KR101621542B1 - Activated carbon filter structure and food waste treatment including the same - Google Patents

Abstract

An activated carbon filter structure according to the present invention includes: a housing having an inlet through which gas flows in one side and an outlet through which the gas flows out from the other side; At least one partition wall installed in the housing and capable of vertically separating the housing; A plurality of chambers formed by the at least one partition wall; A plurality of activated carbons disposed inside the plurality of chambers to allow the gas flowing into the inlet to pass therethrough and capable of adsorbing malodorous components of the gases; And shielding means disposed at the upper and lower ends of the inside of the housing and movable in a horizontal direction so as to shield any one of the plurality of chambers from the inlet and the outlet, The position of the shielding means is changed so that the gas flowing into the inlet port flows out to the outlet port through any one of the plurality of activated carbon.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD [0001] The present invention relates to an activated carbon filter structure and a food waste treatment apparatus including the activated carbon filter structure.

The present invention relates to an activated carbon filter structure and a food waste disposal apparatus including the activated carbon filter structure. More particularly, the present invention relates to an activated carbon filter structure in which partition walls are provided inside the activated carbon filter structure and charger means are provided on the gas inlet and outlet sides, To an activated carbon filter structure that can be changed according to the movement of the means and a food processor including the activated carbon filter structure.

Generally, each household or restaurant discharges a certain amount of residue (disposal food) daily, and these residues are used as livestock feeds or simply filtered through a simple screen to filter out the mixed water. The waste disposal method increases the amount of garbage, and if the garbage is not frequently discarded, a malodor is generated to pollute the surrounding air.

Generally, malodorous components generated in the food waste treatment system are caused by various kinds of gases, and the composition of the gas varies depending on the type of food, the period of time left, the treatment temperature, etc. and the corruption or abnormal fermentation, that is, anaerobic fermentation In this case, it releases a large amount of noxious odorous gas which can harm human body.

This is because, as the anaerobic conditions are formed partly during the continuous treatment of food waste, the more bad odor is generated, and the gas providing the cause of odor generated at this time can be separated into acidic, neutral and basic. Examples of the acidic gas include hydrogen sulfide and methyl mercaptan. Examples of the basic gas include ammonia and trimethylamine. Examples of the neutral gas include methyl sulfide, methyl disulfide, and acetaldehyde. These odorous gases are harmful to the human body, cause air and environmental pollution, and give a disgust to nearby facilities.

In general, in a deodorizing filter for a food processor, activated carbon has been used as a filter material for removing odors generated during the continuous treatment of food waste. Activated carbon is like a kind of charcoal, and its interior is made of porous material such as micro-pores, so that it collects odorous components and exerts an excellent effect in purifying contaminated air.

However, when the activated carbon is used as the filter material, since the activated carbon is gradually used from the lower side to the upper side, the malodorous gas is discharged to the outside of the food processor before 100% of the total activated carbon is used. Therefore, the upper side of the activated carbon is not utilized properly, and the entire activated carbon is replaced.

Also, the performance of activated carbon is limited, and as the malodorous component is collected in the activated carbon, the microvoids of the activated carbon become smaller. The deodorizing efficiency of the activated carbon is decreased, so that the activated carbon can not be used for a long period of time and must be replaced.

In order to solve this problem, the present inventors have considered that a partition wall is provided inside the activated carbon filter structure and a charger means is provided on the gas inlet and outlet sides to change the activated carbon used according to the use period.

Further, the present inventors have considered a method of distributing the photocatalyst in the activated carbon to dissolve the odor components captured in the activated carbon, thereby enabling the deodorization efficiency of the activated carbon to be maintained for a longer period of time.

The photocatalyst refers to a specific catalyst (Catalyst of Photo-reactions) that accelerates the photochemical reaction by irradiating light onto the surface of the catalyst. Like the requirement for general catalyst, the photocatalyst directly participates in the reaction, And accelerates the reaction rate through a reaction mechanism path different from the reaction. Particularly, in order to promote the photochemical reaction using the photocatalyst distributed in the activated carbon, ultraviolet rays must be effectively transmitted through the photocatalyst.

However, in the deodorization filter made of activated carbon, light does not easily permeate and a photochemical reaction occurs only in a part where light is irradiated. As a result, odor components adsorbed in activated carbon throughout the activated carbon are not decomposed Occurs. As a result, although the photocatalyst is contained in the activated carbon, the deodorization efficiency of the activated carbon is decreased.

In the meantime, according to the prior art, there is a registration scheme regarding a purification apparatus using a photocatalytic reaction and an activated carbon function. However, the above-mentioned design discloses a configuration in which a photocatalyst is distributed in the activated carbon as in the present invention, Do not.

