JP2001070743A - Gas separation apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To separate gas molecule components contained in air current, take out purified air and separated gases and improve an effect of saving energy by ionizing the air current, applying an electric field to the ionized gases by electrodes, and separating cations and anions from each other. SOLUTION: Air containing impurity gas molecule components is introduced into a cylindtical chamber 11 through a gas inlet member 16 and the gases are ionized by α ray from a radiation source 17. At that time, the respective gas outlet flow rates of a plurality of gas outlet members 14, 15 are properly adjusted by respective valves. Voltage is applied to a plurality of parallel flat electrodes 12, 13 from a d.c. power source to generate parallel electric fields in the cylindrical chamber 11. Consequently, electrostatic force of the electric fields is utilized to ionize the gas components and separate cations with the cathode 13 and anions with the anode 12. On the other hand, neutral gas components which are not ionized are taken out while being distributed to a plurality of the gas outlet members 14, 15.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention is directed to removing odors and tobacco gases which cause discomfort to humans, as well as formaldehyde and volatile organic compounds which are supposed to cause chemical sensitivity. Air purification equipment used in existing facilities and spaces, or exhaust gas used when it is necessary to remove only harmful substances from exhaust gas such as NOx, SOx, COx generated during combustion or exhaust gas generated in chemical processes Removal of impurity components in the gas flow path of processing equipment or gas extraction equipment used when extracting a single gas component from a gas in which a plurality of components are mixed, or equipment or equipment that requires high-purity gas The present invention relates to a gas separation device applied to a high-purity gas generation device used in such a case.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Exhaust gas (nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides) from various machines such as industry, industry, and automobiles is regulated in emission, and a number of exhaust gas treatment technologies have been developed and proposed. In medical and living spaces, there is an increasing demand for collecting and removing gases that have an adverse effect on the human body, such as tobacco gas and organic compounds that cause sick building syndrome.

[0003] However, the current exhaust gas processing technology has a problem that when processing a large amount of gas, the apparatus becomes large and the processing cost becomes enormous. Removers such as activated carbon and ion exchange fibers are used to treat gases such as tobacco and organic gases, and ammonia. However, their performance is insufficient. Remains in large quantities as waste. Decomposing materials such as photocatalysts require a large number of catalysts and light sources to process a large amount of air. Further, in the method utilizing the gasification of gas by photoelectrons, not all of the gas is converted into particles, so that the processing efficiency is inevitably reduced and it takes time to grow the gas into particles.

There is an electric precipitator as a method for removing fine particles. However, although charged fine particles can be removed, in the case of ions, there is a problem that the ions are returned to a neutral gas component by charge exchange generated after being adsorbed on an electrode and re-scattered. is there. As a method for separating ions, there is a mass spectrometry method under the atmospheric pressure. However, a part of the whole gas is ionized and a spectrum is obtained only from a mobility and a detector is obtained. A device that decomposes a gas by electric discharge requires a large amount of energy greater than the intermolecular force, and thus requires a considerable amount of power consumption. In a method using X-rays (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 10-337495), ions generated by X-rays are attached to fine particles to form charged particles, and the charged particles are collected by an electric field. Neutralized by the electrode and scattered again. In the method using discharge and an electric field (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-96124), since an electric field is applied to the separation unit immediately after the discharge unit to separate, there is a loss of ions in a path from the discharge unit to the separation unit.

[0005]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has been made in the case of purifying air by separation without using separation adsorption or chemical adsorption in order to reduce waste, In order to process a large amount of air, select and remove the impurity molecular components in the air, and if a pretreatment device that sends only the extracted small amount of impurity components to the removal device is necessary, separate the impurity gas molecular components. In the case of extracting only the necessary gas molecule components from one side, the gas molecule components are ionized by radiation, corona discharge, etc., and ions are generated secondarily by an ion-molecule reaction. The generated electric field separates ions at the same time as ionization and removes impurity molecules contained in the air, thereby saving energy with a low-energy ionization source that does not involve gas decomposition. And an object thereof is to provide a energy efficient gas separation apparatus.

[0006]

According to the present invention, there is provided a gas separation apparatus for ionizing an air flow, applying an electric field to an ionized gas by an electrode, and separating the gas into cations and anions. And separating gas molecule components contained in the air stream to take out clean air and / or separated gas.

Further, according to the present invention, in the above gas separation apparatus, as a means for ionizing, a radioisotope, X
It is characterized in that one or a plurality of devices among the devices that generate a line, a light beam, and a discharge are used in combination.

