Device for humidifying an air stream

Abstract

A device for conditioning room air and/or process air, having a nozzle system that has a plurality of nozzles arranged in one or more nozzle branches, for atomising liquid, and at least one pump by means of which the liquid being atomised is pressurised, wherein said nozzles are designed as swirl nozzles and/or the pump applies a pressure to the liquid being atomised of between 3 and 50 bar. The liquid, particularly water, can be atomised particularly finely and a good degree of evaporation can be achieved, as a result of which the amount of water loss is also reduced. The device has a low susceptibility to failure, a long pump service life and low maintenance requirements.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An apparatus for humidifying an air stream, comprising:
 (a) a nozzle system which has multiple nozzles for atomizing liquid,   (b) at least one pump, by means of which the liquid to be atomized is subjected to pressure,   wherein   (c) the multiple nozzles are designed in the form of swirl nozzles which are arranged in one or more nozzle bars, and/or   (d) the at least one pump is designed such that the pressure of the liquid to be atomized is between 3 and 50 bar.   
     
     
         2 . The apparatus as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the nozzles are designed in the form of simplex nozzles. 
     
     
         3 . The apparatus as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the multiple nozzles each have at least one filter apparatus, which is integrated into the nozzle. 
     
     
         4 . The apparatus as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the at least one pump is designed in the form of a centrifugal pump. 
     
     
         5 . The apparatus as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the at least one pump is designed in the form of a reciprocating-piston pump. 
     
     
         6 . The apparatus as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the pressure provided by the at least one pump is between 20 and 50 bar. 
     
     
         7 . The apparatus as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the pressure provided by the at least one pump is between 3 and 30 bar. 
     
     
         8 . The apparatus as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the multiple nozzles are arranged on a nozzle assembly which is equipped with turbulators. 
     
     
         9 . The apparatus as claimed in  claim 8 , wherein the turbulators are arranged upstream of the multiple nozzles in the air stream. 
     
     
         10 . The apparatus as claimed in  claim 1 , further comprising at least one adjustment apparatus for setting the orientation of one or more of the multiple nozzles of the nozzle system. 
     
     
         11 . The apparatus as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein nozzles from the multiple nozzles of a first nozzle bar have a degree of atomization which differs from the degree of atomization of nozzles from the multiple nozzles of a second nozzle bar. 
     
     
         12 . The apparatus as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein nozzles of the multiple nozzles which follow one another along a nozzle bar each have a different orientation. 
     
     
         13 . The apparatus as claimed in  claim 1 , further comprising a control apparatus, the control apparatus regulating the supply of liquid to the multiple nozzles. 
     
     
         14 . The apparatus as claimed in  claim 13 , wherein multiple nozzle bars are each coupled to a valve apparatus, by means of which the supply of liquid to the corresponding nozzle bar is able to be regulated. 
     
     
         15 . The apparatus as claimed in  claim 13 , wherein provision is made of at least one sensor which is coupled to the control apparatus and which serves for measuring humidity in the air stream. 
     
     
         16 . An installation for the treatment of workpieces comprising: a conditioning apparatus for waste air, wherein the conditioning apparatus comprises an apparatus for humidifying an air stream as claimed in  claim 1 . 
     
     
         17 . The apparatus as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the pressure provided by the at least one pump is between 8 and 25 bar.