JPH0861718A - Humidifying equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To lessen the area of a steam permeable membrane and to make equipment compact by controlling the partial pressure of steam by controlling the temperature of water in a water tank, and by controlling thereby the amount of humidification. CONSTITUTION: A value detected by a humidity sensor 11 of a discharge part of an air passage is converted into humidity by a humidity detecting part 14 and it is inputted to an arithmetic processing part 16. A value of a temperature sensor 10 in a water tank is converted into temperature by a temperature detecting part 15 and it is inputted to the arithmetic processing part 16. In the arithmetic processing part 16, an arithmetic processing is executed on the basis of the humidity set by a humidity setting part 12, the present discharge humidity, the present water temperature, etc., and the amount of control of a heater 9 is computed. Based on the result of this computation, the amount of control of the heater 9 is determined by a power control part 17. Since the humidity can be regulated arbitrarily and a difference of the partial pressure of steam can be enlarged according to this constitution, the area of a permeable membrane making steam alone permeate there-through can be lessened and the equipment can be made compact.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an improvement of a humidifying device using a permeable membrane.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The humidification amount of a conventional humidifying device using a permeable membrane is the absolute humidity of saturated moist air at the surface temperature of a semipermeable membrane that transmits only water vapor, and the humidity of humidified air flowing on the surface of the permeable membrane. Determined in proportion to the difference between and. (See JP-A-5-33973)

[0003]

At this time, the strength of water vapor moving in the film, that is, the amount of water vapor permeation is examined. When gas with different water vapor partial pressure exists on both sides of the membrane, water molecules move in the membrane due to the difference in water vapor partial pressure. The water vapor transmission rate Q at that time is expressed by the following equation. Q = P x A x (Pf-Pp) [cm3 / sec] P: Water vapor permeability coefficient [cm3 / cm2.sec.cmHg], A: Membrane area [cm2] Pf: Supply side water vapor partial pressure [cmHg], Pp : Water vapor partial pressure on permeate side [cmHg]

According to this equation, since the water vapor transmission rate is proportional to the membrane area, a method has been used in which the humidification amount is set to a predetermined value by setting the membrane area. However,
In the case of making a humidifying device having a large capacity, the size of course becomes large, resulting in a high cost and inconvenience that the device may not be installed due to the location and the like.

The present invention is intended to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and pays attention to the difference in water vapor partial pressure, which is the other factor of the water vapor transmission rate, and focuses on the difference in water vapor partial pressure between the evaporation surface and air. By making controllable, it is intended to provide a humidifying device which has a large capacity but is compact and highly efficient.

[0006]

That is, according to the present invention, air is blown to a permeable membrane attached at a position separating water and dry air and permeable only to water vapor, and an air side surface of the permeable membrane. A humidifier including a blower and a water tank having at least one surface of the permeable membrane, which is configured to control a water vapor partial pressure by providing a control device for controlling the temperature of water in the water tank. is there.

[0007]

According to the apparatus of the present invention, the water temperature is adjusted by the heater provided inside the water tank on the water side of the permeable membrane, whereby the water vapor partial pressure difference from the air side is adjusted, and the water vapor transmission rate is also adjusted. It As a result, the amount of humidification is adjusted, the humidity can be arbitrarily adjusted, and the partial pressure difference of water vapor can be made larger than in the conventional technique, so that the area of the permeable membrane can be made smaller and the device can be made compact.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings. 1 and 2 show a first embodiment according to the present invention. 1 is a humidifying device according to the present invention. A permeable membrane 2 is formed of a material such as a fluorine-based ion exchange membrane. A water tank 3 has at least one surface formed of the permeable membrane and stores water. Then, a protective body 4 made of metal or the like and having high strength is provided in close contact with the lower side of the permeable membrane 2.

Reference numeral 5 denotes an air flow passage provided on the opposite side of the permeable membrane 2 with respect to the water tank. The discharge portion 6 is opened to the room for adjusting the humidity, and the suction portion 7 is externally or circulated. If so, open it indoors. An air blower 8 for forcibly blowing the air to be humidified to disperse the moisture is attached to the air passage 5 on the surface of the permeable membrane 2 opposite to the water.

Further, in the water tank 3, a heater 9 for heating water is attached. 10 is a temperature sensor that detects the temperature of water in the water tank 3, and 11 is a humidity sensor that detects the humidity of the air discharge portion of the air flow path. Reference numeral 12 is a humidity setting unit that sets the humidity of the discharged air, and is set manually or automatically based on a signal from a mother machine in which the humidifying device 1 is incorporated. Reference numeral 13 is a control device that controls the output to the heater 9 based on the detection value of the temperature sensor 10 and the like. As shown in the functional block diagram of FIG. , A temperature detection unit 15 connected to the temperature sensor 10, an arithmetic processing unit 16 and an electric power control unit 17 that arithmetically process the values of both and the set humidity and send a signal to an electric power control unit 17 that controls the output to the heater 9. Consists of. Further, reference numeral 18 is a purifying device including a filter or the like having a connection pipe to the water tank provided in the lower portion.

Next, the operation of the humidifying device 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the apparatus 1 of the present invention having the above configuration, water is first supplied into the water tank 3. In this case, impurities contained in water are removed by an activated carbon provided in the middle of the pipe, a water purifier 18 including a hollow fiber,
The clogging of the permeable membrane 2 is prevented. Then, the water in the water tank 3 passes through the permeable membrane 2 and is transmitted to the air flow path 5 side. The permeated water is absorbed by the air flowing by the blower 8 and is dispersed in the humidified chamber from the discharge unit 6 to adjust the humidity.

