JPS5827685A - Sterilized water-making unit - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To remove bacteria and pyrogen from water to be treated, by accommodating hollow fiber filtration membranes in a housing divided into a plurality of chambers by one or more hollow fiber-supporting partiton bodies to constitute a filter. CONSTITUTION:Hollow fibers 3 are bundled and fixed in a housing 1 by a partition body 2 dividing the interior of the housing 1 into two chambers A and B,so that all of the hollow opened parts of the hollow fibers 3 are bottled up. Water to be treated flowing into the housing 1 through its water inlet 4 is temporarily stored in the chamber A inside the housing, once filtered at the hollow fiber wall membrane parts in the chamber A, let flow through the hollow parts of the hollow fibers to those of the hollow fibers in the chamber B and then from the interiors of the hollow fibers toward the hollow fiber wall membrane parts, filtered,and discharged as objective sterilized water from the part of a purified water outlet 5 in the chamber B.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a waterless water production system used for medical purposes, pharmaceutical industry, research, etc., and its purpose is to provide a unit that is extremely easy to maintain. It is in.

Conventionally, methods for producing sterile water include distillation, boiling sterilization, and ultraviolet sterilization, but these methods require high energy and equipment costs1, are insufficiently sterilized, and contain pyrogens (pyrogens).
Recently, methods using reverse osmosis membranes have begun to be adopted, but they have drawbacks such as high equipment costs and large noise. In addition, the biggest drawback of either method is that once sterilized water is recontaminated with bacteria in the pipes (in the storage tank) or back contaminated from the faucet, it is often worse than the raw water before the first treatment. In some cases, the number of bacteria increases. For this reason, it is necessary to combine several methods to prevent back contamination and recontamination, or to use complicated and expensive faucets to prevent back contamination. The present inventors are in a situation where they have no choice but to solve these drawbacks of the conventional method, and have conducted various studies to develop a system that is simple, extremely easy to maintain, round, and highly reliable as sterile water. As a result,
We have arrived at the present invention.

That is, the present invention provides (1) a hollow fiber membrane having at least an inlet for water to be treated and an outlet for treated water; (c) the hollow fibers are arranged in the housing in a state where the hollow openings are closed or in a state where the hollow openings of the hollow fibers do not contact the water to be treated and the treated water; (3) the filtration membrane; (4I) This is a sterile water production unit which is arranged so that the water to be treated is filtered at least once, and whose special feature is that the treated water outlet of the filter is directly connected to the faucet.

The first requirement of the present invention is whether a hollow fiber separation membrane (hereinafter abbreviated as hollow fiber) is used with its hollow openings (the seven hollow fibers always have moss openings at both ends) closed. Alternatively, the hollow opening may be used in a state where it does not come into contact with the water to be treated or the treated water. With this structure, bacteria and pyrogen contained in the water to be treated cannot enter the hollow part of the hollow fiber membrane, and it can also withstand back contamination from the treated water side. This structure ensures reliability. A highly sterile water production can be achieved ◎Also, by treating the wall of the hollow fiber membrane one or more times, the sterility of the treated water and the removal of diene can be further improved.〇Such a configuration A preferred embodiment of a hollow fiber arrangement in a housing with a completely closed hollow opening is shown in FIG.

The hollow fibers (J) are bundled and fixed, and the housing (1)
It is fixed inside the housing by a partition body (C) that divides the inside into one-chamber body (), and all the hollow openings of the hollow fibers are closed.

The means for closing the hollow opening of the hollow fiber includes a method of closing the tip portion of the hollow fiber by dissolving it with a solvent;
Alternatively, method 1 of closing by adhering with adhesive or method of closing by fusion in the case of heat-melting hollow fibers may be used as appropriate.
It is also possible to embed it inside.

Further, as a means for bundling the hollow fibers, for example, a polyurethane resin, a silicone resin, etc. can be used, and the hollow fibers can be bound by adhesion and solidification. In addition, the housing (1) is made of a rigid body made of pressure-resistant plastic or metal, and a partition is used to divide the inside of the housing into one room (4) CB).
) The partition body can also be made of plastic, metal, or the like. This partition divides the housing into one chamber, and allows the bundle of hollow fibers (3) as a filter material to pass through the partition without blocking the hollow portion of the hollow fiber. ◎ Since the filter module used in the present invention has the structure as described above, for example, the water that flows in from the water inlet (4I) of the housing (1) is once , the target sterile water is obtained from the treated water outlet (1) in the room. In other words, the reliability of the precision filtration device is low due to the two-stage filtration. For example, (4) Even if there is an unexpected defect in the porous wall membrane of the hollow fiber existing in the room and the target object is insufficiently captured). It can be captured in the porous wall membrane of the membrane, making it a highly reliable precision filtration device. Although Figure 1 shows the case of the Tokuta co-room, it may be divided into multiple rooms using multiple partitions.Also, a structure in which the openings of the hollow fibers do not come into contact with the water to be treated or the treated water is also possible. As a preferred example, the one shown in Figure 1 is used. In other words, the hollow fiber bundle (3
) is opened toward the space (C) between (A) 03) λ chambers [
(4). In this case as well, as in the structure shown in Figure 1,
Excess water flows from the outside to the inside of the hollow fiber wall in chamber (4), ■
) A two-stage filtration is carried out by permeating from the inside to the outside in the chamber. In the module shown in Figure 1, it is difficult to inspect the pinholes that exist in the hollow fiber membrane because there is no hollow opening.
Since the pinholes can be inspected individually and both modules can be joined together, the safety of the device is increased.

