JP5640623B2 - Vaporizing humidifier - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a vaporizing humidifier that vaporizes water to humidify air.

  In a clean room, factory production line, etc., an air conditioner (an air conditioner that processes only the outside air and blows air is sometimes referred to as an outside air conditioner) in order to keep the temperature and humidity of the indoor space at a predetermined temperature and a predetermined humidity. (Hereinafter referred to as “air conditioner”). Such an air conditioner is provided with a humidifier in order to adjust the humidity of the indoor space to a predetermined humidity. Humidifiers are roughly classified into vaporizing humidifiers, steam humidifiers, and water spray humidifiers. Among these, the vaporization type heater is most suitable as a humidifier to be introduced into an air conditioner installed in a factory or the like because there is no risk of fire because no fire is used and high humidification efficiency can be obtained. is there.

  The vaporizing humidifier performs humidification by evaporating normal temperature water by replacing the sensible heat of air with the latent heat of water. More specifically, the vaporizing humidifier is provided with a humidifying element filled with a fin made of a porous material having a large number of fine pores, and the fin of the humidifying element is supplied with water for humidification supplied by water supply means. Is held in the pores of itself. Then, the air supplied to the air conditioner passes through the humidifying element of the vaporizing humidifier, so that the retained humidifying water is vaporized and the air is humidified.

  As described above, humidifying water is almost always supplied to the humidifying element during operation of the humidifier. For this reason, the fins of the humidifying element are always wet and bacteria are likely to grow. If bacteria are brought in from the supply air such as outside air or circulating air, dripping water, or humidifying water, and the bacteria grow in the fins, the bacteria are contained in the air that has passed through the humidifying element. May be sent out indoors.

  Therefore, a technique of providing an ultraviolet lamp for irradiating the vaporizing member (humidifying element) with ultraviolet rays is disclosed (Patent Document 1). According to Patent Document 1, the vaporizing member can be kept clean due to the sterilization effect of ultraviolet rays, and if the ultraviolet lamp is disposed near the vaporizing member, the vapor generated from the vaporizing member by heat generated by the ultraviolet lamps can be obtained. It is said that it will be possible to promote the release. Furthermore, it is said that it is possible to improve the hydrophilicity of the vaporizing member by irradiating with ultraviolet rays, and to improve the humidifying efficiency of the humidifier.

JP 2003-240283 A

  However, when ultraviolet rays are used as in Patent Document 1, the surface of the humidifying element on the side irradiated with ultraviolet rays can be sufficiently sterilized, but since the ultraviolet rays do not reach the inside thereof, internal sterilization is not possible. May be sufficient. In order to make the ultraviolet rays reach the inside sufficiently, it is sufficient to increase the ultraviolet intensity of the ultraviolet lamp, but this increases the power consumption of the ultraviolet lamp. Further, when the ultraviolet intensity of the ultraviolet lamp is increased, an unnecessarily large amount of ultraviolet rays are irradiated at a position near the ultraviolet lamp, that is, on the surface irradiated with the ultraviolet rays, which is inefficient.

  An object of this invention is to provide the vaporization type humidifier which can sterilize not only the surface of a humidification element but the inside reliably in view of such a subject.

In order to solve the above-described problems, a typical configuration of a vaporizing humidifier according to the present invention includes a humidifying element that is disposed in a ventilation path and is filled with a fin made of a porous material that holds humidifying water, and a humidifying device. Provided with water supply means for supplying humidifying water to the element, and microwave irradiation means for irradiating the humidifying element with microwaves, and the fin is only in the vicinity of the surface opposite to the surface receiving the microwave irradiation, A microwave absorber that absorbs microwaves is characterized by being coated, impregnated, vapor-deposited or kneaded.

  When the humidifying element is irradiated with the microwave from the microwave irradiating means, the humidifying water (water) held in the fins filled in the humidifying element generates heat. Since the humidifying water is infiltrated (held) not only on the surface of the humidifying element but also on the entire surface, the entire humidifying element (entire fins) becomes hot and sterilized. In particular, by applying, impregnating, vapor-depositing or kneading a microwave absorber to the fin (hereinafter collectively referred to as containing), not only the humidifying water held in the fin but also the microwave absorber is microwaved. Absorbs heat and generates heat. Thereby, since the absorption rate of a microwave can be raised and by extension improvement of heat_generation | fever efficiency can be aimed at, it can sterilize more suitably. Therefore, according to the above configuration, not only the surface of the humidifying element but also the inside can be surely sterilized.

