JP2000033379A - Electrolytic sterilizer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electrolytic sterilizer sterilizing the microorganisms contained in the water to be treated by furnishing a fibrous activated carbon and a porous metal to the electrodes arranged in an electrolytic cell. SOLUTION: The water to be treated is passed through an electrolytic cell 1 in which an anode is opposed to a cathode to sterilize the microorganisms such as bacteria and protozoa by this electrolytic sterilizer 3. A cylindrical fibrous activated carbon 4 is provided to the anode and a reticular or porous metal 5 to the cathode, and the anode is disposed within the cathode.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electrolytic sterilizer for sterilizing microorganisms such as bacteria and protozoa contained in water to be treated.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a technique capable of sterilizing water to be treated, an electrolytic sterilization method is introduced, and its expected merits are great, and its practical application is expected. The mechanism of sterilization in this method is that when live cells of microorganisms such as bacteria and protozoa come into contact with the electrode (anode), an electron transfer reaction occurs between the cell and the electrode, and a redox reaction of intracellular coenzyme occurs. It is known that cell activity decreases. However, simply contacting the cells of microorganisms with the anode was difficult because it was difficult to bring all the microorganisms scattered in the water to be treated into contact with the anode, and there was no technology to be used. Is late.

[0003] On the other hand, the conventional disinfection method, such as a method of boiling the water to be treated and a method of injecting chlorine, acts on the whole of the water to be treated and surely sterilizes it. Among the water to be treated, those that have a portion that is not subjected to the bactericidal action have been removed from the practical use route.

[0004]

However, among the above-mentioned conventional sterilization methods, the method of boiling the water to be treated requires a large amount of energy for boiling, and has a problem in managing a heat source. Since there is a drawback that the water to be treated changes its properties due to boiling, and cannot be applied depending on the use, other sterilization methods have been required.

Further, the method of injecting chlorine has been widely applied to sterilization of tap water, but has disadvantages such as a large amount of chlorine to be introduced and a chlorine odor remaining. Beyond these conventional techniques, the electrolytic sterilization method is put to practical use, and various practical problems must be solved in order to exert its merits.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems, and provides fibrous activated carbon or porous metal to an electrode disposed in an electrolytic cell to sterilize microorganisms such as bacteria and protozoa contained in water to be treated. It is an object of the present invention to provide an electrolytic sterilization apparatus that performs the following.

[0007]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the water to be treated is passed through an electrolytic cell in which an anode electrode and a cathode electrode are arranged to face each other, and the bacteria and protozoa in the water to be treated are passed through. In an electrolytic sterilizer that sterilizes microorganisms such as
A tubular fibrous activated carbon is provided for the anode electrode, and a reticulated or porous metal is provided for the cathode electrode. The anode electrode is disposed inside the cathode electrode outside, and the surface area of the anode electrode is increased by increasing the surface area of the anode electrode. The germicidal rate of microorganisms is increased.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the water to be treated is passed through an electrolytic cell in which an anode electrode and a cathode electrode are arranged opposite to each other to sterilize microorganisms such as bacteria and protozoa in the water to be treated. In the electrolytic sterilizer to be performed, a tubular fibrous activated carbon is provided on the anode electrode and the cathode electrode, and the anode electrode is disposed inside the cathode electrode on the outside, and when the electrode is inverted, one of the tubular fibrous activated carbons is used. While recycling, sterilization can be performed with the other tubular fiber activated carbon.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, an insulator between the anode electrode and the cathode electrode can prevent a short circuit between the anode electrode and the cathode electrode.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the sterilization rate can be improved by forming the anode electrode and the cathode electrode in multiple layers.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the electrolytic treatment tank of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the electrolytic treatment tank of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the electrolytic treatment tank of the present invention.

Reference numeral 1 denotes an electrolytic treatment tank. This electrolytic treatment tank comprises a main body container 2 and a sterilizer 3 disposed in the container for sterilizing microorganisms such as bacteria and protozoa.

The sterilizing apparatus 3 comprises a tubular fibrous activated carbon 4, a tubular reticulated metal 5, and an upper plate 6 and a lower plate 7 provided at the upper and lower ends of the fibrous activated carbon and the reticulated metal. Is formed. An anode electrode is connected to the tubular fibrous activated carbon 4, and a cathode electrode is connected to the tubular reticulated metal 5.

The tubular fibrous activated carbon 4 is arranged inside the tubular reticulated metal 5 and forms a space 8 in which water to be treated is stored. In the space 8, an inlet pipe 9 for the water to be treated, which is attached so as to penetrate the upper center of the main body container 2, is opened. Further, the outside of the tubular mesh metal 5 and the main body container 2
An outlet pipe 11 for discharging the water to be treated that has passed through the sterilizer 3 to the outside of the main body container 2 is opened in the space 10 between the inside and the outside.

Between the tubular fibrous activated carbon 4 and the tubular reticulated metal 5, a resin plate-like insulator 13 having a hole 12 communicating between the inside and outside is sandwiched.

The anode electrode and the cathode electrode are connected to a DC power supply 14 of about 2 to 5 volts, and are controlled so that a voltage required for sterilization of +0.74 volts is obtained on the anode electrode on the anode side.

In the electrolytic treatment apparatus thus constructed, the inlet pipe 9 of the main body container 2 is connected to a water tap (not shown), and the outlet pipe 11 is connected to a not-shown beverage tank such as a vending machine. Is provided.

