JPH08173517A - Air cleaning and sterilizing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To effectively make sterilization, deodorization, and contaminated gas removal by feeding the contaminated air into an ozone process area, a bacteria-capturing filter with high performance and an ozone catalyst reaction area in sequence to sterilize with ozone, capture the bacteria component, and decompose excess ozone, and monitoring the discharge of excess ozone. CONSTITUTION: Contaminated air is introduced from the opening section 4 of a hollow casing 2, the ozone generated by a ceramic ozone generator 1 is fed, and a bacteria film is destroyed by ozone. The contaminated air is fed to a minus ion generating electrode 6, then it is fed to a bacteria capturing high-performance filter 7 containing a sterilizing component. Bacteria are sterilized, captured, and removed. The air is fed to an ozone decomposing honeycomb layer 8 and an acid gas adsorbing honeycomb layer 9, the excess ozone is decomposed, and the acid gas is removed. The air is discharged from an opening 5 while the excess ozone is monitored by an ozone sensor 11 at a discharge port.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a device for removing bacteria and odors existing in a living space and pollutant gas in the air.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a device for sterilizing a living space and removing a bad odor, ozone is generated and deodorized by the oxidizing action of the ozone, and sterilization is performed by the destruction of bacterial cell membranes of pathogenic bacteria and viruses by the ozone. You can

[0003]

When performing sterilization and deodorization using ozone, since it is carried out in a very small space and with very short contact time, a high concentration is required for complete sterilization and deodorization. It requires a large amount of ozone.
However, due consideration is not given to the emission of surplus ozone after the target sterilization and deodorization, the safety is inferior, and nitrogen dioxide or sulfur dioxide produced as a by-product during ozone generation or deodorization However, there is a problem that the acid gas is not sufficiently removed.

Further, in the air filter system,
The air to be treated is passed through a filter to capture microbes along with dust and blows clean air, but when the maintenance of the filter is incomplete because the bacteria trapped on the filter grow in long-term operation. , There is a risk of sending air containing bacteria into the room. The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus capable of effectively sterilizing and deodorizing and further removing polluted gas in the air.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, an ozone-containing gas supply unit and a sterilizing and trapping agent containing a sterilizing component are provided between an indoor air inlet at one end and an outlet at the other end. Air is introduced into a device equipped with a high-performance filter, a catalytic reaction zone that decomposes excess ozone, a fan for blowing air, and an ozone sensor that monitors the emission of excess ozone, and the bacteria contained in this are sterilized as components. It is captured by the applied high-performance filter, the ozone generated in the upstream part is exposed to the captured bacteria to destroy the cell membrane, and sterilized by the combination of the bactericidal agent and the bactericidal power of ozone. In addition, the malodorous components drawn in at the same time are oxidized and decomposed by ozone.

Excess ozone after sterilization and oxidative decomposition of malodor is guided to an ozone decomposition catalyst installed downstream of this and decomposed into oxygen gas. When the ozone concentration for sterilization is increased, the sterilization efficiency is increased, but the life of the ozone generator is shortened, and the surplus ozone concentration is also increased, so that the life of the ozone decomposition catalyst is shortened. Therefore, it is desirable to operate the device stably for a long period of time without excessive exposure to ozone, but low concentration ozone cannot completely sterilize the bacteria trapped on the filter.

[0007] Conventionally, there is a method of removing bacteria in indoor air by using a high-performance filter capable of capturing all bacteria, but here, bacteria grow on the filter, and depending on how they are handled, it may cause safety and health problems. Dangerous.
Further, there is a filter coated with a bactericide, but it was not perfect in any case.

As a result of intensive studies, the inventors of the present invention have conducted a comparatively low concentration of 0.1 to 20 ppm, preferably 1 to 10 ppm of ozone and a metal powder such as silver and copper as a bactericide and / or zeolite, alumina, The inventors have found that complete sterilization can be performed by combining a high performance membrane filter in which silica or other clay mineral is coated with a material supporting these metals, and the present invention has been completed.

Prior to the generation of ozone, slightly large solid matter such as hair and cotton dust in the gas may be removed in advance by passing it through a dust filter such as a coarse filter. When the discharge method is used, it is desirable that the air is previously treated with an acid-supporting adsorbent and then supplied to the ozone generator. In this case, basic components such as ammonia and amine in the air can be selectively removed,
Deposition of nitrates and nitrites on the surface of the ozone generator can be prevented, and ozone generation efficiency can be stabilized.
Acid-supporting adsorbents for this purpose include sulfuric acid, phosphoric acid, oxalic acid,
Alternatively, with citric acid, the carrier is selected from activated carbon, diatomaceous earth, activated clay or other clay minerals.