  The fins extend along the air traveling direction in the ventilation path and are arranged in parallel in the width direction of the ventilation path, and at least one or more of the plurality of fins is coated and impregnated with a microwave absorber. It may be vapor deposited or kneaded.

  According to this configuration, when microwaves are irradiated, among the plurality of fins, only the humidifying water generates heat in the fins that do not contain the microwave absorber (hereinafter referred to as other fins). As for the fin containing, both the water for humidification and the fin itself generate heat. As a result, the fin containing the microwave absorber becomes extremely hot and the other fins have a lower temperature, but the heat of the fin containing the microwave absorber is also transmitted to the other fin, so that The temperature also increases. Therefore, if microwaves are contained in at least one of the plurality of fins, the cost required for the microwave absorber can be reduced while sufficiently obtaining the above-described effects.

Further, as described above , the microwave absorber is coated, impregnated, vapor deposited or kneaded only in the vicinity of the surface of the fin opposite to the surface that receives the microwave irradiation . In the fin, the surface that receives microwave irradiation has a sufficient irradiation amount, but the opposite surface may have an insufficient irradiation amount. Therefore, by incorporating a microwave absorber in the vicinity of the surface opposite to the surface that receives microwave irradiation as in such a configuration, the microwave absorption rate in the vicinity of the opposite surface is improved, A high sterilizing effect can be ensured.

  Further, since the microwave is absorbed by the humidifying water as it passes through the humidifying element (fin), the amount of the microwave decreases from the surface irradiated with the microwave to the opposite surface. Therefore, by including the microwave absorber only in the vicinity of the opposite surface, it is possible to prevent excessive absorption of the microwave from the surface receiving the microwave irradiation to the vicinity of the opposite surface. Therefore, it is possible to increase the amount of microwaves transmitted to the opposite surface, and to increase the sterilization efficiency in the vicinity of the surface.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the vaporization type humidifier which can sterilize not only the surface of a humidification element but the inside can be provided.

It is a figure which shows the structure of an air conditioner provided with the vaporization type humidifier concerning this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the other example of a humidification element.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The dimensions, materials, and other specific numerical values shown in the embodiments are merely examples for facilitating understanding of the invention, and do not limit the present invention unless otherwise specified. In the present specification and drawings, elements having substantially the same function and configuration are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted, and elements not directly related to the present invention are not illustrated. To do.

  In order to facilitate understanding, in the following embodiment, an air conditioner will be described as an example of an apparatus provided with a vaporizing humidifier. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the vaporizing humidifier (hereinafter simply referred to as a humidifier) according to the present embodiment may be an independent humidifier or other apparatus such as a production machine or a dryer. May be provided.

  Drawing 1 is a figure showing the composition of the air conditioner provided with the vaporization type humidifier concerning this embodiment. In FIG. 1, the alternate long and short dash line indicates the connection relationship with the control unit. Hereinafter, the humidifier according to the present embodiment will be described in detail after the entire configuration of the air conditioner has been described.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a humidifier 110 according to the present embodiment is provided in an air conditioner 100. The casing 102 of the air conditioner 100 is formed with an outside air port 102a at the upstream end and an air supply port 102b at the downstream end. A ventilation path 102 c is formed inside the casing 102.

  The temperature and humidity of outside air (OA), that is, air supplied to the air conditioner 100 from the outside air port 102a are adjusted to a predetermined temperature and a predetermined humidity while passing through the ventilation path 102c. Thereafter, the air is supplied as processing air, that is, supply air (SA) from the air supply port 102b to the indoor space (not shown) at a predetermined flow rate. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and an external air port 102a or a separate recovery air port (not shown) may be provided, and recovery air (RA: Return Air) from the indoor space may be supplied to the air conditioner 100. Good.

