KR102459052B1 - Heat exchanger for air conditioner having volatile organic compounds removal function and manufacturing method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a heat exchanger for an air conditioner, including a plurality of heat exchange fins arranged spaced apart from each other, and a heat exchange tube installed to pass through the heat exchange fins. By coating the heat exchange fin with a visible light responsive photocatalyst, the heat exchanger for an air conditioner has the volatile organic compound removal function.

Description

Heat exchanger for air conditioner having volatile organic compounds removal function and manufacturing method thereof

The present invention relates to a heat exchanger for an air conditioner, and more particularly, a heat exchanger for an air conditioner in which volatile organic compounds contained in the air can be removed by coating a photocatalyst responsive to visible light on the heat exchanger for an air conditioner and the same It relates to a manufacturing method.

In general, there are many cases where chemicals are inevitably used in semiconductor production processes or manufacturing industries.

In the case of industrial facilities, ventilation by the Indoor Air Quality Act applied to general buildings is not applied due to the quality or production of products. Most of them are purified and discharged using environmental facilities through exhaust systems, but highly volatile chemicals are diffused into the atmosphere and exposed to the working environment of workers.

Therefore, a safe working environment can be created if volatile organic compounds can be removed using an air conditioner applied to semiconductor production sites or other industrial sites.

On the other hand, as a technology for an air conditioner capable of removing volatile organic compounds, the function of removing harmful substances, bacteria, and viruses by providing a UV LED between two photocatalytic media in Korean Patent Registration No. 10-2311002 A multi-function filter assembly for a public air conditioner having a ', and an air conditioner having the same' (hereinafter referred to as 'prior art') have been posted.

The prior art is, "The primary and secondary composite photocatalyst media are installed to be spaced apart at a predetermined interval, and two UV LED module bars are installed to face each other between the first and second composite photocatalyst media, so that UV rays are emitted between the primary and secondary composite photocatalyst media. A means for removing and sterilizing harmful substances configured to be irradiated to face each other; and a cassette for configuring the harmful substance removal and sterilization means and the fine dust removal means in one configuration, and a secondary photocatalyst media installation part into which the secondary composite photocatalytic media is inserted is formed on the front part of the fine dust filter. The secondary composite photocatalyst media is characterized in that it is installed in a cassette together with a fine dust filter, and it is equipped with a means of removing and sterilizing harmful substances including the photocatalyst media and UV LED module bar, and harmful substances including volatile organic compounds (VOCs) It is a technique that makes it possible to remove

However, in the case of the photocatalytic media disclosed in the prior art, since it is activated by ultraviolet rays having a wavelength shorter than 400 nm, the activation efficiency due to sunlight decreases, and there is a problem that a left ultraviolet lamp must be installed for indoor use.

In addition, there is a problem in that the ultraviolet rays emitted from the ultraviolet lamp cause a skin disease when exposed to a person for a long time.

[Document 1] Republic of Korea Patent Publication No. 10-2311002 (Registered on Jan. 1, 2021)

The present invention has been devised to solve the above problems, and it is possible to remove volatile organic compounds in the air by applying a photocatalyst to an air conditioner, but the photocatalyst can be activated even in a visible light region including a fluorescent lamp. An object of the present invention is to provide a heat exchanger for an air conditioner having a volatile organic compound removal function and a manufacturing method therefor so that the organic compound removal effect can be improved.

The problems to be solved by the present invention are not limited to the aforementioned problems. Other technical problems not mentioned will be clearly understood by those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention belongs from the following description.

In order to solve the above problems, a heat exchanger for an air conditioner having a volatile organic compound removal function according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a plurality of heat exchange fins arranged to be spaced apart from each other, and a heat exchange tube installed to pass through the heat exchange fins. In the heat exchanger for an air conditioner comprising: a visible light responsive photocatalyst is coated on the heat exchange fin.