Further, according to the present invention, in the above-mentioned gas separation apparatus, a needle-shaped electrode and a tapered opening-type electrode having a tapered opening are provided as means for ionization, and the needle electrode is placed between the tapered opening-type electrodes. A separator is provided on the downstream side of the tapered opening, and a discharge is generated by the needle electrode and the tapered opening electrode to ionize the air flow flowing inside the tapered opening, and ions are emitted from the tip of the tapered opening. It is characterized by blowing out.

According to the present invention, in the above gas separation apparatus, the separation plate is an electrode having the same polarity as the tapered opening type electrode, and the discharge is generated by the needle electrode, the tapered opening type electrode and the separation plate. It is characterized in that the air flow flowing inside the opening is ionized.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that in the above-mentioned gas separation device, a parallel plate electrode is used for the separation part.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that, in the above-mentioned gas separation device, a gas outlet for taking out clean air or separated gas is provided in the parallel plate electrode.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that in the above gas separation device, a separation plate is provided between the electrodes of the separation portion.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that, in the above-mentioned gas separation apparatus, a plurality of separation plates are provided, and a single component is taken out by utilizing the electric mobility inherent in the gas.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that, in the above-mentioned gas separation device, an outlet flow rate of an outlet for extracting clean air and / or separated gas is controlled.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that in the above-mentioned gas separation apparatus, there is provided a means for switching the polarity of an electrode for applying an electric field to the ionized gas and / or a means for changing the electrolytic strength of the electrode.

The gas separation device of the present invention is characterized in that any one of the above gas separation devices is arranged in parallel, in series, or in series and parallel.

That is, in an air stream containing an impurity component, a gas is ionized by radiation, light, discharge, or the like, and the ionization region is sandwiched between electrodes to which a DC voltage is applied, thereby ionizing by an electrostatic force due to an electric field and simultaneously. It is characterized by being separated. By taking out the separated gas from outlets provided on the respective electrode sides, cleaner air can be taken out from one electrode than the inlet. At that time, air enriched with impurity molecular components comes out from the other outlet.
By providing a separation plate in the separation part, it is possible to prevent ionized gas molecules moving in the electric field from being neutralized in the middle and returning to the opposite side. Since the electrical mobility of ions varies depending on the substance, the distance traveled per unit time varies depending on the component. Therefore, if a plurality of separation plates are provided, only a single component can be taken out. It does not need enough energy to decompose a molecule, only a small energy to remove one electron from the molecule, and separates it into primary and secondary small ions instead of large ions such as particles (clustering). Efficient. If a large number of these devices are installed, a gas separation device having a high processing capacity can be obtained. If low-energy DC or AC corona discharge without gas decomposition is used, separation with low power consumption is possible. In a device using pulse discharge, when a high-voltage pulse with a high speed and a high frequency of 1 μs or less is used, only electrons are affected by a strong discharge electric field, and the electric field of the discharge disappears before the ions are accelerated. Can be generated and the effect of the electric field due to the discharge on the separation electric field is eliminated, so that the ions can be efficiently separated. In addition, since ionization and separation are performed simultaneously, an efficient gas separation device that eliminates the loss associated with ion transport can be provided.

Since the molecular weight to be ionized varies, the outlet flow rate is not stabilized at a low flow rate due to ion wind, but the outlet flow rate can be stabilized at a low flow rate by providing an automatic control valve attached to the sensor. Further, the automatic control valve may be configured so that the outlet flow ratio can be easily set arbitrarily.

[0019]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention in which radiation is used in the ionization section. 40m inner diameter made of quartz glass
The cylindrical chamber 11 of m is installed with the axial direction being substantially horizontal, and the left and right openings at the left and right ends of the cylindrical chamber 11 correspond to the metal plate electrodes 12 and 13 respectively so as to close the openings. They are installed approximately parallel at a distance of 50 mm. Cylindrical gas outlet members 14 and 15 having an inner diameter of 6 mm are provided at the center of each of the plate electrodes 12 and 13 so as to open the inside of the cylindrical chamber 11 to the outside. A cylindrical gas inlet member 16 having an inner diameter of 6 mm is provided to open the inside of the cylindrical chamber 11 to the outside. The cylindrical chamber 11
For example, the radioactive isotope ²⁴¹ A
A radiation source 17 such as m is installed facing the gas inlet member 16. DC power source 1 is applied to the plate electrodes 12 and 13.
8 is connected using the electrode 12 as an anode and the electrode 13 as a cathode. Each of the cylindrical gas outlet members 14, 15 and the cylindrical gas inlet member 16 is provided with a valve for adjusting a gas flow rate.