  In the air conditioner, a pre-filter 104 is provided on the most upstream side of the ventilation path 102c. Thereby, it is possible to remove large dust particles, that is, coarse dust contained in the air supplied to the air conditioner 100 from the air. Further, a medium performance filter 106 that is finer than the prefilter 104 is provided on the downstream side of the prefilter 104. Thereby, the fine dust which passed the pre filter 104 can be removed from the air.

  A hot water coil 108 is provided downstream of the medium performance filter 106. The hot water coil 108 is supplied with hot water from a hot water supply device (not shown), and heats the air using the hot water as a heat source. Thereby, the temperature of the air supplied to the air conditioner 100 can be increased and adjusted to a predetermined temperature. Moreover, since the heat (sensible heat) contained in the air increases by raising the temperature, the humidifying water can be evaporated with high efficiency when the air passes through the humidifier 110 described later, and the humidification efficiency is improved. To do.

  In addition, although there exist various things, such as a boiler, as a warm water supply apparatus, a heat pump can be illustrated as a most suitable thing. By using a heat pump as a hot water supply device, it is possible to save energy and reduce carbon dioxide emissions compared to the case where a combustion type device such as a boiler is used, effective use of energy, and greenhouse gas emissions. Reduction can be promoted.

  A cold water coil 122 is provided downstream of the hot water coil 108 and a humidifier 110 described later. The cold water coil 122 is supplied with cold water from a cold water supply device (not shown), and cools the air using the cold water. Thereby, the temperature of the air supplied to the air conditioner 100 can be lowered and adjusted to a predetermined temperature. Further, by reducing the temperature of the air, dehumidification is performed by reducing the absolute humidity of the air, and the humidity of the air can be adjusted to a predetermined humidity.

  In the present embodiment, the hot water coil 108 and the cold water coil 122 are provided. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a cold / hot water coil capable of both heating and cooling the air is provided. Also good. Moreover, it does not limit about the position in which the hot water coil 108, the humidifier 110 mentioned later, and the cold water coil 122 are provided, The order in which these are provided may differ.

  In the present embodiment, shields 109 a and 109 b are provided on the downstream side of the hot water coil 108 and the upstream side of the cold water coil 122 described above. Thereby, irradiation (leakage) of the microwave irradiated to the hot water coil 108 and the cold water coil 122 from the microwave irradiation means 114 to be described later is prevented, and the influence of the microwave on the hot water coil 108 and the cold water coil 122 is avoided. Can do. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of problems such as heat generation of the coil.

  A blower 124 is provided on the downstream side of the cold water coil 122. The blower 124 is air whose temperature and humidity are adjusted by passing through the hot water coil 108, the humidifier 110, and the cold water coil 122 provided in the ventilation path 102c, that is, air having a predetermined temperature and predetermined humidity in the air conditioner 100. (Processed air) is sent to the indoor space through the air supply port 102b. In addition, a HEPA filter 128 is provided on the downstream side of the blower 124 to capture fine dust having a very small particle size contained in the processing air.

  An incoming air temperature / humidity sensor (hereinafter referred to as a sensor 130a) is disposed in the vicinity of the outside air port 102a, and detects the temperature and humidity of the air supplied to the air conditioner 100. The indoor temperature / humidity sensor (hereinafter referred to as sensor 130b) is disposed in the indoor space, and detects the temperature and humidity of the air supplied from the air conditioner 100 to the room. Note that the temperature detected by the sensors 130a and 130b and the predetermined temperature may be any value of dry bulb temperature or wet bulb temperature. Similarly, as the humidity and the predetermined humidity detected by the sensors 130a and 130b, any value of relative humidity or absolute humidity may be used.

  The controller 132 controls the overall operation of the air conditioner 100 based on the temperature and humidity of the air detected by the sensors 130a and 130b. The control unit 132 is connected to a water supply valve 120 of a water supply unit 118 provided in the humidifier 110 described later, and also controls the supply of humidifying water to the humidifying element 112 by the water supply unit 118.

  Next, the humidifier 110 according to the present embodiment will be described. As described above, the humidifier 110 according to the present embodiment is disposed between the hot water coil 108 and the cold water coil 122 in the ventilation path 102c. The humidifier 110 is supplied with humidifying water through the water supply means 118, and the air supplied to the air conditioner 100 passes through the humidifier 110 to evaporate the humidifying water by replacing the sensible heat of the air with the latent heat of the water. , Humidify the air.

