condensation, the temperature of the air that has passed through the evaporator 8 is lowered, and the relative humidity becomes almost saturated.

Subsequently, the air having a relative humidity close to saturation is guided to the adsorption zone 12 and passes through the rotating desiccant rotor 10. At this time, moisture in the air is adsorbed due to the high moisture absorption characteristics of the desiccant rotor 10, the air is dehumidified, and at the same time, heat of adsorption is generated, so that the temperature also rises.

Then, the dehumidified air whose temperature has been increased passes through the condenser 11 as a final step, whereby heat exchange is performed, and the air is further heated to have a low relative humidity, and is sent to the drying chamber 2 again. By repeating this cycle, the drying object 1 can be efficiently dried.

FIG. 4 is a moist air diagram illustrating the operation of the hybrid dryer according to the first embodiment of the present invention and the state of air to be dehumidified in the hybrid dryer and a conventional heat pump dryer. is there. In the figure, the horizontal axis represents the dry bulb temperature, the vertical axis represents the absolute humidity, and each oblique curve represents the equirelative humidity line. Of the oblique curve, the solid line indicates the saturation humidity line, that is, the dew point at the absolute humidity.

The drying air (state A) from which moisture has been transferred from the drying object 1 in the drying chamber 2 is guided to the desorption zone 4 and passes through the desiccant rotor 10. At this time, moisture is desorbed from the desiccant rotor 10, the humidity increases along the isoenthalpy line AA ', the temperature decreases, and the humidity becomes a state A' close to saturation. Next, the air is sent to the evaporator 8 and cooled to reach the saturation state B, causing condensation, and further cooling along the saturation humidity line BC. As a result, the air in the state C is dehumidified. can get. Since the air in the state C has been dehumidified by condensation, the absolute humidity is lowered, but the relative humidity is extremely high near 100%.

This high-humidity air is sent to the adsorption zone 12, passes through the desiccant rotor 10, and moisture is adsorbed along the isoenthalpy line CD, so that the absolute humidity can be further lowered and the temperature becomes isoenthalpy by adsorption. Becomes air in state D. And finally, it passes through the condenser 11 and is heated by heat exchange heating to become air in a state E in which the relative humidity is lowered, and the air is sent to the drying chamber 2 to be used for drying the drying object 1. . This cycle is repeated as a flow of circulating air, and as a result, the drying object is dried. The amount of dry water in this cycle can be represented by the absolute humidity difference between air A and air E in FIG.

When the hybrid dryer according to the first embodiment of the present invention and the conventional heat pump dryer are compared on the wet air diagram of FIG. 4 as the premise of obtaining the same dry moisture amount, the conventional heat pump In the dryer, the cooling treatment is represented by AY and the heat treatment is represented by YE, whereas in the hybrid dryer according to the first embodiment of the present invention, the cooling treatment is A′C and the heating treatment is performed. The process is represented by DE. As is clear by comparing each, the hybrid dryer has a smaller temperature difference in both the cooling treatment and the heat treatment than the conventional heat pump dryer, and therefore less energy is used in each treatment. As a result, excellent energy saving can be obtained.

In addition, when comparing the minimum cooling temperature in the cooling process, the conventional heat pump dryer has the temperature Y, whereas the hybrid dryer has a higher temperature C, so the heat pump load can be reduced. There is a merit that can be done. These advantages of the hybrid dryer of the present invention are that the conventional heat pump dryer has only a sensible heat treatment such as heating and cooling, but the latent heat treatment is effectively incorporated into the drying system by using a desiccant rotor. It is because of that.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a hybrid dryer according to the second embodiment of the present invention. The basic configuration is the same as that of the first embodiment of the present invention, and only the arrangement of the condenser 11 is different from that of the first embodiment, and is arranged on the desorption zone 4 side of the desiccant rotor device.

Next, the operation will be described. The air in the entire dryer is circulated through the dryer as indicated by the arrows in the figure by the blower fan 3. When the drying air led from the adsorption zone 12 is sent to the drying chamber 2 containing the drying object 1, the drying object 1 is changed to the drying air due to the relative humidity difference between the drying object 1 and the drying air. The humidity 1 moves and the object 1 to be dried is dried, while the drying air increases in relative humidity. This air follows the flow of the circulating air indicated by the arrow, and is first led to the condenser 11 and heated by heat exchange to be in a state where the relative humidity is low, and then led to the adsorption zone 4 and passes through the rotating desiccant rotor 10. To do. At this time, the desiccant rotor 10 desorbs and regenerates moisture due to the relative humidity difference, while the relative humidity of the air that has passed through is increased.