As described above, the water vapor transmission rate is proportional to the difference between the water vapor partial pressure on the feed side and the water vapor partial pressure on the permeate side, and the present invention is made by arbitrarily controlling this water vapor partial pressure difference. It The value detected by the humidity sensor 10 provided in the air flow path discharge unit 5 is converted into humidity by the humidity detection unit 14 and input to the arithmetic processing unit 16. On the other hand, the value of the temperature sensor 10 provided in the water tank 3 is converted into a temperature by the temperature detection unit 10, and the calculation processing unit 16
Is input to The arithmetic processing unit 16 performs arithmetic processing based on the humidity set by the humidity setting unit 12, the current discharge humidity, the current water temperature, etc. to calculate the control amount of the heater 9. Based on the calculation result, the power controller 17 causes the heater 9
The control amount for the is determined. That is, when increasing the humidity, if the temperature of the water in the water tank 3 is raised by the heater 9 that is the control unit that controls the temperature of the water in the water tank 3, the water vapor partial pressure of the water also increases in proportion to the rise in the water temperature. To rise. Since the partial pressure of water vapor on the side of the air flow path 5 is almost constant, the difference in vapor pressure consequently increases. In proportion to this, the permeation flux, that is, the permeation flow rate increases, so that the amount of humidification also increases and the humidity also increases. (See Figure 3)

On the air passage 5 side of the permeable membrane 2, a perforated plate 4 which is a protective body made of a hard material such as a punching plate is attached in close contact with the permeable membrane 2. this is,
Since the permeable membrane 2 itself is soft and weak in strength, the permeable membrane 2
The purpose is to prevent the sagging and damage. Further, when the water purifier 18 is provided in the water supply pipe to the water tank 3, it is possible to remove impurities of the supplied water, and it is possible to remove bacteria by using an ultra-high density filter. , It is possible to humidify the water without bacteria. Further, when the rotation speed of the motor of the blower 8 is made variable by an inverter or the like and the amount of air blow is made variable, the amount of water vapor permeation can also be controlled in addition to the operation of the present invention.

Next, a second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In the second embodiment, the entire device is arranged in a cylindrical shape to increase the surface area of the permeable membrane, and the permeable membrane 20 formed in a bag shape and the permeable membrane for protecting the permeable membrane 20 are provided. Similarly, it includes a water tank 21 formed in a cylindrical shape. The air passage 2 having a predetermined gap is provided outside the protective net 22.
An outer cylinder 25 is provided with 3 in between. An air blower 24 is provided at the bottom of the gap to open, and on the other hand, the bottom is provided with a blower 24 for sucking the air in the room and blowing the air to the upper opening.

Further, a heater 9 is installed in the water tank 21, and the temperature sensor 1 is provided in the same manner as in the first embodiment.
0, the control device 13 based on the detection value of the humidity sensor 11
Controlled by. In addition, when the protective net 22 and the permeable membrane 20 that is in close contact with the protective net 22 are pleated, the surface area of the permeable membrane 20 can be increased relative to the volume, further improving the humidifying ability.

[0016]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The humidifying capacity can be easily changed. Further, it is possible to provide a membrane humidifying device which is compact in size but has high performance. Further, when a water purifier is provided in the water supply unit and an ultra-high-density filter is used there, air humidification without miscellaneous bacteria can be performed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of a humidifying device according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a graph showing a relationship between a vapor pressure difference in a permeable membrane and a permeation flux.

FIG. 4 is an overall configuration diagram showing a second embodiment of the device according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Humidifier 2, 20 Permeable film 3, 21 Water tank 4, 22 Protective body 5, 23 Air flow path 6 Air discharge part 7 Air suction part 8, 24 Blower 9 Heater 10 Temperature sensor 11 Humidity sensor 12 Humidity setting part 13 Control Equipment 18 Water purification equipment

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A permeable membrane attached at a position separating water and dry air to allow only water vapor to pass therethrough, a blower for blowing air to the air-side surface of the permeable membrane, and at least one surface of the permeable membrane. In a humidifier equipped with a water tank to
A humidifying device characterized in that a control device for controlling a temperature of water in a water tank is provided to control a partial pressure of water vapor to control an amount of humidification. 2. A control device which compares the humidity of the air discharge part and the temperature of the water in the water tank with a set humidity to perform arithmetic processing, and controls the temperature of the water in the water tank based on the arithmetic processing result. 2. The humidifying device according to claim 1, wherein the partial pressure of water vapor is controlled by providing the above, and the amount of humidification is controlled. 3. The humidifying device according to claim 1, wherein a protective member having a strength higher than that of the permeable membrane and made of a porous plate is disposed in close contact with the permeable membrane on the air layer side of the permeable membrane. . 4. A permeable membrane attached to a position separating water and dry air and permeable to only water vapor, a blower for blowing air to the air side surface of the permeable membrane, and at least one surface of the permeable membrane. In a humidifier equipped with a water tank to
A humidifier characterized in that a water vapor partial pressure is controlled by controlling a temperature of water in the water tank to control a humidification amount, and a water purifier is provided in a water supply pipe of the water tank.