The tap water supplied from the tap to the electrolytic treatment tank 1 through the inlet pipe 9 flows into the space 8 inside the tubular fibrous activated carbon 4 and the tubular fiber provided on the anode electrode. The surface of the fibrous activated carbon comes in contact with the activated carbon 4 and receives a high-potential energy supply, and a strong oxidation-reduction reaction occurs in the cells of microorganisms such as bacteria and protozoa contained in tap water. Weak and die and are sterilized. Then, the tap water passes through the tubular fibrous activated carbon 4, flows out into the space 10 outside the tubular mesh metal 5, is supplied to the outside from the outlet pipe 11, and is stored and used in a drinking tank. You.

The voltage between the tubular fibrous activated carbon 4 of the anode electrode and the cathode electrode is controlled in the range of 2 to 5 volts, the potential on the surface of the anode electrode is set to +0.74 volts, and tap water is electrolyzed. In addition to preventing the reaction from occurring, wasteful power consumption due to the electrolytic reaction of water is suppressed, and the danger of explosion due to generation of oxygen and hydrogen is also avoided.

The tubular fibrous activated carbon 4 has an increased surface area to increase the surface of the tap water that comes into contact with microorganisms such as bacteria and protozoa, thereby improving the performance of adsorbing microorganisms on the electrode. ing.

The resin insulator 7 is sandwiched between the anode electrode and the cathode electrode to prevent a short circuit between the anode electrode and the cathode electrode.

In the electrolytic treatment tank 1, the inlet pipe 9 is connected to a tap for faucet so that the water permeates the tubular fibrous activated carbon 4 by the water pressure of the tap water itself and sterilizes it.
Further, when the water to be treated is not directly connected to the faucet, the water to be treated is pressurized by a pump or the like so as to permeate the tubular fibrous activated carbon 4.

The direct current power supply connected to the anode electrode and the cathode electrode inverts the polarity so that even if the tubular fibrous activated carbon 4 provided on the anode electrode is clogged, the tubular fibrous activated carbon 4 The attached dead microorganisms are redissolved in the water to be treated, removed from the electrode surface, and regenerated.

In the above description, the tubular fibrous activated carbon 4 is used for the anode electrode and the tubular reticulated metal 5 is used for the cathode electrode.
However, even if the metal of the cathode electrode is formed of a porous metal such as a foamed metal, the same effect can be obtained. Also,
As shown in FIG. 4, when the tubular fibrous activated carbon 15, 16 is used for both the anode electrode and the cathode electrode, when the polarity of the anode electrode and the cathode electrode is reversed, bacteria and Since the sterilization treatment of microorganisms such as protozoa can be performed, there is an effect that the electrolytic treatment tank 1 can be continuously operated for a long time.

Further, it is needless to say that the ability to remove microorganisms in the water to be treated can be improved by forming a plurality of anode electrodes and cathode electrodes as shown in FIG.

[0026]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention,
In an electrolytic sterilization apparatus for sterilizing microorganisms such as bacteria and protozoa in the water to be treated by passing the water to be treated through an electrolytic cell in which an anode electrode and a cathode electrode are arranged opposite to each other, The tubular fibrous activated carbon, a mesh-like or porous metal is provided on the cathode electrode, and the anode electrode is arranged inside the anode electrode, so that the surface area of the anode electrode in contact with the water to be treated is large,
The microorganisms in the water to be treated can be efficiently sterilized.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the water to be treated is passed through the electrolytic cell in which the anode electrode and the cathode electrode are arranged opposite to each other to remove microorganisms such as bacteria and protozoa in the water to be treated. In the electrolytic sterilizer for sterilization, a tubular fibrous activated carbon is provided on the anode electrode and the cathode electrode, and the anode electrode is arranged inside the cathode electrode outside, so that when the electrode is inverted, one of the tubular fibers is turned off. Sterilization can be performed with the other tubular fibrous activated carbon while regenerating the activated carbon.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, a short circuit between the anode electrode and the cathode electrode can be prevented by the insulator sandwiched between the anode electrode and the cathode electrode, and the mounting management of each electrode can be simplified. it can.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the anode electrode and the cathode electrode are respectively multi-layered so that microorganisms such as bacteria and protozoa pass through the tubular fibrous activated carbon of the anode electrode a plurality of times. The probability of contact with the metal can be increased to improve the sterilization rate.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an electrolytic treatment tank according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the electrolytic treatment tank of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the electrolytic treatment tank of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of an electrolytic treatment tank showing another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view of an electrolytic treatment tank showing another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 electrolytic treatment tank 4, 15, 16 tubular fibrous activated carbon 5 tubular reticulated metal 13 insulator

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An electrolytic sterilizer for sterilizing microorganisms such as bacteria and protozoa in the water to be treated by flowing the water to be treated into an electrolytic cell in which an anode electrode and a cathode electrode are arranged to face each other. A tubular fibrous activated carbon is provided for the anode electrode, and a mesh or porous metal is provided for the cathode electrode,
An electrolytic sterilizer comprising the anode electrode disposed inside and the cathode electrode disposed outside. 2. An electrolytic disinfection apparatus for sterilizing microorganisms such as bacteria and protozoa in the water to be treated by passing the water to be treated through an electrolytic cell in which an anode electrode and a cathode electrode are arranged opposite to each other. An electrolytic sterilizer comprising: a tubular fibrous activated carbon provided on the anode electrode and the cathode electrode; and the anode electrode is disposed inside and the cathode electrode is disposed outside. 3. The electrolytic sterilizer according to claim 1, wherein an insulator is interposed between the anode electrode and the cathode electrode. 4. The electrolytic sterilizer according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of anode electrodes and cathode electrodes are alternately formed.