In an embodiment of the present invention, a light source for activating the photocatalyst coated on the heat exchange fin is installed in the heat exchanger, and the light irradiated from the light source is reflected to the heat exchange fin between the heat exchange fins coated with the photocatalyst A reflector is installed for

In an embodiment of the present invention, the photocatalyst comprises 50 to 95 wt% of titanium oxide; 5 to 50% by weight of tungsten oxide or copper tungsten oxide; And 0.001 to 0.1% by weight of platinum; consists of a mixture comprising.

On the other hand, in order to solve the above problems, according to an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing a heat exchanger for an air conditioner having a volatile organic compound removal function, comprising: a photocatalyst material manufacturing step of manufacturing a visible light responsive photocatalyst material; a photocatalytic material coating step of coating the photocatalytic material on the heat exchange fins; and an assembling step of assembling the heat exchange fins and the heat exchange tube.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the photocatalyst material manufacturing step includes adding sodium hydroxide aqueous solution to tungsten oxide oxidized by titanium hydroxide gel or crystallized titanium oxide and sodium tungstate obtained by heating cations. a material mixing step of mixing a tungsten oxide material made of a tungsten oxide colloid made by passing a resin; and a heat treatment step of heat-treating the mixture of the titanium oxide material and the tungsten oxide material at 400 to 600°C.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the coating of the photocatalyst material may include: a primer application step of applying an inorganic primer to the heat exchange fin; A photocatalyst sol production step of mixing the photocatalyst material with an inorganic binder to produce a photocatalyst material in a sol state; and a photocatalytic sol coating step of coating the photocatalytic sol on the heat exchange fins.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the inorganic binder is 20 to 30% by weight of sodium silicate, 5 to 15% by weight of potassium silicate, 50 to 70% by weight of water and 3 to 7% by weight of a dispersant polymerized at a temperature of 250 to 350 ℃ produced by reacting.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, as the visible light responsive photocatalyst is coated on the heat exchange fin, volatile organic compounds in the air passing through the heat exchange fin can be removed, and the photocatalyst is a general lighting including a fluorescent lamp, LED and OLED lighting, etc. Since it is activated in the visible light region of

1 is a front configuration view of a heat exchanger for an air conditioner having a volatile organic compound removal function according to an embodiment of the present invention;
2 is a front view of a heat exchanger for an air conditioner having a volatile organic compound removal function according to another embodiment of the present invention;
3 is a flowchart of a method for manufacturing a heat exchanger for an air conditioner having a volatile organic compound removal function according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. For convenience of description, components shown in the drawings may be exaggerated, omitted, or schematically represented.

1 is a front configuration view of a heat exchanger for an air conditioner having a volatile organic compound removal function according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an air conditioner having a volatile organic compound removal function according to another embodiment of the present invention. This is the front configuration diagram of the heat exchanger.

1 and 2, the heat exchanger for an air conditioner having a volatile organic compound removal function according to the present invention (hereinafter abbreviated as 'heat exchanger') has a plurality of heat exchange fins ( In the heat exchanger 100 for an air conditioner including 110) and a heat exchange tube 120 installed to pass through the heat exchange fin 110, the heat exchange fin 110 is coated with a visible light responsive photocatalyst 130 characterized by being

Wherein the photocatalyst 130 is titanium oxide 50 to 95% by weight; and 5 to 50 wt% of tungsten oxide or copper tungsten oxide.

If necessary, platinum may be added to the mixture as a co-catalyst. At this time, the photocatalyst 130 is titanium oxide 50 to 95% by weight; 5 to 50% by weight of tungsten oxide or copper tungsten oxide; and 0.001 to 0.1 wt% of platinum; may be made of a mixture comprising.

