JP2008289433A - Floating matter collector - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a floating matter collector capable of inhibiting attaching of floating matters on parts, other than the collecting part of a collecting material. <P>SOLUTION: This floating matter collector 20 is to collect the floating matters contained in gas on the collecting part 12 of the collecting material 10, and is equipped with a spraying part 21 to spray the floating matters on the collecting part 12 of the collecting material 10, a wall part 22 making a contact with the collecting material 10 so as to surround the collecting part 12, and an exhausting part 23 for exhausting the gas sprayed on the collecting part 12. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a floating substance collecting apparatus for collecting floating substances such as microorganisms contained in a gas, and more particularly to a floating substance collecting apparatus by a collision method.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a suspended matter collection device using a filter method, a bubbling method, a collision method, or the like is known as a suspended matter collection device that collects suspended matter such as microorganisms contained in gas (atmosphere).

  A suspended matter collection device using a filter method is a device that collects suspended matter using a membrane filter such as a HEPA (High Efficiency Particlate Air) filter (see, for example, Patent Document 1). The suspended matter collection device by the filter method can classify the collected suspended matter by adjusting the eyes of the membrane filter, and has a separation limit particle size as small as 0.3 μm. However, the suspended matter collection device by the filter method has problems such as the membrane filter clogging with the passage of time, and it is difficult to peel the collected suspended matter from the membrane. .

  A suspended matter collection device by a bubbling method is a device that suspends suspended matter in water by blowing a gas containing the suspended matter into water for collection (see, for example, Patent Document 2). Since the suspended matter collection device using the bubbling method supplies suspended matter in the water without using a membrane filter, it does not cause clogging and can eliminate the step of removing the suspended matter from the membrane filter. It has the following advantages. However, the floating substance collecting apparatus by the bubbling method requires a step of evaporating water and concentrating it.

  The floating substance collecting device by the collision method is an apparatus that ejects sucked gas at high speed from a nozzle and collects floating substances by a collecting material collecting part provided downstream of the nozzle (for example, Patent Documents). 3). The suspended matter in the gas collides with and adheres to the collection portion of the collection material with an inertial force proportional to the square of the particle size. The floating substance collection device by the collision method has the advantage that the floating substance can be concentrated and collected without causing clogging unlike the filter method.

JP-A-4-218393 JP 7-67694 A JP 2000-125843 A

  However, the conventional floating substance collection device by the collision method exhausts the gas blown to the collection part of the collection material from the side opposite to the surface provided with the collection part. For this reason, there is a possibility that the gas also contacts other parts than the collecting part of the collecting material and the suspended matter adheres.

  The present invention has been devised to solve the above-described problem, and provides a floating substance collecting device capable of suppressing the floating substance from adhering to a part other than the collecting part of the collecting material. For the purpose.

  In order to achieve the above object, the floating substance collecting apparatus of the present invention is a floating substance collecting apparatus that collects a floating substance contained in a gas in a collecting part of a collecting material, and contains the floating substance. A blowing part for blowing gas to the collecting part of the collecting material, a wall part in contact with the collecting material so as to surround the collecting part, and for exhausting the gas blown to the collecting part And an exhaust part.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, it can suppress that a suspended | floating matter adheres to parts other than the collection part of a collection material.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings as appropriate. Similar parts are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted.

  FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a suspended matter collecting apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, a suspended matter collection device 20 according to an embodiment of the present invention is a device that collects suspended matter such as microorganisms contained in a gas in a collection unit 12 of a collection material 10.

<Configuration of Collection Material 10>
As shown in FIG. 1, the collection material 10 is for collecting floating substances contained in a gas. The collection material main body 11 has a recess 11a formed on one side thereof, and the recess 11a. And a provided collection unit 12.

