KR101931102B1

KR101931102B1 - A sterilizing apparatus and a method for measuring concentration of hydrogen peroxide of the sterilizing apparatus

Info

Publication number: KR101931102B1
Application number: KR1020160182591A
Authority: KR
Inventors: 민흥식; 안영근; 양성진; 김종욱
Original assignee: (주) 씨엠테크
Priority date: 2016-12-29
Filing date: 2016-12-29
Publication date: 2018-12-21
Also published as: KR20180077837A; WO2018124339A1

Abstract

The present invention relates to a sterilization apparatus including a sterilization chamber, wherein the sterilization chamber includes a first humidity sensor located in an internal fixed region and a second humidity sensor located adjacent to the first humidity sensor, The humidity sensor detects the first relative humidity by the amount of the hydrogen peroxide water and the amount of the water vapor and the second humidity sensor detects the second relative humidity by the amount of the water vapor and the hydrogen peroxide concentration measuring method In which a first humidity sensor and a second humidity sensor are included in the sterilization chamber and the relative humidity is measured by each of these sensors and the concentration of hydrogen peroxide can be easily measured by the difference of these relative humidity have.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sterilization apparatus and a method for measuring the concentration of hydrogen peroxide in the sterilization apparatus,

The present invention relates to a sterilization apparatus and a method for measuring the concentration of hydrogen peroxide in the sterilization apparatus. More particularly, the present invention relates to a sterilization apparatus capable of accurately detecting the concentration of hydrogen peroxide in hydrogen peroxide water, &Lt; / RTI >

Medical instruments are usually sterilized by high pressure steam sterilization using saturated steam at high pressure or by ethylene oxide gas sterilization using chemicals such as ethylene oxide which do not damage heat sensitive equipment or materials.

However, since the high-pressure steam sterilizer is sterilized at a high temperature of more than 120 degrees Celsius, recently developed medical instruments made of synthetic resin are deformed, and the medical instruments made of steel are less susceptible to delicate blades, . In particular, high-pressure steam sterilization methods may be unsuitable sterilization methods because expensive medical devices, apparatus and devices that are increasing due to the development of the latest surgical techniques may be sensitive to heat or moisture and may be damaged during sterilization reprocessing.

The ethylene oxide gas sterilizer which can minimize the damage of the device can sterilize at low temperature, but the ethylene oxide may remain in the sterilized material or the reaction product may cause the carcinogen and toxic substance, Time is required. It is also reported that ethylene oxide gas itself has a high risk of explosion and can act as a genetically toxic substance that can cause mutation, and it is prescribed as a carcinogen.

On the other hand, the sterilization method using hydrogen peroxide vapor is short-time sterilization time of 30 to 60 minutes at a temperature of 40 to 50 degrees Celsius, and water and oxygen are discharged to the air after being sterilized so as to be harmless to the human body or environment. Various disadvantages of the sterilizer can be compensated.

However, the aqueous hydrogen peroxide solution used to produce the hydrogen peroxide vapor causes water to diffuse earlier than hydrogen peroxide in the vaporization process, making it difficult to sufficiently diffuse the hydrogen peroxide. Water is evaporated more quickly because of its higher vapor pressure than hydrogen peroxide, and the molecular weight of water is lower than that of hydrogen peroxide, so that the water vapor diffuses more rapidly into the gas phase than the hydrogen peroxide vapor.

Because of this nature, if the aqueous hydrogen peroxide solution is evaporated in the space surrounding the product to be sterilized, the product will reach the product intended to sterilize the water at a higher concentration than hydrogen peroxide.

Water vapor quickly spreads quickly into a diffusion limiting space, such as a small crevice or a long narrow lumen, to inhibit the permeation of hydrogen peroxide vapor. That is, the water reaches the sterilized product before the hydrogen peroxide, and the sterilization is not properly performed.

For effective sterilization, it is preferable to use a more concentrated aqueous hydrogen peroxide solution. However, when the concentration of the aqueous hydrogen peroxide solution is 60% by weight or more, it is practically difficult to handle transportation, storage, and the like.

For this reason, it is common to use an aqueous hydrogen peroxide solution having a concentration of not more than 60% by weight, which can be handled, as a sterilizing agent by concentration of hydrogen peroxide solution at a high concentration of, for example, 95% The sterilization effect can be improved.

At this time, it is not easy to measure the concentration of the hydrogen peroxide in the sterilization chamber of the sterilization apparatus when the hydrogen peroxide solution is concentrated to a high concentration of hydrogen peroxide and used as a sterilant.

Particularly, the concentration of hydrogen peroxide gas easily condenses, so the means for directly measuring the concentration is not general, and usually the gas concentration is measured by the absorption method.

However, in this case, there is a problem that it is impossible to grasp the change in the gas concentration in a short time or to continuously monitor the gas concentration.

Further, in many cases, as means for continuously monitoring the gas quality of the sterilizing apparatus, it is necessary to monitor the supply state (temperature, amount, pressure, and the like) of the hot air and the hydrogen peroxide solution for generating the gas in combination, Generally, however, these methods are also complicated and lack reliability.

Korean Patent Laid-Open No. 10-2006-52161

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a sterilizing device capable of accurately detecting the concentration of hydrogen peroxide in hydrogen peroxide by a simple method without increasing the size and complexity of the sterilizing device And a method for measuring the concentration of hydrogen peroxide in the sterilizing apparatus.

The objects of the present invention are not limited to the above-mentioned objects, and other objects not mentioned can be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a sterilization apparatus including a sterilization chamber, wherein the sterilization chamber includes a first humidity sensor located in an internal fixed region and a second humidity sensor located adjacent to the first humidity sensor, Wherein the first humidity sensor detects a first relative humidity by the amount of hydrogen peroxide water and the amount of water vapor and the second humidity sensor detects a second relative humidity by the amount of water vapor to provide.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that the first humidity sensor is a humidity sensor of a moisture adsorption type, a humidity sensor by a saturation method or a humidity sensor by an absorption method, and the second humidity sensor is a humidity sensor by a spectroscopic method And a sterilizing device.

The present invention further provides a sterilizing device for calculating the concentration of the hydrogen peroxide by calculating a difference between the first relative humidity detected by the first humidity sensor and the second relative humidity detected by the second humidity sensor do.

The present invention also relates to a method for detecting a relative humidity, comprising: detecting a first relative humidity by a first humidity sensor; Detecting a second relative humidity by a second humidity sensor; Deriving a difference value between the first relative humidity and the second relative humidity; And calculating the concentration of hydrogen peroxide through the difference value.

The present invention also provides a method for measuring hydrogen peroxide concentration in which the relative humidity is determined by the amount of water vapor and the amount of hydrogen peroxide in the first humidity sensor, and the relative humidity is determined by the amount of water vapor in the second humidity sensor.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that the first humidity sensor is a humidity sensor of a moisture adsorption type, a humidity sensor by a saturation method or a humidity sensor by an absorption method, and the second humidity sensor is a humidity sensor by a spectroscopic method Of the hydrogen peroxide concentration.

