JP4120685B2 - Electrostatic atomizer - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an electrostatic atomizer for generating nanometer-sized charged fine particle mist.

  Conventionally, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses an electrostatic atomizer that electrostatically atomizes water to generate nanometer-sized charged fine particle mist. Water is supplied to the tip of the discharge electrode shown in Patent Document 1. As a means for this, the discharge electrode is cooled to condense water on the surface.

  In the conventional example as described above, the mechanism of generation of nanometer-sized charged fine particle mist by the electrostatic atomizer is such that the water supplied to the tip of the discharge electrode by the voltage applied between the discharge electrode and the counter electrode is When charged, the Coulomb force acts on the charged water, and the surface of the water supplied and held at the tip of the discharge electrode rises locally as a cone with a pointed tip (to become a tailor cone). At the tip of this tailor cone Charges are concentrated and concentrated, and electrostatic atomization is performed by repeatedly dividing and scattering liquids (Rayleigh splitting) due to the repulsive force of the high-density charge, and nanometer-sized charged fine particle mist (radical ions) with radicals. Mist) is generated.

  The nanometer-sized charged fine particle mist having radicals described above has effects such as deodorization and sterilization. The main effects of this deodorization and sterilization are the radicals contained in the nanometer-size charged fine particle mist. It is thought that it acts as a factor.

However, in the conventional electrostatic atomizer, the angle of the tip of the tailor cone is not stable because the amount of water supplied to the tip of the discharge electrode is not constant. There has been a problem that it is difficult to stably generate nanometer-sized charged fine particle mist having radicals.
JP 2005-296653 A

  The present invention has been invented in view of the above-described conventional problems, and provides an electrostatic atomizer capable of generating nanometer-sized charged fine particle mist having radicals efficiently and stably. It is to be an issue.

In order to solve the above problems, an electrostatic atomizer according to the present invention includes a high voltage application unit 1, a discharge electrode 2 to which a high voltage generated by the high voltage application unit 1 is applied, and a constant discharge electrode 2. Between the opposing electrode 3 opposed to each other, the liquid supply means 4 for supplying the liquid to be atomized to the discharge electrode 2, and the discharge electrode 2 and the opposed electrode 3 opposed to each other at a certain distance. Detection means 5 for detecting the holding state of the liquid held by the discharge electrode 2 by detecting the flowing current, and the liquid supply means 4 is constituted by a Peltier unit 9, and the cooling unit 7 side of the Peltier unit 9 The discharge electrode 2 is connected to the cooling electrode 2 to cool the discharge electrode 2 to supply moisture in the air to the discharge electrode 2 as condensed water. When a high voltage is applied to the discharge electrode 2, The tip angle of the retained liquid tailor cone The Taylor cone tip angle control means 6 for controlling the 70 ° to 95 ° is provided, the Taylor cone tip angle control means 6, based on the information of the holding state of the liquid obtained by the detecting means 5, the Peltier unit The supply amount of the liquid to be atomized supplied to the discharge electrode 2 is controlled by controlling the energization amount to 9 .

With such a configuration, the holding state of the liquid W held by the discharge electrode 2 is detected by detecting the current flowing between the discharge electrode 2 and the counter electrode 3 facing each other at a certain distance. The discharge electrode is controlled by controlling the supply amount of the liquid to be atomized to be supplied to the discharge electrode 2 by controlling the energization amount to the Peltier unit 9 based on the information on the holding state of the liquid W thus detected. The tip angle of the tailor cone T of the liquid W held at 2 can be controlled to 70 ° to 95 °, and nanometer-sized charged fine particle mist having radicals can be generated efficiently and stably .

As described above, the present invention includes detection means for detecting the holding state of the liquid held by the discharge electrode by detecting the current flowing between the discharge electrode and the counter electrode facing each other at a predetermined distance. By connecting the discharge electrode to the cooling part of the Peltier unit and cooling the discharge electrode, moisture in the air is supplied to the discharge electrode as condensed water, and the discharge occurs when a high voltage is applied to the discharge electrode. Taylor cone tip angle control means for controlling the tip angle of the liquid tailor cone held by the electrode to 70 ° to 95 ° is supplied to the Peltier unit based on the information on the liquid holding state obtained by the detection means. Since the amount of liquid to be atomized supplied to the discharge electrode is controlled by controlling the amount of electricity supplied to the discharge electrode, nanometer-sized charged fine particle particles having radicals are efficiently and stably present. It can produce the strikes, and the radicals contained in the nanometer-size charged fine particle mist efficiently and stably have effects such as deodorization, sterilization, allergen inactivation effect, pesticide decomposition effect, and organic matter decomposition (dirt removal). It can be expressed.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described based on embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration diagram of the electrostatic atomizer of the present invention. The electrostatic atomizer of this example includes a high voltage application unit 1, a discharge electrode 2 to which a high voltage generated by the high voltage application unit 1 is applied, a counter electrode 3 facing the discharge electrode 2, and a discharge electrode. 2 is provided with a liquid supply means 4 for supplying the liquid W to be atomized to the tip portion.

The liquid supply means 4 for supplying the liquid W to be atomized to the tip of the discharge electrode 2 cools the moisture in the air and generates it as condensed water, so that the condensed water is supplied to the tip of the discharge electrode 2. It is to be supplied .

In the following description, the liquid W is described as water W or condensed water W.

  The cooling means to be the liquid supply means 4 is constituted by a Peltier unit 9 having a cooling part 7 and a heat radiating part 8, and the discharge electrode 2 is connected to the cooling part 7 side of the Peltier unit 9 to cool the discharge electrode 2 itself. It is free. In the embodiment shown in the accompanying drawings, the counter electrode 3 is supported at the tip of the casing 10 connected to the Peltier unit 9 so that the discharge electrode 2 and the counter electrode 3 are opposed to each other at a predetermined interval. It is fixed to.

  The Peltier unit 9 has a pair of Peltier circuit boards facing each other so that the circuit sides face each other, and sandwiches a number of BiTe-based thermoelectric elements between the two Peltier circuit boards. The cooling part 7 is formed by the insulating plate of the Peltier circuit board on the cooling side and the insulating board for cooling, and heat is radiated by the insulating plate of the Peltier circuit board on the heat dissipation side and the heat dissipation plate or the heat dissipation fin Heat is transferred from the cooling unit 7 side to the heat radiating unit 8 side by energization control to the thermoelectric element performed by the cooling control unit 13 via the Peltier input lead wire 11. Yes.

  The discharge electrode 2 connected to the cooling unit 7 of the Peltier unit 9 is formed in a substantially rod shape using a material having high thermal conductivity and conductivity such as aluminum, copper, tungsten, titanium, and stainless steel. The condensed water W is generated by being cooled by the above.

  A high voltage application plate 12 is connected to the rear end of the discharge electrode 2 as shown in FIG. 1, and the high voltage application plate 12 and the counter electrode 3 are connected to the high voltage application unit 1 via high-voltage leads. The high voltage is applied between the discharge electrode 2 and the counter electrode 3 from the high voltage application unit 1.

  In the electrostatic atomizer having the above-described configuration, when the thermoelectric elements are energized, heat is transferred in the same direction in each thermoelectric element, and the cooling unit 7 of the Peltier unit 9 is cooled. When the cooling unit 7 is cooled, the discharge electrode 2 connected to the cooling unit 7 is cooled, and the air around the discharge electrode 2 is cooled, so that moisture in the air is liquefied due to condensation or the like, and the discharge electrode 2 Condensed water W is generated at the tip of the water.

  As described above, the discharge electrode 2 is connected to the cooling unit 7 of the Peltier unit 9 to directly cool the discharge electrode 2 to condense moisture in the air, thereby generating condensed water W. Therefore, the apparatus can be made compact. In addition, there is no need to replenish water as in the prior art, and furthermore, since moisture in the air is condensed, impurities such as tap water are not included, and the trouble of removing deposits becomes unnecessary.

  In the state where the discharge electrode 2 is cooled and the condensed water W is held at the tip of the discharge electrode 2 as described above, the tip of the discharge electrode 2 becomes a negative electrode by the high voltage application unit 1 and the charge is concentrated. Thus, when a high voltage of about 5 kV is applied between the discharge electrode 2 and the counter electrode 3, the water W held at the tip of the discharge electrode 2 is charged, and the Coulomb force acts on the charged water, The surface of the water W locally rises to a conical shape (Taylor cone), the charge concentrates on the tip of the water W that has a conical shape, the charge density becomes high, and the repulsive force of the high-density charge repels. In this way, water splits and scatters (Rayleigh splitting) to perform electrostatic atomization to generate nanometer-sized charged fine particle mist (negative ion mist) having radicals.

  Here, in the present invention, the control unit 20 has the detection means 5 for detecting the holding state of the liquid W held by the discharge electrode 2 and the tailor cone tip angle control means 6. The holding state of the liquid W in the electrode 2 is detected, and discharge is performed by the tailor cone tip angle control means 6 provided in the control unit 20 based on the detection information of the holding state of the liquid W in the discharge electrode 2 by the detecting means 5. The tip angle of the tailor cone T of the liquid W held by the discharge electrode 2 when a high voltage is applied to the electrode 2 is controlled to 70 ° to 95 °.

As the detecting means 5 for detecting the holding state of the liquid W held by the discharge electrode 2, a means (ammeter 21) for detecting a minute current flowing between the discharge electrode 2 and the counter electrode 3, or the discharge electrode 2 A means for obtaining information by an image by disposing the video camera 22 through an opening 23 provided in the housing 10 so as to face the tip can be given. In the present invention, the discharge electrode 2 and the counter electrode 3 can be mentioned. Means (ammeter 21) for detecting a minute current flowing between them is used. In the present invention in which the discharge electrode 2 is cooled and water W is condensed on the surface thereof, means (temperature sensor 15 and humidity sensor 16) for detecting the temperature and humidity of the air in the vicinity of the discharge electrode 2 may be added. desirable.

  Table 1 below shows changes in radical generation amount with respect to applied voltage in two types of discharge electrodes 2 having different tip diameters, and currents of 6 μA and 9 μA were applied to the two types of electrodes 1 and 2 having different tip diameters, respectively. FIG. 2 shows the measurement result of the tip angle of the tailor cone T when the voltage is changed when the voltage is changed, and FIG. 2 shows the change in radical generation amount with respect to the applied voltage in the two types of discharge electrodes 2 having different tip diameters in this case. It is a graph to show.

  As is apparent from Table 1 and FIG. 2, the radical generation amount takes a maximum point when the tip angle of the tailor cone T is between 70 ° and 95 °. When the tip angle is smaller than 70 °, it is presumed that the amount of water W at the tip of the discharge electrode 2 is large, the energy transmission efficiency is deteriorated, and the generation amount of charged fine particle mist containing radicals is reduced. In addition, when the tip angle is 95 ° or more, a state in which the tip becomes a ball shape is irregularly observed. In this state, the concentration of the electric field is worsened and the generation amount of charged fine particle mist containing radicals is reduced. I guess that. Therefore, by controlling the tip angle of the tailor cone T to be 70 ° to 95 °, it is possible to efficiently and stably generate charged fine particle mist containing radicals.

The tailor cone tip angle control means 6 for controlling the tip angle of the tailor cone T to 70 ° to 95 ° as described above is based on the holding state of the liquid W detected by the detection means 5. It is comprised by the means which controls the supply amount of the dew condensation water W which should be atomized to a part .

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention. When the distance between the discharge electrode 2 and the counter electrode 3 facing the discharge electrode 2 is constant , the ammeter 21 as the detection means 5 is used to discharge the discharge electrode 2. The amount of water W supplied to the tip of the discharge electrode 2 is controlled based on the information on the state of water W retained at the tip of the discharge electrode 2 detected by detecting the current flowing between the counter electrode 3 and the counter electrode 3. In FIG. 1 , the cooling performance of the Peltier unit 9 is adjusted by controlling the amount of current supplied to the thermoelectric element of the Peltier unit 9 by the cooling control unit 13, and thereby the amount of condensation on the surface of the discharge electrode 2. That is, the supply amount of water W to the tip of the discharge electrode 2 is adjusted. That is, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1B , when the tip angle of the tailor cone T is less than 70 ° by the detection means 5, the tail cone cone angle control means 6 causes the Peltier to be controlled by the cooling control unit 13. The tip angle of the tailor cone T is controlled to be 70 ° to 95 ° by lowering the amount of current supplied to the thermoelectric element of the unit 9 to lower the cooling performance, and the tip angle of the tailor cone T is 95 °. Is exceeded, the tail angle of the tailor cone T is increased from 70 ° to 95 by increasing the amount of current supplied to the thermoelectric element of the Peltier unit 9 by the cooling control unit 13 by the tailor cone tip angle control means 6. It is controlled so that it becomes °. This makes it possible to easily and stably generate charged fine particle mist containing radicals by adjusting the amount of water W supplied to the tip of the discharge electrode 2.

Further, in the above embodiment, when used in a space where the ozone amount is limited, an ozone amount detecting means 14 for detecting the ozone amount is added as shown in FIG. 3 to control the supply amount of water to be applied. In this case, charged fine particle mist containing radicals can be generated efficiently and stably within a range in which the amount of ozone is limited. That is, as shown in FIG. 3B , when the tip angle of the tailor cone T is less than 70 ° by the detection means 5 and the ozone amount detected by the ozone amount detection means 14 is large, the cooling performance is lowered. When the tip angle of the tailor cone T is less than 70 ° and the amount of ozone detected by the ozone amount detector 14 is small, the tip angle of the tailor cone T is set to 70 ° to 95 ° by increasing the applied voltage. Control to be. When the tip angle of the tailor cone T exceeds 95 ° and the amount of ozone is large, the applied voltage is reduced, and when the tip angle of the tailor cone T exceeds 95 ° and the amount of ozone is small, cooling is performed. The tip angle of the tailor cone T is controlled to be 70 ° to 95 ° by improving the performance. This makes it possible to easily and stably generate charged fine particle mist containing radicals by controlling the applied voltage, and to optimize the amount of ozone .

1 shows an embodiment of the present invention, (a) is a schematic overall configuration diagram, (b) is 70 ° to 95 ° when the tip angle of the tailor cone is less than 70 ° and exceeds 95 °. It is a schematic explanatory drawing which shows the example controlled in this way. It is a graph which shows the change of the radical generation amount with respect to the applied voltage in two types of discharge electrodes from which a tip diameter differs. Fig. 4 shows another embodiment of the present invention, in which (a) is a schematic overall configuration diagram, and (b) is 70 ° to 95 ° when the tip angle of the tailor cone is less than 70 ° and more than 95 °. It is a schematic explanatory drawing which shows the example controlled to become .

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 High voltage application part 2 Discharge electrode 3 Counter electrode 4 Liquid supply means 5 Detection means 6 Tailor cone tip angle control means W Liquid

Claims (1)

A high voltage application unit, a discharge electrode to which a high voltage generated by the high voltage application unit is applied, a counter electrode facing the discharge electrode at a certain distance, and a liquid to be atomized are supplied to the discharge electrode comprising a liquid supply means, and a detection means which detects the holding state of the liquid held in the discharge electrodes by detecting a current flowing between the discharge electrodes and the counter electrode face each other with the predetermined distance, the The liquid supply means is constituted by a Peltier unit, and the discharge electrode is connected to the cooling part side of the Peltier unit and the discharge electrode is cooled to supply moisture in the air to the discharge electrode as condensed water. Tailor cone tip angle control means for controlling the tip angle of the tailor cone of the liquid held by the discharge electrode when a high voltage is applied to 70 to 95 ° is provided, The angle control means controls the supply amount of the liquid to be atomized supplied to the discharge electrode by controlling the energization amount to the Peltier unit based on the information on the liquid holding state obtained by the detection means. There is an electrostatic atomizing device.