  The collector main body 11 is composed of AS (acrylonitrile ethylene propylene rubber / styrene copolymer), ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene / styrene copolymer), PP (polypropylene), LDPE (low density polyethylene), HDPE (high density polyethylene). ), PET (polyethylene terephthalate), PC (polycarbonate), PS (polystyrene), PMMA (polymethyl methacrylate), PDMS (polydimethylsiloxane) and the like. The collector main body 11 formed from such a resin material is suitable for being used up.

  The collection part 12 is for collecting the suspended | floating matter contained in gas. The collecting part 12 is preferably an agar gel. The agar gel has “adhesiveness” derived from free water on the gel surface (water between gel networks), and collects suspended matters by such adhesiveness. Moreover, agar gel has the characteristic that it is hard to melt | dissolve with heat.

The collection unit 12 contains 2 to 5% by mass of agar. In other words, the agar concentration of the agar gel is preferably 2 to 5% by mass. When the agar concentration is less than 2% by mass, there is too much moisture, and the strength becomes insufficient as the collection unit 12 to which high-speed gas is blown. When the agar concentration exceeds 5%, the moisture (free water) on the surface of the agar is reduced, and the adhesion is remarkably lowered.
Further, the agar concentration of the agar gel is more preferably 3 to 4% by mass. When the agar concentration is 3 to 4% by mass, an agar gel that provides a high balance of agar strength and high adhesion is provided.

It is preferable that the agar gel which is the collection part 12 is comprised including alcohol. The alcohol contained in the agar gel increases the strength of the agar gel (gel strengthening), prevents evaporation of moisture (prevents drying), and further prevents freezing. Examples of the alcohol added to the agar gel include ethyl alcohol, isopropyl alcohol, 1,3-butanediol, ethylene glycol, propylene glycol, glycerin and the like. The alcohol content of the agar gel is preferably 40 to 80% by mass. When the alcohol is less than 40% by mass, a sufficient moisture evaporation preventing effect cannot be obtained. When alcohol exceeds 80 mass%, the moisture (free water) on the surface of the agar is reduced, and the adhesiveness is lowered.
The alcohol content of the agar gel is more preferably 50 to 70% by mass. When the alcohol content is 50 to 70% by mass, an agar gel that provides a high balance between high evaporation prevention and high adhesion is provided.
The remaining components in the agar gel, that is, components other than agar and alcohol are water.

  When an agar gel is used as the collection part 12, when microorganisms such as bacteria are contained in the collected suspended matter, the collected microorganisms can be cultured as they are on the agar gel. When the collection target is bacteria, bacterial culture can be efficiently performed by previously adding peptone for bacterial culture, alanine, or the like to the agar gel of the collection unit 12.

  Moreover, the surface of the collection part 12 is made into the upper surface of the collection material main body 11 considering the case where the collection part 12 is sealed with the sealing material 41, or the case where a reagent etc. are added to the collection part 12 after collection. Is preferably lower.

<Configuration of the floating material collecting device 20>
As shown in FIG. 1, the suspended matter collection device 20 includes a blowing part 21, a wall part 22, an exhaust part 23, a suction fan 24, a transport mechanism 25, a wall part movable mechanism 26, and a seal mechanism 27. And a casing 28 and a control device 29.

  The spraying part 21 is a tube for spraying gas onto the collecting part 12, and has a cylindrical shape in this embodiment. An opening 21 a for taking in gas (atmosphere) from the outside of the casing 28 is formed at the upstream end of the spraying part 21, and toward the collection part 12 at the downstream end of the spraying part 21. As a result, the nozzle portion 21b is formed to reduce the diameter and accelerate the gas.

  The wall portion 22 abuts on the collector main body 11 so that the lower end edge (end edge on the collector 10 side) surrounds the collector 12, and in this embodiment, has a cylindrical shape. Since the wall portion 22 prevents the gas blown to the collecting portion 12 from moving to the outside of the wall portion 22, the gas contacts the portion that is outside the wall portion 22 of the collecting material body 11. Can be prevented.