In Figures 1 and 2, there is only one inlet and one outlet, but (4) a purge outlet may be provided on the chamber side, or (C) a backwashing inlet may be provided in the chamber. The first requirement of the present invention is that the outlet of the treated water of the filtration device is directly connected to the faucet.By adopting such a configuration, the generation of bacteria between the filtration device and the faucet can be effectively prevented. It is possible to prevent this. FIG. 3 shows a specific example of the present invention, in which the filtration device described in FIG. 7 is directly connected to the faucet <1> via a conduit (γ).

(2) Since the openings of the hollow fibers are closed in the chamber, contamination inside the hollow fibers does not occur due to reverse entry of bacteria from the faucet while the device is inactive. Also, ■) Keep the distance between the room and the faucet as small as possible to prevent re-contamination by bacteria.

To prevent bacterial contamination between the filter module and the faucet,
Filter module/! /■) The room and faucet are directly connected and integrated, but the conduit connecting the faucet and filter module to the faucet may be removed as a single unit with the filter module and made disposable, or the conduit and/or faucet can be reused. Only the filter module may be disposable.The sterilizing filter P material used in the unit of the present invention must have sterilizing performance and high water permeability. This is because the module and the faucet are directly connected, so if the water permeability is low, an excessively large filtration area is required. Therefore, among the ultrafiltration membranes, the filter should be one with relatively high water permeability. Precise filtration membrane is suitable.6However, precision filtration W4 (membrane filter) has sterilizing properties and high water permeability, but cannot remove pyrogenic substances (pyrogene), so pyrogen-free water is recommended. Not preferred if required.

A microlaminated structure in which a large number of strip-shaped micropores formed by microfibrils arranged in the fiber length direction and nodules connected at almost right angles to the microfibrils are interconnected from the inner wall surface of the hollow fiber to the outer wall surface. The olefin fiber porous hollow fiber is a particularly desirable filter material because it is capable of removing pyrogen even though it has high water permeability.According to the sterile water production unit of the present invention, CB) Sterile water or pyrodiene water is reliably obtained at the chamber outlet - and Cl5)1! Re-contamination by bacteria between the outlet and the faucet can be prevented. Even if bacteria enter from the faucet, they will not reach the inside of the hollow fibers and will be completely washed away with just a small amount of water. Therefore, the problems with conventional operating room hand washing water will be completely solved. be. Figure 6 shows a sterile water production unit other than the present invention, but since the hollow fiber openings are in contact with the treated water and the single-stage filtration is performed, the performance is inferior to the present invention unit as shown in the comparative example. be.

FIG. 4 shows seven examples of a sterile water production system using the sterile water production unit of the present invention. 0 Tap water from a tap (9) is / part, and a boiling water storage tank equipped with a heater (//) (
Enter the l. (io) The hot water from the mixing valve (
After being mixed with cold water and adjusted to an appropriate temperature (JO ~ 44 oC), the water is sent to the filtration device (1) via a pressure gauge (13) and treated water at an appropriate temperature. is the faucet (f
) can be obtained from

Another feature of the sterile water production unit of the present invention is that there is extremely little decrease in flow rate (at constant pressure) or increase in pressure (at constant weight) due to large amounts of P material, and stable operating conditions can be obtained over a long period of time. It is.

This is an effect of the two-stage f-pass type module used in the present invention, and as shown in Figure 3, an example of the present invention is compared with a conventional filter module. The axis is the flow rate per effective f area (1/hr/rr
The horizontal axis shows the water flow time (hr), &) shows the filtration characteristics when using the sterile water production unit of the present invention, and b) shows the case when another device was used as a comparative example. Furthermore, when the sterile water production unit of the present invention is used, even if raw water containing a large amount of bacteria is used, bacteria will not leak into the filtrate water, and it will last for a long time. There is little risk of pyrogen leaking even after use. When using the sterile water production unit of the present invention, bacterial back-contamination from the faucet can be completely prevented by discharging a small amount at the beginning of use as described above. If necessary, a sterilizing faucet or a faucet to prevent contamination can be used. Effective sterilizing faucets include plastic faucets that release iodine slowly and faucets with silver-plated interior surfaces.

