JP2009226269A - Filter treatment apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a filter treatment apparatus for cleaning or sterilizing a filter filtering flowing fluid with plasma. <P>SOLUTION: The filter treatment apparatus 1 is disposed adjacent to the filter filtering the flowing fluid, and the filter is cleaned and/or sterilized with plasma generated in the filter treatment apparatus 1. This configuration allows sure cleaning and/or sterilization of the filter itself with the filter set in the apparatus, without removing the filter from a body apparatus like an air conditioner or sterilizing apparatus. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a filter processing apparatus for cleaning or sterilizing a filter for filtering a flowing fluid, and more particularly to a filter processing apparatus for cleaning or sterilizing a filter with plasma.

  Currently, air conditioners and plasma sterilization apparatuses are provided with filters for filtering air, and apparatuses for supplying various liquids are provided with filters, and there are filter processing apparatuses for performing processing such as cleaning and sterilization on the filters.

  As a background art, the filter processing apparatus described in Patent Document 1 separates a medium to high performance filter mounted in an air conditioner, and cleans the medium and high performance filter by spraying a chemical solution with a high pressure spray.

In addition, as another background art, the filter processing apparatus described in Patent Document 2 forms a filter disposed in an indoor unit of an air conditioner in a strip shape, and a core is provided at one end of the strip shape, and the filter is attached to the core. The dirty surface is wound and the other end is connected to another filter core so as to be wound.
JP 2006-303040 A JP 2004-138319 A

  Since the filter processing apparatus according to each of the above background arts removes or moves the filter attached to the air conditioner and executes the filter cleaning process, it is troublesome to remove and is not preferable in terms of hygiene. Particularly, a filter disposed in a sterilization apparatus such as a hospital has a problem that it becomes extremely dangerous due to scattering of pathogenic bacteria.

  As described above, since the filter attached to the plasma sterilizer or the air purifier in addition to the air conditioner and the sterilizer adsorbs dust, viruses, etc., the suction efficiency is lowered. Replacement is necessary. However, when frequent filter replacement is difficult, for example (1) when a large amount of dust or virus is aspirated, (2) when used in remote areas, (3) when inhaling highly dangerous viruses or bacteria There is a problem that it is necessary to clean and sterilize the filter inside the sterilizer or the air purifier.

  Currently, there are a high-pressure steam sterilization method and an ethylene oxide gas sterilization method as methods for sterilizing a filter. Since the former is a treatment under a high pressure, high temperature, and high humidity environment, it cannot be used for an instrument having no heat resistance and leakage resistance, and even the metal may be worn on the surface of the material. The latter has a problem that it is hardly used because of concern about strong toxicity and carcinogenicity of gas.

  The filter processing apparatus according to the present invention is a filter processing apparatus that cleans and / or sterilizes a filter that filters a flowing fluid, and includes a plasma generation processing unit that is disposed adjacent to the filter and generates plasma. And the filter is cleaned and / or sterilized by the plasma.

  As described above, in the present invention, the plasma generating means is disposed adjacent to the filter for filtering the flowing fluid, and the filter is cleaned and / or sterilized by the plasma generated by the plasma generating means. In addition, the filter itself can be reliably washed and / or sterilized in a state where it is installed inside the apparatus without removing the filter from the main unit such as an air conditioner or a sterilizer.

In the filter processing apparatus according to the present invention, the plasma generating means is disposed on the upstream side of the fluid flowing through the filter as necessary.
As described above, in the present invention, since the plasma generating means is arranged on the upstream side of the fluid flowing through the filter, recontamination and recontamination due to the contaminated fluid or the contaminated fluid are prevented in advance. As a result, the entire filter can be cleaned and sterilized from the upstream side to the downstream side.

  In the filter processing apparatus according to the present invention, the plasma generating means generates inductively coupled plasma as necessary.

As described above, in the present invention, the inductively coupled plasma is generated by the plasma generating means to perform the filter cleaning and sterilization. Therefore, the plasma can be generated with a simple apparatus configuration, and the filter can be cleaned and sterilized with this plasma. At the same time, the inside of the filter can be cleaned and sterilized by OH ⁺ radicals or O ^* radicals generated by the plasma.

