JP2004024993A - Cleaning equipment for containers - Google Patents

Abstract

[PROBLEMS] For rinsing containers used for foods, pharmaceuticals, etc., water to which sodium hypochlorite is conventionally added may be used as sterilizing water, which has a strong pungent odor, is slow-acting, and highly corrosive. However, there are problems such as persistence. Further, when ozone water is used for cleaning containers, there is a problem that ozone water required for sterilization cannot be obtained depending on water quality and surrounding environment. An object of the present invention is to provide a method and an apparatus for cleaning containers that make effective use of cleaning water, do not use a chlorine-based disinfectant, and are not adversely affected by the human body.
Kind Code: A1 Rinsing of containers is performed by washing off with an alkaline solution, sterilizing cleaning using ozone water having a dissolved ozone concentration of about 3 ppm, and low concentration ozone water having a dissolved ozone concentration of about 0.1 ppm or volatilization of ozone. Performed in three steps consisting of final cleaning, which is the final cleaning of the container using the sterilized water, and the washing water used for final cleaning is adjusted to the dissolved ozone concentration and circulated and used as sterilizing ozone water, Save water for washing water.
[Selection diagram] Fig. 1

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a container cleaning device for washing and sterilizing dirt in a field requiring sanitary containers such as food and medicine.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art Containers for filling or packaging foods and drinks and pharmaceuticals, such as beverage bottles and food trays, are hygienically cleaned by a cleaning device.
Conventional general container cleaning methods include a pre-cleaning process for containers, a main cleaning using a heated alkaline solution, a washing solution and the like, and a rinsing process for sterilization and finishing.
[0003]
For example, a container cleaning apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-205213 discloses a preliminary cleaning, immersion cleaning with a caustic cleaning solution heated to 70 ° C., jet cleaning with a cleaning nozzle, and injection of cleaning water and fresh water with a cleaning nozzle. And several steps of finish cleaning.
Further, the container cleaning apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-243522 is a mono-end type in which a supply part and a discharge part of containers are in the same direction, and a pre-cleaning tank using cleaning water slightly higher than room temperature. Immersion, immersion in a two-stage immersion layer filled with hot caustic washing water at 70 ° C., jet washing of caustic washing water, and five-step rinsing are shown. In the rinsing cleaning, the last two stages are cleaning by supplying fresh water. In the upstream process, a method is described in which the cleaning water is collected, pumped up and reused.
[0004]
Further, in the container cleaning apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-206621, in addition to the contents disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-243522, the container is first attached to containers in a rinsing section. A description is given of removing the caustic cleaning solution and finally providing a hypochlorite sterilizing section, and a method of reusing the rinse cleaning waste solution for preliminary cleaning.
[0005]
As a typical configuration example of a conventional cleaning device, a schematic diagram of a container cleaning device disclosed in the above-mentioned known document is shown in FIG. This cleaning device is an example of a mono-end type in which the container supply unit 1 and the container discharge unit 5 are in the same direction, and includes a preliminary cleaning unit 2, a main cleaning unit 3, a rinsing cleaning step 26, and the like. Hereinafter, an outline of the cleaning process of the cleaning device will be described.
[0006]
First, the containers to be cleaned are carried into the cleaning device from the container supply unit 1 and pre-cleaned by the pre-cleaning unit 2 with cleaning water slightly higher than room temperature to wash away easily adhered substances and dirt. .
Next, in the main cleaning section 3, the adhered dirt is dissolved by immersing it in the cleaning tank 9 in which the heated caustic cleaning liquid is stored, and at the same time, sterilization by heating is performed. Further, the cleaning liquid is sucked up from the cleaning tank 9 by the suction pump 13 and sprayed, and the adhered substances are completely washed away by the jet cleaning unit 8. At this time, a brush (not shown) may be used. This step is repeatedly performed a plurality of times in a plurality of cleaning tanks 9 filled with an alkaline caustic cleaning solution to effectively dissolve the dirt.
