KR102559533B1 - Thermo hygrostat and control method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

The thermo-hygrostat includes a first passage for introducing a part of indoor air from the air-conditioning space into the thermo-hygrostat, a housing including a second passage connected to the first passage, introducing another part of the indoor air from the air-conditioning space, mixing it with the air introduced through the first passage, and then discharging the mixed air to the air-conditioning space, dehumidifying air moving through either the first passage or the second passage, and discharging moisture into the air moving through the other one of the first passage and the second passage. A first heat exchange unit positioned downstream of the dehumidifying rotor in the first passage to transfer air to the dehumidifying rotor after performing heat exchange with the air introduced into the first passage, located upstream of the dehumidification rotor in the first passage, and performing heat exchange with the air passing through one area of the dehumidifying rotor, and then transferred to the second passage, and located downstream of the dehumidifying rotor in the second passage, to pass through other areas of the dehumidification rotor It includes a third heat exchange unit that performs heat exchange with air.

Description

Thermo-hygrostat and its control method {THERMO HYGROSTAT AND CONTROL METHOD THEREOF}

Embodiments relate to a thermo-hygrostat and a control method thereof, and more particularly, to a thermo-hygrostat capable of reducing power consumption for reheating while maintaining dehumidification performance even in an environment where indoor air is at a low temperature or low humidity, and a control method thereof.

In spaces such as semiconductor clean rooms, data centers, computer rooms, and laboratories where advanced equipment or computing servers are used, the temperature and/or humidity of indoor air may affect the performance of advanced equipment or servers.

For example, when the temperature and / or temperature of indoor air is maintained higher or lower than a specified temperature, deformation (eg, thermal deformation or mechanical deformation) may occur in advanced equipment or server components of advanced equipment or servers, resulting in damage.

Accordingly, in semiconductor clean rooms, data centers, computer rooms, and spaces sensitive to temperature and humidity, there is a growing need for a thermo-hygrostat capable of maintaining constant humidity and temperature of indoor air to protect high-tech devices or servers.

The thermo-hygrostat refers to a device for maintaining constant temperature and humidity of indoor air in an air-conditioning space, and performs cooling, heating, dehumidification, and/or humidification to maintain constant indoor air temperature and humidity.

Conventional thermo-hygrostats generally maintain the temperature and humidity of indoor air by cooling and dehumidifying the air introduced into the thermo-hygrostat and then reheating (or 'reheating') the cooled and dehumidified air.

1 is a graph showing changes in air temperature and humidity by a conventional thermo-hygrostat.

For example, in a conventional thermo-hygrostat, air introduced into the thermo-hygrostat from an air-conditioning space (eg, air at point ⓐ) is cooled and dehumidified through heat exchange with an evaporator, thereby reducing temperature and humidity. In addition, the air cooled and dehumidified by the evaporator (eg, the air at point ⓑ) is reheated by a heater (eg, 'heating coil') of the thermo-hygrostat, and then discharged to the air conditioning space in a state where the temperature has risen.

In other words, the conventional thermo-hygrostat cools and dehumidifies the air introduced into the thermo-hygrostat in the air-conditioning space, and reheats (or 'reheats') the cooled and dehumidified air, thereby maintaining the temperature and humidity of the indoor air in the air-conditioning space at the target temperature and target humidity.

However, in the case of a conventional thermo-hygrostat, a process of reheating the cooled air (hereinafter referred to as a 'reheating process') in order to keep the temperature and humidity of indoor air constant must be performed, which is not only inefficient, but also has a problem in that a large amount of power is consumed in the reheating process.

In addition, in the conventional thermo-hygrostat, when the target humidity of indoor air is low, there is a problem that the amount of dehumidification is reduced because the processing capacity of the latent heat load is rapidly reduced.

At this time, when the temperature of the evaporator (eg, T _E ) is lowered, the amount of dehumidification of the thermo-hygrostat may be increased, but when the temperature of the evaporator is lowered to a specific temperature or less (eg, about 5 ° C), ice may occur on the surface of the evaporator, and the dehumidification efficiency of the thermo-hygrostat may be reduced due to freezing, or a situation in which the operation of the thermo-hygrostat may be impossible may occur. For example, in a conventional thermo-hygrostat, when the target humidity of indoor air is set to about 40% or less, ice may occur on the surface of the evaporator, resulting in dehumidification efficiency or a situation in which the thermo-hygrostat becomes inoperable.

Accordingly, the present disclosure provides a thermo-hygrostat capable of reducing power consumption, improving energy efficiency, and preventing ice formation on the surface of an evaporator even when the target humidity of indoor air (eg, 40% or less) is low. It is intended to solve the above problems.

The problems to be solved through the embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to the above-described problems, and problems not mentioned are clearly understood by those skilled in the art to which the embodiments belong from this specification and the accompanying drawings.

The thermo-hygrostat according to an embodiment includes a first passage for introducing a portion of indoor air from the air-conditioning space into the air-conditioning chamber, a housing that is connected to the first passage, introduces another part of the indoor air from the air-conditioning space, mixes with the air introduced through the first passage, and then discharges the mixed air to the air-conditioning space. A dehumidification rotor that dehumidifies air and discharges moisture to the air moving through the other one of the first and second passages to be regenerated; a first heat exchange unit positioned upstream of the dehumidifying rotor in the first passage to exchange heat with the air introduced into the first passage and then transferring the air to the dehumidifying rotor; and a second heat exchange unit positioned downstream of the dehumidifying rotor in the first passage to exchange heat with air passing through one area of the dehumidification rotor and then transfer the air to the second passage. The housing further includes a first inlet for introducing at least a portion of indoor air into the first passage, a second inlet for introducing at least a portion of indoor air into the second passage, and an outlet for discharging air passing through the third heat exchanger in the second passage into the air conditioning space.

In one embodiment, the first passage and the second passage may extend parallel to each other along the first direction, and the housing may further include a partition wall extending along the first direction to partition the first passage and the second passage.

In one embodiment, a cross-sectional area of one region of the dehumidifying rotor located in the first passage may be smaller than that of another region of the dehumidifying rotor located in the second passage.

In one embodiment, the housing may be disposed to penetrate at least a portion of the partition wall, further include a connection passage connecting the first passage and the second passage, and may move to the second passage through the air passage passing through the second heat exchange unit.

In one embodiment, one area of the desiccant rotor located in the first passage is regenerated by applying moisture to the air passing through the desiccant rotor, and another area of the desiccant rotor located in the second passage may dehumidify the air passing through the desiccant rotor.

In one embodiment, the first heat exchanger heats the air introduced into the first passage through the first inlet and transfers it to the dehumidifying rotor, and the second heat exchanger cools the air passing through one area of the dehumidification rotor and transfers it to the second passage.

In one embodiment, the third heat exchanger may cool air that has passed through another area of the dehumidifying rotor and transfer it to the outlet.

In one embodiment, the housing may further include a third inlet for introducing at least a portion of indoor air into a partial area of the second passage located between the dehumidifying rotor and the third heat exchange unit.

For example, air introduced into the second passage through the third inlet may be mixed with air passing through another area of the dehumidifying rotor and then move toward the third heat exchange unit.

In one embodiment, the controller may further include a processor that obtains information about humidity of indoor air and controls operation of the thermo-hygrostat based on the obtained information.

For example, the processor may adjust the rotational speed of the dehumidifying rotor based on the humidity of indoor air.

For example, the processor may lower the rotational speed of the dehumidifying rotor based on the determination that the humidity of the indoor air is equal to or less than a specified value.

As another example, the thermo-hygrostat may further include a damper for controlling the amount of air introduced into the second passage through the second inlet, and the processor may reduce the amount of air introduced into the second passage through the second inlet through the damper based on the determination that the humidity of the indoor air is equal to or less than a specified value.

As another example, the thermo-hygrostat may further include a compressor that compresses the refrigerant and supplies the compressed refrigerant to the first heat exchange unit, and the processor may reduce the amount of the refrigerant supplied from the compressor to the first heat exchange unit based on the determination that the humidity of indoor air is equal to or less than a designated value.

The method for controlling the thermo-hygrostat described above according to an embodiment includes obtaining information about humidity of indoor air in an air-conditioning space, and increasing the humidity of indoor air by controlling operation of the thermo-hygrostat based on a determination that the humidity of indoor air is equal to or less than a specified value.

In one embodiment, the step of increasing the humidity of the indoor air may include at least one of lowering the rotational speed of the dehumidifying rotor, reducing the amount of indoor air flowing into the second passage through the second inlet, and reducing the amount of refrigerant supplied from the compressor to the first heat exchange unit.

Since the thermo-hygrostat according to the above-described embodiments can constantly maintain the temperature and humidity of indoor air in the air-conditioning space without a reheating process, energy efficiency can be improved by reducing power consumption.

In addition, the thermo-hygrostat according to the above-described embodiments may maintain dehumidification efficiency even when the target humidity of the air-conditioning space is low.

In addition, the thermo-hygrostat according to the above-described embodiments prevents ice formation on the surface of the evaporator, thereby maintaining dehumidification performance even when the target humidity of the air-conditioning space is low.

The effects of the embodiments are not limited to the above-mentioned effects, and effects not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art to which the embodiments belong from this specification and the accompanying drawings.

1 is a graph showing changes in air temperature and humidity by a conventional thermo-hygrostat.
2 is a perspective view of a thermo-hygrostat according to an embodiment.
3 is an exploded perspective view of the thermo-hygrostat shown in FIG. 2;
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the thermo-hygrostat shown in FIG. 2 .
5A is a conceptual diagram schematically illustrating a connection relationship between components of a thermo-hygrostat according to an embodiment.
FIG. 5B is a perspective view illustrating a dehumidifying rotor of the thermo-hygrostat shown in FIG. 5A.
6 is a graph showing changes in temperature and humidity of air by the thermo-hygrostat of FIG. 5A.
7 is a conceptual diagram schematically illustrating a connection relationship between components of a thermo-hygrostat according to another embodiment.
FIG. 8 is a graph showing changes in temperature and humidity of air by the thermo-hygrostat of FIG. 7 .
9A is a block diagram illustrating some components of a thermo-hygrostat according to an embodiment.
9B is a conceptual diagram schematically illustrating a connection relationship between components of a thermo-hygrostat according to an embodiment.
10 is a flowchart illustrating a method of controlling a rotational speed of a dehumidifying rotor of a constant temperature and humidity chamber according to an embodiment.
11 is a flowchart for explaining a method of controlling the operation of a damper of a constant temperature and humidity chamber according to an embodiment.
12 is a flowchart for explaining a method of controlling an operation of a compressor of a thermo-hygrostat according to an embodiment.

