U.S. patent application number 11/883268 was filed with the patent office on 2008-12-18 for humidity and/or heat-exchange device.
This patent application is currently assigned to KLINGENBURG GMBH. Invention is credited to Hans Klingenburg, Jurgen Sauer, Thomas Westerdorf.
Application Number | 20080308262 11/883268 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 36143654 |
Filed Date | 2008-12-18 |
United States Patent
Application |
20080308262 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Sauer; Jurgen ; et
al. |
December 18, 2008 |
Humidity and/or Heat-Exchange Device
Abstract
The invention relates to a humidity- and/or heat-exchange
device, for example a plate heat exchanger a sorption rotor, an
adsorption dehumidifying rotor or the similar, provided with
humidity- and/or heat exchange surfaces which make it possible to
introduce humidity and/or heat into a fluid flow and/or to remove
them therefrom and/or to exchange said humidity and/or heat between
fluid flows. The inventive device is also provided with a coating,
which makes it possible to cover said humidity and heat exchange
surfaces and consists of a zeolithe material and a bonding agent.
In order to improve the performance of the humidity- and/or
heat-exchange device, the zeolithe material is embodied in the form
of a synthetic nano-zeolithe consisting of particles whose size is
<1000 nm.
Inventors: |
Sauer; Jurgen; (Munchen,
DE) ; Westerdorf; Thomas; (Bochum, DE) ;
Klingenburg; Hans; (Essen, DE) |
Correspondence
Address: |
K.F. ROSS P.C.
5683 RIVERDALE AVENUE, SUITE 203 BOX 900
BRONX
NY
10471-0900
US
|
Assignee: |
KLINGENBURG GMBH
Gladbeck
DE
NANOSCAPE AG
Munchen
DE
|
Family ID: |
36143654 |
Appl. No.: |
11/883268 |
Filed: |
January 11, 2006 |
PCT Filed: |
January 11, 2006 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/EP06/00156 |
371 Date: |
July 26, 2007 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
165/133 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B01J 20/28033 20130101;
B01D 2253/108 20130101; B01D 2257/80 20130101; B01D 2253/31
20130101; B01J 20/28016 20130101; B01D 2253/304 20130101; F24F
2203/1036 20130101; B01D 2253/308 20130101; B01J 20/28004 20130101;
B01J 20/2808 20130101; B01J 20/28007 20130101; B82Y 30/00 20130101;
B01J 20/2809 20130101; B01J 20/2803 20130101; B01D 53/0407
20130101; B01J 20/183 20130101; B01D 53/28 20130101; B01D 53/261
20130101; F24F 3/1411 20130101; F28F 13/185 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
165/133 |
International
Class: |
F28F 13/18 20060101
F28F013/18 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Jan 26, 2005 |
DE |
10 2005 003 543.4 |
Claims
1. A humidity and/or heat exchange device, e.g. a plate heat
exchanger, a sorption rotor, an adsorption dehumidifying rotor or
the like, provided with humidity and/or heat exchange surfaces that
make it possible to introduce humidity and/or heat into a fluid
flow and/or to remove them therefrom and/or to exchange the
humidity and/or heat between fluid flows, and with a coating with
which the humidity and heat exchange surfaces are coated and that
consists of a zeolite material and a bonding agent, characterized
in that the zeolite material is formed as synthetic nano-zeolite
having a particle size of <1000 nm.
2. The humidity and/or heat exchange device according to claim 1,
wherein the nano-zeolite is selected such that it has a homogeneous
pore size distribution with a pore diameter of <1.5 nm,
preferably 0.4 nm.
3. The humidity and/or heat exchange device according to claim 1
wherein the particles of the zeolite material are present in a
nano-crystalline form.
4. The humidity and/or heat exchange device according to claim 1
wherein the thickness of the coating is 0.2 to 100, preferably 1 to
2 .mu. (10.sup.-6m).
5. The humidity and/or heat exchange device according to claim 1
wherein the humidity and/or heat exchange surfaces of which are
made of paper materials and-that are impregnated with a suspension
containing the synthetic nano-zeolite.
6. The humidity and/or heat exchange device according to claim 5,
wherein, after its impregnation with or in the suspension
containing the synthetic nano-zeolite, consists of at least 30,
preferably 40 to 80% by weight of nano-zeolite material.
7. The humidity and/or heat exchange device, preferably according
claim 1 wherein the bonding agent contains dispersion adhesives,
such as e.g. acrylate brines, to which colloidal SiO.sub.2 can be
added.
