JP2000301149A - Electrolytic ionic water generator - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable the migration of selected ions from right and left electrolyte chambers to electrode chambers by arranging the electrode chambers contacting the electrolyte chambers as an anode chamber and a cathode chamber right and left through a diaphragm and applying an electrolytic voltage. SOLUTION: An electrolytic bath 1 is divided into numbers of chambers 3-7 and comprises electrode plates 25 with an anode plate inserted between the chambers 3, 4 and a cathode plate inserted between the chambers 5, 6. The chamber 4 and the chamber 6 are made electrolyte chambers, and electrode chambers contacting the chamber 4 and the chamber 6 are arranged as an anode chamber 7 and a cathode chamber 5 through a diaphragm. An electrolyte solution is supplied from an electrolyte solution tank 12 by a pump 13 to be introduced into the chambers 4, 6 through introduction pipes 14, and an electrolytic voltage is applied. In this way, cations and anions can be moved selectively to the adjacent electrode chambers respectively through the diaphragm to increase an electrolytic capacity.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for producing electrolytic ionic water suitable as a cleaning agent, a disinfectant, and a disinfectant.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art There is a technique in which an ionizable inorganic substance is added to raw water, and pickling water obtained by electrolyzing the same is used as sterilizing water. (Patent No. 2626778)

According to this technique, an electrolytic cell is separated into two chambers, an anode chamber and a cathode chamber, with a diaphragm, and raw water to which an ionizable inorganic substance is added is supplied to the electrolytic cell to perform electrolysis, and acidic water is generated in the anode chamber. Things.

[0004] Further, a method of separating an electrolytic cell into three chambers of an anode chamber, an intermediate chamber, and a cathode chamber with a diaphragm and supplying raw water to the anode chamber and the cathode chamber under the condition that an electrolyte solution is present in the intermediate chamber, and performing electrolysis. There is. (JP-A-8-1160)

In this method, it is not necessary to add an ionizable inorganic substance to raw water, and acidic water and alkaline water can be obtained by transferring ions from the electrolyte solution to raw water.

[0006]

In the above-described two-chamber method in which an ionizable inorganic substance such as salt is added to raw water for electrolysis, the added ionizable inorganic substance may remain in the electrolytic ionic water. .

If the added ionizable inorganic substance remains in the electrolytic ionic water, there is a problem that metal materials such as stainless steel are rusted.

On the other hand, in the three-chamber method using an electrolyte solution, an ionizable inorganic substance is not added to raw water, and an electrolyte solution in an intermediate chamber partitioned by a diaphragm is electrolyzed to remove cations and anions in the electrolyte solution. Select and move to raw water in cathode room and anode room.

Therefore, the electrolytic ion water produced does not have the problem of rust due to the residual ionizable inorganic substance.

[0010] However, in the method using a three-chamber electrolyte solution, the size of the electrode plate and the applied voltage greatly affect the electrolysis current.

In order to generate a large amount of electrolytic ion water or a high concentration of electrolytic ion water, it is necessary to increase the size of the electrode plate or increase the applied voltage.

For this reason, it is good to generate a small amount of electrolytic ion water. However, to generate a large amount of ionized water, the cost becomes extremely high due to an increase in the size of the apparatus.

One of the problems to be solved by the present invention is an alkaline ionized water having a high pH (for example, pH12.
5 or more) in some cases.

The applicant has disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 9-326896 a technique for increasing the pH by circulating alkaline ionized water and repeatedly electrolyzing, but the present invention uses this technique as a separate method. The present inventors have studied and completed a compact and economical apparatus for producing a large amount of electrolytic ionic water by improving the disadvantages of the method using an electrolyte solution in a three-chamber system.

In the case of acidic water, according to the conventional method, the upper limit concentration of hypochlorous acid is determined by the concentration of the ionizable inorganic substance added to the raw water.
Only those with a concentration of pm could be obtained.

When the concentration of the ionizable inorganic substance is increased, the concentration of hypochlorous acid is also increased, but the amount of the remaining ionizable inorganic substance is also increased, which is not practical.

[0017]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the drawbacks of the above-mentioned three-chamber method using an electrolyte solution, the present invention provides a configuration in which an electrolytic cell is divided into five or more chambers by a diaphragm, and two or more electrolyte chambers are used. The liquid chamber and the electrode chambers that are in contact with the left and right of the electrolyte liquid chamber via the diaphragm are arranged as an anode chamber and a cathode chamber, and selected ions move from the left and right electrolyte liquid chambers into the electrode chamber by applying an electrolytic voltage. It is like that.

That is, the electrode chamber sandwiched between the electrolyte chambers is shared as the electrode chambers of the left and right electrolyte chambers in contact with the electrode chamber.

In the three-chamber system, when a large amount of electrolytic ionic water is generated, the size of the electrode plate must be increased. However, in the present invention, the number of the electrolytic cells is five or more, and the electrode between the electrolyte solution chambers is further provided. The electrolytic cell is made compact by sharing the room.

