JP3335532B2 - Ozone supply device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an ozone supply apparatus capable of intermittently supplying a large amount of ozone.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, sterilization with ozone is usually performed by continuously supplying a small amount of ozone to a portion to be sterilized in consideration of economy. However, supply of such a small amount of ozone alone often cannot provide a sufficient sterilizing effect. On the other hand, if a small amount of ozone can be supplied at all times and a large amount of ozone can be supplied temporarily,
Although the sterilization effect is greatly improved, a large ozone generator must be provided for that purpose, and there has been a problem that the equipment cost is extremely high.

[0003] As an intermittent ozone supply apparatus, an apparatus provided with an ozone adsorption tower, a refrigerating machine for promoting desorption of ozone, and the like has been proposed (Japanese Patent Publication No. 61-1188).
No. 2). However, such a device has a complicated structure, is large-scale, and has a high facility cost.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to solve the above-mentioned problems in the prior art and to provide an ozone supply apparatus having a high sterilizing effect, a simple structure and a reduced cost.

[0005]

According to the present invention, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, an ozone supply device is provided by means of a water inlet into which raw water used for generating ozone by an electrolytic cell is introduced and an electrolytic cell. A container comprising a ozone inlet and an ozone outlet for introducing ozone, and having a storage portion for storing ozone, comprising a gas-liquid separation tank for separating ozone generated in the electrolytic cell from the raw water, and filling the storage portion with water. Water supply means, water taking-out means capable of taking out water contained in the storage part, a low water level which is a water level of the gas-liquid separation tank lower than a lower end of the water level of the storage part, an intermediate water level of the lower end, and First to third water level detectors for detecting a high water level at the upper end of the storage portion, and when the first water level detector detects the low water level, the raw water is supplied to the gas-liquid separation tank. When the second water level detector detects the intermediate water level, the supply is stopped, and at a predetermined time, the supply is continued even if the second water level detector detects the second water level, and the third water level is maintained. Control means for controlling the operation of the water supply means so as to stop the supply when the detector detects the third water level, the volume of the storage portion
And the amount of water supplied by the water supply means into the storage portion
A large amount of ozone to enhance the sterilization effect of ozone at the predetermined time
Specified so that ozone can be temporarily supplied to users
Be characterized.

[0006] can be coupled members that bind Oite above, the water removal means and the container such that the raw water can pass between the electrolyzer.

[0007]

[0008]

FIG. 1 shows an example of an ozone supply apparatus to which the present invention is applied. The ozone supply device has an ozone inlet and an ozone outlet, and a storage partial water inlet 1 for storing ozone.
A tank 1 as a container having a storage portion 1a for storing ozone, the storage tank 1 having an ozone inlet 12 and an ozone outlet 13;
It has a water supply line 2 and a solenoid valve 3 as a water supply means into which water can be put, a water take-out pipe 4 as a water take-out means to take out water put in the tank 1, and the like. Water is supplied to the water supply line 2 from a pump, a head tank, a pressure tank, or the like. The ozone outlet 13 is usually connected to an ozone suction device such as an ejector by a pipe. As a result, the pressure in the tank 1 is slightly negative and is maintained at a substantially constant pressure.

Ozone is produced by the electrolytic cell 5. Therefore, the water is pure water as raw water used for generating ozone by the electrolytic cell, and the tank 1 is a gas-liquid separation tank for separating ozone and oxygen generated in the electrolytic cell 5 from pure water. The water outlet pipe 4 is provided as a connecting member for connecting the tank 1 and the electrolytic tank 5 so that pure water can pass therethrough.

Further, in this embodiment, by detecting the water level in the tank 1, pure water is automatically supplied into the tank, and the ozone in the tank can be automatically and continuously and intermittently supplied to the use destination of ozone. . Therefore, the gas-liquid lowest a water level of the separation tank 1 low level L ₁ than this intermediate level L ₂ above further than this high level L ₃ and first to third level detector respectively for detecting the upper Level switches LS ₁ , LS ₂ , LS _3, and a controller 6 as control means for controlling opening and closing of the solenoid valve 3 by these switches
Are provided. In this example, becomes the storage portion 1a of between the water level L ₂ and L ₃ are storing ozone, water level L _2, L ₃ is a water level of the lower and upper ends of the respective reservoir portions 1a.