That is, air containing an impurity gas molecular component is introduced into the cylindrical chamber 11 from the inlet member 16,
The gas is ionized with α rays of the radioisotope ²⁴¹ Am, which is the radiation source 17. The outlet flow rate of each of the gas outlet members 14 and 15 is adjusted by a valve so that the same amount flows in advance, but it is better to adjust the outlet flow ratio of each of the gas outlet members 14 and 15 by the components contained in the gas. A voltage is applied to the parallel plate electrodes 12 and 13 from a DC power supply 18 to form a substantially parallel electric field in the cylindrical chamber 11. The electrostatic force of the electric field ionizes the gas components and simultaneously converts the cations into negative ions. Anions at the electrode 13 can be separated at the positive electrode 12. The neutral gas component which has not been ionized at that time is supplied to the gas outlet member 1.
Since the flow rates of the ions 4 and 15 are adjusted to the same amount, they are separated and taken out by the two gas outlet members 14 and 15 so as to adjust the amount of the moved ions and the outlet flow rate. Organic gases such as VOCs tend to become cations, and can be preferentially ionized and separated because their ionization potential is much lower than that of normal air molecules such as nitrogen and oxygen.
NOx, SOx, and the like can be extracted as anions from the gas outlet opposite to the organic gas. By changing the voltage applied to the parallel plate electrodes 12 and 13, the separation efficiency can be changed.

FIGS. 2 (a) and 2 (b) show the results obtained by the gas separation apparatus shown in FIG. FIG. 2A shows the measurement results of the concentration of the exit at the cathode side with respect to the concentration of the toluene at the entrance.
(B) is the measurement result of the outlet concentration on the positive electrode side with respect to the inlet toluene concentration. It is a separation result when 5 ppm of toluene molecules are separated in nitrogen gas. Since both nitrogen and toluene are likely to become cations, cations are extracted from the negative electrode, and some anions and neutral molecules are extracted from the positive electrode. Here, since the ionization potential of toluene is about half that of nitrogen, toluene is more likely to become an ion. The vertical axis of the figure represents the separation effect at each voltage when the inlet flow rate was changed, as a ratio of outlet concentration to inlet concentration. The horizontal axis is the inlet flow rate. The measurement was performed by gas chromatography. Decreasing the flow rate increases the number of molecules to be ionized, thereby increasing the separation efficiency. From this result, it can be seen that a component having a low ionization potential can be extracted under a fluid in which most cations are contained. Further, it can be seen that even gas molecules that are difficult to decompose, such as nonpolar aromatic hydrocarbons, can be separated and removed only by ionization.

FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of the present invention in which ultraviolet rays or X-rays are used in the ionization section. On both sides of the hollow box-shaped chamber 31 made of brass, outlet members 32 and 33 with valves are respectively provided correspondingly, and the hollow box-shaped chamber 3 is provided.
An inlet member 34 with a valve is provided on the upper part of the first member 1. An ultraviolet light source such as a xenon lamp or an X-ray source 35
The wire is provided so as to irradiate the inside of the hollow box-shaped chamber 31. By irradiating the inside of the hollow box-shaped chamber 31 with ultraviolet rays or X-rays from the ultraviolet light source or the X-ray source 35, the hollow box-shaped chamber 31
The gas that has entered inside is ionized and taken out through the outlet members 32 and 33. Incidentally, an ultraviolet light source or an X-ray source may be installed inside the hollow box type chamber 31.

FIG. 4 shows an embodiment in which a plurality of ionization methods of the present invention are used in combination. 3, a radiation source 41 such as a radioisotope ²⁴¹ Am is installed inside a hollow box-shaped chamber 31, and X-rays or ultraviolet rays are irradiated from the side of the hollow box-shaped chamber 31. Then, the gas is ionized by both radiation and X-rays or ultraviolet rays. Since the amount of ions generated per unit time increases, the flow rate in the gas separation device can be increased.

FIG. 5 shows an embodiment in which a number of the gas separation devices shown in FIG. 1 are used. First three gas separation devices 51,
One outlet of each of 52 and 53 is connected to each of the inlets of the three gas separators 54, 55 and 56 in the second stage, and the inlets of the gas separators 51, 52 and 53 are connected in common. . One of the outlets of the gas separators 54, 55, 56 is connected in common to a control valve 57,
The other outlets of the gas separators 51, 52, 53 and the other outlets of the gas separators 54, 55, 56 are connected to a control valve 58. The control valves 57, 58 are connected to a setting device 59. in this way,
By providing the gas separation device in multiple stages, the separation capacity can be improved, and more clean air can be taken out. Further, by disposing them in parallel, the processing flow rate can be increased.

