JPH08318267A - Liquid purifying and sterilizing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a liquid purifying and sterilizing apparatus capable of reducing the clogging in a filter medium and reducing the replacing frequency of the filter medium. CONSTITUTION: Bathing water stored in a bathtub is pumped up by a circulating pump to be allowed to flow in a photocatalyst 18 and irradiated with the light from a lamp 22 in the photocatalyst 18 to be sterilized and subsequently purified by a filter medium to be returned to the bathtub.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a domestic or commercial liquid purifying / sterilizing apparatus for purifying and sterilizing water in a pool or a bath.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in a pool or bath tub, if the water or hot water used is changed each time it is used, unpleasant odors and stains,
It is preferable because it can be used in a clean state without sliminess, but there is a problem in that the cost becomes high.

To address the problem, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-6
In the water sterilization and purification device described in Japanese Patent No. 8190,
By combining the photocatalyst and the purifying material, the photocatalyst sterilizes various bacteria in the running water, and the organic stains accumulated in the purifying material are decomposed to obtain clean water free from organic contamination and bacterial contamination. It was obtained without maintenance. This water sterilization purification device is 1 ~ 200μm
It is configured by including a filtration filter carrying a photocatalyst having a pore size of 1 and an ultraviolet light source. The water sterilizing and purifying device arranges these components so that water flows from the filtration filter in the direction of the light source, and collects organic contaminants such as particles dispersed in water and floating scales by the filtration filter. By filtering and sterilizing various bacteria by a photocatalyst irradiated with ultraviolet rays and decomposing organic substances attached to the filter, clean water without turbidity or odor was produced.

[0004]

However, in the conventional water sterilizing and purifying apparatus, although the sterilization of various bacteria by the photocatalyst irradiated with ultraviolet rays is relatively well realized, the photochemical reaction effect of the photocatalyst is It is mainly exerted on the outlet side of the installed filtration filter. At the water inflow side to the filter on the opposite side, ultraviolet rays from the light source do not reach, so not only solid substances that are dispersed in water but also organic pollutants such as scales accumulate, and There was a problem that the filter was clogged relatively early.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a liquid purifying / sterilizing apparatus capable of reducing the clogging of the filter medium and reducing the frequency of replacement of the filter medium. To aim.

[0006]

In order to achieve this object, a liquid purifying and sterilizing apparatus of the present invention uses a circulation pump to pump up a liquid stored in a storage means, and the pumped liquid is filtered by a filter medium and a light source. A liquid purifying and sterilizing device for purifying and sterilizing by passing it through a photocatalyst that receives the sterilizing power, and then returning the purified and sterilized liquid to the storage means, wherein the photocatalyst with respect to the filtering material. Is located upstream.

Further, the photocatalyst is arranged around the light source, the filtering material is arranged around the photocatalyst, the pumped liquid is caused to flow into the photocatalyst, and then the filtering material is passed through the filtering material. You may make it flow out to a storage means.

Further, it is desirable that the photocatalyst is applied to a net-like base material having a large contact area with the liquid and allowing the liquid to easily pass therethrough.

Further, the filter material may be formed in a cylindrical shape, and the photocatalyst may be supported on the inner peripheral surface thereof.

[0010]

In the liquid purifying and sterilizing apparatus of the present invention having the above-mentioned structure, the liquid stored in the storage means is pumped by the circulation pump, the pumped liquid flows into the photocatalyst, and the light of the light source is received by the photocatalyst. After being sterilized by the filter medium, it is clarified by the filter medium and returned to the storage means.

Further, since the liquid is sterilized by the photocatalyst arranged around the light source and then purified by the filter medium arranged around the photocatalyst, the photocatalyst and the filter medium can be housed at the same time, It can be miniaturized.

Further, since the photocatalyst is applied to a net-like base material having a wide contact area with the liquid and allowing the liquid to easily pass therethrough, the organic substance contained in the liquid in the sterilization tank is used. The utilization efficiency of the photocatalyst for oxidative decomposition, sterilization of miscellaneous bacteria, decomposition of organic harmful substances, etc. can be improved, and the flow path resistance can be reduced.