Further, in the present invention, in a target space for measuring the concentration of hydrogen peroxide, the target space includes a first humidity sensor located in an internal certain region and a second humidity sensor located adjacent to the first humidity sensor , The first humidity sensor detects the first relative humidity by the amount of hydrogen peroxide water and the amount of water vapor, and the second humidity sensor provides the object space for detecting the second relative humidity by the amount of water vapor.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that the first humidity sensor is a humidity sensor of a moisture adsorption type, a humidity sensor by a saturation method or a humidity sensor by an absorption method, and the second humidity sensor is a humidity sensor by a spectroscopic method As shown in FIG.

Further, in the present invention, the temperature of the first humidity sensor and the temperature of the second humidity sensor are controlled to be higher than the temperature of the object space.

According to the present invention as described above, the first humidity sensor and the second humidity sensor are included in the sterilization chamber, the relative humidity is detected by each of the sensors, and the concentration of hydrogen peroxide It can be easily measured.

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing a sterilizing apparatus using an aqueous solution of sterilizing agent according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing a sterilizing apparatus using an aqueous solution of sterilizing agent according to the present invention.
3 is a flowchart showing a sterilization method of the sterilization apparatus using the sterilization agent aqueous solution according to the present invention.
4 is a graph showing the reaction of the capacitive humidity sensor in the sterilizer.
5 is a flow chart for explaining a method of measuring the hydrogen peroxide concentration according to the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The advantages and features of the present invention, and the manner of achieving them, will be apparent from and elucidated with reference to the embodiments described hereinafter in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The present invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. Is provided to fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art, and the invention is only defined by the scope of the claims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. &Quot; and / or "include each and every combination of one or more of the mentioned items. &Lt; RTI ID = 0.0 >

Although the first, second, etc. are used to describe various components, it goes without saying that these components are not limited by these terms. These terms are used only to distinguish one component from another. Therefore, it goes without saying that the first component mentioned below may be the second component within the technical scope of the present invention.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of illustrating embodiments and is not intended to be limiting of the present invention. In the present specification, the singular form includes plural forms unless otherwise specified in the specification. The terms " comprises "and / or" comprising "used in the specification do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other elements in addition to the stated element.

Unless defined otherwise, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein may be used in a sense commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. Also, commonly used predefined terms are not ideally or excessively interpreted unless explicitly defined otherwise.

The terms spatially relative, "below", "beneath", "lower", "above", "upper" And can be used to easily describe a correlation between an element and other elements. Spatially relative terms should be understood in terms of the directions shown in the drawings, including the different directions of components at the time of use or operation. For example, when inverting an element shown in the figures, an element described as "below" or "beneath" of another element may be placed "above" another element . Thus, the exemplary term "below" can include both downward and upward directions. The components can also be oriented in different directions, so that spatially relative terms can be interpreted according to orientation.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing a sterilizing apparatus using an aqueous solution of sterilizing agent according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing a sterilizing apparatus using an aqueous solution of sterilizing agent according to the present invention.

However, in the present invention, the sterilizing agent may be hydrogen peroxide, and the sterilizing agent aqueous solution may be hydrogen peroxide solution. Hereinafter, for convenience of description, the sterilizing agent is represented by hydrogen peroxide and the sterilizing agent aqueous solution by hydrogen peroxide do.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a sterilizing apparatus 100 using hydrogen peroxide water according to the present invention includes a sterilization chamber 110.

The sterilization chamber 110 represents a container into which a sterilized object such as a medical instrument or surgical instrument to be sterilized can be put. At this time, the sterilization chamber 110 may include a door for inserting and removing the sterilized object.

The vacuum pump 120 may include a vacuum pump 120 connected to one side of the sterilization chamber 110. The vacuum pump 120 may extract a gas from the sterilization chamber 110 to form a vacuum state. A vacuum valve 121 for controlling the operation of the vacuum pump 120 is connected between the sterilization chamber 110 and the vacuum pump 120.

1 and 2, a sterilizing apparatus 100 using hydrogen peroxide water according to the present invention is connected to the other side of the sterilizing chamber 110 to supply hydrogen peroxide vapor to the sterilizing chamber 110 And a hydrogen peroxide feeder 150 for supplying hydrogen peroxide to the vaporizer 130. The hydrogen peroxide feeder 150 may be a vaporizer,

At this time, a vaporization valve 131 may be provided between the sterilization chamber 110 and the vaporizer 130.

The sterilizing apparatus 100 using the hydrogen peroxide solution according to the first embodiment of the present invention has one side connected to the vaporizer 130 and the other side connected to the sterilizing chamber 110, And a collector 140 (or may be referred to as a collecting vaporizer) for concentrating the supplied hydrogen peroxide.

At this time, a vaporizing valve 131 may be provided between the sterilizing chamber 110 and the collector 140.

In addition, a collection valve 141 may be included between the sterilization chamber 110 and the collector 140.

That is, between the sterilization chamber 110 and the collector 140, a vaporization valve 131 and a collection valve 141 may be connected in parallel.

As described above, the vaporization valve 131 may be disposed between the sterilization chamber 110 and the vaporizer 130, that is, one side of the vaporization valve 130 may be connected to the sterilization chamber 110 And the other side may be connected in parallel with the vaporizer 130 and the collector 140.

1 and 2, a sterilizing apparatus 100 using hydrogen peroxide water according to the present invention includes a first connection pipe 142 connecting the collector 140 and the vaporization valve 131, And a second connection pipe 133 connecting the valve 131 and the sterilizing chamber 110.

A third connection pipe 143 connecting the collector 140 and the collecting valve 141 and a fourth connection pipe 144 connecting the collecting valve 141 and the sterilizing chamber 110 can do.

The fourth connection pipe 144 is connected to the second connection pipe 133 so that the vaporization valve 131 and the collection valve 141 are connected between the sterilization chamber 110 and the collector 140 The fourth connection pipe 144 is directly connected to the sterilization chamber 110 and is connected to the vaporization valve 131 between the sterilization chamber 110 and the collector 140. In addition, And the collecting valve 141 may be connected in parallel.

The fifth connection pipe 132 may include a fifth connection pipe 132 connecting the vaporizer 130 and the vaporization valve 131. In this case, the fifth connection pipe 132 may be connected to the first connection pipe 142 The vaporizing valve 130 is connected to the vaporizer 130 and the collector 140 in parallel while the fifth connecting pipe 132 is directly connected to the vaporizing valve 131 So that the vaporization valve 130 can be connected in parallel with the vaporizer 130 and the collector 140.

At this time, the vaporization valve 131 and the collection valve 141 can control the flow of the fluid in the first connection pipe 142 to the fifth connection pipe 132 by an open / close operation, The vaporizing valve 131 and the collecting valve 141 may be controlled by an additional control unit.

As shown in the drawing, a first connection pipe 142 connecting the collector 140 and the vaporization valve 131 and a second connection pipe 133 connecting the vaporization valve 131 and the sterilization chamber 110 The third connecting pipe 143 to the fifth connecting pipe 132 may be larger in diameter than the other connecting pipes 143 to 143. For example, In the case of a 1/4 inch pipe, the first connection pipe 142 and the second connection pipe 133 may be 1 inch pipe. This will be described later.

