JP2008247624A - Apparatus for concentrating oxygen - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an apparatus for concentrating oxygen capable of efficiently supplying a highly concentrated oxygen without using a pressure reducing pump. <P>SOLUTION: The apparatus is composed of a plurality of oxygen pump cells 11 that are integrated, wherein each of the oxygen pump cells 11 is formed from oxygen pump elements 1 composed of a solid electrolyte having oxygen ion conductivity, a rod heater 5 for heating the oxygen pump elements 1, and a casing 2 which has a tubular shape having as the center the longitudinal centerline of the heater 5 and on the wall of which the oxygen pump elements are disposed. Thereby a highly concentrated oxygen can be supplied in large quantities without using a pressure reducing pump because oxygen pump elements 1 are uniformly heated from the center by the heater 5, a plurality of oxygen pump cells 11 are easily integrated because they each have a tubular shape, and when integrated the oxygen pump elements can be heated further at high densities and uniformly. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an oxygen concentrating device that concentrates oxygen in air and supplies high-concentration oxygen.

Conventionally, as means for separating oxygen from air, there has been a method of physically allocating using an oxygen permeable membrane (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Also known is a method of separating by moving only oxygen ions electrochemically using a mixed conductor having both ionic conductivity and electronic conductivity (for example, see Patent Document 2). In addition, there is a system in which a voltage is applied between the electrode films in order to increase the temperature of the mixed conductor (see, for example, Patent Document 3).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-136631 Japanese Patent No. 2813596 Japanese Patent No. 3295306

  However, the conventional method using an oxygen permeable membrane requires a decompression pump, which is inconvenient in terms of noise, weight and overall volume. Further, the oxygen concentration that can be separated has a limit of 30 to 40%. On the other hand, in the conventional electrochemical method using a mixed conductor, the mixed conductor allows oxygen to permeate using the oxygen partial pressure difference as a driving force even without an external circuit, and a quiet and compact configuration is possible. Although there is an advantage that the generated oxygen concentration is 100%, there is a problem that the supply amount of high concentration oxygen when using the apparatus is small and is not efficient.

  The present invention solves the above-described conventional problems, and an object thereof is to provide an oxygen concentrator capable of efficiently supplying high-concentration oxygen without using a decompression pump.

  In order to solve the above-described conventional problems, an oxygen concentrator of the present invention includes an oxygen pump element formed from a solid electrolyte having oxygen ion conductivity, a rod-shaped heater that heats the oxygen pump element, An oxygen pump cell is formed by a cylindrical shape centering on the center line in the longitudinal direction, and an oxygen pump element arranged on the wall surface, and a plurality of oxygen pump cells are integrated.

  As a result, the oxygen pump element forming the oxygen pump cell is uniformly heated from the center by the heater, so that a large amount of high-concentration oxygen can be supplied, and since the oxygen pump cell is cylindrical, it is easy to integrate a plurality of oxygen pump cells. When accumulated, since it can be heated evenly at a higher density, a large amount of high-concentration oxygen can be supplied without using a vacuum pump.

  The oxygen concentrator of the present invention can efficiently supply high concentration oxygen without using a vacuum pump.

  The first invention is an oxygen pump element formed from a solid electrolyte having oxygen ion conductivity, a rod-shaped heater for heating the oxygen pump element, and a cylindrical shape centering on the longitudinal center line of the heater. In addition, an oxygen pump cell is formed by a housing in which an oxygen pump element is arranged on the wall surface, and an oxygen concentrating device in which a plurality of oxygen pump cells are integrated is formed so that the oxygen pump element forming the oxygen pump cell is uniformly formed from the center by a heater. Since it is heated, a large amount of high-concentration oxygen can be supplied. In addition, since the oxygen pump cell has a cylindrical shape, it is easy to accumulate a plurality of oxygen pump cells. When accumulated, the oxygen pump cells can be heated evenly at a higher density, so that a large amount of high-concentration oxygen can be supplied without using a vacuum pump. It becomes.

  In the second invention, in particular, in the first invention, since the casing is in the shape of a rectangular tube, when accumulating oxygen pump cells, it is possible to stack without any gap, and there is little heat loss and oxygen is efficiently The pump element can be heated, and a large amount of high-concentration oxygen can be generated with a compact configuration.