As the ozone decomposition catalyst, various catalysts capable of efficiently decomposing unreacted surplus ozone present in the air into oxygen and rendering it harmless can be used. As such a catalyst,
For example, iron, copper, silver, manganese, cobalt, vanadium,
Oxides such as chromium and these, activated carbon, alumina,
Examples thereof include those supported on a carrier such as silica, zeolite, titania, zirconia, and magnesia. These catalysts can be used alone or as a mixture of two or more kinds,
The form is not particularly limited, and it is preferable that the pressure loss is small and the gas flow is uniform, and the honeycomb form is particularly recommended.

When ozone is generated, the amount of introduced air is set so that the concentration of ozone is 0.1 to 20 ppm, preferably 1 to 10 ppm, and ozone is continuously generated. Since the surface is always in an oxidized state and the life of the catalyst is shortened, it is desirable to intermittently generate ozone and put a reduction period.When the ozone generation is stopped, the air flow rate is set to ozone to promote the activation of the catalyst. It is desirable to set the same amount as that at the time of occurrence to 5 times. Furthermore, the interval between ozone generation and stop is 3.5 minutes for the generation period,
It is desirable to operate as a stop period of 3.5 to 5 minutes.

Acidic gas adsorbents used in the apparatus of the present invention include sulfur oxides (SOx) and nitrogen oxides (NOx).
) Is efficiently adsorbed to produce clean air. As such an adsorbent, for example, a carrier capable of adsorbing an alkaline compound such as potassium hydroxide, potassium carbonate, sodium carbonate, sodium hydrogen carbonate, calcium hydroxide, calcium carbonate, such as activated carbon, silica, alumina, allophane, It is supported on sepiolite and other clay minerals. Furthermore, calcium sulfate (gypsum) may be used for the purpose of facilitating the molding process in order to adjust the form of the adsorbent. Since these adsorbents are located downstream of the ozone decomposing catalyst, it is desirable to further decompose the ozone in the acid gas adsorbing part if ozone cannot be completely decomposed in the upper ozone decomposing part. Used as the most preferred carrier for acid gas adsorbents because it has a favorable ozone decomposing ability,
The content is preferably 30% or more. In addition, it is recommended that the form be a honeycomb like the ozone decomposing catalyst. Further, in addition to these solid adsorbents, in the case of a large apparatus, an aqueous solution of sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide, calcium hydroxide or the like can be used.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The sterilization and deodorization apparatus of the present invention will be described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic vertical sectional view showing an embodiment of an ozone sterilization / deodorization device that constitutes the device of the present invention. The ozone sterilization / deodorization device is a flow path 3 formed by an opening 4 at one end of the hollow casing 2 and an opening 5 at the other end, and a ceramic as an ozone-containing gas supply unit sequentially arranged in the flow path 3. Ozone generator 1, negative ion generating electrode 6, high-performance filter 7 for capturing bacteria containing a sterilizing component, honeycomb layer 8 for ozone decomposition as a catalytic reaction area for decomposing excess ozone, and acid gas purification area It comprises an acid gas adsorbing honeycomb layer 9, an exhaust fan 10 directly connected to a motor, and an ozone sensor 11 installed at an exhaust port. In addition,
The opening 4 is provided with a pre-filter 12 for capturing relatively large dust and a tubular duct in front of the ozone generator, and an acid-supporting adsorbent honeycomb layer as an acid-supporting adsorbent for pre-treating gas therein. 13 is installed and all of them are controlled by the device control circuit 14.

[Sterilization Test] The above-mentioned apparatus of the present invention was placed in a transparent acrylic box having an internal volume of 1 m ³ , and water in which live bacterium of mesitillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus was suspended was treated with an ultrasonic humidifier. At the same time as spraying into the acrylic box, the device of the invention described above was run, after 30 minutes the spraying was stopped and the air purifier was run for another 30 minutes. After the air purifying sterilizer of the present invention was operated for 1 hour as described above, the filter was taken out, washed with 200 ml of sterile phosphate buffer, and the number of viable bacteria captured on the filter was counted from the number of colonies in the culture solution. The test was performed under the following four conditions. (1) Operates without generating ozone and without applying antibacterial coating to the filter. (2) Operates without generating antibacterial coating on the filter by generating ozone. (3) Operates with antibacterial coating on the filter without generating ozone. (4) Generate ozone and operate with antibacterial coating on the filter. Here, ozone generation was ON for 3.5 minutes, intermittent operation was performed for 3.5 minutes and 0FF, and the air volume at the time of generation was 250 l / min, the ozone concentration was 5 ppm, and the air volume at the time of stop was 500 l / min. As the antibacterial coat, Aspak 916 (silver content 400 ppm / cm ² ) was used.