  The exhaust part 23 is a pipe | tube for exhausting the gas sprayed on the collection part 12, and is exhibiting the cylindrical shape in this embodiment. In the present embodiment, the exhaust part 23 is a concentric tube surrounding the blowing part 21, and the lower end part of the exhaust part 22 and the upper end part of the wall part 22 are in airtight contact. Thus, by using the exhaust part 23 as a concentric tube surrounding the blowing part 21, a suitable gas flow can be realized with a simple configuration.

In addition, it is preferable that the part which gas contacts, ie, the spray part 21, the wall part 22, and the exhaust part 23, is coated with the fluororesin for the following reasons.
“Charged column” is sometimes used as an index indicating a tendency of a substance to be positively charged by static electricity. According to the charging train, it is known that air, glass, nylon, silk, aluminum, paper, iron, rubber, polyethylene, silicone, and fluororesin are easily charged positively. That is, the fluororesin is a substance that is more easily charged negatively than positively. On the other hand, suspended matter contained in the gas is negatively charged. Accordingly, since the fluororesin and the suspended matter are easily charged to the same polarity, the possibility that the suspended matter adheres to the fluororesin due to charging is low. In particular, if the inner wall of the spraying part 21 is coated with a fluororesin, the suspended matter in the gas will be sprayed onto the collecting part 12 without adhering to the inner wall of the spraying part 21.
In addition, the fluororesin has a high temperature and high pressure resistance, and can be sterilized at a high temperature of 120 ° C., for example.

  The suction fan 24 is provided downstream of the exhaust part 23, takes in gas from the opening 21 a on the upstream side of the blowing part 21, blows it to the collecting part 12 through the nozzle part 21 b, and blows it to the collecting part 12. An air flow is formed in which the generated gas is discharged to the outside of the casing 28 through the exhaust part 23.

  The transport mechanism 25 is a mechanism that transports the placed collection material 10 to a desired position.

  The wall portion movable mechanism 26 is a mechanism that can switch the wall portion 22 between a state in which the wall portion 22 is in contact with the collection material body 11 and a state in which the wall portion 22 is separated from the collection material body 11.

  The sealing mechanism 27 is provided on the downstream side of the spraying portion 21 in the transport mechanism 25 and is a mechanism that seals the collecting portion 12 of the collecting material 10. In this embodiment, the sealing mechanism 27 attaches the sealing material 41 so as to seal the collecting portion 12 of the collecting material 10 and the portion that has been inside the wall portion 22 of the collecting material main body 11. To do.

  The casing 28 accommodates the working part of the suspended matter collection device 20.

  The control device 29 includes, for example, a CPU, a RAM, a ROM, and an input / output circuit, and drives and controls the suction fan 24, the transport mechanism 25, the wall movable mechanism 26, and the seal mechanism 27.

  Further, a primary filter 31 is provided in the spraying part 21, and a secondary filter 32 is provided in the exhaust part 23.

  The primary filter 31 passes the suspended matter that is the collection target by the collection material 12 and collects the suspended matter having a particle size larger than that of the collection target by the collection material 12. For example, the opening of the primary filter 31 can be set to 100 to 200 μm. For magnetism in which the amount of pollen scattering increases, the size of the primary filter 31 is set to 10 to 100 μm to allow bacteria having a particle size of less than 10 μm to pass through and collect pollen having a particle size of 10 μm or more. Is possible.

  The secondary filter 32 collects the collection target that has not been collected by the collection material 12 and prevents it from being released into the atmosphere. That is, the opening of the secondary filter 32 is smaller than the opening of the primary filter 31. The secondary filter 32 is preferably a HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) filter capable of collecting 99.97% or more of suspended matter having a size of 0.3 μm or more, and 0.1 to 0.2 μm of suspended matter. More preferably, it is a ULPA (Ultra Low Penetration Air) filter capable of collecting 99.999% or more. By using the ULPA filter as the secondary filter 32, the cleanliness of the gas released into the atmosphere can be further improved.