  In the third invention, in particular, in the first invention, since the casing is cylindrical, it is easy to stack a plurality of oxygen pump cells at a uniform interval when stacking oxygen pump cells. Therefore, a large amount of high concentration oxygen can be supplied.

  According to a fourth aspect of the invention, in particular, in any one of the first to third aspects of the invention, the heater provided in the oxygen pump cell arranged on the outside of the plurality of oxygen pump cells integrated is oxygen arranged on the inside. By making the output higher than that of the heater provided in the pump cell, it is possible to realize an oxygen concentrator that is easy to be heated uniformly and has little heat loss.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments.

(Embodiment)
1 to 3 show an oxygen concentrator in an embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 1, although not shown in detail, the oxygen pump element 1 is configured by forming electrode films on both surfaces of an ion conductive solid electrolyte. The solid electrolyte is a metal oxide having oxygen ion conductivity and may be a general-purpose solid electrolyte such as yttria-stabilized zirconia, but a lanthanum gallate perovskite oxide having lanthanum and gallium in its composition is more preferable. In particular, those added with other metals so that the transport number is approximately 1.0 are preferable. In the present embodiment, lanthanum gallate added with strontium and magnesium and sintered is processed to have a diameter of 30 mm and a thickness of 0.2 mm.

  Further, a noble metal such as platinum or silver, a metal oxide composed of samarium and cobalt, or the like is used for the electrode films on both sides (not shown). These electrode films are formed by application by screen printing, vapor deposition, or sputtering.

  When the oxygen pump element 1 is heated to 600 ° C. or more and a DC voltage is applied between the two electrode films, oxygen molecules are taken into the solid electrolyte as oxygen ions from the cathode side air and move to the electrode film on the anode side. . The oxygen ions that have reached the electrode film on the anode side become oxygen molecules and are discharged into the internal space on the anode electrode side to concentrate the oxygen molecules.

  The oxygen pump element 1 is arranged on the six wall surfaces of the oxygen-concentrating casing 2 having a substantially regular hexagonal cylindrical shape in the figure, and the cathode side of both electrode films (not shown) is outside the casing 2 and the anode side is not shown. When a DC voltage is applied inside the housing 2, as described above, only oxygen from the outside air, that is, the outside air chamber 3, moves to the inside, that is, the inside air chamber 4, as indicated by the arrow A, and oxygen concentration is performed. (Although arrow A is shown in FIG. 1 for only one of the six, oxygen moves with respect to all oxygen pump elements 1 arranged on each of the six sides).

  The oxygen pump element 1 is heated by a heater 5, and power is supplied from a power supply (not shown) through a power supply lead 6 to heat the oxygen pump element 1.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the heater 5 has a rod shape, is located at the approximate center of the substantially regular hexagonal cylindrical casing 2, and the power supply lead 6 protrudes from the lower portion of the casing 2 to the outside. It is a configuration. That is, the housing 2 has a substantially regular hexagonal tube shape with the center line in the longitudinal direction of the heater 5 as the center. An oxygen discharge port 7 is provided at the upper part of the housing 2, and the concentrated oxygen is exhausted as indicated by an arrow B from here.

  In addition, the substantially regular hexagonal cylindrical outer casing 8 that surrounds the outside of the casing 2 has an air intake 9 at the bottom and an air outlet 10 at the top, so that fresh air always circulates on the surface of the oxygen pump element 1. It has become.

  The oxygen pump cell 11 is formed by the oxygen pump element 1, the casing 2, the heater 5, and the outer casing 8 described above. Next, the operation and action will be described.

  First, the oxygen pump element 1 is heated to 600 ° C. or higher by supplying electric power to the heater 5 from a power source (not shown). Further, a DC voltage is applied to an electrode film (not shown) on the surface of the oxygen pump element 1 with a cathode side outside the casing 2 and an anode side inside the casing 2 by a DC power source (not shown). Then, oxygen molecules in the external space on the cathode electrode side, that is, the outer air chamber 3 between the housing 2 and the outer shell housing 8 are taken into the solid electrolyte as oxygen ions from the cathode electrode film and move to the anode electrode film. Oxygen ions that have reached the anode electrode become oxygen molecules and move in the internal space on the anode electrode side, that is, inside the inner air chamber 4 in the housing 2 as indicated by an arrow A. As this operation continues, the oxygen inside the housing 2 is exhausted from the oxygen outlet 7 as shown by the arrow B.