Further, the liquid is caused to flow into the cylindrical filter medium, and the photocatalyst carried on the cylindrical inner peripheral surface decomposes the organic harmful substances and the like adsorbed on the filter medium. .

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment in which the liquid purification / sterilization apparatus of the present invention is embodied in a circulation purification apparatus 10 used in a bath will be described below with reference to the drawings.

First, the circulation purification device 10 of the present embodiment.
The configuration will be described with reference to FIG.

The circulation purification device 10 of this embodiment is for purifying and sterilizing the contaminated water inside the bath 28 as a storage means, and is provided with the liquid purification sterilization device 1. In the liquid purification / sterilization apparatus 1, the inlet pipe 5 is connected to the suction port 32, and the discharge pipe 6 is connected to the discharge port 34. The upstream end of the inlet pipe 5 has a suction port 7 provided in the bath 28.
It is connected to the. In addition, in the middle of the inlet pipe 5,
A circulation pump 30 for pumping the bath water stored in the bath 28 into the circulation purification device 10 is provided.
On the other hand, the downstream end of the discharge pipe 6 is connected to the outlet 8 provided in the bath 28.

Next, the structure of the liquid purifying / sterilizing apparatus 1 which is the main part of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

The liquid purifying / sterilizing apparatus 1 is composed of a case 12 and a lid 14 which are substantially cylindrical, and the opening of the case 12 is closed by the lid 14. Inside the case 12, a lamp 22 as a light source is arranged at a central axis position thereof, a cylindrical photocatalyst 18 is arranged on an outer peripheral portion thereof, and a cylindrical filter medium 16 is provided so as to surround the photocatalyst 18. Is provided.

The lamp 22 extends in the axial direction, and the outer peripheral portion thereof is covered with a transparent container 20 having a cylindrical shape with a bottom. The lamp 22 has a structure in which a lamp base 24 is screwed and fixed to the upper surface of the case 12 so that the lamp 22 is inserted into the case 12 through a central opening of the upper surface of the case 12. In this case, the lamp base 24 is fixed by sandwiching the translucent container 20 that contacts the circular side surface of the case 12 via an O-ring 26 with the circular upper surface of the case 12. A watertight state is maintained between the case 12 and the translucent container 20. That is, the lamp 22 housed in the translucent container 20 is isolated from the bath water flowing in the liquid purification / sterilization apparatus 1 by the translucent container 20, and the light emitted from the lamp 22 is The photocatalyst 18 is irradiated with the light through the translucent container 20.

The lamp 22 has a main emission wavelength of 1
A medium pressure lamp having 85 nm, 254 nm and 365 nm is used, but in addition to this, the main emission wavelength is 254 nm.
Low-pressure lamps with a main emission wavelength of 185 nm or 25
It may be a low pressure ozone lamp having a wavelength of 4 nm. That is, any light source having an emission wavelength capable of exciting the photocatalyst used may be used, such as filament lamps such as incandescent lamps, high-intensity discharge lamps such as mercury lamps and xenon lamps, fluorescent lamps, black lights, fluorescent lamps such as germicidal lamps, etc. Artificial light sources and natural light sources such as sunlight can be used. Further, a configuration in which these are combined may be used.

The transparent container 20 is, for example, a quartz tube,
It is made of resin and has a hollow interior.

The photocatalyst 18 is constructed by coating quartz glass or hard glass on a net-like carrier having a wide contact area with the bath water and allowing the bath water to easily pass therethrough and having a small pressure loss, and forming a catalyst layer on it. Has been done. As the carrier, a resin such as metal or plastic is used, and as the catalyst layer,
Anatase type titanium oxide (TiO ₂ ) is mainly applied.

