CN-121993852-A - Solar driven deep dehumidification system and method

Abstract

The invention provides a solar driven deep dehumidification system and method utilizing spectral splitting of sunlight. The system includes a plurality of air dehumidifying modules and a solar energy conversion module configured to convert solar energy into thermal and electrical energy for driving the plurality of air dehumidifying modules. The plurality of air dehumidification modules includes a liquid desiccant dehumidification module configured to dehumidify an air stream using a liquid desiccant to supply a dehumidified air stream, and a vacuum film dehumidification module configured to further dehumidify the dehumidified air stream from the liquid desiccant module to supply a deep dehumidified air stream. The proposed system paves the way for clean and sustainable deep dehumidification.

Inventors

• ZHANG XIAOBO
• LI DUZHONG

Assignees

• 香港城市大学

Dates

Publication Date

20260508

Application Date

20251023

Priority Date

20241107

Claims (20)

1. 1. A solar powered deep dehumidification system, comprising: multiple air dehumidifying modules A solar energy conversion module configured to convert solar energy into thermal energy and electrical energy for driving the plurality of air dehumidifying modules; wherein the plurality of air dehumidifying modules includes: at least one liquid desiccant dehumidification module configured to dehumidify an air stream using a liquid desiccant to supply a dehumidified air stream, and At least one vacuum membrane dehumidification module configured to further dehumidify the dehumidified air stream from the liquid desiccant dehumidification module to supply a deep dehumidified air stream.
2. 2. The solar driven deep dehumidification system of claim 1, wherein the solar conversion module comprises a concentrator, a spectral filter, a Photovoltaic (PV) panel, a battery, and a solar collector.
3. 3. The solar powered depth dehumidification system of claim 2, wherein the concentrator is a parabolic trough, a parabolic dish, a linear fresnel (fresnel) reflector, or a central tower receiver.
4. 4. The solar driven deep dehumidification system of claim 2, wherein the solar collector is a flat panel collector or an evacuated tube collector.
5. 5. The solar powered deep dehumidification system of claim 2, wherein The concentrator is configured to collect sunlight and concentrate the collected sunlight onto the spectral filter, and The spectral filter is configured to divide the collected sunlight into a short wavelength band and a long wavelength band, and to project the short wavelength band sunlight onto the PV panel and the long wavelength band sunlight onto the solar collector.
6. 6. The solar powered deep dehumidification system of claim 2, wherein The PV panel is configured to convert the short wavelength band sunlight into electrical energy to charge the battery, and The battery is configured to store the electrical energy and supply the electrical energy to the vacuum membrane dehumidification module and/or liquid desiccant dehumidification module.
7. 7. The solar powered deep dehumidification system of claim 2, wherein the solar collector is configured to convert the long wavelength band of sunlight into thermal energy to heat a heat transfer medium for transferring the thermal energy to the liquid desiccant dehumidification module.
8. 8. The solar driven deep dehumidification system of claim 7, wherein the heat transfer medium is air, heat transfer oil, or water.
9. 9. The solar driven deep dehumidification system of claim 1, wherein the liquid desiccant dehumidification module comprises a dehumidifier configured to receive a humid air stream and a cooled concentrated liquid desiccant stream, to facilitate the cooled concentrated liquid desiccant stream to dehumidify the humid air stream to obtain a dehumidified air stream, and to exhaust a diluted liquid desiccant stream.
10. 10. The solar driven deep dehumidification system of claim 9, wherein the liquid desiccant dehumidification module further comprises a regenerator configured to receive a heated diluted liquid desiccant stream and a drying air stream, to facilitate interaction of the heated diluted liquid desiccant stream with the drying air stream to release moisture absorbed therein to regenerate a concentrated liquid desiccant stream, and to exhaust a humidified air stream.
