JPH06134240A - Gas treatment device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a gas treatment device which can prevent a lowering of effect of adsorbent. CONSTITUTION:A gas treatment device is provided, wherein specified substances in gas to be treated compressed by a compressor are adsorbed on an adsorbent 7 and the gas is delivered, while the adsorbed substances are desorbed from the adsorbent 7 utilizing the compression and pressure reduction actions generated by the compressor to discharge the substances to the outside. A cooler 8 having a refrigerant circulation passage 8a is disposed around the adsorbent 7 so as to be in thermal contact with the adsorbent, and hence if refrigerant such as water is circulated through the cooler 8, temperatures of the adsorbent 7 are kept below a predetermined temperature, thereby preventing a lowering of its effect even if compressed air of high temperature is fed into the adsorbent in an adsorption process.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a gas treatment device for separating a specific type of gas or vapor from a gas such as air.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2-237610 is known as a gas processing apparatus of this type. The apparatus shown in the publication is for producing oxygen-enriched air, and as shown in FIG. 2, the intake port 1a and the reed valve 1 are
a crankcase 1 having a side surface b, a crankshaft 2 arranged in the crankcase 1, and a through hole 3 on the upper surface.
a cylinder 3 having a and a scavenging port 3b on its side surface;
A piston 4 having a through hole 4a and a reed valve 4b on the upper surface and slidably arranged in a cylinder 3 in an airtight state; a connecting rod 5 connecting the piston 4 and the crankshaft 2;
A cylinder head 6 having a suction chamber 6a and a discharge chamber 6b above and below through a partition wall 6c, a through hole 6d and a reed valve 6e in the partition wall 6c, and a discharge port 6f on the upper surface of the discharge chamber; 6a and an adsorbent 7 such as a zeolite for adsorbing nitrogen, which is arranged in 6a.

This device is called a rocking gas pressure utilization gas separation device (PSA) and operates in the order of strokes shown in FIG. That is, when the piston 4 rises from the bottom dead center and the scavenging port 3b is closed, the air in the cylinder 3 is compressed and sent to the adsorbent 7, and the nitrogen in the compressed air is adsorbed by the adsorbent 7 (Fig. 3 adsorption process). When the piston 4 further rises and the pressure in the adsorption chamber 6a reaches the opening pressure of the reed valve 6e (see P1 in FIG. 3), the reed valve 6e opens and oxygen-enriched air is discharged from the discharge port 6f through the discharge chamber 6b. (Discharging stroke in FIG. 3). On the other hand, in the above piston ascending process, the inside of the crankcase 1 is depressurized, which causes the reed valve 1b.
Is opened and external air is introduced into the crankcase 1 through the intake port 1a.

When the piston 4 starts descending from the top dead center,
The reed valve 6e is closed and the inside of the cylinder 3 is gradually decompressed, nitrogen is desorbed from the adsorbent 7 by the depressurizing action, and the desorbed nitrogen is sucked into the cylinder 3 (desorption process in FIG. 3).
The pressure in the cylinder 3 becomes lower than the pressure in the crankcase 1 during this piston descending process (see P1 in FIG. 3).
Then, the reed valve 4b is opened, the air in the crankcase 1 flows into the cylinder 3, and the desorbed nitrogen is diluted (dilution step of FIG. 3). When the piston 4 further descends and the scavenging port 3b is opened, the diluted nitrogen is discharged into the scavenging port 3b.
Is released to the outside (scavenging stroke in FIG. 3). When the piston 4 further descends after opening the exhaust port, the piston 4
New air is sent into the cylinder 3 before reaching the bottom dead center (intake stroke in FIG. 3). The above process is sequentially repeated as the crankshaft 2 rotates, whereby oxygen-enriched air is continuously produced.

[0005]

By the way, an adsorbent such as zeolite has a temperature dependency, and the adsorbing amount (adsorption capacity) decreases as the temperature rises. In the above-mentioned conventional apparatus, compressed air, in other words, adiabatically compressed high temperature air is sent to the adsorbent 7 in the adsorption process. Therefore, the temperature of the adsorbent 7 during the process is also combined with the heat generated during nitrogen adsorption. Is increased, and its adsorption capacity is significantly reduced.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a gas treatment device capable of preventing a decrease in the capacity of an adsorbent.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, a predetermined substance in a gas to be processed compressed by a compressor is adsorbed by an adsorbent to discharge a processed gas, and a compressor is also used. In the gas treatment device that desorbs the adsorbed substance from the adsorbent and releases the adsorbed substance to the outside by utilizing the pressurizing / depressurizing action generated in step 1, the cooler having the refrigerant circulation path is disposed in thermal contact with the periphery of the adsorbent. There is.