The terms used in the embodiments have been selected from general terms that are currently widely used as much as possible while considering the functions in the present disclosure, but they may vary depending on the intention or precedent of a person skilled in the art, the emergence of new technologies, and the like. In addition, in a specific case, there is also a term arbitrarily selected by the applicant, and in this case, the meaning will be described in detail in the description of the invention. Therefore, terms used in the present disclosure should be defined based on the meaning of the term and the general content of the present disclosure, not simply the name of the term.

In the present disclosure, when a part "includes" a certain component, it means that it may further include other components without excluding other components unless otherwise stated. In addition, terms such as "-unit" and "-module" described in this disclosure mean a unit that processes at least one function or operation, which may be implemented as hardware or software, or a combination of hardware and software.

As used in this disclosure, when an expression such as “at least one of” precedes an array of components, it modifies the array of components as a whole and not each individual component. For example, the expression "at least one of a, b, and c" should be interpreted as including a, b, c, or a and b, a and c, b and c, or a and b and c.

In the present disclosure, 'upstream of a component' may mean a region located before passing through a component among areas adjacent to a component, and 'downstream of a component' may mean an area located after passing through a component among regions adjacent to a component.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail so that those skilled in the art can easily carry out the embodiments of the present disclosure. However, the embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in many different forms and are not limited to the embodiments described herein.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a thermo-hygrostat according to an embodiment, FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the thermo-hygrostat shown in FIG. 2 , and FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the thermo-hygrostat shown in FIG. 2 .

Referring to FIGS. 2, 3, and 4, the constant temperature and humidity chamber 100 according to an embodiment is a device for maintaining constant temperature and humidity of indoor air in an air conditioning space, and may include a housing 110, a first heat exchange unit 200, a dehumidifying rotor 300, a second heat exchange unit 400, and a third heat exchange unit 500.

The housing 110 may form the overall appearance of the thermo-hygrostat 100, and may provide a space (or 'placement space') in which components of the thermo-hygrostat 100 may be disposed by being formed in an empty shape. For example, the first heat exchange unit 200, the dehumidifying rotor 300, the second heat exchange unit 400, and/or the third heat exchange unit 500 may be disposed inside the housing 110, but is not limited thereto.

The housing 110 may be formed in a rectangular pillar shape as a whole as shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, but the shape of the housing 110 is not limited to the illustrated embodiment. In another embodiment, the housing 110 may be formed in a cylindrical shape as a whole.

The housing 110 may include a first inlet 111i and a second inlet 112i through which at least a portion of indoor air of the air conditioning space is introduced or introduced into the housing 110 . The indoor air introduced into the housing 110 through the first inlet 111i and/or the second inlet 112i may be discharged to the outside of the housing 110 through the outlet 112e after the temperature and humidity are adjusted inside the housing 110.

According to one embodiment, the housing 110 may include a first housing 110a, a second housing 110b, a third housing 110c, and a bracket 110d. However, the housing 110 is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and at least one component may be added or at least one of the above-described components (eg, the bracket 110d) may be omitted according to the embodiment.

The first housing 110a includes a first inlet 111i and an outlet 112e, and is combined with the second housing 110b to form part of the side surface of the thermo-hygrostat 100 and upper and lower surfaces of the thermo-hygrostat 100. For example, the first inlet 111i may be disposed in at least one region of the side surface of the first housing 110a, and the outlet 112e may be disposed in at least one region of the top surface of the first housing 110a. However, the arrangement structure of the first inlet 111i and the outlet 112e is not limited to the above-described embodiment.

In the present disclosure, 'side surface' means a surface facing the x-axis or y-axis direction of FIGS. 2 and 3, and 'top surface' may mean a surface facing the z-axis direction of FIGS.

The second housing 110b is located between the first housing 110a and the third housing 110c, and is combined with the first housing 110a and the third housing 110c to form at least a part of the side surface of the thermo-hygrostat 100.

In one example, the first heat exchange unit 200, the third heat exchange unit 500, and the compressor 101 supplying the refrigerant to the first heat exchange unit 200 may be disposed in an internal space formed between the first housing 110a and the second housing 110b, and the second housing 110b may support or support the compressor 101, the first heat exchange unit 200, and the third heat exchange unit 500. can be fixed

At this time, the second housing 110b is formed to partition an internal space formed between the first housing 110a and the second housing 110b, so that the compressor 101, the first heat exchange unit 200, and the third heat exchange unit 500 may be separated from each other in the internal space between the first housing 110a and the second housing 110b. For example, the compressor 101 and the first heat exchange unit 200 may be disposed in a lower region (eg, a region in the -z direction) of the internal space between the first housing 110a and the second housing 110b, and the third heat exchange unit 500 may be disposed in an upper region (eg, a region in the z direction) of the internal space between the first housing 110a and the second housing 110b, but is not limited thereto.

In another example, the dehumidifying rotor 300 and the second heat exchanger 400 may be disposed in an inner space formed between the second housing 110b and the third housing 110c, and the second housing 110b and the third housing 110c may protect the dehumidifying rotor 300 and the second heat exchanger 400 from external impact or inflow of external foreign substances.

The third housing 110c includes the second inlet 112i, and is combined with the second housing 110b to form another part of the side surface of the constant temperature and humidity chamber 100 and another part of the upper and lower surfaces of the constant temperature and humidity chamber 100. For example, the second inlet 112i may be disposed on at least one area of the side surface of the third housing 110c, but the arrangement structure of the second inlet 112i is not limited to the above-described embodiment.

The bracket 110d may be positioned in an inner space formed between the second housing 110b and the third housing 110c to support or fix the dehumidifying rotor 300 and/or the second heat exchanger 400 . For example, the bracket 110d may be positioned between the dehumidifying rotor 300 and the second heat exchanger 400 to support or fix the dehumidification rotor 300 and the second heat exchanger 400 . At this time, a hole through which air can flow is formed in the bracket 110d, so that air passing through the dehumidifying rotor 300 can be transferred to the second heat exchanger 400.

In the drawings, the components of the housing 110 are shown only for a separate embodiment, but are not limited thereto, and the first housing 110a, the second housing 110b, and the third housing 110c and / or bracket 110d may be integrally formed according to the embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 4 , the first heat exchange unit 200 may perform heat exchange with air introduced or introduced into the housing 110 through the first inlet 111i in the air conditioning space (eg, RA1, return air1). According to one embodiment, the first heat exchanger 200 may be an air heater including a condenser of a heat pump, and as a result, the first heat exchanger 200 may increase the temperature of the air passing through the first heat exchanger 200.

At this time, the compressor 101 may compress the refrigerant and deliver high-temperature, high-pressure compressed air to the first heat exchange unit 200 . The air passing through the first heat exchange unit 200 may perform heat exchange with the refrigerant transferred from the compressor 101, and as a result, the temperature of the air passing through the first heat exchange unit 200 may increase and the temperature of the refrigerant may decrease, so that the phase of the refrigerant may change to a liquid phase. The refrigerant whose temperature has decreased by the above-described heat exchange is transferred to the second heat exchange unit 400, performs heat exchange with the air passing through the second heat exchange unit 400, and then flows back into the compressor 101. This will be described in detail later.

The dehumidifying rotor 300 may be rotatably disposed in the inner space of the housing 110, and one area (or 'regeneration area') of the dehumidifying rotor 300 may discharge moisture to passing air, and another area (or 'dehumidifying area') of the dehumidifying rotor 300 may dehumidify passing air.

For example, the dehumidifying rotor 300 may discharge moisture from the air passing through one area of the dehumidifying rotor 300 through the first heat exchanger 200, adsorb water vapor contained in the air passing through another area of the dehumidifying rotor 300 through the second heat exchanger 400, and dehumidify the air passing through the second heat exchanger 400.

The second heat exchange unit 400 may perform heat exchange with air that has passed through one area of the first heat exchange unit 200 and the dehumidifying rotor 300 . According to an embodiment, the second heat exchange unit 400 may be an air cooler that cools air passing through using latent heat of an evaporator of a heat pump. As a result, the second heat exchange unit 400 may lower the temperature and humidity of the air passing through the second heat exchange unit 400.

For example, the refrigerant cooled by heat exchange with air passing through the first heat exchange unit 200 is transferred to the second heat exchange unit 400, and heat exchange with air passing through the second heat exchange unit 400 can be performed. Accordingly, the temperature of the air passing through the second heat exchange unit 400 may decrease and the temperature of the refrigerant may increase.

The refrigerant that has undergone heat exchange with the air passing through the second heat exchange unit 400 may be introduced into the compressor 101 again, and the compressor 101 may transfer the introduced refrigerant back to the first heat exchange unit 200. It may repeat the operation. That is, in the thermo-hygrostat 100 according to an embodiment, the compressor 101, the first heat exchange unit 200, and the second heat exchange unit 400 may form a heat pump.

The third heat exchange unit 500 may perform heat exchange with air passing through the third heat exchange unit 500 via the second heat exchange unit 400 and another area of the dehumidifying rotor 300 . According to one embodiment, the third heat exchange unit 500 may be an air cooler that cools passing air by using latent heat of an evaporator substantially the same as or similar to the second heat exchange unit 400 . As a result, the air passing through the third heat exchanger 500 can be cooled, and the cooled air is discharged from the inside of the housing 110 to the outside of the housing 110 by the blower 117 and supplied to the air conditioning space.

In the present disclosure, the air supplied from the thermo-hygrostat 100 to the air conditioning space may be referred to as 'indoor supply air (SA)', and the corresponding expression may be used in the same meaning below.

