JP2016107165A - Cleaning method and cleaning apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To effectively sterilize and disinfect an object.SOLUTION: A cleaning method and a cleaning apparatus are provided for cleaning an object such as a medical appliance 78 using air bubble-containing plasma-treated water 76 irradiated with plasma. When the object is cleaned with air bubble-containing liquid, the air bubbles contained in the liquid collapse. At this time, impact waves are generated by the collapse of air bubbles, and the collapse of air bubbles causes stains adhering to the object to be peeled off. This enables the object to be effectively cleaned. The plasma-treated water has many radicals dissolved and remains to be a liquid of high acidity. Since a liquid of high acidity has an effect such as sterilization, disinfection, and cleaning, not only object cleaning, but also object sterilization and disinfection are performed by cleaning with plasma-treated water. This enables an object to be sterilized and disinfected at the same time, so that the object can be sterilized and disinfected very effectively.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

  The present invention relates to a cleaning method and a cleaning apparatus for cleaning an object using plasma.

  By plasma irradiation, it is possible to effectively perform sterilization, sterilization treatment, purification treatment of waste liquid, exhaust gas, and the like. For this reason, as described in the following patent document, a technique for irradiating water with plasma to remove microorganisms in water has been developed.

JP 2010-523326 A

  By using the technique described in the above-mentioned patent document, for example, the object can be sterilized and sterilized by irradiating the object such as a medical instrument with plasma. However, before sterilization, sterilization, etc., it is necessary to clean the object. That is, after the object is washed, it is necessary to sterilize and sterilize, which is inefficient. The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to efficiently sterilize and sterilize an object.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, the cleaning method described in the present application is characterized in that an object is cleaned using a bubble-containing plasma irradiation liquid that is a liquid containing bubbles and plasma-irradiated.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, the cleaning apparatus described in the present application is characterized in that an object is cleaned using a bubble-containing plasma irradiation liquid that is a liquid containing bubbles and plasma-irradiated.

  In the cleaning method and the cleaning apparatus described in the present application, cleaning of an object is performed using a liquid containing bubbles and irradiated with plasma. When the object is washed by the liquid containing bubbles, the bubbles contained in the liquid are crushed. At this time, a shock wave is generated by the collapse of the bubbles, and the dirt attached to the object is peeled off by the shock wave. Thereby, it becomes possible to wash | clean an object effectively. Moreover, many radicals are dissolved in the liquid irradiated with plasma, and the liquid is highly oxidizable. Since highly oxidative liquids have effects such as sterilization, sterilization, and purification, cleaning with liquids irradiated with plasma not only cleans objects but also sterilizes objects. Sterilization is also performed. As a result, the object can be cleaned, sterilized, and sterilized simultaneously, and the object can be sterilized and sterilized very efficiently. Furthermore, when the gas of bubbles contained in the liquid is also converted into plasma, it becomes possible to sterilize and sterilize more effectively.

It is a perspective view which shows a plasma irradiation apparatus. It is an exploded view which shows the electrode removed from the main-body part of FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows the plasma irradiation apparatus of FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows a washing | cleaning apparatus.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings as modes for carrying out the present invention.

<Configuration of plasma irradiation device>
FIG. 1 shows a plasma irradiation apparatus 10. The plasma irradiation apparatus 10 has the same configuration as the plasma irradiation apparatus described in PCT / JP2014 / 064404 by the present applicant. Specifically, the plasma irradiation apparatus 10 is an apparatus for generating plasma treated water by irradiating water with plasma. The plasma irradiation apparatus 10 includes a main body 12, a pair of electrodes 14, 16, a glass tube 18, a flow tube 20, and a bubble generator (see FIG. 3) 22.

  The main body 12 is formed of sapphire glass and is generally cylindrical. A plurality of discharge portions 26 and 28 of a pair of electrodes 14 and 16 are deposited on the outer peripheral surface of the main body portion 12 so as to be alternately arranged in the axial direction of the main body portion 12. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 2, the electrode 14 has a plurality of discharge portions 26 and a plurality of connection portions 30, and the electrode 16 has a plurality of discharge portions 28 and a plurality of connection portions 32. doing. FIG. 2 is a virtual diagram showing a state in which the electrodes 14 and 16 are removed from the main body 12.

  The plurality of discharge portions 26 of the electrode 14 are deposited on the outer peripheral surface of the main body portion 12 so as to extend in the circumferential direction, and are arranged side by side in the axial direction of the main body portion 12 at a predetermined interval. . Further, the connecting portion 30 of the electrode 14 is linearly deposited on the outer peripheral surface of the main body portion 12 so as to extend in the axial direction of the main body portion 12, and connects the plurality of discharge portions 26. In addition, the discharge part 26 located in one end among the some discharge parts 26 of the electrode 14 is vapor-deposited over the perimeter of the circumferential direction of the main-body part 12, and the other discharge part 26 is connected with the connection part 30. It is vapor-deposited so that it may extend in the peripheral direction of the main-body part 12 except the part of the other side. In addition, a current-carrying part 36 is formed in the discharge part 26 deposited over the entire circumference of the main body part 12 so as to extend to the end of the main body part 12.

