JP2001190642A - Steam sterilizing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a sterilizing device capable of supplying dried pure steam to a sterilizing chamber even when a steam generator for generating the pure steam is miniaturized. SOLUTION: The steam sterilizing device is provided with a main body 10 comprising an inner cylinder 14 in which the sterilizing chamber 12 is formed, an outer cylinder 16 formed outside the inner cylinder 14 and a jacket part 18 formed between the inner and the outer cylinder 14 to be supplied with steam for heating the sterilizing chamber 12, and a steam generator 20 for supplying the steam obtained vapored pure water as sterilizing steam to the main body. In this device, wet steam containing drain from the steam generator 20 is supplied to the jacket part 18, and the dried pure steam obtained by separating the drain in the jacket part 18 is supplied to the sterilizing chamber 12.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a steam sterilizer, and more particularly, to a steam sterilizer using pure steam obtained by evaporating pure water as sterilizing steam.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a hospital or the like, for sterilizing an object to be sterilized such as a bandage, a scalpel, forceps, and surgical gown used for treatment, usually, a sterilization chamber containing the object to be sterilized is pressurized with steam to a predetermined pressure. A steam sterilization method of maintaining a state of pressure and temperature for a certain time is employed. Conventionally, steam supplied to a sterilization room is supplied from a large boiler provided in a hospital or the like.In general, a large boiler uses water to which a water treatment agent is added to maintain its performance and the like. Used. Thus, the water treatment agent may be contained in the steam obtained by evaporating the water to which the water treatment agent has been added. There is a possibility that the water treatment agent may adhere to the object to be sterilized by steam containing the water treatment agent. For this reason, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-285527 proposes a steam sterilizer for supplying pure steam obtained by evaporating pure water subjected to water treatment such as microfiltration and deionization treatment to a sterilization chamber. I have.

FIG. 4 shows a steam sterilizer disclosed in this patent publication. In FIG. 4, the main body 10 of the steam sterilizer is shown.
0 denotes an inner cylinder 104 in which a sterilization chamber 102 for accommodating an object to be sterilized is formed, and an outer cylinder 106 formed outside the inner cylinder 104.
And a jacket 108 formed between the inner cylinder 104 and the outer cylinder 106. The steam sterilizer shown in FIG. 4 includes a steam generator 11 for evaporating pure water supplied through a water supply pipe 112 to generate pure steam.
0 is provided. In the steam generator 110, steam used as a heat source for evaporating pure water is supplied from a normal steam pipe 120 via a control valve 118, a jacket section 108 of the steam sterilizer, and a pipe 119. For this reason, the steam supplied to the jacket portion 108 is also used for heating the inner cylinder 104. Pure steam generated by the steam generator 110 is supplied to the control valve 1
14 is supplied directly to the sterilization chamber 102 of the main body 100 via a pure steam supply pipe 116 provided on the way. Pure steam supplied to the sterilization chamber 102 and sterilized by heating the material to be sterilized is exhausted through a discharge pipe 122 and a pipe 124 provided with a control valve 126. Furthermore, sterilization room 1
When 02 drops to atmospheric pressure, the control valves 114, 126
Is closed, and the water ring vacuum pump 130 is driven to open the control valve 128 provided in the vacuum pipe 132 to put the sterilization chamber 102 in a vacuum state. This is for drying the object to be sterilized wetted with the condensed water of pure steam during the sterilization. When the sterilized chamber 102, which has been evacuated, is returned to the atmospheric pressure and the sterilized object is taken out, clean air is removed from the sterilized chamber via a pipe 138 provided with a filter 134 and a control valve 136. 102. In addition, the water ring vacuum pump 13
To 0, sealed water lost due to evaporation or the like by suction of pure water vapor or the like is supplied via a pipe 131.

