JP2005230675A - Sterilization device of legionella bacterium - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a sterilization device of Legionella bacteria which can be used jointly with a chlorine sterilization method and permits perfect sterilization of Legionella bacteria. <P>SOLUTION: In this sterilization device of Legionella bacteria, an intake part of fluid is connected with one side of a lower part and an upper part of a tank side wall surface of a closed structure and an exhaust port of the fluid is connected with the other side, respectively, a first vessel is arranged near the intake part in a tank, a first vessel has such a structure that at least its side surface and the wall surface opposite to a second vessel later described allow the fluid to penetrate therethrough, and a plurality of ceramic balls made of a rare earth mineral containing a natural radiation element are movably incorporated in the first vessel. Further, the second vessel is arranged near the exhaust port in the tank, the second vessel has such a structure that at least the side surface and the wall surface opposite to the first vessel allow the fluid to penetrate therethrough, ceramic balls made of tourmaline mineral are incorporated in the second vessel, an ultraviolet ray lamp is arranged between the first vessel and the second vessel and a photocatalyst body is arranged around the ultraviolet ray lamp. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an apparatus for sterilizing Legionella, for example, an apparatus that can be used together as an auxiliary means for a chlorination method in a circulation system of a chlorination system in a circulating bath, and can completely sterilize Legionella.

  In 1994, the discovery of Legionella was reported in a survey of major hot springs nationwide, and since the danger of Legionella was pointed out in 1997 against the spread of 24-hour baths, in addition to conventional measures against fungi Countermeasures against Legionella are required.

Therefore, a method of disinfecting Legionella by ultraviolet irradiation (Patent Document 1, Patent Document 2, Patent Document 3), a method of disinfecting Legionella by chlorine and ultraviolet light (Patent Document 4), and a method of disinfecting Legionella by a photocatalyst. A method of sterilization (Patent Document 5), etc. has been proposed, but the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare established in December 2001 “in the case of the circulation type, sterilization is mainly performed with chlorine, and its concentration is 0.2 to. The reality is that it is desirable to keep 04 mg for 2 hours or longer (the guidelines for hygiene management of public baths).
JP-A-11-104406 JP 2000-210217 A JP 2001-232395 A JP 2003-71463 A JP 2003-190989 A

  Legionella is a fungus that is well cultivated in a neutral pH range of 30 ° C to 42 ° C and dies when it exceeds 60 ° C. Hot springs and baths are suitable for the growth of Legionella. It is well known that

  The chlorine injection method, which is instructed by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, automatically injects a solution of sodium hypozincate at a certain concentration, or in a facility where an automatic injection device is not installed, sodium fluoroisocyanurate tablets (containing 10 g of one tablet) In most cases, a method is used in which a concentration of 55% is added at a rate of 1 per 10 t of hot water. And when Legionella accidents occur in hot springs and bathing facilities, there is a tendency to strengthen administrative guidance on chlorine input more than ever.

  However, the concentration at which humans perceive chlorine is 0.35 mg / l. If the chlorine concentration is close to this upper limit, complaints about chlorine are frequent, whereas if it is set to the lower limit, the chlorine concentration in hot springs is 0.065 mg / l. The value may be as low as 1 and an increase in Legionella may be observed.

  In addition, the chlorine concentration of the hot springs varies somewhat depending on the number of bathers of the day, even if the same number of people take a bath on average and when there are many bathers at once, the degree of hot water agitation is changed. However, the current situation is that it is struggling to adjust chlorine due to the fact that the concentration of chlorine also changes.

  In addition, it is often seen that “slimming” is generated at the corner of the pipe. This “slim” is a breeding place for fungi such as Legionella spp. Large suspended solids in the hot water are removed by the filter of the filter after injecting chlorine, but ultrafine colloids such as biological secretions, proteins, fats and inorganic fine particles are not filtered by the filter of the filter, Over time, it becomes a gel-like material and easily deposits. This deposit is "slime", which is a nutrient source for fungi, and chlorine is difficult to reach into "slime", and is a culture site for Legionella spp. This “slimming” removal had to be done by stopping the operation of the bathtub and increasing the frequency of cleaning.