  The primary filter 31 and the secondary filter 32 are preferably made of stainless steel or fluororesin that can be easily washed and sterilized at high temperature.

<Operation example of the floating material collection device 20>
Subsequently, an operation example of the suspended matter collection device 20 will be described. First, the collection material 10 is set in the transport mechanism 25. Subsequently, the control device 29 drives and controls the transport mechanism 25 and moves the collection material 10 to a position facing the nozzle portion 21 b of the spraying portion 21. Subsequently, the control device 29 drives and controls the wall portion movable mechanism 26 to bring the wall portion 22 into airtight contact with the collector main body 11. Subsequently, the control device 29 drives and controls the suction fan 24. When the suction fan 24 is driven, the gas outside the casing 28 is blown to the collecting portion 12 of the collecting material 10 through the opening 21a of the blowing portion 21, the primary filter 31, and the nozzle portion 21b. The suspended matter contained in the sprayed gas is collected by the collection unit 12. The gas blown to the collection unit 12 changes the direction by 180 degrees, passes through the exhaust unit 23, and is discharged out of the casing 28 through the secondary filter 32 and the suction fan 24. Subsequently, the control device 29 stops the suction fan 24, drives and controls the wall portion movable mechanism 26, separates the wall portion 22 from the collecting material body 11, drives and controls the transport mechanism 25, and seals the collecting material. Move to a position facing the mechanism 27. Subsequently, the control device 29 drives and controls the seal mechanism 27, sticks the seal material 41 to the collection material 10, and seals the collection unit 12.

  Here, the nozzle part 21 b of the spraying part 21 has a structure that is recessed from the lower end edge of the wall part 22 in contact with the collector main body 11. When the nozzle portion 21b is the same height as the lower end edge of the wall portion 22 in contact with the collection material body 11 or protrudes from the lower end edge of the wall portion 22 in contact with the collection material body 11, the collection is performed. It is necessary to form the concave portion 11a of the material main body 11 deeply, which increases the thickness of the disposable collecting material 10 and is not economical. Moreover, in order to install the collection part 12 in the position which opposes the nozzle part 21b, it is necessary to move the collection material 12 up and down, and a system will become complicated. Therefore, it is preferable that the nozzle portion 21 b of the spraying portion 21 has a structure that is recessed from the wall portion 22 that is in contact with the collector main body 11.

<Collection efficiency>
Subsequently, the collection efficiency of the suspended matter collection device 20 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged view of FIG. 1 and is a partially cutaway view showing a spraying part, a wall part, and an exhaust part. As shown in FIG. 2, parameters that affect the collection efficiency include the inner diameter W of the tip of the nozzle portion 21b and the distance S between the nozzle portion 21b and the collection portion 12 (Genji Jimbo, “Particle Handbook”, p.193, Asakura Shoten (1991)). In addition, in the following description, what combined the surface of the collection part 12 and the surface which the recessed part 11a of the collection material main body 11 exposed is set as a collection surface.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the flow velocity of gas on the collecting surface when the inner diameter W of the nozzle portion is kept constant at 20 mm. When the distance S is 10 mm (S / W = 0.5), the distance S is When 20 mm is set (S / W = 1.0), the distance S is set to 30 mm (S / W = 1.5). As shown in FIG. 3, the smaller the distance S between the nozzle portion 21b and the collection portion 12, the greater the gas flow velocity in the vicinity of the collection surface. In addition, the height of the exposed part of the recessed part 11a is 5 mm.