[0004]

According to the steam sterilizer shown in FIG. 4, pure water vapor obtained by evaporating pure water is used as water vapor for sterilization. Can be eliminated. However, the steam sterilizer shown in FIG. 4 has a steam generator 110 for evaporating pure water.
However, since the steam generator 110 needs to be newly installed, the entire steam sterilizer shown in FIG. That is, the steam introduced into the sterilization chamber 102 needs to be dry steam. The use of wet steam mixed with drainage causes the steam-sterilized material to be remarkably wetted, and the drying process takes a significantly longer time to sufficiently dry the material. This is because Therefore, FIG.
The steam generator 110 of the steam sterilizer also needs to supply dry pure steam to the sterilization chamber 102. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 5, it is necessary to use a large-sized steam generator 110 having a complicated structure having a drain separation unit such as a baffle 140 and a cyclone 142 at the upper part. On the other hand, the steam generator without the drain separation section can be made smaller than the steam generator 110 shown in FIG. 5, but the sterilization chamber 102 is supplied with wet pure steam containing a large amount of drain. For this reason, the material to be sterilized is significantly wet, and the drying time for drying the sterilized material is long, which may increase the cycle time of steam sterilization or may cause poor drying of the material to be sterilized. is there. Further, such wet pure steam may cause sterilization failure. Therefore,
An object of the present invention is to provide a steam sterilizer capable of supplying dry pure steam to a sterilization chamber even if the steam generator that generates pure steam is downsized.

[0005]

Means for Solving the Problems The present inventor studied to solve the above-mentioned problems, and found that the jacket portion was used as a drain separation portion in pure steam, so that the steam separation was omitted and the size was reduced. The present inventors have found that even when wet pure steam containing drain is generated from a generator, dry pure steam can be supplied to a sterilization chamber, and the present invention has been achieved. That is, the present invention provides an inner cylinder having a sterilization chamber for accommodating an object to be sterilized, an outer cylinder formed outside the inner cylinder, and the sterilization chamber formed between the inner cylinder and the outer cylinder. A steam sterilizing apparatus having a steam generator for supplying pure steam obtained by evaporating pure water as sterilizing steam to a main body comprising a jacket for supplying steam for heating the chamber; A wet pure steam supply pipe that supplies wet pure steam containing drain generated in the apparatus to the jacket section, and a dry pure steam supply pipe that supplies dry pure steam from which drain is separated at the jacket section to the sterilization chamber. A steam sterilizer characterized by being provided.

In the present invention, a preheater for preheating the pure water supplied to the steam generator is provided, and the heat medium used for evaporation of the pure water in the steam generator is used as a heat source of the preheater. By providing a heat medium pipe from the steam generator to the preliminary heater, heat of the heat medium used for evaporation of the pure water can be effectively used. Further, by providing a re-supply pipe for re-supplying the drain separated in the jacket portion to the steam generator, the energy and resources of the drain made of the separated pure water can be effectively used. In addition, by forming the inner surface of the sterilization chamber, the outer surface of the inner cylinder, and the inner surface of the outer cylinder with a material such as stainless steel that exhibits corrosion resistance to drain and water vapor, rust and the like can be prevented.

