KR101502891B1 - Apparatus and method for collecting airborne particles - Google Patents

Abstract

A cyclone in which an external gas and a collection solution are injected into the internal space to adsorb the fine particles contained in the external gas to the collection solution; A storage unit for storing a collecting solution injected into the cyclone; A collector installed at an upper portion of the cyclone to collect the collection solution membrane flowing along the inner wall of the cyclone; And a recycle pipe for conveying the collected solution collected in the collector to the storage section.

Microorganism, capture, cyclone, adsorption

Description

[0001] APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR COLLECTING AIRBORNE PARTICLES [0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for collecting fine particles, and more particularly, to a cyclone type fine particle collecting apparatus and method for collecting fine particles contained in an external gas by adsorbing the collected fine particles in a collecting solution.

In general, collision, filtration, charging, and condensation are known as a method of collecting fine particles of air (hereinafter referred to as "fine particles").

The method for collecting fine particles by collision is to suck air containing fine particles at a high speed and to collide fine particles by colliding the intake air with a culture plate or the like by an inertial force or a frictional force. However, such a method can not be repeatedly used and has a problem of low viability of microorganisms in the microparticles.

The method of collecting fine particles by filtration is to collect fine particles on the surface of the filter by passing a certain volume of air. However, such a method requires frequent replacement of the filter, and it is impossible to repeatedly use the filter.

The method of collecting fine particles by electrification is to adsorb fine particles on the surface of the filter by electrostatic attraction. However, such a method requires a separate ion charger.

The method for collecting fine particles by condensation is to adsorb air containing fine particles onto atomized particles to condense the fine particles and collect them in a liquid phase. The method of collecting fine particles by the condensation has the advantage that viruses can be collected and various detection methods can be used, but there is a disadvantage that moisture must be provided for adsorption of fine particles.

Conventionally, a lung simulating aerosol sampler that mimics a human lung structure has been disclosed. The aerosol sampler is a device for analyzing fine particles in the air accumulated in a bubbler by sucking outside air with a vacuum pump .

However, the conventional sampler does not collect fine particles contained in the outside air in a liquid phase, but merely measures the fine particles contained in the external gas by collision or filtration. Therefore, since the conventional sampler is not intended to capture fine particles, the collection efficiency is very low.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for collecting microorganisms in a liquid phase according to an embodiment of the present invention by efficiently supplying an external gas and a collecting solution into a cyclone while reusing the collecting solution, And an object of the present invention is to provide a fine particle collecting device capable of efficiently collecting a collection solution and an external gas to increase the collection efficiency of microorganisms and maximize the survival rate of the collected microorganisms while minimizing the use of the collection solution.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cyclone for adsorbing fine particles contained in an outer gas to an adsorbing solution, A storage unit for storing a collecting solution injected into the cyclone; A collector installed at an upper portion of the cyclone to collect the collection solution membrane flowing along the inner wall of the cyclone; And a recycle pipe for conveying the collected solution collected in the collector to the storage unit.

In addition, the cyclone may be composed of a swirl chamber and an adsorption chamber, and the swirl chamber may have a cylindrical shape, and the adsorption chamber may have a conical shape, and a lower portion thereof may be coaxially connected with the upper portion of the chamber .

In addition, the collecting device may further comprise an inlet manifold including two identical cylindrical passages arranged vertically vertically, the inlet manifold having a common conical nozzle from the inlet side.

In addition, the inlet manifold may be tangentially connected to the inner diameter of the vortex chamber.

Further, the passage may be formed in a cylindrical shape having a diameter gradually increasing in the vicinity of the outlet portion.

An opening may be formed in the channel as an ejector nozzle whose diameter changes stepwise. Here, the upper passage may be provided with an air ejector nozzle, and the lower passage may be provided with a solution ejector nozzle.

The storage unit may include a cartridge detachably mounted on the outer wall of the cyclone.

The collector may further include a separator disposed apart from an upper end of the adsorption chamber of the cyclone to block the progress of a collection solution film moving along the inner wall of the adsorption chamber; And a collection tank for collecting the collection solution blocked by the separator.

In addition, the separator may be configured to surround the inner wall surface and the outer wall surface along the upper end of the adsorption chamber.

The recycling pipe may be connected to the bottom surface of the collecting tank and the bottom surface of the collecting tank may be formed with a groove inclined to one side along its circumference to collect the collecting solution at a point connected to the recycling pipe .

Further, a feed connector may be further provided on the cover of the cart geography.

In addition, the upper nipple of the supply connection may be connected to the bottom surface of the collection tank through the recycle pipe.

In addition, the side nipple of the supply connection can be connected to a supply pipe supplying a new collection solution to the cartridge.