  This invention makes it a subject to provide the sterilization apparatus of Legionella genus microbe which used together with the chlorine sterilization method and enabled it to sterilize Legionella genus completely in view of this problem.

  Therefore, in the Legionella sterilization apparatus according to the present invention, one of the lower side and the upper side of the tank side wall surface of the sealed structure has an intake port for taking the fluid to be processed from the pipe, and the other is the pipe for the processed fluid. And a first container is disposed in the tank close to the intake port, and the first container has at least a side surface and a wall surface facing a second container described later as a fluid. A plurality of ceramic balls made of rare earth minerals containing natural radioactive elements are movably incorporated in the first container, while a second container is contained in the tank. The second container has a structure in which at least a side surface and a wall surface facing the first container can pass a fluid, the ceramic container made of tourmaline mineral is disposed in the second container. With a built-in ball The serial tank is disposed ultraviolet lamp between the first container and the second container, wherein the photocatalyst around the ultraviolet lamp is disposed.

  One of the features of the present invention is that the first container is placed in the tank close to the inlet and a rare earth mineral ceramic ball containing a natural radioactive element is built in the first container.

  This ceramic ball floats in the first container due to the fluid pressure from the intake port on the side wall of the tank, giving a turbulent flow to the fluid flow from the intake port to the discharge port, making the fluid in the tank uniform Turn into. On the other hand, most of the radiation from this ceramic ball is absorbed by the fluid to produce water ions and hydroxyl radicals, which decompose and concentrate fine organic substances distributed in the fluid, such as human plaque. Since the fungi are released into the fluid, the fungi can be reliably sterilized.

  Another feature of the present invention is that an ultraviolet lamp that mainly emits UV-B waves (wavelengths 200 μm to 300 μm) and UV-A waves (wavelengths 300 μm to 400 μm) is provided on the fluid downstream side of the first container in the tank. The photocatalyst is arranged around it.

  Of the ultraviolet light from the ultraviolet lamp, UV-B light with a wavelength of 253 μm can directly kill fungi in the fluid by light. On the other hand, of the ultraviolet light from the ultraviolet lamp, UV-A light can sterilize bacteria in the fluid on the titanium dioxide surface of the photocatalyst. Therefore, the photocatalyst having a titanium dioxide thin film formed on the surface thereof is preferably arranged in parallel with the ultraviolet lamp axis, preferably in a cylindrical shape, so that the ultraviolet light and the fluid are efficiently brought into contact with the photocatalyst. By this exposure, fungi such as Legionella can be sterilized.

  In other words, the ultraviolet lamp is placed on the center line of the cylindrical tank, the photocatalyst is made cylindrical with a metal mesh coated with titanium dioxide on the surface, and the photocatalyst is placed on concentric circles with different radii around the ultraviolet lamp. It is preferable to do this.

  The relationship between the bactericidal effect of Legionella fungi with a UV lamp and the residence time was tested. Using a 6-liter internal volume tank, the pump flow rate was changed so that the stagnation time in the tank was 0, 30, 60, 120, 180, 300 seconds, and the survival of the fungi was counted. The test results are shown in Table 1.

  From the test results, it was found that a stagnation time of at least 2 minutes was required for sterilization, which was used as a standard for the subsequent device design. It was also found that if Legionella spp. Can be sterilized, other fungi can be sterilized simultaneously.

  Still another feature of the present invention is that a second container is disposed in the tank close to the discharge port, and a ceramic ball made of tourmaline mineral is incorporated in the upper container.

  Tourmaline mineral is a mineral having a spontaneous electrode, its fine particles have a voltage of 10 eV, and a weak current of 0.003 mA (same as the current flowing through the human body) flows on its surface. When this weak current is applied to the fluid, the ions and electrons generated in the fluid due to exposure to ultraviolet light and contact with the photocatalyst are also added to the ions, causing them to change into ions at the stage of the “cause of slimming”, and generating “slimming”. It is thought that this can be prevented.

