JP2003071448A - Electrolytic water maker - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electrolytic water maker capable of changing the formed amount of electrolytic water, capable of always keeping the optimum electrolytic condition, having simple constitution, inexpensive, suitable to carry and capable of being miniaturized. SOLUTION: In the electrolytic water maker having an electrolyte aqueous solution tank 2, an electrolytic cell 10, a pump 6 for feeding the electrolyte aqueous solution 4 in the tank to the electrolytic cell, take-out pipes 12 and 16 for taking out cationic electrolytic water and anionic electrolytic water electrolyzed in the electrolytic cell, an electrolytic water flow rate setting part 22 and a control part 20, the control part has a means for storing electrolytic current target value data corresponding to the set value of the electrolytic water flow rate setting part, a means for changing the liquid feed amount of the pump corresponding to the set value, a measuring means for measuring the electrolytic current of the electrolytic cell and a constant electrolytic current supply means for supplying a proper current, which is calculated by comparing the electrolytic current target value corresponding to the liquid feed amount of the pump with the electrolytic current value of the electrolytic cell, to the electrolytic cell.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an electrolyzed water generator for electrolyzing an aqueous electrolyte solution to produce anolyte electrolyzed water and catholyte electrolyzed water having various functions. Variable electrolyzed water generator.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An inert electrode made of platinum, a platinum alloy, or the like is used as a diaphragm through a charged film formed of a film of ion exchange resin or an uncharged film having a microporous structure, or without a diaphragm. Is used to electrolyze a dilute aqueous solution of an electrolyte such as Nacl to take out low-pH electrolyzed electrolyzed water (acidic water) that is electrolytically generated on the anode side and use it for sterilization and disinfection. Already well known.

Since hypochlorous acid is generated in the anode electrolyzed water generated on the anode side, it is used for sterilization and disinfection by utilizing the strong oxidizing action and chlorinating action of hypochlorous acid. This kind of usage is widely used in medical institutions. Further, since ozone and dissolved oxygen contained in a small amount in acidic water have a granulation generation promoting action, their use as an aid for surgical treatment has also been studied.

On the other hand, cathodic electrolyzed water (alkali water) produced on the cathode side is obtained by electrolyzing tap water in place of a dilute electrolyte solution, and has been conventionally used for drinking and the like.

In the electrolyzed water generator, it is practically preferable that the amount of electrolyzed water produced can be changed depending on the purpose of use and the situation of use. However, the electrolysis conditions for producing electrolyzed water must be appropriate. If the electrolysis conditions deviate from the appropriate electrolysis conditions, electrolyzed water having a desired function (pH, effective chlorine concentration, etc.) cannot be obtained, or There is a problem that it consumes more power than is necessary and becomes uneconomical.

In Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 8-243562, a flow rate detector is provided in the flow path of electrolyzed water, and the flow rate detector detects the amount of water to be sent to the electrolytic cell and the amount of electrolyzed water produced. It is described that the pH of the is kept constant. However, the flow rate detector is expensive, and the control circuit also needs a high-performance one that can cope with the performance of the flow rate detector. Furthermore, additional auxiliary equipment such as the flow rate detector mounting location is also required, and the entire device is required. Increasing the size and increasing costs are inevitable.

These electrolyzed water generators are relatively large,
Many types fix electrolyzed water where it is used.

On the other hand, a portable electrolyzed water generator is conventionally known (PCT / JP95 / 01503 etc.). In the case of these portable electrolyzed water generators, upsizing and high manufacturing cost are fatal problems.Therefore, the amount of electrolyzed water produced has not been made variable, and the electrolysis conditions are constant. ing.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and its purpose is to make it possible to arbitrarily change the amount of electrolyzed water produced, in which case the optimum electrolysis is performed. The electrolytic water generator that can maintain the conditions, can be manufactured at a low manufacturing cost with a simple structure without using expensive and complicated devices such as flow rate detectors, and is also suitable for portable use To do.

[0010]

The present invention which achieves the above object is described below.

[1] An electrolyte aqueous solution tank, an electrolytic bath, a pump for feeding the electrolytic aqueous solution in the electrolyte aqueous solution tank to the electrolytic bath, and anodic electrolysis for taking out anode electrolyzed water and cathode electrolyzed water electrolyzed in the electrolyzer In an electrolyzed water generator including at least a water extraction pipe, a cathode electrolyzed water extraction pipe, an electrolyzed water flow rate setting unit, and a control unit, the control unit (1) electrolyzes corresponding to a set value of the electrolyzed water flow rate setting unit. Means for storing the current target value data, (2) means for changing the pumped liquid amount according to the set value, (3) means for measuring the electrolytic current of the electrolytic cell, and (4) pumped liquid amount. An electrolyzed water generator having a constant electrolysis current supply means for comparing a corresponding electrolysis current target value with the measured electrolysis current value of the electrolytic cell, calculating an appropriate current value and supplying an appropriate current to the electrolysis cell.

