KR100725658B1 - Sterilizing system of drinking water using silver electrolysis - Google Patents

Abstract

A drinking water sterilizing system which improves sterilization efficiency by continuously performing silver electrolytic sterilization, properly controls concentration of silver ions by adjusting the amount of electrolysis according to an inflow amount of raw water, and increases current efficiency of the electrolytic reactor by applying a predetermined frequency range to two silver electrodes, thereby preventing oxide films from being formed on surfaces of the silver electrodes is provided. A sterilizing system of drinking water comprises an inflow pump(1), a discharge pump(4), an electrolytic reactor(10), and a control part(20). The electrolytic reactor comprises two silver electrodes(11,12). The control part comprises a current supply part(24) for supplying an electrolytic current to the silver electrodes of the electrolytic reactor, a polarity conversion part(25) connected between the current supply part and the silver electrodes to convert the polarity of the silver electrodes into an anode or a cathode in a predetermined cycle, a pulse generating part(26) connected to the silver electrodes of the electrolytic reactor to prevent a silver oxide film from being adhered to surfaces of the silver electrodes by generating micro-vibration, and a control part(23) for controlling the current supply part, the polarity conversion part and the pulse generating part.

Description

Sterilizing system of drinking water using silver electrolysis

1 is a block diagram of a conventional electrolytic sterilization system of drinking water.

2 is a block diagram of a silver electrolytic sterilization system of drinking water according to the present invention.

3 is a block diagram of a silver electrolytic sterilization system of drinking water according to the present invention.

4a and 4b is a control flow diagram of the silver electrolytic sterilization system of drinking water according to the present invention.

Figure 5 is a block diagram of a silver electrolytic sterilization system of drinking water showing another embodiment according to the present invention.

<Explanation of symbols for main parts of drawing>

1: inflow pump 2: solenoid valve

3: reservoir 4: discharge pump

10: electrolytic reactor 11, 12: silver electrode

20: control unit 21: operation unit

23: control unit 24: current supply unit

25: polarity switching unit 26: pulse generator

33: flow sensor (flow transmitter) 34: flow regulator

The present invention relates to a silver electrolytic sterilization system of drinking water for sterilizing drinking water in water tanks of large apartments, large commercial buildings, drinking water of large feeding facilities, and fresh water of ships using a silver electrolytic reactor. The silver electrolytic sterilization is interrupted by periodically changing the polarity of the anode and cathode by installing a silver electrode on both the anode (+) and the cathode (-) of the electrolytic reactor, and adding a polarity switching unit, a pulse generator, and a flow sensor. While improving the sterilization efficiency by adjusting the amount of electrolyte according to the inflow of raw water, and controlling the appropriate concentration of silver ions, and at the same time applying a frequency of a certain band to the two silver electrodes, A method for silver electrolytic sterilization of drinking water, which is generated to prevent the formation of an oxide film on the surface of the silver electrode, thereby increasing the current efficiency of the electrolytic reactor. will be.

In general, the silver electrolytic sterilization system of drinking water sterilizing water in large tanks, drinking water in large feeding facilities, and vessels using silver electrolytic reactors, as shown in FIG. 3) is provided with an inflow pump (1) to be introduced, the solenoid valve (2) for forming a flow path under the control of the control unit 20 is provided between the inflow pump (1) and the reservoir (3).

The electrolytic reactor 10 is driven by the current supplied from the control unit 20 between the solenoid valve 2 and the storage tank 3 to electrolyze the incoming raw water into silver ionized water and then supply it to the storage tank 3. Is installed, and a discharge pump 4 for discharging drinking water sterilized by silver ions is provided at the rear end of the storage tank 3.

In the general silver electrolytic sterilization system having the above configuration, when the solenoid valve 2 is opened at the same time as the inflow pump 1 is driven by the drive signal of the control unit 20, the raw water to be sterilized is the inflow pump 1. And the solenoid valve (2) is simultaneously introduced into the reservoir (3) and the electrolytic reactor (10).

At this time, the electrolytic reactor 10 is a silver ion is dissolved in raw water by the current supplied from the control unit 20 is made of silver ion water and supplied to the storage tank 3, the silver supplied from the electrolytic reactor 10 Drinking water is produced by sterilizing the raw water introduced into the reservoir 3 by the ionized water.

