JPH07313981A - Electrolytic water making apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enhance electrolytic water making efficiency and to suppress the formation of scale to extend the life of an electrode or diaphragm by providing a cation removing device in the vicinity of the inflow port of an electrolytic cell to remove an excessive cation from raw water. CONSTITUTION:When a power supply switch 31 is turned ON, a control unit 30 controls the opening and closing of a solenoid opening and closing valve V1 and a pinch valve V2 to respectively hold the water level and concn. of the dilute salt water in a storage tank 10 to predetermined ranges. At the same time, the control unit 30 controls the driving and stop of an electromotive pump P1 and the cutting-off of the supply of a current to an electrolytic cell 20. In the electrolytic cell 20, an anode 22 and a cathode 23 are arranged in a cell main body 21 in opposed relationship and the cathode and anode chambers R1, R2 respectively receiving the cathode and the anode are demarcated by a diaphragm 24. In this case, a cation removing device 19 is provided in the vicinity of the inflow port of the electrolytic cell 20. By removing an excessive cation from raw water, electrolytic water making efficiency is enhanced and the formation of scale is suppressed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electrolyzed water producing apparatus, and more particularly, it supplies raw water to an electrolyzer divided into a positive electrode chamber containing a positive electrode and a negative electrode chamber containing a negative electrode by a diaphragm. The present invention relates to an electrolyzed water generator configured to perform electrolytic treatment in an electrolyzer to obtain acidic ionized water from an outlet of an anode chamber of the electrolyzer and alkaline ionized water from an outlet of a cathode chamber.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In this type of electrolyzed water producing apparatus, tap water or ground water is used as raw water to be supplied to an electrolyzer for the purpose of reducing the production cost of each electrolyzed ionized water. As disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 115875, a filter for removing residual chlorine in tap water may be provided on the inflow side of the electrolytic cell. Further, instead of the filter or in addition to the filter, a filter for removing relatively large foreign matter such as dust may be provided.

[0003]

In the above-mentioned conventional electrolyzed water generator, Mg ions and Ca mixed in the raw water are used.
It is not possible to remove cations (cations) such as ions and Na ions. By the way, when raw water containing a large amount of cations such as Mg ions, Ca ions, and Na ions is supplied to the electrolytic cell for electrolytic treatment, Mg, Ca, Na, etc. adhere to the surface of the negative electrode in layers in a short time and scale As a result, not only does the current flow rate decrease, but also the ion permeation efficiency decreases by adhering to the diaphragm, so that desired ionized water cannot be obtained. The present invention has been made to address the above-mentioned problems, and an object thereof is to remove cations from raw water supplied to an electrolytic cell.

[0004]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, in the present invention, raw water is supplied to an electrolytic cell divided by a diaphragm into an anode chamber containing a positive electrode and a cathode chamber containing a negative electrode. Is supplied and electrolyzed in an electrolytic cell,
In an electrolyzed water generator configured to obtain acidic ionized water from the outlet of the anode chamber of the electrolytic cell and alkaline ionized water from the outlet of the cathode chamber, a cation for removing cations from raw water in the vicinity of the inlet of the electrolytic cell. An ion removal device was provided.

[0005]

In the electrolyzed water generator according to the present invention, the excess cations, Mg ions, Ca ions and Na ions from the raw water immediately before being supplied to the electrolytic cell are provided by the cation removing device provided near the inlet of the electrolytic cell. Since cations such as ions can be removed, the efficiency of electrolysis is improved and
Since the generation of scale at the negative electrode and the diaphragm is suppressed, the life of the electrode and the diaphragm can be improved. Further, in the case of using dilute salt water containing a predetermined amount of salt as raw water, low-purity and inexpensive normal salt (purity of about 95% and containing a large amount of Mg and Ca salts as impurities) can be used. The running cost can be reduced.

[0006]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an electrolyzed water producing apparatus embodying the present invention, and this electrolyzed water producing apparatus includes a storage tank 10 for storing a required amount of raw water (diluted salt water). Storage tank 10
Includes a water level sensor 11 (which detects an upper limit water level and a lower limit water level) connected to the control device 30 and a salt concentration sensor 12 inside, and a signal from the water level sensor 11 and the salt concentration sensor 12 causes The electromagnetic on-off valve V1 provided in the water (also groundwater) supply pipe 13 is opened and closed, and the pinch valve V2 provided in the concentrated salt water supply pipe 15 connected to the concentrated salt water (saturated saline) storage tank 14 is opened. Is opened and closed to maintain the water level and concentration of the dilute salt water in the storage tank 10 within predetermined ranges.

