JP2000157838A - Photocatalytic air purifier - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a photocatalytic air purifier effectively putting light of an ultraviolet lamp to practical use and effectively removing a malodorous substance. SOLUTION: A photocatalytic air purifier is equipped with a cylindrical container 1 having an air suction port 2 and an air discharge port 3, a sirocco fan 4 introducing the open air into the cylindrical container 1 from the air suction port 2 and discharging the same from the air discharge port 3, the ultraviolet lamp 6 provided on the center line of the air flow passage in the cylindrical container 1 to emit ultraviolet rays toward the side surface of the container and a photocatalyst supported carrier and the carrier 5 is arranged to the inside surface of the cylindrical container 1 so as to mostly well irradiate the photocatalyst supported on the carrier 5 with ultraviolet rays emitted from an ultraviolet lamp 6 to efficiently remove a malodorous substance.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a photocatalytic air purification apparatus capable of oxidizing and decomposing malodorous substances such as hydrocarbons, nitrogen compounds and sulfur compounds in air by irradiating them with ultraviolet rays.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A photocatalytic air purification apparatus generally uses a filter in which titanium oxide is attached to a base material processed into a honeycomb shape, and irradiates ultraviolet rays from an ultraviolet lamp. Has been proposed in the past. Among them, there is one recently disclosed in JP-A-9-66096. The configuration will be described below with reference to FIGS.

A photocatalyst air purification device main body 11 includes a casing 14 having an air inlet 12 and an air outlet 13,
A ventilation fan 15 for taking in external air from the air inlet 12 into the casing 14 and flowing the air toward the air outlet 13, and a number of ventilation holes located in the air passage in the casing 14. The honeycomb body 16 and an ultraviolet lamp 17 for irradiating ultraviolet rays toward the inner surface of the ventilation hole are provided. On the inner surface of the ventilation hole of the honeycomb body 16, titanium oxide excited by irradiation with ultraviolet light is supported. The odorous substances passing through are removed.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional photocatalyst air purifying apparatus, the ultraviolet lamp 17 is not effectively used for the honeycomb body 16, and further, the ultraviolet light is not used on the side of the honeycomb body 16 far from the ultraviolet lamp 17. Since the light did not reach, sufficient photocatalytic ability was not exhibited, and only a small portion of the ultraviolet lamp 17 was exposed to the photocatalysis. Therefore, in such use, most of the light of the ultraviolet lamp 17 is not effectively utilized, and most of the titanium oxide in the honeycomb body 16 is not effectively utilized.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a cylindrical container communicating with an air inlet and an air outlet, and air outside the container from the air inlet into the cylindrical container. A sirocco fan discharged from the intake air discharge port, and an ultraviolet lamp for irradiating ultraviolet rays toward the side of the container on a center line in an air flow passage in the cylindrical container,
And a carrier supporting a photocatalyst, wherein the carrier is arranged along the inner surface of the cylindrical container, so that ultraviolet light, which is an important element for activating the photocatalyst, is used efficiently. By using a cylindrical container, an ultraviolet lamp is arranged on the center line of the container, and a paper carrying a photocatalyst is arranged on the circumference of the container. Since it has such a structure, it is possible to efficiently remove malodorous substances.

This effect will be described in detail. Generally, a photocatalyst using titanium oxide is excited by irradiating ultraviolet rays to generate holes on its surface. This hole is +3.
It has a very high oxidation potential of 0 V and can oxidize various compounds. Furthermore, if any water is present on the surface of the photocatalyst, the water reacts with holes generated by photoexcitation to generate hydroxyl radicals. These hydroxyl radicals are short-lived but active chemical species that can oxidize various things. When this hydroxyl radical reacts with an organic compound, it is eventually decomposed into carbon dioxide and water. That is, water is required on the surface of the photocatalyst.

On the other hand, it is necessary to irradiate the surface of the photocatalyst directly with the ultraviolet light required for the reaction of the photocatalyst. However, in the case of a honeycomb shape, since the ultraviolet light does not reach the inner part of the honeycomb, the effect of the photocatalyst is not sufficiently exhibited, and it takes a considerable time to completely remove the malodorous substance. In order to sufficiently exert the effect of the photocatalyst, it is necessary to arrange the ultraviolet lamp and the photocatalyst so that the ultraviolet rays are surely irradiated. For this reason, the best condition for efficiently removing malodorous substances is to arrange a photocatalyst so as to surround the ultraviolet lamp.

