U.S. patent application number 14/307804 was filed with the patent office on 2014-10-30 for dehumidification apparatus, and air conditioning apparatus and air conditioning system having the same.
This patent application is currently assigned to KOREA INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY. The applicant listed for this patent is Korea Institute Of Science And Technology. Invention is credited to Dae-Young LEE.
Application Number | 20140318369 14/307804 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 39218216 |
Filed Date | 2014-10-30 |
United States Patent
Application |
20140318369 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
LEE; Dae-Young |
October 30, 2014 |
DEHUMIDIFICATION APPARATUS, AND AIR CONDITIONING APPARATUS AND AIR
CONDITIONING SYSTEM HAVING THE SAME
Abstract
Disclosed are a dehumidification apparatus, and an air
conditioning apparatus and system having the same. The
dehumidification apparatus includes: a desiccant rotor having a
desiccant for adsorbing moisture; and a regeneration unit disposed
at one side of the desiccant rotor, for desorbing the moisture
adsorbed to the desiccant. The regeneration unit includes at least
one of a hollow hot water line containing hot water exchanging heat
with the air flowing toward the desiccant rotor. The
dehumidification apparatus efficiently reproduces the desiccant for
dehumidification and air conditioning.
Inventors: |
LEE; Dae-Young; (Seoul,
KR) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Korea Institute Of Science And Technology |
Seoul |
|
KR |
|
|
Assignee: |
KOREA INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND
TECHNOLOGY
Seoul
KR
|
Family ID: |
39218216 |
Appl. No.: |
14/307804 |
Filed: |
June 18, 2014 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
11743109 |
May 1, 2007 |
|
|
|
14307804 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
95/91 ;
96/118 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F24F 3/1423 20130101;
F24F 2203/1084 20130101; F24F 2203/1068 20130101; F24F 3/1429
20130101; F24F 2203/1032 20130101; F24F 2203/1056 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
95/91 ;
96/118 |
International
Class: |
F24F 3/14 20060101
F24F003/14 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Oct 9, 2006 |
KR |
10-2006-0098151 |
Claims
1. An air conditioning system, comprising: a dehumidification
system having a desiccant for adsorbing moisture; and a heated
water supply system in communication with the dehumidification
system to provide heated water and to provide heat for regenerating
the desiccant using the heated water.
2. The air conditioning system as claimed in claim 1, wherein: the
dehumidification system further comprises a regeneration unit to
raise a temperature of air flowing toward the desiccant, and the
regeneration unit comprises at least one channel in communication
with the heated water supply system.
3. The air conditioning system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the
heated water supply system comprises a district facility providing
the heated water from waste heat generated by generating
electricity.
4. The air conditioning system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the
heated water supply system comprises a water heater to heat
water.
5. The air conditioning system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the
dehumidification system further comprises a cooling unit to cool
the air dried by the desiccant.
6. A system for conditioning air of one or more
commercial/residence spaces, the system comprising: a generating
unit to provide heated water; and a circulation pump to circulate
the heated water and connected to a heated water circuit, wherein
the heated water circuit is connected to the one or more
commercial/residence spaces and provides the heated water or water
heated by the heated water to exchange heat with air to dehumidify
air of the one or more commercial/residence spaces.
7. The system as claimed in claim 6, further comprising a
dehumidification unit in communication with the heated water
circuit and provided to the one or more commercial/residence spaces
to absorb moisture from the air of the one or more
commercial/residence spaces and desorb the moisture by using air
having heat exchanged with the heated water or the water heated by
the heated water.
8. The system as claimed in claim 6, further comprising: a heat
transfer line provided between the circulation pump and the heated
water circuit; and a heat exchanger provide between the heat
transfer line and the heated water circuit to transfer heat from
the heated water to water of the heated water circuit.
9. The system as claimed in claim 6, further comprising a heat
exchanger to transfer heat generated by the generating unit to
water to provide the heated water.
10. A method for conditioning air of one or more
commercial/residence spaces, the method comprising: generating
heated water by a district facility; and providing the heated water
by the district facility to a heated water circuit connected to the
one or more commercial/residence spaces to exchange heat with air
to dehumidify air of the one or more commercial/residence spaces,
wherein the heated water circuit provides the heated water or water
heated by the heated water to a dehumidification unit provided to
the one or more commercial/residence spaces, and the
dehumidification unit absorbs moisture from air using a desiccant
and desorbs the moisture by using air having heat exchanged with
the heated water or the water heated by the heated water.