In addition, according to another conventional technology, a regeneration design related to an indoor air purification apparatus capable of adsorbing malodorous or noxious gas and reacting with a BLB lamp using a photocatalyst-coated activated carbon filter, However, the above design does not disclose a configuration in which a photocatalyst is coated on the surface of an activated carbon filter and a photocatalyst is distributed in the activated carbon as in the present invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been conceived in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a vacuum cleaner in which a partition wall is provided inside an activated carbon filter structure, An activated carbon filter structure in which activated carbon can be changed, and a food waste treatment device including the activated carbon filter structure.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide an odor sensor capable of detecting odor components in a gas flowing out of a housing; And a control device capable of controlling the horizontal movement of the shielding means, so that the activated carbon used for the period of use can be automatically changed, and a food processor including the same.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an activated carbon filter structure capable of preventing the minute voids of activated carbon from becoming smaller by decomposing the odor components collected in the activated carbon by distributing the photocatalyst in the activated carbon, And the like.

An activated carbon filter structure according to the present invention includes: a housing having an inlet through which gas flows in one side and an outlet through which the gas flows out from the other side; At least one partition wall installed in the housing and capable of vertically separating the housing; A plurality of chambers formed by the at least one partition wall; A plurality of activated carbons disposed inside the plurality of chambers to allow the gas flowing into the inlet to pass therethrough and capable of adsorbing malodorous components of the gases; And shielding means disposed at the upper and lower ends of the inside of the housing and movable in a horizontal direction so as to shield any one of the plurality of chambers from the inlet and the outlet, The position of the shielding means is changed so that the gas flowing into the inlet port flows out to the outlet port through any one of the plurality of activated carbon.

Preferably, the shielding means includes a first plate member disposed at an upper end of the housing; And a second plate member integrated with the first plate member and disposed at a lower end of the housing, wherein the first plate member and the second plate member are formed to correspond to upper and lower surfaces of the plurality of chambers .

Preferably, a switching lever in the form of a bar projecting outwardly of the housing is connected to the shielding means, and the switching lever is arranged such that any one of the plurality of chambers is shielded from the inlet and the outlet, And the shielding means can be moved in the horizontal direction.

Preferably, an odor sensor capable of detecting a malodor component in the gas flowing out of the housing; And a control device capable of controlling horizontal movement of the shielding means.

Preferably, when the odor component detected by the odor sensor is greater than a predetermined value, the control device controls the shielding means corresponding to any one of the plurality of chambers, In a horizontal direction.

Preferably, at least one of the plurality of activated carbons is an activated carbon fiber layer, a photocatalyst layer on which the photocatalyst is applied on the activated carbon fiber layer, and a mixed activated carbon in which the UV lamp layer is disposed inside the activated carbon.

Preferably, the mixed activated carbon has the photocatalyst layer and the activated carbon fiber layer disposed on the upper and lower sides of the UV lamp layer with respect to the UV lamp layer, respectively.

Preferably, the photocatalyst is selected from the group consisting of titanium oxide (TiO ₂ ), zinc oxide (ZnO), cadmium sulfide (CdS), tungsten oxide (WO ₃ ), and combinations thereof.

Preferably, the UV lamp layer is formed of any one of a quartz tube, a glass tube, a fluororesin tube, and a transparent ABS (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene) tube.

Preferably, the UV lamp layer guides ultraviolet rays generated from a UV lamp to the photocatalyst layer, and the ultraviolet ray guided to the photocatalyst layer activates a photocatalyst to cause a photochemical reaction, decompose the malodor component adsorbed in the activated carbon .

The food processor for crushing and drying food and beverage according to the present invention is characterized in that it comprises any one of the activated carbon filter structures described above.

According to the present invention, it is possible to prevent the activated carbon from being replaced before 100% of the total activated carbon is used due to the change of the activated carbon used according to the use period, and the activated carbon can be used for a longer period of time.

According to the present invention, there is also provided an odor sensor capable of detecting malodorous components in a gas flowing out of a housing; And a control device capable of controlling the horizontal movement of the shielding means, there is an effect that the activated carbon used can be automatically changed without the user having to manage it separately.

Further, according to the present invention, the photocatalyst is distributed in the activated carbon to decompose the odor components captured in the activated carbon, thereby preventing the minute pores of the activated carbon from becoming smaller and continuing the deodorization efficiency of the activated carbon for a long time.