  Specifically, the humidifier 110 includes a humidifying element 112 disposed in the ventilation path 102c. In the humidifying element 112, a plurality (eight in the present embodiment) of fins 112a extending along the air traveling direction in the ventilation path 102c are arranged (filled) in the width direction of the ventilation path 102c. . The fin 112a is made of a porous material having a large number of holes, and humidification water is held in the holes. As a feature of the present embodiment, the fin 112a contains a microwave absorber, which will be described in detail later.

  A water supply means 118 for supplying humidifying water from a water supply facility (not shown) is connected to the humidifying element 112 described above, and the water supply means 118 is provided with a water supply valve 120. And the control part 132 adjusts the supply amount of the water for humidification by the water supply means 118 by controlling the open / close state of the water supply valve 120.

  In the present embodiment, the humidifier 110 is provided with microwave irradiation means 114 (hereinafter referred to as irradiation means 114) and a reflector 116. The irradiation unit 114 irradiates the humidifying element 112 with microwaves. The configuration of the irradiating unit 114 is well known and will be briefly described. The irradiating unit 114 includes a microwave tube (not shown) that is composed of a magnetron, a klystron, or the like and generates a microwave. The microwave generated by the microwave tube is transmitted to the ventilation path 102 c in the casing 102 through the waveguide 114 a that connects the irradiation unit 114 and the casing 102. That is, microwaves are irradiated from the irradiation unit 114. The configuration of the irradiation means 114 described above is an example for facilitating understanding, and is not limited to this.

  The microwave irradiated from the irradiation means 114 is reflected by the reflecting plate 116 installed in the ventilation path 102 c and irradiated to the humidifying element 112. In other words, the microwave irradiated from the irradiation unit 114 is indirectly irradiated to the humidifying element 112 through the reflection plate 116. By using indirect irradiation in this way, the irradiation means 114 can be installed outside the casing 102. Therefore, it is possible to prevent failure of the irradiation unit 114 due to humidification water and moisture (moisture), and at the same time, the irradiation unit 114 can be easily maintained.

  In the present embodiment, the irradiation unit 114 is provided outside the casing 102, but the present invention is not limited to this. The irradiation means 114 may be provided in the casing 102 as long as countermeasures against failure and maintenance due to moisture can be taken. In this case, the reflector 116 is not necessarily required.

  When the humidifying element 112 is irradiated with microwaves from the irradiation means 114, the humidifying water (water) held in the fins 112a filled in the humidifying element 112 generates heat. At this time, the humidifying water is held not only on the surface of the humidifying element 112 (strictly, the fin 112a) but also the entire humidifying element 112 is heated by the heat generation of the humidifying water. Thereby, the humidification element 112 is heat-sterilized not only in the surface by which a microwave is irradiated but in the inside.

  In the present embodiment, a microwave absorber that absorbs microwaves is applied, impregnated, vapor deposited, or kneaded (contained) in the fin 112a. Thus, when the humidifying element 112 is irradiated with microwaves, not only the humidifying water but also the microwave absorber absorbs the microwaves and generates heat. Therefore, it is possible to increase the absorption rate of microwaves and thus improve the heat generation efficiency, and to sterilize the humidifying element more reliably.

  As the microwave absorber, a magnetic material or a conductive material can be preferably used. Specific examples include conductive carbon black, metals such as iron, titanium, and aluminum, and oxides, alloys, and mixtures of these metals. Note that as a method of incorporating the microwave absorber into the fin 112a, the above-described substance may be deposited on the fin 112a, or a solution in which the substance is dissolved may be applied to or impregnated into the fin 112a. Further, a powder of such a substance may be kneaded into the fin 112a, or may be affixed to the fin 112a in the form of a sheet or a thin film. That is, any means may be used for containing the microwave absorber in the fin 112a.

  In the humidifying element 112 described above, the microwave absorber is contained in all of the fins 112a arranged in parallel in the width direction of the ventilation path 102c. However, this configuration is an example, and the present invention is limited to this. is not. For example, it can also be set as the structure demonstrated below.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating another example of the humidifying element. 2 (a) and 2 (b), the right side of the humidifying element is the outside air port 102a side, that is, the surface that receives microwave irradiation, and the left side is the air supply port 102b side, that is, the side opposite to the surface that receives microwave irradiation. Suppose that In the humidifying element, the portion containing the above-described microwave absorber is indicated by a thick solid line, and the portion not containing the microwave absorber is indicated by a thick broken line.

