JP2642969B2 - Freshness equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a freshening facility for preserving plants such as fruits, vegetables and flowers for a long period of time, and is used for general freshening warehouses, lorries, and air freshening containers. The present invention relates to a refreshing facility which is advantageously applied to a refreshing ship or the like.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, when freshening plants such as fruits, vegetables and flowers (hereinafter simply referred to as plants), low temperature and environmental adjustment,
For example, reduction of O ₂ , addition of CO _2, humidification, and the like are used to suppress respiration of plants and prevent drying. More recently, it has been found that ethylene released by the respiration of plants is a mature hormone, which promotes flowering, ripening, and aging. The method has been applied. As a method of this ethylene removal, a method using a ethylene-free adsorbent, a method using a ethylene-free packaging material, a removal method by applying vacuum, and the like have been proposed, and are said to be extremely effective as a preservative technique. However, each of these methods has the following disadvantages.

Method using de-ethylene-adsorbent The preferential adsorption of moisture to the de-ethylene-adsorbent occurs, and the ethylene-adsorbing ability rapidly decreases. In addition, the effect of the ethylene-free adsorbent remains in the vicinity thereof, and the effect on the entire space is small.

Method of using ethylene-free packaging material In order to wrap the plants that require freshness in the ethylene-free packaging material, the handling is complicated and the O ₂ necessary for the plants is required.
And shield the environment such as CO ₂ .

Removal method by applying vacuum It is necessary to make the partition structure of the space where the plants to be kept fresh are stored strong enough to withstand the vacuum. This is not particularly problematic in the case of fixed freshening equipment, but in the case of containers for automobiles and airplanes, the weight increases and it is not economical. In addition, necessary moisture, environmental gases such as O ₂ and CO ₂ are also discharged, and it is necessary to separately use these environmental controls, which increases power cost and is not general-purpose.

As described above, the conventional ethylene-elimination method is effective for freshness but has various disadvantages. Furthermore, these methods have a problem that they have no bactericidal action such as mold and are unified.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned state of the art, and aims to provide a freshening facility having a bactericidal action without being shielded from an environment necessary for freshening.

[Means for solving the problem]

The present invention relates to a freshening apparatus for preserving plants such as fruits, vegetables and flowers for a long period of time, wherein a passage for circulating fresh environmental gas is formed in a hangar for storing the plants, and the gas is provided in the passage. An ultraviolet irradiator for irradiating ultraviolet rays and an ethylene oxide remover for removing ethylene oxide positioned downstream of the irradiator are provided, respectively.The ultraviolet irradiator irradiates ultraviolet rays having a wavelength of 184.9 nm, and thereafter emits ultraviolet rays. 253.7
This is a freshening device characterized in that a mercury lamp is provided so as to irradiate ultraviolet light of nm.

As the ultraviolet ray generator installed in the present invention, a low-pressure mercury lamp that emits ultraviolet rays with wavelengths of 184.9 nm and 253.7 nm can be applied by blocking either one of the wavelengths of 184.9 nm or 253.7 nm, for example, with a filter. As the ethylene oxide removing means, a container filled with iron oxide, iron oxide supported on a porous material, a container filled with an adsorbent such as general activated carbon, and the like are used.

[Action]

Ultraviolet light with a wavelength of 184.9 nm generated by the low-pressure mercury lamp converts oxygen in the fresh environment gas into ozone, which sterilizes the fresh environment gas and simultaneously reacts with ethylene excited by the ultraviolet light to convert ethylene. It is converted to ethylene oxide which can be easily collected (see formula (1)).

The generated ethylene oxide is removed by the subsequent ethylene oxide removing means. Excess ozone is decomposed by ultraviolet rays having a wavelength of 253.7 nm generated by the same low-pressure mercury lamp to generate nascent oxygen (O) (see equation (2)).

Oxygen in this nascent period has the effect of accelerating the conversion reaction of ethylene remaining in the freshness environment to ethylene oxide by decreasing the concentration of oxygen in the reaction of (1) and slowing its reactivity with ozone (formula ( 3)).

Embodiment 1 Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a hangar main room for storing plants (fruits, vegetables, flowers, and the like). In order to control environmental gas conditions in the hangar, air 8, nitrogen 9, carbon dioxide 1
0, a supply pipe for water 11 and a discharge pipe for excess gas 12 are provided, and a temperature adjusting device 13 is provided. Reference numeral 2 denotes a passage (sub-chamber) for circulating a fresh environment gas (for example, low O ₂ , CO ₂ enriched, cooled and humidified air) in the hangar 1, and 3A denotes a wavelength.
184.9nm ultraviolet lamp, 3B is 253.7nm wavelength ultraviolet lamp, 4 is ethylene oxide removing means, 5 is fan, 6 is inlet to freshness environment gas sub-chamber 2, and 7 is outlet of the same gas from sub-chamber 2 is there.