Although not shown in the figure, the sterilization chamber 110, the vaporizer 130, and the collector 140 may include temperature control means for controlling the temperature of the sterilization chamber 110, the vaporizer 130, and the collector 140. The temperature control means may be a heater, And therefore, detailed description thereof will be omitted.

In addition, in the case of the collector 140, the temperature control means may further include a cooling means, and the cooling means may use appropriate means such as direct cooling using cooling water or a thermoelectric element or air cooling through blowing of a heat exchanger .

Hereinafter, the sterilization method using the sterilization apparatus according to the present invention will be described.

3 is a flowchart showing a sterilization method of the sterilization apparatus using the sterilization agent aqueous solution according to the present invention.

On the other hand, the sterilization method described below will be described with reference to the reference numerals of the sterilizing apparatuses of Figs. 1 and 2 described above.

3, a method of sterilizing a sterilizing apparatus using hydrogen peroxide water according to the present invention includes a step of evacuating the sterilizing chamber 110 (which may be referred to as a sterilizing chamber) and the vaporizer 130 S110).

The step of evacuating the sterilizing chamber 110 and the vaporizer 130 may be performed by evacuating the vacuum pump 120 by turning on the vacuum pump 120 and opening the vacuum valve 121.

In step S110, that is, the step of evacuating the sterilizing chamber and the vaporizer may be continued until a step S 160, which will be described later. When the sterilizing chamber reaches a predetermined set pressure and the collected hydrogen peroxide liquid is collected in the collector This step can be completed.

The vaporization valve 131 between the sterilization chamber 110 and the vaporizer 130 or the vaporization valve 131 between the sterilization chamber 110 and the collector 140 may be used to evacuate the vaporizer 130. [ The collecting valve 141 is open and communicates with the sterilizing chamber under vacuum to be under a subatmospheric pressure and is closed in the next step.

Meanwhile, at the same time as the step of evacuating the sterilizing chamber 110 and the vaporizer 130, the sterilizing chamber and the vaporizer can be maintained at the temperature set by the temperature control means described above.

Next, the step of injecting the first concentration of the hydrogen peroxide solution into the vaporizer 130 of the first temperature and the first pressure is performed (S120).

The introduction of the hydrogen peroxide solution can be performed through a hydrogen peroxide feeder 150 that stores a first concentration of hydrogen peroxide. On the other hand, although not shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the vaporizer 130 and the hydrogen peroxide supply A hydrogen peroxide solution supply control valve (not shown) may be included between the devices 150 to supply an appropriate amount of hydrogen peroxide solution.

At this time, the first concentration of the hydrogen peroxide solution may be 60 wt% or less.

As described above, since the concentration of the hydrogen peroxide solution is limited to not more than 60% by weight in handling the hydrogen peroxide solution, that is, the hydrogen peroxide solution, it is practically difficult to use hydrogen peroxide as a sterilizing agent at a higher concentration.

That is, in the present invention, the first concentration of the hydrogen peroxide solution indicates the concentration of the hydrogen peroxide solution that can be handled, and has no significant meaning in understanding the purpose of the present invention.

Also, the first temperature may be 60 to 70 ° C, and the first pressure may be 800 mB to atmospheric pressure.

At this time, in step S120, the vaporization valve 131 and the collection valve 141 may be in a close state while the hydrogen peroxide solution of the first concentration is introduced into the vaporizer 130. However, Lt; / RTI >

In step S120, the pressure of the sterilization chamber 110 may be 600 mb to atmospheric pressure, the temperature may be 45 to 55 ° C, the pressure of the collector 140 may be 800 mb to atmospheric pressure, 42 < 0 > C.

Here, in the present invention, the first temperature is higher than the temperature of the sterilization chamber.

In the case of the first temperature, the temperature of the vaporizer corresponds to the temperature of the vaporizer in the process of vaporizing more steam from the hydrogen peroxide solution, and a very strong endothermic reaction occurs in the vaporization process of the steam, thereby greatly suppressing the vaporization rate.

At this time, in order to increase the vaporization rate, there is a method of increasing the degree of vacuum by lowering the pressure of the vaporizer. However, there is a disadvantage that the vaporization rate of hydrogen peroxide can be increased and consumption of hydrogen peroxide is increased. It is preferable that the first temperature is at least higher than the temperature of the sterilization chamber.

Next, the step of vaporizing the hydrogen peroxide solution of the first concentration to form the hydrogen peroxide solution of the second concentration is performed (S130).

That is, the first concentration of hydrogen peroxide introduced into the vaporizer 130 is vaporized (i.e., water is removed) to form a second concentration of hydrogen peroxide.

The second concentration of the hydrogen peroxide water may be from 75 wt% to 85 wt%, and the step of S130 may include the step of vaporizing moisture in the hydrogen peroxide water in an amount of 60 wt% or less to form hydrogen peroxide It may be the first concentration step.

Generally, at the same temperature and pressure, water evaporates more quickly because of higher vapor pressure than hydrogen peroxide, and the molecular weight of water is lower than that of hydrogen peroxide, so that water diffuses more rapidly into the gas phase than hydrogen peroxide.

Thus, since the water in the hydrogen peroxide water is evaporated / diffused earlier than the hydrogen peroxide, the second concentration of hydrogen peroxide can be formed because water (i.e., water) diffuses and diffuses more rapidly than hydrogen peroxide under the same temperature and pressure conditions.

At this time, the evaporated water is evacuated through the sterilization chamber 110 through the vacuum pump, and thus, in step S130, the vacuum pump 120 is turned on, and the vacuum valve 121 and the vaporization valve (131) corresponds to the open state.

On the other hand, in step S130, the temperature of the vaporizer 130 is temporarily lowered by the endothermic reaction in the vaporization process, and is in the range of 55 to 65 DEG C, and the pressure may be 30 to 800 mb have.

Also, while the evaporated water is evacuated through the sterilization chamber 110 and through the vacuum pump, the pressure of the sterilization chamber 110 may range from 10 to 600 mb and the temperature may be from 45 to 55 ° C , And the pressure of the collector 140 may range from 20 to 500 mb and the temperature may be from 35 to 40 占 폚.

Next, the step of injecting the hydrogen peroxide solution of the second concentration into the collector of the second temperature and the second pressure is performed (S140).

The vacuum pump 120 is operated in the on state and the vacuum valve 121 is in the open state in order to inject the hydrogen peroxide solution of the second concentration into the collector 140 of the second temperature and the second pressure, The vaporization valve 131 may be closed and the collection valve 141 may be controlled to be on.

At this time, the second temperature may be 35 to 42 ° C, and the second pressure may be 8 to 50 mb.

Also, while the second concentration of hydrogen peroxide is transferred from the vaporizer 130 to the collector 140, the pressure of the vaporizer 130 may be 10 to 60 mb, the temperature may be 55 to 60 ° C, Concentration hydrogen peroxide solution can be transferred from the vaporizer 130 to the collector 140 via the fifth connection pipe 132 and the first connection pipe 142.