Further, a valve for controlling the flow of the collection solution from the external tank containing the new collection solution to the cartridge may be further provided in the supply pipe.

A drain connector having three outlet nipples may be provided on the bottom surface of the cartridge.

A sensor for measuring the level of the collection solution may be connected to the first outlet nipple of the drain connection port.

A sampling pipe for transferring a predetermined amount of the collecting solution to the detector for detecting the content of fine particles in the collection solution may be connected to the second outlet nipple of the drain connection port.

Further, the sampling pipe may further include a valve for controlling the flow of the collection solution delivered to the detector.

A drain pipe for discharging the collecting solution may be connected to the third outlet nipple of the drain connection port.

Further, a valve for controlling the discharge of the collection solution to the discharge tank may further be installed in the drain pipe.

In addition, the fine particles may be microorganisms.

The present invention relates to a method for purifying a cyclone, comprising: supplying an external gas and a stored collection solution to an internal space of a cyclone; Mixing the external gas and the collecting solution by a cyclone to adsorb the fine particles contained in the external gas to the collecting solution; Collecting a collection solution membrane on which the fine particles are adsorbed; And a step of re-mixing and dispersing the collected collection solution with the external gas in an inlet manifold.

The supply of the external gas and the collection solution may be performed by reducing the pressure in the cyclone.

In addition, the method may further include extracting a predetermined amount of the collection solution to detect the content of the fine particles in the collected collection solution.

The method may further include measuring the level and the degree of contamination of the stored collection solution.

Hereinafter, a fine particle collecting apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a front view of a microparticle collecting apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a microparticle collecting apparatus cut along a line I-I in FIG. 1, FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the fine particle collecting device cut along the line II-II in FIG. 3; FIG.

1, the apparatus for collecting fine particles 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a cyclone 10 into which an external gas flows through an inflow manifold 16, a cyclone 10 installed at one side of the cyclone 10, And a collector 30 mounted on the top of the cyclone 10 to collect and recycle the collection solution film moving in the cyclone 10. The collector 20 is a reservoir for supplying the collection solution into the cyclone 10,

A recirculation pipe 40 is connected between the supply connection port 26 of the cartridge 20 and the collector 30 to return the collected solution collected in the collector 30 to the cartridge 20 again.

2 and 4, the cyclone 10 includes a swirl chamber 12 in which a cylindrical space is formed, and a suction chamber 14 (not shown) mounted on the swirl chamber 12 and having a conical inner space. ). The inner space of the cyclone 10 is depressurized by a vacuum pump. The vacuum pump easily forms spiral wind and spiral collecting solution films along the inner wall of the cyclone 10. The vacuum pump decompresses the pressure so that the absorption liquid film reaches the upper portion of the adsorption chamber 14 and flows into the collector 30.

An inflow manifold 16 is installed on the inner wall of the vortex chamber 12. The outlet of the inlet manifold 16 is tangentially mounted to the circular cross section of the swirl chamber 12. The outlet has a vertically elongated planar portion and has an orifice of nozzles in two separate passages 162, 164 (FIG. 4). Both passages 162 and 164 from the inlet side of the inlet manifold 16 are integrated by a conical inlet nozzle 163. Outside air flows into the inside of the fine particle collecting apparatus through the conical inlet nozzle 163. Both passages 162 and 164 are formed identically in the form of a cylindrical tube and the passage diameter gradually increases in the vicinity of the outlet portion thereof to the inner region of the swirl chamber 12. A nozzle orifice is provided at the point of change in diameter. The upper air ejector 161 and the lower solution ejector 165 are connected to the inner area of the cartridge 20 by the ejector tubes 22 and 24, respectively (FIG. 2).

The cartridge 20 is detachably mounted on one side of the swirl chamber 12 of the cyclone 10, and the internal space is filled with a collection solution for adsorbing the fine particles contained in the external gas. In one example, the cartridge 20 may be snapped into the cyclone 10.

The cartridge 20 is connected to another unit of the collecting device 100 by a supply connection 26 and a drain connection 28 (Fig. 2).

The upper nipple of the supply connection 26 is connected to the recycle pipe 40 and the side nipple is connected to the supply pipe 50. The supply pipe 50 connects the cartridge 20 via a solenoid valve V1 to a tank (not shown) filled with a new collecting solution. This tank periodically replenishes the collection solution into the cartridge 20 to compensate for the reduction of the collection solution being sampled or evaporated by the detector.