Ethylene generated from plants in the main room 1 of the hangar enters the sub-chamber 2 through the inlet 6 together with the freshness environmental gas adjusted to a predetermined temperature, humidity and gas concentration, and is refreshed by ultraviolet rays generated from the ultraviolet lamps 3A and 3B. At the same time as the microorganisms in the environmental gas are killed, O ₃ generated by ultraviolet light with a wavelength of 184.9 nm reacts with ethylene to form ethylene oxide, and the remaining ethylene reacts with nascent oxygen generated by ultraviolet light with a wavelength of 253.7 nm Then, ozone and ethylene are completely decomposed into ethylene oxide, which is removed by ethylene oxide removing means 4. The fresh air containing no ethylene is returned to the main compartment 1 of the hangar via the outlet 7 by the fan 5.

Although the fan 5 is provided in the vicinity of the outlet 7 in this embodiment, it is a matter of course that the fan 5 may be a circulation flow passage completely separated from the main compartment 1 of the hangar.

Embodiment 2 Another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 2, 1 is a plant (fruit, vegetable, flower, etc.)
Is a main room of the hangar for storing air 8, nitrogen 9, carbon dioxide 10 and water for controlling environmental gas conditions in the hangar.
11 supply pipes and excess gas 12 discharge pipes are installed,
Further, a temperature adjusting device 13 is provided. Reference numeral 2 denotes a passage (sub-chamber) for circulating a fresh environment gas (for example, low O ₂ , CO ₂ enriched, cooled and humidified air) in the hangar 1, and 3 denotes a wavelength on the A side.
Filter that transmits ultraviolet light of 184.9nm, wavelength 25 on B side
A low-pressure mercury lamp equipped with a filter transmitting ultraviolet light of 3.7 nm, 4 means for removing ethylene oxide, 5 a fan, 6
Is an inlet to the sub-chamber 2 of the fresh environment gas, and 7 is a sub-chamber 2 of the same gas
Exit from

Ethylene generated from plants in the hangar main room 1 enters the 2A of the sub-chamber 2 through the inlet 6 together with the fresh environment gas adjusted to a predetermined temperature, humidity and gas concentration, and the A of the low-pressure mercury lamp 3
At the same time as being excited by ultraviolet light with a wavelength of 184.9 nm generated from the surface, oxygen in the fresh environment gas is converted to ozone,
The gas is sterilized, and the excited ethylene reacts with ozone in the nascent phase to form ethylene oxide. The fresh environment gas leaving the sub-chamber 2A enters the sub-chamber 2B together with the generated ethylene oxide, residual ozone and residual ethylene, and further reduces the microorganisms in the gas by ultraviolet rays having a wavelength of 253.7 nm generated from the surface B of the low-pressure mercury lamp 3. Upon sterilization, residual ozone is decomposed, and the nascent oxygen produced here completely converts residual ethylene to ethylene oxide. The ethylene oxide generated by the complete conversion of ethylene is removed from the 2C ethylene oxide removing means 4 in the subchamber.
And a fresh environment gas which does not contain ethylene and ozone is circulated to the hangar main room 1 through the outlet 7 by the fan 5.

Although the fan 5 is provided near the outlet 7 in this embodiment, the fan 5 may be provided near the inlet 6 and the sub-chamber 2 is provided. The good thing is, of course.

〔The invention's effect〕

According to the freshening equipment of the present invention, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of mold on the plants in the hangar, prevent rot, and remove ethylene generated from the plants. It is possible to prevent aging of fruits and vegetables and flowering of flowers.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1 and 2 are views showing an embodiment of the freshening equipment of the present invention.

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A freshening apparatus for preserving plants such as fruits, vegetables and flowers for a long period of time, wherein a passage for circulating fresh environment gas is formed in a hangar for storing the plants, and the passage is formed in the passage. An ultraviolet irradiator that irradiates the gas with ultraviolet light and an ethylene oxide remover that is located downstream of the irradiator and remove ethylene oxide are provided, and the ultraviolet irradiator irradiates ultraviolet light having a wavelength of 184.9 nm. Then wavelength 25
A freshening device characterized by having a mercury lamp arranged to irradiate 3.7nm ultraviolet rays.