COMPRESSED GAS SYSTEMS UTILIZING A VARIABLE PRESSURE MEMBRANE AIR DRIER, AND METHOD OF OPERATION THEREOF

Abstract: A compressed gas system (20) has a membrane air direr (53), wherein, during unloading cycle thereof, additional sweep gas is provided to the membrane air dryer (53) inlet (54) through a solenoid valve (43) outlet (46), to prevent excess moisture from being introduced into a receiver/accumulator (49) at the end of each unloading cycle.

Description: TITLE COMPRESSED GAS SYSTEMS UTILIZING A VARIABLE PRESSURE MEMBRANE AIR DRIER, AND METHOD OF OPERATION THEREOF BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the invention The present invention relates generally to the compressed air and gas industry. More particularly, the present invention relates to the use of an apparatus and process for the removal of water from gas streams. Most particularly, this invention relates to an optimized compressed air system and method of operating the same utilizing a membrane air drier for systems which can operate at variable gas pressures with minimal loss of function or efficiency. 2. Discussion of the related art Compressed gas systems generally consist of the following components: a power source, compressor, heat exchanger, particulate filter, aerosol coalescer, air- drier, accumulator, pressure regulator(s) , check valves, and the equipment that the gas, such as air, is powering. In many compressed air systems, the compressed air consumption is less than the capacity of the compressor. There are several methods known in the industry to deal with these "excess" compressed air situations. One procedure is to run the compressor and store the compressed air in an accumulator at high pressure, and then to shut off the motor. A check valve can be placed at the inlet to the accumulator to prevent the stored compressed air from discharging back through the compressor. The motor remains off until the air pressure in the accumulator drops to a pre-set level, at which point the motor restarts and the compressor then refills the accumulator. Although this procedure may reduce energy usage, it is known in the art that frequent start-stop cycles can cause the motor to overheat, and may eventually cause damage to the compressor, motor, or the starting equipment. An alternate method of control also uses an accumulator to store the compressed air. However, instead of shutting the motor off, a device can be placed in the system that reduces the pressure that the compressor is operating at, and discharges the excess air to atmosphere. One such device is an electrically operated unload solenoid. The pressure in the compressed air system prior to the accumulator is then regulated by the pressure drop across the unload solenoid. This type of control system is often known by the term "constant-run". Such "constant- run" systems are popular, and are especially useful with smaller air compressors. However, such type of systems are prone to problems while the unload solenoid opens the system to atmosphere, as very little water is being removed from the system while the unload solenoid is open, and this can lead to very humid air being reintroduced into the accumulator when the unload solenoid closes. In an attempt to avoid these problems, systems were developed using compressed air driers between the coalescer and the unloading valve. Such compressed air driers are devices that remove water from a compressed air system, specifically the water that exists in the vapor phase. These devices are generally placed prior to an accumulator to minimize the corrosive effects of moist air on the accumulator, although they can be placed after the accumulator as well . Several types of compressed air driers are known in the art, including refrigeration, desiccant, and membrane driers. Membrane air driers suitable for compressed air systems are known in the art. Several examples of membrane air driers can be found in U.S. Patent No. 4,783,201 to Rice; U.S. Patent No. 5,002,590 to Friesen; and U.S. Patent No. 5,067,971 to Bixson. Typically, air coming out of a coalescer is at, or near, ambient temperature, and is saturated with water vapor, any droplets of water having been removed by the filter and coalescer. The intent of using the membrane air drier is to remove as much of the water vapor as possible from the air before the compressed air reaches the accumulator. The performance of such air driers, which typically contain a membrane module, is measured in terms of the dewpoint suppression achieved as air passes through the module. The dewpoint is the temperature at which moisture will start to condense out of the moist air. Dewpoint suppression is how many degrees the dew point is lowered as the air passes through the drier. The dewpoint suppression is a function of the membrane area, feed flow rate, operating pressure and temperature, and sweep fraction. The membrane air driers known in the art generally function by contacting one side of a semi- permeable membrane with a pressurized wet feed stream which is coming from the coalescer. The membrane is chosen such that it preferentially allows water vapor to permeate faster than the feed gas that is being dehydrated. A portion of the dried gas, as will be explained further herein below, and known in the art as the "sweep", is depressurized and fed back to contact the other side of the membrane, and acts to drive away the water moisture that has permeated the membrane. The sweep of many membrane air driers is