The suction ejector tube 22 for transferring the collecting solution to the cyclone 10 is installed through the side wall of the cartridge 20. [ The collection solution sucked through the suction ejector tube 22 flows into the solution ejector nozzle 165 of the inlet manifold 16. The collection solution is atomized by the effect of the flow of incoming air and the reduced pressure due to the gradual diameter change of the passageway (164). The suction ejector tube 22 is bent downward so as to suck the collection solution even when the level of the collection solution is lowered.

The sampling pipe 60 is connected to the second outlet nipple of the drain connection port 28 to transfer a predetermined amount of the collection solution to a detector (not shown). The detector detects the content of the non-leaching agent in the collection solution. The sampling pipe 60 may be provided with a valve V2, such as a microvalve, for controlling the flow of the collection solution transferred to the detector.

A drain pipe 80 is provided in the third outlet nipple of the drain connection port 28 to transfer contaminated collection solution from the cartridge 20 to a drain tank (not shown). A valve (V3) for controlling the outflow of the contaminated collection solution is installed in the drain pipe (80).

A sensor SP for measuring the level of the collection solution is installed in the cartridge 20 by the first outlet nipple and the tube 70 of the drain connection port 28. [ For example, a pressure sensor may be used as the sensor.

The collector 30 includes a collecting tank 32 to be fitted in the adsorption chamber 14 of the cyclone 10, a separator 34 to be spaced apart from the upper end of the adsorption chamber 14 of the cyclone 10, And a cap 36 covering an opening formed in the upper portion of the tank 32. [ The upper part of the separator 32 has a cylindrical outlet tube for connecting the collecting device 100 to a vacuum pump (not shown) while passing through the cap 36 of the cyclone 10. [

A passage orifice 38 is formed along the circumference of the cylindrical outlet tube beneath the cap 36 of the cyclone 10 to allow air to enter the interior space of the collector 30 through the separator gap 34 do.

The collecting tank 32 collects the collecting solution film flowing in contact with the wall surface of the adsorption chamber 14. On the bottom surface of the collecting tank 32, grooves inclined to one side along the periphery thereof are formed so as to collect collecting solution at a point connecting the recycling pipe 40. Accordingly, the collection solution can be easily introduced into the recycle pipe 40.

The separator 34 blocks the absorption liquid film flowing along the inner wall of the absorption chamber 14 from moving upward. The separator 34 may be configured to surround the inner wall surface and the outer wall surface along the upper periphery of the adsorption chamber 34 to increase the blocking efficiency of the collection solution.

The recycle pipe 40 is connected to the bottom surface of the collection tank 32 and is connected to the upper surface of the cartridge 20 through the supply connection 26 to collect the collected solution in the collection tank 32 into the cartridge 20 Return.

Hereinafter, the operation of the apparatus for collecting fine particles according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 2 and FIG.

When the vacuum pump connected to the cylindrical outlet pipe of the separator 34 is activated, pumping of air through the cyclone 10 is started. Air enters the internal passages 162, 164 through the inlet manifold 16, which is divided into two streams, and enters the vortex chamber 12.

The nozzle 165 in the lower internal passage 164 of the inlet manifold 16, which is located in the region where the internal passage diameter changes stepwise, acts as an ejector. This is because the step of the internal passageway ensures a significant reduction in air pressure in the ejector. The ejector causes the liquid suction of the ejector tube 24 from the cartridge 20 to occur. The liquid that is sucked in from the ejector nozzle 165 is atomized due to the energy of the air flow in the lower internal passageway 164, thereby generating droplet aerosols. Accordingly, interaction of the intake air flowing toward each other and the liquid-releasing aerosol in the outlet region of the passage 164 of the intake manifold 16 is generated, and as a result, the fine particles of the intake air Is adsorbed. In this way, the collection of the collecting device 100 is increased since the collecting starts directly in the passage 164 of the inlet manifold 16. [

Since the inflow manifold 16 is installed in a tangential direction to the swirl chamber 12, a swirling vortex in which air and a solution are dispersed is generated in the chamber, whereby the solution is agglomerated on the inner surface of the chamber, A circulating film is formed. Due to the pressure reduction inside the collecting device caused by the external vacuum pump, the collecting solution film rises along the inner wall of the adsorption chamber 14 in the form of a wide spiral band, as shown in Fig.

Depending on the amount of intake air consumed and the proper correlation of the inlet manifold 16 and the geometric size of the swirling chamber 12 and the adsorption chamber 14 of the cyclone 10 the spiral band of the liquid is located at the top of the adsorption chamber 14 And smoothly passes over the edge of the collector 30, and then is conveyed to the cartridge 20 through the recirculation pipe 40. Accordingly, the collecting device 100 generates recirculation of the continuous collecting solution.

