Air conditioning system

An air conditioning system comprising:

• a process air passage for flowing process air;
• a regeneration air passage for flowing regeneration air;
• a desiccant device which can be selectively communicated with either said process air passage or said regeneration air passage;
• and
• a heat pump device for supplying a heating heat for regenerating said desiccant device to said regeneration air, said heat pump device having a compressor and workable on process air as a low temperature heat source and regeneration air as a low temperature heat source,
• wherein superheated vapor of a compressed refrigerant flowing out from said compressor is used to heat a portion of said regeneration air in said regeneration air passage upstream of said desiccant device,
• and wherein said system is constructed such that said desiccant device is communicable with at least a first passage region for performing dehumidification of said process air, a second passage region for performing a first regeneration process of said desiccant device and a third passage region for performing a second regeneration process of said desiccant device, and said desiccant device is designed so that a desiccant material sequentially passes said first, second and third passage regions;
• said high temperature heat source of said heat pump device is comprised by at least two heat exchangers so that said outflowing refrigerant from said compressor flows successively from a first high temperature heat exchanger into a second high temperature heat exchanger among said heat exchangers;
• and regeneration air, after flowing through said second high temperature heat exchanger, is split into two passages so that a portion of said regeneration air flows through one of said two passages into said second passage region to perform said first regeneration process, and a remaining portion of said regeneration air, after flowing through said first high temperature heat exchanger, passes through another of said two passages into said third passage region to perform said second regeneration process.

A desiccant assisted air conditioning system comprising:

• a process air passage for flowing process air;
• a regeneration air passage for flowing regeneration air;
• a desiccant device which can be selectively communicated with either said process air passage or said regeneration air passage;
• and
• a heat pump device for supplying a heating heat for regenerating said desiccant device to said regeneration air, said heat pump device having a compressor and workable on process air as a low temperature heat source and regeneration air as a high temperature heat source,
• wherein said refrigerant flowing into said compressor of said heat pump device is heated with a saturated vapor of compressed refrigerant to raise a temperature of compressed refrigerant so as to enhance said heating ability for heating said regeneration air.