The storage tank 10 has a connecting pipe 1 which is branched and connected to both inlets 21a and 21b of the electrolytic cell 20.
6 is attached, a constant flow type electric pump P1 whose operation is controlled by a control device 30 is installed in the connecting pipe 16, and a thread winding filter 18 and a cation removing device 19 are also installed in the connecting pipe 16. When the electric pump P1 is driven, the diluted salt water in the storage tank 10 passes through the connecting pipe 16 and is purified by the thread-winding filter 18 (which removes relatively large solid matter) and the cation removing device 19, respectively, and the electrolytic bath 2
It is configured to be supplied to both inlets 21a and 21b of 0. The cation removing device 19 is arranged near the inflow port of the electrolytic cell 20 and removes cations from the raw water. For example, a cation exchange resin is used.

The electrolytic cell 20 includes a pair of inlets 21a, 21a.
tank body 21 having b and a pair of outlets 21c and 21d
A positive electrode 22 and a negative electrode 23, which are arranged to face each other in the tank body 21, and a cathode chamber R1 and an anode chamber R2 which are arranged between the electrodes 22 and 23 and accommodate the electrodes 21 and 23. The cathode chamber R1 is in communication with the inflow port 21a and the outflow port 21c, and the anode chamber R2 is in communication with the inflow port 21b and the outflow port 21d. Further, the outlets 21c and 21d are connected to respective outlet pipes 25 and 26 which lead out alkaline ionized water and acidic ionized water produced by electrolysis, respectively. Omitted) respectively. The electrodes 22 and 23 are connected to the electric wires 27 and 28, respectively.
Connected to the control device 30 via
Is configured to control the energization / interruption of the DC applied voltage. Each storage tank (not shown) is provided with a water level sensor (which detects an upper limit water level and a lower limit water level) and an overflow pipe, like the storage tank 10.

In the control device 30, the power switch 31 is turned on.
At this time, the solenoid valve V1 provided in the tap water supply pipe 13 and the pinch valve V2 provided in the concentrated salt water supply pipe 14 are opened / closed by signals from the water level sensor 11 and the salt concentration sensor 12 to control the diluted salt water in the storage tank 10. With a built-in raw water control circuit that maintains the water level and concentration of
The electric pump P1 is driven / stopped and the electrolyzer 20 is energized by a signal from a water level sensor of each storage tank (not shown).
It has a built-in electrolysis control circuit that controls interruption.

In the present embodiment constructed as described above, when the power switch 31 is turned on, the raw water control circuit of the control device 30 causes the electromagnetic on-off valve V1 and the pinch valve V2.
Is controlled to be opened and closed to maintain the water level and concentration of the dilute salt water in the storage tank 10 within predetermined ranges, and the electrolysis control circuit of the control device 30 drives / stops the electric pump P1 and energizes the electrolysis tank 20. The shutoff is controlled to control the supply of the dilute salt water from the storage tank 10 to the electrolytic cell 20 and the electrolytic generation process in the electrolytic cell 20, and each electrolytically generated ion water (alkaline The water levels of ionized water and acidic ionized water) are maintained within predetermined ranges.

By the way, in this embodiment, the electrolytic cell 2
By the cation removing device 19 provided near the inflow port of 0,
Since excess cations such as Mg ions, Ca ions, and Na ions can be removed from the raw water immediately before being supplied to the electrolytic cell 20, the electrolytic generation efficiency is improved and the scale at the negative electrode 23 and the diaphragm 24 is improved. As a result, the life of the electrode 23 and the diaphragm 24 can be improved. Further, as the salt for making the concentrated salt water to be stored in the concentrated salt water storage tank 14, low-purity and inexpensive ordinary salt (purity is about 95% and contains a lot of Mg and Ca salts as impurities) can be used. The running cost can be reduced.

In the above embodiment, dilute salt water is used for the electrolytic cell 2.
Although the present invention was carried out in an electrolyzed water generator for electrolyzing at 0, the present invention is also applicable to an electrolyzed water generator for electrolyzing raw water (tap water or groundwater itself) without adding salt in the electrolyzer 20. It can be implemented. In this case, the tap water supply pipe 13 and the connection pipe 16 may be directly connected to omit the storage tank 10 and the electric pump P1.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of an electrolyzed water generator according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

13 ... Tap water supply pipe, 16 ... Connection pipe, 19 ... Cation removal device, 20 ... Electrolyzer, 21 ... Tank body, 21a, 21b
Inflow port, 21c, 21d ... Outflow port, 22 ... Positive electrode, 23 ... Minus electrode, 24 ... Diaphragm, R1 ... Cathode chamber,
R2 ... Anode chamber.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Raw water is supplied to an electrolytic cell partitioned by a diaphragm into an anode chamber containing a positive electrode and a cathode chamber containing a negative electrode for electrolytic treatment in the electrolytic cell, and the outlet of the anode chamber of the electrolytic cell. In the electrolyzed water generator configured to obtain alkaline ionized water from the cathode chamber outlet while obtaining acidic ionized water from the cathode chamber, a cation removing device for removing cations from raw water is provided near the inlet of the electrolytic cell. An electrolyzed water generator characterized in that.