The blower 117 is, for example, located in the inner space formed between the first housing 110a and the second housing 110b, and the air that has passed through the third heat exchange unit 500 moves in a direction toward the outlet 112e. Although it can generate a flow of air, the arrangement position of the blower 117 is not limited thereto.

The outdoor unit 20 located outside the thermo-hygrostat 100 may be connected or fluidly connected to the third heat exchange unit 500 to supply a refrigerant to the third heat exchange unit 500 . For example, the outdoor unit 20 may supply refrigerant to the third heat exchange unit 500 through a refrigerant passage (not shown) connecting the outdoor unit 20 and the third heat exchange unit 500 .

The refrigerant supplied from the outdoor unit 20 to the third heat exchange unit 500 may exchange heat with the air passing through the third heat exchange unit 500. As a result, the temperature of the air passing through the third heat exchange unit 500 is lowered and the temperature of the refrigerant is increased, so that the liquid refrigerant may evaporate.

At this time, the evaporated refrigerant may be transferred back to the outdoor unit 20 through the refrigerant passage, and the outdoor unit 20 may repeat the process of condensing the evaporated refrigerant and supplying it to the third heat exchanger 500 again.

Hereinafter, referring to FIGS. 5A and 5B , a process of controlling the humidity and temperature of the air introduced into the thermo-hygrostat 100 will be described in detail.

FIG. 5A is a conceptual diagram schematically illustrating a connection relationship between components of a constant temperature/hygrostat according to an embodiment, and FIG. 5B is a perspective view illustrating a dehumidifying rotor of the constant temperature/hygrostat shown in FIG. 5A.

The thermo-hygrostat 100 shown in FIG. 5A may be an embodiment of the thermo-hygrostat 100 shown in FIGS. 2 to 4 , and duplicate descriptions will be omitted below.

Referring to FIGS. 5A and 5B , a constant temperature and humidity chamber 100 according to an embodiment may include a housing 110, a first heat exchange unit 200, a dehumidifying rotor 300, a second heat exchange unit 400, and a third heat exchange unit 500.

The housing 110 may form the overall appearance of the thermo-hygrostat 100, and inside the housing 110, a first passage 111 and a second passage 112 through which air introduced or introduced into the thermo-hygrostat 100 moves may be disposed.

According to one embodiment, the housing 110 may extend along the first direction (eg, the y-axis direction of FIGS. 2 and 3), and the first passage 111 and the second passage 112 located inside the housing 110 may also extend along the first direction and may be disposed parallel to each other. For example, the second passage 112 may be located in a second direction substantially perpendicular to the first direction of the first passage 111 (eg, the z-axis direction of FIGS. 2 and 3), but is not limited thereto.

The housing 110 may include a partition wall 115 extending along the first direction, and the partition wall 115 may be located inside the housing 110 to divide the first passage 111 and the second passage 112. That is, the inner space of the housing 110 may be divided into a first passage 111 and a second passage 112 by the partition wall 115 .

The first passage 111 may serve as a passage for introducing or inflowing indoor air of the air conditioning space into the housing 110 .

According to an embodiment, the first passage 111 may include a first inlet 111i through which a portion of indoor air (eg, RA1) of the air conditioning space is introduced or introduced into the first passage 111 and a first filter 111f disposed adjacent to the first inlet 111i and removing foreign substances in the air. After passing through the first inlet 111i and the first filter 111f, a part of the indoor air of the air conditioning space (eg, RA1) may be introduced into the first passage 111, and the air introduced into the first passage 111 may move in a direction toward the first heat exchange unit 200.

The second passage 112 may serve to discharge air whose temperature and humidity are controlled from the inside of the housing 110 to the outside of the housing 110 .

According to an embodiment, the second passage 112 may include a second inlet 112i through which another part of indoor air (eg, RA2) of the air conditioning space is introduced into the second passage 112, a second filter 112f adjacent to the second inlet 112i and removing foreign substances in the air, and an outlet 112e for discharging or supplying air dehumidified from the inside of the housing 110 to the air conditioning space. there is

In one example, the second inlet 112i and the second filter 112f are disposed on the upstream side of the second passage 112, so that the air passing through the second inlet 112i and the second filter 112f may be introduced to the upstream side of the second passage 112. In another example, the outlet 112e is located on the downstream side of the second passage 112, so that the air reaching the downstream of the second passage 112 is discharged to the outside of the housing 110 or to an air conditioning space through the outlet 112e.

At this time, the first passage 111 and the second passage 112 are disposed parallel to each other, but may be connected or communicated with each other by a connection passage 113 penetrating at least one area of the partition wall 115 partitioning the first passage 111 and the second passage 112. For example, the connection passage 113 may pass through the partition wall 115 to connect a downstream region of the first passage 111 and an upstream region of the second passage 112. Accordingly, air introduced into the first passage 111 in the air conditioning space may move to the second passage 112 via the connection passage 113.

As the first passage 111 and the second passage 112 are connected through the connection passage 113, the air that has moved from the first passage 111 to the second passage 112 through the connection passage 113 is transferred from the upstream of the second passage 112 through the second inlet 112i and the second filter 112f to another part of the indoor air introduced into the second passage 112 (e.g., RA2). can be mixed. The mixed air (eg, the air at point ⑤ in FIG. 5A) moves along the second passage 112 and may pass through a part of the dehumidifying rotor 300 located in the second passage 112, and a detailed description thereof will be described later.

The first heat exchange unit 200 is located upstream of the dehumidification rotor 300 in the first passage 111, performs heat exchange with the air passing through the first heat exchange unit 200, and then transfers the air to the dehumidification rotor 300.

According to one embodiment, the first heat exchange unit 200 may be an air heater for increasing the temperature of the air passing through the air. Therefore, the temperature of the air (e.g., the air at point ② in FIG. 5A) that has passed through the first heat exchanger 200 may be higher than the temperature of the air before passing through the first heat exchanger 200 (e.g., the air at point ① in FIG. 5A).

For example, the first heat exchange unit 200 may be an air heater including a condenser of a heat pump, but the first heat exchange unit 200 is not limited to the above-described embodiment. In another embodiment, the first heat exchange unit 200 may be at least one of a heat exchange tube in which a heat medium having a temperature higher than that of air flows, a heating coil, or an electrical resistance element that generates heat by electricity.

The dehumidifying rotor 300 may be disposed inside the housing 110 to cross the first passage 111 and the second passage 112 and rotate clockwise or counterclockwise with respect to the housing 110. One area 300a (hereinafter referred to as 'regeneration area') of the dehumidifying rotor 300 may discharge moisture into the passing air, and another area 300b (hereinafter referred to as 'dehumidifying area') of the dehumidifying rotor 300 may dehumidify the passing air.

According to an embodiment, the dehumidifying rotor 300 includes a honeycomb-shaped porous structure made of ceramic paper, and a desiccant may be stably coated on the surface of the ceramic paper.

The dehumidifying rotor 300 may be manufactured using, for example, silica gel or a porous polymeric dehumidifying material made of a polymeric material. At this time, the polymeric dehumidifying material not only has a moisture absorption performance four times higher than that of silica gel, reducing the weight of the dehumidifying rotor 300 to a quarter, but also has antibacterial and/or antifungal properties, so that it can refer to a material suitable for the implementation of the dehumidifying rotor 300, which must rotate continuously.

The dehumidifying area 300b of the dehumidifying rotor 300 may serve to dehumidify the air passing through the dehumidifying area 300b by adsorbing water vapor in the air passing through the dehumidifying rotor 300 through a desiccant.

At this time, since the amount of moisture that can be adsorbed to the desiccant of the desiccant rotor 300 is limited, it is necessary to periodically vaporize the moisture adsorbed to the desiccant so that water vapor can be adsorbed to the desiccant again. Accordingly, the regeneration area 300a of the desiccant rotor 300 may play a role of discharging moisture adsorbed to the desiccant to the air passing through the regeneration area 300a.

In the present disclosure, an action of discharging moisture adsorbed to the desiccant into the air to create a state in which water vapor can be adsorbed to the desiccant is referred to as a 'regeneration action', and the expression may be used in the same sense hereinafter.

According to an embodiment, the regeneration area 300a of the dehumidifying rotor 300 is located in the first passage 111 and can perform a regeneration action of discharging moisture in the air (eg, the air at point ② in FIG. 5A) that has passed through the first heat exchanger 200. At this time, the air that has passed through the first heat exchange unit 200 may be referred to as air located upstream of the dehumidifying rotor 300 located in the first passage 111 .

The dehumidifying area 300b of the dehumidifying rotor 300 is located in the second passage 112 and may perform a dehumidifying action of adsorbing water vapor in the air passing through the dehumidifying area 300b. For example, the dehumidifying area 300b of the dehumidifying rotor 300 adsorbs water vapor included in air (eg, air at point ⑤ in FIG. 5A) mixed with air (eg, air at point ④ in FIG. It can dehumidify the air.

The above-described regeneration and dehumidification operations of the dehumidification rotor 300 may not be performed separately in time, but may be performed simultaneously. For example, at a specific time, a regeneration action may be performed in the regeneration area 300a of the dehumidification rotor 300 located in the first passage 111, and a dehumidification action may be performed in the dehumidification area 300b of the dehumidification rotor 300 located in the second passage 112.

As the dehumidifying rotor 300 is rotatably arranged with respect to the partition wall 115 of the housing 110, the regeneration area 300a of the dehumidifying rotor 300 located in the first passage 111 can move to the second passage 112 by the rotation of the dehumidifying rotor 300, and the dehumidifying area 300b of the dehumidifying rotor 300 located in the second passage 112 It can move to the first passage 111 by the rotation of the wet rotor 300 .

That is, as the dehumidifying rotor 300 rotates at a designated speed while crossing the first passage 111 and the second passage 112, the dehumidifying rotor 300 simultaneously and continuously performs the dehumidifying action and the regeneration action temporally.

The second heat exchanger 400 is located on the downstream side of the dehumidifying rotor 300 located in the first passage 111, performs heat exchange with the air passing through the second heat exchanger 400, and then transfers the air to the second passage 112 connected to the first passage 111.