Description
RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application is a divisional application of U.S. Patent
Application No. 11/743,109 filed on May 1, 2007 and claims the
benefit under 35 U.S.C. .sctn.119(a) of Korean Patent Application
No. 10-2006-0098151 filed on Oct. 9, 2006, in the Korean
Intellectual Property Office, the entire disclosure of which is
incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Field of the Invention
[0003] The present invention relates to air conditioning, and more
particularly, to a dehumidification apparatus for removing moisture
from the air and lowering a temperature of the air, and an air
conditioning apparatus and system having the same.
[0004] 2. Description of the Background Art
[0005] Air conditioning is to keep temperature, humidity, air
stream, bacteria, dust and harmful gas in the best conditions for
persons or objects indoors. The representative air conditioning
functions include cooling and heating relating to temperature
control, and dehumidification and humidification relating to
humidity control.
[0006] In addition to electricity generation, the cogeneration
supplies heat to district heating or industrial processing by using
the waste heat from the electricity generation process.
[0007] FIG. 1 is a concept view illustrating a heating process of
houses by cogeneration.
[0008] Waste heat discarded from the process of electricity
generation of a cogeneration plant 10 is stored in a thermal
storage tank 11, and transferred to a liquid (water) flowing in a
heat transfer line 14 through a heat exchanger 12 by a circulation
pump 13. The resulting hot water is transferred to a
cooling/heating system 20 of the houses.
[0009] A heat exchanger 21 of the cooling/heating system 20
exchanges heat between the hot water and the water circulating in a
hot water circuit 22. Then, the hot water is supplied to the houses
in response to demand in the houses.
[0010] Since the production ratio of power to heat is fixed to
about 3:4, it is advantageous if the ratio of demands for power and
heat is close to the production ratio. However, the demands for
power and heat from commercial or residential sectors show very
different patterns from each other in annual variation.
[0011] The demand for power has a maximum value in summer with a
relatively small annual fluctuation, while the demand for heat has
a large fluctuation with a maximum value in winter. According to a
statistical review, the ratio of the minimum to the maximum in the
annual heat demand is only 8.7% in middle and high latitude
regions.
[0012] FIG. 2 is an instance showing monthly heat/electricity
supply from a district heating corporation.
[0013] As shown in FIG. 2, according to the demand for heat, the
heat supply N2 from the district heating corporation has a minimum
value from June to September, namely, a hot season. A particular
point in the graph is that the electricity supply N1 becomes almost
zero in the summer regardless of the increasing demand in the
electricity in the summer. This is because the cogeneration stops
in the summer and the small heat demand is sufficed by a dedicated
boiler for heat supply. The reason for this is that the operation
of the cogeneration is economically efficient and energy efficient
as well only when the demand ratio between electricity and heat
matches well with the production ratio, as mentioned previously.
When the demand ratio deviates much from the production ratio, the
operation of cogeneration becomes economically inefficient and the
cogeneration process needs to be stopped.
[0014] As described above, the efficient operation of the
cogeneration plant cannot be ensured in summer without increasing
the demand for the waste heat generated as a byproduct from the
electricity generation.
[0015] As shown in FIG. 1, in order to increase the demand for heat
in summer, the district cooling has been devised applying an
absorption type chiller 23 using the district heat as the heat
source. However, the absorption type chiller 23 has a drawback in
that the cooling performance of the chiller decreases considerably
with a low temperature heat source such as the waste heat from the
cogeneration plant 10. In addition, the cold water circuit 24
connected to the absorption type chiller 23 must be installed
separately from the hot water circuit 22.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0016] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide
a desiccant cooling system using hot water as the heat source for
the regeneration of the desiccant.
[0017] Another object of the present invention is to perform air
conditioning including cooling and dehumidification.
[0018] To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with
the purpose of the present invention, as embodied and broadly
described herein, there is provided a dehumidification apparatus,
including: a desiccant rotor having a desiccant for adsorbing
moisture; and a regeneration unit disposed at one side of the
desiccant rotor, for desorbing the moisture adsorbed to the
desiccant, wherein the regeneration unit comprises at least one of
a hot water tube containing hot water exchanging heat with the air
flowing toward the desiccant rotor.
[0019] According to the second embodiment of the present invention,
there is provided an air conditioning apparatus, including: a
casing enclosing first and second channels separated by a partition
wall; a desiccant rotor rotatably installed across the partition
wall to be placed crossing the channels, for adsorbing moisture
from an air flowing into the first channel; and a regeneration unit
configured to desorb the moisture adsorbed to the desiccant rotor,
by heating an air flowing into the second channel toward the
desiccant rotor.