[0007]
The containers to be cleaned after the alkaline cleaning with the caustic cleaning solution are rinsed with the cleaning solution and the like in the rinsing cleaning step 26, and sterilization is also performed. As the finishing water used in the rinsing step 26, it is necessary to use sterile water in order to prevent recontamination of sterilized containers. Therefore, in many cases, chlorinated water of several tens ppm is added by adding sodium hypochlorite.
[0008]
The rinsing cleaning step 26 includes the rinsing cleaning unit 11, the circulating finishing cleaning unit 4a, the finishing cleaning unit 4, and the hypochlorite sterilizing cleaning unit 12a from the upstream side. The inner washing jet 7 disposed below cleans the inside of the containers, and the outer cleaning jet disposed above cleans the outer periphery of the containers.
[0009]
In the circulating finish cleaning section 4a in the rinsing cleaning step 26, the cleaning water is suctioned from the cleaning water tank 15a below the nozzle by the pump 13a, and the cleaning water is sprayed to the containers to be cleaned. Further, in the finish cleaning section 4, fresh water is supplied and injected from another system (not shown), and further, in the hypochlorite sterilizing and cleaning section 12a, hypochlorite water is injected to perform sterilization.
[0010]
The containers that have been completely cleaned according to the flow described above are transferred to the product filling line via the container discharge unit 5. These cleaning steps are automatically performed using the conveyor 10 for conveyance.
Regarding container sterilization cleaning using ozone water, a sterilization cleaning device that inserts a nozzle from the mouth of the container or arranges a nozzle near the outer periphery of the container and sprays ozone water or ozone mist is disclosed in It is disclosed in JP-A-2000-128131, JP-A-9-165016, JP-A-7-76325, and JP-A-5-310295. However, the document only describes that ozone water is brought into contact with containers to perform sterilization cleaning, and does not describe a method relating to a process up to a nozzle for generating ozone water and spraying the containers.
[0011]
Further, with respect to a device for generating and spraying ozone water for the purpose of sterilizing and washing food, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-321144 discloses a device configuration for generating 0.05 ppm to 10 ppm ozone water using seawater. Is disclosed. Further, in JP-A-11-292032, a solution tank also serving as an ozone water tank is disposed below the washing unit, and the solution is sent to a mixer with ozone gas by a circulation pump to generate 5 ppm ozone water, A configuration in which ozone water is sprayed on an object to be cleaned is disclosed.
[0012]
However, in the above-mentioned known document using ozone water, there is no description of a configuration in which finish cleaning is performed as a final stage of a rinsing cleaning process through a process of pre-cleaning and alkali cleaning with a caustic cleaning solution described in FIG. An apparatus configuration in which only cleaning is described is shown.
[0013]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
As described above, conventionally, the water used for the rinsing part in the container cleaning often uses tap water containing chlorine, but in order to more positively perform sterilization sufficiently, sterilized water added with chlorine is used. Sometimes used. For example, sodium hypochlorite, which is widely used as a chlorine-based disinfectant, is inexpensive and has been approved as a food additive, so that it is an easy-to-use disinfectant. However, water to which sodium hypochlorite is added has disadvantages such as a strong irritating odor, a long-acting effect, a high corrosiveness, and persistence. Since it is used at a high concentration of ppm, it has not only noticeable irritating odors and disadvantages of persistence, but also has an adverse effect on the human body.
[0014]
In addition, when this cleaning method is applied to foods, if the foods are filled or arranged in the containers after the cleaning, oxidative deterioration (rancidity) of the foods may occur due to residual chlorine, which is a problem. .
Although an example of cleaning a container using ozone water is also shown, ozone has a merit that it is safe without residue because it is reduced in concentration by self-decomposition, but it is difficult to store ozone. The self-decomposition rate of ozone is accelerated as the temperature becomes higher or the pH is higher (alkali). Therefore, in the rinsing step after performing the container cleaning with a high-temperature alkaline detergent, in an actual container cleaning device using ozone water, from the influence of the alkaline detergent and the water quality and the surrounding environment due to the high temperature state, the container sterilization cleaning section There was a problem that ozone water having a dissolved ozone concentration effective for sterilization could not be obtained.