  Further, the plurality of discharge portions 28 of the electrode 16 are deposited on the outer peripheral surface of the main body portion 12 so as to extend in the circumferential direction, and are positioned between the plurality of discharge portions 26 of the electrode 14. Are arranged side by side in the axial direction. Of the plurality of discharge portions 28 of the electrode 16, the discharge portion 28 positioned between the two discharge portions 26 of the electrode 14 extends in the circumferential direction of the main body portion 12 except for the connection portion 30 of the electrode 14. The discharge portion 28 located at the remaining end is deposited over the entire circumference of the main body portion 12 in the circumferential direction. A current-carrying portion 38 is formed on the discharge portion 28 deposited over the entire circumference of the main body portion 12 so as to extend to the end portion of the main body portion 12. Further, the connecting portion 32 of the electrode 16 is linearly deposited on the outer peripheral surface of the main body portion 12 so as to extend in the axial direction of the main body portion 12 at a location where the discharge portion 26 of the electrode 14 is not evaporated. A plurality of discharge portions 28 are connected. As described above, the pair of electrodes 14 and 16 are vapor-deposited on the outer peripheral surface of the main body 12 so that the discharge portions 26 of the electrodes 14 and the discharge portions 28 of the electrodes 16 are alternately arranged at a predetermined interval. ing.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the glass tube 18 is disposed on the outer peripheral surface of the main body 12, and covers the entire pair of electrodes 14 and 16 deposited on the outer peripheral surface of the main body 12. . This makes it possible to prevent the electrodes 14 and 16 to which a high voltage is applied from being exposed, thereby ensuring safety. Since the electrodes 14 and 16 are sealed by the glass tube 18, the glass tube 18 enters between the discharge portion 26 of the electrode 14 and the discharge portion 28 of the electrode 16.

  The flow pipe 20 is a pipe for flowing water into the main body 12, and the outer diameter of the flow pipe 20 is about half of the inner diameter of the main body 12. The distribution pipe 20 is inserted into the main body 12 as shown in FIG. Note that one end of the flow pipe 20, that is, a discharge port for discharging water, corresponds to a position where the electrode 14 is deposited, and one end of the main body 12 on the side where the flow pipe 20 is inserted. Until the inside of the main body portion 12. A pump (not shown) is connected to the other end of the flow pipe 20. As a result, the water 50 is caused to flow inside the main body 12 via the flow pipe 20.

  In addition, a bubble generating device 22 is disposed at a location where the flow pipe 20 is not inserted into the main body 12. The bubble generating device 22 is a device for generating bubbles in the water flowing through the flow pipe 20. Thereby, the water 50 containing air bubbles is caused to flow into the main body 12 through the circulation pipe 20. The bubble generator 22 can generate minute bubbles and can generate micro-sized bubbles. The bubble generating device 22 can arbitrarily adjust the amount of bubbles to be generated. For this reason, the amount of bubbles per unit volume of water flowing inside the main body 12 is adjusted by adjusting the amount of water flowing through the flow pipe 20 and the amount of bubbles generated by the bubble generator 22. It is possible to do.

<Plasma irradiation to water by plasma irradiation device>
With the above-described configuration, the plasma irradiation apparatus 10 can generate plasma-treated water by irradiating the water flowing inside the main body 12 with plasma. Specifically, water is caused to flow through the flow pipe 20 into the main body 12 by the operation of the pump. At this time, the bubble generating device 22 generates micro-sized bubbles in the water in the flow pipe 20 as shown in FIG. For this reason, the water 50 flowing inside the main body 12 contains micro-sized bubbles.

  Further, the processing gas 56 is supplied from between the main body 12 and the flow pipe 20 in the direction of the arrow 52 by a gas supply device (not shown). As a result, the inside of the main body 12 includes the water 50 containing bubbles supplied from the flow pipe 20 and the processing gas 56 supplied from the gas supply device from one end of the main body 12 toward the other end. Flowing. The processing gas 56 may be a gas obtained by mixing an inert gas such as nitrogen and an active gas such as oxygen in the air at an arbitrary ratio, or may be only an inert gas or air. .