[0020] According to the third embodiment of the present invention,
there is provided an air conditioning apparatus, including, a first
hollow casing having its inlet and outlet opened to be in
communication with the outdoor air; a second hollow casing disposed
in the first casing, for partitioning off the first casing into
first and second channels in communication with each other; a
partition wall formed in the second casing, for partitioning off
the second casing into third and fourth channels in communication
with each other; a desiccant rotor rotatably installed in the
second casing to be placed crossing the adjacent first and fourth
channels, for adsorbing moisture from an air flowing into the first
channel; a regeneration unit disposed in the fourth channel, for
desorbing the moisture adsorbed to the desiccant rotor, by heating
an air flowing into the fourth channel; and a heat exchanger placed
crossing the adjacent second and third channels, for exchanging
heat between an air flowing in the second channel and the air
flowing into the third channel through the desiccant rotor.
[0021] According to the fourth embodiment of the present invention,
there is provided an air conditioning system, including, a
dehumidification system having a desiccant for adsorbing moisture;
and a hot water supply system in communication with the
dehumidification system, for supplying hot water, and also
supplying heat for regenerating the desiccant of the
dehumidification system.
[0022] The foregoing and other objects, features, aspects and
advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from
the following detailed description of the present invention when
taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0023] The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a
further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and
constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of
the invention and together with the description serve to explain
the principles of the invention.
[0024] In the drawings:
[0025] FIG. 1 is a concept view illustrating a heating process of
houses by cogeneration;
[0026] FIG. 2 is a graph showing monthly heat/electricity supply of
a district heating corporation;
[0027] FIG. 3 is a concept view illustrating a dehumidification
apparatus in accordance with one preferred embodiment of the
present invention;
[0028] FIG. 4 is a concept view illustrating an air conditioning
apparatus in accordance with another preferred embodiment of the
present invention;
[0029] FIG. 5 is a concept view illustrating an air conditioning
apparatus in accordance with yet another preferred embodiment of
the present invention; and
[0030] FIG. 6 is a concept view illustrating a cooling process of
houses by using the district heat supply.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0031] Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred
embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are
illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
[0032] FIG. 3 is a concept view illustrating a dehumidification
apparatus in accordance with one preferred embodiment of the
present invention.
[0033] Referring to FIG. 3, the dehumidification apparatus 100
includes a desiccant rotor 110 and a regeneration unit 120.
[0034] The desiccant rotor 110 is normally formed in a cylindrical
shape filled with a honeycomb structure, so that the air can pass
through channels defined by the honeycomb structure. A desiccant
(not shown) such as silica gel, zeolite or LiCI is coated on the
walls defining the air paths through the desiccant rotor 110. The
desiccant adsorbs moisture from the air passing through the
desiccant rotor 110. The desiccant rotor 110 is mounted on a
structure (not shown) to be rotated around a rotation shaft 111 at
its center.
[0035] The regeneration unit 120 is disposed at one side of the
desiccant rotor 110, for heating the air flowing toward the
desiccant rotor 110. Hot water is supplied to the regeneration unit
120 to provide thermal energy to heat the air. Accordingly, the
regeneration unit 120 becomes at least one of a hot water air
heater. The hot water supplied to the regeneration unit can be from
a district energy facility such as a cogeneration plant 500 (refer
to FIG. 6), or a water heater for heating (not shown) such as a
boiler.
[0036] Moreover, in order to prevent mixing of the air flows F1 and
F2 flowing into first and second regions A1 and A2 of the desiccant
rotor 110, respectively, a partition wall (not shown) can be
installed on a imaginary line 112 dividing the first and second
regions A1 and A2.
[0037] The operation of the dehumidification apparatus 100 in
accordance with the present invention will now be described.
[0038] The air flow F1 flowing into the first region A1 of the
desiccant rotor 110 passes through the desiccant rotor 110 through
a channel formed by the honeycomb structure of the desiccant rotor
110. In this process, the desiccant coated on the desiccant rotor
110 adsorbs moisture from the air flow F1. Therefore, the air flow
F1' is dehumidified and dried through the desiccant rotor 110. On
the other hand, the first region A1 of the desiccant rotor 110 has
high moisture uptake due to the moisture adsorption.
[0039] The air flow F2 passing through the regeneration unit 120 is
heated to the regeneration temperature by the hot water flowing in
the regeneration unit 120. This air flow F2 at the regeneration
temperature flows into the second region A2 of the desiccant rotor
110.
[0040] Since the desiccant rotor 110 rotates around the rotation
shaft 111, the part of the desiccant rotor 110 with high moisture
uptake previously occupied the first region A1 turns to the second
region A2. Then the moisture is desorbed by the air flow F2 having
the raised temperature. As a result, the air flow F2' which has
passed through the second region A2 has high humidity.