Also, in step S140, the sterilization chamber 110 is continuously evacuated, the pressure of the sterilization chamber 110 may be 1 to 10 mb, and the temperature may be 45 to 55 ° C.

In this case, the second temperature is lower than the temperature of the sterilization chamber.

In the case of the second temperature, the hydrogen peroxide vapor at a second concentration corresponds to the temperature of the collector at which the hydrogen peroxide is collected, and when the hydrogen peroxide vapor saturated from the vaporizer is higher than the temperature of the chamber through the collector, the hydrogen peroxide vapor does not condense to the collector It can be exhausted through the chamber.

If the collector is higher than the chamber temperature at the stage where the vacuum pressure is constantly applied to the chamber to be evacuated, even though the hydrogen peroxide vapor is partially condensed at the early stage of the S140 / S150, which is somewhat higher in pressure, the hydrogen peroxide evaporation heat is lower than steam, So that the second temperature is lower than the temperature of the sterilization chamber, because the sterilization chamber can not remain in the sterilization chamber.

As described above, in the present invention, after the step of S130, that is, the step of vaporizing the hydrogen peroxide solution of the first concentration to form the hydrogen peroxide solution of the second concentration, the step of S140, that is, 2 < / RTI > pressure of the hydrogen peroxide solution at the second concentration.

For example, it may be considered to perform step S140 without the step S130, and to immediately introduce the hydrogen peroxide solution of the first concentration into the collector, but this is not preferable for the following reasons.

Table 1 below shows an example of the vaporization rate of hydrogen peroxide vapor by concentration of hydrogen peroxide water.

Referring to Table 1, it can be seen that the higher the concentration of hydrogen peroxide and the higher the set temperature, the higher the vaporization rate of the hydrogen peroxide vapor is as compared to the steam.

For example, at 50 占 폚, the vaporization rate of the hydrogen peroxide vapor at a concentration of 60% by weight of hydrogen peroxide is 13%, which means that the remaining 87% is water vapor and the vaporization rate of the hydrogen peroxide vapor at a concentration of 80% Is 40%, meaning that the remaining 60% is water vapor.

That is, performing step S140 without the step S130 may mean, for example, injecting the hydrogen peroxide solution with a concentration of 60% by weight into the collector. After performing step S130, step S140 is performed. Of hydrogen peroxide into the collector.

In this case, if the step S140 is performed without the step S130, the proportion of the water vapor passing through the collector in the initial stage is relatively high as compared with the case where the step S140 is performed after the step S130.

If the ratio of water vapor is higher than that of the hydrogen peroxide vapor, the water vapor enters the collector at a high pressure of the collector (when the temperature of the collector is 40 degrees, the saturated water vapor pressure is 75 mb) Can also be condensed in the collector.

Concentration of water vapor in the collector means that there is a limit to the concentration of hydrogen peroxide water that is concentrated by the amount of condensed water vapor.

Therefore, in the present invention, in order to prevent the water vapor from being first condensed in the collector and to prevent the concentration of the concentrated hydrogen peroxide water from being limited, in step S130, the hydrogen peroxide solution of the first concentration is vaporized, A step of injecting the hydrogen peroxide solution of the second concentration into the collector of the second temperature and the second pressure is performed in step S140.

Next, the hydrogen peroxide vapor in the second concentration of hydrogen peroxide water is condensed in the collector, and the water vapor is exhausted from the collector (S150). As described above, since water has a higher vapor pressure than hydrogen peroxide, Water is evaporated to a higher temperature than hydrogen peroxide because the molecular weight of water is lower than that of hydrogen peroxide so that water diffuses to the gas phase faster than hydrogen peroxide and therefore water (i.e., water) diffuses more rapidly than hydrogen peroxide under the same temperature and pressure conditions Water is evaporated / diffused prior to the hydrogen peroxide, so that the hydrogen peroxide vapor is condensed in the collector and the water vapor is exhausted from the collector to form a third concentration of hydrogen peroxide.

That is, water has a higher vapor pressure than hydrogen peroxide, and thus, in the vapor state, hydrogen peroxide is more easily condensed than water. Thus, the hydrogen peroxide water condensed in the collector can contain a higher concentration of hydrogen peroxide than the concentration of the hydrogen peroxide solution at the second concentration.

Meanwhile, in step S140, the pipe through which the hydrogen peroxide vapor and the steam pass passes through the fifth connection pipe, the first connection pipe, the third connection pipe, and the fourth connection pipe in this order. At this time, among the connection pipes, Should be higher than the temperature of the collector (140).

This is because if the pipe temperature before and after the hydrogen peroxide vapor reaches the collector is lower than that of the collector, the hydrogen peroxide vapor condensed in the pipe having a small inner diameter may remain in the condensed state in the pipe first, This is because the water vapor content due to decomposition may be increased at the stage of exposure to the chamber.

In addition, as shown in Table 1, the vapor ratio of water and hydrogen peroxide becomes similar at a high concentration (less than 85 wt%), and concentration by vaporization rate lowers the concentration efficiency.

Gaseous hydrogen peroxide vapor and water vapor can be condensed at the same pressure, for example, at 35 degrees, hydrogen peroxide condenses above 5 mb, and water vapor condenses above 55 mb.

Thus, for example, when the collector temperature during vacuum evacuation through the collection valve is 35 and the pressure is in the range of 5 to 55 mbar, the hydrogen peroxide vapor can condense and the water vapor can be exhausted from the collector.

In this case, the third concentration of the hydrogen peroxide solution may be 90 wt% to 95 wt%, and in step S150, hydrogen peroxide water in a concentration of 75 wt% to 85 wt% Aqueous hydrogen peroxide solution to form water.

Meanwhile, in step S140, the hydrogen peroxide solution at the second concentration in the hydrogen peroxide solution at the second concentration and the step of injecting the hydrogen peroxide solution at the second concentration into the collector of the second temperature and the second pressure are condensed in the collector, The steps S140 and S150 may be concurrently performed. However, the steps S140 and S150 may be performed simultaneously.

That is, the hydrogen peroxide solution at the second concentration is introduced into the collector of the second temperature and the second pressure while at the same time, the hydrogen peroxide vapor in the hydrogen peroxide solution of the second concentration is condensed in the collector, and the water vapor is exhausted from the collector .

At this time, the evaporated water is vacuum-exhausted through the vacuum pump. Thus, in step S150, the vacuum pump 120 is turned on and the vacuum valve 121 is opened, In order for the evaporated water to be evacuated through a vacuum pump, the collection valve 141 corresponds to an open state.

Next, the sterilization chamber is lowered to a predetermined pressure and the hydrogen peroxide solution at the third concentration is concentrated at a fourth concentration of hydrogen peroxide solution (S160).

At this time, the predetermined pressure should be a set pressure for sterilizing in the sterilization chamber, and when the sterilizing agent is hydrogen peroxide vapor, it should be a degree of vacuum easy to diffuse.