  As in the present embodiment, the oxygen pump element 1 is disposed on the six wall surfaces of the substantially hexagonal cylindrical housing 2, and the heater 5 is located at the center thereof, so that the heat of the heater 5 can be efficiently absorbed. 1, the oxygen pump element 1 can be uniformly heated to 600 ° C. or higher even in a small space. In particular, uniform heating is important, and thermal expansion stress can be minimized in the oxygen pump element 1 made of a solid electrolyte having a thickness of 0.2 mm.

  Note that the shape of the housing 2 is not limited to a substantially hexagonal cylindrical shape, and may be a rectangular tube shape such as a substantially regular triangular tube shape or a substantially regular square tube shape. Moreover, the shape of the housing | casing 2 is good also as a cylindrical shape. This is because the distance from the central heater 5 to the oxygen pump element 1 is always constant in the cylindrical shape, so that uniform heating is further facilitated.

  Further, while the outer air chamber 3 between the housing 2 and the outer shell housing 8 has a heat insulating effect, fresh air can be supplied to the oxygen pump element 1 therefrom. There are an air intake 9 and an air exhaust 10 at the lower and upper parts of the outer shell casing 8, respectively, and air naturally flows from the air intake 9 to the air exhaust 10 by the convection effect, that is, as indicated by arrows C to D. Will flow into.

  The above is the description of one oxygen pump cell 11. Next, a stack of a plurality of oxygen pump cells 11 will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 3 shows an example of an oxygen concentrator in which 14 oxygen pump cells 11 are integrated, but the number is not particularly specified.

  In the oxygen concentrator in FIG. 3, the oxygen pump cells 11 arranged on the outside will be described as the outer oxygen pump cell 11a, and the oxygen pump cells 11 arranged on the inner side will be distinguished as the inner oxygen pump cell 11b.

  In the figure, since each oxygen pump cell has a substantially regular hexagonal cylindrical shape, it can be integrated without a gap. In other words, since more oxygen pump elements 1 can be packed per unit deposition, oxygen can be supplied at high density, and at the same time, heat loss is small and energy efficiency is high. If this oxygen pump cell 11 has a rectangular tube shape, it can be accumulated without any gap.

  Further, when the heater 5 output in the outer oxygen pump cell 11a is set higher than the heater 5 output in the inner oxygen pump cell 11b, the oxygen concentrating device can be realized which is easily heated uniformly and has little heat loss. This is because the outer oxygen pump cell 11a is easily deprived of heat by the outside air and the like, but the inner oxygen pump cell 11b is also a heating element and is not easily deprived of heat.

  As described above, a large amount of oxygen can be obtained by accumulating the oxygen pump cells 11 and connecting the respective oxygen discharge ports 7. Further, since the oxygen pump cells 11 are integrated as described above, it is only necessary to increase the number of oxygen pump cells by the number of one oxygen pump cell as a unit with respect to the desired amount of oxygen. There is no need to make a concentrator.

  As described above, the oxygen concentrator according to the present invention can efficiently supply high-concentration oxygen without using a decompression pump, and thus can be used as an application product of high-concentration oxygen for inhalation. Examples of such an electric appliance include an air conditioner, an air cleaner, a blower, an oxygen inhaler, or a product in which they are incorporated as a part of a function.

Cross-sectional view of the oxygen pump cell of the oxygen concentrator in the embodiment of the present invention Longitudinal sectional view of oxygen pump cell of the oxygen concentrator Cross section of the oxygen concentrator

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Oxygen pump element 2 Case 5 Heater 7 Oxygen discharge port 11 Oxygen pump cell

Claims (4)

An oxygen pump element formed from a solid electrolyte having oxygen ion conductivity, a rod-shaped heater for heating the oxygen pump element, and a cylindrical and oxygen pump element centered on the longitudinal center line of the heater An oxygen concentrator in which an oxygen pump cell is formed by a casing disposed on a wall surface, and a plurality of oxygen pump cells are integrated. The oxygen concentrator according to claim 1, wherein the casing has a rectangular tube shape. The oxygen concentrator according to claim 1, wherein the casing is cylindrical. The heater provided in the oxygen pump cell arranged outside among the plurality of integrated oxygen pump cells has higher output than the heater provided in the oxygen pump cell arranged inside. The oxygen concentrator according to the item.

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