[0041] As the moisture is desorbed by the air flow F2, the second
region A2 is dried again, which is called regeneration of the
desiccant rotor 110. The regenerated part of the desiccant rotor
110 at the second region A2 turns to the first region A1 as the
desiccant rotor 110 rotates. Accordingly, at the first region A1
the moisture is removed from the air flow F1 continuously.
[0042] In the above dehumidifying process, the air flow F2 supplied
to the desiccant rotor 110 directly contacts the desiccant rotor
110 and transfers heat, thereby improving transfer efficiency. Even
if the temperature of the regeneration heat source (hot water) is
low, the desiccant rotor 110 is efficiently regenerated to attain a
sufficient dehumidification effect.
[0043] FIG. 4 is a concept view illustrating an air conditioning
apparatus in accordance with another preferred embodiment of the
present invention.
[0044] As illustrated in FIG. 4, the air conditioning apparatus 200
includes a casing 210, a desiccant rotor 220 and a regeneration
unit 230.
[0045] The casing 210 encloses two channels, i.e., the first and
the second channels 211 and 212. The first and second channels 211
and 212 are divided by a partition wall 213 disposed inside the
casing 210. Both ends of the first and second channels 211 and 212
are opened, so that the air can flow through the first and second
channels 211 and 212, respectively.
[0046] The desiccant rotor 220 and the regeneration unit 230
correspond to the desiccant rotor 110 and the regeneration unit
120, respectively, mentioned above. Detailed explanations thereof
are omitted.
[0047] The desiccant rotor 220 is installed across the partition
wall 213 to be placed crossing the first and second channels 211
and 212. The regeneration unit 230 is disposed inside the second
channel 230. As mentioned above, the regeneration unit 230 is a hot
water air heater supplied with hot water from the district energy
facility or the water heater for space heating.
[0048] To facilitate the air flows passing through the first and
second channels 211 and 212, first and second fans 241 and 242 can
be additionally disposed in the first and second channels 211 and
212, respectively.
[0049] When the air flow which has passed through the first channel
211 is supplied to an indoor space intended to be air-conditioned,
the air flow passing through the second channel 212 must be taken
from an outdoor space and discharged back to the outdoor space. For
this, extension ductwork 260 for connecting the second channel 212
to the outdoor space is provided with at both ends of the second
channel 212.
[0050] To supply the low temperature and low humidity air into the
indoor space, a cooling unit 250 is added to the dehumidification
apparatus.
[0051] For example, a sensible heat rotor 251 can be used as the
cooling unit 250. The sensible heat rotor 251 is made of heat
absorbing material having high thermal capacity, so that the air
flows flowing in the first and second channels 211 and 212 can
exchange heat via the sensible heat rotor 251. The air in the first
channel 211 flowing out of the desiccant rotor 220, which is
increased in temperature due to the heat release from the moisture
sorption process through the desiccant rotor 220, is cooled
transferring heat to the sensible heat rotor 251. Then, the heated
part of the heat rotor 251 rotates into the second channel 211 to
release heat to the air flowing from outdoors. For this,
identically to the desiccant rotor 220, the sensible heat rotor 251
is installed across the partition wall 213, and rotates over the
first and second channels 211 and 212.
[0052] For further cooling, a cooling coil 252 can be installed in
the first channel 211 at the outlet of the sensible heat rotor 251.
The cooling coil 252 additionally cools the air which has passed
through the sensible heat rotor 251 by refrigerants or chilled
water.
[0053] FIG. 5 is a concept view illustrating an air conditioning
apparatus in accordance with yet another preferred embodiment of
the present invention.
[0054] As shown in FIG. 5, the air conditioning apparatus 300
includes a first casing 310, a second casing 320, a partition wall
330, a desiccant rotor 340 and a regeneration unit 350.
[0055] The first casing 310 is a hollow body with its inlet 311'
and outlet 311'' opened at both ends. The inside space of the first
casing 310 is divided into a first channel 311 and a second channel
312 by the second casing 320 disposed inside the first casing
310.
[0056] The second casing 320 is a blocked hollow body. The
partition wall 330 is disposed inside the second casing 320. The
partition wall 330 partitions off the inside space of the second
casing 320 into third and fourth channels 321 and 322 in
communication with each other.
[0057] The desiccant rotor 340 and the regeneration unit 350
correspond to the desiccant rotor 220 and the regeneration unit 230
explained above. Therefore, detailed explanations thereof are
omitted.