Thus, the set pressure may be between 0.5 and 1.3 mb, and the temperature of the sterilization chamber may be between 45 and 55 < 0 > C.

The fourth concentration of the hydrogen peroxide solution may be 95 wt% or more. Step S160 is a step of vaporizing moisture in the hydrogen peroxide water at a concentration of 90 wt% to 95 wt%, thereby producing hydrogen peroxide water Step.

At this time, the evaporated water is vacuum evacuated through the vacuum pump. Accordingly, in step S160, the vacuum pump 120 is turned on and the vacuum valve 121 is opened.

Meanwhile, in step S160, the collecting valve 141 may repeat the open state and the close state.

That is, in concentrating the hydrogen peroxide solution of the third concentration into the hydrogen peroxide solution of the fourth concentration, the higher the concentration of the hydrogen peroxide solution, the lower the pressure at which the hydrogen peroxide solution in the liquid phase can be evaporated.

For example, under the same temperature condition of 45 ° C, the hydrogen peroxide is evaporated at a pressure of about 20 mb or less at a concentration of 80% by weight of hydrogen peroxide, but a pressure of about 11 mb or less at a concentration of 90% .

This is because, in concentrating the hydrogen peroxide solution at the third concentration with the hydrogen peroxide solution at the fourth concentration, the hydrogen peroxide is vaporized instead of vaporizing only water, so that it becomes difficult to concentrate the hydrogen peroxide solution to a predetermined concentration.

That is, the high concentration of hydrogen peroxide can continue to decompose, and the moisture generated during the decomposition lowers the concentration of hydrogen peroxide.

Therefore, in order to remove moisture as a small amount of impurities, water can be effectively removed while suppressing the removal of hydrogen peroxide vaporized when the pressure is increased / decreased repeatedly within a fluctuation range of 0.1 to 2 mb.

Such a water removal method takes a long time at a low concentration stage, but is effective for removing a small amount of moisture at a high concentration stage and is effective at maintaining a high concentration at least.

Thus, by lowering the sterilization chamber to a constant pressure, the pressure of the collector 140 containing the third concentration of hydrogen peroxide water is continuously lowered to prevent the hydrogen peroxide from evaporating at lower pressures, The valve 141 can prevent the pressure of the collector 140 from being continuously lowered by repeating the open state and the close state.

At this time, the pressure of the collector 140 may be 5 to 10 mb, the temperature may be 35 to 40 ° C, the pressure of the vaporizer 130 may be 7 to 10 mb, and the temperature may be 60 to 70 ° C.

On the other hand, in step S160, since the aqueous solution of the vaporizer is completely exhausted, the temperature is restored in a vacuum state, and the collector collects highly concentrated hydrogen peroxide and a small amount of water is removed or remains in the collector while maintaining an appropriate pressure.

At this time, the collector can be lowered to a lower temperature by a temperature control means to prevent excessive exhaustion of hydrogen peroxide.

Next, the hydrogen peroxide vapor of the hydrogen peroxide solution having the fourth concentration is put into the sterilization chamber to sterilize the object to be treated (S170).

In step S170, the vaporization valve 131 is in the open state and the collection valve is in the open or close state in order to put hydrogen peroxide vapor of the fourth concentration in the collector 140 into the sterilization chamber 110 .

That is, the movement of the hydrogen peroxide vapor from the collector 140 to the sterilization chamber 110 can be moved through the first connection pipe 142 and the second connection pipe 133.

As described above, in the present invention, the first connection pipe 142 connecting the collector 140 and the vaporization valve 131 and the second connection pipe 142 connecting the vaporization valve 131 and the sterilization chamber 110 The third connection pipe 143 to the fifth connection pipe 132 may be larger in diameter than the other connection pipes 143 to 133. For example, In the case of the 1/4 inch pipe, the first connection pipe 142 and the second connection pipe 133 may be 1 inch pipe.

This is because when the hydrogen peroxide vapor is moved from the collector 140 to the sterilization chamber 110 through the first connection pipe 142 and the second connection pipe 133 and the hydrogen peroxide vapor is introduced into the fifth connection pipe 132 The hydrogen peroxide vapor may flow into the first connection pipe 142 having a relatively large inner diameter and the hydrogen peroxide vapor may not flow into the fifth connection pipe 132 having a relatively small inner diameter.

Further, in the present invention, it is preferable that the hydrogen peroxide vapor is put into the sterilization chamber, and the sterilization treatment is carried out in a state where the temperature of the hydrogen peroxide vapor is not high.

When the temperature of the hydrogen peroxide vapor vaporized in the collector before the hydrogen peroxide vapor is sufficiently saturated in the sterilization chamber enters the sterilization chamber at a temperature higher than the temperature of the sterilization chamber, the density of the hydrogen peroxide vapor in the inlet path becomes excessive, The absolute amount of diffusion into the sterilization chamber in the gaseous state is reduced, and the diffusion effect for sterilization can be adversely affected.

In this case, in the present invention, the piping between the collector 140 and the sterilization chamber 110 may have an inner diameter larger than that of other piping. The larger piping inner diameter means that the amount of movement of the gas is large. If the inner diameter is large, the vaporization driving force due to the degree of vacuum strongly increases as the amount of movement of the gas increases, so that the temperature rise of the hydrogen peroxide vapor in the gaseous state can be prevented.

That is, when the amount of gas movement is small, the time during which the hydrogen peroxide vapor stays in the collector is increased correspondingly, and the rate of the decomposition reaction of the hydrogen peroxide vapor is increased in a collector requiring a temperature rise for vaporization and migration of hydrogen peroxide. The concentration of water vapor and oxygen gas becomes high. This may lead to the loss of the purpose of the previous step in minimizing the amount of water vapor, which is an obstacle to the hydrogen peroxide diffusion, in the vaporization stage, which may weaken the sterilization performance.

Therefore, in the present invention, the pipe between the collector 140 and the sterilization chamber 110 can be inserted into the sterilization chamber in a state where the temperature of the hydrogen peroxide vapor is not high by increasing the inner diameter of the pipe in the other path, Since the decomposition reaction is minimized, it is easy for the hydrogen peroxide vapor to approach the sterilized material through a sufficient diffusion into the vapor phase, so that a good sterilization effect can be obtained.

On the other hand, when the hydrogen peroxide vapor of the fourth concentration of hydrogen peroxide is put into the sterilization chamber, the hydrogen peroxide is vaporized and diffused into the sterilization chamber. Before the temperature of the collector 140 reaches the temperature of the sterilization chamber, The temperature raising rate of the collector 140 can be controlled to be completed.

That is, in order to promote the vaporization of hydrogen peroxide, the collector 140 may be heated by a temperature control means, wherein heating of the collector is carried out in such a way that before the temperature of the collector reaches the temperature of the sterilization chamber, The rate of temperature rise can be controlled to be 80% or more.

At this time, the pressure of the sterilization chamber 110 may be 0.5 to 15 mb, and the temperature may be 45 to 55 ° C.