The electrolytic cell 5 is composed of an anode plate 51, a cathode plate 52, an anode 53 and a cathode 54 disposed therebetween, a solid polymer electrolyte membrane 55 for isolating them. A power supply (not shown) is connected to the anode 53 and the cathode 54, and the electrolytic cell 5 is cooled by a suitable cooling device (not shown) so that the inside thereof has an appropriate operating temperature.

The above-described ozone supply apparatus is operated, for example, as follows. Pure water is stored in the gas-liquid separation tank 1 and is supplied as raw water from the opening 56 of the electrolytic cell 1 through the water extraction pipe 4, while the pure water circulates in the anode plate 53. A part is electrolyzed into oxygen, hydrogen and ozone, oxygen and ozone are taken out together with circulating water from the opening 57 on the anode side, and oxygen and ozone are separated from pure water in the gas-liquid separation tank 1 and taken out from the top. .
On the other hand, hydrogen is discharged from the opening 58 on the cathode side. In this operating state, the ozone is continuously sent to the ozone destination by the amount generated in the electrolytic cell 5.

The pure water is circulated between the tank 1 and the electrolytic cell 5, but the pure water is consumed because ozone is produced by electrolysis of the pure water. Therefore, the controller 6 operates the level switch LS
When _one detects a low level L _1, and controls its operation so that the solenoid valve 3 is opened to supply pure water to the tank 1. Thereby, pure water is supplied from the pure water supply line 2 into the tank 1 via the solenoid valve 3. As a result, the water level in the tank rises. When the level switch LS ₂ detects the intermediate water level L ₂ , the controller 6 closes the solenoid valve 3 and
Turn off the water supply. In this way, during normal operation, ozone is supplied almost continuously while securing the supply of pure water.

On the other hand, the controller 6 keeps the solenoid valve 3 open even when the level switch LS ₂ is turned on, for example, once every 24 hours as a predetermined time, and the level switch LS ₃ detects the high water level L ₃ . Then, control is performed so that the electromagnetic valve 3 is closed. Such control may, for example, such as keep the circuitry of level switch LS ₂ to the open state a predetermined time by the timer, can be easily performed by the circuit configuration and the like. Note in the above, the level switch LS ₁ is during normal operation to open the solenoid valve 3 becomes off, a predetermined timing, the water level they become between L ₁ and L _2, if the level switch LS ₁ is turned off Alternatively, the solenoid valve 3 may be opened.

According to the above-described level control of the controller 6, at a predetermined time, the water level in the tank 1 is raised, and in addition to the normal amount of ozone generated, the water in the tank 1 is stored by the piston action of water. The ozone in the portion 1a is extruded, and the total amount of ozone can be intermittently supplied to the use destination. In this case, when the solenoid valve is opened, the storage portion 1
If a is filled with pure water in a short time, a large amount of ozone is supplied. As a result, in addition to the continuous sterilization / bacteriostatic action by a small amount of ozone, a strong sterilization action by intermittently large supply of ozone is obtained, and the sterilization effect as a whole can be greatly improved.

The pure water charged up to the high level L ₃ is supplied to the electrolytic cell 5 for ozone production and consumed, and the water in the storage portion 1a of the tank is taken out accordingly, and the electrolytic cell is supplied to this portion. The ozone generated in step 5 is stored again, and a state in which the intermittent large amount of ozone can be supplied is repeatedly reproduced.
Thus, the ozone storage portion 1a is stored in the gas-liquid separation tank 1.
Is provided, the pure water is naturally consumed, and it is not necessary to take out the pure water in this portion with a special device such as a pump, so that the structure of the device is simplified.

FIG. 2 shows a schematic configuration of a cooling device in which an experiment on the sterilizing effect of the ozone supply device shown in FIG. 1 was performed. The cooling device is a device having a cooling capacity equivalent to 200 refrigeration tons,
Blower 100a, packed bed 100b, exhaust water tank 100
c, a cooling system including a cooling tower 100 having a lower water storage tank 100d, a circulation pump 101, a cooler 102, etc .; an electrolytic tank 5, a gas-liquid separation tank 1, a booster pump 200, an ejector 201, and a water pipe 202. And a cooling water sterilization system provided with the above.

