Drying System, Dryer Cartridge, and Use of a Dryer Cartridge

Abstract

A drying system for removal of water from a liquid is provided with a device for receiving the liquid and a dryer cartridge with a cartridge body and a connection head arranged at the cartridge body. The cartridge body has a cartridge body wall delimiting a receiving chamber, at least in sections thereof, wherein the cartridge body wall allows the liquid to pass into and out of the receiving chamber. A drying agent is received in the receiving chamber. The connection head of the dryer cartridge is fastened to a housing wall of the device for receiving the liquid and secures the dryer cartridge at the device for receiving the liquid so that the cartridge body is fixed relative to the housing wall.

Claims

1. A drying system for removal of water from a liquid, the drying system comprising: a device for receiving the liquid; a dryer cartridge comprising a cartridge body and a connection head arranged at the cartridge body; wherein the cartridge body comprises a cartridge body wall delimiting a receiving chamber, at least in sections thereof, wherein the cartridge body wall is configured to allow the liquid to pass into and out of the receiving chamber; a drying agent received in the receiving chamber; wherein the connection head of the dryer cartridge is fastened to a housing wall of the device for receiving the liquid and secures the dryer cartridge at the device for receiving the liquid so that the cartridge body is fixed relative to the housing wall.

2. The drying system according to claim 1, wherein the connection head of the dryer cartridge is releasably connected to the housing wall of the device for receiving the liquid.

3. The drying system according to claim 1, wherein the dryer cartridge is fastened with form fit to the housing wall.

4. The drying system according to claim 1, wherein the housing wall comprises an opening and wherein the dryer cartridge is fastened in the opening of the housing wall.

5. The drying system according to claim 4, wherein the connection head of the dryer cartridge is screwed into the opening of the housing wall.

6. The drying system according to claim 5, further comprising a sealing element arranged between the connection head of the dryer cartridge and a housing wall portion of the housing wall surrounding the opening.

7. The drying system according to claim 6, wherein the sealing element comprises one or more seals selected from the group consisting of an O-ring, a shaped seal, and a flat seal.

8. The drying system according to claim 1, wherein the device for receiving the liquid comprises a compensation tank and wherein the dryer cartridge is fastened in the compensation tank.

9. The drying system according to claim 1, wherein the drying agent comprises an adsorber material.

10. The drying system according to claim 9, wherein the adsorber material is a molecular sieve.

11. The drying system according to claim 10, wherein the molecular sieve is a zeolite molecular sieve.

12. The drying system according to claim 1, wherein the drying agent comprises two different drying agent components.

13. The drying system according to claim 13, wherein the two different drying agent components are arranged spatially separated from each other in the receiving chamber or are uniformly distributed in the receiving chamber.

14. The drying system according to claim 1, wherein the cartridge body wall comprises one or more elements selected from the group consisting of a screen, a spunbond material, a nonwoven, and a filter medium.

15. The drying system according to claim 1, wherein the cartridge body wall comprises pores with a pore size in a range between 1 μm and 5,000 μm.

16. The drying system according to claim 1, further comprising a drying agent bag, wherein the drying agent is arranged in the drying agent bag and the drying agent bag is received in the receiving chamber.

17. A dryer cartridge for a drying system for removal of water from a liquid, wherein the drying system comprises a device for receiving the liquid, the dryer cartridge comprising: a cartridge body and a connection head arranged at the cartridge body; wherein the cartridge body comprises a cartridge body wall delimiting a receiving chamber, at least in sections thereof, wherein the cartridge body wall is configured to allow the liquid to pass into and out of the receiving chamber; a drying agent received in the receiving chamber; wherein the connection head of the dryer cartridge is configured to be fastened to a housing wall of the device for receiving the liquid and configured to secure the dryer cartridge at the device for receiving the liquid so that the cartridge body is fixed relative to the housing wall.

18. A method of drying a liquid in a device for receiving the liquid, the method comprising: providing a dryer cartridge, comprising a cartridge body and a connection head arranged at the cartridge body, wherein the cartridge body comprises a cartridge body wall delimiting a receiving chamber, at least in sections thereof, wherein the cartridge body wall is configured to allow the liquid to pass into and out of the receiving chamber, wherein a drying agent is received in the receiving chamber; fastening the connection head of the dryer cartridge to a housing wall of the device for receiving the liquid to secure the dryer cartridge at the device for receiving the liquid so that the cartridge body is fixed relative to the housing wall and to expose the liquid to the drying agent received in the receiving chamber.