According to one embodiment, the second heat exchanger 400 may be an air cooler for cooling air (eg, air at point ③ in FIG. 5A ) passing through the regeneration area 300a of the dehumidifying rotor 300 located in the first passage 111. Accordingly, the temperature and humidity of the air (e.g., the air at point ④ in FIG. 5A) that has passed through the second heat exchanger 400 may be lowered than the temperature and humidity of the air before passing through the second heat exchanger 400 (e.g., the air at point ③ in FIG. 5A).

In one example, the second heat exchanger 400 may be an air cooler that cools passing air by using latent heat of an evaporator of a heat pump, but the second heat exchanger 400 is not limited to the above-described embodiment. In another example, the second heat exchange unit 400 may be an air cooler including at least one of a heat exchange tube in which a refrigerant having a temperature lower than that of air flows, a cooling coil, or a Peltier element that generates cold heat by electricity.

The air dehumidified and cooled while passing through the second heat exchanger 400 (eg, the air at point ④ in FIG. 5A) moves upstream of the second passage 112 through the connection passage 113, and then may be mixed with air (eg, RA2) introduced upstream of the second passage 112 in the air conditioning space through the second inlet 112i and the second filter 112f. At this time, as the air dehumidified and cooled by the second heat exchanger 400 and the indoor air of the air conditioning space having a relatively higher temperature than the dehumidified and cooled air are mixed, the temperature of the mixed air (eg, the air at point ⑤ in FIG. 5A) may increase compared to the air that has passed through the second heat exchanger 400.

The air that has passed through the second heat exchanger 400 is mixed with the air introduced to the upstream side of the second passage 112 through the second inlet 112i, and then dehumidified while passing through the dehumidifying area 300b of the dehumidifying rotor 300 located in the second passage 112.

For example, the desiccant of the desiccant rotor 300 may adsorb water vapor in the air passing through the dehumidifying area 300b of the desiccant rotor 300, and accordingly, the humidity of the air passing through the humidifying area 300b of the desiccant rotor 300 (e.g., the air at point ⑥ in FIG. 5A) may be lowered.

In the thermo-hygrostat 100 according to an embodiment, as a part of the air in the air conditioning space (eg, RA2) is additionally introduced into the second passage 112 through the second inlet 112i, the amount of air moving through the second passage 112 (hereinafter referred to as 'flow rate') may be greater than the flow rate of the first passage 111.

According to one embodiment, the cross-sectional area of the second passage 112 takes into account the difference between the flow rate of the first passage 111 and the flow rate of the second passage 112, as shown in FIG. Accordingly, the cross-sectional area of the dehumidifying region 300b of the dehumidifying rotor 300 disposed in the second passage 112 may be wider than the cross-sectional area of the regeneration region 300a of the dehumidifying rotor 300 disposed in the first passage 111.

As the cross-sectional area of the dehumidifying area 300b of the dehumidifying rotor 300 is wider than the cross-sectional area of the regeneration area 300a, and a part of indoor air (eg, RA2) of the air conditioning space is additionally introduced into the second passage 112 through the second inlet 112i, the dehumidifying area 300b of the dehumidifying rotor 300 has more air than the regeneration area 300a of the dehumidifying rotor 300. A good amount of air can pass through.

At this time, as a larger amount of air passes through the dehumidification region 300b of the dehumidification rotor 300 than in the regeneration region 300a, and the dehumidification and regeneration actions of the dehumidification rotor 300 are simultaneously performed in an adiabatic process, the change in temperature and humidity of the air passing through the regeneration region 300a of the dehumidification rotor 300 (for example, the air at point ③ in FIG. 5A) changes in the dehumidification rotor ( 300) may be larger than the change in temperature and humidity of the air passing through the dehumidifying area 300b (eg, the air at point ⑥ in FIG. 5A).

For example, in order for the regeneration and dehumidification actions to be temporally simultaneously performed in an adiabatic process in the dehumidification rotor 300 of the thermo-hygrostat 100, the total heat reduction amount (or 'total enthalpy reduction amount') of air generated in the regeneration operation must be the same as the total heat increase amount (or 'total enthalpy increase amount') of air generated in the dehumidification operation.

As a smaller amount of air passes through the regeneration area 300a of the dehumidification rotor 300 where the regeneration operation is performed under the same condition in which the total heat quantity change of air generated in the regeneration operation and the dehumidification operation is performed compared to the dehumidification area 300b of the dehumidification rotor 300 where the dehumidification operation is performed, the change in humidity and temperature of the air passing through the regeneration area 300a is greater than the change in humidity and temperature of the air passing through the dehumidification area 300b. It gets bigger.

Accordingly, in the thermo-hygrostat 100 according to an embodiment, air having a relatively high humidity may be introduced into the second heat exchange unit 400 compared to a thermo-hygrostat in which the cross-sectional areas of the regeneration area 300a and the dehumidification area 300b of the dehumidifying rotor 300 are the same.

As air with high humidity flows into the second heat exchanger 400 where dehumidification and cooling are performed, the dehumidification efficiency of the thermo-hygrostat 100 can be improved. Since the thermo-hygrostat 100 according to an embodiment can allow air with a relatively high humidity to flow into the second heat exchanger 400 located downstream of the regeneration region 300a, the dehumidification efficiency can be improved. In other words, the thermo-hygrostat 100 according to an embodiment can improve dehumidification efficiency through the above-described structure that allows a larger amount of air to move through the second passage 112 compared to the first passage 111 .

As the ratio of the cross-sectional area of the second passage 112 to the cross-sectional area of the first passage 111 increases, the cross-sectional area ratio of the dehumidifying region 300b of the dehumidifying rotor 300 to the cross-sectional area of the regeneration region 300a of the dehumidifying rotor 300 may also increase.

As the ratio of the cross-sectional area of the dehumidifying area 300b of the dehumidifying rotor 300 to the cross-sectional area of the regeneration area 300a of the dehumidifying rotor 300 increases, the difference in the amount of air passing through the regeneration area 300a and the dehumidifying area 300b increases, so that the humidity and temperature of the air passing through the regeneration area 300a may change more significantly.

As a result, as the ratio of the cross-sectional area of the second passage 112 to the cross-sectional area of the first passage 111 increases, the humidity of the air introduced into the second heat exchange unit 400 located downstream of the regeneration region 300a of the dehumidifying rotor 300 increases, so that the overall dehumidifying efficiency of the constant temperature and humidity chamber 100 can be improved.

However, as the ratio of the cross-sectional area of the second passage 112 to the cross-sectional area of the first passage 111 increases, the cross-sectional area of the dehumidifying region 300b of the dehumidifying rotor 300 also increases, and thus the overall size of the constant temperature and humidity chamber 100 may become excessively large.

In addition, as the overall size of the thermo-hygrostat 100 increases and a large amount of air moves in the thermo-hygrostat 100, the temperature (or 'condensation temperature') of the first heat exchange unit 200 that heats the air may increase. If the temperature of the first heat exchange unit 200 rises excessively, damage to the first heat exchange unit 200 may occur.

For example, when the ratio of the cross-sectional area of the first passage 111 and the cross-sectional area of the second passage 112 in the constant temperature and humidity device 100 is greater than 1:3 (for example, a ratio of 1:4), the size of the constant temperature and humidity device 100 becomes excessively large, and damage to the first heat exchange unit 200 may occur, resulting in a situation in which the constant temperature and humidity device 100 does not operate normally.

In contrast, when the ratio of the cross-sectional area of the first passage 111 and the cross-sectional area of the second passage 112 is lower than the 1:2 ratio (eg, 1:1.5 ratio), air of relatively low humidity is introduced into the second heat exchange unit 400, and the dehumidification efficiency of the thermo-hygrostat 100 may decrease.

Accordingly, in the thermo-hygrostat 100 according to an embodiment, the ratio of the cross-sectional area of the first passage 111 and the cross-sectional area of the second passage 112 is maintained at a ratio of about 1:2 to 1:3, thereby preventing the overall size of the thermo-hygrostat 100 from becoming excessively large, and even improving dehumidification efficiency.

According to one embodiment, the ratio of the cross-sectional area of the first passage 111 and the cross-sectional area of the second passage 112 of the thermo-hygrostat 100 may be a fixed value, but is not limited thereto.

According to another embodiment, the ratio of the cross-sectional area of the first passage 111 and the cross-sectional area of the second passage 112 of the thermo-hygrostat 100 may vary according to the condition of indoor air in the air-conditioning space. For example, at least a portion of the partition wall 115 partitioning the first passage 111 and the second passage 112 may be disposed to be rotatable with respect to the housing 110, and a portion of the partition wall 115 may be rotated with respect to the housing 110. As the cross-sectional area of the first passage 111 and the second passage 112 may be varied, but is not limited thereto.

The third heat exchange unit 500 is located on the downstream side of the dehumidification rotor 300 located in the second passage 112, performs heat exchange with the air passing through the third heat exchange unit 500, and then transfers the air in the direction toward the discharge port 112e.

According to an embodiment, the third heat exchanger 500 may be an air cooler for cooling air (eg, air at point ⑥ in FIG. 5A ) passing through the dehumidifying area 300b of the dehumidifying rotor 300 . Accordingly, the temperature of the air (e.g., the air at point ⑦ in FIG. 5A) that has passed through the third heat exchanger 500 may be lowered than the air before passing through the third heat exchanger 500 (e.g., the air at point ⑥ in FIG. 5A).

In one example, the third heat exchanger 500 may be an air cooler that cools passing air using latent heat of the evaporator, but the second heat exchanger 400 is not limited to the above-described embodiment. In another example, the second heat exchange unit 400 may be an air cooler including at least one of a heat exchange tube in which a refrigerant having a temperature lower than that of air flows, a cooling coil, or a Peltier element generating cooling heat by electricity.

The air cooled while passing through the third heat exchange unit 500 may be supplied as indoor supply air SA to the air conditioning space through the outlet 112e.

According to one embodiment, a blower 117 may be disposed in a region of the second passage 112 adjacent to the outlet 112e to generate air flow in a direction from the second passage 112 toward the air conditioning space. The blower 117 may generate, for example, a flow of forced circulation of air from the inside of the second passage 112 toward the air conditioning space, and the air inside the second passage 112 may be discharged to the outside of the second passage 112 through the outlet 112e.