[Table 1] From the above results, it has been found that complete sterilization cannot be achieved only by generating ozone or only by coating the silver on the filter, and complete sterilization can be achieved only by combining ozone generation and silver coating.

[Measurement of Ozone Concentration at Discharge Port] In the air purification sterilizer of the present invention described above, ozone generation is turned on for 3.5 minutes,
The air flow rate when ozone is generated is 250 l / min and the ozone concentration is 5 ppm, and the air flow rate when stopped is 500 l / min, and the ozone concentration at the exhaust port at this time is shown in Table 2 It was shown to.

[Table 2]

[Measurement of Acid Gas Concentration at Discharge Port] Fresh 2
A space made of a transparent vinyl sheet of m, width 4 m, and height 1.8 m is filled with 100 ppb of nitrogen dioxide (NO ₂ ) and 80 ppb of sulfur dioxide (SO ₂ ), and the air purification sterilization of the present invention is performed in this space. The device is operated under the same conditions as the measurement of the ozone concentration at the outlet, and NO ₂ and SO at this time are measured.
_Two concentrations were measured and shown in Table 3.

[Table 3]

[0016]

As described above, according to the device of the present invention, it is possible to provide a device capable of effectively sterilizing and deodorizing the living space and removing polluted gas.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic vertical sectional view of an embodiment of the device of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Ozone generator 2 Hollow casing 3 Flow path 4 Opening 5 Opening 6 Negative ion generating electrode 7 High-performance filter for capturing bacteria 8 Ozone decomposing honeycomb layer 9 Acidic gas adsorbing honeycomb layer 10 Exhaust fan 11 Ozone sensor 12 Prefilter

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Tsutoya Fujii 2-3-11 Chugoku, Ichikawa, Chiba

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. An ozone-containing gas supply part, a high-performance filter for sterilization and trapping containing a bactericidal component, a catalytic reaction region for decomposing excess ozone, between an indoor air inlet on one end and an outlet on the other end. An air purification sterilizer having an air blowing fan and an ozone sensor for monitoring ozone in exhaust air. 2. The air cleaning and sterilizing apparatus according to claim 1, which generates 0.1 to 20 ppm, preferably 1 to 10 ppm of ozone. 3. The air purification sterilizer according to claim 1, wherein a ceramic ozone generator is used in the ozone-containing gas supply unit. 4. The acid-carrying adsorbent which removes ammonia and amines before the ozone generator and prevents the ozone generator from depositing nitrates or nitrites.
The air purification sterilizer described. 5. The air cleaning and sterilizing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an electrode for generating negative ions is provided between the ozone-containing gas supply section and the high-performance bacteria-trapping filter. 6. The air purifying sterilizer according to claim 1, wherein an acidic gas purifying region for adsorbing and removing an acidic gas such as nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide is provided downstream of the catalytic reaction region for decomposing excess ozone. 7. The air-cleaning sterilization according to claim 1, wherein the material to be applied to the high-performance filter for sterilization and capture is selected from metal powder such as silver and copper, or those obtained by supporting these metals on zeolite or alumina. apparatus. 8. The catalyst used in the catalytic reaction zone for decomposing excess ozone is an oxide of iron, copper, silver, manganese, cobalt, vanadium, chromium or the like and activated carbon, silica, alumina, zeolite or titania of these. The air purification sterilizer according to claim 1, which is selected from the group consisting of a single catalyst supported on a carrier such as zirconia and magnesia or a mixed catalyst of two or more kinds. 9. The adsorbent used in the acidic gas purification area includes potassium carbonate, sodium carbonate, sodium hydrogen carbonate, calcium hydroxide, calcium carbonate,
A carrier having an adsorptive ability of an alkaline compound such as activated carbon, silica, alumina, allophane, sepiolite, cordierite, a solid adsorbent supported on other clay minerals, or sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide, potassium carbonate, The air purification sterilizer according to claim 6, which is selected from aqueous solutions of calcium hydroxide and the like.