According to the present invention, it is possible to effectively transmit ultraviolet rays to the photocatalyst contained in the activated carbon, thereby promoting the photochemical reaction of the photocatalyst.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of an activated carbon filter structure and a food processor including the same according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In this process, the thicknesses of the lines and the sizes of the components shown in the drawings may be exaggerated for clarity and convenience of explanation. In addition, the terms described below are defined in consideration of the functions of the present invention, which may vary depending on the intention or custom of the user, the operator. Therefore, definitions of these terms should be made based on the contents throughout this specification.

<Examples>

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary use of an activated carbon filter structure 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 illustrates another use example of the activated carbon filter structure 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 and 2, the activated carbon filter structure 100 according to the present invention includes a housing 110, an activated carbon 120, a shielding means 130, and a switching lever 140.

The housing 110 is a hollow polyhedron having an inlet 111 through which gas is introduced and an outlet 112 through which the gas flows out. As described later, acidic, neutral, and basic gases are introduced into the housing 110 through the inlet 111, and the gas, from which odor components are removed by the activated carbon 120, .

The shape of the housing 110 is not particularly limited as long as the housing 110 can be formed in a cylindrical shape and can accommodate a deodorant material such as the activated carbon 120 therein. .

A partition wall 113 separating the housing 110 in the vertical direction is formed in the housing 110. In addition, a plurality of chambers are formed in the housing 110 by the partition 113. As described later, the activated carbon 120 may be contained in each of the plurality of chambers.

It is sufficient that the partition wall 113 can be separated from the inside of the housing 110, and the material and thickness thereof are not limited. In addition, in the embodiment of the present invention, two chambers are formed by one partition, but it should be noted that the number of the partition and the chambers is not limited thereto, and may be changed according to the intention of the user.

The activated carbon 120 is accommodated in a chamber formed inside the housing 110 as a kind of deodorant material. The activated carbon 120 is like a kind of charcoal, and its inside is made porous such as micropores, and serves to purify contaminated gas by collecting odor components contained in acidic, neutral, and basic gases. That is, the acidic, neutral, and basic gas flowing into the housing 110 through the inlet port 111 passes through the activated carbon 120 and the odorous components in the gas are adsorbed to the activated carbon 120, And is discharged to the outside through the opening 112.

In the embodiment of the present invention, only the activated carbon 120 is accommodated in the housing 110 as a deodorizing material, but it is noted that porous materials such as zeolite, alumina, silica gel, etc. may be further accommodated according to the intention of the user.

The shielding means 130 is disposed at the upper and lower ends of the inside of the housing 110. The shielding means 130 includes a first plate member 130a disposed at the upper end of the housing 110 and a second plate member 130a integrated with the first plate member 130a and disposed at the lower end of the inside of the housing 110, (130b). In the embodiment of the present invention, the first plate member 130a and the second plate member 130b are connected and integrated by a vertically extending bar-shaped connecting member. It should be noted that the first plate member 130a and the second plate member 130b may be separately provided according to the intention of the user.

Specifically, the first plate member 130a and the second plate member 130b are formed to correspond to the upper and lower surfaces of any one of the two chambers formed by the partition wall 113. [ Also, as will be described later, the shielding means 130 is formed to be movable in the horizontal direction so as to shield any one of the two chambers from the inlet 111 and the outlet 112.

The shielding means 130 can be moved to any one of the two chambers through the inlet 111 and the outlet 112. As a result, . In other words, any one of the two chambers may be enclosed by the first plate member 130a, the second plate member 130b, and the partition wall of the shielding means 130 to be sealed from the outside.

1, the acidic, neutral, and basic gas flowing into the housing 110 through the inlet 111 flows into only one chamber of the two chambers, So that only the activated carbon 120 is allowed to pass. As a result, the malodorous component in the gas is adsorbed only to one of the two activated carbon 120, and the purified gas by the activated carbon 120 can be discharged to the outside through the outlet 112.

A switching lever 140 in the form of a bar protruding outside the housing 110 may be connected to the shielding means 130. In the embodiment of the present invention, the switching lever 140 is connected to the lower side of the second plate member 130b.

With this arrangement, the user or the manager can move the shielding means 130 horizontally using the switching lever 140, and as a result, the state shown in Fig. 1 is switched to the state shown in Fig. 2 . As a result, it becomes possible to utilize activated carbon which has not yet been used. That is, it is possible to change the activated carbon to be used depending on the use period.

3 is a view showing an activated carbon filter structure 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention. 3, the activated carbon filter structure 200 according to the present invention includes a housing 210, activated carbon 220, shielding means 230, an odor sensor 240, and a control device (not shown) .

