JPH07248131A - Device and method for purifying air - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain an air-purifier which ensures detection of residual ozone in the air and proper control of the ozone concentration after the purification of air so as to create environment which is pleasant and safe with respect to the air quality. CONSTITUTION:The quality of air is judged as regards the level of the quality by comparing the quality of air detected by an air-quality detective means 1 with the quality of air preliminarily specified for a purified condition of air. When the quality of air is judged to be foul, the air is purified by generating ozone by the use of an ozonizer 2 and furthermore the air is treated for purification by decomposing the ozone by the use of an ozone-decomposing-deodorizing means 3. Furthermore, the residual ozone in the air after the purifying treatment is detected by the use of an ozone-detective means 4 and it is judged whether the generation of ozone should be continued or not by comparing the detected concentration of the residual ozone with the preliminarily set permissible concentration of residual ozone. If it is decided that the residual ozone exceeds the permissible concentration, the ozonizer 2 is so controlled as to stop the generation of ozone.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an air purifying apparatus and an air purifying method used for the purpose of maintaining and improving the comfort of a living environment.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In order to purify air by coping with deterioration of air quality in a living environment, that is, increase in bad odor and generation of harmful gas derived from various sources such as human body, various air purification devices have been used. It has been devised and developed. Above all, the purification of air using ozone has been actively performed these days.

[0003]

By the way, in the air purification treatment using ozone, an excessive amount of ozone may be used in order to enhance the effect of deodorization and sterilization, and unreacted unreacted substances which cannot be decomposed completely. Excessive ozone may leak and give off an odor of ozone, or at times cause a health problem.

In view of the problems of the conventional air purification treatment, the present invention aims to provide an air purification apparatus and a method thereof capable of creating a comfortable and safe air quality environment after ozone decomposing and deodorizing treatment. It is what

[0005]

The present invention is directed to an air quality detecting means for detecting the quality of air, an ozone generating means for generating ozone based on the detected air quality, and an ozone for decomposing and deodorizing ozone. The air purification device is provided with a decomposition deodorizing means and an ozone detecting means for detecting ozone, and the ozone generating means is an air purifying device controlled based on the detected ozone.

[0006]

In the present invention, the detected air quality is compared with the air quality corresponding to the preset clean state to determine the air quality level, and when it is determined that the air quality is deteriorated, the ozone is depleted. Generates and decomposes ozone, and at the same time purifies the air.Furthermore, after detecting the residual ozone in the air after the above-mentioned purifying air, the concentration of the detected residual ozone and the preset allowable ozone A method for air purification, characterized by comparing the concentration with ozone to determine whether or not to continue ozone generation, and stopping ozone generation when it is determined that the allowable concentration is exceeded.

In this way, the presence of residual ozone contained in the air after ozone decomposing and deodorizing treatment is detected quickly and reliably, and if it is determined that the residual ozone concentration exceeds the allowable ozone concentration, the ozone is immediately removed. Since the occurrence is stopped, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of a situation that poses a health problem.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of the main constituent parts of an air purifying apparatus according to the present invention. Reference numeral 1 is air quality detection means for detecting air quality, 2 is ozone generation means for generating ozone, 3 is ozone decomposition deodorization means for decomposing and deodorizing ozone, and 4 is ozone detection for detecting ozone. Means 5 are air flow passages. Arrows indicate the air flow direction. Air is introduced by, for example, a fan (not shown) incorporated in the air purifying device. The introduced air passes through the ozone decomposing / deodorizing means 3 and is then discharged into the environment again.

The air quality detecting means 1 has a gas sensor as a main constituent element, detects a malodorous gas, a harmful gas and the like existing in the living environment, and judges the air quality level based on the concentration of the detected gas. It has a function of outputting a signal for controlling the ozone generating means 2 based on the above. In the present embodiment, a thick film type sensor having tin oxide as a main component and having sensitivity to plural kinds of gases such as hydrocarbons and sulfur compounds is used, and the gas sensor is provided in the flow passage 5 of the air to be purified. It was decided to install and detect the air quality.
Further, the air quality detecting means 1 is provided with a memory that stores the output value (reference value) of the gas sensor in the clean state in advance. Further, a comparison means for comparing the output value of the gas sensor which is detected and input and the reference value is also provided,
It is possible to judge the air quality and output a control signal accordingly. The sensor used in the air quality detecting means of the present invention is not limited to the above sensor,
A sensor made of another material or a sensor based on another principle may be used.

