JPH10235134A - Dehumidification device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a dehumidification device in which purge air having a high humidity by dehumidification is exhausted in the desired place apart from the dehumidification device. SOLUTION: The dehumidification device is constituted by equipping a body 21 which has an inlet 25 and an outlet 26 of air to be dehumidified, a hollow cylindrical case 22 airtightly fitted to the body 21, a housing 23 airtightly fitted on the side opposite to the body of the case 22, an air supply pipe 33 inserted into the case 22 and a fiber membrane module 34 consisting of many hollow fiber membranes 32. A one-touch pipe joint 46 is disposed in the housing 23 and connected to a pipeline for exhausting purge air, which has a high humidity by dehumidification of air to be dehumidified, to the place apart from the dehumidification device.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] The present invention relates to a dehumidifier using a hollow fiber membrane.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A large number of hollow fiber membranes are bundled and accommodated in a case, and high-temperature, high-humidity dehumidified air supplied into the hollow fiber membranes is purged at a low-temperature, low-humidity purge air flowing between the hollow fiber membranes. A dehumidifier using a hollow fiber membrane, which dehumidifies air and uses a part of the dehumidified air as the purge air, is already known.

FIG. 3 shows an example of a dehumidifier disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 6-41629. This dehumidifier includes a storage cylinder 1 and a supply-side cap 2 fitted to one end in the axial direction.
And a take-off cap 3 fitted to the other end. A large number of hollow fiber membranes 4 made of a polymer permeable membrane such as polyimide are bundled and housed in the housing cylinder 1. The space between these hollow fiber membranes 4 is hermetically sealed by annular sealing members 5 and 6 attached to both ends of the hollow fiber membranes 4 bundled in an annular shape. 1
It is airtightly mounted on the inner peripheral surface of the. Further, both ends of a shielding cylinder 7 passing through the central portion of the hollow fiber membrane 4 are hermetically attached to the sealing members 5 and 6. A plurality of through-holes 7a are formed in the circumferential surface of the shielding cylinder 7, and the supply region 2a of the supply-side cap 2 is blocked from communicating with the shielding cylinder 7 by the hermetic plug 8 fitted to the shielding cylinder 7. ing. Further, the take-out side cap 3 take-out area 3a communicates with the inside of the shield cylinder 7 by a valve seat 10 having a flow passage hole 10a that is fitted in the shield cylinder 7 in an airtight manner.

The supply side cap 2 has a supply area 2a
A high-temperature and high-humidity dehumidified air inlet 2b, and an annular purge air discharge passage L surrounding the supply region 2a and opening directly to the outside. The supply region 2a communicates with the hollow fiber membrane 4, The purge air discharge passage L communicates between the hollow fiber membranes 4. On the other hand, the extraction side cap 3 has an extraction area 3a.
The outlet 3b of the air to be dehumidified is formed to communicate with the needle valve 11 and the needle valve 11 can move forward and backward with respect to the flow passage hole 10a.
Is installed.

[0005] The known dehumidifier includes a supply side cap 2.
The high-temperature and high-humidity air to be dehumidified supplied from the inlet 2b is dehumidified by the purge air flowing between the hollow fiber membranes 4 while flowing through the plurality of hollow fiber membranes 4, and the dehumidified compressed air is The fluid is supplied from the outlet 3b of the outlet cap 3 to a desired fluid device. In addition, a part of the dehumidified air is supplied from the extraction area 3a through the flow path hole 10a into the shielding cylinder 7, and is purged from the plurality of through holes 7a formed in the shielding cylinder 7 as purge air of the hollow fiber membrane 4. The air to be dehumidified is dehumidified by the water vapor mole fraction ratio between these airs, and the purge air that has become highly humid for the dehumidification passes through an annular purge air discharge passage L provided in the supply-side cap 2. Silencer 12
And discharged directly out of the dehumidifier.

This dehumidifier supplies purge air for dehumidifying the air to be dehumidified from the shielding cylinder 7 provided in the storage cylinder 1 to between the hollow fiber membranes 4, so that the purge air is supplied outside the dehumidifier. There is an advantage that it is not necessary to provide a supply passage. However, even if a filter is provided in the purge air discharge passage L in order to discharge the purge air which has become highly humid due to the dehumidification directly from the annular purge air discharge passage L to the outside of the dehumidifier, the discharge of dust such as in a clean room is not possible. Can not be used in places that dislike pollution by. Further, since the air inlet 2b is provided in the supply side cap 2 and the air outlet 3b is provided in the discharge side cap 3, the hollow fiber membrane 4 must be removed from the storage cylinder 1 unless the pipes connected to these openings are removed. Since the hollow fiber membrane cannot be taken out, maintenance of the hollow fiber membrane is troublesome.