Typically, the electrolytic reactor 10 uses a silver electrode as the material of the anode, and a stainless electrode as the material of the cathode. When water is electrolyzed at a limit current density or less, hydrogen is reacted at the cathode as shown in the following Reaction (1). Is generated, and silver is dissolved at the anode to produce silver ions.

Cathode ^{reaction: 2H + + 2e - → H} 2 (g)

Anode ^{reaction: Ag → Ag + + e -} ....... formula (1)

However, if the water electrolysis is electrolyzed above the limit current density, an additional reaction such as reaction (2) occurs at the anode to generate oxygen.

Anode ^{_{reaction: 4OH - → 4OH (ad)}} → 2O 2 (ad) → 2O 2 (g) → + 2e - ...... reaction (2)

As shown in Reaction (2), oxygen generation at the anode first generates OH ° radicals on the surface of the anode during electrolysis of water, and the OH ° radicals are adsorbed on the electrode surface in the form of oxygen, and the adsorbed oxygen is in the form of gas. Oxygen is produced at the anode (+) by reacting with oxygen adsorbed during the generation of oxygen and silver ions (monovalent and divalent) dissolved at the anode (-). The film will be formed.

^{_{4Ag + + O 2 (ad)}} + 4e - → 2Ag 2 O

^{2Ag + → 2Ag 2 + + 2e} -

2Ag ^{2 +} + O _{2 ( ad )} → 2AgO ........... Scheme (3)

In other words, when electrolyzing water with low conductivity such as drinking water, the operating condition is an operating condition where oxygen overvoltage may occur. Therefore, if continuous operation is performed without switching polarity, oxygen is generated from the surface of the silver electrode used as the anode. An oxide film is formed.

As such, the oxidation of the silver oxide film formed on the surface of the electrode increases the resistance of the electrolytic reactor 10 and the current efficiency decreases, thereby decreasing the amount of silver ions generated and causing the performance of the silver electrolytic sterilizer to decrease.

In other words, the current efficiency is defined as the percentage of the amount of current required for theoretical generation and the actual amount of current. Therefore, theoretically, silver ions should be dissolved as much as the amount of current applied to the electrolytic reactor 10, but in fact, the current is not consumed only by dissolving silver ions, but the amount of silver ions is reduced when a large amount of current is consumed to generate oxygen. There is a problem that results in a decrease in sterilization power.

The present invention is an inlet pump for introducing the incoming raw water into the reservoir, a discharge pump installed in the rear end of the reservoir to discharge the drinking water introduced into the reservoir, and installed in the rear end of the discharge pump to drink drinking water introduced through the solenoid valve In the silver electrolytic sterilization system of drinking water provided with an electrolytic reactor made of silver ionized water and supplied to the storage tank, the electrolytic reactor and the control unit for controlling the inlet / outlet pump and the solenoid valve, the electrolytic reactor is two silver electrodes The control unit may include a current supply unit supplying an electrolytic current to the silver electrode of the electrolytic reactor, a polarity switching unit connected between the current supply unit and the silver electrode and converting the silver electrode into a positive electrode and a negative electrode at regular intervals; Is connected to the electrode of the electrolytic reactor to prevent the silver oxide film from adhering to the surface A pulse generator for generating micro-vibration for operation, an operation unit for setting operating conditions such as on / off and driving time of the electrolytic reactor, and controlling the current supply unit, pulse generator, and polarity switching unit according to a control command of the operation unit Characterized in that consisting of a control unit.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention focuses on the fact that the ungrown silver oxide film on the positive electrode is redissolved in water by combining with OH ^- ions increased due to hydrogen generation as the polarity is converted to the negative electrode. The silver electrode is installed on both the and cathode (-), and the polarity of the anode and cathode is repeatedly switched at regular cycles to re-dissolve the silver oxide film attached to the anode to restore the electrode state to the original state, thereby continuing the sterilization effect of drinking water. It is a technical subject to make it possible to raise.

In addition, the present invention, by adding a pulse generator for applying a specific pulse to the silver electrode provided in both the positive electrode (+) and the negative electrode (-) by generating a fine vibration on the surface of the silver electrode by this pulse to remove the trace amount that is not removed during polarity conversion Oxidation is a technical task to maximize the current and the electrolytic efficiency of the electrolytic reactor by preventing the film detachment and the life of the electrode is shortened due to concentration polarization and hydrogen embrittlement due to hydrogen generated in the cathode.

