JPH01194924A - Oxygen-enriching equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the yield of O2 by connecting in parallel both the air feed circuits and the bypass circuits to the air introduction sides of a plurality of zeolite adsorption towers and also connecting both an exhaust circuit and the O2-enriching circuits having the throttle mechanisms to an air conduction side in parallel. CONSTITUTION:Outside air is compressed by an air compressor 2 via an air filter 1 and introduced into a zeolite packed tower A via an air feed circuit 17a and simultaneously one part is reduced by the throttle mechanism 15a of a bypass circuit 18a and introduced into the zeolite packed tower A and N2 is adsorbed and removed. O2-enriched air is throttled to the atmospheric pressure by the throttle mechanism 19a of an O2-enriching circuit 20a and sent to a feed pipe. On the other hand, the air obtained by reducing high-pressure air to the atmospheric pressure or the reduced pressure with a throttle mechanism 15b is introduced into a zeolite packed tower B and reduced-pressure desorption and purging action are performed and the air having high N2 concentration is discharged to the outside via an exhaust circuit 22.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to an oxygen enrichment device capable of generating and supplying high-G oxygen.

(Prior Art) Recently, oxygen enrichment systems using zeolites have been studied. This is a configuration as shown in FIG. 9, for example. That is, 1 is an air filter, 2 is an air compressor, and 3 is a four-way valve, which are connected in series. Zeolite packed tower A and zeolite packed tower B are connected to the four-way valve 3.
are connected in parallel, and these zeolite packed towers A,
The light from B joins together via the check valves 4a and 4b, a diaphragm mechanism 5 is connected to this joined light, and this end opens into the air-conditioned room. Further, the respective zeolite packed towers A and B and the check valves 4a and 4b are communicated through a bypass pipe 7 provided with a bypass throttling mechanism 6.

An exhaust muffler 8 that opens outdoors is connected to the remaining boats of the four-way valve 3.

When the air compressor 2 is driven, fresh outside air is sucked into the air filter 1 and filtered, and then converted into high-pressure air by the air compressor 2. is supplied to For example, air compressor 2
High pressure air is supplied from the side into the zeolite packed tower A,
The large number of zeolite particles packed in this zeolite packed tower A performs a so-called adsorption action that adsorbs the nitrogen N2 component in the supplied air, increasing the oxygen concentration in the air discharged from the zeolite packed tower A (oxygen enrichment). can be converted into A part of the high concentration oxygen air discharged from this zeolite packed tower A is passed through a check valve 4a to a throttle mechanism 5.
and then bring it to atmospheric pressure and guide it indoors. Further, a part of the air discharged from the zeolite packed tower A is forced into the other zeolite packed tower B via the bypass throttling mechanism 6 in the bypass pipe 7. For this reason, the nitrogen N2 component adsorbed on the zeolite particles in the zeolite packed tower B is discharged by this supplied air, so-called vacuum desorption and purging action is performed, and the air with a high nitrogen N24 degree is passed through the exhaust muffler 8 to the outside. to be discharged.

When a predetermined period of time has elapsed in this state, the four-way valve 3 is switched and high-pressure air from the air compressor 2 side is supplied into the zeolite-packed tower B, and the large number of zeolite particles packed therein are absorbed by the nitrogen in the supplied air. Absorbs N2 components and increases the oxygen concentration in the discharged air (oxygen enrichment). The high concentration oxygen air discharged from this zeolite packed tower B is controlled by a check valve 4b,
It can be guided to the air-conditioned room side through the throttle mechanism 5 sequentially. Further, a part of the air discharged from the zeolite packed tower B is sent under pressure into the other zeolite packed tower A via the bypass pipe 7 and the bypass throttle mechanism 6. The nitrogen N2 component staying in the zeolite packed tower A is discharged by this supplied air, and the air with a high degree of nitrogen N2 can be discharged to the outside via the exhaust muffler 8.

With this configuration, it is possible to efficiently increase the oxygen concentration in the air of the air-conditioned room, and it is not affected by sunlight conditions, weather, etc. It will be done.