FIG. 6 shows an embodiment in which an automatic control valve with a sensor for adjusting the outlet flow rate according to the present invention is mounted at the outlet of the separator. A flow sensor 62 and a flow control valve 63 are provided at the outlet member 61 of the gas separator. Provided along the gas flow area, the flow sensor 62 and the flow control valve 63 are connected to a setter 65 via a control circuit 64. A flow output 66 from the flow sensor 62 is sent to a setting device 65 via a control circuit 64, and a flow setting signal 67 is sent from the setting device 65 to a flow control valve 63 via a control circuit 64. The control circuit 64 and the setting device 6
5 is supplied with a driving power supply 68. The left and right outlet flow rates can be automatically controlled by the flow rate setting signal 67 from the setting device 65. Further, since the flow rate is detected and corrected by the flow rate sensor 62, it is possible to prevent the flow rate from being disturbed by the ion wind.

FIG. 7 shows a graph for improving the separation efficiency of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a configuration explanatory perspective view showing an embodiment in which a nozzle outlet and a separation plate are used to ionize by discharge. FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view for explaining the configuration in the same manner. Disposed near the gas inlet of the rectangular cylindrical chamber 71 are two opposed discharge electrodes 72 and 73 made of a bent metal plate, each having a tapered opening so as to narrow the gap toward the downstream. The discharge electrode 7
Reference numerals 2 and 73 denote metal nozzle outlets that smoothly narrow the width of the gas flow path and allow the gas to be blown out in a substantially horizontal slit shape. At a substantially center between the discharge electrodes 72 and 73, a plurality of discharge needles 74 formed of needle-like electrodes are horizontally arranged. Parallel plate electrodes 75 and 76 are mounted vertically so as to sandwich the nozzle composed of the discharge electrodes 72 and 73, and at any position between the parallel plate electrodes 75 and 76,
A very thin and sharp metal separation plate 77 is set at a distance from the nozzle composed of the discharge electrodes 72 and 73. A discharge power supply 79 is connected to the discharge electrodes 72 and 73, the discharge needle 74 and the separation plate 77, and a separation DC power supply 81 is connected to the parallel plate electrodes 75 and 76 via an interlocking switch 80. A voltage is applied to the needle electrode 74 from a low-energy DC pulse power supply, AC power supply or DC power supply that does not cause decomposition of the gas, and pulse DC discharge, AC discharge or DC discharge is performed by the needle electrode 74, the discharge electrodes 72 and 73, and the separator 77. Causes discharge. The ionized gas is blown out in a beam form from a nozzle composed of the discharge electrodes 72 and 73. When an electrostatic force due to an electric field is applied to the ion beam, ions having higher electric mobility move toward the electrodes 75 and 76, and ions having lower electric mobility remain at the center. Since this occurs with positive and negative ions, the ion beam spreads radially up and down, so that gas components having different electric mobilities can be separated. At this time, if a plurality of separation plates 77 are installed in parallel,
A gas having an arbitrary electric mobility can be taken out.

Further, since there is a device which can freely reverse the setting of the voltage applied to the electrodes 75 and 76 by the four interlocked switches 80, it is easy to change the outlet for taking out the clean air later without changing the wiring. The settings can be switched.

The discharge electrodes 72 and 73 and the discharge needle 7
Alternatively, a discharge may be caused between the discharge needle 74 and the separation plate 77.

As described above, the gas separation device of the present invention ionizes gas components in an air flow, and can separate the ionized gas components by utilizing electrostatic force generated by an electric field. Further, by arranging a large number of gas separation devices of the present invention in parallel and in series, a large amount of air can be processed and high-purity air can be purified. Further, in the gas separation device of the present invention, a separation plate is provided at a portion to be separated, and the separated gas is neutralized so as not to flow to the opposite side, thereby improving the separation capability. A single component can be taken out by providing a plurality of separation plates. Further, the gas separation device of the present invention can improve the separation efficiency by blowing out the ionized gas from the nozzle.

Although the description has been given based on the above embodiment,
The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the invention. For example, the electrodes that ionize the air flow and apply an electric field to the ionized gas may switch polarity or change the electric field strength.

