JP6059266B2 - Dehumidifier - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a dehumidifying device that uses a dehumidifying rotor and a heat pump and can supply air with a low dew point even when the regeneration temperature is low.

In recent years, the demand for lithium batteries has increased, and the production thereof has increased accordingly. In the lithium battery, lithium as a raw material reacts with moisture in the air, and the performance of the lithium battery produced by the reaction deteriorates. For this reason, the lithium battery production line needs to be kept dry. As means for keeping this dry state, there are means for purging the inside of a production plant with nitrogen, and means for using a dehumidifier using a dehumidification rotor having a moisture adsorbent such as silica gel.

As the use of lithium batteries expands to automobiles such as electric vehicles and hybrid vehicles, the scale of production factories increases, and means using a dehumidifying device are gradually becoming more realistic than means using the above-mentioned nitrogen purge.

In the case of a dehumidifying device, high-temperature air is used for regeneration of the dehumidifying rotor. However, the energy for producing the high-temperature air is reduced as much as possible.

For example, what is disclosed in Patent Document 1 returns a return air from a dry room to which dry air is sent between the first and second dehumidification rotors, and a part of the air that has exited the second dehumidification rotor. Is heated and sent to the regeneration zones of the first and second dehumidification rotors, so that the dehumidification rotor is regenerated at a relatively low temperature of 80 degrees Celsius (hereinafter, all temperatures are referred to as “degrees Celsius”). Can save energy and has a high energy-saving effect.

Also disclosed in Patent Document 2 is a desiccant air conditioner that supplies dry air having an ultra-low dew point temperature with a three-stage desiccant rotor at a regeneration temperature of 80 ° C. or less, and includes an evaporator and a condenser of a heat pump circuit. It is used in combination with a cooler and regenerator to enhance the energy saving effect.

JP 2012-250150 A JP 2012-159272 A

The one disclosed in Patent Document 1 uses part of the air supplied to a low-humidity space such as a dry room for regeneration of the dehumidification rotor, so that low dew point air can be supplied even if the regeneration temperature is lowered. The energy saving effect is obtained. However, if there is no hot water, steam, exhaust, etc. that can be used for low temperature regeneration, energy to be used as a heat source for regeneration heating is required separately.

Further, what is disclosed in Patent Document 2 is a desiccant air conditioner that supplies dry air with an ultra-low dew point at low temperature regeneration, using an evaporator and a condenser of a heat pump as an auxiliary to a cooler and a regenerator, The energy load of the entire air conditioner can be reduced. That is, an evaporator is arranged auxiliary to the downstream of one cooler, and a condenser is arranged auxiliary to the upstream of the three regenerators to obtain an energy saving effect. However, since there are three coolers and regenerators, the energy consumption of the original air conditioner itself is large and the initial cost is high.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and uses only an evaporator of a heat pump as an intercooler (cooler between the first and second dehumidifying rotors), and as a heat source for regeneration of the dehumidifying rotor, An object of the present invention is to provide a dehumidifying device that saves energy and suppresses initial costs by mainly using the condenser of the heat pump.

The present invention has a first dehumidification rotor divided into two zones, a regeneration zone and an adsorption zone, and a second dehumidification rotor divided into two zones, a regeneration zone and an adsorption zone, and Cooled and dehumidified with one cooler and passed through the adsorption zone of the first dehumidification rotor, and the air that passed through the adsorption zone of the first dehumidification rotor passed through the adsorption zone of the second dehumidification rotor and supplied as supply air And the return air from the supply destination is mixed with the air that has passed through the adsorption zone of the first dehumidifying rotor, and a part of the air that has passed through the adsorption zone of the second dehumidifying rotor is branched to make the second and third The second heater is heated by the second dehumidifying rotor and the air passing through the second dehumidifying rotor is heated by the fourth heater and passed through the first dehumidifying rotor. The sky that passed through the regeneration zone of one dehumidifying rotor Mixed with branches a part air passing through the second regeneration zone of the dehumidifying rotor of the most important features mixing a portion of the remaining the previous outside air first cooler.

Since the dehumidifying device of the present invention has a low temperature of regenerated air, many energy sources can be used, and it is possible to flexibly cope with a problem in the energy infrastructure such as a power failure.

In other words, as the energy source used in the factory, the part that must be electricity is electricity, and if other energy is acceptable as well as electricity, it is possible to use various energy sources in addition to electricity. Flexibility is possible.

For this purpose, by making the temperature of the regeneration air of the dehumidification rotor low, various energies can be used for heating the regeneration air that requires the most energy in the adsorption-type dehumidification device. become.