When the air quality detecting means 1 determines that the air quality is deteriorated, the ozone generating means 2 generates ozone of a predetermined concentration based on the control signal output from the air quality detecting means 1. It has the function of In this example, a surface discharge type ozone generating electrode in which an induction electrode and a discharge electrode were formed on an alumina substrate was used as the ozone generating means 2. The ozone generation means 2 also stops the generation of ozone based on a control signal output from the ozone detection means 4 when the ozone detection means 4 described later determines that the concentration of residual ozone exceeds the allowable concentration. It also has a function to do.

The ozone decomposing / deodorizing means 3 has a catalyst as a main component and has a function of decomposing and activating ozone by the catalyst and a deodorizing reaction function. It has a function of deodorizing by rich radical oxygen. On the other hand, since the catalyst also serves as an adsorbent for trace gas components, it also has a function of maintaining the air quality at a predetermined level without using ozone when the air quality is at a clean level and ozone is not generated. It is possible to demonstrate. In this embodiment,
As the ozone decomposing / deodorizing means 3, an ozone decomposing / deodorizing catalyst containing manganese oxide as a main component was used.

The ozone detecting means 4 has an ozone sensor as a main constituent element, and produces ozone by comparing the ozone detecting function with the detected residual ozone concentration and a preset allowable concentration of the residual ozone. Each unit is provided with a function of determining whether or not the continuation is possible and outputting an ozone stop signal when it is determined that the allowable concentration is exceeded. In this embodiment, a thin film type ozone sensor containing indium oxide as a main component is used, and the sensor is installed in the air flow passage 5 on the downstream side of the ozone decomposing / deodorizing means 3 as shown in FIG. A method for detecting ozone remaining in the air was used. In addition, as the ozone detecting means of the present invention,
The present invention is not limited to this embodiment, and a sensor made of another material or a sensor based on another principle may be used.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing the operation of the air purification apparatus of this embodiment. The basic operation of the air purifier will be described with reference to the flow chart.

First, when the air in the environment is introduced into the air purifying device, the gas sensor detects the air quality (step 1).
1). Next, the output of the gas sensor and the output (reference value) of the gas sensor corresponding to the preset and stored clean state are compared and calculated (step 12), and it is determined whether the air quality is clean or not based on the result (step 12). Step 1
3). If it is determined to be clean (YES), the ozone generation signal is not output and the air quality detection, calculation, and determination are continued.

When it is judged that the air quality is deteriorated (NO), the air quality detection means 1 outputs a control signal for ozone generation (step 14), and the ozone generation means 2 outputs ozone of a predetermined concentration. Occurs (step 15).

The generated ozone reaches the ozone decomposing / deodorizing means 3 together with the air, and the adsorbed gas is oxidatively decomposed mainly by the action of the catalyst to purify the air (step 16).

Next, the ozone sensor detects the ozone remaining in the purified air (step 17), and compares the remaining ozone concentration with the preset and stored allowable ozone concentration (step 18). , It is determined whether the concentration is below the allowable concentration (step 19). If it is determined that the concentration is below the allowable concentration (YES), the process returns to step 11 while continuing the generation of ozone, and the same operation is repeated.

On the other hand, when it is determined that the concentration exceeds the permissible concentration (NO), the ozone generation stop signal is immediately output to the ozone generating means 2 (step 20), and the ozone generation is stopped (step 21). Thereafter, the process returns to step 11 and the same operation is repeated.