The carrier for forming the catalyst layer of the photocatalyst 18 may have any shape as long as it has a large contact area with the bath water and allows the bath water to easily pass therethrough.
In addition to reticulated metal and resin, granular quartz glass, hard glass, ceramics and the like are preferably used. In addition to the anatase type titanium oxide (TiO ₂ ), the catalyst material may include rutile type and brookite type titanium oxide (TiO ₂ ).
Is also preferably used. Furthermore, in addition to titanium oxide (TiO ₂ ), ferric oxide (Fe ₂ O ₃ ), zinc oxide (ZnO),
Zirconium oxide (ZrO), tungsten oxide (WO
₃ ) Alternatively, a catalyst material in which a small amount of a noble metal such as platinum (Pt), rhodium (Rh), palladium (Pd) or gold (Au) is supported on these materials is also suitably used. Of course, these precious metals and titanium oxide (Ti
O ₂ ) may act as a carrier, and another oxide having a specific particle size of about 1 to 10 nm may be carried thereon.

The filter material 16 is made of polypropylene fiber and has a pore size of 1 to 100 μm.
In addition to the polypropylene fiber, the filter medium 16 may be activated carbon or ore having a filter cleaning action. Alternatively, it may be composed of a porous ceramic in which aerobic bacteria having a biological purifying effect are propagated. In this case, the aerobic bacteria growing on the porous ceramic are prevented from being irradiated with the ultraviolet rays emitted from the lamp 22 installed on the upstream side, and the lamp 22 and the photocatalyst 18 on the upstream side, The filter medium 16 on the downstream side is formed as a separate body,
It is configured to communicate with each other through a flow path. In addition, the photocatalyst 18
When the filter material 16 and the filter material 16 are integrally formed, the lamp 22 and the photocatalyst 18 and the filter material 1 in which microorganisms propagate
It is necessary to have a configuration in which a shield capable of optically separating 6 and 6 is sandwiched between the lamp 22 and the photocatalyst 18 and the filter material 16.

Next, the operation of the circulation purifying apparatus 10 of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

First, when the power is turned on, the bathtub 2
The bath water in 8 is pumped into the liquid sterilizer 1 from the suction port 7 through the inlet pipe 5 from the suction port 7 by the circulation pump 30. The bath water pumped up first
It enters the photocatalyst 18. In this photocatalyst 18, the lamp 2
The ultraviolet rays emitted from 2 produce germicidal power. Therefore, the bacteria in the bath water are sterilized, and the photocatalytic effect of the photocatalyst 18 excited by the ultraviolet rays causes the oxidative decomposition of the organic substances contained in the bath water, the sterilization of the bacteria, and the decomposition of the organic harmful substances. Be done.

After that, the bath water sterilized by the photocatalyst 18 gradually penetrates into the filter medium 16, and in the filter medium 16, the organic pollutants remaining without being decomposed by the photocatalyst 18, dead germs and inorganic substances. Solid particles and the like are filtered.
After that, the sterilized and filtered bath water returns from the discharge port 34 to the inside of the bath 28 through the discharge pipe 6 and the discharge port 8.
As is clear from the above description, the liquid purification and sterilization apparatus according to the present embodiment pumps up the bath water stored in the bathtub 28 by the circulation pump 30, and the pumped bath water flows into the photocatalyst 18, and the photocatalyst 18 The filter 22 is sterilized by receiving the light of the lamp 22, and then is purified by the filter medium 16 and returned to the bath 28, so that the filter medium 16 can be prevented from being clogged and the filter medium 16 can be replaced frequently. Can be reduced.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described in detail above, and within the scope of the invention,
Various changes can be made. For example, in the present embodiment, the photocatalyst 18 is formed by using titanium oxide (TiO ₂ ) on a net-like carrier
As shown in FIG. 3, the filter material 16 is applied so that the inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical filter material 16 approaches the lamp 22.
The width may be increased and the photocatalyst may be supported on the inner peripheral surface thereof. The liquid purification / sterilization unit 40 configured as described above does not store the photocatalyst 18 and the filter medium 16 individually therein, but stores the photocatalyst-carrying filter medium 42 in which the photocatalyst is supported on the filter medium itself. Is configured. The photocatalyst-carrying filter medium 42 is formed of a material such as polypropylene fiber into a cylindrical shape, and serves as a photocatalyst of titanium oxide (TiO 2).
₂ ) is carried. In this case, the side of the photocatalyst-carrying filter 42 on which the bath water flows, that is, the inner peripheral surface corresponds to the photocatalyst 18.

