JP2010091226A - Cooling tower - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a cooling tower for using electric power generated by a solar panel for rotating/driving a blower as well as effectively preventing recirculation of outlet air while saving space. <P>SOLUTION: The cooling tower 11 includes a blower 15 rotated/driven by a motor 14 at an exhaust port 13 provided for a ceiling part 11a. The blower 15 sucks air into the cooling tower 11 from outside-air introducing ports 16 provided on both the sides of the tower. After heat-exchanging the air and cooled water to be sprinkled from an upper water tank 19 by a filling member 18, the air is exhausted via the exhaust port 13 to the outside. The solar panel 21 is installed while extending outward from an outer edge of the ceiling part 11a, around the exhaust port 13 of the ceiling part 11a. The power generated by the solar panel 21 is used for driving the motor 14. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a cooling tower that circulates and supplies cooling water to be used in a refrigerator, a chiller / heater, a heat exchanger for various processes, and the like, and more specifically, is placed in a place exposed to sunlight, such as a rooftop of a building. Related to the optimal cooling tower.

  Some cooling towers use copper ions to prevent the growth of algae and bacteria in the cooling water that accumulates in the lower storage tank after heat exchange, and small solar cells are used as power to elute copper ions from the copper electrodes. There is one that uses the power generated in (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

In addition, if hot and humid air discharged from the cooling tower exhaust port is introduced from the outside air inlet of the cooling tower and recirculated, problems such as reduced cooling efficiency and generation of white smoke may occur. There is a cooling tower provided with a recirculation prevention plate disposed between an opposed outside air inlet and outlet (for example, see Patent Document 2).
JP 2003-211164 A JP-A-5-164480

  As shown in Patent Document 1, it has been proposed to use electric power generated by a small solar cell, but there was no idea of rotationally driving a blower with electric power from the solar cell. In addition, power generation using solar cells requires a large area for installing a solar panel, but it is difficult to secure an area for installing a solar panel in a place where the space on the roof of the building is limited.

  Further, Patent Document 2 is intended to prevent recirculation of outlet air when a plurality of cooling towers are provided in a limited space, and cannot be applied when only one cooling tower is installed. .

  Accordingly, the present invention has an object to provide a cooling tower that can use power generated by a solar panel for rotational driving of a blower and effectively prevent recirculation of outlet air while saving space. It is said.

  In order to achieve the above object, the cooling tower of the present invention includes a blower that is rotationally driven by an electric motor at an exhaust port provided in a ceiling portion, and the outside air inlets provided on both sides by the blower into the cooling tower. A cross-flow type that sucks air and heat-exchanges the air and water to be cooled sprayed from the upper water tank by gas-liquid contact with a filler, and then exhausts the air to the outside through the exhaust port. In the cooling tower, a solar panel is provided around the exhaust port of the ceiling portion so as to protrude outward from the outer edge of the ceiling portion, and the electric power generated by the solar panel is used for driving the electric motor. It is characterized by that.

  According to the cooling tower of the present invention, the cooling tower is arranged outdoors with good ventilation, and in particular, is often arranged in a place exposed to sunlight, such as a rooftop of a building, so the ceiling part exposed to sunlight is used. Since the solar panel is attached, it is possible to effectively generate power while saving space. By using the generated power as a part of the power for driving the rotation of the blower, the power consumption can be reduced.

  In addition, by adopting a structure in which a solar panel projects between the outside air inlet provided on the side of the cooling tower and the exhaust outlet provided on the ceiling, the lower side of the hot and humid outlet air discharged from the exhaust outlet Can be blocked by the solar panel, the outlet air can be prevented from recirculating to the outside air inlet, and the cooling efficiency can be reduced and the generation of white smoke can be prevented.

  1 to 3 are views showing a first embodiment of the cooling tower of the present invention, FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional explanatory view of the cooling tower, FIG. 2 is a front view of the cooling tower, and FIG. 3 is an installation state of the cooling tower. It is a perspective view.

  The cooling tower 11 of the present embodiment is formed in a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, and includes a leg portion 12 at the lower portion and an exhaust port 13 at the center of the ceiling portion 11a. The blower 15 is rotationally driven by an electric motor 14 at the exhaust port 13. Is arranged. In addition, outside air inlets 16 and 16 are respectively provided on the side portions of the cooling tower 11 facing each other, and a louver 17 is attached to each of the outside air inlets 16 and 16.

  A filler 18 is disposed inside the outside air inlet 16, and an upper water tank 19 for storing circulating cooling water and sprinkling the filler 18 is provided above the filler 18, and a lower portion is provided at the lower part. A water tank 20 is provided. Further, a solar panel 21 is provided around the exhaust port 13 of the ceiling portion 11a. The solar panel 21 is formed to be larger than the area of the ceiling portion 11a, and the outer portion of the solar panel 21 is provided to protrude outward from the outer edge of the ceiling portion 11a. They are provided in a state of projecting so as to cover the outside air inlets 16 and 16 from both sides of the mouth 13.