  The actual effect of tourmaline mineral ceramic balls on “slimming” is not shown in a short time and in a numerical manner. Observe the sewage outlet of household water (kitchen, bath, toilet, etc.) during cleaning. Compared to the case where normal tap water is used and the case where water passed through a ceramic ball filling tube made of tourmaline minerals is used at the entrance of a house, the former shows slimy substances. However, the latter is based on empirical observations that there is only a dry and less sticky soil deposit.

  The tank may have a sealed structure, but it is preferable that the tank be cylindrical and that the fluid be vortexed in the tank to efficiently contact the fluid with the ceramic balls, the ultraviolet lamp, and the photocatalyst. In addition, the intake port and the discharge port are provided at the upper and lower portions of the tank side wall surface, but in order to make the fluid flow smoothly in the tank, the intake port portion is provided at the lower portion of the tank side wall surface and the discharge port portion is provided at the upper portion. It may be provided to raise the fluid.

  That is, it is preferable that the tank has a sealed cylindrical shape, the intake port portion is connected to the lower portion of the tank side wall surface, and the discharge port portion is connected to the upper portion of the tank side wall surface.

  In order to reliably give an upward vortex to the fluid in the tank and to keep the fluid in the tank for a predetermined time to ensure sterilization, the diameter of the intake port and the discharge port is set to 1 / It is good to narrow down to 3 to 2/3, preferably about 1/2. If the intake port portion and the discharge port portion are narrower than the pipe, the amount of fluid taken into the tank per hour is reduced, but the flow velocity is accelerated, and an upward vortex tends to occur along the inner wall surface of the tank. In this way, the residence time of the fluid in the tank can be increased, and the fluid can be evenly distributed in the tank.

  Further, in order to reliably generate a fluid vortex in the tank, it is preferable that the intake port and the discharge port are connected in a tangential direction of the tank side wall surface at a position opposite to each other on the tank side wall surface when viewed from above. .

  The first container and the second container only need to have a structure in which at least the side surface and the wall surface facing the other container can pass the fluid, and can be formed of, for example, a wire mesh or a punching plate.

  The Legionella sterilization apparatus according to the present invention can be used alone, but when used in combination with a chlorination system, it suppresses the occurrence of "slimming" even in an environment in which the sterilization effect of chlorination varies. Bacteria can be sterilized with certainty, specifically up to a specified value of 10/100 cc or less.

  Further, in the following embodiment, a Legionella sterilization device in a circulating bath facility will be described as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this, and is applied to water facilities, drinking water facilities, and other fluid facilities and equipment. it can.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings. 1 to 5 show a preferred embodiment of a Legionella sterilizer according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, in a generally used circulation-type bathtub facility, a drain port 10A is provided at the bottom of the bathtub 1, and an intake pipe portion 11A of the circulation pipe 11 is connected to the drain port 10A. 11 is connected to a downstream side of the intake pipe portion 11A with a filter 12 and a circulation pump 13, and a downstream side of the circulation pump 13 is a known chlorine injector 14, filter 15 and A heater 16 is connected, and the hot water in the bathtub 10 passes through the hair collector 12, the circulation pump 13, the chlorine injector 14, the filter 15, and the heater 16, and is returned to the original bathtub by the feed pipe portion 11 </ b> B of the circulation pipe 11. 10 is returned.

  The Legionella sterilizer 20 of this example is connected to the circulation pipe 11 between the circulation pump 13 and the chlorine injector 14 and is complemented to obtain a Legionella sterilizer with a small amount of chlorine agent. It comes to work. In addition, if the Legionella sterilization apparatus 20 of this example is provided on the downstream side of the chlorine injecting apparatus 14, chlorination is directly caused.