6 is a graph showing changes in temperature and humidity of air by the thermo-hygrostat of FIG. 5A.

FIG. 6 shows changes in temperature and humidity of the air generated in the process of passing the air introduced into the constant temperature and humidity controller 100 shown in FIG. At this time, FIG. 6 shows a process of changing the temperature and humidity of air to maintain the temperature of the air conditioning space at 25 °C and the humidity (or 'relative humidity') at 40%.

In FIG. 6, point ① indicates the state of air (or 'indoor air RA1') before passing through the first heat exchanger 200, point ② indicates the state of air after passing through the first heat exchanger 200, and point ③ indicates the state of air after passing through the regeneration area 300a of the dehumidification rotor 300.

Also, point ④ indicates the state of air after passing through the second heat exchanger 400, point ⑤ indicates a state in which the air passing through the second heat exchanger 400 is mixed with room air RA2 introduced into the housing 110 through the second inlet 112i, point ⑥ indicates the state of air after passing through the dehumidifying area 300b of the dehumidifying rotor 300, and point ⑦ indicates the state of air after passing through the dehumidifying area 300b of the dehumidifying rotor 300. It shows the state of air (or 'indoor supply air (SA)') after passing through the exchange unit 500.

In the present disclosure, 'humidity ratio' means the ratio of the mass of water vapor per unit mass of dry air, and the corresponding expression may be used in the same meaning below.

According to the thermo-hygrostat 100 according to the embodiment shown in FIG. 5A, a portion of indoor air RA1 in the air-conditioning space may be introduced into the first passage 111 through the first inlet 111i and the first filter 111f, and the air introduced into the first passage 111 (eg, the air at point ①) passes through the first heat exchanger 200 disposed in the first passage 111 and is then heated. It may be transmitted to the wet rotor 300. For example, air at about 25°C is heated while passing through the first heat exchanger 200, and the temperature may rise to about 55°C.

The air that has passed through the first heat exchanger 200 (eg, the air at point ②) passes through the regeneration area 300a of the dehumidifying rotor 300 disposed in the first passage 111, and the regeneration area 300a of the dehumidifying rotor 300 can be regenerated. For example, the regeneration region 300a of the dehumidifying rotor 300 may be heated by high-temperature air passing through the regeneration region 300a and discharge adsorbed water vapor to the air passing through the regeneration region 300a. Through the above process, the regeneration area 300a of the dehumidification rotor 300 is regenerated, and the humidity of the air (eg, the air at point ③) that has passed through the regeneration area 300a may increase and the temperature may decrease.

The air that has passed through the regeneration area 300a of the dehumidifying rotor 300 is dehumidified and cooled while passing through the second heat exchanger 400 located downstream of the regeneration area 300a of the dehumidifying rotor 300, and then transferred to the second passage 112 through the connection passage 113. Specifically, as the air that has passed through the regeneration area 300a of the dehumidifying rotor 300 is dehumidified and cooled in the process of passing through the second heat exchange unit 400, the temperature and humidity of the air that has passed through the second heat exchange unit 400 (eg, the air at point ④) may decrease.

The thermo-hygrostat 100 according to the embodiment shown in FIG. 5A allows the air that has passed through the first heat exchanger 200 and the regeneration area 300a of the dehumidifying rotor 300 to flow into the second heat exchanger 400, thereby preventing ice formation on the surface of the second heat exchanger 400 during the operation of the thermo-hygrostat 100.

For example, when the surface temperature (T _E ) of the second heat exchange unit 400 is lower than 5 °C, ice may occur on the surface of the second heat exchange unit 400, resulting in dehumidification efficiency or a situation in which the thermo-hygrostat 100 cannot operate.

The thermo-hygrostat 100 according to the embodiment shown in FIG. 5A allows indoor air in the air conditioning space to pass through the first heat exchange unit 200 and the regeneration region 300a of the dehumidifying rotor 300, and then flow into the second heat exchange unit 400, thereby maintaining the surface temperature T _E of the second heat exchange unit 400 at about 5 °C or higher. Accordingly, the thermo-hygrostat 100 according to the embodiment shown in FIG. 5A can prevent ice formation on the surface of the second heat exchange unit 400 even when the target temperature and target humidity of the air conditioning space are low.

The air that has passed through the second heat exchange unit 400 is introduced into or introduced into the second passage 112 through the second inlet 112i and the second filter 112f, and may be mixed with another part of indoor air (e.g., RA2). As the air dehumidified and cooled by the second heat exchanger 400 is mixed with indoor air having a relatively high temperature, the temperature of the mixed air (eg, the air at point ⑤) may rise. For example, since the temperature of the air (eg, RA2) introduced through the second inlet 112i is higher than the temperature of the air passing through the second heat exchange unit 400, the temperature of the mixed air (eg, the air at point ⑤) may be higher than that of the air passing through the second heat exchange unit 400 (eg, the air at point ④).

The mixed air (eg, the air at point ⑤) may move in a direction toward the dehumidifying area 300b of the dehumidifying rotor 300, pass through the dehumidifying area 300b of the dehumidifying rotor 300, and undergo a dehumidifying action. Since the dehumidification action is performed while the mixed air passes through the dehumidifying area 300b of the dehumidifying rotor 300, the humidity of the air (eg, the air at point ⑥) that has passed through the dehumidifying area 300b of the dehumidifying rotor 300 is further reduced compared to the air before passing through the dehumidifying area 300b of the dehumidifying rotor 300 (for example, the air at point ⑤), and the temperature may be further increased.

Air passing through the dehumidifying area 300b of the dehumidifying rotor 300 (eg, air at point ⑥) may pass through the third heat exchanger 500 and be cooled. For example, air at about 30 °C is cooled while passing through the third heat exchanger 500, and the temperature may be lowered to about 20 °C.

The air cooled by the third heat exchanger 500 (eg, the air at point ⑦) may be supplied to the air conditioning space through the outlet 112e by the forced circulation of air generated by the blower 117 disposed in the second passage 112.

As such, the thermo-hygrostat 100 according to the embodiment shown in FIG. 5A removes the latent heat load of the air introduced into the thermo-hygrostat 100 through the first heat exchange unit 200, the dehumidifying rotor 300, and the second heat exchange unit 400, and then removes the sensible heat load of the air through the third heat exchange unit 500. In other words, in the thermo-hygrostat 100 according to the embodiment shown in FIG. 5A, the first heat exchanger 200, the dehumidifying rotor 300, and the second heat exchanger 400 serve to adjust the latent heat load of the air, and the third heat exchanger 500 may serve to adjust the sensible heat load of the air.

In a conventional thermo-hygrostat, in order to keep the temperature and humidity of the air-conditioning space constant, the air introduced into the thermo-hygrostat must first be dehumidified and cooled, and then the dehumidified and cooled air must be reheated.

The reheating process is not only inefficient in terms of reheating the cooled air, but also consumes a lot of power, so the conventional thermo-hygrostat has a problem in that energy efficiency is not high.

In contrast, the thermo-hygrostat 100 according to the embodiment shown in FIG. 5A can provide indoor supply air (SA) having a specified temperature and humidity in an air-conditioning space without performing the reheating process of reheating the cooled and dehumidified air as described above. Therefore, power consumed during the operation of the thermo-hygrostat 100 can be reduced.

7 is a conceptual diagram schematically illustrating a connection relationship between components of a thermo-hygrostat according to another embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 7 , a thermo-hygrostat 100 according to another embodiment may include a housing 110, a first heat exchange unit 200, a dehumidifying rotor 300, a second heat exchange unit 400, and a third heat exchange unit 500. The thermo-hygrostat 100 according to another embodiment may be a thermo-hygrostat in which a third inlet 112p is added to the thermo-hygrostat 100 shown in FIG. 5A, and duplicate descriptions will be omitted below.

The housing 110 may further include a third inlet 112p for introducing a portion of indoor air (eg, RA3) of the air conditioning space into the second passage 112 .

According to an embodiment, the third inlet 112p may be disposed so that a portion of indoor air (eg, RA3) of the air conditioning space is introduced between the dehumidifying area (eg, the dehumidifying area 300b of FIG. 5B ) of the dehumidifying rotor 300 and the third heat exchange unit 500.

The air introduced or introduced into the second passage 112 from the air conditioning space through the third inlet 112p may be mixed with the air passing through the dehumidifying area of the dehumidifying rotor 300 (for example, air at point ⑥'), and the mixed air (for example, air at point ⑦') may be transferred to the third heat exchange unit 500. After the mixed air passes through the third heat exchanger 500 and is cooled, it may be discharged to the air conditioning space through the outlet 112e.

At this time, as the air that has passed through the dehumidifying area of the dehumidifying rotor 300 is mixed with the indoor air of the air conditioning space having a relatively low temperature and high humidity, the temperature of the mixed air (eg, the air at point ⑦') may be lowered and the humidity may be increased compared to the air passing through the dehumidifying area.

According to an embodiment, the flow rate of indoor air introduced into the second passage 112 through the third inlet 113i may be equal to or greater than the flow rate of air passing through the dehumidifying area. Accordingly, the flow rate of the mixed air may be twice or more than the flow rate of the air passing through the dehumidifying area. For example, the ratio between the flow rate of the mixed air and the flow rate of the air passing through the dehumidifying area may be about 2:1 to 3:1, but is not limited thereto.

That is, in the constant temperature and humidity device 100 according to the embodiment shown in FIG. 7, only some of the air discharged into the air conditioning space (or 'indoor supply air (SA)') passes through the first heat exchange unit 200, the dehumidifying rotor 300, and the second heat exchange unit 400, so that the overall size of the constant temperature and humidity device 100 can be reduced.

For example, the thermo-hygrostat 100 allows only air introduced into the housing 110 through the first inlet 111i and/or the second inlet 112i among the air discharged into the air conditioning space to pass through the first heat exchange unit 200, the dehumidifying rotor 300, and the second heat exchange unit 400, and the air introduced into the housing 110 through the third inlet 112p is removed. 3 It is possible to pass only the heat exchange part 500.