[0020]

[Effect] The electrolytic cell has a configuration of 5 or more chambers, and the electrolyte liquid chamber has 2 chambers.
By setting the number of chambers to be equal to or more than the chamber, the left and right electrode chambers are always used as an anode chamber or a cathode chamber.

Further, by dividing the electrolytic cell into five or more chambers, the electrolytic capacity is increased by increasing the number of electrodes without simply increasing the area of the electrode plate.

[0022]

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

FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of a water electrolysis apparatus according to the present invention.

Reference numeral 1 denotes an electrolytic cell. In the first embodiment, the electrolytic cell has five chambers.

Reference numeral 2 denotes an end plate of the electrolytic cell. In this embodiment, a 10 mm thick vinyl chloride (PVC) plate was used.

Each of the PVC plates 2 to 7 has a rubber seal packing interposed therebetween. The specific configuration is shown in FIG.

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 24 denotes a rubber seal packing, and reference numerals 3 to 7 denote divided chambers in the electrolytic cell.

The aggregate of the PVC plates constituting each chamber is the electrolytic cell 1 in FIG.

Reference numeral 26 denotes a bolt and 27 denotes a nut. By tightening the nut, the electrolytic cell is integrated.

Reference numeral 25 denotes an electrode plate. In this embodiment, an anode plate is inserted between 3 and 4 chambers and between 6 and 7 chambers, and a cathode plate is inserted between 4 and 5 chambers and between 5 and 6 chambers.

Since the electrode plates between the chambers 4 and 5 and between the chambers 5 and 6 are in the same electrode chamber, either one of them may be used in common.

The same applies to the second embodiment shown in FIG. 4 and the third embodiment shown in FIG.

In FIG. 1, the chambers 4 and 6 are electrolyte chambers, the chambers 3 and 7 are anode chambers, and the chamber 5 is a cathode chamber.

Each of the separated electrolyte chambers and the electrode chambers of the electrolytic cell is completely divided by an anion exchange membrane A and a cation exchange membrane C as shown in FIG.

Numeral 12 denotes an electrolyte solution tank to which the electrolyte solution is fed by a pump 13, and which passes through an introduction pipe 14.
Are introduced into the electrolyte solution chambers 4 and 6, and the cations and anions selectively pass through the respective diaphragms and move to the adjacent electrode chambers by application of the electrolytic voltage.

The electrolyte solution introduced from the introduction pipe 14 returns to the electrolyte solution tank 12 through the circulation pipe 15 and is circulated repeatedly.

Reference numeral 21 denotes a raw water introduction pipe into which water or pure water is introduced from a water supply, a pure water apparatus, or the like.
After passing through zero, it is branched and introduced into the electrode chamber through introduction pipes 16 and 17.

Reference numerals 18 and 19 denote flow control valves.

The flow rate of the raw water is adjusted by the flow control valve.

When the raw water introduced into the electrode chamber from the introduction pipe 16 passes through the electrode chamber 3 and the electrode chamber 7, anions migrate from the electrolyte solution and are discharged through the acidic water discharge pipe 22.

When the raw water introduced into the electrode chamber through the introduction pipe 17 passes through the electrode chamber 5, cations migrate from the electrolyte solution and are discharged through the alkaline water discharge pipe 23.

Incidentally, (-) and (+) in FIG. 1 indicate DC poles sent from the stabilized DC power supply.
A 2 volt or 24 volt DC was applied.

The electrolytic cell, electrodes, and electrolyte used in the following examples are as follows.

The size of the electrode chamber and the electrolyte solution chamber (57.6 c
c): 80 mm x 60 mm x 12 mm

Electrode: Platinum of 3 microns is plated on a titanium lath substrate. : 85 mm x 60 mm

Electrolyte solution: 20% aqueous solution of sodium chloride.

[Example 1] The flow rate of raw water to the anode chamber was 3.
6 liters / minute, 0.4 liters / minute into cathode chamber
A voltage of 2 volts was applied.

Table 1 shows the results of the analysis of the current value, the pH of the obtained ionic water, the separated chlorine and the oxidation-reduction potential.

[Example 2] The flow rate of raw water was passed to the anode chamber.
2 liters / minute, 0.8 liters / minute into cathode chamber
A voltage of 4V was applied.

Table 1 shows the current values and the results of analysis of the obtained ionic water in the same manner as in Example 1.

Example 3 Example 3 uses the same electrode plate, electrolyte solution, and electrolytic chamber shown in FIG. 4 (these are referred to as a second embodiment) having the same size as the electrolytic chamber shown in FIG. make use of,
Raw water was passed through the anode chamber at a rate of 7.2 liters / minute and into the cathode chamber at a rate of 0.8 liters / minute, and a voltage of 24 volts was applied.

Table 1 shows the obtained results.