[0032]

As described above, according to the present invention, a gas such as air containing a pollutant gas component is irradiated with radiation, ultraviolet rays, X-rays, or the like.
Ions that are simultaneously ionized by a method such as wire or discharge or a combination thereof can be separated with high efficiency and energy saving by an electric field generated by applying a voltage between the electrodes. Separation efficiency can be improved by blowing out an ion beam from a nozzle serving as a discharge electrode and placing a separation plate between the separation electrodes. Furthermore, by installing a large number of separation plates and utilizing the electric mobility inherent in molecules under an electric field, it is possible to select only a single component and extract it efficiently. This makes it possible to extract and supply clean air from the air containing the pollutant gas component. Further, it is also possible to extract a predetermined component from the gas containing the impurity component and extract or discharge the extracted component. Further, the present invention can be used in different applications having the same configuration, that is, as an air purifier, an exhaust gas treatment device, a gas extraction device, a high-purity gas generation device, and the like.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration explanatory view showing an embodiment in which radiation is used in an ionization section of the present invention.

FIG. 2A is a characteristic diagram showing an example of a measurement result of an outlet concentration on a cathode side with respect to an inlet toluene concentration, which is a separation result of toluene with a nitrogen gas containing toluene in the gas separation device of FIG. (B) is a characteristic diagram showing an example of a measurement result of the outlet concentration on the positive electrode side with respect to the inlet toluene concentration.

FIG. 3 is a configuration explanatory view showing an example of an embodiment in a case where light or X-rays are used in an ionization unit of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a configuration explanatory view showing a case where ionization is performed using both radiation and light as an embodiment example in which a plurality of ionization methods of the present invention are used in combination.

FIG. 5 is a configuration explanatory view showing an embodiment when a plurality of gas separation devices according to the present invention are connected.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a configuration of an outlet flow control unit in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a configuration explanatory view showing an example of an embodiment using a discharge by a nozzle electrode and a separation plate according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a configuration explanatory view showing an example of an embodiment in the case of having an electric field direction switching means using a discharge by a nozzle electrode and a separation plate according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Cylindrical chamber 12,13 Plate electrode 14,15 Cylindrical gas outlet member 16 Gas inlet member 17 Radiation source 18 DC power supply

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing from the front page (72) Yoshio Otani, Kanazawa University, 2-40-20 Kotano, Kanazawa-shi, Ishikawa Prefecture F term (reference) 4G075 AA03 BA08 BB05 CA14 CA15 CA18 CA32 CA38 EC21

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. An air flow is ionized, an electric field is applied to an ionized gas by an electrode, and the gas is separated into cations and anions, whereby gas molecules contained in the air flow are separated, and clean air and / or clean air are separated. Alternatively, a gas separation device for extracting a separated gas. 2. The gas according to claim 1, wherein the means for ionizing is a combination of one or more of radioisotopes, X-rays, light, and a device for generating electric discharge. Separation device. 3. As a means for ionizing, a needle-shaped electrode and a tapered opening-type electrode having a tapered opening are provided, and the needle electrode is provided between the tapered opening-type electrodes and downstream of the tapered opening. A discharge plate generated by the needle electrode and the tapered opening type electrode to ionize an air flow flowing inside the tapered opening, and eject ions from the tip of the tapered opening. The gas separation device as described in the above. 4. A method for generating an electric discharge by using a separator as an electrode and using a needle electrode and / or a tapered opening type electrode as a counter electrode of the separator electrode to ionize an air flow flowing inside the tapered opening. 4. The gas separation device according to claim 3, wherein: 5. The gas separation device according to claim 1, wherein a parallel plate electrode is used for the separation part. 6. The gas separator according to claim 5, wherein a gas outlet for taking out clean air or separated gas is provided in the parallel plate electrode. 7. The gas separation device according to claim 1, wherein a separation plate is provided between the electrodes of the separation unit. 8. The gas separation apparatus according to claim 7, wherein a plurality of separation plates are provided, and a single component is taken out by utilizing electric mobility specific to gas. 9. The gas separation device according to claim 1, wherein an outlet flow rate of an outlet for extracting clean air and / or separated gas is controlled. 10. The gas separation according to claim 1, further comprising means for switching the polarity of the electrode for applying an electric field to the ionized gas and / or means for changing the electrolytic strength of the electrode. apparatus. 11. A gas separation device comprising a plurality of the gas separation devices according to claim 1 arranged in parallel, in series, or in series-parallel.