Portable liquid desiccant dehumidifier

A liquid desiccant dehumidifier comprising, in combination:

• a liquid desiccant absorber for absorbing moisture contained in ambient air passing through said desiccant absorber, said desiccant absorber being adapted to receive concentrated liquid desiccant and dispense dilute liquid desiccant;
• a boiler for boiling dilute liquid desiccant to generate steam by evaporating moisture from the liquid desiccant and reconstituting it into concentrated liquid desiccant;
• a condenser communicating with said boiler and said absorber so as to receive steam generated by said boiler and receive dilute liquid desiccant from said absorber, said condenser being operable to sensibly heat the dilute liquid desiccant therein by recovering the latent heat of condensation as steam received from said boiler is condensed to thereby heat said dilute liquid desiccant prior to delivery to said boiler;
• and
• a heat exchanger communicating with said condenser, said boiler and said absorber, said heat exchanger being operable to transfer heat from concentrated liquid desiccant directed to said heat exchanger from said boiler to the heated dilute liquid desiccant directed to said heat exchanger from said condenser to further heat the dilute liquid desiccant prior to delivery to said boiler, said heat exchanger comprising at least one tube assembly including an inner tube concentrically disposed within an outer tube to define an annulus therebetween, said at least one tube assembly being coiled around said boiler to recover waste heat from said boiler.

A liquid desiccant dehumidifier comprising, in combination:

• a liquid desiccant absorber for absorbing moisture contained in ambient air passing through said desiccant absorber, said desiccant absorber being operative to receive concentrated liquid desiccant and dispense dilute liquid desiccant, a boiler for receiving and boiling dilute liquid desiccant to evaporate moisture and generate steam therefrom so as to reconstitute the liquid desiccant into concentrated liquid desiccant;
• a first heat exchanger adapted to receive dilute liquid desiccant from said desiccant absorber and transfer heat to said dilute liquid desiccant from concentrated liquid desiccant so as to raise the temperature of the dilute liquid desiccant to a first temperature;
• a condenser communicating with said boiler and said first heat exchanger so as to receive steam generated by said boiler and dilute liquid desiccant from said first heat exchanger at substantially said first temperature, said condenser being operative to sensibly heat the dilute liquid desiccant therein to a second temperature by subjecting said dilute liquid desiccant to latent heat resulting from condensation of steam received from said boiler without directly exposing said dilute liquid desiccant to air,
• a second heat exchanger communicating with said condenser, said boiler and said first heat exchanger, said second heat exchanger being operative to receive concentrated liquid desiccant from said boiler and transfer heat to dilute liquid desiccant received from said condenser so as to raise the temperature of the dilute liquid desiccant to a third temperature, said dilute liquid desiccant at the third temperature being directed to said boiler, and said concentrated liquid desiccant from said boiler being directed to said first heat exchanger, said second heat exchanger being disposed with respect to said boiler to recover waste heat from said boiler;
• and
• means for pumping concentrated liquid desiccant into said absorber.

A liquid desiccant dehumidifier comprising, in combination:

• a liquid desiccant absorber for absorbing moisture contained in ambient air entering the dehumidifier and passing through said desiccant absorber, said desiccant absorber being constructed and arranged for receiving concentrated liquid desiccant and dispensing dilute liquid desiccant,
• a boiler for boiling dilute liquid desiccant to evaporate moisture to reconstitute the liquid desiccant into concentrated liquid desiccant;
• a first heat exchanger operable to transfer heat from concentrated liquid desiccant to dilute liquid desiccant directed to said first heat exchanger from said desiccant absorber so as to raise the temperature of the dilute liquid desiccant to a first temperature, said first heat exchanger being disposed below said desiccant absorber to enable dilute liquid desiccant from said absorber to be gravity fed to said first heat exchanger;
• a condenser fluidly communicating with said boiler to receive steam generated by boiling liquid desiccant in said boiler, said condenser further fluidly communicating with said first heat exchanger to receive dilute liquid desiccant from said first heat exchanger at substantially said first temperature, said condenser being operable to sensibly heat the dilute liquid desiccant therein to a second temperature by recovering the latent heat of condensation as steam received from said boiler is condensed, said condenser being configured to sensibly heat said dilute liquid desiccant without directly exposing said liquid desiccant to air, said condenser being disposed below said first heat exchanger to enable dilute liquid desiccant from said first heat exchanger to be gravity fed to said condenser;
• a second heat exchanger fluidly communicating with said condenser, said boiler and said first heat exchanger, said second heat exchanger being operable to transfer heat from concentrated liquid desiccant directed to said second heat exchanger from said boiler to the dilute liquid desiccant directed to said second heat exchanger from said condenser at said second temperature to raise the temperature of the dilute liquid desiccant to a third temperature, said dilute liquid desiccant at the third temperature being directed to said boiler, said second heat exchanger being disposed with respect to said boiler to recover waste heat from said boiler and being disposed below said condenser to enable dilute liquid desiccant from said condenser to be gravity fed to said second heat exchanger and to said boiler;
• and
• means for pumping concentrated liquid desiccant to said absorber.

A method for absorbing moisture contained in ambient air, said method comprising the steps of:

• passing ambient air through a liquid desiccant absorber having concentrated liquid desiccant therein operative to absorb moisture contained in the ambient air so as to create dilute liquid desiccant;
• passing the dilute liquid desiccant from the absorber to a boiler operative to boil the dilute liquid desiccant to remove moisture in the form of steam and reconstitute the dilute liquid desiccant into concentrated liquid desiccant;
• passing steam from the boiler to a condenser;
• passing dilute liquid desiccant from the absorber to said condenser prior to passage to said boiler, said condenser being operative to recover latent heat of condensation from said steam and sensibly heat the dilute liquid desiccant without directly exposing the dilute liquid desiccant to air;
• and
• passing said heated dilute liquid desiccant from the condenser to the boiler.