In addition, the present invention is to add a flow rate sensor to adjust the amount of electrolyte according to the amount of raw water flowing into the reservoir to adjust the appropriate concentration of silver ions to achieve a smooth sterilization.

Hereinafter, the silver electrolytic sterilization system of drinking water according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 2 to 4b.

2 is a configuration diagram of a silver electrolytic sterilization system for drinking water according to the present invention, and includes an inflow pump 1 for introducing the incoming raw water into the storage tank 3, and the rear end of the storage tank 3 is provided with silver ions. A discharge pump 4 for discharging the sterilized drinking water is installed, and at the rear end of the discharge pump 4, an electrolytic reactor 10 for supplying the inflowed water with silver ionized water and then supplying it to the storage tank 3 is installed. In addition, the inflow pipe of the electrolytic reactor 10 is provided with a flow regulator 34 for adjusting the amount of water flowing in and a solenoid valve 2 for controlling the flow of water.

At the rear end of the inflow pump 1, a flow rate detector (flow transmitter) 33 for outputting an electrical signal proportional to the water pressure of the raw water flowing into the storage tank 3 is installed, and the output end of the flow rate detector 33 The reactor 10, the flow regulator 34, the solenoid valve (2) and the control unit 20 for controlling the inlet / outlet pump (1) (4) is connected, one side of the control unit 20, the inflow of raw water In proportion to the flow rate controller 34 for controlling the amount of water flowing into the electrolytic reactor 10 is connected.

3 is a block diagram of the electrolytic reactor 10 and the control device 20 of the silver electrolytic sterilization system of drinking water according to the present invention, the electrolytic reactor 10 is a storage tank (3) by the current supplied from the control unit 20 It consists of two silver electrodes 11, 12 which electrolyze the drinking water discharged from) into silver ionized water.

The control device 20 includes an electrolytic reactor 10, an operation unit 21 for setting operating conditions such as on, off and driving time of the inflow and discharge pumps 1 and 4, and control of the operation unit 21. Control unit 23 for controlling the electrolytic sterilization system of the present invention in accordance with the command, and a control signal of the control unit 23, that is, a current for supplying a variable current to the electrolytic reactor 10 in accordance with the flow rate of raw water The silver oxide film is attached by applying a fine vibration to the silver electrodes 11 and 12 of the electrolytic reactor 10 by outputting pulses in a band of 8 to 15 kHz by the supply unit 24 and the control signal of the control unit 23. A polarity switch for connecting the pulse generator 26 and the output terminal of the current supply unit 24 to prevent the polarization, and converting the silver electrodes 11 and 12 into positive and negative poles at regular intervals to electrolytically alternately change them. It consists of a section (25).

In addition, a flow sensor 33 for outputting an electrical signal proportional to the water pressure of the raw water flowing through the inflow pump 1 is connected to one input terminal of the control unit 23, the other output terminal of the control unit 23 The solenoid valve 2 for forming a flow path for introducing drinking water into the electrolytic reactor 10, and the flow regulator 34 for controlling the amount of water flowing into the electrolytic reactor 10 is connected.

Here, the operation unit 21 is turned on. Of course, the operation time setting and the various operation indicators of the electrolytic reactor 10 are provided, and such an operation unit 21 is a general general known technology, and its detailed configuration and description will be omitted.

The pulse generator 26 confirmed through a number of experiments that when applying a pulse of the 8 ~ 15KHz band to the silver electrode (11) 12, the optimum frequency range to which the silver oxide film is not attached. The circuit configuration of) is a common known technology that can be configured by combining an oscillator (OSC), an NE555 integrated circuit, and the like, and the current supply unit 24 and the polarity switching unit 25 are also well known technologies. Omit.

In addition, the control unit 23 calculates the inflow of raw water by the signal output from the flow rate sensor 33, calculates the concentration of silver ions according to the calculated value of the current supply unit to generate the silver ions necessary for this ( While controlling the output of the control unit 24, the flow controller 34 is programmed to control the amount of water flowing into the electrolytic reactor 10. Thus, the concentration of silver ions according to the output value of the flow sensor 33 is adjusted. The calculated control values of the current supply unit 24 and the flow regulator 34 are stored in a table as shown in Table 1 below.

(Table 1) Silver ion concentration calculation value according to the inflow amount of raw water, the electric current value supplied to the silver electrode 11 and 12 at that time, and the flow regulation value which flows into the electrolytic reactor 10.