[0007]

An object of the present invention is to provide a hollow fiber which can discharge high-humidity purge air to a location away from a dehumidifier and which can easily maintain a fiber membrane module. An object of the present invention is to provide a dehumidifier using a membrane.

[0008]

To solve the above-mentioned problems, a dehumidifying apparatus according to the present invention comprises a body having an inlet and an outlet for air to be dehumidified, a hollow cylindrical case hermetically attached to the body, and A housing airtightly mounted on the opposite side of the body of the case, an air supply pipe inserted into the case, and a fiber membrane module including a plurality of hollow fiber membranes; In a dehumidifier using a hollow fiber membrane for dehumidifying high-temperature and high-humidity air to be supplied supplied into the membrane with low-temperature and low-humidity purge air flowing between the hollow fiber membranes, the case is provided with an inlet and an outlet provided in a body. And a pipe for connecting the pipe for discharging the purged air, which has become highly humidified by the dehumidification of the air to be dehumidified, to a place away from the dehumidifier. It is characterized in that a connection portion.

Further, in order to solve the same problem, a dew point checker connected to an outlet is attached to a body of the dehumidifier, and air discharged from the dew point checker is placed at a location distant from the dehumidifier. A pipe connection portion for connecting a pipe to be discharged is provided.

Furthermore, in order to solve the same problem, the housing of these dehumidifiers is characterized by being detachably attached to a case.

The high-temperature, high-humidity air to be dehumidified supplied from the inlet of the body flows through the air supply pipes, flows through a number of hollow fiber membranes of the fiber membrane module, and flows through these hollow fiber membranes. The compressed air dehumidified by the purge air flowing between the hollow fiber membranes is supplied to a desired fluid device from an outlet of the body. Also, a part of the dehumidified compressed air becomes purge air to dehumidify the dehumidified air, and the purge air, which has been made highly humid by dehumidification of the dehumidified air, is connected to a pipe connection portion provided in the housing. By connecting, it is discharged to a desired place away from the dehumidifier. Therefore,
Unlike the method in which the purge air is directly discharged from the dehumidifier to the outside, it can be used in a clean room or the like where the discharge of dust is not desired. In addition, the case is detachably attached to the body in a direction orthogonal to the air inlet and outlet provided in the body, so that the case can be removed from the body with the pipes connected to the inlet and outlet of the body. Since it is possible, maintenance of the thread membrane module provided in the case is easy.

Further, the dew point checker communicating with the outlet mounted on the body is provided with a pipe connection portion for connecting a pipe for discharging air discharged from the dew point checker to a place remote from the dehumidifier. The air discharged from the checker can also be discharged to a desired place away from the dehumidifier.

Further, since the housing is detachably attached to the case, the thread membrane module can be taken out by removing the housing without separating the body and the case, so that the maintenance of the thread membrane module is further facilitated. It is.

[0014]

1 and 2 show an embodiment of the present invention. A dehumidifier 20 includes a body 21, a case 22, and a housing 23 which are detachably attached to each other. It is thinner and lighter than the housing 21 and the housing 23. The body 21 has a concentric and annular mounting wall in which an inlet 25 and an outlet 26 for air to be dehumidified are formed on the outer peripheral surface of the case 22 from the outside toward the inside, and the inlet 25 and the outlet 26 are opened in the same straight line. 21a, a partition wall 21b, and a fitting wall 21c.
The outlet 26 communicates with the space inside the outlet space A defined by the partition wall 21b and the fitting wall 21c.
The take-out space A is defined by the orifice 2 attached to the body 21.
7 (in the illustrated example, a fixed orifice), the mounting wall 21
a and the partition wall 21b communicate with an annular purge air supply path 28, and communicate with a dew point checker mounting port 29 on the upper surface of the body 21. At the tip of the partition wall 21b, a purge air supply path 28 A plurality of cutouts 30 are formed to communicate between a number of hollow fiber membranes 32 described later in FIG. In FIG. 1, for convenience of explanation, the orifice 27 is shown in the same direction as the opening direction of the outlet 26, but the orifice 27 is located on the front surface of the body 21 orthogonal to the opening direction of the inlet 25 and the outlet 26. Or it is provided on the rear surface.