The air swirling due to the effect of the reduced pressure inside the cyclone 10 also rises in a spiral shape while rotating around the cyclone axis, as shown in Fig. Due to the considerable differences in density and viscosity of the air and liquid, the rotational speeds of the two spiral flows, i.e., the air flow and the solution film flow, differ considerably from one another.

The main method of adsorbing fine particles in air from an air stream is controlled by two mechanisms.

The main adsorption occurs because the fine particles collide with the surface of the solution film in the upper part of the swirling chamber 12 and the lower part of the adsorption chamber 14. [ The other mechanism of adsorption depends on the tangential component of the rotational velocity of the swirling air in the cyclone 10. The fine particles are ejected to the cyclone wall by the action of the centrifugal force and adsorbed to the rotating collection solution film. The larger the centrifugal force, the larger the tangential component of the rotational speed, and consequently the collecting device can adsorb fine particles of smaller diameter. To keep the value of the tangential component constant, the adsorption chamber 14 is conically shaped along the axis of the vortex.

As described above, the collecting solution collected at the bottom of the collecting tank 32 flows through the inclined grooves to the place where the recycle pipe 40 connected to the collector 30 is present, and then is returned to the cartridge 20. [ If the collecting solution flows by itself only by the action of gravity, the recirculating solution accumulates at the bottom of the collecting tank 32, which may result in unexpected loss of solution and sample evaluation errors.

In order to eliminate such losses, the upper internal air passage 162 of the inlet manifold 16 is connected to the ejector air tube 22 by an upper nozzle 161.

The intake energy at the air passageway 162 of the inlet manifold 16 and the step of the diameter at the passageway 162 cause the cartridge 20 at the point of connection of the ejector tube 22 and the supply connection port 26, Lt; / RTI > Thus, the recirculation pipe 40 generates forced aspiration of the recirculating solution from the collecting tank 32 into the cartridge 20, thereby suppressing the accumulation of collected solution collected at the bottom of the collecting tank 32.

By using two vertically positioned passages 162 and 164, the outlet portion of the inlet manifold 16 has a planar shape close to a quadrangle. This is to increase the collection efficiency of fine particles according to cyclone theory. Thus, the collecting device provides a narrow and flat outlet structure to generate natural air rotation within the cyclone 10. [ According to cyclone theory, such a structure improves the collection efficiency of the fine particles from the air flow.

The separator 34 of the air and the solution in the collecting device 100 is installed to divide the two flows of the air and the solution in the vicinity of the upper end of the adsorption chamber 14 of the cyclone 100, But it is possible to prevent the recirculation solution from being blown out. The separator 34 surrounds the adsorption chamber 34 at a predetermined distance from the upper end of the adsorption chamber 34. The gap is adjusted so that the recirculating solution can smoothly pass through the upper end of the adsorption chamber 14 while preventing droplets.

A portion of the air passing through the gap of the separator 34 returns back to the original air flow through the orifice 38 formed in the cylindrical outlet tube wall of the separator 34.

The sampling valve V2 provided in the sampling pipe 60 is opened and closed for a predetermined time to analyze the component and the concentration of the collection solution by sampling the collection solution. Continuous operation of the collecting apparatus 100 In particular, the valve V1 provided in the supply pipe 50 is opened and closed to refill the cartridge 20 with the collecting solution. Thus, a predetermined amount of new collecting solution is supplied to the cartridge 20 from an external tank (not shown). When the operation of the collecting device is completed, the contaminated collecting solution of the cartridge 20 is discharged through the drain pipe 80 by the opening and closing action of the valve V3.

The level of the collecting solution of the cartridge 20 can be adjusted by the level sensor SP connected to the tube 70 and the drain connector 28 at the lower portion of the cartridge 20. [ The level sensor SP converts the level value of the cartridge 20 into an electrical signal proportional thereto. The contamination degree measurement of the cartridge 20 is directly performed in the detector, and the detector analyzes a certain amount of the collection solution.

While the present invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be practical exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, Of course.

1 is a front view of a fine particle collecting apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a fine particle collecting device cut along the line I-I in FIG. 1, and a solid line arrow indicates the flow of the collecting solution.

3 is a side view of a fine particle collecting apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the fine particle collecting device taken along the line II-II in Fig. 3, and the dotted arrows indicate the flow of air.