  In the humidifying element 212 shown in FIG. 2 (a), the plurality of fins includes a fin 112a containing a microwave absorber and a fin 212a not containing a microwave absorber. According to this configuration, when the microwave from the irradiation unit 114 is irradiated, only the humidifying water generates heat in the fin 212a that does not include the microwave absorber among the plurality of fins, and the fin that includes the microwave absorber. At 112a, both the humidifying water and the fin itself (strictly, the microwave absorber) generate heat. Then, although the fin 112a becomes hotter than the fin 212a, since the heat of the fin 112a which became high temperature is transmitted also to the fin 212a, the temperature of the fin 212a can also be raised. Therefore, the cost required for the microwave absorber can be reduced while sufficiently obtaining the above-described effects.

  In addition, in the humidification element 212 described above, among the plural (eight) fins, four fins 112a containing a microwave absorber and four fins 212a not containing a microwave absorber are provided, and these are alternately arranged. Although arranged, it is not limited to this. Of the plurality of fins, at least one fin may be the fin 112a containing the microwave absorber, and the position where the fin 112a is disposed can be arbitrarily determined.

  In the humidifying element 312 shown in FIG. 2 (b), microwave absorption is performed only in the vicinity of the surface (the air supply port 102b side) opposite to the surface that receives the microwave irradiation (the external air port 102a side) of the fin 312a. Contains the body. According to such a configuration, in the fin 312a, the microwave absorption rate in the vicinity of the surface on the air supply port 102b side where the amount of microwave irradiation tends to be insufficient can be improved, and a high sterilization effect is ensured. It becomes possible. Further, by including the microwave absorber only in the vicinity of the opposite surface, it is possible to prevent excessive absorption of the microwave from the surface that receives the microwave irradiation to the vicinity of the opposite surface. Therefore, it is possible to increase the amount of microwaves that are transmitted to the opposite surface and increase the sterilization efficiency in the vicinity of the surface.

  In the above-described embodiment, in each of the humidifying elements 112, 212, and 312, the case where eight fins are arranged side by side is illustrated, but the number of fins is not limited to this and can be changed as appropriate. is there.

  As mentioned above, although preferred embodiment of this invention was described referring an accompanying drawing, it cannot be overemphasized that this invention is not limited to the example which concerns. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made within the scope of the claims, and these are naturally within the technical scope of the present invention. Understood.

  The present invention can be used as a vaporizing humidifier that vaporizes water to humidify air.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Air conditioner, 102 ... Casing, 102a ... Outside air port, 102b ... Air supply port, 102c ... Ventilation path, 104 ... Pre filter, 106 ... Medium performance filter, 108 ... Hot water coil, 109a, 109b ... Shield, 110 ... Humidification 112 ... Humidifying element, 112a ... Fin, 114 ... Irradiation means, 114a ... Waveguide, 116 ... Reflector, 118 ... Water supply means, 120 ... Water supply valve, 122 ... Cold water coil, 124 ... Air blower, 128 ... HEPA filter , 130a ... sensor, 130b ... sensor, 132 ... control unit, 212 ... humidifying element, 212a ... fin, 312 ... humidifying element, 312a ... fin

Claims (2)

A humidifying element that is arranged in a ventilation path and is filled with fins made of a porous material that holds humidifying water; and
Water supply means for supplying the humidifying water to the humidifying element;
Microwave irradiation means for irradiating the humidifying element with microwaves;
With
The fin is coated, impregnated, vapor-deposited or kneaded with a microwave absorber that absorbs the microwave only in the vicinity of the surface opposite to the surface that receives the microwave irradiation. A vaporizing humidifier. The fins extend along the air traveling direction in the ventilation path, and a plurality of the fins are arranged in parallel in the width direction of the ventilation path.
2. The vaporizing humidifier according to claim 1, wherein the microwave absorber is applied, impregnated, vapor-deposited, or kneaded in at least one of the plurality of fins.

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