  When the water 50 and the processing gas 56 are caused to flow inside the main body 12, a voltage is applied to the current-carrying portions 36 and 38 of the pair of electrodes 14 and 16, and a current flows to the pair of electrodes 14 and 16. As a result, discharge occurs between the discharge portions 26 and 28 of the pair of electrodes 14 and 16. At this time, since the electrodes 14 and 16 are sealed by the glass tube 18 which is an insulator, a discharge is generated inside the main body 12 and the processing gas flowing inside the main body 12 is turned into plasma. Thereby, the plasma is irradiated to the water 50 flowing inside the main body 12, and the water irradiated with plasma, that is, the plasma treated water is discharged from the other end of the main body 12.

  The gas contained in the bubbles generated in the bubble generator 22 may be a gas obtained by mixing an inert gas such as nitrogen and an active gas such as oxygen in the air at an arbitrary ratio, and is inert. Only gas or air may be used. As described above, by including the gas in the water 50, the processing gas contained in the water 50 is also converted into plasma by the discharge generated between the discharge portions 26 and 28 of the electrodes 14 and 16. Thereby, since the water 50 is not only irradiated with plasma from the outside but also irradiated with plasma from the inside, it is possible to effectively perform the plasma treatment of the water 50. Further, the bubbles generated by the bubble generator 22 are micro-sized bubbles and stay in the water 50 for a long time. For this reason, plasma irradiation is performed for a long time in the inside of the water 50, and the plasma processing of the water 50 is performed effectively.

<Configuration of cleaning device>
FIG. 4 shows the cleaning device 70. The cleaning device 70 is a device that performs cleaning using plasma treated water irradiated with plasma by the plasma irradiation device 10, and includes a water storage tank 72 and an ultrasonic generator 74. The water storage tank 72 is disposed below the discharge port of the plasma irradiation apparatus 10, and stores plasma treated water 76 irradiated with plasma by the plasma irradiation apparatus 10. The ultrasonic generator 74 is an apparatus that generates ultrasonic waves in the plasma treated water 76 stored in the plasma treated water 76. Accordingly, the cleaning device 70 performs cleaning using a cavitation effect or the like by ultrasonic waves.

<Cleaning with plasma treated water>
Many radicals are dissolved in the plasma-treated water that has been effectively irradiated with plasma, and is a highly oxidizable liquid. Since highly oxidative liquids have effects such as sterilization, sterilization, and purification, cleaning with plasma-treated water properly cleans the object to be cleaned and sterilizes the object to be cleaned. Sterilization can also be performed. For this reason, it becomes possible to omit the sterilization and sterilization process of a medical instrument by washing | cleaning the medical instrument which needs sterilization and sterilization using a plasma processing water. In other words, conventionally, medical instruments have been reused by being sterilized and sterilized after washing and drying. However, sterilization and sterilization are performed after washing and drying medical instruments using plasma-treated water. It can be reused without doing it.

  When the medical device is cleaned by the cleaning device 70, plasma treated water is poured from the plasma irradiation device 10 into the water tank 72, and the plasma treated water 76 is stored in the water tank 72. Then, a medical instrument 78 to be cleaned is immersed in the plasma treated water 76, and ultrasonic waves are generated inside the water tank 72 by the ultrasonic generator 74. Thereby, the medical instrument 78 immersed in the plasma treated water 76 is cleaned by the cavitation effect. Specifically, due to the generation of ultrasonic waves in the water storage tank 72, the plasma-treated water 76 is shaken violently to produce a portion where the pressure is locally high and a portion where the pressure is low. In the portion where the pressure is low, a small vacuum cavity is formed in the liquid, and when the pressure in the portion becomes high, the cavity is crushed. At this time, a shock wave is generated in the liquid due to the collapse of the cavity, and the dirt attached to the medical instrument 78 is peeled off by the shock wave. Thereby, the medical instrument 78 is cleaned.

  Furthermore, as described above, the plasma-treated water 76 contains micro-sized bubbles. Thus, if it is a micro bubble, when the plasma processing water 76 is poured into the water storage tank 72, it will not be crushed. For this reason, when the medical device 78 is immersed in the plasma-treated water 76, the plasma-treated water 76 contains many micro-sized bubbles. The bubbles contained in the plasma treated water 76 are also crushed by the generation of ultrasonic waves. At this time, shock waves are generated by the collapse of the bubbles, and the dirt attached to the medical device 78 is peeled off by the shock waves. Thus, the medical device 78 can be effectively cleaned not only by the cavitation effect of the vacuum cavity generated by the vibration of the ultrasonic wave but also by the cavitation effect of the bubbles contained in the plasma treated water 76.

  Note that the smaller the bubbles contained in the plasma-treated water 76, the longer they remain in the plasma-treated water 76. However, if the bubbles are too small, the bubbles may not be crushed. For this reason, the bubbles contained in the plasma-treated water 76 are not nano-sized but micro-sized. In addition, it is preferable that the bubbles contained in the plasma-treated water 76 be several hundred μm or less, considering that bubbles remain in the plasma-treated water 76 for a long time and that the bubbles are crushed at an appropriate timing. Furthermore, it is preferably 50 μm or less.