As the amount of air flowing inside the housing 110 increases, the volume of the housing 110 also increases, so that the overall size of the thermo-hygrostat 100 may increase. The thermo-hygrostat 100 according to the embodiment shown in FIG. 7 allows only a portion of the air discharged into the air conditioning space to pass through the first heat exchange unit 200, the dehumidifying rotor 300, and the second heat exchange unit 400, thereby reducing the sizes of the first heat exchange unit 200, the dehumidifying rotor 300, and the second heat exchange unit 400. As a result, the constant temperature and humidity unit 100 is compact. can get angry

The constant temperature and humidity device 100 shown in FIG. 7 considers that the air passing through the dehumidifying area of the dehumidifying rotor 300 is mixed with indoor air (eg, RA3) introduced into the housing 110 through the third inlet 112p. It is possible to keep the temperature and humidity of the air-conditioning space constant while reducing the size. In other words, the thermo-hygrostat 100 according to the embodiment shown in FIG. 7 can maintain high dehumidification performance while reducing the size of the product.

FIG. 8 is a graph showing changes in temperature and humidity of air by the thermo-hygrostat of FIG. 7 .

FIG. 8 shows changes in temperature and humidity of air generated in the course of the air introduced into the constant temperature and humidity controller 100 shown in FIG. 7 passing through the first heat exchange unit 200, the dehumidifying rotor 300, the second heat exchange unit 400, and the third heat exchange unit 500. At this time, FIG. 8 shows a process of changing the temperature and humidity of air to maintain the temperature of the air conditioning space at 25 °C and the humidity (or 'relative humidity') at 20%.

In FIG. 8, point ①' indicates the state of air (or 'indoor air RA1') before passing through the first heat exchanger 200, point ②' indicates the state of air after passing through the first heat exchanger 200, and point ③' indicates the state of air after passing through the regeneration area of the dehumidification rotor 300 (e.g., regeneration area 300a in FIG. 5A).

In addition, point ④' represents the state of the air after passing through the second heat exchanger 400, point ⑤' represents a state in which the air passing through the second heat exchanger 400 is mixed with room air RA2 introduced into the housing 110 through the second inlet 112i, and point ⑥' represents the state of the air passing through the dehumidifying area of the dehumidifying rotor 300 (eg, the dehumidifying area 300b of FIG. 5B). indicates the condition of the air.

In addition, point ⑦' indicates a state in which the air passing through the dehumidifying area of the dehumidifying rotor 300 is mixed with indoor air RA3 introduced into the housing 110 through the third inlet 113p, and point ⑧' indicates the state of air (or 'indoor supply air (SA)') after passing through the third heat exchange unit 500.

According to the thermo-hygrostat 100 according to the embodiment shown in FIG. 7 , a portion of indoor air RA1 in the air-conditioning space may be introduced into the first passage 111 through the first inlet 111i and the first filter 111f, and the air introduced into the first passage 111 (for example, the air at point ①') passes through the first heat exchanger 200 disposed in the first passage 111 and is then heated. It may be transmitted to the wet rotor 300. For example, air at about 25°C is heated while passing through the first heat exchanger 200, and the temperature may rise to about 55°C.

The air that has passed through the first heat exchanger 200 (for example, the air at point ②') passes through the regeneration area of the dehumidifying rotor 300 disposed in the first passage 111 and can regenerate the regeneration area of the dehumidifying rotor 300. For example, the regeneration area of the dehumidifying rotor 300 may be heated by high-temperature air passing through the regeneration area, and adsorbed water vapor may be discharged to the air passing through the regeneration area. Through the above-described process, the regeneration area of the dehumidifying rotor 300 is regenerated, and the humidity of the air (eg, air at point ③') that has passed through the regeneration area may increase and the temperature may decrease.

The air that has passed through the regeneration area of the dehumidifying rotor 300 is dehumidified and cooled while passing through the second heat exchanger 400 located downstream of the regeneration area of the dehumidifying rotor 300, and then passed through the connection passage 113 to the second passage 112. Specifically, as the air that has passed through the regeneration area of the dehumidifying rotor 300 is dehumidified and cooled in the process of passing through the second heat exchange unit 400, the temperature and humidity of the air that has passed through the second heat exchange unit 400 (e.g., air at point ④') may decrease.

The thermo-hygrostat 100 according to the embodiment shown in FIG. 7 allows the air that has passed through the first heat exchanger 200 and the regeneration area of the dehumidifying rotor 300 to flow into the second heat exchanger 400, thereby preventing freezing on the surface of the second heat exchanger 400 during the operation of the thermo-hygrostat 100.

As described above, when the surface temperature of the second heat exchange unit 400 is lower than 5 °C, ice may occur on the surface of the second heat exchange unit 400, but in the constant temperature and humidity chamber 100 according to the embodiment shown in FIG. The temperature (T _E ) of the exchange unit 400 may be maintained at about 5 °C or higher.

In the conventional thermo-hygrostat, when the target humidity in the air-conditioning space is set to 40% or less, the temperature of the evaporator that cools and dehumidifies the air is lowered to less than 5 ° C, causing ice to occur on the surface of the evaporator.

In contrast, the thermo-hygrostat 100 according to the embodiment shown in FIG. 7 may maintain the surface temperature ( _TE ) of the second heat exchange unit 400 at about 5 ° C or higher even when the target humidity of the air conditioning space is 40% or less (eg, 20%), as shown in FIG. 8 . That is, the thermo-hygrostat 100 according to the embodiment shown in FIG. 7 prevents freezing from occurring on the surface of the second heat exchanger 400 even when the target temperature and target humidity of the air conditioning space are low, thereby preventing dehumidification performance degradation or inoperability due to freezing.

The air that has passed through the second heat exchange unit 400 is introduced into or introduced into the second passage 112 through the second inlet 112i and the second filter 112f, and may be mixed with another part of indoor air (e.g., RA2). As the air dehumidified and cooled by the second heat exchanger 400 is mixed with indoor air having a relatively high temperature, the temperature of the mixed air (eg, air at point ⑤') may rise. For example, since the temperature of the air (eg, RA2) introduced through the second inlet 112i is higher than the temperature of the air passing through the second heat exchange unit 400, the temperature of the mixed air (eg, air at point ⑤') may be higher than that of the air passing through the second heat exchange unit 400 (eg, air at point ④').

The mixed air (eg, air at point ⑤') moves in a direction toward the dehumidifying area of the dehumidifying rotor 300 and passes through the dehumidifying area of the dehumidifying rotor 300 to undergo a dehumidifying action. Since the dehumidification action is performed while the mixed air passes through the dehumidifying area of the dehumidifying rotor 300, the humidity of the air that has passed through the dehumidifying area of the dehumidifying rotor 300 (eg, the air at point ⑥') is more reduced than that of the air before passing through the dehumidifying area of the dehumidifying rotor 300 (for example, the air at point ⑤'), and the temperature may be further increased.

The air that has passed through the dehumidifying area of the dehumidifying rotor 300 (eg, the air at point ⑥') is introduced or introduced into the second passage 112 through the third inlet 112p. It may be mixed with another part (eg, RA3) of indoor air in the public space.

As the air that has passed through the dehumidifying area is mixed with the indoor air of the air conditioning space, which has a relatively low temperature and high humidity, the temperature of the mixed air (e.g., the air at point ⑦') is lower than that of the air passing through the dehumidifying area, and the humidity may increase.

Mixed air (eg, air at point ⑦') may be cooled while passing through the third heat exchanger 500 . For example, air at about 27 to about 28 °C is cooled while passing through the third heat exchanger 500, and the temperature may be lowered to about 20 °C.

The air cooled by the third heat exchanger 500 (eg, the air at point ⑧') may be supplied to the air conditioning space through the discharge port 112e by the forced circulation of air generated by the blower 117 disposed in the second passage 112.

9A is a block diagram illustrating some components of a constant temperature and humidity device according to an embodiment, and FIG. 9B is a conceptual diagram schematically illustrating a connection relationship of components of the constant temperature and humidity device according to an embodiment.

Referring to FIGS. 9A and 9B , the constant temperature and humidity chamber 100 (e.g., the constant temperature and humidity chamber 100 of FIG. 5A or the constant temperature and humidity chamber 100 of FIG. 7) according to an embodiment may further include a processor P for controlling the overall operation of the constant temperature and humidity chamber 100.

The processor P may be electrically connected to the components of the constant temperature and humidity chamber 100 to control the overall operation of the constant temperature and humidity chamber 100 . The processor P may obtain, for example, information about indoor air in the air-conditioning space, and control the operation of the constant temperature and humidity chamber 100 based on the obtained information about the indoor air in the air-conditioning space.

The information about indoor air may include, for example, at least one of information about temperature and information about humidity of indoor air, but information about indoor air is not limited to the above information.

At this time, the information on the indoor air in the air-conditioning space may be obtained through the constant temperature and humidity chamber 100 or a sensor (not shown) located outside the constant temperature and humidity chamber 100, and the information about the indoor air in the air-conditioning space obtained from the sensor may be transmitted to the processor P, but is not limited thereto. As another example, the thermo-hygrostat 100 may obtain information about indoor air in an air-conditioning space from an external server.

According to an embodiment, the processor P may adjust the temperature and/or humidity of indoor supplied air discharged from the thermo-hygrostat 100 to the air-conditioning space based on information about indoor air.

For example, when the humidity of indoor air in the air-conditioning space is lower than the target humidity, the amount of dehumidification of the thermo-hygrostat 100 must be reduced to lower the humidity of the air-conditioning space to the target humidity. Accordingly, the processor P may lower the amount of dehumidification of the thermo-hygrostat 100 based on the determination that the humidity of indoor air is equal to or less than the designated value. In the present disclosure, a 'designated value' may mean a value corresponding to a target humidity of an air-conditioning space, and the corresponding expression may be used in the same meaning below.