Description
[0001] The invention relates to a humidity and/or heat exchange
device, e.g. a plate heat exchanger, a sorption rotor, an
adsorption dehumidifying rotor or the like, provided with humidity
and/or heat exchange surfaces that make it possible to introduce
humidity and/or heat into a fluid flow and/or to remove them
therefrom and/or to exchange the humidity and/or heat between fluid
flows, and with a coating with which the humidity and heat exchange
surfaces are coated and that consists of a zeolite material and a
bonding agent.
[0002] Humidity and/or heat exchange devices of this type are often
used to bring rooms to a moderate temperature and air- condition
them. In addition, other industrial applications for humidity
and/or heat exchange devices of this type are also provided.
[0003] Humidity and/or heat exchange devices of this type that are
known from the prior art have the disadvantage, in particular when
humidity is to be removed from a fluid flow or when a fluid flow is
to be acted upon with humidity, that the adsorption process and/or
the desorption process that takes place or take place in the
humidity and/or heat exchange device, require(s) too much time, as
a result of which the capacities of such humidity and/or heat
exchange devices that are possible per se cannot be realized.
Furthermore, the surfaces of the coatings exposed to the fluid
flows often exhibit a roughness, the result of which is that
particles contained in the fluid flows accumulate, which leads to a
considerable loss in the efficiency of corresponding devices or
often requires comparatively expensive cleaning and maintenance
measures. Moreover, there is often the difficulty of fixing the
coating to the material forming the structure or the matrix of the
humidity and/or heat exchange device.
[0004] Based on the above-described prior art, the object of the
invention is to create a humidity and/or heat exchange device, e.g.
a plate heat exchanger, a sorption rotor, an adsorption
dehumidifying rotor or the like, in which the above-described
disadvantages are avoided and, moreover, that can be produced with
a comparatively low technical/structural expenditure.
[0005] According to the invention, this object is solved in that a
synthetic nano-zeolite, which consists of particles having a
particle size of <1000 nm, is used as material for forming the
coating of the humidity and/or heat exchange surfaces. Due to this
construction of the zeolite material forming the coating,
adsorption kinetics that are considerably increased in comparison
to zeolite materials known from the prior art can be realized, the
result of which is that the amount of adsorbed or desorbed steam
per unit of time is increased from which an increased transfer of
humidity results. By using the nano-zeolite according to the
invention as a coating material, an enlargement of the specific
surface thereof is obtained, and, moreover, the nano-zeolite has a
good adhesive capacity on diverse surfaces when used with
correspondingly suitable bonding agents. The nano-zeolite used
according to the invention as a coating material has a quick
regenerative power. As a synthetic nano-zeolite, the zeolite
material can be produced with a very uniform particle size
distribution. Depending on the selection of the particle size
distribution provided for the coating material, the thickness of
the coating can be adapted to the most varied requirements. The
result of the low particle size of the synthetic nano-zeolite used
according to the invention as zeolite material is that the coating
on its surface exposed to the fluid flow or flows exhibits a very
slight roughness, as a result of which the correspondingly designed
humidity and/or heat exchange device is very resistant to
contamination. The coatings configured according to the invention
can have a high packing density, depending on the more or less
uniform particle size selected for the synthetic nano-zeolite. To
apply the zeolite material according to the invention as a coating
to the humidity and/or heat exchange surfaces, both spin coating
and dip coating processes can be used. The coating designed
according to the invention with nano-zeolite can be variably formed
with respect to its surface chemistry due to the properties of the
nano-zeolite.
[0006] If the plates of plate heat exchangers are provided with the
coating according to the invention, it can be attained that a
liquid, which is to evaporate on the one side of the heat exchanger
plate in order to provide cooling energy on the other side of the
same heat exchanger plate, is distributed very uniformly on the
side of the heat exchanger plate having the coating, so that there
is a uniform distribution of cooling energy over its surface on the
other side of the same heat exchanger plate. This uniform
distribution originates from the fact that, due to the coating of
the invention, the liquid drops that strike are distributed very
uniformly over the side of the heat exchanger plate having the
coating of the invention.
[0007] According to an advantageous embodiment of the humidity
and/or heat exchange device of the invention, the nano-zeolite is
selected such that it has a homogeneous pore size distribution with
a pore diameter of <1.5 nm, preferably 0.4 nm. As a result, it
can be ensured that those molecules that, in certain circumstances,
can lead to odor problems in long-term operation of the humidity
and/or heat exchange device, cannot be absorbed in the coating.
However, water vapor can be absorbed exceptionally well in the
analogously formed coating or given off by the coating. In this is
embodiment, the coating made from nano-zeolite according to the
invention can thus be used as an especially suitable molecular
sieve in association with the operation of humidity and/or heat
exchange devices.