  In the filter processing apparatus according to the present invention, if necessary, the plasma generating means has one electrode arranged upstream of the fluid flowing through the filter and another electrode arranged downstream. It is formed, and capacitively coupled plasma is generated between the electrodes.

  As described above, in the present invention, one electrode is disposed on the upstream side of the fluid flowing to the filter, and another electrode is disposed on the downstream side to form a plasma generating means. Since the capacitively coupled plasma is generated between the two, the plasma generated by one electrode disposed on the upstream side can be attracted to the other electrode disposed on the downstream side to penetrate the filter. By virtue of the strong etching action and physical property alteration action, the inside of the filter can be reliably cleaned and sterilized.

The filter processing apparatus which concerns on this invention makes the downstream of the fluid which flows with respect to a filter into a low-pressure state rather than an upstream as needed.
Thus, in the present invention, by setting the downstream side of the fluid flowing through the filter to a lower atmospheric pressure state than the upstream side, plasma and radicals can be attracted into the filter, and the filter can be more reliably cleaned. And sterilization becomes possible.

The filter processing apparatus according to the present invention stores the filter and the plasma generating means in a storage container as necessary, and places the inside of the storage container in a negative pressure state.
Thus, in the present invention, the filter and the plasma generation means are stored in a storage container, and the plasma generated by the plasma generation means is maintained for a long time in a negative pressure environment by placing the inside of the storage container in a negative pressure state. Therefore, the filter can be more strongly cleaned and sterilized.

(First embodiment of the present invention)
Hereinafter, a filter processing apparatus mounted on a plasma sterilization apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a filter processing apparatus according to the present embodiment.

  In the figure, the filter processing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment includes a chamber 10 formed of a sealed container connected to an exhaust pipe 105 of the plasma sterilization apparatus 100, and is housed in the chamber 10. A filter 14 for collecting bacteria that purifies the exhausted exhaust by filtering, an electrode 12 that is opposed to the upper surface of the filter 14 for sterilizing the plasma sterilizer 100, and a high-frequency voltage is applied to the electrode 12 The high-frequency power source 13 is connected to the exhaust pipe 16 of the chamber 10, and a rotary pump 18 that sucks the gas in the chamber 10 is provided.

The chamber 10 is formed of an insulating material such as glass, and is provided with an insulating housing portion 10a disposed on the inflow side (upstream side) of oxygen O ₂ supplied from the plasma sterilization apparatus 100, and the insulating housing portion 10a. It is formed of a conductive material integrally in a sealed state, and is configured by grounding this conductive material, and includes a conductive storage portion 10b disposed on the outflow side (downstream side) of the supplied oxygen O _2. . The conductive storage portion 10b acts as a counter electrode of the electrode 12, generates inductively coupled plasma (ICP) plasma with the electrode 12, and generates inductively coupled plasma and O ⁺ generated from the plasma. In this configuration, the radicals are passed through the filter 14 for collecting bacteria.

  The high frequency power supply 13 supplies a high frequency current of 13.56 MHz, for example, to the electrode 12. When the filter 14 for collecting bacteria is made of an insulating material, the electrode 12 is disposed in close contact with the upper surface of the filter 14 for collecting bacteria. It is desirable to have a mesh shape, a spiral shape or the like so as not to disturb the flow of the gas to be filtered. In this manner, by arranging the electrode 12 in close contact with the bacteria collecting filter 14, the plasma generated by the electrode 12 can be directly injected into the bacteria collecting filter 14 as much as possible.