Raw water inflow calculated value (a) (flow rate (m ³ / min))  Silver ion concentration calculated value (silver ion concentration (mg / L)) Output current value (A: Ampere) Flow control value (flow rate (m ³ / min)) L1≤a <L2 K1 A1 P1 L2≤a <L3 K2 A2 P2 L3≤a <L4 K3 A3 P3

4a and 4b is a control flowchart of the silver electrolytic sterilization system of drinking water according to the present invention.

Referring to the operation process of the silver electrolytic sterilization system of drinking water according to the present invention having the configuration as described above in detail with reference to Figures 2 to 4b.

First, when power is supplied to the silver electrolytic sterilization system control unit 20 of drinking water according to the present invention, the controller 23 initializes the system, and then the current supply unit 24, the pulse generator 26, and the polarity switching unit ( 25) are made to be in an operable state, respectively, and are in a waiting state (step 101) for reading information of the operation unit 21.

In this state, when the command to drive the electrolytic reactor 10 through the operation unit 21 is received by the control unit 23 (step 102) to drive the inflow pump 1, the discharge pump 4 and the flow rate The controller 34 and the solenoid valve 2 are opened (step 103) and the pulse generator 26 is controlled to transmit pulses in the 8-15 KHz band to the silver electrodes 11 and 12 of the electrolytic reactor 10. (Step 104).

At the same time, the control unit 23 controls the polarity switching unit 25 to convert the polarities of the silver electrodes 11 and 12, which are the electrolytic reactors 10, to the positive electrode (+) and the negative electrode (−) at regular intervals. In step 105, the flow rate sensor 33 outputs an electrical signal proportional to the water pressure of the raw water flowing into the reservoir 3 by the inflow pump 1 to be transmitted to the control unit 23.

On the other hand, the control unit 23 reads the information of the flow rate sensor 33 at regular intervals when power is supplied to the system (step 106), and is output from the flow rate sensor 33 and flows into the storage tank 3. When it is determined that there is water pressure information (step 107), the inflow amount of raw water sensed by the flow sensor 33 is calculated using the information, and the silver ion concentration calculation value according to the inflow amount is calculated. In this case, the current value supplied to the silver electrodes 11 and 12 and the flow rate adjustment value flowing into the electrolytic reactor 10 are calculated (step 108).

Therefore, the control unit 23 of the control unit 20 determines the inflow rate range of the raw water calculated by the information output from the flow rate sensor 33 (steps 109a to 109c), and then, according to the inflow rate, the electrolytic reactor 10 is operated. Electrolytic reactor 10 by selectively applying the current value of the A1 ~ A3 (step 110a ~ 110c) to deliver the silver, and at the same time by selectively adjusting the flow regulator 34 to the P1 ~ P3 step (step 111a ~ 111c) It is to control the flow rate flowing into the appropriate.

Therefore, when an appropriate current is supplied to the silver electrodes 11 and 12 of the electrolytic reactor 10, the silver is electrolyzed to generate silver ions, and the silver ions are dissolved in the inflowing drinking water and silver ionized water. After the generation, it is supplied to the storage tank 3 again to sterilize the drinking water introduced into the storage tank (3).

Therefore, in the present invention, the silver electrodes 11 and 12 of the electrolytic reactor 10 are electrolytically generated at one of the silver electrodes so that silver ionized water is continuously generated without interruption. The attached oxidation is removed by re-dissolving in drinking water.

In other words, if both electrodes are made of silver, the process of anode and cathode is repeated for either electrode, and the small amount of oxides that are ungrown at the anode under proper polarity cycle conditions are grown at the anode as the polarity is converted to the cathode. The oxide film can no longer grow and is redissolved again in water. At this time, when the polarity is converted from the positive electrode to the negative electrode, the silver oxide is re-dissolved by hydrogen generated at the surface of the silver electrode.

In addition, by applying the pulse of the 8 ~ 15KHz band in the pulse generator 24 to the silver electrodes 11, 12 of the electrolytic reactor 10, a fine vibration is applied to prevent the silver oxide film from being attached to the surface. .

That is, when the electric energy, which is a pulse of 8 to 15 kHz output from the pulse generator 24, is applied to the silver electrodes 11 and 12, an electric shock of minute vibration is applied to the electrode surface. This causes an imbalance in the bonding force of the contaminants attached to the surfaces of the electrodes 11 and 12 so that the adhesion force of the silver oxide is weakened so that the silver oxide film cannot be attached at the source.