However, the four-way valve 3 used here is not only expensive and has an adverse effect on cost, but also has a high failure rate due to its mechanical complexity and is insufficiently reliable.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 10, each zeolite packed tower A,
It is conceivable to provide three-way valves 10a and 10b on the air introduction side of B and connect them in parallel to the air compressor 2. The remaining ports of these three-way valves 10a and 10b are communicated with an exhaust muffler (not shown). The air outlet side of each of the zeolite packed towers A and B has the same piping structure as that shown in FIG. 9 described above.

In this case, the same effect can be obtained by switching the three-way valves 10a and 10b in opposite directions. Moreover, the three-way valves 10a and 10b are less expensive and structurally simpler than the four-way valve 3.

However, in any of the above configurations, in order to depressurize and purge the nitrogen N2 component from the zeolite particles in one zeolite packed column, a part of the high concentration oxygen obtained in the other zeolite packed column is transferred to the bypass tube 7. This is possible by splitting the flow into the zeolite-packed tower. That is, in order to perform the desorption effect on the zeolite, it is necessary to use air with a high concentration of oxygen, which is the product gas obtained with great effort, which is uneconomical.

Furthermore, there are some devices that control the flow rate by installing a sensor in the bypass pipe 7 to prevent the flow of high-concentration oxygen air for the desorption effect, but there are concerns about reliability. This has a negative impact on costs.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) As described above, the present invention eliminates the uneconomical effects of using high-concentration oxygen air as a product gas to remove the nitrogen N2 component from zeolite, and By making some changes, we have created an oxygen enrichment device that is advantageous in terms of cost and improves reliability by using air, which is the raw material gas supplied from the air compressor, to perform the desorption action of the nitrogen N2 component. The purpose is to provide.

[Structure of the invention]

(Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention connects a plurality of zeolite-packed towers to an air compressor, and sends high-pressure air from the air compressor to these zeolite-packed towers to alternately perform adsorption and desorption actions. In an apparatus that continuously obtains air with high concentration of oxygen, each zeolite packed tower is connected in parallel to the air compressor, and an air supply circuit having a switching valve on the air introduction side of each zeolite packed tower and a first air supply circuit are provided. A bypass circuit having a throttling mechanism is connected in parallel, and an exhaust circuit having a switching valve and an oxygen enrichment circuit having a second throttling mechanism are connected in parallel on the air outlet side of each zeolite packed tower. It is an oxygen enrichment device.

(Function) With this configuration, one zeolite-packed tower adsorbs the nitrogen N2 component from the supplied air to obtain air with high concentration of oxygen, and the other zeolite-packed tower is discharged from the air compressor. The supplied air is introduced through the first throttling mechanism, and the supplied air acts to desorb the nitrogen N2 component to release the nitrogen, which is further led to the exhaust circuit and discharged to the outside.

(Example) Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an example in which an oxygen enrichment device S, which will be described later, is incorporated into a heat pump type air conditioner iK. To explain, 11 is an outdoor unit that constitutes the air conditioner K (1), and includes various refrigeration cycle components such as a compressor, four-way switching valve, outdoor heat exchanger, expansion valve, etc. A blower and the like are housed therein, as well as the oxygen enrichment device S mentioned above.

12 is arranged in the air-conditioned room R and is connected to the outdoor uni-soto 11 mentioned above.
It is also an indoor unit that constitutes the air conditioner K, and a mixing section 13 is accommodated therein in addition to an indoor heat exchanger and a blower (not shown).

The indoor unit 11 and the outdoor unit 12 are communicated with each other through a refrigerant pipe P and an air supply pipe 14. The refrigerant pipe P connects the refrigeration cycle equipment, and the air supply pipe 14 has one end connected to the oxygen enrichment device S and the other end connected to the mixing section 13.

