"The global market for total heat exchange systems is about 470 billion yen, and it is generally believed that the growth rate is about 5%. With this growth trend, Toray believes that the market for heat exchange membranes will also expand.
Toray Co., Ltd. is the world's top material manufacturer. In addition to the initial fiber, it has also created many products in various fields such as resins, chemicals, films and carbon fiber composite materials, electronic information materials, medicine and medical treatment, water treatment and the environment. Cutting-edge materials and high value-added products.
At the end of December 2021, Toray announced the successful development of a high-performance heat exchange membrane for total heat exchange elements. According to reports, the heat exchange filter membrane has excellent thermal conductivity, moisture permeability, gas barrier properties, and has water resistance and virus resistance.
The so-called total heat exchange ventilation system, that is, the exchange of temperature (sensible heat) and humidity (latent heat) between the intake air from the outside and the exhaust air from the room, and by controlling the change of the indoor temperature and humidity during the ventilation, there are Helps reduce air conditioning load and improve comfort in the living room. Among them, the exchange of temperature and humidity is carried out through heat exchange filter paper inside the components installed in the system.
For heat exchange membranes, the most important are thermal conductivity and moisture permeability for conducting temperature and humidity. In addition, in order to prevent carbon dioxide and odor contained in the exhaust gas from being mixed into the intake air, it is necessary to have a gas barrier function for blocking. The problem with traditional heat exchange membranes is that thin film paper is a commonly used material, but porous paper is difficult to completely shield the gas, and after long-term use, the dirt accumulated in the element is difficult to wash and remove.
Schematic illustration of heat conduction, moisture permeability and gas shielding of the heat exchange filter membrane. "The difficulty in the development of a new heat exchange membrane is how to take into account the moisture permeability and water resistance (cleaning resistance) of this membrane." Masanobu Takeda said that the newly announced product was from the initial exploration and discussion to the start of research and development. After 6 years, "In order to exhibit moisture permeability, a resin material with moisture permeability is laminated on Toray's exclusive porous film, and conventional moisture-permeable materials are easily soluble in water, so the resin is easily lost when washing with water. The problem of peeling and peeling has become a problem for Toray's development." The thickness of the heat exchange filter membrane is only about 1/5 of that of the conventional paper-made heat exchange filter membrane, and the thermal conductivity is better, and at the same time, it has about 1.2 times. High moisture permeability and 20 times more gas barrier properties, the performance will not be reduced after washing with water or neutral lotion.
Toray said that this filter membrane is suitable for the components of the total heat exchange system, which can achieve a total heat exchange efficiency of more than 80%, an effective air exchange rate of more than 99%, and its performance remains unchanged after washing. The so-called total heat exchange efficiency refers to the total heat exchange efficiency in the air, which is the sum of temperature (sensible heat) and humidity (latent heat). content rate. In addition, the filter membrane has passed the tests of antibacterial, mildew resistance and virus penetration, and its excellent performance has been practically verified.
Takeda Masanobu revealed that the product has officially entered the sales stage from this year, and the specific sales model is still being formulated. For some customers, Toray now offers sample purchase services. Regarding the Chinese market, he said, "The latest forecast of China's total heat exchange ventilation system market has a market of about 200 billion yen (about 11.1 billion yuan), and its continued growth in the future is optimistic."