Next, in order to confirm the effect of the present invention, the result of operating the air purification apparatus of the embodiment in the conference room will be described. The volume of the conference room was (6 × 3 × 2.5 =) 45 m ³ , five men and women had a one-hour conference, and the air purifier was operated immediately after the conference. The meeting room was mixed with odors such as cigarette odors, cosmetic odors, building material / furniture odors, etc., and there was a total of about 3 ppm of various hydrocarbons, sulfur compounds and nitrogen compounds, which are thought to be the cause of the deterioration of air quality . The operating time of the air purifier is 1 hour, the generated ozone concentration is 0.3 ppm, and the allowable concentration of residual ozone is 0.05.
It was defined as ppm. About 15 minutes after the start of operation, the air quality was improved to about 1/2 of the initial level as evaluated by odor sensation, and after 45 minutes, the odor was improved to a level where odor was hardly noticed. About 30 minutes after the start of operation, the concentration of residual ozone sometimes exceeded 0.05 ppm three times in some cases, but it was confirmed that the ozone generation surely stopped each time.
Other than this, the concentration of residual ozone was in the range of 0.01 to 0.03 ppm throughout the operation period.

Although the respective embodiments have been described above, the mode of use of the gas sensor for air quality detection is not limited to the embodiments, and a specific gas component existing in the environment is selected depending on the target air quality environment. It is also possible to use a gas sensor that selectively detects the gas. Further, the number is not limited to one, and a plurality of sensors can be used according to the type of gas component. Further, the configuration of the main part of the air purification device is not limited to the embodiment, and the air quality detection, the air purification process, and the ozone detection are configured to function most effectively according to the use environment and use conditions. be able to.

Further, in the embodiment, the case has been described in which the threshold level for air quality determination is constant and the ozone concentration generated is also constant, but the air quality level is divided into finer steps to generate the ozone concentration. It is also possible to set the concentration according to the air quality level.

Further, it is effective to use a method of periodically generating and stopping ozone instead of continuously generating it. The air purifying function is deteriorated by appropriately setting conditions according to the use environment. You can get the energy saving effect without.

[0024]

As is apparent from the above description,
By using the air purifying apparatus and the air purifying method according to the present invention, it is possible to reliably detect the residual ozone contained in the air after the ozone decomposing and deodorizing treatment and to control the concentration thereof, so that a comfortable and safe air quality environment can be created. it can.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of main components of an air purifying apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a basic operation of the air purifying apparatus according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Air quality detection means 2 Ozone generation means 3 Ozone decomposition deodorization means 4 Ozone detection means

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Nobuyuki Yoshiike 1006 Kadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka Prefecture Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An air quality detecting means for detecting the quality of air, an ozone generating means for generating ozone based on the detected air quality, an ozone decomposing deodorizing means for decomposing and deodorizing ozone, and detecting ozone. And an ozone detecting means for controlling the ozone generating means, wherein the ozone generating means is controlled based on the detected ozone. 2. The air quality detection means comprises a gas detection function by a gas sensor, an air quality determination function for determining air quality based on the gas detection result, and a control signal for controlling ozone generation based on the air quality determination result. The air purification device according to claim 1, having a function of outputting 3. Ozone detection means controls ozone generation based on an ozone detection function of an ozone sensor, an ozone concentration level determination function of determining the detected ozone concentration, and the ozone concentration level determination result. The air purifier according to claim 1, having a function of outputting a control signal. 4. Ozone generating means is interlocked with the air quality detecting means and the ozone detecting means, and generates ozone when the air quality detecting means determines that the air quality is deteriorated, and the ozone generating means The air purification apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the air purification apparatus has a function of stopping the generation of ozone when the detection unit determines that the concentration of residual ozone exceeds the allowable concentration. 5. The level of air quality is determined by comparing the detected air quality with the air quality corresponding to a preset clean state, and ozone is generated when it is determined that the air quality is deteriorated. Performs the ozone decomposing process at the same time as purifying the air, and further detects the residual ozone in the air after the air purifying process, and detects the residual ozone concentration and the preset allowable residual ozone concentration. Is compared to determine whether or not to continue ozone generation, and when it is determined that the allowable concentration is exceeded, ozone generation is stopped.