Dehumidification system for vehicle

Abstract

A dehumidification system for a vehicle includes a duct and a desiccant dehumidifier. The duct includes inside and outside air inlets, an air passage, a flap, an air outlet communicating with the vehicle interior, a heat source and an outside air heat exchanger. The desiccant dehumidifier includes a desiccant rotor, a humidity conditioning air passage, a dehumidified air passage, a regeneration passage, a humidified air passage and a regeneration heater. The air from the heat source is introduced into the desiccant rotor through the humidity conditioning air passage and introduced to the air outlet through the dehumidified air passage. The air from the heat source is introduced into the desiccant rotor through the regeneration passage and flowed through the humidified air passage. The outside air heat exchanger includes a heat exchanger, an outside air passage, a heated outside air passage and a cooled humidified air passage.

1 . A dehumidification system for a vehicle comprising:
 a duct including:
 an inside air inlet communicating with the vehicle interior and through which air from the vehicle interior is introduced into the duct; 
 an outside air inlet communicating with the outside of the vehicle and through which air from the outside of the vehicle is introduced into the duct; 
 an air passage positioned downstream of the inside air inlet and the outside air inlet; 
 a flap operable to provide air communication between the inside air inlet and the air passage and/or the outside air inlet and the air passage; and 
 an air outlet communicating with the vehicle interior and the air passage at a position downstream of the flap; and 
 a heat source disposed in the air passage for heating the air from the inside air inlet and/or the outside air inlet, 
   a desiccant dehumidifier disposed downstream of the heat source in the air passage and including:
 a desiccant rotor dehumidifying the air; 
 a humidity conditioning air passage through which the air from the heat source is introduced into the desiccant rotor; 
 a dehumidified air passage through which the air from the humidity conditioning air passage via the desiccant rotor is introduced to the air outlet, 
 a regeneration passage through which the air from the heat source is introduced into the desiccant rotor; 
 a regeneration heater disposed in the regeneration passage for heating the air from the heat source; and 
 a humidified air passage through which the air from the regeneration passage via the desiccant rotor is flowed, and 
   an outside air heat exchanger including:
 a heat exchanger communicating with the humidified air passage; 
 an outside air passage communicating the outside of the vehicle to the heat exchanger for introducing air from the outside of the vehicle; 
 a heated outside air passage through which the air from the outside air passage via the heat exchanger is introduced to the air outlet; and 
 a cooled humidified air passage through which the air from the humidified air passage via the heat exchanger is introduced to the outside of the vehicle. 
   
     
     
         2 . The dehumidification system according to  claim 1 , wherein the heat source is a heat exchanger, and the heat exchanger of the heat source including:
 a heat exchange medium whose heat is transferred to the air from the inside and/or outside of the vehicle by heat exchange;   a first inlet through which the heat exchange medium is introduced; and   a first outlet through which the heat exchange medium is discharged,   the dehumidification system further comprising a heat accumulator accumulating heat, the heat accumulator including:   a second inlet through which the heat exchange medium is introduced; and   a second outlet through which the heat exchange medium is discharged, and pipes connecting the first air outlet to the second air inlet and the first air inlet to the second air outlet.   
     
     
         3 . The dehumidification system according to  claim 2 , wherein the heat accumulator further includes a heat storage medium whose heat is transferred to the heat exchange medium by heat exchange, and in that the heat storage medium is thermally insulated from outside. 
     
     
         4 . The dehumidification system according to  claim 3 , characterized in that the heat accumulator accumulating heat generated while the vehicle is parked. 
     
     
         5 . The dehumidification system according to  claim 2 , wherein the heat exchanger of the heat source includes a first heat exchanger and a second heat exchanger, and in that the heat accumulator of the first heat exchanger is a heat collector collecting exhaust heat generated in the vehicle, and the heat accumulator of the second heat exchanger includes the heat storage medium. 
     
     
         6 . The dehumidification system according to  claim 5 , wherein the pipes have first pipes connecting the heat collector to the first heat exchanger and second pipes connecting the heat accumulator to the second heat exchanger, and valves are disposed in the second pipes, wherein the valves are opened to supply the heat exchange medium to the second heat exchanger when the amount of the exhaust heat generated in the vehicle is relatively small, and the valves are closed to stop supplying the heat exchange medium to the second heat exchanger when the amount of the exhaust heat generated in the vehicle is relatively large. 
     
     
         7 . The dehumidification system according to  claim 1 , wherein the regeneration heater is an electric heater. 
     
     
         8 . The dehumidification system according to  claim 1 , wherein an upstream blower is disposed upstream of the heat source and a downstream blower is disposed upstream of the air outlet in the air passage. 
     
     
         9 . The dehumidification system according to  claim 1 , wherein the heat source is an electric heater.