The activated carbon filter structure 200 shown in Figure 3 is similar to the activated carbon filter structure 100 in Figures 1 and 2 except that it includes an odor sensor 240 and a control device instead of the switch lever 140 And therefore, a description thereof will be omitted.

The odor sensor 240 serves to detect odor components in the gas flowing out of the housing 210. The odor sensor 240 also serves to transmit to the control device, which will be described later, a value relating to the odor component in the detected gas. Note that in the embodiment of the present invention, the odor sensor 240 is attached to the side surface of the outlet 212 and the position of the odor sensor 240 is not limited thereto.

The control device may be configured such that, when the value of the odor component transmitted by the odor sensor 240 is greater than a predetermined value, the shielding means 230 arranged to correspond to any one of the plurality of chambers corresponds to the other one of the plurality of chambers .

Since the odor sensor 240 and the control device use the conventional known configuration, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

With this configuration, the user or the administrator can automatically change the activated carbon to be utilized without having to manage the activated carbon filter structure 200 separately.

Meanwhile, although the odor sensor 240 is used in the embodiment of the present invention, it is sufficient to measure the degree of use of the activated carbon, so that a humidity sensor or the like may be used. do.

4 is a view showing another embodiment of activated carbon that can be used in the present invention.

In the activated carbon filter structures 100 and 200 according to the present invention, the mixed activated carbon 300 may be accommodated in any one of the plurality of chambers.

The mixed activated carbon 300 refers to activated carbon in which an activated carbon fiber layer 310, a photocatalyst layer 320, and a UV lamp layer 330 are disposed in the activated carbon.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the mixed activated carbon 300 includes two activated carbon fiber layers 310, two photocatalyst layers 320, and one UV lamp layer 330. The photocatalyst layer 320 and the active carbon fiber layer 310 are disposed on the UV lamp layer 330 on the basis of the UV lamp layer 330 and the lower side of the UV lamp layer 330 A photocatalyst layer 320 and an activated carbon fiber layer 310 are disposed. Note, however, that such an arrangement may be changed according to the user's intention.

The activated carbon fiber layer 310 has a structure in which activated carbon fibers (ACF) processed in the form of fibers are arranged in layers in order to improve the adsorption performance of activated carbon. In particular, the activated carbon fiber (ACF) has a feature that the mesopore is directly located on the surface without the macropores, and thus the adsorbing ability of the activated carbon fiber is much faster without diffusion process.

The photocatalyst layer 320 refers to a layer on which the photocatalyst is coated on the activated carbon fiber layer 310. A photocatalyst selected from the group consisting of titanium oxide (TiO ₂ ), zinc oxide (ZnO), cadmium sulfide (CdS), tungsten oxide (WO ₃ ) and combinations thereof can be applied on the activated carbon fiber layer 310 . In particular, it is preferable to apply titanium oxide (TiO ₂ ).

Zinc oxide, cadmium sulfide, tungsten oxide, and titanium oxide. Especially, zinc oxide has an excellent effect on decomposition of trichlorethylene and tetrachlorethylene.

In addition, titanium oxide has an advantage that it can be used semi-permanently because it does not change even if it receives light. Specifically, titanium dioxide oxidizes all organic matter to decompose into carbon dioxide and water. Titanium oxide can be used semi-permanently even if it receives light but does not change itself. It has higher oxidizing power than chlorine (Cl₂) and ozone (O3) And all organic matter can be decomposed into carbon dioxide and water.

Thus, the titanium oxide photocatalyst can be used as a photocatalyst to be coated on the activated carbon fiber layer 310 because of its superior performance to any other photocatalyst, chemically stable, excellent in optical activity and harmless to the human body.

The principle of photocatalysis works is as follows.

When the photocatalyst is irradiated with light energy such as ultraviolet rays, electrons in the valance band of the photocatalyst are transferred to the conduction band, and holes (h +) in which the electrons are vacated remain in the valence band. At this time, the energy required to transfer electrons requires energy of about 3.2 eV corresponding to a band gap, which corresponds to a wavelength shorter than 390 nm.

The resulting electrons (e- _CB ) (electrons transferred to the conduction band) and holes (h + _VB ) (positive holes remaining in the valence band) go through a continuous process of diffusion on the photocatalyst surface. The OH radical generated through the continuous process reacts with organic substances such as odor components adsorbed on the activated carbon 120 and decomposes them into H ₂ O and CO ₂ .

By distributing the photocatalyst on the activated carbon fiber layer 310, it is possible to decompose the odor components captured in the activated carbon, thereby preventing the minute voids of the activated carbon from becoming smaller and continuing the deodorization efficiency of the activated carbon for a long time .

