KR20220058787A - Method for sterilizing and purifying exhaust pollutants in cages of laboratory animals - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method for sterilizing and purifying air (pollutant) exhausted from a breeding cage for culturing a laboratory animal such as a mouse. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method for sterilizing and purifying an exhaust pollutant in a laboratory animal breeding cage by providing a sterilization and purification apparatus. The apparatus primarily performs AOP lamp-based sterilization of bacteria, fungi and viruses that may be contained in pollutants with respect to exhaust pollutant air in a breeding cage to perform contaminant and odor decomposition and removal. Sterilization by irradiation with a UV lamp is secondarily performed, and then exhaust can be performed through a filter (pre-filter, HEPA filter). In a case where the method of the present invention is used, efficient sterilization and removal can be performed against a pollutant in a breeding cage. In addition, an optimum air environment can be maintained in the breeding cage in accordance with the sizes of intake and exhaust pipes and intra-breeding cage air information.

Description

Method for sterilizing and purifying exhaust pollutants in cages of laboratory animals

The present invention relates to a method for sterilizing and purifying air exhausted from a breeding cage (a pollutant) for culturing experimental animals such as mice. Sterilize bacteria, mold, and virus that may be included, decompose and remove contaminants and odors, sterilize through UV lamp irradiation a second time, and then sterilize and purify so that it can be exhausted through filters (pre-filter, HEPA filter) It relates to a method for sterilizing and purifying exhaust pollutants of laboratory animal breeding cages by providing an apparatus.

Korea has been intensively nurturing the bio industry and pharmaceutical industry, and these industries are particularly the future food technology of Korea. Many bio and pharmaceutical companies around the world are conducting animal clinical trials in Korea.

In general, animals such as mice were mainly used for experiments in order to develop drugs necessary for the human body, and breeding cages for breeding these experimental animals were developed.

In addition, a method for efficiently managing conditions such as appropriate temperature, humidity, and ventilation for a plurality of breeding cages installed in an animal breeding room has been developed.

As such, it is important to minimize variables other than drug injection in experimental animals used for experiments in order to develop drugs necessary for the human body. To this end, the technology for maintaining the conditions of the breeding cage in which the experimental animals live in an optimal state is an important technology for the bio industry and the pharmaceutical industry, and the importance of the technology in this field is expected to increase in the future.

In this related prior art, Registered Patent No. 10-0357051, an inner space portion is provided and a plurality of breeding barrels are formed on the upper surface with an insertion hole to be coupled while maintaining airtightness, and dirt and air falling from the breeding barrel inside the enclosure are guided downward. A waste collection passage installed to be inclined downward as much as possible, a ventilation collection passage installed to have a ventilation passage below the garbage collection tube, a duct installed in the housing to communicate with the ventilation passage, and a blower installed on the duct to generate suction force; , There is disclosed a device for discharging odors in a breeding cage for small animals, characterized in that it includes a door that is operably installed on the side wall of the enclosure.

However, this prior art simply focuses on discharging the bad smell of the breeding cage, and maintains the ventilation state inside the breeding cage in an optimal state and can determine whether there is an error inside the system for maintaining this state. There was a problem that the means were not disclosed.

In particular, since the experimental animals may be stressed by the air flow or noise caused by the air flow inside the breeding cage, it is very important to manage ACH (Air Change per Hour) inside the breeding cage. Therefore, there is a need for a system and a method for efficiently managing the ACH inside the breeding cage as well as solving the above problems.

Accordingly, the applicant and the University of Ulsan have developed the following system as an industry-university collaboration project.

Hereinafter, a system developed in the past will be briefly described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 13 .

1 and 2 are views showing a ventilation management system of a breeding cage for culturing experimental animals.

Referring to FIG. 1 , a ventilation management system for a breeding cage 10 using a blower motor includes an intake unit 20 , a measurement unit 30 , an exhaust unit 40 , and a control unit 50 in detail.

The exhaust unit 40 discharges the air inside the breeding cage 10 for culturing the experimental animals to the outside of the breeding cage. The dictionary meaning of exhaust is to exhaust air from the inside to the outside.