Next, the present invention will be explained in more detail with reference to Examples. Bacteria and pyrodiene were measured in the following manner using the methods described below. Sample water was added onto the agar medium, and after culturing in a 37C stem egg container for an hour, the number of bacteria collected and fallen (aolon tremor) was measured.

Detection method of pyrogen in water The detection method of pyrogen is Limvln*1ysat・
t・at (limeshoe crab hemolymph cell lysis gelation test) ・The detection reagent used was a pregel reagent (trade name) manufactured by Teikoku Kinki Seiyaku KK. 0 pregel, which utilizes reaction and gelation, is a reagent in which the above-mentioned freeze-dried blood cell components are sealed in an ampoule. After incubation in a medium, the ampoule was kept at room temperature for 3 minutes, and the degree of gelation was determined by tilting the ampoule at 4Ijo. The judgment criteria are as follows.

(++) + Forms a hard gel that does not lose its shape even if the ampoule is tilted.

(+) Forms a small amount of gel, but increases the tendency to tilt the ampoule (-)! Although it remains liquid and does not change, the detection limit of pyrodiene due to its nature is lOμ9.
/ml.

Example 1 The average pore diameter of the micropores measured using a mercury bosimeter Cole type I manufactured by Cal Gastric Elpa Co., Ltd. was 023μ, and the porosity was 6o.
The hollow openings of porous hollow fibers made of polyethylene and having a film thickness of 1% to 60μ and a pore size of the hollow openings of gOμ were closed by thermal fusion. Next, the hollow fibers are bundled and the approximately central part of the hollow fiber bundle is glued using polyurethane resin, and the first vlJ
A conduit and a faucet were directly connected to a filter module attached to a partition that divided the interior of the housing into compartments as shown in FIG. 3. The membrane area of the hollow fibers present in the chamber (4) on the liquid inlet side was 1, and the membrane area of the hollow fibers in the multiple chambers on the outlet side was 1-. Connect this sterile water production unit to the well water conduit via a pressure regulator and create back pressure! Table 7 shows the results and intermediate progress of water sampling after water was discharged for 30 seconds from the 0 faucet where water was passed for 1 horizontal hour at I19/cd for 1 month. As shown in Table 1.6 It was found that sterile pyrodiene water was always obtained even though no disinfection was performed for several months.

Comparative Example l Well water was filtered using the same hollow fiber module as in Example 1 under the same conditions as in Example/, and after being stored in a tank with a capacity of 1004 mm, the measurement results of O bacteria and pyrodiene were introduced into one faucet. Shown here.

Table 1: After one month, bacteria were already detected in the overflow water due to recontamination from the faucet, and contamination in the storage tank became clear.

Comparative Example A test similar to that in Example 1 was conducted using a sterile water production unit in which a faucet was directly connected to a filter module as shown in FIG. / Table 3 shows the results of water samples taken from the faucet at different release times after the injury. It can be seen that compared to the device of the present invention, a longer discharge time is required until the number of bacteria becomes 0.

Table 3

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows a filtration device used in the unit of the present invention,
FIG. 3 is a specific example of the sterile water production unit of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a specific example 1 of the sterile water production system using the unit of the present invention. J is a diagram showing the relationship between water flow time and flow rate of a sterile water production unit, and Fig. 4 shows a sterile water production unit other than the present invention. ... Partition body 9 ... Water faucet 3 ... Hollow filtration membrane 10 ... Hot water storage tank Hiroshi ... Treated water population // ... Heater j ... Treated water outlet l ...Mixing valve t...Hollow fiber opening 13...Liquid feeding pump 7...Conduit
l Da... Pressure gauge + 2 side 1 + - 3 figure Wait 6 figure holding/closing Showa 5L27685 (6)

Claims (1)

[Claims] l) P consisting of a housing containing one hollow fiber F* membrane having at least an inlet for treated water and one outlet for treated water.
In the filter, (1) the inside of the housing is divided into a plurality of partitions by one or more partitions that support the hollow fibers, (2) the hollow openings of the hollow fibers are closed, or The hollow openings of the hollow fibers are arranged in the housing so as not to come into contact with the water to be treated and the treated water, CJ) The filtration membrane is arranged so that the water to be treated passes through it at least once ←) and the filter is A sterile water production device characterized by having a treated water outlet directly connected to a faucet.A hollow fiber-like FA membrane with a closed hollow opening is inserted into the housing by a partition that divides the housing into multiple chambers. 2. The sterile water production unit according to claim 1, wherein the hollow fibers are fixed and arranged so that the hollow fibers pass through the partition and exist in a plurality of perpendicular directions with their hollow portions not being closed. J) The inside is Jl by the partition body! A hollow fiber filtration membrane is housed in the housing divided into 111(4), @), and both ends of the hollow fiber are supported through the partition with the hollow part thereof not being closed, and the hollow fiber opening is is the other l room (
The sterile water production unit according to claim 7, which is arranged so as to face C).