Next, the air whose relative humidity is increased passes through the evaporator 8 to be cooled below the dew point, and the moisture in the air is condensed and dehumidified as water droplets. However, since the temperature is lowered simultaneously in the dehumidification by condensation, the temperature of the air that has passed through the evaporator 8 is lowered, and the relative humidity becomes almost saturated.

Subsequently, the air having a relative humidity close to saturation is guided to the adsorption zone 12 and passes through the rotating desiccant rotor 10. At this time, moisture in the air is adsorbed due to the high moisture absorption characteristics of the desiccant rotor 10, the air is dehumidified, and at the same time, heat of adsorption is generated, so that the temperature also rises. The high-temperature and low-humidity air thus obtained is sent again to the drying chamber 2. By repeating this cycle, the drying object 1 can be efficiently dried.

FIG. 5 is a moist air diagram illustrating the operation of the hybrid dryer according to the second embodiment of the present invention and the state of air to be dehumidified in the hybrid dryer and a conventional heat pump dryer. is there. In the figure, the horizontal axis represents the dry bulb temperature, the vertical axis represents the absolute humidity, and each oblique curve represents the equirelative humidity line. Of the oblique curve, the solid line indicates the saturation humidity line, that is, the dew point at the absolute humidity.

The drying air (state A) from which moisture has been transferred from the drying object 1 in the drying chamber 2 is first led to the condenser 11 and heated by heat exchange heating, resulting in a state F in which the relative humidity is reduced. . Next, it is guided to the desorption zone 4 and passes through the desiccant rotor 10. At this time, moisture is desorbed from the desiccant rotor 10, the humidity increases along the isoenthalpy line FF ', the temperature decreases, and the humidity becomes a state F' close to saturation. Next, the air is sent to the evaporator 8 and cooled to reach the saturation state G, causing condensation, and further cooling along the saturation humidity line GH. As a result, dehumidification is performed and the air in the state H Is obtained. Since the air in the state H has been dehumidified by dew condensation, the absolute humidity is reduced, but the relative humidity is extremely high, which is almost 100%.

This high-humidity air is sent to the adsorption zone 12, passes through the desiccant rotor 10, and moisture is adsorbed along the isoenthalpy line HE, thereby further decreasing the absolute humidity and isothermally increasing the temperature by adsorption. Rises to the air in the state E, and the air is sent to the drying chamber 2 to be used for drying the object 1 to be dried. This cycle is repeated as a flow of circulating air, and as a result, the drying object is dried. The amount of dry moisture in this cycle can be expressed by the absolute humidity difference between air A and air E in FIG.

When the hybrid dryer according to the second embodiment of the present invention and the conventional heat pump dryer are compared on the wet air diagram of FIG. 5 as the premise of obtaining the same dry moisture amount, the conventional heat pump In the dryer, the cooling process is represented by AY and the heating process is represented by YE, whereas in the hybrid dryer according to the second embodiment of the present invention, the cooling process is F′H and the heating process is performed. Processing is represented by AF. As is clear by comparing each, the hybrid dryer has a smaller temperature difference in both the cooling treatment and the heat treatment than the conventional heat pump dryer, and therefore less energy is used in each treatment. As a result, excellent energy saving can be obtained.

Further, when comparing the minimum cooling temperature in the cooling process, the conventional heat pump dryer has a temperature Y, whereas the hybrid dryer has a much higher temperature H, which is the first embodiment of the present invention. Since the temperature higher than the temperature C is sufficient, there is an advantage that the heat pump load can be further reduced. In addition, since dehumidification is possible at such a high cooling temperature, the temperature difference between the cooling temperature and the outside air can be reduced, so that heat insulation in the system is facilitated and heat loss is reduced. Can contribute. Further, since a high cooling temperature is possible, there is an advantage that the selection range of the refrigerant is expanded, and it is possible to select a more efficient one and one having a smaller environmental load.

FIG. 3 shows the configuration of a hybrid dryer according to a third embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 6 shows the operation of the hybrid dryer, and the dryer and the conventional heat pump dryer. It is a humid air line figure explaining the state of the air dehumidified in a machine. The difference from the first embodiment and the second embodiment of the present invention is that the condenser 11 is divided into two, one is arranged on the desorption zone 4 side and the other is arranged on the adsorption zone 12 side. . In this embodiment, the cooling temperature can be set to a state L higher than the state C of the first embodiment, and the maximum temperature reached is lower than the state F of the second embodiment. Since it can be set to the state J, the temperature difference from the outside air and the temperature difference inside the apparatus become small, the heat resistance restriction of the apparatus is relaxed, and there is an advantage that the system can be simplified easily.