According to FIG. 2 , the exhaust unit 40 includes an exhaust pipe 41 , a first blower motor 42 for exhaust, a primary filter for purifying air exhausted using the first blower motor 42 , a first It may include a first measurement unit 31 for measuring information on the air exhausted by using the blower motor 42 .

The exhaust pipe 41 refers to a pipe connecting the plurality of breeding cages 10 and the exhaust unit 40 .

The primary filter may include a pre-filter for filtering relatively large dust and the like and a Hepa filter for filtering out particulates in the air.

Due to the primary filter, it is possible to always keep the air inside the breeding cage 10 for culturing the experimental animals clean. However, it is desirable to replace the pre-filter or HEPA filter at an appropriate time.

In this case, the air information may mean all information about the air inside the breeding cage 10 for culturing the experimental animals. Specifically, the air information may include all of air components (CO2, NH3, O2, H2O, etc.), air flow speed (ie, flow rate), air flow direction, odor components, temperature, humidity, and the like.

Referring to FIG. 2 , the first measuring unit 31 is a configuration for measuring information on air exhausted by the exhaust unit 40 , and may include various sensors. At this time, the sensors used may refer to all sensors that measure the air information.

The intake unit 20 sends the air, whose information is measured by the first measurement unit 31 , into the breeding cage 10 for culturing the experimental animal.

According to FIG. 2 , the intake unit 20 includes an intake pipe 21 , a second blower motor 22 for intake air, and a secondary filter for purifying the intake air using the second blower motor 22 , the first 2 It may include a second measurement unit 32 for measuring information on the intake air using the blower motor 22 .

The intake pipe 21 refers to a pipe connecting the plurality of breeding cages 10 and the intake unit 20 .

The secondary filter may have the same configuration as the primary filter including the pre-filter and the HEPA filter. In this way, by using the primary and secondary filters to purify the air double, there is an effect of minimizing the stress that the experimental animals can feel.

The control unit 50 adjusts the RPM of the first blower motor 42 and/or the second blower motor 22 according to the value measured by the first measurement unit 31 and/or the second measurement unit 32, ACH (Air Change per Hour) of the breeding cage 10 is controlled. At this time, ACH (Air Change per Hour) is a very important factor in the management of the breeding cage 10 for culturing the experimental animals.

Experimental animals raised in breeding cages consume or excrete feed inside the cage. Gas components such as ammonia generated from excrement of experimental animals, carbon dioxide and water vapor generated from respiration of experimental animals, and internal temperature increase caused by body heat of experimental animals may have a detrimental effect on the health of experimental animals.

It can also affect the stress management of experimental animals.

Therefore, it is very important to circulate and purify the air inside the breeding cage 10 for culturing the experimental animals. In order to minimize the effect on the experimental animal, it is preferable that the differential pressure between the intake part 20 and the exhaust part 40 is zero or close to zero.

As described above, while the differential pressure between the intake part 20 and the exhaust part 40 is set to 0, the ventilation management system of the breeding cage 10 for culturing the experimental animals is precisely operated to circulate the air inside the breeding cage 10 . It is important to be

3 is a graph showing the air volume according to the RPM of the blower motor.

The blower motor may refer to a motor that rotates a fan in order to circulate air inside a specific space. Here, it refers to all configurations for circulating air inside the breeding cage 10 for culturing experimental animals.

In the case of breeding of experimental animals for culturing experimental animals, even the flow of air may cause variables such as stressing the experimental animals.

In addition, it is preferable that there is also little change in pressure generated by the blower motor.

Such a blower motor may control the RPM (Revolutions Per Minute) to adjust the air volume.

Referring to FIG. 3 , it can be seen that the RPM and the air volume have a proportional relationship.

4 is a photograph of implementing a ventilation management system of a breeding cage for culturing experimental animals.

According to FIG. 4 , the ventilation management system of the breeding cage 10 for culturing experimental animals includes a plurality of breeding cages 10 , a fixing frame 11 , an intake part 20 , a measurement part 30 , and an exhaust part 40 . ), a control unit 50 , a display unit 60 and an air conditioner may be included. At this time, the intake unit 20 , the measurement unit 30 , the exhaust unit 40 , and the control unit 50 are the same as described with reference to FIG. 1 .