That is, if an ultraviolet lamp is arranged on the center line of the cylindrical container and a photocatalyst is arranged on the side surface of the cylindrical container, the odorous substances can be removed most efficiently.

[0009]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
A cylindrical container communicating with an air inlet and an air outlet, a sirocco fan for taking air outside the container from the air inlet into the cylindrical container and discharging the air from the air outlet, and an air flow passage in the cylindrical container An ultraviolet lamp that irradiates ultraviolet rays toward the side of the container on the center line thereof, and a carrier that carries a photocatalyst, wherein the carrier is disposed along the inner surface of the cylindrical container, and has a cylindrical shape. By using a container, an ultraviolet lamp is arranged on the center line of the container, and a photocatalyst is arranged on the side of the cylindrical container. The intensity is also increased, and as a result, the ultraviolet light emitted from the ultraviolet lamp is irradiated to the photocatalyst most efficiently, so that malodorous substances can be effectively removed.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, a photocatalyst carrying a photocatalyst is bent substantially in a wave shape and disposed along the inner surface of a cylindrical container. , The action of the photocatalyst is further enhanced, and the removal rate of offensive odor substances can be increased.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, a dust filter is disposed on the air suction port side, and dust that hinders the photocatalytic action can be removed in advance. Can be raised.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a photocatalyst air purification apparatus showing a first embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, a cylindrical container 1 having an air inlet 2 and an air outlet 3, and external air is taken into the cylindrical container 1 from the air inlet 2 and flows toward the air outlet 3. A sirocco fan 4, a carrier 5 disposed on the side of the air flow passage in the cylindrical container 1, and an ultraviolet ray located on the center line in the air flow passage in the cylindrical container 1, It has an ultraviolet lamp 6 for irradiation.

The carrier 5 is made of paper or the like, and is characterized in that titanium oxide which is excited by irradiation of ultraviolet rays is carried on the inner surface thereof. FIG. 2 shows a cross-sectional view of the cylindrical container.

The following experiment was conducted to determine the effect of the present invention. The ultraviolet lamp 6 of the photocatalyst air purification device having the above-described configuration is turned on, 100 ppm of toluene gas is passed as a test gas, and the passed gas is repeatedly passed once again to circulate the test gas. 1
Adjust to circulate once a minute, 100 minutes or 1
Purification of toluene was examined by repeatedly passing through 00 times. Further, this circulation test was repeated to check the deterioration of the photocatalyst. The result is shown in FIG.

For reference, a similar test was carried out for a conventional photocatalytic air purification device using a honeycomb, and a conventional example was evaluated.

As described above, by arranging the photocatalyst carrier on the side surface of the cylindrical container and arranging the ultraviolet lamp on the center line of the cylindrical container, the ultraviolet light emitted from the ultraviolet lamp is most suitable for the photocatalyst. Since such a structure was adopted, as shown in FIG. 3, toluene, which is a malodorous substance, could be removed more efficiently than a conventional photocatalytic air purification device. Further, the deterioration of the photocatalyst is smaller than that of the conventional honeycomb system.

In the above embodiment, the carrier 5 is made of paper. However, the carrier 5 is not limited to paper, but may be made of an inorganic material such as cloth, resin sheet, glass, or a metal plate.
In short, the material is not particularly limited as long as it supports titanium oxide excited by irradiation with ultraviolet rays.
In addition, when paper is used as the carrier, it is needless to say that processing is easy and inexpensive, but since the water required for the catalytic action can be easily retained, the catalytic effect is large.

(Embodiment 2) Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The same parts as those in the above embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted.

The carrier 5 supporting the photocatalyst is corrugated as shown in FIG. 4 and arranged on the side surface of the cylindrical container 1.
FIG. 5 shows the results of evaluation using the same evaluation method as the method shown in Example 1. As shown in FIG. 5, by arranging the carrier 5 supporting the photocatalyst along the side surface in a wavy manner, the surface area of the carrier 5 is increased, and the area of the photocatalyst exposed to ultraviolet rays is increased. It became even higher, and toluene, which is a malodorous substance, could be removed more efficiently.