The oxygen enrichment device S is configured as shown in FIG. Connecting the air filter 1 to the suction side of the air compressor 2 is the same. This discharge side is branched into three directions, and the first
The throttle mechanism 15a, the three-way valve 16, and the other first throttle mechanism 15b are connected in parallel. The remaining ports of the three-way valve 16 are connected to each of the zeolite packed towers A and B, forming dedicated air supply circuits 17a and 17b, respectively. Further, the throttling mechanisms 15a and 15b of each node 1 are connected between the three-way valves 16 of the air supply circuits 17a and 17b and the zeolite packed towers A and B, respectively, and constitute bypass circuits 18a and 18b, respectively.

On the other hand, oxygen enrichment circuits 20a and 20b having second throttling mechanisms 19a and 19b are connected to the air outlet side of each zeolite packed tower A and B, respectively.

These oxygen enrichment circuits 20a, 20b both communicate with the air pipe 14 shown in FIG. Furthermore, it is branched from between each zeolite packed tower A, B and the second throttling mechanism 19a, 19b and connected to a three-way valve 21, and the remaining ports of this three-way valve 21 are externally connected via an exhaust muffler (not shown). An exhaust circuit 22 is provided which communicates with the.

The air compressor 2 is then driven to guide outside air to the air filter 1 where it is filtered, compressed to high pressure by the air compressor 2, and discharged. If the three-way valve 16 is in a state where it is switched toward the zeolite packed column A, for example, high pressure air is introduced into the zeolite packed column A via the air supply circuit 17a. At the same time, a small amount of high-pressure air flows into the bypass circuit 18a.
is introduced into the zeolite packed column A after being depressurized by the first throttling mechanism 158. At this time, the three-way valve 21 on the air outlet side communicates with the zeolite packed column B side, which is the opposite direction, and the zeolite packed column A side is closed. The air outlet side of the zeolite packed tower A is communicated only with the second throttling mechanism 19a, and the interior of the zeolite packed tower A is pressurized to adsorb nitrogen XN two components from the supplied air onto a large number of zeolite particles. It has a so-called adsorption effect. When the air is discharged from the zeolite packed tower A, it becomes air with a high concentration of oxygen (oxygen enriched), and is further guided to the oxygen enrichment circuit 20a. Here, the air is throttled down to atmospheric pressure by the second throttling mechanism 19a and discharged into the air pipe 14 shown in FIG. 1 above. This highly concentrated oxygen air is sent from the air pipe 14 to the mixing section 13,
The mixed air is mixed with the air that has undergone heat exchange with the heat exchanger of the indoor unit 12, and is blown into the air-conditioned room R. On the other hand, when the high pressure air discharged from the air compressor 2 is guided to the bypass circuit 18b,
The second throttle mechanism 15b reduces the pressure of this air to atmospheric pressure. When the air is led to the packed tower B, the nitrogen N2 component adsorbed there is discharged from a large number of zeolite particles, which performs a so-called vacuum desorption and purging action, leading to air with a high concentration of nitrogen N2.

This air is exhausted to the outside through the exhaust circuit 22 from where the three-way valve 21 is open. That is, the raw material gas, which is the air supplied from the air compressor 2, performs depressurization and desorption and purge actions.

In addition, some of the purge gas is diverted from the exhaust circuit 22 and guided to the second throttle device 4R19b, but there is a pressure drop due to this throttling action and the pressure inside the zeolite packed tower B is reduced to atmospheric pressure, so the amount is extremely small. It only flows and can be ignored.

If this state continues for an appropriate period of time, each three-way valve 16.2
1 in opposite directions. Therefore, in the zeolite packed tower A, air, which is a raw material gas, is used to discharge the nitrogen N2 component adsorbed on the zeolite particles packed, which is a so-called vacuum desorption and purge action, and the air with a high nitrogen concentration is sent to the exhaust circuit 22. Discharge. In the zeolite packed tower B, the nitrogen N2 component from the introduced air is adsorbed onto the zeolite particles, which is a so-called adsorption action, to form air with a high concentration of oxygen (oxygen enrichment), which can be led to the oxygen enrichment circuit 20b.