  In the Legionella sterilizer 20 of this example, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a cylindrical tank with a sealed structure is configured by detachably attaching a lid 22 to the upper end opening of the cylindrical tank body 21, Since the tank body 21 and the lid 22 are in contact with hot water in which salt is dissolved in a pressurized state, it is preferable that the tank body 21 and the lid 22 be made of stainless steel having a type and thickness that can cope with this.

  The circulation pipe 11 is connected to the lower end portion of the side wall surface of the tank main body 21, and an intake port portion 23 with a pipe area reduced to about ½ is connected to the tip of the circulation pipe 11. The main body 21 is oriented substantially in the tangential direction of the side wall surface.

  In addition, a discharge port portion 24 whose diameter is reduced to about ½ of the circulation pipe 11 is attached to the upper end portion of the side wall surface of the tank body 21 at a position of 180 ° with respect to the attachment portion of the intake port portion 23. The circulation pipe 11 is connected to the outlet portion 24, and the discharge port portion 24 is oriented substantially in the tangential direction of the side wall surface of the tank body 21.

  Here, the intake port portion 23 and the discharge port portion 24 are narrowed down compared to the diameter of the circulation pipe 11 and are connected in the tangential direction of the side wall surface of the tank 20. The reason is as follows. The hot water circulation in the hot spring facility is defined as one or more times per hour, and in order to cope with this, it is necessary to design the internal volume of the tank 20 in consideration of the flow rate of the circulating hot water. For example, if the internal volume of the tank 20 is 10 t and the hot water is circulated in 1 hour, the flow rate is 160 liters / minute. Therefore, if the internal volume of the tank 20 is adjusted to this, the stagnation time is 1 minute. However, since the stagnation time required for sterilization of Legionella fungi is at least 2 minutes as described above, the internal volume of the tank 20 satisfying this is increased to 320 liters (10 t) and 640 liters (20 t), which is practical. Not.

  Therefore, if the diameters of the intake port 23 and the discharge port 24 are reduced to ½, the area ratio becomes ¼, and the calculation results in a stagnation time of 4 minutes even in the tank 20 with an internal volume of 160 liters. Can be used for bathtubs up to 20t. If it exceeds that, the internal volume of the tank 20 may be increased. If the intake port is narrowed, the flow velocity is increased accordingly, and an ascending vortex is reliably obtained.

  The structure inside the tank 20 will be described in detail. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, a bottom cage (first container) 30 made of stainless steel is disposed at the bottom of the tank 10. A ceramic ball 31 made of a rare earth mineral containing a natural radioactive element is movably incorporated therein, and an ultraviolet lamp 40 is vertically installed at the center of the bottom cage 30, and around the ultraviolet lamp 40. Cylindrical photocatalyst metal meshes 41 are arranged in multiple layers, and the photocatalyst metal mesh 41 is configured by coating the surface of the metal mesh with a thin film of titanium dioxide.

  A stainless steel upper cage (second container) 50 is provided above the ultraviolet lamp 40 and the photocatalyst metal mesh 41, and a ceramic ball 51 made of tourmaline mineral is movably incorporated in the upper cage 50. The circulating hot water flowing from the intake port 23 at the lower part of the tank 20 rises as a vortex and is discharged from the uppermost discharge port 24 of the tank 20.

  The bottom car 30 has a cylindrical shape that fits into the bottom of the tank 20 and has a mesh diameter of, for example, about 5 mm. A hole 32 is formed in the center of the bottom car 30 so as to penetrate vertically. Further, a hole (not shown) for fitting the intake port 23 is formed on the side surface of the bottom car 30. On the other hand, a leg 42 is provided at the bottom of the ultraviolet lamp 40, and the leg 42 passes through the central hole 32 of the bottom car 30 and is received by the bottom wall surface of the tank 20.