[0007] In the present invention, the jacket of the main body of the steam sterilizer is used as a drain separator, and dry pure steam from which drain is separated by the jacket can be supplied to the sterilization chamber. Therefore, it is not necessary to provide a drain separation unit in a steam generator that generates pure steam. Therefore, the structure of the steam generator can be simplified, and the size of the steam generator can be reduced. As a result, the size of the entire steam sterilizer can be reduced. On the other hand, the wet pure steam containing drain supplied to the jacket portion from the steam generator can be separated in the jacket portion to obtain dry pure steam, and the dry pure steam can be supplied to the sterilization chamber.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram for explaining an example of a steam sterilizer according to the present invention. In FIG.
The main body 10 of the steam sterilizer includes an inner cylinder 14 having a sterilization chamber 12 for accommodating an object to be sterilized, an outer cylinder 16 formed outside the inner cylinder 14, and an inner cylinder 14 and an outer cylinder 16. And a jacket portion 18 formed therebetween. Pure steam generated by the steam generator 20 is supplied to the jacket portion 18 of the main body 10 through a pure steam supply pipe 24 in which a control valve 22 is provided in the middle. In the steam generator 20, pure water supplied from a pure water storage tank 26 through a pure water supply pipe 34 provided with a pump 28, a control valve 30, and a preheating heater 32 is supplied to the control valve 3.
6 is heated and evaporated by general steam as a heat medium supplied from a large-sized boiler (not shown) by a steam pipe 38 provided. The drain and steam obtained by heating and evaporating the pure water in the steam generator 20 are supplied to the auxiliary heater 32 as a heat medium by a heat medium pipe 39 extending from the steam generator 20 to the auxiliary heater 32, and are supplied to the steam generator 20. After preheating the water, it is exhausted and drained. Here, the pure water supplied to the pure water storage tank 26 is water obtained by subjecting ordinary tap water or the like to various treatments such as a deionization treatment and a deaeration treatment to remove most impurities. In particular, it is preferable to perform a degassing process for degassing dissolved oxygen and the like in pure water from the viewpoint of maintenance of the steam generator 20 and the like.

As shown in FIG. 2, the steam generator 20 used in FIG. 1 is reduced in size by omitting a gas-liquid separator such as a baffle 140 and a cyclone 142 provided in the steam generator 110 shown in FIG. It was done. For this reason, pure steam generated by the steam generator 20 of FIG. 2 is wet pure steam containing drain. Such wet pure steam is
The drain supplied to the jacket portion 18 and contained therein while heating the sterilization chamber 14 is separated. Jacket part 18
Usually, the cross-sectional area is significantly larger than the cross-sectional area of the pure steam supply pipe 24, and the linear velocity of the pure steam is remarkably reduced. Therefore, the liquid such as the entrained drain and the like can be easily separated from the pure steam. It is. In this manner, the dry pure steam from which the drain is separated is supplied to the sterilization chamber 12 via the dry pure steam supply pipe 40 provided with the control valve 41.
On the other hand, the drain separated by the jacket portion 18 and the drain generated by heating the sterilization chamber 12 are drains made of pure water and have a considerable amount of heat, so that the resupply pipe provided with the drain trap 42 is provided. It is returned to the inlet side of the pump 28 via 44 and supplied to the steam generator 20 again.

[0010] The dry pure steam supplied to the sterilization chamber 12 is:
The object to be sterilized stored in the sterilization chamber 12 is subjected to steam sterilization. At that time, the drain generated by heating the object to be sterilized or the like is discharged out of the system by a drain trap 48 provided in the discharge pipe 46. After the steam sterilization of the material to be sterilized is completed, the pressurized steam obtained by pressurizing the sterilization chamber 12 to a predetermined pressure for sterilization passes through a control valve 52 provided in a bypass pipe 50 that bypasses the drain trap 48. And is discharged out of the system. Further, the steam remaining in the sterilization chamber 12 at which the pressurized steam is discharged to the atmospheric pressure is passed through a control valve 56 of a vacuum pipe 54 connected between the control valve 52 and the sterilization chamber 12. A vacuum state is created by the water ring vacuum pump 58, and the object to be sterilized wet with condensed water is dried during sterilization. The water sealed vacuum pump 58 is supplied with sealed water lost through evaporation or the like due to heat of the suctioned steam or the like via a pipe 66. When the sterilization chamber 12 in a vacuum state is returned to the atmospheric pressure and the sterilized object is taken out, clean air is supplied to the decompression chamber 12 through an air supply pipe 60 provided with a filter 62 and a control valve 64. To supply.