The plurality of breeding cages 10 have a hexahedral shape, the length of the side surface is longer than the top and bottom surfaces, and the inner space is a breeding space (not shown) in which the experimental animals are bred and the feces and urine excreted by the experimental animals are dropped and stored. It may be divided into a storage space (not shown).

That is, each breeding cage 10 may include a pedestal (not shown), and the upper space of the pedestal is a breeding space (not shown), and the lower space is partitioned into a storage space (not shown). A nozzle is connected to the side of each breeding cage 10 , and air can be sucked in or exhausted from each breeding cage 10 through the nozzle.

In addition, the upper surface of each breeding cage 10 may be configured to be able to open and close so that the experimental animals can be put into or removed from the breeding space.

In addition, a water supply unit capable of supplying water to the experimental animals and a food supply unit (not shown) capable of supplying feed may be connected to the side of each breeding cage 10 .

The fixed frame 11 means a frame capable of storing a plurality of breeding cages 10 . The fixing frame 11 is provided with a plurality of storage spaces equal to the size of the breeding cage 10 . Each breeding cage 10 is stored in the storage space, and may be accessible if necessary.

The display unit 60 may include a first display unit that displays the measurement result of the measurement unit 30 in real time, and a second display unit that displays the control function of the control unit 50 and adjusts the control function of the control unit 50 . .

A specific embodiment of the display unit 60 will be described in detail below in the third embodiment.

An air conditioner refers to a device that can cool the temperature of air.

Hereinafter, the ventilation management method of the breeding cage for culturing the experimental animals will be described in detail as follows.

5 is a view showing a ventilation management method of a breeding cage for culturing experimental animals.

5, it relates to a ventilation management method inside the breeding cage performed by the ventilation management system of the breeding cage 10 using a blower motor.

At this time, the step of discharging the air inside the breeding cage 10 to the outside (S100), the step of measuring the information of the exhausted air (S200), the step of returning the measured air to the inside of the breeding cage 10 (S300) and controlling the ACH (Air Change per Hour) of the breeding cage 10 by adjusting the RPM (Revolutions Per Minute) of the blower motor according to the measured value (S400).

On the other hand, it may further include a step (S500) of self-verifying whether the ventilation management system of the breeding cage 10 is in an error state.

The step of discharging the air inside the breeding cage 10 to the outside (S100) includes the step of sucking the air using a blower motor (S110) and at least one filter installed inside the blower motor to purify the air. It may include step S120.

In addition, it is possible to measure the information about the air at the same time or after the air purification.

In this case, the air information may mean all information about the air inside the breeding cage 10 for culturing the experimental animals. Specifically, air components (CO2, NH3, O2, H2O, etc.), air flow rate (ie, flow rate), air flow direction, odor components, temperature, humidity, and the like may all be included.

In the step (S200) of measuring the information of the air discharged to the outside of the breeding cage 10, the first point at which the air inside the breeding cage 10 is discharged, and the air is introduced into the breeding cage 10 It may include measuring the differential pressure at the second point (S210), and checking whether the differential pressure is zero (S220).

The step of controlling the ACH (Air Change per Hour) of the breeding cage 10 by adjusting the RPM (Revolutions Per Minute) of the blower motor (S400), calculating the air flow rate according to the stunned ACH (S410) and It may include a step (S420) of adjusting the RPM according to the calculated air flow rate.

The step of self-verifying whether the ventilation management system of the breeding cage 10 is in an error state (S500) is a step of calculating the actual ACH of the breeding cage 10 (S510), and comparing the calculated actual ACH with a preset ACH and calculating a difference value (S520), and determining whether an error has occurred in the system based on the calculated difference value (S530).

6 is a diagram illustrating an RPM measuring method using a tachometer sensor.

The step (S200) of measuring the information of the air discharged to the outside of the breeding cage (10) may further include the step (S230) of measuring the RPM of the blower motor using a tachometer sensor in addition to the information of the air.