In one example, the processor P may increase the humidity of the indoor air in the air-conditioning space by adjusting the rotational speed of the dehumidifying rotor 300 based on the determination that the humidity of the indoor air is equal to or less than a specified value. The processor P may, for example, increase or decrease the rotational speed of the dehumidifying rotor 300 relative to a specified speed, thereby reducing the amount of dehumidification of the constant temperature and humidity chamber 100, and as a result, increase the humidity of indoor air in the air-conditioning space. However, a detailed description thereof will be described later.

In another example, the processor P may increase the humidity of the indoor air in the air-conditioning space by adjusting the amount of air flowing into or introduced into the second passage 112 from the air-conditioning space through the second inlet 112i, based on the determination that the humidity of the indoor air is equal to or less than a specified value.

Referring to FIG. 9B , the thermo-hygrostat 100 according to an embodiment may further include a damper 112d for controlling the amount of air introduced or introduced from the air conditioning space into the second passage 112 through the second inlet 112i. The damper 112d is, for example, disposed in a region adjacent to the second inlet 112i of the second passage 112, and enters the second passage 112 through the second inlet 112i. The amount of air introduced can be adjusted. In the drawing, the damper 112d is shown only for an embodiment located downstream of the second filter 112f, but the location of the damper 112d is not limited to the illustrated embodiment. At this time, the processor P may be electrically connected to the damper 112d and may adjust the amount of air introduced into the second passage 112 through the damper 112d.

The air introduced into the second passage 112 through the second inlet 112i may be mixed with the air passing through the second heat exchange unit 400, and the mixed air may be transferred to the dehumidifying area of the dehumidifying rotor 300 (eg, the dehumidifying area 300b of FIG. 5B).

As indoor air is additionally introduced into the second passage 112 through the second inlet 112i, a larger amount of air passes through the dehumidifying area of the dehumidifying rotor 300 than in the regeneration area (eg, the regeneration area 300a of FIG. 5B).

At this time, since the dehumidifying and regenerating actions of the dehumidifying rotor 300 are temporally performed simultaneously as an adiabatic process, the amount of change in temperature and humidity of the air passing through the regeneration area of the dehumidifying rotor 300 may be greater than the amount of change in temperature and humidity of the air passing through the dehumidifying area of the dehumidifying rotor 300.

In order for the dehumidification rotor 300 to simultaneously perform the regenerating and dehumidifying actions in an adiabatic process, the total heat reduction of air generated in the regeneration operation must be equal to the total heat increase in the air generated in the dehumidifying operation. Under the condition that the total amount of heat change in the air generated in the regeneration and dehumidification operations is the same, a greater amount of air passes through the dehumidifying area of the dehumidifying rotor 300 than in the regeneration area of the dehumidifying rotor 300, so that the change in temperature and humidity of the air passing through the regeneration area is greater than the change in temperature and humidity of the air passing through the dehumidifying area.

In the structure described above, when the amount of air introduced into the second passage 112 through the second inlet 112i decreases, the amount of air passing through the dehumidifying area of the dehumidifying rotor 300 may also decrease, and as a result, the amount of change in the temperature and humidity of the air passing through the regeneration area is relatively reduced. In other words, when the amount of air introduced into the second passage 112 through the second inlet 112i is reduced, the increase in humidity of the air passing through the regeneration area of the dehumidifying rotor 300 is reduced, so that air with a relatively low humidity may be introduced into the second heat exchange unit 400.

As the humidity of the air introduced into the second heat exchange unit 400 decreases, the dehumidification amount of the second heat exchange unit 400 decreases. Therefore, the processor P of the constant temperature and humidity controller 100 according to an embodiment reduces the amount of air introduced into the second passage 112 through the second inlet port 112i through the damper 112d, thereby reducing the dehumidification amount of the constant temperature and humidity controller 100. .

In another example, the processor P is electrically connected to the compressor 101 (eg, the compressor 101 of FIG. 3 ) and adjusts the amount of refrigerant supplied from the compressor 101 to the first heat exchange unit 200, thereby reducing the dehumidification amount of the thermo-hygrostat 100.

The processor P may reduce the amount of dehumidification of the thermo-hygrostat 100 by reducing the amount of refrigerant supplied from the compressor 101 to the first heat exchange unit 200 based on the determination that the humidity of the indoor air is less than or equal to the designated value. For example, the compressor 101 may include a brushless direct current (BLDC) compressor, and the processor P may control the rotational speed of the compressor 101 to adjust the amount of refrigerant supplied from the compressor 101 to the first heat exchange unit 200, but is not limited thereto.

That is, the processor P of the thermo-hygrostat 100 according to an embodiment can adjust the dehumidification amount of the thermo-hygrostat 100 through at least one of an operation of adjusting the rotational speed of the desiccant rotor 300, an operation of adjusting the amount of air introduced into the second passage 112 through the second inlet 112i, and an operation of adjusting the amount of refrigerant supplied from the compressor 101.

Hereinafter, with reference to FIGS. 10 to 12 , operations for adjusting the amount of dehumidification of the thermo-hygrostat 100 of the processor P will be described in detail.

10 is a flowchart illustrating a method of controlling a rotational speed of a dehumidifying rotor of a constant temperature and humidity chamber according to an embodiment.

Hereinafter, in describing a method for controlling the rotational speed of the dehumidifying rotor of the thermo-hygrostat shown in FIG. 10, reference is made to the components of the thermo-hygrostat 100 shown in FIGS. 5A, 5B, and 9A.

Referring to FIG. 10 , in step 1001, the processor P of the thermo-hygrostat 100 according to an embodiment may obtain information about indoor air in an air-conditioning space. For example, the thermo-hygrostat 100 may obtain information about indoor air from an internal sensor of the thermo-hygrostat 100 or an external sensor of the thermo-hygrostat 100, but is not limited thereto. As another example, the thermo-hygrostat 100 may obtain information about indoor air in an air-conditioning space from an external server or an external electronic device.

The indoor air information may include, for example, at least one of indoor air temperature and indoor air humidity, but is not limited thereto.

In step 1002, the processor P of the thermo-hygrostat 100 according to an embodiment adjusts the rotational speed or number of revolutions per unit time of the dehumidifying rotor 300 based on the information about the indoor air obtained in step 1001 to adjust the humidity of the indoor air.

For example, when the humidity of indoor air in the air-conditioning space is lower than the target humidity, the amount of dehumidification of the thermo-hygrostat 100 must be reduced to maintain the humidity of indoor air at the target humidity. Accordingly, the processor P adjusts the rotational speed of the dehumidifying rotor 300 based on the information about the humidity of the indoor air among the information about the indoor air obtained in step 1001, thereby reducing the amount of dehumidification of the constant temperature and humidity controller 100.

According to an embodiment, when the humidity of the indoor air is equal to or less than a specified value, the processor P may determine that the humidity of the indoor air needs to be increased and adjust the rotational speed of the dehumidifying rotor 300 .

Specifically, the processor P may increase the humidity of the indoor air by lowering the rotational speed of the dehumidifying rotor 300 below the designated speed based on the determination that the humidity of the indoor air is equal to or less than the designated value.

When the rotation speed of the dehumidifying rotor 300 is higher than the designated speed, the humidity of the indoor air may be increased by reducing the amount of dehumidification of the thermo-hygrostat 100, but the temperature of the air introduced into the second heat exchange unit 400 may be lowered, resulting in ice formation on the surface of the second heat exchange unit 400 or a decrease in the coefficient of performance (COP) of the compressor (eg, the compressor 101 of FIG. 3 ).

The regeneration action of the desiccant rotor 300 is performed by applying heat to the water vapor adsorbed to the desiccant while air passes through the regeneration region 300a to remove the water vapor adsorbed to the desiccant. may not be performed properly.

As the regeneration operation in the regeneration area 300a is not performed smoothly, the temperature of the air passing through the regeneration area 300a may decrease, but the humidity may hardly increase. Specifically, since the air passing through the regeneration region 300a transfers heat to the regeneration region 300a, the temperature of the air passing through the regeneration region 300a is lowered.

Accordingly, when the rotational speed of the dehumidifying rotor 300 is faster than the designated speed, air having a lower humidity may be introduced into the second heat exchanger 400 than when the dehumidifying rotor 300 rotates at the designated speed.

The dehumidification amount of the second heat exchange unit 400 increases as the humidity of the air introduced into the second heat exchange unit 400 increases.

However, in this case, not only the amount of dehumidification in the second heat exchange unit 400 is reduced, but also the temperature of the second heat exchange unit 400 is lowered so that ice may occur on the surface of the second heat exchange unit 400 or the COP of the compressor may decrease.

That is, when the rotational speed of the dehumidifying rotor 300 is higher than the designated speed, the amount of dehumidification of the constant temperature and humidity chamber 100 may be reduced, but ice may occur on the surface of the second heat exchange unit 400 or the efficiency of the compressor may decrease.

On the other hand, when the rotational speed of the dehumidifying rotor 300 is lower than the designated speed, the accumulated amount of air passing through the dehumidifying area 300b of the dehumidifying rotor 300 increases compared to when the dehumidifying rotor 300 rotates at the specified speed. In other words, as the desiccant becomes saturated, water vapor included in a portion of the air passing through the dehumidifying area 300b of the desiccant rotor 300 may not be adsorbed by the desiccant, and as a result, the humidity of the air passing through the dehumidifying area 300b of the desiccant rotor 300 may increase as a whole, thereby increasing the humidity of indoor air.

In addition, when the rotational speed of the dehumidifying rotor 300 is lower than the designated speed, the cumulative amount of air passing through the regeneration area 300a also increases compared to when the dehumidifying rotor 300 rotates at the specified speed.

In detail, as the dehumidifying rotor 300 rotates slower than the designated speed, water vapor adsorbed in the regeneration region 300a can be sufficiently removed only when some of the air passes through the regeneration region 300a.

Accordingly, when the rotational speed of the dehumidifying rotor 300 is slower than the designated speed, air at a relatively higher temperature than when the dehumidifying rotor 300 rotates at the designated speed may be introduced into the second heat exchanger 400, and as a result, the temperature of the second heat exchanger 400 may increase and the COP of the compressor may increase.