In addition, if the temperature required for regeneration is low, if there is waste heat in factories, etc., it can be used. In such cases, energy costs are unnecessary and carbon dioxide emissions can be reduced. It is.

The energy sources of equipment used in factories should be as diverse as possible, such as electricity and gas. In addition, when the temperature of the high-temperature air necessary for regeneration is as low as possible, not only can the remaining heat of the factory be used, solar heat can be used, the energy source can be diversified, but also energy saving can be achieved.

Furthermore, since the condenser of the heat pump is mainly used for the regeneration of the dehumidifying rotor, the energy required for the heat source of the regeneration heater can also be suppressed. In addition, it can be easily installed at a site such as a lithium battery factory.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of a dehumidifying device.

A first dehumidification rotor divided into two zones, a regeneration zone and an adsorption zone, for the purpose of lowering the temperature of the regeneration air of the dehumidification rotor so that many energy sources can be used, and the regeneration zone and the adsorption zone And the second dehumidification rotor divided into two, and the outside air is cooled and dehumidified by the first cooler and passed through the adsorption zone of the first dehumidification rotor and passes through the adsorption zone of the first dehumidification rotor The air that has passed through the adsorption zone of the second dehumidification rotor is supplied to the supply destination as supply air, the return air from the supply destination is mixed with the air that has passed through the adsorption zone of the first dehumidification rotor, Part of the air that has passed through the adsorption zone of the dehumidifying rotor is branched, heated by the second and third heaters, passed through the regeneration zone of the second dehumidifying rotor, and the air that has passed through the regeneration zone of the second dehumidifying rotor is Heated with a fourth heater Pass through the regeneration zone of the first dehumidification rotor, split a part of the air that has passed through the regeneration zone of the first dehumidification rotor, mix with the air that has passed through the regeneration zone of the second dehumidification rotor, and part of the remaining part This was achieved without raising the dew point of the supply air by mixing with the outside air before the first cooler.

Reference numeral 1 denotes a first dehumidifying rotor, which is divided into an adsorption zone 2 and a regeneration zone 3. Reference numeral 4 denotes a second dehumidifying rotor, which is also divided into an adsorption zone 5 and a regeneration zone 6.

Reference numeral 7 denotes a first cooler, which cools and dehumidifies the outside air OA. That is, the air is cooled below the dew point of the outside air. The air that has passed through the first cooler 7 passes through the adsorption zone 2 of the first dehumidification rotor 1 by the first blower 9 and then passes through the adsorption zone 5 of the second cooler 8 and the second dehumidification rotor 4. Further, the temperature is adjusted by the first heater 10 and supplied to the dry room 11 to which the dry air is supplied.

The return air RA from the dry room 11 is mixed with the air that has passed through the adsorption zone 2 of the first dehumidifying rotor 1, passed through the second cooler 8, and then guided to the suction side of the first blower 9. That is, the air that has passed through the adsorption zone 2 of the first dehumidifying rotor 1 and the return air RA from the dry room 11 are guided to the suction side of the first blower 9.

Part of the air exiting the adsorption zone 5 of the second dehumidifying rotor 4 is branched, heated by the second heater 12 and the third heater 13, and guided to the regeneration zone 6 of the second dehumidifying rotor 4. The air that has exited the regeneration zone 6 of the second dehumidifying rotor 4 is mixed with part of the air that has passed through the regeneration zone 3 of the first dehumidifying rotor 1 and heated by the fourth heater 14, so that the first It is guided to the regeneration zone 3 of the dehumidifying rotor 1. The air that has left the regeneration zone 3 is partly branched by the second blower 15 and mixed with the air that has passed through the regeneration zone 6 of the second dehumidifying rotor 4, and the remaining part is in front of the first cooler 7. Mixed with outside air. The damper 19 is normally closed and is operated without exhausting, but a part thereof may be released to the atmosphere as necessary.

The first dehumidifying rotor A, the first cooler 7 and the second blower 15 as a whole, the first-stage dehumidifying device A, the second dehumidifying rotor 4, the second cooler 8, and the first blower 9 are formed. , A first heater 10, a second heater 12, a third heater 13, a fourth heater 14, a compressor 16, and a condenser 17, and is divided into a subsequent-stage dehumidifier B. Here, the refrigerant compressed by the compressor 16 passes through the fourth heater 14 that is a condenser, passes through the second heater 12 that is a condenser, passes through the condenser 17, and passes through the second heater 12 that is a condenser. It passes through the second cooler 8 and returns to the compressor 16 again. All the refrigerant pipes are installed in the rear-stage dehumidifier B. Note that the second blower 15 may be configured in the rear-stage dehumidifier B.

