Heat and mass transfer devices with wettable layers for forming falling films
Assignee3M Innovative Properties Company
InventorsThomas J. Hamlin, Rajeev Dhiman, Laurence W. Bassett
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Abstract
A falling film of liquid desiccant in direct contact with a gas stream is formed, which allows water vapor transfer between a gas stream (air) and the desiccant, enabling dehumidification and/or humidification of air. Thin films are created in one way by a wettable layer that is in contact with a support structure and in another way directly on the support structure. The devices can be installed on an absorber (conditioner) side or a desorber (regenerator) side or both of air conditioning systems; for example, liquid desiccant air conditioning (LDAC) applications.
Claims24
A heat and mass transfer module comprising:
- one or more support structures;
- one or more wettable layers in contact with the support structure;
- a gas contact zone adjacent to the wettable layer;
- a fluid distribution system comprising one or more headers that define a fluid reservoir;
- and
- a fluid collection system comprising one or more footers having a stepped feature;
- and
- at least one end plate.
A method of making a heat and mass transfer module, the method comprising:
- forming a gas contact zone adjacent to one or more support structures by assembling the one or more support structures with at least one end plate, a fluid distribution system comprising one or more headers that define a fluid reservoir, and a fluid collection system comprising one or more footers having a stepped feature to form the module.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.