As described above, in the heat exchanger 100 of the present invention, the photocatalyst 130 uses titanium oxide and tungsten oxide as main materials. The titanium oxide was confirmed to have an excellent effect as a photocatalyst in the ultraviolet region, but has a disadvantage in that the photocatalytic effect is insignificant in the visible region. That is, since ultraviolet light is only about 4% in sunlight, the efficiency as a photocatalyst is greatly reduced in an indoor environment where there is little ultraviolet light. On the other hand, titanium oxide has a photocatalytic effect in the visible region, but it is known that when tungsten oxide is used alone, it is effective only at a specific wavelength and generally has little photocatalytic effect in visible light.

In the present invention, by mixing titanium oxide and tungsten oxide in a certain ratio to prepare the visible light responsive photocatalyst 130, the photocatalytic effect in the visible light region is superior to that when titanium oxide and tungsten oxide are used alone.

Meanwhile, as shown in FIG. 2 , a light source 140 for activating the photocatalyst 130 coated on the heat exchange fin 110 is installed in the heat exchanger 100 of the present invention, and the photocatalyst 130 is coated A reflective plate 150 for reflecting the light irradiated from the light source 140 to the heat exchange fin 110 may be installed between the heat exchange fins 110 .

Here, as the light source 140, an LED lamp emitting white light having a wavelength of 400 to 800 nm is used. A plurality of the light sources 140 may be arranged along the direction in which the heat exchange fins 110 and the reflectors 150 are arranged on the upper and lower portions of the heat exchanger 100 , respectively. Accordingly, when the activity of the photocatalyst 130 due to sunlight is insignificant, the activity of the photocatalyst 130 can be increased by using the light source 140 .

The reflective plate 150 is configured to reflect the light emitted from the light source 140 to the two heat exchange fins 110 disposed adjacent to the reflective plate 150 as both surfaces of the reflective plate 150 are formed to reflect light. Accordingly, the amount of light applied to the photocatalyst 130 coated on the heat exchange fin 110 can be increased.

The reflection plate 150 is made of a metal plate having the same shape as the heat exchange fin 110 and is configured to function as a heat exchange fin.

Hereinafter, a method of manufacturing a heat exchanger for an air conditioner having a volatile organic compound removal function according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with further reference to FIG. 3 .

3 is a flowchart of a method for manufacturing a heat exchanger for an air conditioner having a volatile organic compound removal function according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 3 , the method of manufacturing a heat exchanger according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a photocatalyst material manufacturing step (S10), a photocatalyst material coating step (S20) and an assembling step (S30).

The photocatalyst material manufacturing step (S10) is a step for manufacturing a visible light responsive photocatalyst material, a material mixing step (S11) of mixing a titanium oxide material and a tungsten oxide material; and a heat treatment step (S12) of heat-treating the mixture of the titanium oxide material and the tungsten oxide material at 400 to 600°C.

In the material mixing step (S11), the titanium oxide material is a titanium hydroxide gel obtained by hydrolyzing a titanium metal salt solution, or a titanium oxide crystallized by heat-treating the titanium hydroxide gel. In addition, the tungsten oxide material uses a tungsten oxide colloid by passing sodium tungstate obtained by heating an aqueous solution of sodium hydroxide into tungsten oxide oxidized from cemented carbide sludge through a cation exchange resin.

Here, a colloidal suspension or colloid is a mixture in which a solvent and a solute are completely mixed to form a single phase, and an insoluble substance is mixed with other substances in a dispersed state with a size of 1 to 1000 nm, unlike a solution. Therefore, the tungsten oxide colloid is mixed with other materials in a state in which tungsten oxide particles are sprayed. When these tungsten oxide colloids are mixed with titanium hydroxide gel or titanium oxide, mechanical mixing for a long time is not required, and bonding with titanium oxide is easily achieved.

Specifically, the titanium oxide (TiO ₂ ) material is hydrolyzed according to the thermal hydrolysis process after dispersing the titanium metal salt solution in the solvent. At this time, the temperature of the thermal hydrolysis is 60 to 100 ℃. Upon thermal hydrolysis in this way, an amorphous titanium hydroxide gel is obtained. Although the quantitative chemical formula of titanium hydroxide is Ti(OH) ₄ , it is not usually expressed as a quantitative chemical formula because Ti-OH bonds and Ti-O bonds are mixed in an amorphous state.