The operation of the dehumidifying device of the present invention having the above configuration will be described below. Each data was measured using a prototype device. The outside air OA is cooled and dehumidified by the first cooler 7. For example, assuming that the air condition of the outside air OA is the summer condition in Japan, the temperature is 35 degrees and the absolute humidity is 21.43 g / kg. Reduces the absolute humidity to 5.90 g / kg.

The air passes through the adsorption zone 2 of the first dehumidifying rotor 1 by the first blower 9, and the moisture is adsorbed to become dry air having an absolute humidity of 1.800 g / kg. This dry air is mixed with the return air RA from the dry room 11 and cooled by the second cooler 8 by the evaporator of the heat pump. The absolute humidity of the return air RA from the dry room 11 is 0.079 g / kg as an actual measurement value, and is mixed with the air leaving the adsorption zone 2 as described above. And after mixing, the temperature of the air which passed the 2nd cooler 8 and exited the 1st blower 9 was 10.0 degree | times, and absolute humidity was 0.516 g / kg.

The air that exits the first blower 9 passes through the adsorption zone 5 of the second dehumidifying rotor 4 and is adsorbed with moisture to become dry low dew point air. The measured values of this low dew point air were a temperature of 14 degrees, an absolute humidity of 0.007 g / kg, and a dew point of -60 degrees. The temperature of the low dew point air is adjusted by the first heater 10 to a temperature of 17.5 degrees and supplied to the dry room 11 as the supply air SA.

  Part of the air that has passed through the adsorption zone 5 of the second dehumidifying rotor 4 is branched, heated to a temperature of 48 degrees by the second heater 12 by the condenser of the heat pump, and heated to a temperature of 65 degrees by the third heater 13. Then, it enters the regeneration zone 6 of the second dehumidifying rotor 4. The moisture adsorbed on the second dehumidifying rotor 4 is desorbed by the heated air. The third heater 13 uses a heat source different from the heat pump such as an electric heater. The temperature of the air that has passed through the regeneration zone 6 decreases to 40.9 degrees due to desorption heat, and the humidity increases to an absolute humidity of 3.06 g / kg.

The air that has passed through the regeneration zone 6 of the second dehumidifying rotor 4 and has increased in humidity is mixed with a part of the air branched from the exhaust of the second blower 15 to a temperature of 37.5 degrees and an absolute humidity of 5.19 g. / kg of air.

This air is heated by the fourth heater 14 by the condenser of the heat pump until the temperature reaches 50 degrees. The air whose temperature has increased passes through the regeneration zone 3 of the first dehumidifying rotor 1 and desorbs the moisture adsorbed on the first dehumidifying rotor 1 as it passes. The dehumidified humid air is mixed by the second blower 15 with a part of the exhaust gas branched and mixed with the air that has passed through the regeneration zone 6 of the second dehumidifying rotor 4 as described above, and the remaining part is the first. It is mixed with the introduced outside air before the one cooler 7. Note that when the temperature and humidity of the outside air OA are low, such as the winter condition in Japan, the damper 19 may be opened to exhaust outside the dehumidifier. In this case, if the air is exhausted indoors without providing an exhaust duct to the outside, it is possible to contribute to temperature rise and humidification in the dehumidifying device installation room. Further, a temperature / humidity measuring device for the introduced outside air and a temperature / humidity measuring device for the exhaust from the second blower may be installed, and a control device for adjusting the opening degree of the damper 19 and the damper 20 by the signal may be installed. .

As is clear from the above description of the operation, the temperature of the regenerated air in the first dehumidifying rotor 1 is 50 degrees, and the temperature of the regenerated air in the second dehumidifying rotor 4 is 65 degrees. With this regeneration air of 65 degrees or less, the dew point of the final supply air SA was -60 degrees. This dew point is a dew point sufficient as air in a lithium battery production plant, for example.

The dehumidifying device of the present invention operates as described above. However, the dehumidifying device of the present invention is a prototype device that uses a heat pump evaporator for the first cooler 8 and a condenser for the second heater 12 and the fourth heater 14. The heat load during operation is reduced by 0.8 Kw in total for the cooler part and 8.58 Kw in total for the heater part, compared to the case where the conventional heat pump is not used. Even if a condenser is used for the second heater 12 and the fourth heater 14, the condenser 17 is installed because of the surplus heat, but this heat may be used for the first heater 10. By doing so, it is possible to further reduce energy consumption. Furthermore, when there is factory exhaust heat such as high-temperature exhaust, steam, hot water, etc., if this can be used as a heat source for the third heater, the energy saving effect can be further enhanced.