[0008]

In the gas treatment apparatus according to the present invention, the temperature rise of the adsorbent can be prevented by circulating the refrigerant such as water in the cooler.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a sectional view of the essential parts of a gas processing apparatus showing a first embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the present invention is applied to the conventional example shown in FIG. 2, and the portions having the same configurations as those of the conventional example are designated by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted. That is, in the figure, 3 is a cylinder, 4 is a piston, 5 is a connecting rod, 6 is a cylinder head, and 7 is an adsorbent.

In the adsorption chamber 6a of the cylinder head 6, a cylindrical cooler 8 having an annular circulation passage 8a at the center of the outer peripheral surface is arranged in a watertight manner, and the side surface of the cylinder head 6 faces the circulation passage 8a. The water supply pipe 8b and the drainage pipe 8c are connected. The water supply pipe 8b and the drainage pipe 8c are connected to a water supply pump and a cooling water tank, which are not shown, so that the cooling water is circulated through the circulation path 8
It can be cycled to a. The adsorbent 7 is arranged in the central cavity of the cooler 8, and the upper and lower through holes 4a,
They are facing 6d respectively.

The gas treatment apparatus of this embodiment operates in the same order of steps as the conventional example, and nitrogen can be separated and removed from the air to produce oxygen-enriched air. Cylinder 3 in adsorption process
High-temperature air that has been adiabatically compressed inside is sent to the adsorbent 7, and heat is generated during adsorption, but if cooling water is circulated in the circulation path 8a of the cooler 8, adsorption during the same stroke will occur. It is possible to suppress the temperature of the adsorbent 7 to a predetermined temperature or lower, for example, to 40 ° C. or lower at which highly efficient adsorption can be expected, so that the ability of the adsorbent 7 can be surely prevented from lowering and nitrogen adsorption can be effectively and It can be stably carried out, and the desorption of nitrogen in the desorption process can be carried out efficiently without being affected by temperature.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view of the gas treatment apparatus, and FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. The gas treatment apparatus shown in the same figure also operates in the same procedure as in the conventional example to produce oxygen-enriched air, and includes a crankcase 11, a crankshaft 12 arranged in the crankcase 11, and a crankcase 11.
A cylinder 13 that is continuously provided above, a piston 14 that is slidably arranged in the cylinder 13 in an airtight state, and a connecting rod 15 that connects the piston 14 and the crankshaft 12.
And a cylinder head 16 connected on the cylinder 13
, A cooler 17, an adsorbent 18 such as zeolite for adsorbing nitrogen, and a head cover 19 that is continuously provided on the cooler 17 of the cylinder head 16.

The cylinder 13 has a through hole 13a and a reed valve 13b on one side of the upper surface, a through hole 13c on the other side of the upper surface, and a scavenging port 13d on the side surface. The reed valve 13b is provided in the intake chamber 16 whose pressure in the cylinder 13 will be described later.
This is a one-way valve that opens when the pressure in b falls.

The cylinder head 16 has a recess 16a having a circular cross section on one side and a crescent-shaped intake chamber 16b inside. In addition, there is an intake port 16c on the side surface, and through holes 16d and 16e that match the above through holes 13a and 13c.
On the lower surface.

The cooler 17 has a cylindrical shape having an annular circulation path 17a at the center of the outer peripheral surface, and is arranged in a watertight manner in the recess 16a of the cylinder head. A water supply pipe 17b and a drain pipe 17c facing the circulation path 17a are connected to the side surface of the cylinder head 16. The water supply pipe 17b and the drain pipe 17c are connected to a water supply pump and a cooling water tank (not shown) so that the cooling water can be circulated in the circulation path 17a. The adsorbent 18 is arranged in the central cavity of the cooler 17, and faces the through hole 16e and the through hole 19b, which will be described later, on the upper and lower surfaces, respectively.

The head cover 19 has a cylindrical shape having the same outer diameter as the cooler 17, and has a discharge port 19a on the upper surface and a through hole 19b and a reed valve 19c on the lower surface. The reed valve 19c is a one-way valve that opens when the pressure on the adsorbent 18 side reaches a predetermined pressure.