Also, the pressure of the collector 140 may be 0.5 to 15 mb, the temperature may be 30 to 70 ° C, the pressure of the vaporizer 130 may be 0.5 to 15 mb, and the temperature may be 60 to 70 ° C or more.

The pressure and temperature conditions in the respective steps are summarized in Table 2 below.

Table 3 summarizes the state of the vacuum pump and the valves in each step.

As described above, in order to improve the sterilizing performance, it is preferable to use more concentrated hydrogen peroxide solution. The use of a more concentrated hydrogen peroxide solution is effective when the concentration of the hydrogen peroxide solution is less than 60 wt% It is difficult to use a high concentration of hydrogen peroxide as a sterilizing agent.

However, in the present invention, more than 95% by weight of hydrogen peroxide can be used as a sterilizing agent through the concentration step of each step, and the sterilizing effect can be greatly improved by reducing the diffusion obstruction factor by steam.

In addition, after the aqueous hydrogen peroxide solution of the second concentration is prepared by removing moisture from the hydrogen peroxide aqueous solution of the first concentration, which is the firstly supplied S130 step, the above step S140 and step S150 are performed, It is possible to reduce the possibility of doing so.

In addition, when the hydrogen peroxide solution is fed into the collector, the saturated vapor pressure of the water depending on the pressure of the collector of the hydrogen peroxide solution and the temperature of the collector, that is, the vaporization / condensation boundary pressure, .

In the present invention, the object can be sterilized by the above-described sterilization apparatus and the sterilization method using the sterilization apparatus. However, the above-described sterilization apparatus and sterilization method using the sterilization apparatus are only examples. In the present invention, The method of sterilization to be used is not limited.

Hereinafter, a sterilizing device capable of measuring the concentration of hydrogen peroxide according to the present invention and a method of measuring the concentration of hydrogen peroxide in the sterilizing device will be described.

For this reason, it is common to use an aqueous hydrogen peroxide solution having a concentration of not more than 60% by weight which can be handled, as a sterilizing agent by concentrating the hydrogen peroxide solution at a high concentration of, for example, 95% It is not easy to measure the concentration of the hydrogen peroxide in the sterilization chamber of the sterilization apparatus.

Therefore, in the present invention, there is provided a sterilization apparatus capable of accurately detecting the concentration of hydrogen peroxide in hydrogen peroxide water by avoiding enlargement and complication of the sterilizing apparatus, and a method of measuring the hydrogen peroxide concentration of the sterilization apparatus, As follows.

1 and 2, the sterilization apparatus according to the present invention comprises a sterilization chamber; A vacuum pump connected to one side of the sterilization chamber; A carburetor connected to the other side of the sterilization chamber; And a collector connected to the sterilizing chamber, one side of which is connected to the vaporizer, and the other side of which is connected to the sterilizing chamber.

The sterilization apparatus according to the present invention includes a first humidity sensor 111 located in an internal region of the sterilization chamber 110 and a second humidity sensor 112 located adjacent to the first humidity sensor 111, .

That is, in the present invention, the concentration of hydrogen peroxide in the sterilization chamber 110 is measured through the first humidity sensor 111 and the second humidity sensor 112.

Meanwhile, the sterilization chamber corresponds to a target space for measuring the concentration of hydrogen peroxide. The target space may be a sterilization chamber as described above. Alternatively, the sterilization chamber may be an aseptic chamber requiring sterility, have.

That is, the object space may be a chamber, an operating room, or a clean room, but does not limit the kind of the object space in the present invention.

In the present invention, the first humidity sensor 111 is a sensor whose relative humidity is determined by the amount of water vapor and the amount of hydrogen peroxide, and the second humidity sensor 112 determines the relative humidity only by the amount of water vapor Sensor.

In the present invention, the relative humidity is determined only by the amount of water vapor in the second humidity sensor 112, or the second humidity sensor directly measures the relative humidity with respect to the amount of water vapor, The sensor includes measuring the absolute humidity with respect to the amount of water vapor and converting the absolute humidity into the relative humidity.

Since it is obvious in the art to convert the absolute humidity of water vapor to the relative humidity, a detailed description will be omitted below.

More specifically, the first humidity sensor may be a moisture sensor of a moisture adsorption type, a humidity sensor of a saturation type, or a humidity sensor of an absorption type. More specifically, the humidity sensor of the moisture adsorption type may be a capacitive type The moisture sensor may be a humidity sensor, a resistance-change type humidity sensor, a hair hygrometer, a carbon film hygrometer, an electric hygrometer, and a color hygrometer, and the saturation type humidity sensor may be a dew- The humidity sensor may be a volumetric hygrometer, an electrolytic hygrometer, or a weighted hygrometer.

As described above, in the present invention, the first humidity sensor 111 is a sensor whose relative humidity is determined by the amount of water vapor and the amount of hydrogen peroxide.

At this time, the principle of measuring the concentration of hydrogen peroxide using a sensor for measuring the relative humidity of water, such as the first humidity sensor described above, is that the vapor pressure of VHP (highly concentrated hydrogen peroxide vapor) It is measured by the degree of humidification.

Particularly, in the case of using a capacitive humidity sensor, it is a very important principle that the value of the relative dielectric constant can be directly substituted and used because the water and the hydrogen peroxide are almost the same.

That is, since the method of measuring the relative humidity of water and the method of measuring the relative saturation of VHP are the same, the first humidity sensor, such as the capacitive humidity sensor, can determine the relative humidity by the amount of water vapor and the amount of hydrogen peroxide will be.

Also, the second humidity sensor 112 may be a humidity sensor by a spectroscopic method, and the humidity sensor by a spectroscopic method may be a non-dispersive infrared (NDIR) hygrometer or a near-infrared hygrometer.

As described above, in the case of the first humidity sensor, the relative humidity can be determined by the amount of water vapor and the amount of hydrogen peroxide.

However, the second humidity sensor in a spectroscopic manner corresponds to a sensor whose relative humidity is determined only by the amount of water vapor.

For example, since the non-dispersive IR hygrometer measures a degree of absorbance of a selective IR of 6.1 um, which is the absorption spectrum region of water in the IR region, hydrogen peroxide (H ₂ O ₂ ) having different absorption bands 2.93um) is a highly selectable hygrometer.

On the other hand, in general, a humidity sensor is a sensor for detecting humidity in an object, and there are well-known relative humidity and absolute humidity as a concept of the humidity.

More specifically, the absolute humidity refers to the mass of actual water vapor contained in 1 L of air, and the relative humidity refers to the amount of actual water vapor contained in air divided by the maximum amount of water vapor the air can contain under a given temperature and pressure to be.

For example, one liter of air at 1 atmospheric pressure and 37 degrees Celsius may contain as much as 44 grams of water vapor. If the air with the same air pressure and temperature has 11 grams of water vapor, then the relative humidity is 25% (11g / 44 g x 100).

That is, such a humidity sensor is well known as a sensor for detecting the amount of water vapor contained in the air.

At this time, as representative types of such humidity sensors, there are a capacitance type humidity sensor and a resistance change type humidity sensor.