Further, by not exhausting the exhaust gas to the outside of the dehumidifying device or by reducing it as much as possible, it is possible to save energy than the conventional dehumidifying device that exhausts the entire amount.

When a dehumidifying device equipped with a two-stage dehumidifying rotor as in the present invention is installed, for example, in a lithium battery manufacturing factory, the scale of the factory is more than a certain level in order to keep the cost of the lithium battery low. For this reason, the dehumidifying device has a length of about 10 m and may exceed 10 m depending on the processing air volume.

Therefore, when installing a dehumidifier in a factory or the like, it is difficult to carry in a dehumidifier having a length of 10 m as it is, and it is also long when an object with such a length is loaded on a truck and transported over land. It is necessary to obtain a road clearance permission from the Public Safety Commission using a specially-sized vehicle. For this reason, in reality, the dehumidifier is disassembled and transported and installed. In this case, when disassembling and assembling the dehumidifier, the refrigerant pipes that make up the refrigerator are divided and combined at the installation site. If air enters the pipes, the vacuum pump is used to extract the air. If the refrigerant leaks from the connection part of the pipe, additional work of the refrigerant is required. As described above, when the work of dividing / combining the refrigerant pipes occurs at the time of installation, work efficiency is deteriorated.

Here, in the case of the dehumidification according to the present invention, the dehumidifier is divided into a front-stage dehumidifier A and a rear-stage dehumidifier B, which are indicated by a one-dot chain line in FIG. In the present invention, it is necessary to divide the refrigerant piping by dividing the first-stage dehumidifier A and the second-stage dehumidifier B by installing the fourth heater 14 as the regeneration heater of the first dehumidification rotor 1 in the second-stage dehumidifier B. Disappear. Therefore, it is possible to reduce labor, time, and cost at the time of dividing the dehumidifier and carrying it in. In addition, an exhaust duct for discharging the exhaust to the outside is not necessary, and the initial cost is reduced and the installation place is reduced.

Furthermore, since the temperature of the heat source is low, a material having high heat resistance is not necessary as a material constituting the dehumidifying device of the present invention, and there is an effect that the material can be easily obtained and inexpensive.

It can supply low dew point air and can be applied to lithium battery factories and pharmaceutical processes.

1 First Dehumidification Rotor 2 Adsorption Zone 3 Regeneration Zone 4 Second Dehumidification Rotor 5 Adsorption Zone 6 Regeneration Zone 7 First Cooler 8 Second Cooler 9 First Blower 10 First Heater 11 Dry Room 12 Second Heater 13 Third heater 14 Fourth heater 15 Second blower 16 Compressor 17 Condenser 18 Expansion valves 19, 20, 21, 22 Damper

Claims (3)

A first dehumidification rotor divided into at least two zones, a regeneration zone and an adsorption zone, and a second dehumidification rotor divided into at least two zones, the regeneration zone and the adsorption zone. Cooling and dehumidifying with a cooler and passing through the adsorption zone of the first dehumidifying rotor, air passing through the adsorption zone of the first dehumidifying rotor is cooled with a second cooler, and adsorption of the second dehumidifying rotor Pass through the zone and supply to the supply destination as supply air, mix the return air from the supply destination with the air that has passed through the adsorption zone of the first dehumidification rotor, and pass through the adsorption zone of the second dehumidification rotor A portion of the air is branched and heated by the second heater and the third heater to pass through the regeneration zone of the second dehumidification rotor, and the air that has passed through the regeneration zone of the second dehumidification rotor is the fourth heater. Heating with the first Through dehumidification rotor of the regeneration zone, the first part of the air passing through the regeneration zone of the dehumidification rotor to allow the exhaust to the outside of the apparatus by the damper, the air is further passed through the regeneration zone of the first dehumidification rotor A dehumidifying device characterized in that a part is branched and mixed with air that has exited the regeneration zone of the second dehumidifying rotor, and the remaining part is returned to the first cooler.   The dehumidifying device according to claim 1, wherein the second cooler uses an evaporator of a heat pump, and the second heater and the fourth heater use a condenser of the heat pump.   The dehumidifying device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the dehumidifying device is divided into a pre-dehumidifying part equipped with a first dehumidifying rotor and a post-dehumidifying part equipped with a second dehumidifying rotor, and the first dehumidifying rotor is regenerated. 4. A dehumidifying device in which four heaters are installed in a post-dehumidifying section.

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