FIG. 6 shows another example for increasing the surface area of the carrier, in which the carrier 5 supporting the photocatalyst is bent in a bellows shape, and the evaluation result by the same configuration is shown in FIG.
Shown in

FIG. 8 shows still another example for increasing the surface area of the carrier 5. The carrier 5 supporting the photocatalyst is bent into an uneven shape as shown in FIG. FIG. 9 shows an evaluation result of the same configuration.

(Embodiment 3) FIG. 10 shows a photocatalytic air purifying apparatus showing a third embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. This is the same as the embodiment. FIG. 11 shows an evaluation result of the photocatalyst air purification device having the same configuration. As shown in FIG. 11, by disposing a dustproof filter 7 in the air intake port 2, dust that hinders the photocatalytic action is removed. Since it can be removed, the action of the photocatalyst is further enhanced, and toluene, which is a malodorous substance, can be efficiently removed.
Further, deterioration of the photocatalyst could be suppressed.

[0024]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, in the configuration of the air purifying apparatus, the arrangement of the carrier carrying the photocatalyst and the ultraviolet lamp for exciting the photocatalyst,
By optimizing these positions, the air purification device is arranged with a photocatalyst carrier along its side in a cylindrical container and an ultraviolet lamp on its center line, so that the ultraviolet rays can be emitted most effectively. The photocatalyst was irradiated. As a result, the photocatalyst works effectively to increase the decomposition rate of the malodorous substance, and the removal rate of the malodorous substance can be increased.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the surface area of the portion carrying the photocatalyst is increased by bending the carrier in a substantially wave shape and arranging it on the side surface of the cylindrical container. The area increases. As a result, the photocatalyst can work more effectively to increase the rate of decomposition of malodorous substances, and further increase the removal rate of malodorous substances.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the dust filter is disposed at the air inlet of the cylindrical container, dust which adversely affects the decomposition of odorous substances when attached to the surface of the photocatalyst is removed. You can get rid of it before you arrive. As a result, the photocatalyst can work more effectively to increase the rate of decomposition of malodorous substances, and further increase the removal rate of malodorous substances. In particular, deterioration of the photocatalyst is suppressed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of a photocatalytic air purification device showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing evaluation results of the photocatalytic air purification device.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a photocatalytic air purification device showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing evaluation results of the photocatalytic air purification device.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a photocatalytic air purification device showing another embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing evaluation results of the photocatalytic air purification device.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of a photocatalytic air purification device showing another embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing evaluation results of the photocatalytic air purification device.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of a photocatalytic air purification device showing a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing evaluation results of the photocatalytic air purification device.

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram showing a conventional photocatalytic air purification device.

FIG. 13 is a sectional view of the photocatalytic air purification device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Cylindrical container 2 Air inlet 3 Air outlet 4 Sirocco fan 5 Carrier 6 UV lamp 7 Dustproof filter

Continued on the front page F term (reference) 4C080 AA07 AA10 BB02 CC02 CC03 CC07 HH05 JJ03 KK08 LL10 MM02 NN01 NN22 NN24 QQ11 QQ17 QQ20 4D048 AA22 BA07X BA13X BA41X BB04 BB05 CA01 CC31 CC40 CD05 EA01

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A cylindrical container communicating with an air inlet and an air outlet, a sirocco fan for taking air outside the container into the cylindrical container from the air inlet and discharging the air from the air outlet, and the cylindrical container. An ultraviolet lamp for irradiating ultraviolet rays toward the side of the container on a center line in an air flow passage in the
A photocatalyst air purification device, comprising: a carrier supporting a photocatalyst, wherein the carrier is disposed along an inner surface of the cylindrical container. 2. The photocatalytic air purification device according to claim 1, wherein the carrier is bent in a substantially wave shape and disposed on the inner surface of the cylindrical container. 3. The photocatalyst air purification device according to claim 1, wherein a dust filter is arranged on the side of the air suction port.