controlled by the use of an externally mounted valve or an internal orifice, and is usually factory preset for a given application. Membrane modules with externally mounted valves can be manually adjusted in service. However, there exists no means for cost effective automatic adjustment of the sweep based on the module feed conditions. Thus, for most purposes modules with externally mounted valves can be considered as fixed sweep modules, just like the internal orifice modules. With fixed sweep membrane modules, the amount of sweep air is proportional to the operating pressure. Generally for fixed sweep modules operating before the accumulator in compressed gas systems utilizing an unload solenoid, the dewpoint suppression of the membrane module decreases when the unload solenoid opens, and the compressed gas flows through the membrane module at a lower pressure. This situation leads to higher humidity in the compressed air system between the membrane module inlet and the unload solenoid, and can lead to condensation when the unload solenoid closes and the entire system again increases in pressure. Some in the art have tried to prevent this condensation by appropriately sizing the fixed orifice membrane module for the low pressure condition when the unload solenoid is open. However, a significant disadvantage of this solution is that at normal operating pressures, the membrane module would be over designed and the sweep would be a much larger fraction of the feed gas than is necessary, leading to high operating costs. Thus, those in the field of compressed gas drying continue to try to optimize the design of membrane driers when they are used in gas circuits where the compressor duty is controlled by an unload solenoid placed downstream of the compressor. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a novel method for unloading compressed gas systems, as well as a novel membrane air drier which works under varying pressure without loss of drying efficiency, and the attendant problems of condensation attendant thereto. In one embodiment of the present invention, a compressed gas system is provided with an accumulator having an inlet and an outlet; an unload solenoid having an inlet, a first outlet in communication with said inlet when said unload solenoid is open and a second outlet in fluid communication with said inlet when said unload solenoid is closed; and a membrane air drier having an inlet and an outlet, the outlet of said membrane air drier in fluid communication with said inlet of said unload solenoid; said membrane air drier having a sweep inlet and a sweep outlet, said outlet of said unload solenoid which is fluid communication with said inlet of said unload solenoid when said unload solenoid is open being in fluid communication with the sweep air inlet. In a further embodiment of the invention, a compressed air system is provided which has seriatim, downstream of the compressor, all in fluid communication, an after cooler, a filter, a coalescer, a membrane air drier, an unload solenoid, and a receiver/accumulator. The unload solenoid, when opened, is in fluid communication with the sweep inlet of the membrane air drier. In another embodiment of the present invention, a membrane air drier is provided having an air inlet, an air outlet, a sweep inlet, and a sweep outlet. Thus, one of the objects of the present invention is to provide an improved method of operation for a compressed gas system. Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved compressed gas or air system having a membrane air drier which has minimal loss of efficiency when operated at varying pressures. A still further object of the present invention is to have a membrane air drier in fluid communication with a receiver/accumulator through an unload solenoid, and to have the unload solenoid unload directly into the sweep inlet of the membrane air drier. Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description and appended claims, reference being made to the accompanying drawings forming a part of the specification, wherein like reference characters designate corresponding parts in the several views. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic view of a known compressed air system with the unload solenoid closed. Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic view of the compressed air system shown in Fig. 1 with the unload solenoid opened. Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic view of a construction embodying the present invention with the unload solenoid open. Fig. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of a known membrane air drier. Fig. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of an air drier construction embodying the present invention. Fig. 6 is an elevational sectional view of the construction shown in Fig. 5. It is to be understood that the specific devices and processes illustrated in the attached drawings, and described in the following description, are simply explanatory embodiments of the inventive concepts defined in the appended claims. Hence, specific dimensions and other physical characteristics relating to the embodiments disclosed herein should not be considered as limiting unless the claims expressly state otherwise. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring now to Fig. 1, there is shown a typical compressed gas system 20. There is shown a compressor 21 having an inlet 22 and an outlet 23. An inlet air filter 25 is in fluid communication with the inlet 22 of compressor 21. Next is provided an after cooler 26 having an inlet 27 and an outlet 28. The inlet 27 of after cooler 26 is in fluid communication with the outlet 23 of air compressor 21 to receive the compressed air and cool the same. To remove water droplets and particulates from the cooled compressed air there is provided a filter 30 having an inlet 31 and an outlet 32. The inlet 31 of the filter 30 is in fluid communication with the outlet 28 of the aftercooler 26. To remove additional water from the compressed air, a coalescer 34 is provided downstream of the filter 30. The inlet 35 of the coalescer 34 is in fluid communication with the outlet 32 of the filter 30. By the time the compressed air has passed through the filter 30 and the coalescer 34, all the larger water droplets have been removed and the air is preferably at, or near, ambient temperature and is saturated with water vapor (100% relative humidity) . To remove the water vapor from the compressed air, and to suppress the dew point of the air going into the receiver/accumulator 49, a membrane air drier 39 is provided having an inlet 40 and an outlet 41. The inlet 40 of the air drier is in fluid communication with the outlet 36 of the coalescer 34. It should be understood that many types of air driers are available in the prior art, and could be used in place of the membrane air drier 39. However, for purposes of illustration, a membrane air drier is shown which is of the internal sweep type, as will be explained more fully in regard to Fig. 4. It can be understood by those skilled in the art that some of the air passing into inlet 40 of the membrane air drier, instead of passing out through outlet 41, is depressurized internally and passes back over the outside of the membrane (s) in the membrane air drier 39 and passes out the sweep out outlet 42. This sweep gas passing over the outside of the membrane (s) removes the vapor which has permeated through the membranes, thus reducing the dew point and the relative humidity of the air passing out the air drier outlet 41. Downstream of the air drier 39 is a solenoid valve 43 operated by unload solenoid 44. Solenoid valve 43 has a first outlet 46 and a second outlet 47. When unload solenoid 44 is closed, as illustrated in Fig. 1, the inlet 37 of solenoid valve 43 is in fluid communication with the second outlet 47. Thus, compressed air coming from the membrane 39 enters the inlet 37 of solenoid valve 43 and passes out the second outlet 47 into the inlet 48 of the receiver/accumulator 49. Unload solenoid 44 is in electrical communication with the controller 50. The controller 50 is also in electrical communication with a pressure sensor (not shown) in the receiver/accumulator 49. The controller 50 opens and closes the unload solenoid 44 in response to changes in pressure in the receiver/accumulator. Referring now to Fig. 2, when the controller 50 senses that the pressure in the receiver/accumulator 49 has reached the desired level, a signal is sent to the unload solenoid 43, causing it to open. The second outlet 47 of the solenoid valve 43 is closed, and the first outlet 46 is opened, venting the compressed air to atmosphere. This venting of the compressed air to atmosphere immediately lowers the air pressure in the remainder of the system, for example, from 100 psi to 50 psi. (These numbers will vary widely depending on the particular application.) This causes the volumetric flow rate of the internal sweep gas in the membrane air drier 39 to lessen, causing very little water vapor to be removed from the air entering the inlet 40 of the membrane air drier 39 from the outlet 36 of the coalescer. As the membrane air drier adjusts to this new low pressure condition, the amount of water vapor in the compressed air increases over time. There will be no problem as long as the unload solenoid 44 remains open. The problem comes about when the unload solenoid 44 receives a signal from the controller 50 and closes solenoid valve 43. The air flow resumes in a manner as shown in Fig. 1. With high relative humidity, this air again enters the receiver/accumulator 49 through the inlet 48, and condensation, which may have even begun in the membrane air drier 39, increases as the pressure in the receiver/accumulator 48 increases. The presence of condensed water in the receiver/accumulator 49 is very corrosive over time, and can cause serious problems. Thus, while the system shown in Figs. 1 and 2 will operate satisfactory for a time eventually serious problems may occur. In order to solve the problems present in the prior art system, we developed the system and method and apparatus disclosed in Fig. 3. The improved membrane air drier, now identified by the numeral 53, has an inlet 40, an outlet 41, and a sweep air outlet 42 as do the prior art air driers. In addition, it has a sweep inlet 54 in fluid communication with the sweep outlet 42. The first outlet 46 of solenoid valve 42 is no longer open to atmosphere, but is in fluid communication with the excess sweep inlet 54 of the improved membrane air drier 53. When the unload solenoid 44 is open, the improved membrane air drier 53 operates as does the known membrane air drier 39 illustrated in Fig. 3. As air passes through the inlet 40, through the air drier 39, and out the outlet 41, some of the gas coming in the inlet 40 is depressurized internally and flows over the outside of the membranes contained within the air drier 53, thus removing water vapor and passing it out the