Example 4 Similarly, using a 9-chamber electrolytic cell (this is referred to as a third embodiment) shown in FIG. 5, the flow rate of raw water to the anode chamber was 0.55 l / min. A voltage of 24 volts was applied to the cathode chamber at 0.8 liter / min.

Table 1 shows the obtained results.

[Comparative Example 1] Raw water was supplied to the anode chamber at 1.8 liters / min and 0 to the cathode chamber in a conventional three-chamber electrolytic cell using the same size electrode plates as in Example 1 shown in FIG. 6A. Water was passed at 0.4 liter / min, and a voltage of 12 volts was applied.

Table 1 shows the obtained results.

Comparative Example 2 Under the same conditions as in Comparative Example 1, only the voltage condition was set to 24 volts.

Table 1 shows the obtained results.

[Comparative Example 3] Under the same conditions as in Comparative Example 1, the flow rate of raw water was set to 2.5 L / min into the anode chamber and 0.4 to the cathode chamber.
A voltage of 12 volts was applied at liter / min.

Table 1 shows the obtained results.

[Comparative Example 4] Under the same conditions as in Comparative Example 1, the flow rate of raw water was 0.9 L / min to the anode chamber, and 2.5 L to the cathode chamber.
A voltage of 24 volts was applied at liters / minute.

Table 1 shows the obtained results.

As is clear from the comparison between Examples 1 to 4 and Comparative Examples 1 to 4, the number of electrodes can be increased by using an electrolytic cell having five or more chambers. Was produced more than the comparative example at the same concentration.

When the flow rate was reduced, the available chlorine concentration of the obtained acidic water was 300 ppm or more.

In Comparative Examples 3 and 4, the amount of water flow was increased as compared with Comparative Examples 1 and 2. However, the current value dropped rapidly, and almost no ionic water was generated.

Although not shown in the results, it was attempted to obtain high-concentration alkaline ionized water and high-concentration acidic ionized water by narrowing the flow rate of raw water under the same conditions as in the example in a three-chamber configuration comparative example. However, the experiment was stopped because the electrode was heated and embrittlement of the diaphragm was observed.

This is considered to be because electric energy changes into heat energy unless water is passed through a certain amount or more with respect to the size of the electrolytic cell.

[0068]

According to the present invention, if the number of electrolytic cells is increased to five or more, the size of the apparatus can be reduced as compared with the electrolytic capacity, and the electrode chamber can be shared, which is economical and efficient.

Furthermore, high-concentration ion water, which could not be generated, can be generated.

With respect to acidic water, there is an electrolysis method by partially recirculating electrolyzed water as disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 2626778 as a prior art, but according to the present invention, an arbitrary amount of raw water can be adjusted by adjusting the amount of raw water flowing to an electrode chamber. The range in which the concentration of hypochlorous acid was generated was widened at once, and in experiments, it was possible to stably generate hypochlorous acid in a concentration of 300 ppm or more.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded view showing a configuration of an electrolytic cell.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram relating to a diaphragm, an electrode, and water flow that partition an electrolytic cell according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram relating to a diaphragm, an electrode, and water flow that partition an electrolytic cell according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram relating to a diaphragm, an electrode, and water flow that partition an electrolytic cell according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6A is a configuration diagram of a comparative example.

FIG. 6B is an explanatory diagram relating to a diaphragm, an electrode, and water flow that partition an electrolytic cell of a comparative example.

FIG. 7: Lath-shaped electrode plate

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Electrolyzer 2 End plate of electrolyzer 3-11 Each divided chamber in electrolyzer 12 Electrolyte tank 13 Pump 14 Electrolyte introduction pipe 15 Circulation piping 16, 17 Introduction pipe 18, 19 Flow control valve 20 Pressure reducing valve 21 Raw water inlet pipe 22 Acid water discharge pipe 23 Alkaline water discharge pipe 24 Rubber seal packing 25 Electrode plate 26 Bolt 27 Nut (-) DC minus power supply (+) DC plus power supply A Anion exchange membrane C Cation exchange membrane

[Table 1]

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An electrolytic cell comprising two or more electrolyte liquid chambers for circulating and supplying an electrolyte liquid and an electrode chamber which is in contact with the left and right sides of the electrolyte liquid chamber via a diaphragm and supplies raw water of electrolytic ionic water as an anode chamber and a cathode chamber. Arranged in the tank, the anode electrode should be installed in the anode chamber so as to be in contact with the membrane between the electrolyte solution chamber and the anode chamber, and the cathode electrode should be installed in the cathode chamber so as to be in contact with the membrane between the electrolyte solution chamber and the cathode chamber. An electrolytic ionized water generator characterized by the following. 2. The electrolytic ionic water generating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an anion exchange membrane is used as a membrane between the electrolyte solution chamber and the anode chamber, and a cation exchange membrane is used as a membrane between the electrolyte solution chamber and the cathode chamber.