That is, when the rotational speed of the dehumidifying rotor 300 is lower than the designated speed, unlike the case where the rotational speed of the dehumidifying rotor 300 is increased above the designated speed, while increasing the humidity of the indoor air, it is possible to prevent freezing on the surface of the second heat exchanger 400 and increase the COP of the compressor.

Accordingly, the processor P of the thermo-hygrostat 100 according to an embodiment lowers the rotational speed of the dehumidifying rotor 300 below the designated speed based on the determination that the humidity of the indoor air is equal to or less than the designated value, thereby controlling the humidity of the indoor air. The processor P may, for example, lower the rotational speed of the dehumidifying rotor 300 to 1/5 to 1/10 of the designated speed, but is not limited thereto.

11 is a flowchart for explaining a method of controlling the operation of a damper of a constant temperature and humidity chamber according to an embodiment.

In describing the method for controlling the operation of the damper of the thermo-hygrostat shown in FIG. 11 below, reference will be made to components of the thermo-hygrostat 100 shown in FIGS. 5A, 9A, and 9B.

Referring to FIG. 11 , in step 1101, the processor P of the thermo-hygrostat 100 according to an embodiment may obtain information about indoor air in an air-conditioning space. Since step 1101 is substantially the same as or similar to step 1001 of FIG. 10 , duplicate descriptions will be omitted below.

In step 1102, the thermo-hygrostat 100 according to an embodiment may adjust the humidity of indoor air by controlling the operation of the damper 112d based on the indoor air information obtained in step 1101.

According to an embodiment, when the humidity of the indoor air is equal to or less than a specified value, the processor P determines that the humidity of the indoor air needs to be increased, and increases the humidity of the indoor air by reducing the amount of air introduced into the second passage 112 through the second inlet 112i through the damper 112d.

As indoor air is additionally introduced into the second passage 112 through the second inlet 112i, a larger amount of air passes through the dehumidifying area 300b of the dehumidifying rotor 300 than the regeneration area 300a.

At this time, since the dehumidifying and regenerating actions of the dehumidifying rotor 300 are temporally performed simultaneously as an adiabatic process, the amount of change in temperature and humidity of the air passing through the regeneration area 300a of the dehumidifying rotor 300 may be greater than the amount of change in temperature and humidity of the air passing through the dehumidifying area 300b of the dehumidifying rotor 300.

In order for the dehumidification rotor 300 to simultaneously perform the regenerating and dehumidifying actions in an adiabatic process, the total heat reduction of air generated in the regeneration operation must be equal to the total heat increase in the air generated in the dehumidifying operation. Under the condition that the total amount of heat change of air generated in the regeneration and dehumidification operations is the same, a greater amount of air passes through the dehumidifying area 300b of the dehumidifying rotor 300 than the regeneration area 300a of the dehumidifying rotor 300, so that the change in temperature and humidity of the air passing through the regeneration area 300a is greater than the change in temperature and humidity of the air passing through the dehumidifying area 300b.

At this time, when the amount of air introduced into the second passage 112 through the second inlet 112i decreases, the amount of air passing through the dehumidifying area 300b of the dehumidifying rotor 300 may also decrease, and as a result, the amount of change in the temperature and humidity of the air passing through the regeneration area 300a is relatively reduced. In other words, when the amount of air introduced into the second passage 112 through the second inlet 112i is reduced, the increase in humidity of the air passing through the regeneration region 300a of the dehumidifying rotor 300 is reduced, so that air of relatively low humidity may be introduced into the second heat exchanger 400.

As the humidity of the air introduced into the second heat exchange unit 400 decreases, the dehumidification amount of the second heat exchange unit 400 decreases. Therefore, the processor P of the constant temperature and humidity controller 100 according to an embodiment reduces the amount of air introduced into the second passage 112 through the second inlet port 112i through the damper 112d, thereby reducing the dehumidification amount of the constant temperature and humidity controller 100. .

That is, the thermo-hygrostat 100 according to an embodiment reduces the amount of dehumidification of the thermo-hygrostat 100 by adjusting the amount of air introduced into the second passage 112 through the second inlet 112i, thereby increasing the humidity of indoor air while minimizing the effect on the heat pump formed by the compressor (eg, the compressor 101 of FIG. 3 ), the first heat exchange unit 200, and the second heat exchange unit 400. there is

12 is a flowchart for explaining a method of controlling an operation of a compressor of a thermo-hygrostat according to an embodiment.

In describing the method for controlling the operation of the compressor of the thermo-hygrostat shown in FIG. 12 below, reference will be made to components of the thermo-hygrostat 100 shown in FIGS. 3 and 9A.

Referring to FIG. 12 , in step 1201, the processor P of the thermo-hygrostat 100 according to an embodiment may obtain information about indoor air in an air-conditioning space. Since step 1201 is substantially the same as or similar to step 1001 of FIG. 10 , duplicate descriptions will be omitted below.

In step 1202, the processor P of the thermo-hygrostat 100 according to an embodiment controls the operation of the compressor 101 based on the information about the indoor air acquired in step 1201, thereby increasing the humidity of the indoor air.

According to an embodiment, the processor P adjusts the amount of refrigerant supplied from the compressor 101 to the first heat exchange unit 200 based on the determination that the humidity of indoor air is less than or equal to a designated value, thereby reducing the dehumidification amount of the thermo-hygrostat 100.

The compressor 101 may include, for example, a BLDC compressor, and the amount of refrigerant supplied to the first heat exchange unit 200 may vary according to the rotational speed of the BLDC compressor.

The processor P reduces the amount of refrigerant supplied from the compressor 101 to the first heat exchange unit 200 by lowering the rotational speed of the compressor 101, thereby reducing the amount of dehumidification of the thermo-hygrostat 100, and as a result, the humidity of indoor air in the air-conditioning space may increase.

That is, when the humidity of the indoor air in the air-conditioning space is equal to or less than the specified value (or 'target humidity'), the constant temperature and humidity controller 100 according to an embodiment can maintain the humidity of the air-conditioning space constant by increasing the humidity of the indoor air through at least one of steps 1001 to 1002, 1101 to 1102, and 1201 to 1202 described above.

Those skilled in the art related to the present embodiment will be able to understand that it may be implemented in a modified form within a range that does not deviate from the essential characteristics of the above description. Therefore, the disclosed methods are to be considered in an illustrative rather than a limiting sense. The scope of the present invention is shown in the claims rather than the foregoing description, and all differences within the equivalent range should be construed as being included in the present invention.

100: thermo-hygrostat 101: compressor
110: housing 110a: first housing
110b: second housing 110c: third housing
110d: bracket 111: first passage
111f: first filter 111i: first inlet
112: second passage 112d: damper
112e: outlet 112f: second filter
112i: second inlet 112p: third inlet
113: connecting passage 115: bulkhead
117: blower 200: first heat exchange unit
300: dehumidifying rotor 300a: first area
300b: second region 400: second heat exchange unit
500: third heat exchanger P: processor

Claims (15)

In the thermo-hygrostat,
a housing including a first passage for introducing a part of indoor air of the air conditioning space into the constant temperature and humidity chamber;
A dehumidifying rotor that is disposed to be rotatable with respect to the housing across the first passage and the second passage, dehumidifies air moving through one of the first passage and the second passage, and discharges moisture to the air moving through the other one of the first passage and the second passage to be regenerated;
a first heat exchanger positioned upstream of the dehumidifying rotor in the first passage to perform heat exchange with the air introduced into the first passage and transfer the air to the dehumidifying rotor;
a second heat exchanger positioned downstream of the dehumidification rotor in the first passage to perform heat exchange with the air passing through one area of the dehumidification rotor and then transfer the air to the second passage; and
A third heat exchanger located downstream of the dehumidification rotor in the second passage and exchanging heat with air passing through another area of the dehumidification rotor;
The housing further includes a first inlet for introducing at least a portion of the indoor air into the first passage, a second inlet for introducing at least a portion of the indoor air into the second passage, a third inlet for introducing at least a portion of the indoor air into a partial region of the second passage located between the dehumidifying rotor and the third heat exchange part, and an outlet for discharging air passing through the third heat exchanger in the second passage to the air conditioning space. According to claim 1,
The first passage and the second passage extend parallel to each other along a first direction,
The constant temperature and humidity device of claim 1, wherein the housing further includes a partition wall extending along the first direction to partition the first passage and the second passage. According to claim 2,
A cross-sectional area of one region of the dehumidifying rotor located in the first passage is narrower than that of another region of the dehumidifying rotor located in the second passage. According to claim 1,
One area of the dehumidifying rotor located in the first passage is regenerated by adding moisture to the air passing through the dehumidifying rotor, and the other area of the dehumidifying rotor located in the second passage dehumidifies the air passing through the dehumidifying rotor. According to claim 1,
The first heat exchange unit heats the air introduced into the first passage through the first inlet and transfers it to the dehumidifying rotor, and the second heat exchange unit cools the air passing through the one area of the dehumidification rotor and transfers it to the second passage. According to claim 1,
The third heat exchanger cools the air passing through the other area of the dehumidifying rotor and transfers it to the outlet. According to claim 1,
Wherein the air introduced into the second passage through the third inlet is mixed with the air passing through the other area of the dehumidifying rotor and then moves in a direction toward the third heat exchange unit. According to claim 1,
The thermo-hygrostat further comprises a processor that obtains information about the humidity of the indoor air and controls an operation of the thermo-hygrostat based on the obtained information. According to claim 8,
Wherein the processor adjusts the rotational speed of the dehumidifying rotor based on the humidity of the indoor air. According to claim 9,
Wherein the processor lowers the rotational speed of the dehumidifying rotor based on the determination that the humidity of the indoor air is equal to or less than a specified value. According to claim 8,
Further comprising a damper for controlling the amount of air introduced into the second passage through the second inlet,
Wherein the processor reduces an amount of air introduced into the second passage through the second inlet through the damper based on the determination that the humidity of the indoor air is equal to or less than a specified value. According to claim 8,
Further comprising a compressor for compressing the refrigerant and supplying the compressed refrigerant to the first heat exchange unit,
Wherein the processor reduces the amount of refrigerant supplied from the compressor to the first heat exchange unit based on the determination that the humidity of the indoor air is equal to or less than a specified value. delete delete delete

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