The case 22 is formed in a hollow cylindrical shape from thin stainless steel having a thickness of 0.2 to 0.5 mm, and has a flange 22a formed by bending of the case itself near an end on the body 21 side. An annular mounting member 31 is mounted on the outer peripheral surface of the flange 22a opposite to the body 21 so as to be movable in the axial direction and the circumferential direction. The case 22 is airtightly attached to the body 21 by screwing a male screw of the mounting member 31 and a female screw of the mounting wall 21a, and the flange 22a is locked on the upper surface of the mounting member 31.
The mounting position on the body 21 is regulated. Therefore, the case 22 can be removed from the body 21 with the pipes (not shown) connected to the inlet 25 and the outlet 26 of the body 21.

In the case 22, there is inserted a fiber membrane module 34 in which a large number of hollow fiber membranes 32 bundled in an annular shape and an air supply pipe 33 passing through the central portion thereof are integrated. Is formed of a polymer permeable membrane such as polyimide similarly to a known dehumidifier. Case 2 above
2 has an enlarged diameter portion 22b at the end on the body 21 side, and a packing 35 is attached to the enlarged diameter portion 22b to abut against and seal the tip of the partition wall 21b. An annular protrusion 22c and an annular groove 22d for mounting the housing 23 are formed.

At both ends in the axial direction of the yarn membrane module 34,
Between the hollow fiber membranes 24 and between the hollow fiber membrane 32 and the air supply pipe 33
And sealing members 36a and 36b having potting for hermetically sealing the space between them.
The space between the inner peripheral surfaces of 6a and 36b and the hollow fiber membrane module 34 is also hermetically sealed by the potting. The space between the outer peripheral surfaces of the seal members 36a and 36b and the inner peripheral surfaces of the body 21 and the case 22 is hermetically sealed by packings 37a and 37b attached to the partition wall 21b and the protruding portion 22c. Further, a discharge hole 38 for discharging purge air flowing between the hollow fiber membranes 32 from the case 22 is formed above the seal member 36b of the case 22.

A closing member 39 for closing the lower opening of the case 22 is hermetically fitted near the lower end of the case 22, and a supply space B is formed between the sealing member 36b and the closing member 39. ing. A spacer 40 (see FIG. 2) formed by bending a flat plate into a mountain shape is provided between the lower end opening of the air supply pipe 33 and the closing member 39.
A plurality of positioning projections 40a which are inserted into the air supply pipe 33 and determine the position thereof are formed at the position 0. further,
The attachment portions of the air supply pipe 33 where the seal members 36a and 36b are attached are subjected to a bending process for reinforcement as shown in the figure.

The housing 23 in the form of a cap is
The tip is detachably and airtightly attached to the case 22 by a plurality of setscrews 42 inserted into the grooves 22c of the case 22, and hermetically seals the tip with the outer peripheral surface of the case 22. An annular packing 43 is attached by a packing presser 44. Then, between the inner peripheral surface of the housing 23 and the outer peripheral surface of the case 22,
An annular purge air discharge passage 45 is formed by the discharge hole 38 to communicate the space C in the case 22 with the lower space of the housing 23. A so-called one-touch fitting 46 is hermetically attached to the bottom surface of the housing 23. The one-touch fitting 46 can be hermetically locked when a pipe (not shown) such as a tube is inserted, and can be removed by pressing the release bush 46a to release the locking of the pipe.

The dew point checker 48 attached to the dew point checker attachment port 29 is for detecting the humidity of the compressed air at the outlet 26, has an adsorbent whose color changes depending on the humidity, and has a one-touch pipe at the air outlet. A joint 46 is attached.

In the above embodiment, the sealing members 3 are provided at both ends in the axial direction.
In the case 22 incorporating the thread membrane module 34 to which 6a and 36b are attached, the spacer 40 and the closing member 39,
When the housing 23 having the one-touch fitting 46 is attached by the set screw 42, the upper part of the purge air discharge passage 45 is hermetically sealed by the packing 43 and communicates with the space C in the case 22 by the discharge hole 38. When the mounting member 31 is screwed into the mounting wall 21a of the body 21, the case 22 is air-tightly assembled to the body 21, and the flange 22a is locked on the upper surface of the mounting member 31 so that the case 2
2 is prevented from falling. Further, the packing 35 attached to the case 22 abuts against the tip of the partition wall 21b to prevent blow-through of purge air, and the upper outer peripheral surface of the air supply pipe 33 is attached to the inner peripheral surface of the fitting wall 21c. Airtightly sealed. In addition, the case 22 incorporating the thread membrane module 34 and the like is attached to the body 21,
The housing 23 can be assembled to the case 22.