[0015]
An object of the present invention is to not use the chlorine-based sterilizing water as described above in the rinsing step of cleaning the containers to sufficiently perform sterilization, and also to effectively use the rinsing water for rinsing and save, It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and an apparatus for cleaning containers using ozone water which do not adversely affect the human body.
[0016]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above problems, in the washing process of the containers, the final cleaning is performed with sterile water, the solution after the final cleaning is collected, sterilized water is generated, and the sterilized water is supplied to the sterilizing and cleaning unit which is a pre-process of the final cleaning. Cleaning equipment for containers
Sterilized water is generated by converting a non-alkali solution consisting of the recovered solution after the final cleaning and the recovered solution after the sterilization of the sterilizing and cleaning section into high-concentration ozone water, and disinfecting the sterilized water for sterilization and cleaning. It will be used in the previous process.
[0017]
At this time, before the sterilizing and cleaning step of the containers, a step of rinsing the alkaline cleaning liquid attached to the containers with the sterilized water diverted is provided.
[0018]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, the present invention will be described based on examples.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a structure of a rinse cleaning unit of a container cleaning device according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in this figure, the rinsing step 26 includes a rinsing and washing section 11 for removing the alkaline solution and the like attached to the containers by water washing, a sterilizing and washing section 12 for sterilizing the containers, and cleaning the containers with fresh water such as sterile water. , A finishing washing water waste tank 14, a sterilizing washing water tank 15, a first ozonizer 19 for finishing washing water, a second ozonizer 24 for sterilizing washing water, and the like. It consists of:
[0019]
In the main cleaning, the containers to be cleaned after brush cleaning, heat sterilization, alkali cleaning, and the like are transferred to the rinsing cleaning step 26. In the rinsing cleaning step 26, first, in the rinsing cleaning section 11, the alkaline solution or the like attached to the containers in the main cleaning is dropped. For this reason, the water in the final cleaning water waste liquid tank 14 provided at the lower portion of the rinsing cleaning unit 11 becomes alkaline water, and when the pH is high, the rate of self-decomposition of ozone is increased. It is unsuitable, so it is reused as main washing or pre-wash water.
[0020]
Next, the sterilization and cleaning unit 12 sterilizes the containers using ozone water having a dissolved ozone concentration of several ppm, and the sterilized cleaning unit 4 determines whether the dissolved ozone concentration is an extremely low concentration ozone water or the sterilized ozone is volatilized. Perform a final wash with water.
The higher the pH of the water for producing ozone water, the faster the rate of self-decomposition of the dissolved ozone concentration in the ozone water. In addition, when a large amount of organic carbon components are present in water quality, dissolved ozone in ozone water reacts with organic carbon, and the concentration of dissolved ozone rapidly decreases. As a result, the rapid decrease in the concentration of dissolved ozone contained in the ozone water after it has adhered to the containers to be sterilized shortens the contact time with the bacteria, making it impossible to perform sufficient sterilization. Therefore, it is necessary to adjust the pH or set the initial dissolved ozone concentration high.
[0021]
Therefore, the concentration of ozone water as a sterilizing and cleaning device for food containers cannot be defined because the required dissolved ozone concentration changes depending on the quality of water for generating ozone water.
The following data on the sterilization effect of ozone water has been published by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare. In the case where the target microorganism is Bacillus subtilis (Bacillus subtilis), 99.9% of Bacillus subtilis is 99.9% when it is brought into contact with ozone water having a dissolved ozone concentration of 0.5 ppm for 30 seconds under the condition of a water temperature of 20.0 ° C. and a pH of 6.5. Sterilization rates have been obtained. In addition, when Escherichia coli or Bacillus staphylococci, which are considered to be food hygiene problems, are used as target microorganisms, under conditions of a water temperature of 21.0 ° C. and a pH of 7.0, the ozone water having a dissolved ozone concentration of 1 ppm is contacted for 5 seconds. It is shown that 100% sterilization has taken place.
