Under the epidemic situation, the world is paying more and more attention to "ventilation", and Toray, a top material supplier, has developed high-performance heat exchange membranes

"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. Recently, Masanobu Takeda, director of the Environmental Resources Development Office of the Environment and Resource Development Center of Toray Co., Ltd., told the surging news (www.thepaper.cn) reporter that under the situation of the new crown virus, the world's emphasis on ventilation is increasing.

Toray Corporation, formerly known as Toyo Rayon Co., Ltd., was founded in 1926. Wood pulp as raw material rayon is the first chemical fiber manufactured by human beings, and Toray, which started with fiber technology, has grown into the world's top material manufacturer in the past hundred years of development, in addition to the initial fiber, but also in resins, chemicals, films and carbon fiber composites, electronic information materials, medicine and medical treatment, water treatment and environment and other fields to create a variety of cutting-edge materials, high value-added products.

Previously, at the end of December 2021, Toray announced the successful development of a high-performance heat exchange membrane for full heat exchange elements. According to reports, the heat exchange membrane has excellent thermal conductivity, moisture permeability, gas shielding, and has water resistance and virus resistance.

The so-called full heat exchange ventilation system, that is, the exchange of temperature (sensible heat) and humidity (latent heat) between the intake air from the outdoor and the exhaust air from the room, helps to reduce the air conditioning load and improve the comfort of the living room by controlling the change of indoor temperature and humidity during the ventilation. Among them, the exchange of temperature and humidity is carried out by heat exchange filter paper inside the components installed in the system.

For heat exchange membranes, the most important thing is the thermal conductivity and moisture permeability of the conductive temperature and humidity. Moreover, in order to prevent the carbon dioxide and odor contained in the exhaust gas from mixing into the intake air, it is necessary to have a gas shielding function to block it. The problem of the traditional heat exchange membrane 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 components is difficult to wash and remove.

Thermal conductivity, moisture permeability and gas shielding of heat exchange membranes.

"The difficulty in the development of the new heat exchange membrane is how to balance the moisture permeability and water resistance (cleaning resistance) of this membrane." Takeda Masanobu said that the newly announced product has gone through 6 years from the initial exploration and discussion to the start of research and development, "In order to present moisture permeability, the resin material with moisture permeability was pressed on the upper layer of Toray's exclusive porous film, and the conventional moisture permeability material is easily soluble in water, so the problem of resin loss and peeling when washing with water has become a topic in Toray's development." ”

The thickness of the heat exchange membrane is only about 1/5 of the previous paper heat exchange membrane, the thermal conductivity is better, and it has about 1.2 times the high moisture permeability and more than 20 times the gas shielding, and the performance will not be reduced after washing with water or neutral lotion.

Toray said that this membrane is suitable for the components of the full heat exchange system, which can achieve a full 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 with temperature (sensible heat) and humidity (latent heat); the effective air exchange rate is the content of the air supply from the outdoor to the indoor and the external gas (fresh air). In addition, the membrane has passed the test of antibacterial, mildew resistance and virus penetration, and its excellent performance has been verified in practice.

Takeda Masanobu revealed that the product has officially entered the sales stage since this year, and the specific sales model is still under development. For some customers, Toray now offers sample purchase services. Regarding the Chinese market, he said, "The latest forecast for China's total heat exchange ventilation system market is that it has a market of about 200 billion yen (about 11.1 billion yuan), and the future growth is optimistic." ”