The amount of ozone generated in the electrolytic cell 5 is 8 g / h. Gas-liquid separation tank 1 is has become cylindrical diameter 10 cm, the reservoir portion 1a between the water level L ₂ and L ₃ shown in FIG. 1 has a volume of 6L (liters). The inside of the tank 1 is constantly sucked by the ejector and has a slight negative pressure. Then, a high concentration of ozone is generated in the electrolytic cell 5, which occupies about 10% as a volume ratio in a mixed gas with oxygen in a space portion of the tank.

When the solenoid valve 3 shown in FIG. 1 is opened in such a state, pure water is supplied from the pure water supply line 2 at a rate of 3 L / mim. As a result, when intermittently supplying a large amount of ozone, ozone in the ozone storage portion 6L of the tank 1 for 2 minutes and ozone newly generated in the electrolytic cell 5 during that period are supplied to the cooling water sterilization system. When this supply amount is calculated, this 2
In a minute, the supply rate is as high as about 43 g / h, which is 5 times or more of the constantly generated amount of ozone of 8 g / h.

In the experiment, 8 g / h of ozone was constantly generated by the electrolytic cell 5 as described above, and only the amount of ozone was continuously supplied, and in addition to this, the intermittently large amount of ozone was supplied for 24 hours. The sample water taken out from the lower water tank 100d was analyzed by comparing the sterilization effect with the case where the test was performed once. And the following results were obtained.

Number of viable bacterial colonies per 1 mL of sample water Experiment 1 Continuous supply 17 Intermittent large supply 1 Experiment 2 Continuous supply 30 Intermittent large supply 2 As apparent from this experiment, the present invention is applied. By doing so, it is possible to use a electrolytic cell having the same capacity to significantly improve the sterilizing effect as compared with the related art.

FIG. 3 shows a configuration example of a tank portion of another ozone supply apparatus to which the present invention is applied. In FIG.
In addition to the above device, a pump 7 for returning pure water as a water extracting means is additionally provided. Pump 7, pure water was injected to the water level L ₃ for intermittent amount supply of ozone back to pure water supply system tank or the like (not shown), L ₁ ~L a normal control range the water level in the tank 1 at an early stage It is for returning between _two . The pump is started and stopped by a signal of the controller 6, for example, an electromagnetic valve 3 is operated after becoming closed, the level switch LS ₁ is stopped to detect low level L _1.

In the electrolytic cell 5, for example, 8 g / h as in the previous example
Ozone is generated by using pure water of about 400
g / h, and if the volume of the storage part is 6 L as in the previous example, the water level L ₁ is a normal level from the water level L _3.
~L takes about about 15 hours to lower the water level to _2. Therefore, if the pump 7 is provided as in the present example and pure water in the tank is taken out, the water level can be quickly lowered. As a result, the gas-liquid separation performance is improved, and the interval of intermittently large supply of ozone is shortened, so that the sterilizing effect can be further improved.

In FIG. 3B, a tank 8 for intermittently supplying a large amount of ozone is provided in addition to the gas-liquid separation tank 1 provided in a normal ozone supply device. Therefore, the ozone generated by the electrolytic cell 5 is introduced into the tank 8 via the gas-liquid separation tank 1. In this case, the tank 1 has the same structure as a normal tank having only the level switches LS ₁ and LS ₂ for supplying water. Tank 8 for intermittent large supply
, The level switches LS ₀ and LS
₃ , an on / off signal is sent to the controller 6 'to operate the solenoid valve 10 and the pump 7 provided in FIG. According to the apparatus of this example, it is possible to supply intermittently large amounts of ozone without changing the structure of a normal ozone supply apparatus including an electrolytic cell and a gas-liquid separation tank. Further, the interval and the supply amount of the intermittent supply can be freely determined. It is not always necessary to supply pure water to the tank 8.

[0025] In still above, provided the controller 6 or 6 'level switch LS _3, for example, you have to perform once automatically intermittently amount supply ozone to 24 hours, so as to do this by human manipulation It may be.

[0026]

As described above, according to the present invention, according to the first aspect of the present invention, an ozone storage portion is provided in a container capable of taking in and out of ozone, and a water supply means capable of containing water is provided in this portion. When the supply means is operated to fill the ozone storage portion with water, the stored ozone is sent out from the ozone outlet. As a result, at this time, the stored ozone is sent out from the container together with the ozone supplied to the container, and a large amount of ozone is temporarily supplied to the use destination of ozone, so that the sterilizing effect of ozone can be enhanced. In this case, by appropriately selecting the volume of the storage portion and the supply water amount, the ozone supply amount can be made several times the ozone generation amount for a certain period of time, and the sterilization effect can be significantly improved.

On the other hand, since the water taking-out means capable of taking out the water put in the storage portion is provided, the water put in the storage portion is taken out, ozone is again stored in the portion, and the water is taken out at the next timing which requires intermittent sterilization. By operating the supply means, it becomes possible to temporarily increase the ozone supply amount again.

Since such an ozone supply device is composed of a container provided with an ozone storage portion and water supply / discharge means, the ozone supply device is compared with a conventional device provided with an ozone adsorption tower, a refrigerating machine and the like. Extremely simple structure and low cost.
Since the ozone generated by the electrolytic cell is introduced into the container, the ozone concentration is 5 to 10 times as high as the ozone concentration generated by a silent discharge type ozone generator or the like. And the size of the container can be reduced. As a result, a large sterilizing effect can be achieved with a low-cost device that is small in size and light in weight with a simple structure.

Further, since the ozone storage portion is provided in the container comprising the gas-liquid separation tank of the device for supplying ozone using the electrolytic cell and the gas-liquid separation tank, the intermittent large amount of ozone can be supplied without providing another container. It can be carried out. as a result,
The structure of the device can be further simplified to reduce costs. Also, the water to be put into the storage part for intermittent supply,
Since the raw water is used for producing ozone by the electrolytic cell, it is consumed together with the production of ozone, and it is not necessary to provide a special water extracting device such as a pump, and the structure can be further simplified.

[0030] Also, high water respectively at the upper and lower ends and a position below the lower end of the storage portion of the gas-liquid separation tank, a detector for detecting the intermediate level and low level provided for the ozone produced at the low level and intermediate level Automatic replenishment of raw water
At a predetermined time, water is allowed to pass through the intermediate water level to the high water level, and control means for controlling the operation of the water supply means is provided so as to stop the water supply at the high water level. Intermittent large-volume supply can be performed. As a result, no human operation is required at all, and labor can be saved in increasing the sterilizing effect by intermittently supplying a large amount of ozone.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration example of an ozone supply device to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic configuration of a cooling tower type cooling device using the ozone supply device for sterilization.

FIGS. 3A and 3B are explanatory views showing another example of the tank portion of the ozone supply device to which the present invention is applied.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Tank, gas-liquid separation tank (container) 1a Storage part 2 Water supply line, pure water supply line (water supply means) 3 Solenoid valve (water supply means) 4 Water extraction pipe (water extraction means, coupling member) 5 Electrolysis tank 6, 6 'controller (control means) 7 pump for returning pure water (water extraction means) 8 tank (container) for intermittent large-volume supply 10 solenoid valve (water supply means) 11 water inlet 12 ozone inlet 13 ozone outlet L ₁ low water level L ₂ intermediate water level L ₃ high water LS ₁ level switch (first water level detector) LS ₂ level switch (second water level detector) LS ₃ level switch (third level detector)

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) C01B 13/10 C25B 1/30

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. An ozone inlet for introducing raw water used for generating ozone by an electrolyzer, an ozone inlet for introducing ozone generated by the electrolyzer, and an ozone outlet have a storage portion for storing ozone. A container consisting of a gas-liquid separation tank for separating ozone generated in the electrolytic cell from the raw water, a water supply means for putting water into the storage part, and a water take-out means for taking out water from the storage part Detecting first and second water levels of the gas-liquid separation tank, which are lower than a lower end of the water level of the storage part, an intermediate water level of the lower end, and a high water level of an upper end of the storage part, respectively.
To the third water level detector, and when the first water level detector detects the low water level, the raw water is supplied to the gas-liquid separation tank, and when the second water level detector detects the intermediate water level, the supply is stopped. Further, at a predetermined time, the supply is continued even if the second water level detector detects the second water level, and the supply is stopped when the third water level detector detects the third water level. Control means for controlling the operation of the water supply means, and the volume of the storage portion and the water supply means
Is the amount of water supplied to the storage part at the predetermined time
A large amount of ozone that enhances the sterilization effect of ozone
An ozone supply device which is set so as to be able to supply temporarily .