First, the resistance-variable type humidity sensor uses a characteristic in which the resistance changes according to the amount of moisture in the humidity-sensitive film in response to a change in humidity. An alternating current is applied to obtain a change signal. Depending on the material of the humidity- Can be classified.

For example, in the case of a polymer type in which the humidity-sensitive material is a polymer, in the case of a ceramic type in which a water molecule and a polymer combine with air to form ions, electric conductivity is generated, and the humidity-sensitive material is a ceramic, moisture adsorbed on the porous surface The electrons are separated to produce ions, which cause electrical conductivity.

That is, the concentration of ions is changed according to the change of the relative humidity, which is measured by the impedance change of the sensor element and the relative humidity is detected. The conversion circuit for obtaining the electric signal from the sensor is simple, .

Such a resistance-change type humidity sensor is generally well-known humidity sensor, and hence a detailed description thereof will be omitted. For example, Korean Utility Model Application No. 20-1998-0026410 and Korean Patent Application No. 10-2010-0000557 And the like.

For example, the resistance-variable humidity sensor may be formed by sputtering a platinum (Pt) thin film on the upper surface of a sintered alumina substrate to form a pattern in the shape of an electrode, and applying a moisture-sensitive polymer to the upper surface of the platinum thin film pattern.

Next, the capacitance type humidity sensor has a lower electrode on a substrate, uniformly applying a moisture-retaining material of a polymer to the upper portion of the lower electrode, and an upper electrode of a nature capable of applying humidity to the upper portion of the moisture- .

Generally, a Au electrode and a moisture-resistant material are used for a glass or ceramic substrate, and the humidity-sensitive material applied to the sensor is a cellulosic ester compound such as cellulose acetone or a polymer material such as polyvinyl alcohol, polyacryl, polyvinylpyride Is used.

The principle of detecting humidity in such a capacitive humidity sensor is as follows.

That is, the relative dielectric constant of the polymer material is about 3 in the dry state, while the relative dielectric constant is changed to be high while absorbing water molecules (relative dielectric constant 80) in the air. By changing the relative dielectric constant, Can be detected.

Such a capacitive humidity sensor is a well-known humidity sensor, and hence a detailed description thereof will be omitted. For example, Korean Patent Application No. 10-2007-0135890 and Korean Patent Application No. 10-2012-0027010 Can be referred to.

For example, the capacitance type humidity sensor includes: a lower electrode formed on a substrate; A humidity sensing layer for applying and desorbing moisture on the lower electrode; And a plurality of upper electrodes formed on the humidity sensing layer.

As described above, the humidity sensor, that is, the capacitive humidity sensor and the resistance change type humidity sensor are well known as sensors for detecting the amount of water vapor contained in the air.

However, the applicant of the present invention confirmed that, in the case of the electrostatic capacity type humidity sensor, the value detected by not only the amount of water vapor but also the amount of hydrogen peroxide changes, and, taking note of this, the first humidity sensor 111 and the second A method of measuring the concentration of hydrogen peroxide in the sterilization chamber 110 through the humidity sensor 112 has been developed.

In the case of the capacitance type humidity sensor, not only the amount of water vapor but also the amount of hydrogen peroxide to be detected is changed as follows.

4 is a graph showing the reaction of the capacitive humidity sensor in the sterilizer.

That is, in the present invention, in order to confirm that the concentration of hydrogen peroxide can be measured through the capacitance type humidity sensor, the response of the capacitance type humidity sensor in the process of sterilization in the sterilization apparatus is measured.

Referring to FIG. 4, while evacuating the chamber, the process of concentrating the hydrogen peroxide solution while evaporating the hydrogen peroxide solution through the concentration module proceeded. (50 sec to 300 sec)

Thereafter, the hydrogen peroxide concentrated at a high concentration diffuses into the sterilization chamber, and the pressure in the sterilization chamber increases, and it can be confirmed that the relative humidity of the capacitance humidity sensor is approximately 100% measured in proportion thereto. (300 sec to 450 sec)

In this case, when the temperature of the vacuum sterilization chamber is 50 ° C., the relative humidity must be 100 mV or more, and the pressure of the sterilization chamber injected only with hydrogen peroxide vapor (VHP) is 12 ~ 15mb.

That is, for example, in order for the relative humidity of the capacitive humidity sensor to be 100%, the value of the pressure inside the sterilization chamber must be more than 120 mb at the pressure of the water vapor only when the temperature of the sterilization chamber is 50 ° C Actually, it was only 12 ~ 15mb of the sterilization chamber.

As a result, it can be confirmed that the relative humidity, which is not determined by the amount of water vapor, but the amount of hydrogen peroxide influences the determination of relative humidity as the relative humidity of the capacitive humidity sensor reaches 100% Therefore, it can be confirmed that the relative humidity is determined not only by the amount of water vapor but also by the amount of hydrogen peroxide in the capacitance type humidity sensor.

Therefore, it can be confirmed that the relative humidity detected by the capacitance type humidity sensor is determined by the amount of water vapor and the amount of hydrogen peroxide.

At this time, the humidity sensor according to the spectroscopic method, unlike the capacitive humidity sensor, only determines the relative humidity according to the amount of water vapor.

That is, in the case of the capacitive humidity sensor as the first humidity sensor, the relative humidity is determined by the amount of water vapor and the amount of hydrogen peroxide. In the case of the humidity sensor by the spectroscopic method as the second humidity sensor, The relative humidity is determined by the amount.

Therefore, if the difference between the relative humidity detected by the first humidity sensor and the relative humidity detected by the second humidity sensor is calculated, the ratio of the relative humidity determined by the amount of hydrogen peroxide can be calculated.

As described above, in the present invention, when the second humidity sensor 112 determines the relative humidity only by the amount of water vapor, the second humidity sensor directly measures the relative humidity with respect to the amount of water vapor , The second humidity sensor measures the absolute humidity with respect to the amount of water vapor, and the absolute humidity is converted into the relative humidity.

That is, the absolute humidity of the target space can be measured through the second humidity sensor, and the absolute humidity can be converted into the relative humidity, so that the second relative humidity of the target space can be detected through the second humidity sensor.

The method for measuring the concentration of hydrogen peroxide according to the present invention is as follows.

5 is a flow chart for explaining a method of measuring the hydrogen peroxide concentration according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 5, the method of measuring hydrogen peroxide concentration according to the present invention includes detecting a first relative humidity by a first humidity sensor (S210).

In this case, the first humidity sensor may be typically a capacitive humidity sensor. As described above, the relative humidity of the capacitive humidity sensor is determined according to the amount of water vapor and the amount of hydrogen peroxide, 1 Relative humidity corresponds to the relative humidity with the amount of water vapor and the amount of hydrogen peroxide.

Next, the hydrogen peroxide concentration measuring method according to the present invention includes detecting the second relative humidity by the second humidity sensor (S220).

The second humidity sensor may be a non-dispersion infrared humidity sensor. As described above, the non-dispersion infrared humidity sensor determines the relative humidity only by the amount of water vapor, It corresponds to the relative humidity according to the amount of water vapor.