Referring to FIG. 6 , a clock Clk and a cycle TC required for one rotation of the blower motor may be measured using a tachometer sensor. A tachometer is a measuring instrument that indicates the number of rotations (rotational speed) of a shaft in a device, and is a type of rotation meter.

The step (S200) of measuring the information of the air discharged to the outside of the breeding cage (10) may further include the step (S240) of measuring the RPM of the blower motor according to the air flow rate in addition to the information of the air.

7 is a view showing a method of measuring the RPM of the blower motor according to the flow rate.

Referring to FIG. 7 , the flow rate of the blower motor-differential pressure graph may be used to calculate the RPM of the blower motor. At this time, the unit of hydraulic pressure is CFM (Cubic Feet per Minute).

In addition, the differential pressure may mean a pressure difference between a first point where the breeding cage 10 and the exhaust unit 40 are connected and a second point where the breeding cage 10 and the intake part 20 are connected. In this case, the differential pressure was close to zero due to the characteristics of the experimental animal breeding.

7 (a) is an example of a graph showing a unique hydraulic pressure-differential pressure relationship of the blower motor.

Also, FIG. 7B is an example of a specific data sheet of a blower motor.

The model name of the blower motor used in FIGS. 7A and 7B may be G1G140-AV17-02. In this case, the minimum RPM may be 450 due to the characteristics of the motor of the corresponding model name. However, the model name of the motor described above is only an example of the blower motor.

7( c ) is a straight line graph illustrating an RPM calculation formula according to flow rate based on an RPM value measured through measurement using a tachometer sensor or the like. In this case, the RPM may be measured through the tachometer while maintaining the differential pressure constant.

In addition, the step (S200) of measuring the information of the air discharged to the outside of the breeding cage 10 may further include the step (S250) of measuring the flow rate of air according to the RPM of the air blower motor in addition to the information of the air. can

8 is a view showing a method of measuring the flow rate of the blower motor according to the RPM.

According to FIG. 8 , the flow rate by the blower motor can be calculated with reference to the flow rate-differential pressure graph of the blower motor. At this time, since the RPM needs to be known to calculate the flow rate, the RPM can be measured using a tachometer sensor as shown in FIG. 6 .

FIG. 8(a) is an example of a graph showing a unique hydraulic pressure-differential pressure relationship of a blower motor.

Also, Fig. 8(b) is an example of a specific data sheet of a blower motor.

The model name of the blower motor used in FIGS. 8A and 8B may be G1G140-AV17-02. In this case, the minimum RPM may be 450 due to the characteristics of the motor of the corresponding model name. However, the model name of the motor described above is only an example of the blower motor.

FIG. 8(c) is a straight line graph showing a flow rate calculation formula according to RPM based on the RPM value measured through measurement using a tachometer sensor or the like. In this case, the RPM may be measured through the tachometer while maintaining the differential pressure constant.

In addition, the step (S200) of measuring the information of the air discharged to the outside of the breeding cage 10 is, in addition to the information of the air, the flow rate of the intake pipe 21 / exhaust pipe 41 is measured to calculate the flow rate of air It may further include step (S260).

In the step of calculating the flow rate of air by measuring the flow rate of the intake pipe 21/exhaust pipe 41 ( S260 ), first, the cross-sectional area of the intake pipe 21/exhaust pipe 41 is measured, and the flow rate passing through the cross-sectional area can be measured to calculate the flow rate.

Hereinafter, a detailed description of the computer program for driving the ventilation management system of the breeding cage for culturing experimental animals is as follows.

The corresponding computer program may be displayed on the display unit 60 . The user can click the menu of the corresponding computer program to command the desired operation.

9 is a view showing a “main screen” of a computer program for driving a ventilation management system of a breeding cage for culturing experimental animals.

According to FIG. 9 , the corresponding computer program includes a tab menu at the top, and a corresponding program name and current time can be displayed at the bottom of the tab menu, and the measurement is performed at the intake unit 20 and the exhaust unit 40 at the bottom of the tab menu. The measured values are displayed. In this case, the measured value may include motor speed, temperature, NH3, air speed, humidity, and CO2.