  The rotary pump 18 controls the closed state of the injection adjustment valve 15 provided in the exhaust pipe 105 and the discharge adjustment valve 17 provided in the exhaust pipe 16, and the negative pressure state is adjusted by the exhaust amount of the rotary pump 18. The When the injection adjustment valve 15 and the discharge adjustment valve 17 are fully closed and evacuated by the rotary pump 18, the inside of the rotary pump 18 can be controlled close to a very high vacuum state. Further, when the discharge adjustment valve 17 is fully closed and the opening of the injection adjustment valve 15 is made smaller than the opening of the exhaust valve 19a to drive the rotary pump 18, the inside of the rotary pump 18 can be controlled to a weak low pressure state. . In this way, by adjusting the atmospheric pressure in the rotary pump 18, the lifetime of the plasma generated at the electrode 12 by the high frequency voltage applied from the high frequency power supply 13 can be controlled.

The plasma sterilization apparatus 100 houses a sterilization target 200, a sterilization chamber 101 formed of a sealed container, an electrode 102 disposed in the sterilization chamber 101, and a high-frequency voltage applied to the electrode 102. The high-frequency power source 103 for performing the above operation and the oxygen cylinder 104 for supplying oxygen O ₂ into the sterilization chamber 101 are provided. The atmospheric pressure in the sterilization chamber 101 is adjusted by discharging the rotary pump 18 through the exhaust pipe 105, the chamber 10, the exhaust pipe 16 and the exhaust pipe 19.

Next, the operation of the filter processing apparatus according to this embodiment based on the above configuration will be described. First, when the sterilization process of the sterilization target 200 is performed by the plasma sterilization apparatus 100, oxygen O ₂ is supplied from the oxygen cylinder 104 at the beginning of the process, and bacteria or the like adhering to the sterilization target 200 become oxygen O _2. Is discharged through the exhaust pipe 105, and the discharged bacteria and the like are filtered and captured by the filter 14 for collecting bacteria.

  In a state where bacteria and the like are captured by the filter 14 for collecting bacteria, inductively coupled plasma is generated at the electrode 12 by a high frequency current supplied from the high frequency power source 13, and the bacteria are sterilized by the inductively coupled plasma. The collection filter 14 can be cleaned.

  When sterilizing and cleaning the sterilization target 200 and the bacteria collection filter 14, the sterilization chamber 101 of the plasma sterilization apparatus 100 and the chamber 10 of the filter processing apparatus 1 are both maintained in a negative pressure state by the rotary pump 18. Thus, the opening degree of the injection adjusting valve 15, the discharge adjusting valve 17 and the exhaust valve 19a is adjusted.

(Second embodiment of the present invention)
Hereinafter, a filter processing apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a main part of the filter processing apparatus according to the present embodiment.
In the figure, the filter processing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment is similar to the first embodiment in that a chamber 11 (corresponding to 10 in FIG. 1), electrodes 12a and 12b (corresponding to 12 in FIG. 1), AC high voltage The power supply 13a (corresponding to 13 in FIG. 1), the bacteria collection filter 14 and the rotary pump 18 are provided in common, and the configurations of the electrodes 12a and 12b and the chamber 11 are different.

  The electrodes 12a and 12b are arranged opposite to each other on the upper and lower surfaces of the bacteria collecting filter 14 at a predetermined interval, and when a high frequency voltage is applied from the high frequency power source 13, a capacitively supplied plasma (CCP). ).

  Since the AC high voltage power supply 13a applies an AC high voltage of, for example, 10 kHz between the electrodes 12a and 12b, it is possible to generate capacitively coupled plasma while maintaining atmospheric pressure in the chamber 11. it can. Since this capacitively coupled plasma can be generated between the electrodes 12a and 12b, the capacitively coupled plasma is generated inside the bacteria collection filter 14, and the entire region inside the bacteria collection filter 14 is sterilized.

As described above, in the present embodiment, since the plasma can be generated between the electrodes 12a and 12b at atmospheric pressure, the rotary pump 18 does not need to suck the inside of the chamber 11 to low pressure, and oxygen O ₂ is simply supplied to the electrode 12a. , 12b, it is sufficient to drive the pump so as to form a flow of airflow necessary for supplying between the two.
The chamber 11 can be formed entirely of an insulating material, and can be formed of a conductor with metal as long as the insulating state with the electrodes 12a and 12b is maintained.