[2] The electrolyzed water generator according to [1], wherein a sprayer is connected to either one of the anode electrolyzed water extraction pipe and the cathode electrolyzed water extraction pipe, and the waste liquid tank is connected to the other.

[3] The electrolyzed water generator according to [2], wherein the atomizer uses a piezo oscillator.

The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

[0015]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an example of the constitution of an electrolyzed water generator of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 2 is an electrolyte aqueous solution tank in which an electrolyte aqueous solution 4 is stored.

The electrolyte solution 4 is Nacl, Kcl
Alkali metal salts such as, alkaline earth salts such as Cacl ₂ ,
A water-soluble electrolyte such as ascorbic acid is contained in an amount of about 0.1 to 0.5% by mass.

As a method for preparing such an electrolyte solution 4, there is exemplified a method in which city water, distilled water, or purified water (pure water) such as deionized water is dissolved in the above concentration range. .

Reference numeral 6 denotes a pump interposed in the electrolyte aqueous solution supply pipe 8, and by driving the pump 6,
The aqueous electrolyte solution 4 is sent to the electrolytic cell 10 through the supply pipe 8.

The electrolytic cell 10 has an anode (not shown) and a cathode (not shown) which face each other with a predetermined distance therebetween. The anode and cathode are formed of an electrochemically inactive metal material. As the electrode material, platinum, platinum alloy and the like are preferable.

As an electrolytic cell having such a membraneless structure,
Both electrodes are arranged close to each other in parallel without interposing a diaphragm between the anode and the cathode, and the aqueous electrolyte solution is continuously supplied between both the negative and positive electrodes, and an electric current is passed between the two electrodes to cause electrolyte to flow. An example is a structure in which an aqueous solution is electrolyzed, and electrolyzed anodic water in the vicinity of the surface of the anode is continuously taken out downstream of the anode. Specifically, the electrolytic cell and the like disclosed in JP-A-6-246272 are exemplified.

The electrolytic current density is 0.01 to 0.1 A / c.
m ² is preferable, and 0.03 to 0.05 A / cm ² is particularly preferable.

The anode electrolyzed water produced by electrolysis as described above passes through the anode electrolyzed water extraction pipe 12 and the atomizer 1
4 and is sprayed to the outside. The sprayer is not particularly limited and any sprayer can be used, but a sprayer utilizing the vibration of the piezo element is preferable. Further, the cathode electrolyzed water is stored in the waste liquid tank 18 through the cathode electrolyzed water extraction pipe 16.

Reference numeral 20 denotes a control unit, which controls the electric power supplied to the pump 6 and the electrolytic cell 10 as described later. 22
Is an electrolyzed water flow rate setting unit using a potentiometer or the like, and this setting unit sets an arbitrary pumping amount. Also, 24
Is a power supply that supplies power to the generator. The power source is not particularly limited, but a battery is preferable when the generator is used for portability.

In the above generator, the sprayer 14 was attached to the anode electrolyzed water extraction pipe 12 and the waste liquid tank 18 was attached to the cathode electrolyzed water extraction pipe 16. However, it is installed in reverse to spray the cathode electrolyzed water. Is also good. Furthermore,
The electrolyzed water may be directly collected from each of the pipes 12 and 16 without attaching a sprayer.

Further, the anode electrolyzed water and the cathode electrolyzed water may be taken out together without separation and used for various purposes such as sterilization.

Furthermore, although the electrolytic cell 10 has a structure without a diaphragm inside, the electrolytic cell is not limited to this, and an electrolytic cell having a structure provided with a diaphragm can also be suitably used. The diaphragm plays a role of preventing the anode electrolyzed water and the cathode electrolyzed water from being mixed with each other, and is made of a material through which an electrolysis current is transmitted. As the diaphragm, those conventionally used as an electrolytic diaphragm, such as an ion exchange membrane and an uncharged membrane, can be appropriately used.

The control unit 20 has the following means. (1) Means for storing the electrolytic current target value data corresponding to the set value of the pumped liquid amount set in the electrolytic water flow rate setting unit The electrolytic current target value data changes the pumped liquid amount using this generator. The optimum electrolysis current value at that time is experimentally obtained, and this is stored as electrolysis current target value data.
(2) Means for changing the pumped liquid amount according to the set value (3) Means for measuring the electrolytic current of the electrolytic cell (4) Target value of electrolytic current corresponding to the pumped liquid amount and electrolysis of the measured electrolytic cell A constant electrolysis current supply means for comparing the current value and calculating an appropriate current value and supplying an appropriate current to the electrolytic cell. FIG. 2 shows a circuit configuration for realizing each means (1) to (4) of the control section. An example is shown.