11. 11. The solar driven deep dehumidification system of claim 10, wherein the liquid desiccant dehumidification module further comprises: A first heat exchanger including a first channel pneumatically and/or hydraulically coupled to the regenerator and a second channel pneumatically and/or hydraulically coupled to the solar conversion module, and configured to supply the heated diluted liquid desiccant stream to the regenerator by exchanging heat from the heat transfer medium to a preheated diluted liquid desiccant stream; A second heat exchanger including a first passage pneumatically and/or hydraulically coupled to the dehumidifier and a second passage allowing a cooling medium to pass through, and configured to supply a pre-cooled concentrated liquid desiccant stream to the dehumidifier by exchanging heat from the cooled concentrated liquid desiccant stream to the cooling medium, and A third heat exchanger including a first passage pneumatically and/or hydraulically coupled to the first heat exchanger and the dehumidifier and a second passage pneumatically and/or hydraulically coupled to the regenerator and the second heat exchanger, and configured to exchange heat from the concentrated liquid desiccant stream to the diluted liquid desiccant stream to obtain the preheated diluted liquid desiccant stream and the pre-cooled concentrated liquid desiccant stream, and to supply the preheated diluted liquid desiccant stream and the pre-cooled concentrated liquid desiccant stream to the first heat exchanger and the second heat exchanger, respectively.
12. 12. The solar driven deep dehumidification system of claim 11, wherein the liquid desiccant dehumidification module further comprises: a first solution pump configured to pump the concentrated liquid desiccant stream from the regenerator into the second heat exchanger, and A second solution pump configured to pump the diluted liquid desiccant stream from the dehumidifier to the second heat exchanger.
13. 13. The solar driven deep dehumidification system of claim 12, wherein the liquid desiccant dehumidification module further comprises: A first fan configured to force the flow of drying air into the regenerator; a second fan configured to force a cooling air flow through the second heat exchanger, and A third fan configured to force the flow of humid air into the dehumidifier.
14. 14. The solar powered deep dehumidification system of claim 1, wherein the vacuum film dehumidification module comprises: A feed chamber; One or more permeable cavities disposed within the feed chamber, and A vacuum pumping module pneumatically coupled with the permeable cavity.
15. 15. The solar powered deep dehumidification system as defined in claim 14 wherein The feed chamber is configured to receive an intake air stream dehumidified by the liquid desiccant dehumidification module; The vacuum pumping module is configured to create a vacuum environment in the permeable cavity such that water vapor within the intake air stream permeates into the permeable cavity due to a water vapor pressure differential and the intake air stream is further dehumidified to obtain a deeply dehumidified exhaust air stream, and The feed chamber is then configured to deliver the deeply dehumidified gas stream to a user.
16. 16. The solar driven deep dehumidification system of claim 14, wherein the vacuum pumping module comprises one or more pneumatically connected vacuum pumps in series.
17. 17. The solar driven deep dehumidification system of claim 14, wherein each permeable cavity is made of hollow fiber membranes.
18. 18. The solar driven deep dehumidification system of claim 14, wherein the one or more permeable cavities are pneumatically connected in series.
19. 19. The solar driven deep dehumidification system of claim 1, wherein the liquid desiccant is a LiBr solution, liCl solution, or HCOOK solution.
20. 20. A solar-driven deep dehumidification method, comprising: Converting solar energy into thermal and electrical energy by a solar energy conversion module comprising a concentrator, a spectral filter, a photovoltaic panel, a rechargeable battery and a solar collector; Supplying the thermal energy to a liquid desiccant dehumidification module comprising a dehumidifier, a regenerator, and a heat exchanger; Dehumidifying the humid air stream with a chilled concentrated liquid desiccant stream in the dehumidifier to produce a dehumidified air stream and a diluted liquid desiccant stream; regenerating the diluted liquid desiccant stream into a concentrated liquid desiccant stream in the regenerator using a drying air stream; supplying the electrical energy to a vacuum membrane dehumidification module comprising a feed chamber, one or more permeable cavities, and a vacuum pumping module, and The dehumidified air stream is further dehumidified by feeding the dehumidified air stream into the feeding chamber and a vacuum environment is created in the permeable cavity such that water vapor within the dehumidified air stream permeates into the permeable cavity due to a water vapor pressure differential, thereby obtaining a deep dehumidified air stream for delivery to a user.