Based on this result, FIG. 4 shows the result of simulating the rate at which bacteria, as an example of suspended matter, inertially collide with the collection surface. Here, the diameter of the bacteria was 10 μm and the particle density of the bacteria was 1 g / cm ³ (because 98% or more of the bacteria are water). Moreover, it is assumed that the gas flows in the spraying part 21, the wall part 22, and the exhaust part 23 are symmetrical, and only the right cross section is shown in FIG. In FIG. 4, a single line in the figure indicates a trajectory of a single bacterium.
When S / W = 0.5, the collision rate of bacteria to the collection surface is 100% (FIG. 4A), and when S / W = 1.0, the collision rate of bacteria to the collection surface is 60% (FIG. 4B), and at S / W = 1.5, the collision rate of bacteria to the collection surface is 30% (FIG. 4C).
That is, when S / W = 0.5, the collision rate of bacteria on the collection surface shows the maximum, and as S / W is increased, the number of bacteria discharged accompanying the gas increases and the collision rate decreases. I understand that
If the S / W is less than 0.5, a decrease in the suction flow rate due to the pressure loss of the fluid enters an unavoidable region, and bacteria once collected on the collection surface are caused by the gas flow. The frequency of peeling will increase. Therefore, in order to achieve a collection rate of 60% or more, it is preferable to satisfy 0.5 ≦ S / W ≦ 1.0. The above S / W range does not depend on the gas flow rate.

  The floating substance collection device 20 according to the embodiment of the present invention can suppress the floating substance from adhering to a part other than the collection material 11 of the collection material 10. Further, the suspended matter collection device 20 can prevent the suspended matter collected by the collection material 11 from diffusing into the casing 28 by the sealing material 41.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, A design change is possible suitably in the range which does not deviate from the summary of this invention. In the above embodiment, the exhaust part is a concentric pipe surrounding the blowing part. Conversely, the blowing part may be a concentric pipe surrounding the exhaust part, and the blowing part and the exhaust part may be non-concentric pipes. Good. Further, the number of tubes of the spraying part and the exhaust part can be changed as appropriate.

It is sectional drawing which shows typically the suspended | floating matter collection apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is the elements on larger scale of FIG. 1, and is a partially broken view which shows a spray part, a wall part, and an exhaust part. It is a figure which shows the flow velocity of the gas in the collection surface when the internal diameter W of a nozzle part is made constant with 20 mm, When distance S is 10 mm (S / W = 0.5), When distance S is 20 mm (S / W = 1.0) and the distance S is set to 30 mm (S / W = 1.5). It is a figure which shows the result of having simulated the ratio that bacteria collide with a collection surface as an example of a floating material.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Collection material 12 Collection part 20 Floating matter collection apparatus 21 Spraying part 22 Wall part 23 Exhaust part 25 Conveyance mechanism 26 Wall part movable mechanism 27 Seal mechanism

Claims (7)

A floating substance collecting device for collecting floating substances contained in a gas in a collecting part of a collecting material,
A spraying part for spraying a gas containing floating substances to the collecting part of the collecting material;
A wall portion that abuts on the collecting material so as to surround the collecting portion;
An exhaust part for exhausting the gas blown to the collection part;
A suspended matter collecting apparatus comprising:   The suspended matter collection apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a conveyance mechanism that conveys the collection material.   The suspended matter according to claim 2, further comprising a wall portion movable mechanism capable of switching the wall portion between a state in contact with the collecting material and a state in which the wall portion is separated from the collecting material. Collection device.   The suspended matter collection device according to claim 2, further comprising a seal mechanism that seals the collection unit of the collection material on a downstream side of the spraying unit in the transport mechanism.   The said collection part is agar gel comprised including 2-5 mass% agar and 40-80 mass% alcohol, The any one of Claims 1-4 characterized by the above-mentioned. The suspended | floating matter collection apparatus as described in a term.   The spraying part is provided with a primary filter for allowing the suspended matter to be collected by the collecting material to pass through and collecting the suspended matter having a particle size larger than that to be collected by the collecting material. The suspended | floating matter collection apparatus as described in any one of Claims 1-5 characterized by these.   The secondary exhaust filter for collecting the collection object which was not collected by the said collection material is provided in the said exhaust part, The Claim 1 characterized by the above-mentioned. Float collection device.

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