  Further, it can be considered that the cavitation effect of the bubbles contained in the plasma-treated water 76 is enhanced by cleaning the medical instrument 78 in a state where a large amount of bubbles remains in the plasma-treated water 76. For this reason, the cleaning is performed so that the cleaning by the cleaning device 70 is completed within a set time after the plasma treatment water is generated by the plasma irradiation device 10. The set time is set according to the size of the bubbles contained in the plasma treated water 76, but is preferably set to several minutes to several hours.

  When the cleaning by the cleaning device 70 is completed, the cleaning is performed again by the cleaning device having the same structure as the cleaning device 70. The number of times of cleaning by the cleaning device varies depending on the degree of contamination of the medical device 78, the shape of the medical device 78, etc., but is preferably repeated about 3 to 5 times. When all the cleaning operations are completed, the medical instrument 78 is dried and reused.

  As described above, in the cleaning device 70, the medical instrument 78 is cleaned by using the plasma treated water 76, so that the medical instrument 78 is sterilized and sterilized by the plasma treated water 76 at the time of cleaning. Furthermore, since the gas in the bubbles contained in the plasma-treated water 76 is also converted into plasma as described above, when the bubbles are crushed, the medical instrument 78 is sterilized and sterilized by the gas. This makes it possible to reuse the cleaned medical device 78 by simply drying it, which is very efficient.

  Incidentally, the main body 12 is an example of a cylindrical member. The electrodes 14 and 16 are examples of electrodes. The method of irradiating water with plasma by the plasma irradiation apparatus 10 is an example of a plasma irradiation method. The step of generating bubbles in the water in the circulation pipe 20 by the bubble generation device 22 is an example of the bubble generation step. The process of flowing water in which bubbles are generated into the main body 12 is an example of a liquid circulation process. The step of converting the processing gas into plasma by the electrodes 14 and 16 is an example of the plasma forming step. The cleaning device 70 is an example of a cleaning device. The plasma treated water 76 is an example of a bubble-containing plasma irradiation liquid. The medical instrument 78 is an example of a medical instrument. The method of cleaning the medical instrument 78 using the plasma treated water 76 is an example of a cleaning method.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to the said Example, It is possible to implement in the various aspect which gave various change and improvement based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art. Specifically, for example, in the above embodiment, cleaning is performed using plasma-irradiated water, but various liquids other than water are irradiated with plasma, and cleaning is performed using the plasma-irradiated liquid. Can be done.

  Moreover, in the said Example, although the medical instrument 78 is wash | cleaned using the plasma processing water 76, it is possible to wash | clean various things other than the medical instrument 78. FIG. For example, by adopting food such as vegetables as the object to be cleaned, the food can be appropriately sterilized and sterilized, and the food can be stored for a long time.

  Moreover, in the said Example, although the washing | cleaning target object is immersed in the plasma processing water 76 and wash | cleaning, you may wash | clean by spraying the plasma processing water 76 on a cleaning target object with a high voltage | pressure.

  Moreover, in the said Example, although the bubble contained in the plasma processing water 76 is made into micro size, it can also be made into nano size bubble. By making the size of the bubbles nano-sized, it is possible to leave the bubbles for a long time inside the plasma treated water 76.

  12: Main body (cylindrical member) 14, 16: Electrode 70: Cleaning device 76: Plasma-treated water (bubble-containing plasma irradiation liquid) 78: Medical instrument

Claims (6)

  A cleaning method for cleaning an object using a bubble-containing plasma irradiation liquid that is a liquid that contains bubbles and is irradiated with plasma.   The cleaning method according to claim 1, wherein the bubbles of the bubble-containing plasma irradiation liquid are micro-sized.   The cleaning method according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning method is a method of cleaning a medical instrument as an object.   4. The cleaning method according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning of the object is completed within a set time after the bubble-containing plasma irradiation liquid is generated. The bubble-containing plasma irradiation liquid is
(A) a bubble generating step for generating bubbles in the liquid; and (B) a liquid in which the bubbles are generated in the bubble generating step is placed in a predetermined space inside a cylindrical member formed of an insulating material. And (C) applying a voltage to a pair of electrodes disposed along the outer wall surface of the cylindrical member, and plasma in the gas existing in the predetermined space. The cleaning method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the cleaning method is generated by a plasma irradiation method including a plasma forming step.   A cleaning apparatus that cleans an object using a bubble-containing plasma irradiation liquid that is a liquid that contains bubbles and is irradiated with plasma.

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