As shown in Fig. 3, by simultaneously switching the three-way valves 16 and 21 in opposite directions, the above-mentioned action is repeated in each of the zeolite packed towers A and B, and the air-conditioned room R has a high concentration. Oxygen air is continuously supplied. Moreover, all of the obtained high-concentration oxygen air can be delivered to the air-conditioned room R without spending on depressurization desorption and purging.
The oxygen yield (oxygen enrichment amount/raw material gas supply amount) is significantly increased compared to the conventional method. In this way, there is no need to be so careful in setting the switching time of each three-way valve 16, 21, and in order to control the output flow rate of this high-altitude oxygen, the first.
Second diaphragm mechanism 15a, 15b.

Even when the throttles 19a and 19b are made variable, stable vacuum desorption and purging actions can be obtained.

In the above embodiment, each of the three-way valves 16 and 21 were switched in the opposite direction at the same time, but the invention is not limited to this, and as shown in FIG. 4, the timing of switching may be slightly shifted. You may also do so. As a result, the air pressurization rate in each zeolite packed tower A, B does not become rapid, and the flow rate can be controlled to be low. If the flow rate of the supplied air decreases, the contact time between the supplied air and the zeolite particles in each zeolite packed tower A and B increases,
Furthermore, a higher concentration of oxygen can be obtained. That is, Fig. 5(A)
As shown in Figure (B), the variation in oxygen concentration obtained by simultaneously switching the three-way valves 16° and 21 in the opposite direction was relatively large, but by slightly shifting the switching timing, As shown, fluctuations in oxygen concentration can be suppressed as much as possible.

Furthermore, in the configuration of the above embodiment shown in FIG.
When the oxygen is discharged to the outside through the oxygen enrichment circuits 20a and 20b, a part of it is diverted to the oxygen enrichment circuits 20a and 20b. However, this circuit 2
0a, 20b has a second squeezer ++5719a, 19b
As explained above, the flow rate is restricted due to the presence of the auxiliary tube, and the flow rate is almost negligible. Furthermore, in order to reduce this amount and improve reliability, the circuit configuration shown in FIG. 6 may be adopted. Second throttling mechanism 19a, 19b of each oxygen enrichment circuit 20a, 20b
The third aperture mechanism 25 is connected to the merging point.
will be established. Since the other piping is the same as that in Figure 2,
The same number will be given and the explanation will be omitted. For example, the high-concentration oxygen air obtained in the zeolite-packed tower A is supplied to the air-conditioned room through the third throttle device $1 25. Further, a part of the air with high concentration of oxygen is guided to the other oxygen enrichment circuit 2Ob side and reaches the second throttle mechanism 19b. However, on the zeolite packed tower B side, depressurization desorption and purging are performed, and air with a high nitrogen concentration is discharged to the exhaust circuit 22 and guided to the oxygen enrichment circuit 20b. Then, when the second throttle mechanism 19b is led out, the oxygen enrichment circuit 20
It collides with high-concentration oxygen air separated from a. If the throttling amounts of the throttling mechanisms 19a and 19b of each node 2 are made the same, the mutual pressures will be equal, and as a result, neither air will advance any further. That is, all the air containing the nitrogen N2 component is exhausted from the exhaust circuit 22, and is not introduced into the air-conditioned room R at all.

Further, although the three-way valve 16 is provided to switch the high-pressure air discharged from the air compressor 2, and the three-way valve 21 is provided to switch the exhaust air, the present invention is not limited to this. It may be configured as shown in FIG. That is, each zeolite packed column A.

Air supply circuits 27a and 27b equipped with two-way valves 25a and 26b are provided on the air introduction side of B in parallel with bypass circuits 18a and 18b. In addition, an oxygen enrichment circuit 20a is provided on the air outlet side.
, 20b, and two-way valves 28a, 28, respectively.
Exhaust circuits 29a and 29b having exhaust circuits 29a and 29b are provided. mutual two-way valves 26a.