Claims (27)

A cyclone in which an external gas and a collection solution are injected into the internal space to adsorb the fine particles contained in the external gas to the collection solution; A storage unit for storing a collecting solution injected into the cyclone; A collector installed at an upper portion of the cyclone to collect the collection solution membrane flowing along the inner wall of the cyclone; And And a recirculation pipe for conveying the collected solution collected in the collector to the storage unit, wherein an inflow manifold including two cylindrical passages vertically arranged vertically to the cyclone is connected to the lower portion of the cyclone, And a common conical nozzle is provided from the inlet side. The method according to claim 1, The swirling chamber is formed at the lower part of the cyclone, the adsorption chamber is formed at the upper part of the cyclone, and the inflow manifold is connected to the swirling chamber. Wherein a collector is installed in an upper portion of the adsorption chamber, vortexes in which the introduced external gas and a collection solution are dispersed are generated in the swirl chamber, and fine particles are adsorbed in the adsorption chamber in the adsorption chamber. Collection device. 3. The method of claim 2, Wherein the swirl chamber is cylindrical in shape. 3. The method of claim 2, Wherein the adsorption chamber is conical and its lower portion is coaxial with the upper portion of the swirl chamber. delete The method of claim 3, Wherein the inlet manifold is connected in tangential direction with an inner diameter of the vortex chamber. The method according to claim 1, Wherein the passage is formed in a cylindrical shape having a diameter increasing stepwise near the outlet portion. 8. The method of claim 7, An opening is formed as an ejector nozzle in each of the cylindrical passages whose diameter changes stepwise, Wherein the upper passage is provided with an air ejector nozzle and the lower passage is provided with a solution ejector nozzle. A cyclone in which an external gas and a collection solution are injected into the internal space to adsorb the fine particles contained in the external gas to the collection solution; A storage unit for storing a collecting solution injected into the cyclone; A collector installed at an upper portion of the cyclone to collect the collection solution membrane flowing along the inner wall of the cyclone; And And a recycle pipe for transferring the collected solution collected in the collector to the storage unit, wherein the storage unit comprises a cartridge detachably installed on the outer wall of the cyclone. The method according to claim 1, The collector includes: A separator disposed apart from an upper end of the adsorption chamber of the cyclone to block the progress of a collection solution film moving along the inner wall of the adsorption chamber; And And a collecting tank for collecting the collected solution blocked by the separator. 11. The method of claim 10, Wherein the separator is configured to surround the inner wall surface and the outer wall surface along the upper end portion of the adsorption chamber. 11. The method of claim 10, The recycle pipe is connected to the bottom surface of the collection tank, Wherein the bottom surface of the collecting tank is formed with a groove inclined to one side along the periphery thereof so as to collect the collecting solution at a point connected to the recycling pipe. 10. The method of claim 9, Wherein a connection port is provided on a cover of the cartridge, and the connection port is a connection port connecting the recycle pipe and the collection solution supply pipe. 14. The method of claim 13, And the upper nipple of the connector is connected to the bottom surface of the collecting tank of the collector through the recycle pipe. 15. The method of claim 14, And a side nipple of the connector is connected to a supply pipe for supplying a new collecting solution to the cartridge. 16. The method of claim 15, Wherein a valve for controlling the flow of the collection solution from the external tank containing the new collection solution to the cartridge is further provided in the supply pipe. 10. The method of claim 9, And a drain connection port having three outlet nipples is provided on a bottom surface of the cartridge. 18. The method of claim 17, And a sensor for measuring the level of the collection solution is connected to the first outlet nipple of the drain connection port. 18. The method of claim 17, Wherein a sampling pipe for transferring a predetermined amount of the collection solution to the detector for detecting the content of fine particles in the collection solution is connected to the second outlet nipple of the drain connection port. 20. The method of claim 19, Wherein the sampling pipe is further provided with a valve for controlling the flow of the collection solution delivered to the detector. 18. The method of claim 17, And a drain pipe for discharging the collection solution is connected to the third outlet nipple of the drain connection port. 22. The method of claim 21, And a valve for controlling discharge of the collection solution to the discharge tank is further provided in the drain pipe. The method according to claim 1, Wherein the fine particles are microorganisms. A fine particle collection method using a fine particle collection device according to any one of claims 1 to 4 or 6 to 23, Supplying an external gas and a stored collection solution to the internal space of the cyclone; Mixing the external gas and the collecting solution by a cyclone to adsorb the fine particles contained in the external gas to the collecting solution; Collecting a collection solution membrane on which the fine particles are adsorbed; And And re-mixing and dispersing the collected collection solution with the external gas in the inlet manifold. 25. The method of claim 24, Wherein the supply of the external gas and the collecting solution is performed by reducing the pressure in the cyclone. 25. The method of claim 24, Further comprising the step of extracting a predetermined amount of the collecting solution to detect the content of the fine particles in the collected collecting solution. 25. The method of claim 24, Further comprising measuring the level and contamination level of the stored collection solution.

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