In the steam sterilizer shown in FIG. 1, a surface which contacts pure steam and its drain, that is, a jacket portion 18 is provided.
The outer surface of the inner tube 14 forming the inner tube, the inner surface of the outer tube 16 and the inner surface of the inner tube 14 forming the sterilization chamber 12 are formed of a material having corrosion resistance to water vapor and its drain, for example, a stainless steel material, thereby preventing rust. Is preferred. Jacket part 1
If rust or the like is generated on the wall surface of No. 8, the rust or the like may enter the sterilization chamber 12 together with the pure water vapor and stain the object to be sterilized. All of the inner cylinder 14 and the outer cylinder 16 may be formed of a stainless steel material, but the outer cylinder 16 may be formed of a clad steel made of a stainless steel material and a rolled steel material. When such a clad steel is used, the inner surface that comes into contact with pure steam or the like is formed of a stainless steel material.

The process of steam sterilization of an object to be sterilized using the steam sterilizer shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 shows a change in the internal pressure of the sterilization chamber 12 with time. One cycle of the steam sterilization includes a conditioning (vacuum) step, a sterilization step, an exhaustion step, a drying step, and a completion step. First, a sterilization chamber 12 in which an object to be sterilized is stored.
After the airtight state, a conditioning (vacuum) process is started. In this conditioning (vacuum) step, the wet pure steam containing drain generated by the steam generator 20 is introduced into the jacket section 18 by opening the control valve 22 of the wet pure steam supply pipe 24 to heat the sterilization chamber 12. The water ring vacuum pump 58 is driven, and the control valve 56 of the vacuum pipe 54 is opened to evacuate the air in the sterilization chamber 12 to a vacuum state.

Next, the control valve 41 of the dry pure steam supply pipe 40 is opened, and the dry pure steam separated from the drain by the jacket 18 is fed into the sterilization chamber 12, and the pressure in the sterilization chamber 12 is increased to increase the pressure. Warm the sterile. Furthermore, sterilization room 1
2 to the sterilization chamber 1 by opening the control valve 52 of the bypass pipe 50.
After releasing the pure steam for pressurizing 2 to atmospheric pressure, the water-sealed vacuum pump 58 is driven, and the control valve 56 of the vacuum pipe 54 is opened to make a vacuum state. Thereafter, the operation of supplying and exhausting steam, which supplies pure steam to the sterilization chamber 12 in a vacuum state, is repeated a plurality of times to sufficiently heat the material to be sterilized. This conditioning (vacuum) step ensures that the air inside the object to be sterilized is eliminated, and as described later, when the object to be sterilized is heated to the sterilization temperature by supplying steam to the sterilization chamber 12, as described later. This is for increasing the internal temperature to the same level as the surface temperature.

After the material to be sterilized is sufficiently heated in the conditioning (vacuum) process, it is dried in the sterilization chamber 12 and supplied with steam from the pure steam supply pipe 40 to be pressurized to a predetermined pressure.
The sterilization chamber 12 is maintained at a predetermined pressure and temperature for a predetermined time. By such holding, bacteria and the like adhering to the object to be sterilized in the sterilization chamber 12 can be sterilized. Then, sterilization room 1
2 is pressurized to a predetermined pressure.
After opening the control valve 52 of 0 and exhausting, the process enters a drying process of drying the object to be sterilized wet in the sterilization process. In this drying process, the control valve 56 of the vacuum pipe 54 is opened (by-pass pipe 50) in the sterilization chamber 12 where the pressurized steam is exhausted to atmospheric pressure.
By closing the control valve 52) and driving the water ring type vacuum pump 58, the sterilization chamber 12 is evacuated to evaporate the moisture of the material to be sterilized.

However, since the temperature of the object to be sterilized decreases with the evaporation of the water, the water is easily evaporated from the object to be sterilized.
The heated clean air is supplied to the control valve 64 of the air supply pipe 60.
Is opened and introduced into the sterilization chamber 12, the pressure in the sterilization chamber 12 is increased to near atmospheric pressure, and the temperature of the object to be sterilized is raised. Further, in order to dry the heated object, the operation of supplying the heated clean air is repeated a plurality of times after the inside of the sterilization chamber 12 is again evacuated to dry the object to be sterilized sufficiently. . If the material to be sterilized is not sufficiently dried, when the material to be sterilized is taken out of the sterilization chamber 12, bacteria in the air may adhere to the material to be sterilized and start growing. When the drying process is completed, the control valve 6 of the air supply pipe 60 is inserted into the sterilization chamber 12.
4. Open and introduce clean air to complete sterilization. still,
Pure steam to the jacket portion 18 is supplied through each step of steam sterilization, and always heats the sterilization chamber 12.