  The solar panel 21 is a semiconductor element in which a module is composed of crystalline silicon or amorphous silicon, and is a well-known device that converts incident light energy into electric energy. Electric power generated by the solar panel 21 is provided separately. It is input to an inverter (not shown), converted into a three-phase alternating current having a predetermined voltage and a predetermined frequency, and applied to the electric motor 14. Furthermore, the electric motor 14 is also supplied with electric power from a commercial power source, and is used in combination with power generation from the solar panel 21.

  In the cooling tower 11 formed as described above, for example, as shown in FIG. 3, a plurality of coolers 11 are arranged in parallel, and high-temperature circulating cooling water from equipment in the factory passes through the piping, Each is introduced into the upper water tank 19 of each cooling tower 11 and sprinkled on each filler 18, and the blower 15 is driven to rotate by the electric power generated by the solar panel 21. The circulating cooling water sprayed from the upper water tank 19 comes into contact with the air sucked from the outside air inlets 16 and 16 by the blower 15 while flowing down the filler 18, is cooled by heat exchange, and flows down to the lower water tank 20. And it is sent to the equipment in a factory with a pump via piping connected to each lower water tank 20, respectively.

  Thus, by using the electric power generated by the solar panel 21 to rotationally drive the blower 15, power saving can be achieved. For example, when a solar panel 21 having a width dimension of 2.3 m and a length dimension of 2 m is installed, it is possible for the electric motor 14 to generate about 0.92 kW of power per hour in fine weather. Thus, about 12 to 41% of the total power can be covered with the power generated by the solar panel 21. Furthermore, by providing the solar panel 21 in a state of projecting outward from the outer edge of the ceiling part 11, the area of the solar panel 21 can be made larger than the area of the ceiling part 11a. Depending on the season, time zone, and weather, It is also possible to drive the electric motor 14 only with electric power from the solar panel 21.

  Moreover, since the solar panel 21 is provided in the ceiling part 11a of the cooling tower 11, it is not necessary to ensure the space for installing a solar panel separately, and space saving can be achieved.

  Furthermore, as shown by the arrows in FIG. 1, by providing the solar panel 21 so as to protrude above the outside air inlets 16 and 16, from the exhaust port 13 in a hot and humid state with an enthalpy of about 30 [J]. The discharged outlet air can be prevented from flowing downward and circulating to the outside air inlets 16, 16, and the cooling efficiency can be prevented from being lowered or white smoke can be prevented from being generated.

  Moreover, the solar panel 21 can be cooled by providing the cooling pipe on the back surface of the solar panel 21 and circulating the cooling water, and the power generation efficiency can be prevented from being lowered due to the temperature rise of the solar panel 21.

  FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a cooling tower showing a second embodiment of the present invention. Components that are the same as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof is omitted. In the cooling tower 22 of the present embodiment, the solar panel 21 disposed on the ceiling portion is provided so as to protrude outward from both side surfaces, the front surface, and the rear surface of the ceiling portion. Is provided with a rectangular exhaust port insertion portion 21a, and the exhaust port 13 protrudes upward from the exhaust port insertion portion 21a.

  In this way, by projecting the solar panel 21 from the entire circumference of the ceiling, the area of the solar panel 21 is increased, and the amount of power generated by the solar panel 21 can be further increased, and the outlet air is supplied to the outside air inlet 16. , 16 can be prevented more reliably.

  The present invention is not limited to a rectangular cooling tower, but can also be applied to a cylindrical cooling tower, and the area of the solar panel can be appropriately set according to the size of the cooling tower and the space of the installation location. it can.

It is sectional explanatory drawing of the cooling tower which shows the 1st form example of this invention. It is a front view of a cooling tower. It is a perspective view which similarly shows the installation state of a cooling tower. It is a perspective view of the cooling tower which shows the 2nd form example of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11, 22 ... Cooling tower, 11a ... Ceiling part, 11b ... Side, 12 ... Leg part, 13 ... Exhaust port, 14 ... Electric motor, 15 ... Air blower, 16 ... Outside air introduction port, 17 ... Louver, 18 ... Filler, 19 ... Upper water tank, 20 ... Lower water tank, 21 ... Solar panel, 21a ... Exhaust port insertion part

Claims (1)

A blower that is rotationally driven by an electric motor is disposed at the exhaust port provided in the ceiling, and air is sucked into the cooling tower from the outside air inlet provided on both sides by the blower, and water is sprinkled from the air and the upper water tank. In a cross-flow type cooling tower that exchanges heat with water to be cooled by gas-liquid contact with a filler, and then exhausts the air to the outside through the exhaust port, around the exhaust port of the ceiling portion A cooling tower, wherein a solar panel is provided in a state of projecting outward from the outer edge of the ceiling portion, and electric power generated by the solar panel is used for driving the electric motor.

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