As such, when a specific pulse is applied to the silver electrodes 11 and 12 of the electrolytic reactor 10 to generate minute vibrations on the surface of the electrode, the traces of the silver oxides which are not removed during polarity change and the hydrogen generated from the electrode Due to concentration polarization and hydrogen embrittlement, the life of the electrode is prevented from being shortened, thereby maximizing the current and electrolytic efficiency.

The present invention is able to maintain a constant current efficiency as it solves the problem caused by the replacement of the electrode and the oxidation of the film compared to the conventional electrolytic method, it is easy to maintain, continuous operation is possible, stable and continuous sterilization ability In addition, since it is possible to maintain a constant current and constant voltage operation, the power ratio can be significantly lower than the conventional electrolytic method.

In addition, by appropriately controlling the current applied to the electrolytic reactor 10 in proportion to the inflow of raw water and appropriately adjusting the amount of water flowing into the electrolytic reactor 10 in proportion to the inflow of raw water, the silver of the drinking water stored in the storage tank 3 The ion concentration can be properly maintained.

5 is a block diagram of a silver electrolytic sterilization system of drinking water showing another embodiment according to the present invention, the raw water is simultaneously supplied to the storage tank 3 and the electrolytic reactor 10, the silver via the electrolytic reactor 10 The ionized water is supplied to the storage tank 3 again to increase sterilization power.

As described above, the present invention provides a silver electrode on both the positive electrode (+) and the negative electrode (-) of the electrolytic reactor, and by repeatedly switching the polarity of the positive electrode and the negative electrode at a predetermined cycle, the silver oxide film attached to the surface of the negative electrode is returned to the water. It is effective to continuously increase the disinfection effect of drinking water by dissolving and removing the electrode to restore the original state.

In addition, the present invention, by adding a pulse generator for applying a specific pulse to the silver electrode provided in both the positive electrode (+) and the negative electrode (-) by generating a fine vibration on the surface of the silver electrode by this pulse to remove the trace amount that is not removed during polarity conversion Oxidation has the effect of maximizing the current and electrolytic efficiency of the electrolytic reactor by preventing film detachment and preventing shortening of the electrode life due to concentration polarization and hydrogen embrittlement due to hydrogen generated at the cathode.

In addition, the present invention has the effect of smooth sterilization by adding a flow rate sensor to adjust the amount of electrolyte according to the amount of raw water flowing into the reservoir to maintain the appropriate concentration of silver ions.

Claims (2)

An inflow pump 1 for introducing the raw water into the reservoir 3, a discharge pump 4 installed at the rear end of the reservoir 3 to discharge drinking water introduced into the reservoir 3, and the discharge pump ( 4) is installed at the rear end of the electrolytic reactor 10 for supplying the drinking water introduced through the flow regulator 34 and the solenoid valve (2) to the storage tank (3), the electrolytic reactor (10) In the silver electrolytic sterilization system of drinking water provided with a control unit 20 for controlling the inlet and outlet pump (1) (4) and the solenoid valve (2), The electrolytic reactor 10 is composed of two silver electrodes (11, 12), The control unit 20 includes a current supply unit 24 for supplying an electrolytic current to the silver electrodes 11 and 12 of the electrolytic reactor 10, A polarity switching unit 25 connected between the current supply unit 24 and the silver electrodes 11 and 12 to convert the silver electrodes 11 and 12 into positive and negative poles at regular intervals; A pulse generator 26 connected to the electrodes 11 and 12 of the electrolytic reactor 10 to generate micro vibrations to prevent the silver oxide film from adhering to the surface; Silver electrolytic sterilization system of the drinking water, characterized in that consisting of a control unit 23 for controlling the current supply unit 24, the pulse generating unit 26, the polarity switching unit 25. According to claim 1, Between the rear end of the inflow pump 1 and the control unit 23 of the control unit 20 is provided with a flow rate sensor 33 for outputting an electrical signal in proportion to the water pressure of the incoming raw water, Between the inflow side of the electrolytic reactor 10 and the control unit 23 of the control unit 20 flow rate regulator for adjusting the amount of water introduced into the electrolytic reactor 10 in accordance with the water pressure of the water flowing into the reservoir ( Silver electrolytic sterilization system of drinking water, characterized in that 34) is installed.

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