[0022]
Therefore, if the contact time with the microorganism is about 1 minute, the microorganism can be inactivated. In the container cleaning apparatus, the process proceeds to the rinse cleaning step 26 after alkali cleaning at a high temperature of about 70 ° C., so that the temperature of the containers cleaned in the rinse cleaning step 26 becomes higher than normal temperature. Further, according to the water quality standard of the Water Supply Law, the pH value is determined to be 5.8 or more and 8.6 or less. When the quality of the ozone water is pH 8 at 30 ° C., the ozone concentration decrease due to the ozone self-decomposition is 20% or less in about 1 minute. As described above, the ozone water for sterilization injected from the sterilizing / cleaning unit 12 may have a dissolved ozone concentration of about 2 to 3 ppm even in consideration of the safety factor.
[0023]
In the finish washing section 4, it is desirable that the concentration is about 0.1 ppm which does not affect the human body even if the contact is performed for a long time, but the next step of filling the product into the containers or the person comes into contact with the washed containers. At this point, the concentration may be reduced to about 0.1 ppm, including the ambient environment due to the concentration of the volatilized ozone gas, in consideration of the oxidation of the product and the effect on the human body. For this reason, in the finish cleaning section, it is important that the ozone water is not necessarily a low concentration, but is ozone water in the sense of sterile water that prevents reattachment of microorganisms.
[0024]
As the low-concentration ozone water used in the finishing washing unit 4, tap water or the like is supplied to the water receiving tank 16, and the first A pump 17 sends out water to two lines. One is sent to a first ejector 18 and mixed with ozone gas generated from a first ozonizer 19 to generate ozone water and sent to a mixing tank 20. The other water is directly injected into the mixing tank 20, and the mixture ratio with ozone water is adjusted to generate a predetermined low-concentration ozone water. The low-concentration ozone water generated in the mixing tank 20 is sent out to the finish cleaning unit 4 by the first B pump 21. At this time, if the pipe from the first B pump 21 to the finish cleaning unit 4 is sufficiently long, the dissolved ozone concentration is low or close to zero due to the self-decomposition of ozone before reaching the finish cleaning unit 4. Decrease to the state.
[0025]
The low-concentration ozone water used for the container cleaning in the finish cleaning unit 4 drips from the cleaned containers and flows into the sterilizing and cleaning water tank 15. The water in the germicidal washing water tank 15 is circulated through a path passing through the second ejector 23 by the second A pump 22, and the second ejector 23 adjusts the mixing with the ozone gas generated from the second ozonizer 24 so that the ozone water Is generated, and the inside of the sterilizing / washing water tank 15 is changed to ozone water. In this case, as a method without using the second ejector 23 as a means for turning the liquid in the sterilizing / washing water tank 15 into ozone water, a diffuser tube (not shown) is disposed in the sterilizing / washing water tank 15 so that the ozone gas generated from the second ozonizer 24 is discharged. It is also possible to feed directly to the sterilizing / washing water tank 15 for aeration.
[0026]
The ozone water generated in the sterilizing / washing water tank 15 is sucked up by the second B pump 25 and sprayed on containers cleaned by the sterilizing / washing unit 12 and the washing unit 11. The ozone water blown out from the sterilizing / cleaning unit 12 hits the containers to be cleaned, then drops and returns to the sterilizing / cleaning water tank 15, and is used again as ozone water. Further, the ozone water blown out from the washing-out washing section 11 hits the containers to be washed and then drops into the finishing washing water waste liquid tank 14, and is reused for main washing, preliminary washing and the like.
[0027]
Since the sterilizing / washing tank 15 is configured such that new washing water from the finishing washing unit 4 and reused water from the sterilizing / washing unit 12 flow as ozone water, the sterilizing / washing tank 15 is used unless water is used for the washing / washing unit 11. Then overflow occurs. For this reason, the overflowed ozone water is used in the washing section 11 to wash away the alkaline washing liquid and the like attached to the containers.