The electrolyzed water flow rate setting unit for setting the amount of liquid sent by the pump 210 is constituted by the potentiometer 100 in this figure. By operating the potentiometer 100, the liquid delivery amount of the pump 210 is set. The pumped liquid amount is electrically controlled by a PWM (pulse width modulation) control method. Memory in the CPU 200 (ROM MAP
In (111), pump liquid delivery amount control data corresponding to the A / D conversion value of the voltage preset by the potentiometer 1 is stored as a PWM value.

The voltage set by the potentiometer 1 is A / D converted by the A / D converter of the CPU 200 and stored in the memory RAM 101 provided in the CPU 200.

The CPU reads the A / D conversion data stored in the memory RAM 101, and the ROM MAP111
The PWM control data associated with the A / D conversion data stored in the memory is read and the data is written in the PWM register 121. Thereby, the liquid feed amount of the pump is controlled according to the liquid feed amount set in the potentiometer 100.

When the amount of liquid pumped by the pump 210 is changed as described above, when the electrolyzer 170 is electrolyzing at a constant current, the liquidity of the obtained electrolyzed water, such as pH, changes. When the flow rate of the aqueous electrolyte solution in the electrolyzer is constant, a constant current control method is used that keeps the electrolysis current flowing between the electrodes of the electrolyzer constant in order to keep the liquidity of the electrolyzed water generated in the electrolyzer constant. Is common. In the case of the present invention, since the flow rate of the electrolyte aqueous solution in the electrolytic cell is changed, it is necessary to change the constant current electrolysis current value according to the flow rate in order to keep the liquid property of the obtained electrolyzed water constant. is there.

Therefore, first, an electric current value (electrolytic current) flowing between the electrodes of an appropriate electrolytic cell corresponding to the set value of the potentiometer 100 is experimentally obtained, and this value (electrolytic current target value) is set to the set value of the potentiometer 100. In association with C
It is stored in the memory (ROMMAP 112) of the PU 200 in advance.

In order to change the current flowing between the electrodes of the electrolytic cell, the voltage between the electrodes may be changed. In the present invention, the voltage between the electrodes is changed as follows.

PWM control register 12 of CPU 200
When the digital value written in 2 is changed, the output signal of the register 122 is sent to the gate of the MOS-FET 130. The inductor 1 is provided around the MOS-FET 130.
40, diode 150 is connected, diode 150
Is connected to the capacitor 160 and the anode of the electrolytic cell 170, and the cathode of the electrolytic cell 170 is grounded via the current detection resistor 180. Therefore, the electrolytic current flowing between both electrodes of the electrolytic cell 170 is converted into a potential difference voltage appearing across the current detecting resistor 180. This potential difference voltage is CP
It is sent to the A / D converter of U200, A / D converted, and stored in the memory RAM 102 in the CPU 200 as a digital amount of the electrolytic current value flowing between the electrolytic cell electrodes.

Next, the CPU 200 calculates the electrolytic cell current target value of the electrolytic cell corresponding to the digital value of the set value of the potentiometer 100 stored in the RAM 101, and stores this target value in the memory RAM 103. The calculation of the target value is based on the relationship between the experimentally determined set value of the potentiometer 100 and the electrolytic current target value, which is calculated in advance in the ROM (M
The data stored in the AP 112) is referred to.

After that, the digital values stored in the RAM 102 and the RAM 103 are used to perform the operation according to the control law stored in the memory (ROM), and the obtained operation result is written in the PWM control register 122. This allows
As described above, the pulse width applied to the gate of the MOS-FET 103 is controlled, and finally the electrolytic current flowing between the electrolytic cell electrodes is controlled.

The control rule is that the content stored in the RAM 103 is R (z ^-1 ) and the content stored in the RAM 102 is Y (z).
⁻¹ ), and the content written in the PWM register is U (z ⁻¹ ), the following formula can be exemplified.

[0038]

## EQU1 ## U (z ^-1 ) = a ₁ (1 + a ₂ z ^-1 ) [R (z ^-1 ) -Y (z
^-1 )] / (1-z ^-1 ), where a ₁ and a ₂ are control gains and zero values, which can be appropriately determined within a range where the response of the control system is fast and stable operation is possible.

[0039]

The present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the following examples.