The height of the bottom car 30 is determined according to the required quantity of the built-in ceramic balls 31. A ceramic ball 31 made of rare earth mineral containing a natural radioactive element is, for example, 7-9 mm diameter in which 30% of monazite (ThO ₂ 2, 7%, RE ₂ O ₃ 60%, P ₂ O ₅ 30%) is consolidated with clay. In addition to providing a turbulent flow to the rising vortex of the circulating hot water in the tank, the radiation emitted from it reacts with the circulating hot water within 10 ^-8 seconds to hydrate the H ₃ O ⁺ , OH ⁻ , electronic (e ^-) other ions, making the hydroxyl radical (· OH) having twice the oxidizing power of O _2, mainly act degrade this dross (proteins and fats) dissolved in the circulation water It acts continuously and powerfully, and the parasitic Legionella spp. Are thrown into the hot water and serve as a preliminary role for the next UV sterilization.

  The ultraviolet lamp 40 is incorporated in the center of the tank 20, and the bottom surface of the ultraviolet lamp 40 is positioned at the height of the top surface of the bottom cage 30 containing the ceramic ball 31, and is composed of four legs 42 extending from the bottom surface. It is installed on the bottom surface of the tank 20. A hole is also formed in the center of the upper car 40 so as to penetrate vertically, and the upper end of the ultraviolet lamp 40 is fixed so as to bite into the lower end portion of the inner peripheral metal mesh wall of the central hole of the upper car 50 disposed above. Has been.

Here, as the ultraviolet lamp 40, a low-voltage ultraviolet lamp having an ultraviolet distribution composed of about 80% of a UV-B wave (wavelength 200 μm to 300 μm) and about 20% of a UV-A wave (wavelength 300 μm to 400 μm) is selected. In addition, ultraviolet light having a wavelength of 253 μm directly acts on Legionella genus bacteria in hot water, and has an action of destroying and killing Legionella DNA, and UV light having a wavelength of about 360 μm in the UV-A wave is titanium dioxide (TiO _2). ) when irradiated on the thin film, e in the titanium dioxide thin film ^- (electrons) and h ⁺ (making a hole), the h ⁺ (hot water and hot water react in the hole) OH (Pidorokishiruru It can be converted into radicals), and its oxidative power (twice as much as oxygen) can be used to decompose and kill Legionella life enzyme proteins. Therefore, in this example, the structure is such that the contact of ultraviolet light → TiO ₂ catalyst → hot water is sufficiently performed.

  In this example, an electrodeless high-power low-pressure lamp (model name: GL1500MS / 21) manufactured by Toshiba, for example, is used as the ultraviolet lamp 40, but the wavelength and output are limited to this if the wavelength and output are satisfied. is not.

  The photocatalyst wire mesh 41 has a cylindrical shape and is arranged at equal intervals around the longitudinal axis of the ultraviolet lamp 40, the upper end of the photocatalyst wire mesh 41 is attached to the bottom of the upper car 50, and the lower end is received by the upper part of the bottom car 30. ing. For the photocatalyst wire mesh 41, a titanium wire having a thickness of 0.5 mm or 1.0 mm is used. For example, molten titanium is sprayed on the surface of the titanium mesh by the PIP method to form a titanium dioxide thin film. It can also be produced by other methods such as a method of applying a titanium compound and obtaining a titanium dioxide film by firing.

  The upper car 50 is made of a stainless steel wire mesh, the outer diameter is set to a size that fits inside the tank 20, and a hole 52 penetrating in the vertical direction is formed in the center of the upper car 50 as a whole. When viewed, it has a donut shape, and the upper end of the ultraviolet lamp 40 is fitted into the hole 52, and the height of the upper cage 50 is determined according to the number of built-in tourmaline mineral ceramic balls 51. ing. Further, in order to avoid the uneven distribution of the ceramic balls 51, the upper cage 50 is divided into four chambers by a wire mesh, and the entire upper cage 50 is immersed in the rising vortex.

The ceramic ball 51 made of tourmaline mineral is a spherical ball having a diameter of 7 to 9 mm made of a tourmaline mineral having a composition of NaFe ₃ Al ₃ (BO ₃ ) ₆ Si ₆ O ₁₈ (OH) ₄ with a binder of ZnO · B ₂ O _3. It is molded and fired, has a spontaneous electrode, and is prepared to pass a weak current. This gives a weak current to the rising eddy current in the tank 40, and also includes the rare earth mineral ceramic balls 31 and the electrons (e ⁻ ) generated by the irradiation of the ultraviolet lamp 40, thereby secreting the human body existing in the circulating hot water. It works to prevent "slimming" by changing protein, fat, mineral fine colloids, etc., originally in water, into ionic forms.