  In this embodiment, the electrodes 12a and 12b and the bacteria collection filter 14 are separated from each other by a predetermined distance. However, the bacteria collection filter 14 is made of an insulating material such as paper, glass fiber, or ceramic. In the case where the electrodes 12a and 12b are in contact with the outer surface of the filter 14 for collecting bacteria, it is also possible to arrange them. It is desirable that the electrodes 12a and 12b arranged in contact with each other have a gas-permeable shape such as a mesh shape or a spiral shape so as not to hinder the flow of airflow to the bacteria collecting filter 14.

(Third embodiment of the present invention)
Hereinafter, a filter processing apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. This FIG. 3 shows the principal part schematic block diagram of the filter processing apparatus which concerns on this embodiment.
In the drawing, the filter processing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment houses a filter 14 for collecting bacteria inside an exhaust pipe 11a (corresponding to 16 in FIG. 1) made of an insulating material, and an antenna on the outer periphery of the exhaust pipe 11a. The electrode 12c is formed by winding, and the high frequency power supply 13 is connected to the end of the wound electrode 12c, and the other end of the electrode 12c is grounded.

Thus, the filtered fluid such as oxygen O ₂ flows through the electrode 12c and can be disposed outside the exhaust pipe 11a in which the filter 14 for collecting bacteria is accommodated. Therefore, the plasma can be obtained without bringing the electrode 12c into contact with the filtered fluid. Thus, the bacteria collection filter 14 in the exhaust pipe 11a can be sterilized and washed.
(Other embodiments of the present invention)
Hereinafter, a filter processing apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIGS. 4A and 4B are schematic configuration diagrams of the main part of the filter processing apparatus according to the present embodiment.

In FIG. 1A, the filter processing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment houses a fungus collecting filter 14 in an exhaust pipe 11a made of an insulating material, and the fungus collecting filter 14 supplies oxygen O _2. The internal antenna 12d made of a conductive wire wound spirally is housed on the upstream side of the antenna, and a microwave is irradiated from the microwave oscillator 13a provided outside the exhaust pipe 11a toward the antenna 12d. It is.

  For example, the microwave oscillator 13a transmits a microwave having a frequency of 2.45 GHz and generates microwave plasma from the antenna 12d. In order to generate the microwave plasma, the inside of the exhaust pipe 11a is put into a low pressure state, and the antenna 12d is irradiated with microwaves in this low pressure state to sterilize or clean the bacteria collection filter 14.

In FIG. 5B, a filter processing apparatus according to another embodiment houses a bacteria collection filter 14 in an exhaust pipe 11a made of an insulating material, and supplies the bacteria collection filter 14 with oxygen O _2. An internal antenna 12e made of a spiral conductive wire is wound on the upstream side of the exhaust pipe 11a, and microwaves are irradiated from the microwave oscillator 13a provided outside the exhaust pipe 11a toward the antenna 12d. It is the structure to do.

  Thus, the filter processing apparatus according to the present embodiment is for collecting bacteria in the exhaust pipe 11a without bringing the internal antenna 12e into contact with the filtered fluid flowing through the exhaust pipe 11a as in the third embodiment. Filter 14 can be sterilized and cleaned.

  Experiments on sterilization of a porous material used as the filter 14 for collecting bacteria using the plasma sterilization apparatus according to the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 will be described below.

(experimental method)
In the experiment method of this example, in order to conduct a sterilization experiment using a porous material as the filter 14 for collecting bacteria, the high-frequency power source 13 is placed in the chamber 10 (4 inches × 600 mm) held at a low pressure by the rotary pump 18 of the vacuum pump. The high frequency power (13.56MHz) is input from and the plasma is generated. The input power was set to 30 to 50 W and the pressure in the chamber 10 was 20 Pa, and sterilization was performed in units of 1 hour after plasma generation. The generation of oxygen radicals was confirmed using spectroscopic analysis and chemical indicators.

