Method and arrangement for dehumidifying interior air in off-shore installations

Abstract

The present invention concerns a method and an arrangement for dehumidifying and desalting interior air in off-shore installations. A simplified arrangement is presented wherein exterior intake air containing water rich in supersaturated and wet salt particles is pretreated with dry and salt free pretreatment air before entering a dehumidifying and de-salting unit from which the intake air exits as desalted and dehumidified exit air. A part of this desalted and dehumidified exit air is then redirected to the intake air flow path to serve as pretreatment air thereby simplifying construction and enhancing the lifetime of the dehumidifying and desalting unit.

Claims

1. An arrangement for dehumidifying an interior of an off-shore installation, in particular a wind energy plant, said interior sealed off or at least substantially sealed off from air exchange with an exterior of said off-shore installation; said dehumidifying arrangement comprising: an air-inlet for allowing intake of air from the exterior of said off-shore installation, a salt filter, a dehumidifier unit, an intake air flow path leading said intake air from said air-inlet to said dehumidifier via said salt filter; a flow path for desalted and dehumidified air leading from said dehumidifier to the interior of said off-shore installation; a regeneration flow path leading air from said interior to a regeneration air outlet via said dehumidifier wherein said dehumidifying arrangement further comprises an air mixing unit positioned in said intake air flow path upstream to said salt filter; and a return flow path arranged to direct a portion of a flow of said desalted and dehumidified air from said dehumidifier to said air mixing unit.

2. The arrangement according to claim 1, further comprising a recirculation flow path arranged to direct a portion of a flow of said desalted and dehumidified air from said dehumidifier to said regeneration flow path.

3. The arrangement according to claim 1, further comprising a heat exchanger arranged downstream from said dehumidifier in said flow path for desalted and dehumidified air after said return flow path.

4. The arrangement according to claim 1, further comprising a chiller arranged downstream from said dehumidifier in said flow path for desalted and dehumidified air after said return flow path.

5. A dehumidification unit comprising an arrangement according to claim 1.

6. An off-shore installation comprising at least one dehumidification unit according to claim 5.

7. The arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the dehumidifier unit is a desiccant rotary adsorption unit, a condenser unit or a heating unit.

8. The arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the mixing unit is a mixing duct; a mixing chamber having a passive air mixer or a mixing chamber having an active air mixer.

9. The arrangement according to claim 8, wherein the passive air mixer comprises passive augers.

10. The arrangement according to claim 8, wherein the active air mixer comprises a fan.

11. The dehumidification unit according to claim 5, further comprising a recirculation flow path arranged to direct a portion of a flow of said desalted and dehumidified air from said dehumidifier to said regeneration flow path.

12. The dehumidification unit according to claim 5, further comprising a heat exchanger arranged downstream from said dehumidifier in said flow path for desalted and dehumidified air after said return flow path.

13. The dehumidification unit according to claim 5, further comprising a chiller arranged downstream from said dehumidifier in said flow path for desalted and dehumidified air after said return flow path.

14. The arrangement according to claim 1, further comprising a recirculation flow path leading air from said interior to said air mixing unit.

15. The arrangement according to claim 1, further comprising a recirculation flow path leading air from said interior to said air mixing unit and a recirculation flow path arranged to direct a portion of a flow of said desalted and dehumidified air from said dehumidifier to said regeneration flow path.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1: Schematic drawing of a standard dehumidification system for installation in an off-shore wind turbine generating a pressure neutral internal airflow.

(2) FIG. 2: Schematic drawing of a standard dehumidification system for installation in an off-shore wind turbine generating an over-pressured internal airflow.

(3) FIG. 3: Schematic drawing of an exemplary embodiment of the dehumidification system according to the present invention.

(4) FIG. 4: Schematic drawing of an exemplary embodiment of the dehumidification system according to the present invention wherein the dehumidification system is further connected to a heat exchanger unit.

(5) FIG. 5: Schematic drawing of an exemplary embodiment of the dehumidification system according to the present invention wherein the dehumidification system is further connected to a chiller unit.

(6) FIG. 6: Schematic drawing of various positions within the wind turbine tower (A), Nacelle (C) or both (B) where it is contemplated that a system according to the present invention can be installed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(7) A problem of known art salt filters when these are installed as part of systems for dehumidifying air in off-shore installations is the short lifetimes associated with such filters and their reduced efficiency which are due to salt clogging of the filters.

(8) The present invention overcomes this problem by a constructionally simple modification of known dehumidification systems, whereby the efficiency and lifetime of salt filters are increased and the overall risk of spread of salt within the off-shore installation, maintenance time and repair costs for off-shore installations with installed dehumidifiers having a salt filter can be lowered.

(9) The fundamental problem with handling of outside salt in marine environments is related to the physico-chemical properties of salt as a function of the relative humidity. Depending on relative humidity, the state of the salt can be dry, supersaturated, or wet. Often all phases will exist in the air in the marine environment at the same time, with supersaturated and wet salt particles very often dominating the picture.

(10) Dry salt particles or salt particles having a dry surface can normally be handled in standard filters fitted to the size of the salt particles to be handled (typically filter class F8 and above).

(11) Supersaturated and especially wet particles are more delicate to filter. As the particles are wet, the salt will make a wet film on the filter increasing the risk of salt spray passing the filter unhindered thereby reducing the filter efficiency. Further, they have an increased tendency to clog the filter. This increases the demands on the design of such salt filters as well as inducing the risk of poor filtration and a high rate of parts replacement.