Then, the titanium hydroxide gel is washed with water or alcohol, separated and filtered to be used as a photocatalyst material, or the washed titanium hydroxide gel is re-dispersed in water and then placed in a pressure vessel for heat treatment, for example, heat treatment at 100 to 300°C for 100 hours Thus, crystallized titanium oxide can be prepared and used as a photocatalyst material.

Next, tungsten oxide (WO3) material is difficult to purchase in Korea and it is very difficult to produce tungsten oxide powder in a colloidal state.

That is, in order to produce tungsten oxide colloidal from cemented carbide sludge, a process of separating tungsten oxide and remaining impurities from cemented carbide sludge is first required. Tungsten sludge is produced. Then, the prepared impurity-containing tungsten oxide is put in a solution of sodium hydroxide solution heated to 100° C. and stirred while heating to form sodium tungstate, thereby performing a process of separating it from impurities.

Then, the prepared sodium tungstat (sodium tungstate, sodium tungstate) is passed through a cation exchange resin to prepare a tungsten oxide colloid. A cation exchange resin is a synthetic resin that exchanges its own cations with cations in an aqueous solution. When sodium tungstate is passed through the cation exchange resin, the cations are exchanged to form tungsten oxide colloids.

Meanwhile, a second element such as copper may be added to the material of tungsten oxide (WO3). For example, copper is prepared by reacting anhydrous copper chloride (CuCl ₂ ) with colloidal tungsten oxide. That is, the addition of copper is prepared by reaction with a colloid of tungsten oxide.

The titanium dioxide gel prepared in this way and the tungsten oxide colloid (or the tungsten oxide colloid to which the second element is added) are mixed in an appropriate ratio and used as a photocatalyst material.

Preferably, the mixing ratio of titanium oxide and tungsten oxide is 50 to 95 wt% of titanium oxide and 5 to 50 wt% of tungsten oxide (or copper tungsten oxide).

Further, the platinum is added as a co-catalyst. Platinum (Pt) may be added to either the titanium oxide sol or the tungsten oxide colloid, but must be added before synthesizing the titanium oxide and the tungsten oxide colloid. At this time, platinum is added so as to be 0.001 to 0.1% by weight based on the total weight.

Platinum and tungsten oxide (or copper tungsten oxide)-added titanium oxide prepared in this way is heat-treated through the heat treatment step (S12) to prepare a visible light responsive photocatalyst material. At this time, in the heat treatment step (S12), platinum and tungsten oxide (or copper tungsten oxide) are added titanium oxide in a temperature range of 400 to 600° C. so that the ratio of anatase (titanium dioxide) in the structure of the titanium oxide is 70% or more. It is heat treated for 2 hours to make a visible light responsive photocatalyst material.

The photocatalytic material coating step (S20) includes a primer application step (S21) of applying an inorganic primer to the heat exchange fin 110; A photocatalyst sol production step (S22) of mixing the photocatalyst material with an inorganic binder to produce a photocatalyst material in a sol state; and a photocatalytic sol coating step (S23) of coating the photocatalytic sol on the heat exchange fin 110.

As the primer used in the primer application step (S21), when an organic primer is used, the organic material may be decomposed by the activity of the photocatalyst 130, and thus an inorganic primer is used. If necessary, before the primer application step (S21) is performed, the steps of washing and drying the heat exchange fins 110 may be performed. And drying the applied primer may be performed after the primer application step (S21).