The UV lamp layer 330 generates ultraviolet rays having a wavelength shorter than 390 nm to supply light energy necessary for electrons of the photocatalyst to transfer. The UV lamp layer 330 is sufficient to generate ultraviolet rays and uses a conventionally known configuration, so a description thereof will be omitted.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the UV lamp layer 330 may be formed of any one of a quartz tube, a glass tube, a fluororesin tube, and a transparent ABS (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene) tube. It is noted that the material of the UV lamp layer 330 may be changed according to the user's intention.

The UV lamp layer 330 is disposed adjacent to the photocatalyst layer 320 so that ultraviolet rays generated from the UV lamp layer 330 can be effectively transmitted to the photocatalyst distributed on the activated carbon fiber layer 310. In addition, due to such a configuration, ultraviolet rays generated from the UV lamp layer 330 can activate the photocatalyst to cause a photochemical reaction, and effectively decompose organic matters such as odor components adsorbed in the activated carbon.

It is needless to say that the activated carbon filter structures 100 and 200 described above can be generally applied to a food processor for crushing and drying food. At this time, since the activated carbon filter structures 100 and 200 are inserted into the body of the food processor and are forcedly coupled or fitted together, the combination of the food processor and the activated carbon filter structures 100 and 200 uses a known method. A description thereof will be omitted.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to specific embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, It will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention can be modified and changed without departing from the scope of the present invention.

1 is a view showing an example of use of an activated carbon filter structure 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention,

2 is a view showing another use example of the activated carbon filter structure 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention,

3 is a view showing an activated carbon filter structure 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention,

4 is a view showing another embodiment of activated carbon that can be used in the present invention.

Claims (11)

A housing having an inlet through which gas flows into the one side and an outlet through which the gas flows out from the other side; At least one partition wall installed in the housing and capable of vertically separating the housing; A plurality of chambers formed by the at least one partition wall; A plurality of activated carbons disposed inside the plurality of chambers to allow the gas flowing into the inlet to pass therethrough and capable of adsorbing malodorous components of the gases; And And shielding means disposed at the upper and lower ends of the inside of the housing and movable in a horizontal direction so as to shield any one of the plurality of chambers from the inlet and the outlet,  Wherein the shielding means comprises: a first plate member disposed at an upper end of the housing; And a second plate member integrated with the first plate member and disposed at a lower end of the housing, Wherein the first plate member and the second plate member are formed to correspond to upper and lower surfaces of the plurality of chambers, Characterized in that the position of the shielding means is changed in accordance with the movement of the shielding means so that the gas flowing into the inlet port flows out to the outflow port through any one of the plurality of activated carbon. Activated carbon filter structure. delete The method according to claim 1, A switching lever in the form of a bar protruding outside the housing is connected to the shielding means, Characterized in that said switching lever is capable of moving said shielding means in a horizontal direction so that any one of said chambers is shielded from said inlet and said outlet. Activated carbon filter structure. The method according to claim 1, An odor sensor capable of detecting a malodor component in the gas flowing out of the housing; And Further comprising a control device capable of controlling horizontal movement of the shielding means. Activated carbon filter structure. 5. The method of claim 4, Wherein the control device controls the shielding means disposed corresponding to any one of the plurality of chambers to move horizontally to correspond to the other one of the plurality of chambers when the odor component detected by the odor sensor is greater than a predetermined value, . &Lt; / RTI &gt; Activated carbon filter structure. The method according to claim 1, Wherein at least one of the plurality of activated carbons is a mixed activated carbon in which an activated carbon fiber layer, a photocatalyst layer, and a UV lamp layer are stacked in a chamber of any one of the plurality of chambers. Activated carbon filter structure. The method of claim 6, wherein Wherein the mixed activated carbon has the photocatalyst layer and the activated carbon fiber layer disposed on the upper and lower sides of the UV lamp layer with respect to the UV lamp layer, Activated carbon filter structure. The method according to claim 6, Wherein the photocatalyst is selected from the group consisting of titanium oxide (TiO ₂ ), zinc oxide (ZnO), cadmium sulfide (CdS), tungsten oxide (WO ₃ ) Activated carbon filter structure. delete 8. The method of claim 7, Ultraviolet rays generated from the UV lamp layer are transmitted to the photocatalyst layer, and Wherein the ultraviolet ray transmitted through the photocatalyst layer activates a photocatalyst to cause a photochemical reaction and decompose the odor component adsorbed in the activated carbon. Activated carbon filter structure. A food processor for pulverizing and drying food, 10. An activated carbon filter according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that it comprises an activated carbon filter structure according to any one of claims 1, 3 to 8, Food processor.

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