19. The method according to claim 18, further comprising; immersing a first region of the dryer cartridge in the liquid and arranging a second region of the dryer cartridge in a head space above the liquid, wherein the drying agent in the first region comprises a drying agent for absorbing water from the liquid and wherein the drying agent in the second region comprises a drying agent for absorbing water from air.

20. The method according to claim 18, further comprising selecting the liquid from the group consisting of an electrically nonconducting insulation oil, a cooling oil, and a cooling agent.

21. The method according to claim 20, wherein the insulation oil contains a polyol ester oil; a poly-alpha-olefin; or a polyol ester oil and a poly-alpha-olefin.

22. The method according to claim 18, wherein the device for receiving the liquid comprises at least one of a transmission, an electric motor, a fuel cell, a transformer, a rechargeable battery, and a thermal management system.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0039] Further features and advantages of the invention result from the following detailed description of embodiments of the invention, from the claims as well as based on the Figures of the drawing showing details according to the invention. The aforementioned and still to be described features can be realized individually on their own or several combined in any combinations in variants of the invention. The features disclosed in the drawing are illustrated such that the particularities according to the invention can be made clearly visible.

[0040] FIG. 1 shows a drying system with a dryer cartridge which is screwed into an opening of a compensation tank, in a schematic perspective view with partially sectioned compensation tank.

[0041] FIG. 2 shows a dryer cartridge of a drying system in a schematic side view.

[0042] FIG. 3 shows a dryer cartridge of a drying system in a schematic longitudinal section.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

[0043] FIG. 1 shows a drying system 10. The drying system 10 comprises a device for receiving a fluid. The device for receiving the fluid comprises here a compensation tank 12, i.e., a container which is filled in changing ratios partially with the liquid and partially with air. The compensation tank 12 is illustrated in FIG. 1 partially sectioned. The drying system 10 comprises furthermore a dryer cartridge 14. In regard to the construction of the dryer cartridge 14, reference is being had additionally to FIGS. 2 and 3.

[0044] The dryer cartridge 14 comprises a cartridge body 16 and a connection head 18. The cartridge body 16 and the connection head 18 are here embodied together as one piece as an injection molded part of plastic material.

[0045] The dryer cartridge 14 is screwed with its connection head 18 into an opening 20 of a housing wall 22 of the compensation tank 12. The connection head 18 is provided with an outer thread 24 for this purpose. By being screwed into the opening 20, the dryer cartridge 14 is connected with form fit to the housing wall 22 of the compensation tank 12. For sealing, a sealing element 26, here an O-ring, is provided that is arranged between the connection head 18 and the housing wall 22 forming the opening 20. For receiving the sealing element 26, the connection head 18 comprises a groove 28 in which the sealing element 26 is held in the not yet mounted state of the dryer cartridge 14.

[0046] By attachment of the connection head 18 at the housing wall 22, the cartridge body 16 is fixed relative to the housing wall 22. In the fastened state, the cartridge body 16 cannot move relative to the compensation tank 12. The dryer cartridge 14 with the cartridge body 16 and the connection head 18 is embodied here as a whole as a rigid component. By screwing the connection head 18 into the opening 20 of the housing wall 22, in particular a pure translation of the cartridge body 16 relative to the housing wall 22 is prevented. Here, the only possible movement of the dryer cartridge 14 relative to the compensation tank 12 is a screwing movement (combined translation and rotation that are coupled by the thread pitch of the outer thread 24). Without releasing the attachment of the connection head 18 at the housing wall 22, the cartridge body 16 is typically (thus also here) not movable—neither by translation nor rotation—relative to the housing wall 22.

[0047] Alternative embodiments of the drying system 10 with the dryer cartridge 14 are conceivable in which the cartridge body 16 in the fastened state of the connection head 18 is rotatable, for example, about a longitudinal axis of the cartridge body 16 without the (translatory) position of the cartridge body 16 being changed, by the way. For this purpose, the connection head 18 can be embodied, for example, round in cross section and can be secured at the opening 20 by being clipped by means of a pushed-on clip (not illustrated).