(12) The present invention suggests using some of the dehumidified air generated in the dehumidifier unit and recirculating this dehumidified air into the air feed for the dehumidifier before the air feed reaches the salt filter. By pretreating the air feed with dryer air, the relative humidity of the incoming air will already be lowered when it reaches the salt filter and the likelihood of the salt particles being in a supersaturated or wet physico-chemical state is thereby reduced, prevalently resulting in easy to filter salt particles and increased lifetimes of the salt filters.

(13) The skilled person will notice that other means for lowering the humidity can be applied to the air feed to the salt filters in order to reduce the relative humidity before the air feed reaches said filter, e.g. by heating the air feed. The present inventors however, have found that by producing a recirculation flow a particularly easy to handle, low maintenance, and energy efficient system for off-shore purposes is generated.

(14) What is disclosed is an arrangement (1) for dehumidifying the interior of an off-shore installation (2a,2b), in particular a wind energy plant, said interior being sealed off or at least substantially sealed off from air exchange with the exterior of said off-shore installation (2a,2b); said dehumidifying arrangement (1) comprising an air-inlet (4) for allowing intake of air from the exterior of said off-shore installation (2a,2b), a salt filter (11), a dehumidifier unit (12), an intake air flow path leading said intake air from said air-inlet (4) to said dehumidifier (12) via said salt filter (11); a flow path for desalted and dehumidified air (9) leading from said dehumidifier (12) to the interior of said off-shore installation (2a,2b); a regeneration flow path (8b) leading air from said interior to an air outlet (5) via said dehumidifier (12) characterized in that said dehumidifying arrangement (1) further comprises an air mixing unit (10) positioned in said intake air flow path upstream to said salt filter (11); and a return flow path (6) arranged to direct a portion of a flow of said desalted and dehumidified air from said dehumidifier (12) to said mixing unit (10); and/or a first recirculation flow path leading air from said interior to said mixing unit (10).

(15) In FIG. 3 is shown an exemplary embodiment of the present invention according to the preceding paragraph wherein the dehumidifier is disclosed in the form of a desiccant rotary adsorption unit and wherein additionally to the components disclosed above an air filter (14) and a heater (15) is shown as part of the regeneration flow path (8b) together with fans (13,16) for moving the air through the arrangement. In this exemplary embodiment, the air exits the dehumidifier (12) following a single flow path (7) and is split between the flow paths 6, 8a, and 9 downstream from the dehumidifier (12) and a fan 13. This arrangement is preferred but the invention is not limited by this. E.g. for some applications it will be advantageous to split the flow paths early before introducing fans to move the air.

(16) Also disclosed and shown in FIG. 3 is an arrangement as described above further comprising a second recirculation flow path (8a) arranged to direct a portion of a flow of said desalted and dehumidified air from said dehumidifier (12) to said regeneration flow path (8b).

(17) The air exiting the dehumidifier (12) will be warmer than the entry air as the dehumidification and desalting process releases some quantities of store energy from the system. If the air is destined to be used for cooling within the off-shore installation it is contemplated that the arrangement as described above can be extended through the use of a heat exchanger, e.g. a plate heat exchanger or simply cooled using a chiller. Due to the removal of the salt from the interior air an industrial quality chiller which is not necessarily specified for off-shore use may nonetheless be used in the arrangement.

(18) The use of a plate heat exchanger will require cooling with external air, which however, does not have to be salt free; on the contrary it can be advantageous to design the heat exchanger for regular whole unit exchange at system maintenance.

(19) Herein disclosed and shown in FIG. 4 is an arrangement as described above which further comprises a heat exchanger (17) arranged downstream from said dehumidifier (12) in said flow path for desalted and dehumidified air (9).

(20) In the exemplary embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 4, the air entering the heat exchanger (17) via the flow path (9) exits the heat exchanger via the flow path (18) while a coolant air flow (19) is transported through the heat exchanger by means of a fan (20).

(21) Also disclosed and shown in FIG. 5 is an arrangement as described above further comprising a chiller (22) arranged downstream from said dehumidifier (12) in said flow path for desalted and dehumidified air (9).

(22) Finally a dehumidification unit comprising an arrangement as described above and an off-shore installation comprising at least one dehumidification unit is disclosed.

(23) In further embodiments, the dehumidifier unit (12) is a desiccant rotary adsorption unit, a condensator unit or a heating unit.

(24) Further, the mixing unit (10) can be a mixing duct, a mixing chamber or a mixing unit having active means for mixing air flows such as e.g. a fan. Also the mixing unit can be constructed with means for passive mixing e.g. by means of passive augers.

(25) An arrangement, a dehumidification unit and an off-shore installation as described above offer several advantages including that the filtered and dehumidified air offers means for corrosion protection, means for cooling or heating an off-shore installation or means for supplying fresh air and clean air to further installations and units within the off-shore installation in need thereof.

(26) FIG. 6 shows exemplary embodiments of the possible locations for installing an arrangement or a unit according to the present invention. The further away from the sea level the arrangement or unit is installed; the lower the salt content of the intake air. This can be beneficial for some applications while for other applications it is preferred to install the arrangement or the unit close to the sea level within the off-shore installation. For some applications it may even be beneficial to install the arrangement outside the off-shore installation, e.g. in an adjacent shed, in order to improve accessibility to the arrangement for maintenance.

(27) The term comprising as used in the claims does not exclude other elements or steps. The term a or an as used in the claims does not exclude a plurality. The reference signs used in the claims shall not be construed as limiting the scope.

(28) Although the present invention has been described in detail for purpose of illustration, it is understood that such detail is solely for that purpose, and variations can be made therein by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention.