JPH05284904A - Ethylene elimination unit - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide the subject unit intended to eliminate the ethylene discharged from fruits and vegetables by ozone, designed to raise ethylene elimination rate. CONSTITUTION:The objective unit is equipped with (A) an unit body 1 to make an ambient gas flow through, (B) an ozonizer 8 to feed the unit body 1 with ozone, and (C) an ultraviolet-light irradiator 6 to decompose ozone. The ozone is decomposed into oxygen and oxygen in the nascent state by the ultraviolet- light irradiator 6, thus raising the elimination rate of the ethylene discharged from fruits and vegetables.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ethylene removing unit for removing ethylene discharged from fruits and vegetables having an action of promoting aging and aging.

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional technique for keeping the freshness of fruits and vegetables by removing ethylene which has a aging and aging promoting action discharged from the fruits and vegetables themselves in the storage room, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-21
As shown in No. 6148, the storage room is placed in a gas atmosphere with a low oxygen content to suppress the breathing action of fruits and vegetables, and ozone generated by an ozonizer is introduced to place the storage room under ozone. There is one that prevents aging of fruits and vegetables by removing ethylene by oxidizing ethylene and converting it to ethylene oxide or the like.
However, just by introducing ozone generated by the ozonizer, the removal rate of ethylene by ozone cannot be said to be high,
A means for further increasing the ethylene removal rate has been desired. The present invention seeks to provide an ethylene removal unit capable of solving the above-mentioned problems of the prior art.

An ethylene removing unit according to the present invention comprises a unit main body for passing an environmental gas, an ozone generator for supplying ozone into the unit main body, and an ultraviolet irradiation means for decomposing ozone. It is characterized by having and.

Since the present invention has the above-mentioned structure, the following operation is brought about. That is, ethylene contained in the environmental gas flowing through the unit main body is efficiently oxidized by the nascent oxygen obtained by decomposing the ozone by the ultraviolet rays irradiated by the ozone supplied from the ozone generator. Can be removed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. Reference numeral 1 denotes a unit main body arranged in a storage room 4 for storing fruits and vegetables, and a fan 3 is arranged at an outlet 2 provided at an upper part of the unit main body 1 so that the air in the storage room 4 is unitized. It is adapted to flow in from an inlet 5 provided at a lower portion of a side wall of the main body 1 and flow to the outlet 2. In the unit main body 1, an ultraviolet lamp 6 that mainly irradiates ultraviolet rays having a wavelength of 253.7 nm is installed. In the unit main body 1 on the downstream side of the ultraviolet lamp 6, a metal catalyst such as manganese, iron, cobalt, palladium or an ozone treatment device 7 made of a metal oxide catalyst of these is disposed. In addition, near the inlet 5 of the unit body 1, an introduction pipe 9 is installed to supply ozone generated by an ozone generator 8 provided outside the unit body 1. The ozone generator 8 may be, for example, a silent discharge type ozonizer that generates an ozone by passing an oxygen-containing gas between a pair of electrodes and applying an AC voltage, a creeping discharge type ceramic ozonizer using a ceramic tube, or the like. Things are used. In this embodiment, the fan 3 causes the air in the storage chamber 4 to flow into the unit main body 1 through the inlet 5 and pass therethrough. In this process, ozone is supplied from the ozone generator 8 through the introduction pipe 9 into the air flowing through the unit 1, and this ozone is mainly emitted by the ultraviolet lamp 6 having a wavelength of 253.7 nm. It is decomposed into oxygen and nascent oxygen. Therefore, ethylene contained in the air flowing through the unit 1 is generated by ozone supplied from the ozone generator 8 through the introduction pipe 9 and oxygen in the nascent period generated by irradiation of ultraviolet rays from the ultraviolet lamp 6. It is oxidized and converted to ethylene oxide, acetaldehyde, etc. Excess ozone is decomposed by the ultraviolet rays emitted from the ultraviolet lamp 6 and further decomposed into oxygen by the ozone processor 7. The air from which ozone has been removed is returned to the storage chamber 4 via the outlet 2. Under the conditions that the temperature of the air flowing into the unit body 1 is 10 ° C., the humidity is 90% RH, the ethylene concentration in the air is 1 ppm, and the ozone concentration in the unit body 1 is 10 ppm, the case according to the present embodiment and the ultraviolet lamp The ethylene removal rate was measured as a comparative example in which ozone was supplied from the ozone generator 8 without installing 6, and in the case of the comparative example, 2% was obtained.
On the other hand, in the case of this example, a high value of 42% was obtained.
Here, the ethylene removal rate means the percentage of the ethylene concentration removed by being oxidized by ozone or the like with respect to the ethylene concentration in the air flowing into the unit body 1. Therefore, the effect of removing ethylene according to this example is clear,
This embodiment can effectively maintain the freshness of fruits and vegetables.

According to the ethylene removing apparatus of the present invention, the unit body through which the environmental gas flows, the ozone generator for supplying ozone into the unit body, and the ultraviolet irradiation for decomposing the ozone. Since it is provided with the means, it is possible to efficiently oxidize and remove ethylene in the environmental gas by the ozone supplied from the ozone generator and the ultraviolet irradiation means, and it is effective in maintaining the freshness of fruits and vegetables.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view of an ozone removing unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Unit Main Body 2 Outlet 3 Fan 4 Storage Room 5 Inlet 6 Ultraviolet Lamp 7 Ozonator 8 Ozone Generator 9 Introducing Pipe

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Takuya Kitada No. 1 Takamichi, Iwazuka-cho, Nakamura-ku, Nagoya City Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. Nagoya Research Institute (72) Inventor Yoshitaka Mori 3 Asahi-cho, Nishibiwajima-cho, Nishikasugai-gun, Aichi Prefecture 1-chome, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. Air Conditioning Factory

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A unit main body for flowing environmental gas,
An ethylene removal unit comprising an ozone generator for supplying ozone into the main body of the unit, and an ultraviolet irradiation means for decomposing the ozone.