Variable desiccant control energy exchange system and method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9909768-B2
Application number	US-201514804953-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 21, 2015
Priority date	Mar 13, 2013
Publication date	Mar 6, 2018
Grant date	Mar 6, 2018

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a system and method for providing conditioned air to at least one enclosed structure. The system may include at least one conditioning module configured to provide conditioned air to the at least one enclosed structure. The conditioning module(s) may include a conditioning energy exchanger. The conditioning module(s) is configured to circulate desiccant through a desiccant circuit to condition air passing through the conditioning energy exchanger. The conditioning module(s) may be configured to receive at least one of concentrated desiccant or diluted desiccant in order to vary temperature or concentration of the desiccant circulating through the desiccant circuit.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system for providing conditioned air to an enclosed structure, the system comprising:
a conditioning module configured to provide conditioned air to the enclosed structure, wherein the conditioning module comprises a conditioning energy exchanger, and a desiccant mixing chamber that is configured to receive one or both of a concentrated desiccant or a diluted desiccant, wherein the conditioning module is configured to circulate desiccant through a desiccant circuit to condition air passing through the conditioning energy exchanger, wherein the conditioning module is configured to receive one or both of the concentrated desiccant or the diluted desiccant in order to vary temperature or concentration of the desiccant circulating through the desiccant circuit.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the conditioning energy exchanger comprises a conditioning liquid-to-air membrane energy exchanger (LAMEE) configured to exchange sensible and latent energy between the desiccant and an air stream.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the conditioning module includes:
a warm tap line connecting a heat exchanger of the conditioning module to a warm loop configured to circulate the concentrated desiccant therethrough; and
a cool tap line connecting the heat exchanger to a cool loop configured to circulate the diluted desiccant therethrough.

4. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a desiccant regeneration module configured to regenerate the desiccant.

5. The system of claim 4 , wherein the desiccant regeneration module comprises a regeneration LAMEE configured to regenerate the desiccant.

6. The system of claim 4 , further comprising a heat source operatively connected to the desiccant regeneration module, wherein the heat source is configured to exchange sensible energy with the desiccant flowing through the desiccant regeneration module.

7. The system of claim 4 , further comprising a heating module operatively connected to the desiccant regeneration module through a heat pump.

8. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a control sub-system configured to control variation of the temperature and concentration of the desiccant.

9. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a water source configured to dilute the desiccant.

10. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a bypass duct configured to bypass airflow around the conditioning module.

11. The system of claim 1 , further comprising additional conditioning modules, wherein each of the conditioning modules is within a separate and distinct zone.

12. The system of claim 11 , further comprising a desiccant connection conduit connecting at least one of the conditioning modules in a first zone to at least another of the conditioning modules in a second zone that is separate and distinct from the first zone.

13. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a concentrated desiccant storage tank connected to a warm loop, wherein the concentrated desiccant storage tank is configured to provide additional concentrated desiccant to the warm loop.

14. A method of providing conditioned air to an enclosed structure, the method comprising:
conditioning air within the enclosed structure with a conditioning module, wherein the conditioning operation includes exchanging sensible and latent energy between the air and desiccant that circulates through the conditioning module;
circulating concentrated desiccant through a warm loop that connects to the conditioning module;
circulating diluted desiccant through a cool loop that connects to the conditioning module; and
controlling the temperature and concentration of the desiccant through one or both of the circulated concentrated desiccant or the circulating diluted desiccant operations.

15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising mixing one or both of the concentrated desiccant from the warm loop or the diluted desiccant from the cool loop with the desiccant in a mixing chamber of the conditioning module to control the concentration of, the desiccant.

16. The method of claim 14 , further comprising exchanging sensible energy between the warm and cool loops through a heat pump connected therebetween.

17. The method of claim 14 , further comprising providing additional concentrated desiccant to the warm loop through a concentrated desiccant storage tank.

18. The method of claim 14 , further comprising exchanging sensible energy between the desiccant within the conditioning module with one or both of the concentrated desiccant from the warm loop or the cool diluted desiccant from the cool loop to control the temperature of the desiccant.

19. The method of claim 14 , further comprising regenerating the warm concentrated desiccant with a desiccant regeneration module.

20. The method of claim 14 , further comprising diluting the desiccant with water from a water source.

Assignees

• Nortek Air Solutions Canada Inc
• Nortek Air Solutions Canada Inc

Inventors

• Gerber Manfred
• Lepoudre Philip Paul
• Wawryk Maury Brad

Classifications

• F24F2110/20

  Humidity · CPC title

• F24F2110/10

  Temperature · CPC title

• F24F11/83

  by controlling the supply of heat-exchange fluids to heat-exchangers · CPC title

• F24F11/30

  for purposes related to the operation of the system, e.g. for safety or monitoring · CPC title

• F24F2003/1458

  using regenerators · CPC title