  E. coli was used as the sterilization target. A porous material was put into pure water in which Escherichia coli was diffused, and sonication was performed to infiltrate the bacteria to the deep part. The porous material to which the bacteria were attached was sufficiently dried and then placed in a sterilized pouch and irradiated with plasma. After the experiment, a porous material was put into pure water, and sonication was performed again to take out the bacteria in the deep part.

  In the sterilization evaluation method of this example, a microbial medium sheet was used for sterilization evaluation. The liquid after the above operation was dropped on a 1.0 ml sheet and cultured at 35 ° C. for 24 to 48 hours. Whether or not sterilization was possible was evaluated by comparing the number of colonies appearing on the surface of the medium sheet.

  As an experiment and discussion of this example, the results of a sterilization test of a porous material infiltrated with Escherichia coli are shown in FIG. FIG. 5 shows a transition characteristic diagram of the number of colonies on the porous material with respect to the processing time. In the figure, a decrease in the number of bacteria attached to the porous material was confirmed by increasing the sterilization time.

  However, even if sterilization was performed for 3 to 5 hours, the bacteria on the medium sheet did not disappear. The sterilization operation for 1 to 5 hours was able to treat bacteria on the relatively surface of the porous body, but it is considered that it was not sterilized to the deep part.

From the above, in this example, low temperature sterilization by oxygen plasma was performed, and oxygen gas was discharged at a low pressure to generate oxygen radicals having high oxidizing power, and sterilization was performed using this. Since the temperature during the treatment is 60 ° C. or less at the maximum, it can be used for an instrument having no heat resistance. In addition, oxygen radicals have a lifetime of about 100 ms under normal pressure, and are used for sterilization under low pressure, so there is no persistence and no load on the user / environment.
Therefore, in a sterilization experiment using low-pressure oxygen plasma, a decrease in E. coli adhering to the porous material was confirmed.

In addition to the discharge type used in each of the above embodiments, barrier discharge plasma (atmospheric pressure) may be used. In addition to oxygen O ₂ , air, water vapor, or the like can be used as the source gas.

1 is an overall configuration diagram of a filter processing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is a principal part schematic block diagram of the filter processing apparatus which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a principal part schematic block diagram of the filter processing apparatus which concerns on the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a principal part schematic block diagram of the filter processing apparatus which concerns on other embodiment of this invention. It is a transition characteristic figure with respect to processing time of the number of colonies on the porous material which concerns on the sterilization test of a present Example.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Filter processing apparatus 10 Chamber 10a Insulation storage part 10b Conductive storage part 11 Chamber 11a Exhaust pipe 12, 12a, 12c Electrode 12d, 12e Antenna 13 High frequency power supply 13a AC high voltage power supply 13a Microwave oscillator 14 Bacteria collection filter 15 Injection adjustment Valves 16 and 19 Exhaust pipe 17 Discharge adjustment valve 18 Rotary pump 19a Exhaust valve 100 Plasma sterilization apparatus 101 Sterilization chamber 102 Electrode 103 High frequency power supply 104 Oxygen cylinder 105 Exhaust pipe 200 Sterilization object

Claims (6)

In a filter processing apparatus for cleaning and / or sterilizing a filter for filtering a flowing fluid,
Provided with a plasma generation processing means disposed adjacent to the filter and generating plasma;
A filter processing apparatus, wherein the filter is cleaned and / or sterilized by the plasma. The filter processing apparatus according to claim 1,
The said plasma generation means is arrange | positioned in the upstream of the fluid which flows with respect to a filter, The filter processing apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned. In the filter processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
The plasma processing means generates inductively coupled plasma, The filter processing apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned. In the filter processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The plasma generating means is formed by disposing one electrode on the upstream side of the fluid flowing through the filter and disposing another electrode on the downstream side, and generating capacitively coupled plasma between the electrodes. A filter processing device characterized by being generated. In the filter processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
A filter processing apparatus, wherein a downstream side of a fluid flowing to the filter is in a lower pressure state than an upstream side. In the filter processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
A filter processing apparatus, wherein the filter and the plasma generating means are stored in a storage container, and the storage container is in a negative pressure state.

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