Example 1 An electrolyzed water generator having the structure shown in FIG. 1 was manufactured. Electrolyzer 10
The electrode of is made of platinum plate of 20 mm x 23.6 mm,
They were arranged in parallel at intervals of 8 mm.

A salt solution having a concentration of 2500 ppm was used as the electrolyte solution.

(Confirmation of Pump Flow Rate) First, the relationship between the drive voltage of the pump and the liquid feed rate was determined. The results are shown in Fig. 3. As is clear from FIG. 3, a good proportional relationship was observed between the pump drive voltage and the pumped liquid amount.

(Measurement of electrolysis current target value) Using the electrolyzed water generator shown in FIG. 1, the pumping liquid amount is 17 to 130 ml /
The electrolytic cell electrolysis current value required to maintain the pH of the anode electrolyzed water at 2.6 when varied within the range of min was experimentally determined, and this value was used as the electrolysis current target value. The result is shown in Figure 4.
It was shown to. The obtained electrolytic current target value was stored in the memory MAP 112 of the control unit.

(Manufacture of electrolyzed water) Using the electrolyzed water generator of this embodiment thus prepared, pH of acidic water generated when the setting of potentiometer 1 is changed and between electrodes of electrolyzer The electrolytic current flowing in the was measured. The results are summarized in Table 1.

[0045]

[Table 1] As is clear from Table 1, in the electrolyzed water generator of this example, even when the pumping amount was changed, the pH of the obtained electrolyzed anolyte water
Showed almost constant properties with almost no change.

Comparative Example 1 The same generator as in Example 1 was used to produce electrolyzed water by changing the pumping amount. However, the value of the current flowing between the electrodes of the electrolytic cell was fixed at 0.06 mA. The obtained results are shown in Table 2.

[0047]

[Table 2] As is clear from Table 2, when the value of the current flowing between the electrodes of the electrolytic cell was fixed, the pH of the anode electrolyzed water changed significantly when the pumping amount was changed.

[0048]

In the present invention, since the electrolyzed water flow rate setting unit is provided, it is possible to easily generate a desired amount of electrolyzed water. Furthermore, since it has a mechanism to control the current value between the electrodes of the electrolytic cell to be optimal, even if the amount of electrolyzed water produced is changed over a wide range, the properties of the electrolyzed water produced hardly change, and it is always uniform. It is possible to obtain electrolyzed water having a property.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an example of an electrolyzed water generator of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of a configuration of a control unit of the electrolyzed water generator of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a graph showing a relationship between a pump drive voltage and a pump liquid supply amount.

FIG. 4 is a graph showing the relationship between the pumped liquid amount and the electrolytic cell current when the pH is 2.6.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 Electrolyte solution tank 4 Electrolyte solution 6 pumps 8 Electrolyte solution supply pipe 10 Electrolyzer 12 Anode electrolyzed water extraction pipe 14 Atomizer 16 Cathodic electrolyzed water extraction pipe 18 Waste liquid tank 20 Control unit 22 Electrolyzed water flow rate setting unit 24 power 100 potentiometer 111 memory (ROM MAP) 101 memory RAM 102 memory RAM 103 memory RAM 112 memory (ROM MAP) 121 PWM register 122 PWM control register 130 MOS-FET 140 inductor 150 diodes 160 condenser 170 electrolyzer 180 Current detection resistor 200 CPU 210 pump

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An electrolytic aqueous solution tank, an electrolytic bath, a pump for feeding the electrolytic aqueous solution in the electrolytic aqueous solution tank to the electrolytic bath, and an anode electrolyzed water and a cathode electrolyzed water produced by electrolysis in the electrolytic bath. In an electrolyzed water generator having at least an anode electrolyzed water extraction pipe, a cathode electrolyzed water extraction pipe, an electrolyzed water flow rate setting unit, and a control unit, the control unit corresponds to (1) the set value of the electrolyzed water flow rate setting unit. For storing the electrolytic current target value data to be stored, (2) means for changing the pumped liquid amount according to the set value, (3) means for measuring the electrolytic current of the electrolytic cell, and (4) pumped liquid Electrolyzed water generation having a constant electrolysis current supply means for comparing the electrolysis current target value corresponding to the amount with the measured electrolysis current value of the electrolytic cell to calculate an appropriate current value and supplying an appropriate current to the electrolysis cell vessel. 2. The electrolyzed water generator according to claim 1, wherein a sprayer is connected to one of the anode electrolyzed water extraction pipe and the cathode electrolyzed water extraction pipe, and a waste liquid tank is connected to the other. 3. The electrolyzed water generator according to claim 2, wherein the atomizer uses a piezo oscillator.