In the above gas treatment device, when the piston 14 moves up from the bottom dead center and the scavenging port 13d is closed, the air in the cylinder 13 is compressed and sent to the adsorbent 18,
Nitrogen in the compressed air is adsorbed by the adsorbent 18. The piston 14 further rises and the pressure on the adsorbent 18 side is increased by the reed valve 1.
When the opening pressure of 9c is reached, the reed valve 19c is opened and oxygen-enriched air is discharged through the head cover 19 to the discharge port 19c.
It is discharged from a. In the adsorption process, high-temperature air adiabatically compressed in the cylinder 13 is sent to the adsorbent 18,
Moreover, although heat is generated during adsorption, the cooler 17
If the cooling water is circulated in the circulation path 17a of the adsorbent 18, the temperature of the adsorbent 18 during the same process is equal to or lower than a predetermined temperature, for example 40 °
It can be suppressed to the following.

When the piston 14 starts descending from the top dead center, the reed valve 19c is closed and the pressure inside the cylinder 13 is gradually reduced. Due to the pressure reducing action, nitrogen is desorbed from the adsorbent 18, and the desorbed nitrogen is removed from the inside of the cylinder 13. Is sucked into. During this piston descending process, the pressure in the cylinder 13 is changed to the intake chamber 16
When the pressure becomes lower than the pressure in b, the reed valve 13b opens and air flows from the intake port 16c into the cylinder 3 to dilute the desorbed nitrogen. When the piston 4 further descends and the scavenging port 13d is opened, the diluted nitrogen is discharged from the scavenging port 13d to the outside. When the piston 14 further descends after opening the exhaust port, new air is sent into the cylinder 13 until the piston 14 reaches the bottom dead center. The above process is sequentially repeated as the crankshaft 12 rotates, whereby oxygen-enriched air is continuously produced.

Also in this embodiment, the adsorbent 1 during the adsorption process is used.
It is possible to suppress the temperature of No. 8 to a predetermined temperature or less, and by doing so, it is possible to surely prevent the capacity of the adsorbent 18 from deteriorating, and to perform nitrogen adsorption effectively and stably. The desorption can be efficiently performed without being affected by the temperature.

The cooler exemplified in the embodiment may be replaced by a pipe-like material wound around the adsorbent or a panel-like material having a continuous internal flow path, and it may be cooled. For example, the cooler and the adsorbent do not have to be in contact with each other. Further, the refrigerant circulated in the cooler may be a liquid other than cooling water, and if the flow rate of the refrigerant can be changed based on the temperature of the circulating refrigerant, the temperature of the adsorbent can be maintained at a desired temperature. Is. Furthermore, if silica gel or the like having a high water adsorption property is used as the adsorbent, the device can also be used as a dehumidifying device.

[0021]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention,
Even if high-temperature compressed air is sent to the adsorbent during the adsorption process, it is possible to keep the temperature of the adsorbent below a predetermined temperature, which ensures that the capacity of the adsorbent is not lowered and the adsorbing action is effective. In addition, it can be performed stably.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of an essential part of a gas treatment device showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a gas separation device using rocking gas pressure showing a conventional example.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an operation stroke and cylinder pressure.

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view of a gas treatment device showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG.

[Explanation of Codes] 1 ... Crankcase, 1a ... Intake port, 2 ... Crankshaft, 3 ... Cylinder, 3b ... Scavenging port, 4 ... Piston, 6 ... Cylinder head, 6f ... Discharge port, 7 ... Adsorbent, 8 ... Cooler, 8a ... Circulation path, 11 ... Crankcase, 12 ... Crankshaft, 13 ... Cylinder, 13d
... Scavenging port, 14 ... Piston, 16 ... Cylinder head, 16c ... Intake port, 17 ... Cooler, 17a ... Circulation path, 18 ... Adsorbent, 19a ... Discharge port.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A predetermined substance in a gas to be treated compressed by a compressor is adsorbed by an adsorbent to discharge a treated gas, and the adsorbent is removed from the adsorbent by utilizing a pressurizing and depressurizing action generated by the compressor. A gas treatment device for desorbing and releasing the gas to the outside, wherein a cooler having a refrigerant circulation path is arranged in thermal contact with the periphery of the adsorbent.