sweep out outlet 42. However, when the unload solenoid 44 is closed, the first outlet 46 is not open to atmosphere as in the prior art compressed gas systems, but instead is in fluid communication through sweep inlet 54 with the sweep outlet 42, and thus there is more sweep gas available inside the improved membrane air drier 53 when the compressed gas system 20 is unloaded, and therefore the problems with condensation during unloading which were previously discussed, are no longer present. Referring to Fig. 4, the known membrane air drier 39 comprises a hollow shell or tube 57 which contains a bundle 58 of hollow fibers 56 chosen so they preferentially allow water vapor to permeate faster than the feed gas that is being dehydrated. The bundle 56 of hollow fibers 58 is sealed by potting compound 59 at both ends so that the interiors of the hollow fibers 56 in the hollow fiber bundle 58 cannot communicate with the exterior of the hollow fibers 56. Each end of the shell 57 is closed by an endcap 60 which may be identical. The upstream or inlet endcap 60A has an inlet 40, and the downstream or outlet endcap 60B has an outlet 41. Endcaps 60 are affixed to the shell 57 by means well-known in the art so as to create an inlet plenum 63 and an outlet plenum 64. Inlet 40 is in fluid communication with inlet plenum 63, and outlet 41 is in fluid communication with outlet plenum 64. A sweep inlet is provided by a plurality of small hollow tubes 66A which are potted into the outlet end of the bundle 58 of hollow fibers 56 and provide fluid communication between the outlet plenum 64 and the outside of the hollow fibers 56 forming a part of the hollow fiber bundle 58. The small hollow tubes 66A comprising the sweep inlet 66 pass through the potting compound at the outlet end of the bundle 58 for a short distance to ensure fluid communication. It can be seen that when the membrane air drier 39 is pressurized and in operation, since the exterior of the fibers 56 comprising the hollow fiber bundle 58 are in fluid communication with the atmosphere through a plurality of parametrically spaced holes 67 in shell 57, the pressure difference between outlet plenum 64 and the atmosphere will cause a continuous flow of air from the outlet plenum 64 through the sweep inlet tubes 66A, and out the sweep outlet 67 , thereby removing the water vapor which has permeated through the wall of the hollow fibers making up the hollow fiber bundle and providing receiver/accumulator air through the outlet plenum 64. However, when the outlet 41 of membrane air drier 39 is opened to atmosphere by the unload solenoid 44 being in its open position, the pressure present throughout the system, including that present in the membrane air drier 39, drops substantially from, for example, 100 pounds per square inch to perhaps 50 pounds per square inch. This drop in pressure causes such a low-pressure differential that virtually no gas is forced back through the sweep inlet 66, almost no water vapor is removed from the air stream passing through the membrane air drier 39, and the humidity in the air passing through the air drier 39 starts increasing over time, causing the aforementioned problems. To solve these problems, the construction shown in Figs. 5 and 6 was developed for use in the system shown in Fig. 3. The construction of the improved membrane air drier 53 is shown in detail in Fig. 6. As before, a hollow tube or shell 57 surrounds, and may be co-extensive, with a hollow fiber bundle 58 made with a plurality of hollow fibers 56. Potting compound 59 is used at each end of the hollow fiber bundle 58 to seal the ends of the bundle for a finite distance A, and prevent any fluid communication between the interior surfaces of the hollow fiber 56 and the exterior surfaces. At the outlet end of the hollow fiber bundle 58, a selected plurality of short hollow fibers 68 are potted into the potting compound 59. Short hollow fibers 68 may be substantially even with the outlet end of the hollow fiber bundle 58, and extend a short distance past the other end of the potting compound 59 to provide fluid communication with the outside surfaces of the hollow fibers 56. Into the short hollow fibers 68 will be inserted sweep inlet needles, orifices, or tubes 66A, which form the sweep gas inlet 66. The hollow tube or shell 57 which surrounds the hollow fiber bundle 58 will be closed at its inlet end by an upstream endcap 60A and at its downstream end by the downstream endcap 60B. At its open end, upstream endcap 60A will have a narrowed wall portion 70 formed by providing an outer parametric groove 71 and an inner parametric groove 72 about the periphery of endcap 60A. The inside diameter of inner parametric groove 72 will be substantially the same as the outer diameter of the shell 57, and will be of a depth chosen so that when the end of shell 57 abuts the bottom of the inner parametric groove 72, a stop will be provided permitting the formation of the inlet plenum 63 between the end of the fiber bundle 58 and the endwall 60C of the upstream endcap 60A. A threaded opening 73 will be provided centrally of the boss 75 and will serve as the inlet 40. Immediately adjacent to the upstream endcap 60A is provided the sweep collar 80. Sweep collar is tubular in shape, and has a second boss 81 provided thereon, with a second threaded opening 82 comprising the sweep outlet 42. The sweep collar has an annular portion 83 having an inside diameter substantially the same as the outside diameter of the