When the case 22 is assembled to the body 21,
The inlet 25 communicates with the air supply pipe 33 in an airtight manner,
The space A of the body 21 is defined by the outlet 26 and the orifice 27, the purge air supply passage 28, and the notch 30.
The two communicate with each other. The openings at both ends of each hollow fiber membrane 32 communicate with the space A and the space B.

In the above embodiment, the high-temperature, high-humidity air to be dehumidified supplied from a pipe (not shown) connected to the inlet 25 of the body 21 passes through the air supply pipe 33, is inverted in the space B, and is turned into the hollow fiber membrane 32 While flowing through the inside, the dehumidified compressed air is dehumidified by the steam mole fraction ratio with the purge air flowing between the hollow fiber membranes 32, and the dehumidified compressed air is connected from the space A to the outlet 26 (not shown). To the desired fluid equipment. A part of the dehumidified air is decompressed by the orifice 27 and becomes low-temperature low-pressure purge air, flows between the hollow fiber membranes 32 through the purge air supply passage 28 and the notch 30, and thereby, the high-temperature high Dehumidify moist air. The purge air that has become highly humid due to the dehumidification of the air to be dehumidified passes through a discharge hole 38 and a purge air discharge passage 45, and is connected to a one-touch fitting 46 provided in the housing 23, and is a piping (not shown) (not shown). The tube is discharged to a desired place away from the dehumidifier 20.

Since the above embodiment does not pollute the surrounding environment due to the direct discharge of the humid purge air, it can be used in places such as a clean room where discharge of dust is not desired. Further, the air discharged from the dew point checker 48 attached to the checker attachment port 29 can also be discharged to a place remote from the dehumidifier 20.

Further, since the inlet 25 and the outlet 26 of the body 21 are opened on the same straight line, the pipes are easily connected to these openings. In addition, the case 22 can be removed from the body 21 with the pipe attached to the body 21, or the case 22 can be removed from the body 21 after removing the housing 23 from the case 22. Therefore, maintenance of the thread membrane module 34 inserted into the case 22 is extremely easy.

Furthermore, when the orifice 27 is provided on the front surface of the body 21, the replacement is easy when the orifice is a fixed orifice, and the opening is easily adjusted when the orifice is a variable orifice. . Spaces A and B
The compressed air pressure of the air to be dehumidified acts on
Only the purge air depressurized by the orifice 27 is supplied to the convection space C of the purge air inside, and the compressed air pressure does not act. Therefore, the thickness of the case 22 can be reduced, thereby reducing the weight of the dehumidifier 20. can do.

[0027]

According to the dehumidifier of the present invention, the purge air and the air discharged from the dew point checker which have become highly humid due to the dehumidification can be discharged to a place away from the dehumidifier, so that the dust in a clean room or the like can be reduced. Can be used in places where emission pollution is not desired. In addition, the case can be detached from the body or the housing can be detached from the case in a state where the piping for supplying and discharging the dehumidified air is connected to the body, so that maintenance of the thread membrane module in the case is extremely easy.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional front view of an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a front view of a spacer.

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional front view of a known dehumidifier.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 20 dehumidifier 21 body 22 case 23 housing 25 inlet 26 outlet 32 hollow fiber membrane 33 air supply pipe 34 thread membrane module 46 one-touch fitting 48 dew point checker

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A body having an inlet and an outlet for air to be dehumidified, a hollow cylindrical case airtightly attached to the body, a housing airtightly installed on the opposite side of the case from the body, and inserted into the case. A high-temperature, high-humidity dehumidified air supplied from the inlet into the hollow fiber membrane through the air supply pipe, and provided with a hollow fiber membrane. In a dehumidifier using a hollow fiber membrane that dehumidifies with low-temperature and low-humidity purge air flowing between the case, the case is detachably attached to the body in a direction orthogonal to an inlet and an outlet provided in the body, and A dehumidifier, comprising: a pipe connecting part for connecting a pipe for discharging purge air, which has become highly humid due to dehumidification of air to be dehumidified, to a place distant from the dehumidifier. 2. A dew point checker connected to an outlet is mounted on a body, and a pipe connection portion for connecting a pipe for discharging air discharged from the dew point checker to a place remote from the dehumidifier is attached to the dew point checker. The dehumidifying device according to claim 1, wherein the dehumidifying device is provided. 3. The dehumidifier according to claim 1, wherein the housing is detachably attached to the case.