Refrigerant Dryer Cold Accumulator Loop for Stable Dew Point
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Solution Overview
Problem
Refrigerant dryers face challenges in achieving energy-efficient control of cooling capacity, particularly in adapting to variable pressure fluid volume flows, moisture, and temperature, while maintaining a constant pressure dew point, which leads to undesired temperature hysteresis and increased operating cycles, requiring large and costly heat exchangers.
Innovation Solution
The refrigerant dryer and method involve fluidically connecting the pressure fluid-refrigerant agent-heat exchanger and cold accumulator via a discharge loop, allowing the accumulator discharge fluid to convey excess heat to the cold accumulator and then back to the heat exchanger, enabling efficient heat transfer and reduced heat content, thereby enhancing energy efficiency and reducing structural complexity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Use of energy by moving object
If the refrigerant compressor is controlled using ON/OFF switching, then energy efficiency is improved, but the pressure fluid temperature at the condensate separator inflow becomes unstable
Solution Approach 1:
The cold accumulator stores cooling capacity in advance during periods when the refrigerant compressor is running. This pre-stored cold energy is then released during ON/OFF cycles to maintain stable pressure fluid temperature at the condensate separator inflow, enabling efficient ON/OFF control without temperature instability.
2Measurement precision
If the hysteresis of switchpoints is decreased to maintain constant pressure dew point, then the pressure dew point control is improved, but the operating cycles of the refrigerant compressor increase
Solution Approach 1:
The cold accumulator acts as an intermediary thermal buffer between the refrigerant compressor and the pressure fluid. It absorbs temperature fluctuations and decouples the compressor operation from the pressure dew point control, allowing larger hysteresis margins without compromising dew point stability, thereby reducing compressor switching frequency.
3Stability of the object's composition
If large capacity cold accumulators are used to reduce temperature hysteresis, then temperature stability is improved, but the structural space and heat exchanger requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the thermal parameters of the accumulator by using a two-phase refrigerant system with phase change material. This allows the accumulator to store and release large amounts of thermal energy in a compact form, achieving temperature stability without requiring large structural dimensions or excessive heat exchanger surfaces.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This configuration enhances energy efficiency, particularly in part-load or zero-load situations, by allowing for flexible accumulator configuration and medium selection, minimizing temperature hysteresis, and reducing the need for large heat exchangers, thus improving operational efficiency and cost-effectiveness.
Implementation Method 1
cooling the gaseous fluid using a refrigerant
Implementation Method 2
subjected—if necessary influenced by control elements—to cyclic phase transitions between liquid and vapor at a substantially equal pressure level
Implementation Method 3
cyclic phase transitions between liquid and vapor
Implementation Method 4
conveyed through the discharge loop for heat emission to the cold accumulator, emits heat there, and subsequently, having a reduced heat content, is conveyed again to the pressure fluid-refrigerant agent-heat exchanger
Data Source
AI summary
A refrigerant dryer, in particular a compressed air refrigerant dryer, is provided for drying a gaseous fluid while cooling the gaseous fluid using a refrigerant. The dryer includes a pressure fluid-refrigerant agent-heat exchanger (30) in which a cooling of the gaseous fluid takes place directly or indirectly by a refrigerant conveyed in a primary loop (16), one or more refrigerant compressor/compressors (24) for operating the primary loop, and a cold accumulator (13) with an accumulator-side heat exchanger (20) which couples an accumulator discharge fluid to a cold accumulator medium (14). The pressure fluid-refrigerant agent-heat exchanger (30) and the cold accumulator (13) are fluidically connected or can be brought into fluidic connection via a discharge loop (15) for an accumulator discharge fluid. The cold accumulator (13) is arranged, relative to gravity, above the pressure fluid-refrigerant agent-heat exchanger (30), in such a manner that the heated accumulator discharge fluid is conveyed through the discharge loop (15) for cooling in the cold accumulator (13), is cooled there, and subsequently re-conveyed to the pressure fluid-refrigerant agent-heat exchanger (30).