1. Field of the Invention
It has always been a desire to manipulate atmospheric conditions for comfort and to meet specific conditions required for certain facilities. Typically, these prior art systems have directly heated or cooled the outside air or air return from a structure and then exhausted the air into the structure. One of the effects of heating or cooling an air stream is the resulting change in the moisture content of the air. It is well recognized that the comfort of a structure is not only dependent on the temperature of the atmosphere but also on the humidity level. It is also desired to maintain specific temperature and/or humidity levels in structures.
There is a need for an economical and efficient system that can treat air to achieve a determined zone of humidity and temperature within a structure and/or within a zone of a structure. The present invention provides a system for conditioning air that meets these demands in an economical and efficient manner.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of systems for conditioning air of known design and configurations is known in the prior art. More specifically, systems for conditioning air of known design and configurations previously devised and utilized for the purpose of conditioning air are known to consist basically of familiar, expected, and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which has been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
By way of example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,826,434 to Belding discloses a high efficiency outdoor air conditioning system. U.S. Pat. No. 6,199,388 to Fischer discloses a system and method for controlling temperature and humidity. U.S. Pat. No. 6,003,327 to Belding discloses a method and apparatus for cooling warm moisture-laden air. U.S. Pat. No. 5,667,560 to Dunne discloses a process and apparatus for dehumidification and VOC odor remediation. U.S. Pat. No. 5,649,428 to Calton et al. discloses a hybrid air-conditioning system with improved recovery evaporator and subcool condenser. Lastly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,632,954 to Coellner et al. discloses a method for killing microorganisms.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not describe a desiccant dehumidification system that allows removing humidity from the air while maintaining a desired comfort factor corresponding to a desired combination of temperature and humidity.
In this respect, the desiccant dehumidification system according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in doing so provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of removing humidity from the air while maintaining a desired comfort factor corresponding to a desired combination of temperature and humidity.
Therefore, it can be appreciated that there exists a continuing need for a new and improved desiccant dehumidification system which can be used for removing humidity from the air while maintaining a desired comfort factor corresponding to a desired combination of temperature and humidity In this regard, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.