Refrigeration air dryer

Abstract

A refrigeration air dryer, which dehumidifies compressed air by cooling the air at a cooler by exchanging heat with a refrigerant, includes a first reheater and a second reheater. The first reheater has a configuration in which warm and moist primary air to be dehumidified is preliminarily cooled by exchanging heat between the primary air and low-temperature dehumidified air dehumidified by the cooler, and is transmitted to the cooler. At the same time, the temperature of the humidified air is raised, and the humidified air is transmitted to the second reheater. The second reheater has a configuration in which the humidified air having a temperature raised by the first reheater is again raised by exchanging heat with the high-temperature refrigerant compressed by the refrigerant compressor, following which the humidified air is externally discharged as secondary air.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0001]1. Field of the Invention[0002]The present invention relates to a refrigeration air dryer which dehumidifies compressed air by condensing moisture in the compressed air by cooling the compressed air.[0003]2. Description of the Related Art[0004]In an air compressor system employing solenoid valves, air cylinders, etc. in order to prevent trouble from occurring due to moisture included in compressed air to be supplied to the air compressor system, the moisture included in the compressed air is preferably removed beforehand. In order to remove such moisture, a refrigeration air dryer is employed.[0005]FIG. 2 shows a circuit of a refrigerant system and an air system in a conventional refrigeration air dryer. The refrigerant system in refrigeration air dryer includes a refrigerant compressor 10, a condenser 11 which condenses a high-temperature refrigerant compressed by the refrigerant compressor 10 and transmitted via a high-temperature refrigerant pipe ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0019]Basically, it is a technical purpose of the present invention to provide high dehumidification performance with small electric power consumption by reducing the heat exchanger duty Q3 of the condenser in the refrigeration air dryer, i.e., the heat quantity discharged from the condenser, effectively using energy in the conventional refrigeration air dryer, thereby providing an energy-saving refrigeration air dryer.

[0020]More specifically, it is a technical purpose of the present invention to provide a refrigeration air dryer which exhibits stable dehumidification performance even in a case in which the load of the compressed air to be dehumidified is great (in a case in which the temperature, the humidity, or the flow of the compressed air is great, etc.), and which is capable of preventing occurrence of dew condensation in a sure manner at the outlet pipe via which the dehumidified secondary air is externally discharged even in a case in which the temperature of the primary air is low.

[0025]The refrigeration air dryer having the above-described configuration employs a combination of the first reheater which exchanges heat between the primary air input via the air inlet and the low-temperature dehumidified air transmitted via the cooler and the second reheater which exchanges heat between the refrigerant which has become high temperature by compression at the refrigerant compressor and the dehumidified air of which the temperature has been raised by being subjected to the preliminary cooling of the primary air at the first reheater.Thus, such an arrangement provides high dehumidification performance with small electric power consumption by reducing the heat exchanger duty Q3 of the condenser in the refrigeration air dryer, i.e., the heat quantity discharged from the condenser. For example, this reduces the thermal load to be applied to a cold source such as an air conditioner for an air-cooled condenser, a cooling tower or a chiller for a water-cooled condenser, etc., thereby providing energy-saving operation. Furthermore such an arrangement exhibits stable dehumidification performance even in a case in which the load of the compressed air to be dehumidified is great. In addition, such an arrangement is capable of preventing occurrence of dew condensation in a sure manner at the outlet pipe via which the dehumidified compressed air is externally discharged, even in a case in which the temperature of the compressed air is low.

Problems solved by technology

The conventional air dryer shown in FIG. 2 has a problem in that the performance of the reheater drops depending upon the conditions of use.

This is a major problem of the conventional air dryers.

Accordingly, such an air pipe can decay due to dew condensation water.

Furthermore, the dew condensation water can lead to a puddle on the floor etc.. underneath the bottom of the pipe.

Heat insulation of these pipes requires hard work and high costs.

However, in this case, the air input via the air inlet 20 (primary air) cannot be preliminarily cooled.

However, such methods leads to disadvantages, examples of which include: an increased scale of the dryer; an increased scale of refrigeration equipment (air conditioner, chiller, cooling tower, etc.), an increased energy consumption of the refrigeration equipment.

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