The desiccant rotor employed in the present invention is a honeycomb or corrugated rotor carrying a desiccant agent that adsorbs moisture in the air and can desorb moisture in the air. There is no particular limitation as long as regeneration by desorption can be repeated. The desiccant agent to be supported is not particularly limited, and any of zeolite, silica gel, modified zeolite, porous inorganic material, hydrophilic polymer, and the like may be used. Among these, when a desiccant agent made of a hydrophilic polymer, particularly a polyacrylate polymer, is used, a more preferable dryer can be obtained.

In the case of a polyacrylate polymer, since it has excellent regeneration characteristics at low temperatures compared to other desiccant agents, it can be efficiently regenerated with air of about 60 ° C. obtained by a heat pump device. Is suitable. In addition, hydrophilic polymers, especially polyacrylate polymers, as seen in their adsorption isotherms, have higher moisture absorption on the high humidity side of the relative humidity than other desiccant agents, that is, in the region close to the saturated relative humidity. Since it has characteristics, it is particularly preferable in the hybrid dryer of the present invention that requires moisture absorption in the saturated relative humidity region.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the hybrid dryer which is the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the hybrid dryer which is the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the hybrid dryer which is the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a humid air line figure explaining the operation | movement of the hybrid dryer which is the 1st Embodiment of this invention, and the state of the air dehumidified in this hybrid dryer and the conventional heat pump dryer. It is a humid air line figure explaining the operation | movement of the hybrid dryer which is the 2nd Embodiment of this invention, and the state of the air dehumidified in this hybrid dryer and the conventional heat pump dryer. It is a humid air line figure explaining the operation | movement of the hybrid dryer which is the 3rd Embodiment of this invention, and the state of the air dehumidified in this hybrid dryer and the conventional heat pump dryer.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Drying object 2 Drying chamber 3 Blower fan 4 Desorption zone of a desiccant rotor device 5 Partition plate 6 Throttle device 7 Compressor 8 Evaporator 9 Drain port 10 Desiccant rotor 11 Condenser 12 Adsorption zone of the desiccant rotor device

Claims (4)

A drying chamber and a refrigerant circulate in the order of the compressor, condenser, expansion device, and evaporator. A heat pump device configured to circulate in that order and a desiccant rotor carrying a desiccant that can adsorb and desorb moisture absorbs the adsorption zone and moisture. A desiccant rotor device divided into a desorption zone for desorption,
Drying air containing water vapor from which moisture has been removed from the object to be dried in the drying chamber is arranged in the order of the desorption zone of the desiccant rotor device, the evaporator of the heat pump device, the adsorption zone of the desiccant rotor device, and the condenser of the heat pump device. A hybrid dryer having a configuration in which it is regenerated as drying air and returned to the drying chamber by passing it through. A heat pump device configured to circulate the drying chamber and refrigerant in the order of the compressor, condenser, throttling device, and evaporator, and a desiccant rotor carrying a desiccant agent capable of adsorbing and desorbing moisture absorbs the adsorption zone and moisture. A desiccant rotor device divided into a desorption zone for desorption,
Drying air containing water vapor from which moisture has been removed from the object to be dried in the drying chamber is arranged in the order of the condenser of the heat pump device, the desorption zone of the desiccant rotor device, the evaporator of the heat pump device, and the adsorption zone of the desiccant rotor device. A hybrid dryer having a configuration in which it is regenerated as drying air and returned to the drying chamber by passing it through. A desiccant rotor carrying a desiccant capable of adsorbing and desorbing moisture adsorbs moisture, and a heat pump device configured to circulate the drying chamber and refrigerant in the order of a compressor, two separated condensers, a throttling device, and an evaporator. A desiccant rotor device that is partitioned into an adsorption zone and a desorption zone that desorbs moisture,
One of the condensers separated into two parts of the heat pump device, the dehydrating zone of the desiccant rotor device, and the heat pump device for drying air containing water vapor that has taken moisture from the object to be dried in the drying chamber Of the desiccant rotor device, the adsorption zone of the desiccant rotor device, and the other condenser of the heat pump device are passed through in this order to regenerate the drying air and return it to the drying chamber A hybrid dryer. The hybrid dryer according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the desiccant agent comprises a polyacrylate polymer.

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