With this structure, the photochemical reaction effect is exerted on the organic pollutants adhering to the side of the photocatalyst-carrying filter medium 42 where the bath water flows in, so that the organic pollutants are decomposed and are appropriately removed. With the ability to purify various bath water,
It is possible to further suppress clogging of the photocatalyst-supporting filter material 42, and correspondingly reduce the frequency of replacement of the photocatalyst-supporting filter material 42. Further, the photocatalyst-carrying filter medium 42 has a structure in which the photocatalyst and the filter medium are integrated, and as shown in the present embodiment, since there is no space occupied by the photocatalyst 18 itself, the liquid purifying and sterilizing apparatus 40 is used. Can be downsized. Alternatively, when the liquid purifying / sterilizing apparatus 40 has the same size as the liquid purifying / sterilizing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, the filter medium itself can be made large, so that the filtering performance of the photocatalyst-carrying filter medium 42 can be improved. It is possible to further reduce the frequency of replacement.

Further, in the present embodiment, the liquid purifying / sterilizing apparatus is used for the bath water stored in the bathtub 28 as the storing means, but it may be constituted so as to purify / sterilize the water in the pool.

[0031]

As is apparent from the above description, the liquid purifying and sterilizing apparatus of the present invention pumps up the liquid stored in the storage means by the circulation pump, and the pumped liquid flows into the photocatalyst, and the photocatalyst thereof. It is sterilized by receiving the light of the light source at, and then purified by the filter medium and returned to the storage means, so that clogging of the filter medium can be suppressed and the frequency of replacement of the filter medium can be reduced. You can

Further, since the liquid is sterilized by the photocatalyst arranged around the light source and is then purified by the filter medium arranged around the photocatalyst, the photocatalyst and the filter medium can be housed at the same time, It can be miniaturized.

Further, since the photocatalyst is applied to a net-like base material having a large contact area with the liquid and through which the liquid easily passes, the organic substance contained in the liquid in the sterilization tank is used. The utilization efficiency of the photocatalyst for oxidative decomposition, sterilization of miscellaneous bacteria, decomposition of organic harmful substances, etc. can be improved, and the flow path resistance can be reduced.

Further, the liquid is caused to flow into the filter material formed in a cylindrical shape, and the photocatalyst carried on the inner peripheral surface of the cylinder decomposes the organic harmful substances and the like adsorbed on the filter material. Therefore, photocatalytic sterilization and decomposition of the organic contaminants that adhere to the side where the liquid flows into the filter medium can be performed to further prevent clogging of the filter medium, and the frequency of replacement of the filter medium is also increased. It is possible to obtain effects such as reduction.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a liquid purifying / sterilizing apparatus of this embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which a circulation purification device in which the liquid purification / sterilization device of this embodiment is applied to a bath is used.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a liquid purifying / sterilizing apparatus using a filter medium carrying a photocatalyst.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Liquid Purifying / Sterilizing Device 12 Case 14 Lid 16 Filtering Material 18 Photocatalyst 20 Translucent Container 22 Lamp 32 Inlet 34 Outlet

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A liquid stored in a storage means is pumped by a circulation pump, and the pumped liquid is passed through an optical catalyst which produces light and has a sterilizing power by receiving light from a filter medium and a light source for purification and sterilization. A liquid purification and sterilization apparatus for returning the purified and sterilized liquid to the storage means, wherein the photocatalyst is arranged on an upstream side with respect to the filter medium. 2. The photocatalyst is arranged around the light source,
2. The filter medium is arranged around the photocatalyst so that the pumped liquid flows into the photocatalyst and then flows out to the storage means through the filter medium. The liquid purification and sterilization apparatus according to. 3. The liquid purifying and sterilizing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the photocatalyst is applied to a mesh-like base material having a large contact area with the liquid and allowing the liquid to easily pass therethrough. 4. The liquid purifying / sterilizing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the filter material is formed in a cylindrical shape, and the photocatalyst is supported on an inner peripheral surface thereof.