[0008] For the operation of analogously formed humidity and/or heat
exchange devices, it is useful if the thickness of the formed
coating formed according to the invention is 0.2 to 100, preferably
1 to 2 .mu.(10.sup.-6m).
[0009] An especially advantageous embodiment of the humidity and/or
heat exchange device according to the invention is obtained if an
adsorption dehumidifying rotor is made from a paper material
suitable therefor and the material matrix that forms the humidity.
or heat exchange surfaces of this adsorption dehumidifying rotor is
impregnated with a suspension containing the synthetic
nano-zeolite.
[0010] This impregnation can be carried out as long as or to such
an extent that--after drying--the material matrix of the adsorption
dehumidifying rotor consists of at least 30, preferably 40 to 80%
by weight of the nano-zeolite material according to the
invention.
[0011] Of course, it is also possible to use the coating according
to the invention if the material matrix of the humidity and/or heat
exchange device is made of other suitable materials, e.g. aluminum
foils, ceramic materials or the like.
[0012] A dispersion adhesive, e.g. acrylate brine, with an
admixture of perhaps colloidal silicon dioxide can be used as a
bonding agent. The corresponding bonding agent can also be
advantageously used in other materials forming the coating.
[0013] The invention will be described in greater detail in the
following with reference to embodiments.
[0014] In a first example of an embodiment, a humidity and/or heat
exchange device formed as an adsorption dehumidifying rotor is
provided with the coating according to the invention consisting of
a synthetic nano-zeolite having a particle size in the range of 300
nm. A material matrix of the adsorption dehumidifying rotor
consists of a suitable paper material. To introduce the
nano-zeolite into the material matrix of the adsorption
dehumidifying rotor, the adsorption dehumidifying rotor is
impregnated with a suspension that contains the nano-zeolite in the
desired particle size. After drying the adsorption dehumidifying
rotor, its final weight consists of approximately 50% by weight of
nano-zeolite.
[0015] In comparison to conventional zeolite materials, the zeolite
material used for impregnating the material matrix of the
adsorption dehumidifying rotor with particles in nanocrystalline
form has considerably quicker adsorption/desorption kinetics. The
specific surface of the nano-zeolite according to the invention is
larger than in other conventional zeolite materials. The
crystalline nano-zeolite forming the coating of the adsorption
dehumidifying rotor is comparatively uniform with respect to its
pore size and can be designed such that the coating has a uniform
pore size with a diameter of e.g. 0.4 nm. Due to this design of the
structure of the coating, it can be-ensured that the adsorption
dehumidifying rotor is permanently protected against accumulating
odor-forming molecules, whereas water vapor molecules can be easily
absorbed and given off.
[0016] Due to the quick adsorption/desorption kinetics, the cooling
capacity to be installed for the operation of an adsorption
dehumidifying rotor of this type, in particular in tropical
climates, can be considerably reduced, namely up to about 50%.
[0017] After its coating, the adsorption dehumidifying rotor
described above has a uniformly smooth surface; as a result, it is
not very susceptible to possible contamination.
[0018] The coating can be variably formed with respect to its
surface chemistry. It can be applied by means of spin coating and
dip coating techniques.
[0019] Due to the small and uniform particle size, the coating has
a very large specific surface and it can be applied to diverse
surfaces.
[0020] A colloidal acrylate polymer and a colloidal, amorphous
silicon dioxide that is surface-stabilized with sodium ions can be
used as bonding agent.
[0021] Sorption rotors, whose material matrix consists of other
materials, e.g. of aluminum, can also be provided with the
above-described coating, whereby similar advantages result as
described above in connection with an adsorption dehumidifying
rotor with a material matrix of a paper material.
[0022] Due to the small particle size, a relatively-high packing
density is produced for the coating and, consequently, the layer
thicknesses can be comparatively slight. A layer thickness of
approximately 1 to 2 .mu.(10.sup.-6m) is sufficient in the
embodiment described above.
[0023] Furthermore, it is possible to use the coating in e.g. plate
heat exchangers. When the coating consisting of the above-described
crystalline nano-zeolite is applied to a. side of a heat exchanger
plate, it can be attained by this coating that the moistening agent
used to moisten this side of the heat exchanger plate is
distributed more uniformly on this side of the heat exchanger
plate, which is due to the fact that drops striking the coating are
distributed more uniformly due the structure of the coating. As a
result, uniform vaporization heat is required on the side of the
heat exchanger plate having this coating, which results in that a
fluid flow that flows past on the other side of the heat exchanger
plate is cooled as desired. In this application of the coating
also, the same or similar advantages as those described in
association with the adsorption dehumidifying and sorption rotor
can be obtained.
* * * * *