Patent ID: 8047014

Claim:
A humidity control system for supplying either one of a dehumidified first air stream and a humidified second air stream to an indoor space and for discharging the other air stream to an outdoor space, the humidity control system comprising: a refrigerant circuit which includes a first and a second adsorbent-supported heat exchangers, which are both fluidly connected in the refrigerant circuit to perform a refrigeration cycle, and which is capable of reversing the circulation direction of a refrigerant; a box-shaped casing having larger horizontal dimensions than its vertical dimension, and internally having an air passageway in which the heat exchangers are disposed side by side in a horizontal plane; an air supplying fan and an air exhausting fan which are disposed in the casing; and a switching mechanism for changing the distribution route of air in the casing depending on the circulation direction of the refrigerant in the refrigerant circuit so that a first air stream is passed through one of the heat exchangers that is functioning as an evaporator while a second air stream is passed through the other heat exchanger that is functioning as a condenser, wherein the casing has an internal space which is divided into a first space defined along a fan side lateral plate as a lateral plate of the casing, and a remaining second space, the air supplying fan and the air exhausting fan are disposed in the first space and the first and second heat exchangers and the switching mechanism are disposed in the second space, a compressor of the refrigerant circuit is disposed between the air supplying fan and the air exhausting fan in the first space of the casing, the casing is provided with a partition plate for partitioning the first space into an air supplying side space provided with the air supplying fan and the compressor, and an air exhausting side space provided with an air exhausting fan, and an operation in which air having passed through the first heat exchanger flows into the air supplying side space, and air having passed through the second heat exchanger flows into the air exhausting side space, and an operation in which air having passed through the second heat exchanger flows into the air supplying side space, and air having passed through the first heat exchanger flows into the air exhausting side space are alternatively performed.