By the steam sterilizer shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, an object to be sterilized to which a chemical such as a water treatment agent is not attached can be obtained. In the steam sterilizer shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, dry pure steam obtained by separating the drain in the wet pure steam supplied from the steam generator 20 by the jacket portion 18 is supplied to the sterilization chamber 12. For this reason, it is not necessary to provide a vapor-liquid separation unit such as the baffle 140 and the cyclone 142 in the steam generator 20 and supply the dry pure steam separated from the drain to the jacket unit 18. Therefore,
As in the steam sterilizer shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, a gas-liquid separator such as a baffle 140 and a cyclone 142 is provided to generate dry pure steam capable of supplying pure steam directly from the steam generator 110 to the sterilization chamber 102. Steam generator 11
0 and the steam generator 20 shown in FIGS.
Has a simple structure and can be miniaturized. As a result, in the steam sterilizer shown in FIG. 1, it is not necessary to prepare a space for providing the large-sized steam generator 110 having the complicated structure shown in FIG. 5, and thus the steam sterilizer can be downsized. . Here, in FIG. 1, one steam generator 2
Although 0 is provided, when the sterilization chamber 12 becomes large,
A plurality of steam generators 20 may be provided in relation to the amount of steam supply. As described above, even if a plurality of steam generators 20 are provided, the steam generator 20 is downsized, so that the installation space of the plurality of steam generators 20 is a small space when viewed from the installation area of the apparatus. is there.

[0017]

According to the steam sterilizer according to the present invention, an object to be sterilized to which a chemical such as a water treatment agent is not attached can be obtained, and a small-sized steam generator having a simple structure can be employed. . For this reason, it is possible to reduce the size of the entire steam sterilizer, and it is possible to install the steam sterilizer even in a relatively narrow place without requiring a large mounting space for mounting the steam sterilizer.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a steam sterilizer according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a steam generator used in the steam sterilizer shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a graph showing a change with time in the internal pressure of a sterilization chamber when performing steam sterilization using the steam sterilizer shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a conventional steam sterilizer.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a steam generator used in the steam sterilizer shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Main body part 12 Sterilization room 14 Inner cylinder 16 Outer cylinder 18 Jacket part 20 Steam generator 24 Wet pure steam supply pipe 32 Preheater 39 Heat medium pipe 40 Dry pure steam supply pipe 44 Resupply pipe

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An inner cylinder having a sterilization chamber for accommodating an object to be sterilized, an outer cylinder formed outside the inner cylinder, and the sterilization chamber formed between the inner cylinder and the outer cylinder. A steam generator for supplying pure steam obtained by evaporating pure water as sterilizing steam to a main body comprising a jacket for supplying steam for heating the steam generator. A wet pure steam supply pipe for supplying wet pure steam containing drain generated in the jacket portion,
A steam sterilization apparatus, further comprising a dry pure steam supply pipe for supplying dry pure steam from which drain has been separated at the jacket portion to the sterilization chamber. 2. A preheater for preheating pure water supplied to a steam generator is provided, and a heat medium used for evaporating the pure water in the steam generator is used as a heat source of the preheater. 2. The steam sterilizer according to claim 1, further comprising a heat medium pipe extending from the steam generator to a preliminary heater. 3. The steam sterilizer according to claim 1, further comprising a resupply pipe for resupplying the drain separated at the jacket portion to the steam generator. 4. The inner surface of the sterilization chamber, the outer surface of the inner cylinder, and the inner surface of the outer cylinder are made of a material such as stainless steel that exhibits corrosion resistance to drain and water vapor.
The steam sterilizer according to any one of the above.