[0048] The cartridge body 16 forms a receiving chamber 30. The receiving chamber 30 is surrounded by a cartridge body wall 32 through which the fluid can flow. The wall 32 that can be flowed through is here formed by a screen 34. The screen 34 can be formed as one piece together with the cartridge body 16. Presently, the screen 34 is embodied as a component separate from the cartridge body 16 and is inserted into the cartridge body 16. The screen 34 is supported, here from the interior, by a grid-type support structure 35 of the dryer cartridge 14. The screen can comprise pores (meshes) 36 with a pore size (mesh width) of, for example, 150 μm. In FIG. 2, threads 37 that are forming the screen 34 are illustrated extending at a slant to the longitudinal axis of the cartridge body 16. In FIG. 3, the threads 37 of the screen 34 are illustrated so as to extend transversely and parallel to the longitudinal axis of the cartridge body 16. In other respects, the dryer cartridges 14 according to FIGS. 2 and 3 are identically constructed.

[0049] The cartridge body 16 comprises here a venting opening 38 at the bottom end. After insertion of the screen 39 and filling the drying agent into the receiving chamber 30, the fill opening 38 is closed by means of a cover part 40. The cover part 40 is glued or welded here to the cartridge body 16.

[0050] In the receiving chamber 30, drying agent (not illustrated in detail) is received. The drying agent comprises here two different drying agent components, i.e., a silica gel and a zeolite molecular sieve. The two drying agent components are arranged, separated spatially from each other, in the receiving chamber 30. For this purpose, a separation element 41 can divide the receiving chamber 30, preferably transversely to its longitudinal direction. The silica gel is arranged in the receiving chamber 30 closer to the connection head 18. Facing away from the connection head 18, i.e., here closer to the cover part 40, the zeolite molecular sieve is arranged.

[0051] In an alternative embodiment of the dryer cartridge 14, not illustrated in detail, the drying agent can be accommodated in one or a plurality of drying agent bags that, in turn, are arranged in the receiving chamber 30. The drying agent bag or bags can be provided instead of or in addition to the screen 34. A first drying agent bag can contain a first drying agent component and a second drying agent bag can contain a second drying agent component. When using drying agent bags, a separation element in the receiving chamber 30 for spatial separation of the drying agent components can be dispensed with. The drying agent can be present in bead shape and filled into the drying agent bag.

[0052] In the receiving chamber, an elastic element, for example, a spring, can be arranged which produces a pretension so that the drying agent is arranged substantially immobile in the dryer cartridge 14 during operation. For example, the elastic element is arranged between cover part 40 and drying agent or between drying agent and connection head. Due to the elastic element, abrasion of the drying agent is avoided, in particular in case that the drying agent is present in the form of beads because a relative movement of the beads is prevented or at least reduced.

[0053] The drying system 10 comprises here, in addition to the compensation tank 12 and the dryer cartridge 14, an electrical device, namely a rechargeable battery (not illustrated on detail). The rechargeable battery serves as a buffer battery for intermediate storage of regeneratively produced electrical energy and its supply to a power network, for example, of an residential building.

[0054] In operation of the drying system 10, fluid, not illustrated in detail, is contained in the compensation tank 12. The fluid is here an electrically nonconducting insulation oil which is employed for cooling the electrical device, i.e., here the rechargeable battery. The fluid flows through an inlet 42 into the compensation tank 12. Through an outlet 44, the fluid is then returned again to the electrical device. In this way, a fluid level is adjusted in the compensation tank 12. The compensation tank 12 is typically filled approximately to one half or three fourths with the fluid. By temperature-caused volume change of the fluid, a filling level of the fluid in the compensation tank 12 fluctuates in operation. Also, loss or refill of fluid leads to a change of the filling level in the compensation tank 12.

[0055] In operation of the drying system 10, the receiving chamber 30 of the cartridge body 16 is partially immersed in the fluid and partially arranged in a head space above the fluid. Typically, the receiving chamber 30 is immersed with about two thirds of its length in the fluid. The immersion depth can fluctuate due to the above described changes of the fluid level during the operation of the drying system 10, i.e., during the use of the dryer cartridge 14. The two different drying agent components are arranged such in the receiving chamber 30 that, for a usual filling level (fluid level) in the compensation tank 12, a first drying agent component, here the silica gel, is located in the head space above the fluid. A second drying agent component, here the zeolite molecular sieve, is immersed in the fluid at the usual fluid level. In this way, an efficient drying of the air in the compensation tank 12 as well as of the fluid can be effected.