[0028]
【The invention's effect】
In the present invention, ozone water is used instead of the conventional chlorinated sterilizing water in the rinsing step in cleaning the containers, and the rinsing is performed by removing the alkaline solution attached to the containers in the main cleaning by rinsing with water, and Sterilization washing to sterilize containers using ozone water with an ozone concentration of about 3 ppm, and after dissolving ozone concentration is low concentration ozone water of about 0.1 ppm, which eliminates the irritating odor of ozone, or after ozone is volatilized And the final washing using sterile water.
[0029]
The ozone used in the present invention is treated as an existing additive as a food additive substance, and can be used for any food without restriction. The following effects can be obtained by cleaning ozone water by cleaning containers in the present invention.
First, the effect of changing the sterilizing and finishing cleaning water from chlorine-based sterilizing water to ozone water is shown. Ozone naturally disappears and does not remain. Therefore, unlike conventional chemical sterilizers, ozone is safe for the human body and can be sanitized and washed hygienically. In addition, after sufficient sterilization of the container, deterioration of the filled and arranged food material itself can be prevented.
[0030]
The second is the effect of reusing the finishing washing water. The ozone water used in the sterilization process saves the amount of tap water supplied to the cleaning device by storing the water used for the final cleaning in the post-sterilization process in the sterilization cleaning tank and reusing it as ozone water for sterilization. it can.
The third effect is that ozone water can be used for rinsing off the cleaning liquid attached to the containers in the main cleaning before the sterilization cleaning. If ozone water for sterilization is added to the containers while the cleaning solution such as the alkaline solution used in the main cleaning is attached to the containers, ozone is consumed by organic substances such as detergents and ozone is lost before sterilization. In alkaline, self-consumption of ozone is rapidly accelerated. In the final tank into which the sterilizing cleaning water and the finishing cleaning water flow, the overflowing ozone water can be used to wash away the alkaline cleaning liquid and the like adhered to the containers in the cleaning section, thus contaminating the containers cleaned in the main cleaning. Since ozone water can be used without any worries, there is no need to newly supply cleaning water from tap water. Therefore, the cleaning device only needs to supply tap water with only the finish cleaning water, and the water saving effect is large.
[0031]
Fourth, for container cleaning equipment that performs rinsing using a disinfectant such as hypochlorous water, ozone water generation / circulation equipment and ozone treatment equipment have been added to the rinsing process. By simply changing the piping system, it is possible to provide equipment that is inexpensive and easily provided with food environment safety using ozone water.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a structure of a rinse cleaning unit as an embodiment of a cleaning device of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a typical configuration example of a conventional cleaning device.
1: Container supply unit 2: Pre-cleaning unit 3: Main cleaning unit 4: Finish cleaning unit 4a: Circulation finish cleaning unit 5: Container discharge unit 6: External cleaning jet 7: Internal cleaning jet 8: Jet cleaning unit 9: Cleaning tank 10: Conveying conveyor 11: Rinse-off washing unit 12: Sterilizing washing unit 12a: Hypochlorite sterilizing washing unit 13: Suction pump 14: Finishing washing water waste tank 15: Sterilizing washing water tank 15a: Washing water tank 16: Receiving tank 17: No. 1A pump 18: first ejector 19: first ozonizer 20: mixing tank 21: first B pump 22: second A pump 23: second ejector 24: second ozonizer 25: second B pump 26: rinse cleaning step

Claims (2)

In the cleaning process of the containers, the final cleaning is performed with aseptic water, the solution after the final cleaning is collected, sterilized water is generated, and the cleaning device for the containers to be supplied to the sterilizing cleaning unit which is a pre-process of the final cleaning,
The sterilized water is generated by converting a non-alkali solution consisting of the recovered solution after the final cleaning and the recovered solution after the sterilization of the sterilizing and cleaning unit into high-concentration ozone water, and sterilizing the sterilized water by the sterilization water. A container cleaning device characterized in that it is diverted even in a pre-cleaning process. The container cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a step of washing the alkaline cleaning liquid adhered to the containers with the sterilized water before the sterilization cleaning step.

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