In addition, the measured ACH and the measured differential pressure may be displayed at the bottom of the corresponding computer program.

10 is a view showing “environmental settings” of a computer program for driving a ventilation management system of a breeding cage for culturing experimental animals.

According to FIG. 10 , the corresponding computer program may include a tab menu at the top, and may further include a basic setting menu at the bottom. The basic setting menu includes a menu to select Auto mode and Manual mode. In this case, a menu for inputting numerical values, such as the number of cages, differential pressure, ACH, and differential pressure range, may be further included so that the basic setting values can be set in the manual mode.

A menu for setting upper limits of the intake unit 20 and the exhaust unit 40 may be included at the bottom of the basic setting menu. The menu for setting the upper limit value may include menus such as motor speed, temperature, NH3, air speed, humidity, CO2, and the like.

A button for initializing a corresponding set value and a button for applying a corresponding set value may be further included at the bottom of the upper limit setting menu.

11 is a view showing a “graph” of a computer program for driving a ventilation management system of a breeding cage for culturing experimental animals.

Referring to FIG. 11 , the corresponding computer program may include a tab menu at the top, and a sensor setting menu at the bottom. The sensor setup menu may include differential pressure, CO2, humidity, NH3, temperature and air velocity menus.

Also, at the lower end of the sensor setting menu, a graph displaying measurement values measured by the intake unit 20 and the exhaust unit 40 may be included.

12 is a view showing a “system” of a computer program for driving a ventilation management system of a breeding cage for culturing experimental animals.

According to FIG. 12 , the corresponding computer program includes a tab menu at the top, and may output an error list based on the measured sensor value at the bottom.

In addition, the lifespan of the HEPA filter used in the intake unit 20 and the exhaust unit 40 of the system may be displayed at the lower end of the error list.

13 is a diagram illustrating a method of detecting an “error” with a computer program for driving a ventilation management system of a breeding cage for culturing experimental animals.

According to FIG. 13 , when the difference value calculated by the first and second measurement units 30 and 30 included in the intake unit 20 and the exhaust unit 40 is greater than or equal to a preset value, an error occurs in the system. can be considered to have occurred. When it is determined that an error has occurred in the system, the corresponding content may be output to the error list of FIG. 13 .

Also, when the calculated difference value is less than a preset value, the system may determine that it is in a normal state. In this case, the corresponding content is not output to the error list of FIG. 13 .

However, the prior art has the following problems.

1. There was a problem that the pollutant source of the air inside the breeding cage was not properly sterilized and purified.

2. If the size (diameter) of the intake pipe and the exhaust pipe connected to the breeding cage is different, there is a problem that all designs must be redone. That is, there is a problem in that versatility is poor.

3. Breeding The cage breeding environment has a problem of adopting a method of maintaining the differential pressure at 0 in the prior art, although it is preferable to basically maintain the negative pressure and maintain the positive pressure as necessary rather than maintaining the differential pressure close to zero.

4. Air information inside the breeding cage (air information may include air components (CO2, NH3, O2, H2O, etc.), air flow rate (ie, flow rate), air flow direction, temperature, humidity, etc.) ) is directly related to the health condition of the experimental animals, so to maintain a clean environment, the blower must be operated to maintain the negative pressure condition and at the same time adjust the amount of air flowing into or exhausted into the breeding cage in accordance with the air information to the optimum condition. There was a lack of research on this.

1. Patent Application No. 10-2008-0017296, title of invention: "Air conditioning system for mouse breeding facility"

Accordingly, the present invention has been proposed to solve the above problems, and the present invention sterilizes and pollutes bacteria, mold and viruses that may be included in the pollutant by using the AOP lamp for the exhaust pollutant air of the breeding cage. After decomposing and removing substances and odors, sterilizing through UV lamp irradiation, and then sterilizing exhaust pollutants of experimental animal breeding cages by providing a sterilization and purification device that allows exhaust through filters (pre-filter, HEPA filter) It provides a way to purify.