By opening and closing the two-way valves 26b and the two-way valves 28a and 28b in the opposite manner, the same effects as in the above embodiment can be obtained.

Further, in each of the above Examples, oxygen enrichment was achieved using two zeolite packed towers A and B, but the number of zeolite packed towers is not limited.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 8, the oxygen enrichment device Sa is miniaturized, and the air pipe 30 for sending high-concentration oxygen is formed from a flexible material such as a vinyl tube, and the end thereof is connected to the headphones H. do. The headphone H has a built-in speaker in the earpiece of the user, and is connected to an amplifier (not shown) via a lead plug 31, and is a commonly used audio device. The air pipe 30 is connected to a guide terminal 32 provided on the outer surface of one of the earmuffs, and a conduit 33 which is a rigid hollow pipe extending from the guide terminal 32 to the user's mouth. Ru. An outlet body 34 is provided at the end of the conduit 33 to blow out air containing high concentration oxygen toward the user's mouth and nose. Therefore, the user can take in high-concentration oxygen air into the body while enjoying music etc. with the headphones H.

For example, for medical and health maintenance purposes, compared to using a mouth mask or nasal cannula that extends through an oxygen cylinder, the blowing part does not come into direct contact with the user, and sanitary maintenance is unnecessary and time-consuming. It doesn't cost. Furthermore, there is no need for anything to hold the blowing part (hands or band), making it easy to use.

If the Headphone H described above is connected to a portable stereo and the oxygen enrichment device is further miniaturized so that it can be carried, it will be more convenient to use, and it will be more fashionable. There are expectations that it will be liked by enthusiast users.

Alternatively, the speakers in the earmuffs of Headphones H can be removed to accommodate a smaller oxygen enrichment device.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, since the supplied air, which is the raw material gas, is used as it is to carry out the decompression and purging action of the nitrogen N2 component on the zeolite particles,
Improve the yield of highly concentrated oxygen and improve economic efficiency. Moreover, a relatively simple circuit change is required without significantly changing the conventional circuit (14 configurations), and there are effects such as suppressing the negative impact on costs.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figures 1 to 3 show one embodiment of the present invention, Figure 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing the installation state of an oxygen enrichment device incorporated into an air conditioner, and Figure 2 is a circuit diagram of the oxygen enrichment device. The configuration diagram, FIG. 3 is a switching timing characteristic diagram of the switching valve, FIGS. 4 to 8 show embodiments of the pond of the present invention, FIG. 4 is a switching timing characteristic diagram of the switching valve, and FIG. ), (B) are diagrams of changes in oxygen concentration, Figures 6 and 7 are circuit configuration diagrams of different oxygen enrichment devices, Figure 8 is an explanatory diagram of the oxygen enrichment device connected to headphones, 9 and 10 are circuit configuration diagrams of different oxygen enrichment devices showing conventional examples of the present invention. 2... Air compressor, A, B... Zeolite packed tower,
16...Switching valve (three-way valve), 17a, 17b...Air supply circuit, 15a, 15b...First throttle mechanism, 1
8a, 18b...Bypass circuit, 21...Switching valve (
three-way valve), 22...exhaust circuit, 19a, 19b...
Second throttle mechanism, 20a, 20b...oxygen enrichment circuit. Applicant's agent Patent attorney Takehiko Suzue "Figure 3 Time 5 (A) Figure 5

Claims (1)

[Claims] Multiple zeolite-packed towers are connected to an air compressor, and high-pressure air is sent from the air compressor to these zeolite-packed towers to alternately adsorb and desorb, thereby continuously producing high-concentration oxygen (oxygen enrichment). In those who obtain the air of
Each zeolite packed tower is connected in parallel to the air compressor, and an air supply circuit having a switching valve and a bypass circuit having a first throttling mechanism are connected in parallel to the air introduction side of each zeolite packed tower, An oxygen enrichment device characterized in that an exhaust circuit having a switching valve and an oxygen enrichment circuit having a second throttling mechanism are connected in parallel to the air outlet side of each zeolite packed tower.