[0058] As shown in FIG. 5, the air conditioning apparatus 300
includes a condensing unit 360 in addition to the second embodiment
shown in FIG. 4. The condensing unit 360 condenses the moisture
from the air flowing out of the desiccant rotor in the fourth or
regeneration channel 322. The air flowing out of the condensing
unit 360 is decreased in the humidity due to the moisture
condensation and is redirected to the regeneration channel 322 of
the desiccant rotor 340. With this embodiment, the regeneration air
can be recycled to make the regeneration air channel in a closed
circuit and the desorbed moisture from the regeneration of the
desiccant rotor 340 is removed in the form of condensed liquid
water by the condensing unit 360. the condensed liquid water is
collected in a water tank 390 which is detachably mounted on the
second casing 320.
[0059] The condensing unit 360 is a sort of heat exchanger for
exchanging heat between the hot humid air from the regeneration
side of the desiccant rotor and the relatively cool air branching
from the return air stream through an independent air channel 312.
The hot humid air from the regeneration side is cooled by the
relatively cold return air resulting in the moisture condensation.
Consequently, the desorbed moisture from the desiccant rotor in the
regeneration side is removed from the regeneration air at the
condensing unit 360.
[0060] A cooling unit 380 for cooling the air dehumidified by the
desiccant rotor 340 corresponds to the cooling unit 250 described
above. The dehumidified air from the desiccant rotor 340 is finally
cooled by the cooling unit 380 and is supplied to an indoor space
intended to be air-conditioned. Fans 371 and 372 for facilitating
air flows in the casings 310 and 320 correspond to the fans 241 and
242 described above.
[0061] Differently from the air conditioning apparatus 200, the air
conditioning apparatus 300 recycles the air in the second casing or
regeneration circuit 320, and thus does not need to induce the
outdoor air. When the air conditioning apparatus 300 is disposed
indoors, the indoor air is taken through the inlet 311' and
discharged to the indoor space through the outlet 311''. That is,
induction of the outdoor air is not required. As a result, holes
are not bored through an outer wall of a building in the
installation of the air conditioning apparatus 300. In addition, as
compared with the air conditioning apparatus 200, the air
conditioning apparatus 300 does not require the extension channel
or ductwork 260. Accordingly, the air conditioning apparatus 300
can be easily installed and disassembled.
[0062] FIG. 6 is a concept view illustrating an air conditioning
system using the district heat supply.
[0063] Referring to FIG. 6, the air conditioning system includes a
dehumidification system 400 and a district heat supply system
500.
[0064] The dehumidification system 400 is composed of a
dehumidification or air conditioning apparatus 410, a hot water
circuit 420 and a heat exchanger 430.
[0065] The dehumidification or air conditioning apparatus 410
installed in indoor space (house, workroom, etc.) is one of the
dehumidification apparatus 100 and the air conditioning apparatuses
200 and 300 for supplying the dehumidified (and cooled) air to the
space requiring air-conditioning. Such apparatuses 100, 200 and 300
have been described above.
[0066] The dehumidification or air conditioning apparatus 410 is
connected to the hot water circuit 420 to be supplied with the
regeneration heat for the desiccant rotor 110, 220 or 340. The heat
exchanger 430 transfers heat from the district heat supply system
500 to the hot water circuit 420.
[0067] The district heat supply system 500 is a central energy
facility such as a cogeneration plant. The cogeneration plant 500
stores waste heat generated by electricity generation in a thermal
storage tank 510. A heat exchanger 520 performs heat exchange with
water. The water supplied with heat moves along a heat transfer
line 540 connected to the heat exchanger 430 by a circulation pump
530.
[0068] By this configuration, the waste heat can be supplied from
the district heat supply system 500 to each space requiring
air-conditioning, and used to dehumidify and cool the air. With
this increased heat demand to supply air-conditioning in the
summer, it is possible to operate the cogeneration plant 500 even
in the summer which has not been normally managed due to large
decrease in the heat demand in summer.
[0069] Another advantage of the present invention is that any
additional installation of the water lines is not required for the
embodiment of the present invention except the original hot water
circuit for heating. It is thus possible to efficiently
economically use the waste heat for air conditioning.
[0070] As the present invention may be embodied in several forms
without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics
thereof, it should also be understood that the above-described
embodiments are not limited by any of the details of the foregoing
description, unless otherwise specified, but rather should be
construed broadly within its spirit and scope as defined in the
appended claims, and therefore all changes and modifications that
fall within the metes and bounds of the claims, or equivalents of
such metes and bounds are therefore intended to be embraced by the
appended claims.
* * * * *