Description

Solar driven deep dehumidification system and method Cross Reference to Related Applications The present application claims priority from U.S. provisional patent application No. 63/717,845, filed 11/7 at 2024, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Technical Field The present invention relates generally to the field of sustainable energy and dehumidification technology, and more particularly to a cleaning and deep dehumidification system and method utilizing spectral splitting of sunlight. Background An ultra-low humidity environment is typically required in a production plant. However, establishing and maintaining such environments typically requires consuming a significant amount of energy. To meet this demand, existing systems often employ a hybrid energy structure including electrical energy and renewable energy sources to produce air with ultra-low humidity. The reliance on hybrid energy sources stems in part from the lack of renewable energy sources (e.g., solar energy) in terms of efficiency of utilization. For example, patent JP6116096B2 discloses a solar powered dehumidification device comprising a solar energy conversion system and a solid dehumidification system, wherein solar light is converted into electric energy and heat energy after being irradiated on a photovoltaic panel, and the generated heat energy is used for driving the solid dehumidification system, but the scheme does not further utilize the electric energy to realize deep dehumidification. Another patent CN103041675A discloses a solar driven dehumidification system mainly comprising a photovoltaic panel and a membrane regenerator, wherein solar energy is converted into electrical energy via the photovoltaic panel and used for driving the membrane regenerator. In the process, cations move toward the negative electrode, anions move toward the positive electrode, the solution is concentrated in the regeneration chamber, and diluted in the dilution chamber. However, such methods only utilize the electrical energy converted from solar energy, and do not fully utilize the thermal energy portion thereof, resulting in still limited energy utilization. Disclosure of Invention It is an object of the present invention to provide a solar powered deep dehumidification system and method with improved solar conversion and utilization efficiency. According to a first aspect of the invention, a solar driven deep dehumidification system includes a plurality of air dehumidification modules, and a solar conversion module configured to convert solar energy into thermal energy and electrical energy for driving the plurality of air dehumidification modules, wherein the plurality of air dehumidification modules includes at least one liquid desiccant dehumidification module configured to dehumidify an air stream using the liquid desiccant to supply a dehumidified air stream, and at least one vacuum film dehumidification module configured to further dehumidify the dehumidified air stream from the liquid desiccant dehumidification module to supply a deep dehumidified air stream. Preferably, the solar conversion module includes a concentrator, a spectral filter, a Photovoltaic (PV) panel, a cell, and a solar collector. Preferably, the concentrator is a parabolic trough, a parabolic dish, a linear fresnel reflector or a central tower receiver. Preferably, the solar collector is a flat panel collector or an evacuated tube collector. Preferably, the concentrator is configured to collect sunlight and concentrate the collected sunlight onto the spectral filter, and the spectral filter is configured to divide the collected sunlight into a short wavelength band and a long wavelength band, and to project the short wavelength band sunlight onto the PV panel and the long wavelength band sunlight onto the solar collector. Preferably, the PV panel is configured to convert short wavelength band sunlight into electrical energy to charge the battery, and the battery is configured to store and supply electrical energy to the vacuum film dehumidification module and/or the liquid desiccant dehumidification module. Preferably, the solar collector is configured to convert long wavelength band sunlight into thermal energy for heating a heat transfer medium for transferring the thermal energy to the liquid desiccant dehumidification module. Preferably, the heat transfer medium is air, heat transfer oil or water. Preferably, the liquid desiccant dehumidification module includes a dehumidifier configured to receive a humid air stream and a chilled concentrated liquid desiccant stream, to facilitate the chilled concentrated liquid desiccant stream to dehumidify the humid air stream to obtain a dehumidified air stream, and to exhaust a diluted liquid desiccant stream. Preferably, the liquid desiccant dehumidification module further comprises a regenerator configured to receive the heated diluted liquid desiccant stream and the drying air stream, t