  In the sterilization apparatus of this example, the bottom cage 30, the ultraviolet lamp 40, the photocatalyst mesh 42 and the upper cage 50 are placed inside the tank 20 so that cleaning, refilling and replacement of the ceramic balls 31, 51 and the photocatalyst mesh 42 can be easily performed. It is not fixed. Therefore, it may be pushed up by the rising vortex of high pressure. Therefore, a plate 53 having a length corresponding to the diameter of the car, for example, a width of 3 cm, is mounted on the upper surface of the upper car 50 in a cross shape, and a metal bar 54 is erected from the four places, and the tip of the metal bar 54 is the lid of the tank 20 Although it is supported by the back surface of 21, it may be supported by other methods.

  The inventors of the present invention prototyped a device having a tank volume of 70 liters and measured the bactericidal effect of Legionella sp. It was confirmed that 90% of Legionella sp. Could be killed in a stagnation time of 2.5 minutes.

It is a figure which shows the example of the chlorination system of the circulating bathing place where preferable embodiment of the disinfection apparatus of Legionella genus bacteria which concerns on this invention is applied. It is a whole perspective view which shows the said embodiment. It is a figure which shows the relationship between the intake port part and discharge port part in the said embodiment. It is a section lineblock diagram in the above-mentioned embodiment. It is a figure which shows the relationship between the bottom basket in the said embodiment, an ultraviolet lamp, a photocatalyst metal mesh, and an upper cage.

Explanation of symbols

11 Circulation piping (piping)
20 Tank 23 Intake port 24 Discharge port 30 Upper cage (first container)
31 Ceramic ball 40 UV lamp 41 Photocatalyst wire mesh (photocatalyst body)
50 Upper cage 51 Ceramic balls

Claims (6)

An intake port for taking the fluid to be processed from the pipe is connected to one of the lower and upper sides of the tank side wall surface of the sealed structure, and a discharge port for discharging the processed fluid to the pipe is connected to the other. The first container is disposed close to the intake port, and the first container has a structure in which a fluid can pass through at least a side surface and a wall surface facing a second container described later, Contains a plurality of ceramic balls made of rare earth minerals containing natural radioactive elements in a freely movable manner,
A second container is disposed in the tank close to the discharge port, and the second container has a structure in which a fluid can pass through at least a side surface and a wall surface facing the first container. A ceramic ball made of tourmaline mineral is built in the container, an ultraviolet lamp is disposed between the first container and the second container in the tank, and a photocatalyst is disposed around the ultraviolet lamp. A sterilizing apparatus for Legionella spp.   2. The Legionella spp. According to claim 1, wherein the tank has a sealed cylindrical shape, the intake port is connected to a lower portion of the tank side wall surface, and the discharge port portion is connected to an upper portion of the tank side wall surface. Sterilizer.   The Legionella sterilizer according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the diameter of the intake port and the discharge port is 1/3 to 2/3 of the diameter of the pipe through which fluid flows.   The Legionella spp. According to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the intake port portion and the discharge port portion are connected in a tangential direction of the tank side wall surface at a position opposite to each other on the tank side wall surface as viewed from above. Sterilization equipment.   The sterilizer for Legionella spp. According to claim 1, wherein the first container and the second container are constituted by a wire mesh or a punching plate. The ultraviolet lamp is disposed on the center line of the cylindrical tank, the photocatalyst is manufactured in a cylindrical shape with a wire mesh coated with titanium dioxide on the surface, and the photocatalyst is formed on a concentric circle having different radii around the ultraviolet lamp. The sterilizer of Legionella genus bacteria of Claim 1 arrange | positioned.

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