Next, the hydrogen peroxide concentration measuring method according to the present invention includes deriving a difference value between the first relative humidity and the second relative humidity (S230).

In the case of the first humidity sensor, the relative humidity is determined by the amount of water vapor and the amount of hydrogen peroxide, but in the case of the second humidity sensor, the relative humidity is determined only by the amount of water vapor.

Therefore, the ratio of the relative humidity determined by the amount of hydrogen peroxide can be calculated by calculating the difference between the first relative humidity detected by the first humidity sensor and the second relative humidity detected by the second humidity sensor.

Next, the hydrogen peroxide concentration measuring method according to the present invention includes calculating the concentration of hydrogen peroxide through the difference value (S240).

As described above, in the present invention, the concentration of hydrogen peroxide vapor is measured by the ratio of saturated water vapor pressure. Therefore, when the supersaturated hydrogen peroxide vapor flows into the chamber of the sterilizing apparatus, When the temperature of the humidity sensor is lower than the space to be measured, the supersaturated hydrogen peroxide vapor can be condensed in the humidity sensor and measured to be lower than the actual concentration.

Therefore, in the present invention, it is preferable that the temperatures of the first humidity sensor and the second humidity sensor are controlled to be higher than those of the measurement target space, i.e., a chamber, an operating room, or a clean room.

Hereinafter, a method of measuring the concentration of hydrogen peroxide by the first humidity sensor and the second humidity sensor will be described.

However, the following method is only an example, and the present invention does not limit the following measurement method.

Table 4 below shows the saturated vapor pressure with temperature.

That is, Table 4 shows examples of the saturated water vapor pressure and the hydrogen peroxide saturated water vapor pressure according to each temperature.

First, it is assumed that the first relative humidity detected by the first humidity sensor is 80% and the second relative humidity detected by the second humidity sensor is 30%.

At this time, it is assumed that the second relative humidity detected by the second humidity sensor is 30%, as described above, when the second humidity sensor directly measures the relative humidity with respect to the amount of water vapor, 2 humidity sensor measures the absolute humidity with respect to the amount of water vapor, and converts the absolute humidity to relative humidity.

Therefore, it can be assumed that the second relative humidity is 30%, which has been converted from the absolute humidity measured by the second humidity sensor.

It is also assumed that the temperature in the sterilization chamber is 45 ° C, the atmospheric pressure is 1000mb, and the volume of the sterilization chamber is 1000L.

At this time, the difference between the first relative humidity and the second relative humidity is 50%, and therefore, the difference value 50% between the first relative humidity and the second relative humidity corresponds to the ratio of the relative humidity determined by the amount of hydrogen peroxide do.

That is, the relative humidity reacted by the hydrogen peroxide vapor in the air in the sterilization chamber corresponds to 50%.

At this time, since the temperature in the sterilization chamber is 45 캜, referring to Table 4, the saturated vapor pressure of hydrogen peroxide at a temperature of 45 캜 corresponds to 9.8 mb.

On the other hand, the hydrogen peroxide vapor pressure x in the sterilization chamber corresponds to 50% = (x mb / 9.8 mb) x 100%, since the relative humidity (%) = (current water vapor pressure / saturated water vapor pressure) Equivalent to vapor pressure x = 4.9 mb.

At this time, since the atmospheric pressure in the sterilization chamber is 1000mb, the gas concentration of the hydrogen peroxide vapor corresponds to (4.9mb / 1000mb) x100% = 0.49%.

Converting this into the weight per volume, the ideal gas volume at 45 ° C corresponds to (22.4 L / mol (273 k) × (273 + 45)) / 273 = 26.09 L / mol.

Therefore, dividing the gas concentration of the hydrogen peroxide vapor by 0.49% by the ideal gas volume at that temperature, i.e., 0.49% / 26.09 (L / mol) = 0.0188 mol%, thus hydrogen peroxide vapor in the 1000 L volume sterilization chamber 0.000188 mol / L.

At this time, since the molecular weight of hydrogen peroxide is 34 g / mol, it can be expressed at a concentration of 6.4 mg / L.

In this way, the concentration of hydrogen peroxide can be measured by the first humidity sensor and the second humidity sensor.

As described above, it is not easy to measure the concentration of the hydrogen peroxide in the sterilization chamber of the sterilization apparatus when the hydrogen peroxide water is concentrated to a high concentration of hydrogen peroxide solution and used as the sterilant.

However, in the present invention, a first humidity sensor and a second humidity sensor are included in a subject space such as a sterilization chamber, and the relative humidity is detected by each of these sensors. The concentration of hydrogen peroxide Can be easily measured.

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, It will be understood. It is therefore to be understood that the above-described embodiments are illustrative in all aspects and not restrictive.

Claims

A sterilization apparatus comprising a sterilization chamber,
Wherein the sterilizing chamber includes a first humidity sensor located in an internal certain region and a second humidity sensor located adjacent to the first humidity sensor,
The first humidity sensor detects a first relative humidity by the amount of hydrogen peroxide and the amount of water vapor and the second humidity sensor detects a second relative humidity by the amount of water vapor,
Wherein the first relative humidity is determined based on the amount of the hydrogen peroxide and the amount of the water vapor, and the second relative humidity is determined only by the amount of the water vapor.

The method according to claim 1,
The first humidity sensor may be a humidity sensor of a moisture absorption type, a humidity sensor of a saturated type, or a humidity sensor of an absorption type,
Wherein the second humidity sensor is a humidity sensor based on a spectroscopic method.

3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein the concentration of the hydrogen peroxide is calculated by calculating a difference between the first relative humidity detected by the first humidity sensor and the second relative humidity detected by the second humidity sensor.

Detecting a first relative humidity by a first humidity sensor;
Detecting a second relative humidity by a second humidity sensor;
Deriving a difference value between the first relative humidity and the second relative humidity; And
Calculating the concentration of hydrogen peroxide through said difference value,
Wherein the first relative humidity is determined based on the amount of hydrogen peroxide and the amount of water vapor, and the second relative humidity is determined only by the amount of the water vapor.

delete

5. The method of claim 4,
The first humidity sensor may be a humidity sensor of a moisture absorption type, a humidity sensor of a saturated type, or a humidity sensor of an absorption type,
Wherein the second humidity sensor is a humidity sensor based on a spectroscopic method.

In a target space for measuring the concentration of hydrogen peroxide,
Wherein the object space includes a first humidity sensor located in an internal constant area and a second humidity sensor located adjacent to the first humidity sensor,
The first humidity sensor detects a first relative humidity by the amount of hydrogen peroxide and the amount of water vapor and the second humidity sensor detects a second relative humidity by the amount of water vapor,
Wherein the first relative humidity is determined based on the amount of the hydrogen peroxide and the amount of the water vapor, and the second relative humidity is determined only by the amount of the water vapor.

8. The method of claim 7,
The first humidity sensor may be a humidity sensor of a moisture absorption type, a humidity sensor of a saturated type, or a humidity sensor of an absorption type,
Wherein the second humidity sensor is a humidity sensor by a spectroscopic method.