In the photocatalytic sol manufacturing step (S22), the photocatalyst material manufactured in the photocatalytic material manufacturing step (S10) is mixed with an inorganic binder to form a sol state. In this case, the inorganic binder is used so that the binder is not decomposed by the activity of the photocatalyst 130 like the primer. Specifically, the inorganic binder is prepared by polymerizing 20 to 30% by weight of sodium silicate, 5 to 15% by weight of potassium silicate, 50 to 70% by weight of water, and 3 to 7% by weight of a dispersant at a temperature of 250 to 350°C. The inorganic binder prepared in this way enables the photocatalytic material to be coated on the heat exchange fin 110 made of aluminum without peeling.

The photocatalytic sol coating step (S23) may be performed by a gravure coating method suitable for high-speed and mass production. After the photocatalytic sol coating step (S23), drying and curing the photocatalyst 130 coated on the heat exchange fin 110 may be performed.

The assembling step S30 is a step of assembling the heat exchange fin 110 coated with the photocatalyst 130 and the heat exchange tube 120 .

The assembly of the heat exchange fin 110 and the heat exchange tube 120 may be performed in the same manner as the assembly method used in manufacturing a known heat exchanger.

According to the heat exchanger of the present invention and its manufacturing method configured as described above, as the visible light responsive photocatalyst 130 is coated on the heat exchange fin 110 , the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the air passing through the heat exchange fin 110 . : volatile organic compounds) can be removed, and further, since the photocatalyst 130 is activated in the visible light region such as general lighting including fluorescent lamps, LED and OLED lighting, the performance of removing volatile organic compounds can be further improved.

In the foregoing, the present invention has been described with reference to limited embodiments and drawings, but it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications are possible within the scope of the technical idea of the present invention. Accordingly, the protection scope of the present invention should be defined by the description of the claims and their equivalents.

100: heat exchanger 110: heat exchange fin
120: heat exchange tube 130: photocatalyst
140: light source 150: reflector

Claims (8)

A plurality of heat exchange fins 110 arranged to be spaced apart from each other, a heat exchange tube 120 installed to pass through the heat exchange fin 110 , a visible light responsive photocatalyst 130 coated on the heat exchange fin 110 , and the It is installed between the light source 140 for activating the photocatalyst 130 coated on the heat exchange fin 110 and the heat exchange fin 110 and transmits the light irradiated from the light source 140 to the heat exchange fin 110 . A method for manufacturing a heat exchanger (100) for an air conditioner including a reflecting plate (150), the method comprising:
A photocatalyst material manufacturing step of manufacturing a visible light responsive photocatalyst material (S10);
A photocatalyst material coating step of coating the photocatalyst material on the heat exchange fin 110 (S20); and
An assembling step (S30) of assembling the heat exchange fin 110 and the heat exchange tube 120; including,
The photocatalyst 130 is made of a mixture containing 50 to 95 wt% of titanium oxide and 5 to 50 wt% of copper tungsten oxide,
The photocatalytic material production step (S10),
A titanium oxide material made of titanium hydroxide gel or crystallized titanium oxide and a tungsten oxide colloidal tungsten oxide material made by heating sodium tungstate obtained by heating an aqueous solution of sodium hydroxide in tungsten oxide oxidized from cemented carbide sludge. Mixing material mixing step (S11); and
A heat treatment step (S12) of heat-treating the mixture of the titanium oxide material and the tungsten oxide material at 400 to 600° C.; and
The photocatalytic material coating step (S20) is,
a primer application step of applying an inorganic primer to the heat exchange fin 110 (S21);
A photocatalyst sol production step (S22) of mixing the photocatalyst material with an inorganic binder to produce a photocatalyst material in a sol state; and
and a photocatalytic sol coating step (S23) of coating the photocatalytic sol on the heat exchange fin 110;
The inorganic binder is prepared by polymerizing 20 to 30% by weight of sodium silicate, 5 to 15% by weight of potassium silicate, 50 to 70% by weight of water, and 3 to 7% by weight of a dispersant at a temperature of 250 to 350°C. A method of manufacturing a heat exchanger for an air conditioner having a virus removal function.
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