shell 57, and a sidewall portion 84 having an inner diameter substantially the same as the outer diameter of the narrow wall portion 70 of the upstream or inlet endcap 60A. It can be seen that the sweep collar 80 fits into the outer parametric groove 71 of the endcap 60A when assembled to the shell 57 and the endcap 60A. The bottom of the narrow wall portion 70 of the inlet endcap 60A and the annular portion 83 of the sweep collar 80 will form a ring- shaped sweep plenum 85 interiorly between the sweep collar 80 and the shell 57. A plurality of sweep outlet opening 67 in shell 57 will provide fluid communication between the outsides of the hollow fibers 56, through the sweep plenum 85, and the second threaded opening 82, and out the sweep outlet 42. At the outlet end of the shell 57, a similar construction is provided to form outlet plenum 64 and sweep inlet plenum 90. Downstream or outlet endcap 60B is substantially identical to inlet endcap 60A, and sweep inlet collar 92 is constructed essentially the same as sweep outlet collar 80. A third threaded opening 95 provides fluid communication between the outlet 41 and the outlet plenum 64. A fourth threaded opening 96 provides fluid communication between the sweep inlet 54 through sweep inlet openings 77, to the exterior of hollow fibers 56 forming bundle 58. It can be seen that during normal operation some of the air will be passed back through the sweep inlet 66 to circulate on the outsides of the hollow fibers 56 and remove water vapor that has permeated through fibers 66 and allow it to travel out of sweep outlet 42. However, in the present invention, in contrast to known systems, when the solenoid valve 43 opens, there is no loss of sweep gas volumetric flow rate to cause the sweep action to slow. Instead, as shown in Figure 3, the first outlet 46 of the solenoid valve 43 is in fluid communication with the sweep inlet 54 and causes additional sweep air to enter sweep inlet 54 and surround the outsides of the hollow fibers 56 and continue to remove permeate as, or more, efficiently than before unloading, resulting in a much lower relative humidity during unloading than was available in prior art compressed gas systems. Therefore, by carefully studying the operation of known air driers and compressed gas systems, I have developed a novel compressed gas system. A method of operating the same, and an improved membrane air drier for use therein.

Claims: WHAT IS CLAIMED IS: 1. A compressed gas system comprising: a) a compressor having an inlet and an outlet, b) an aftercooler having an inlet and an outlet, said inlet of said aftercooler connected to said inlet of said compressor, c) a filter having an inlet and an outlet, said inlet of said filter connected to said outlet of said aftercooler, d) a coalescer having an inlet and an outlet, said inlet of said coalescer connected to said outlet of said filter, e) a membrane air dryer having an inlet, an outlet, a sweep inlet, and a sweep outlet, said inlet of said membrane air drier connected to the outlet of said coalescer, f) a solenoid valve having a solenoid valve inlet, a first outlet, and a second outlet, said solenoid valve inlet being connected to said membrane air drier outlet, and said first outlet being connected to said membrane air drier sweep inlet, g) an unload solenoid connected to said unload solenoid valve to selectively direct flow to either said first outlet or said second outlet, h) an accumulator having at least an inlet, said accumulator inlet being connected to said second outlet of said solenoid valve, and i) a controller electrically connected to both said accumulator and said unload solenoid to move said unload solenoid valve between a closed position wherein the inlet of said solenoid valve is in fluid communication with said second outlet of said solenoid valve, thereby causing gas flowing into said inlet of said unload solenoid valve to flow into said accumulator, and an open position wherein the inlet of said solenoid valve is in communication with said first outlet, whereby flowing into said inlet of said unload solenoid valve to flow through said first outlet and into said sweep inlet of said membrane air dryer. 2. A membrane air drier comprising; a) a shell, b) a bundle of hollow fibers sealing mounted within said shell so that the interior of said hollow fibers is blocked from fluid communication with the exterior of said hollow fibers, c) a first endcap sealingly mounted at one end of said shell to provide a first plenum adjacent a first end of said bundle of hollow fibers, said first endcap having an inlet in fluid communication with said first plenum, d) a second endcap sealingly mounted at one end of said shell to provide a second plenum adjacent a second end of said bundle of hollow fibers, said second endcap having an outlet in fluid communication with said second plenum, e) a sweep outlet in fluid communication with the exterior of said hollow bundle adjacent said first endcap, f) a sweep inlet in fluid communication with the exterior of said hollow bundle adjacent said second endcap, and g) at least one sweep inlet needle inserted into said second end of said hollow fiber bundle to provide fluid communication between said second plenum and the interior of said hollow bundle.

Inventors: BURBAN JOHN H, CROWDER ROBERT O, BURBAN, JOHN, H., CROWDER, ROBERT, O.
Applicants: POROUS MEDIA CORP, POROUS MEDIA CORPORATION
Application year: 2000
Main classification: B01D53
IPC codes: B01D53, B01D63, F04B39