In addition, the present invention reflects the size of the intake pipe and exhaust pipe when intake air into or exhaust from the inside of the breeding cage, as well as a method for sterilizing and purifying exhaust pollutants of the breeding cage for experimental animals, and is optimal because the rotation speed of the blower can be adjusted. Air conditioning control method customized for air information inside the breeding cage to create a breeding environment of would like to propose together

The present invention provides an intake pipe through which external air is supplied to the inside of the breeding cage, an exhaust pipe through which the internal air of the breeding cage is exhausted, and one or more AOP lamps and at least one UV to receive and sterilize the internal air exhausted from the exhaust pipe. A sterilization device having a lamp and a filter, an intake unit connected to the intake pipe (with a first motor and a first blower), and an exhaust unit connected to the sterilization device (with a second motor and a second blower) and a flow rate sensor installed inside the intake pipe, a sensor for measuring air information installed inside the exhaust pipe to measure information on exhausted air, and a control unit for controlling duty ratios of the first and second motors As a method for sterilizing and purifying exhaust pollutants of laboratory animal breeding cages,

The internal air of the breeding cage supplied from the exhaust pipe to the sterilization and purification device is sterilized through at least the one or more AOP lamps and the at least one or more UV lamps, and then is supplied to the exhaust unit through the filter,

For customized air conditioning control of air information inside the breeding cage

(a) transmitting a setting ACH (Air Change per Hour: number of ventilations per hour) to be set for internal ventilation of the breeding cage to a control unit;

(b) calculating, by the control unit, a flow rate of air supplied to the intake pipe in response to the set ACH;

(c) calculating, by the control unit, a first air flow rate corresponding to the air flow rate;

(d) calculating the RPM of the first blower corresponding to the first air flow rate in the control unit;

(e) calculating, by the control unit, a duty ratio of the first motor for controlling the first blower to maintain the RPM of the first blower;

(f) operating the first motor;

(g) operating the second motor to have a duty ratio different from that of the first motor by 10%;

(h) measuring a flow rate of a second air supplied to the intake pipe through a flow rate sensor installed inside the intake pipe and transmitting it to the control unit;

(i) calculating a second air flow rate corresponding to the second air flow rate in the control unit;

(j) deriving a measurement ACH that is a measurement value calculated according to the second air flow rate in the control unit and comparing the difference with the set ACH;

(k) Repeat steps (f) to (j) until the difference between the set ACH and the measured ACH converges to zero, but the duty ratio for the operation of the first motor in step (f) is Repeatedly after increasing or decreasing a predetermined value; characterized in that it consists of

In the present invention,

In order to operate the second motor to have a duty ratio that is 10% different from the first motor in step (g),

When it is desired to maintain the inside of the breeding cage in a negative pressure state, the duty ratio of the first motor is 10% lower than that of the second motor,

When it is desired to maintain the inside of the breeding cage in a positive pressure state, the duty ratio of the first motor is 10% higher than that of the second motor,

The sensor for measuring air information installed inside the exhaust pipe measures at least any one or more of temperature, humidity, oxygen, carbon dioxide, and ammonia information of the air exhausted through the exhaust pipe, and the air information measured by the sensor for measuring air information When the pollution degree of the control unit deviates from the reference value established by the control unit, the duty ratios of the first motor and the second motor in steps (f) and (g) are increased by 5% compared to the existing state.

When the method for sterilizing and purifying exhaust pollutants of the breeding cage for laboratory animals of the present invention is used, the pollutants inside the breeding cage can be efficiently sterilized and removed, and the inside of the breeding cage is The advantage is that the air environment can be maintained optimally.

1 and 2 are views showing a ventilation management system of a breeding cage for culturing a conventional experimental animal.
3 is a graph showing the air volume according to the RPM of the blower motor.
4 is a photograph of implementing a ventilation management system of a breeding cage for culturing experimental animals.
5 is a view showing a ventilation management method of a breeding cage for culturing experimental animals.
6 is a diagram illustrating an RPM measuring method using a tachometer sensor.
7 is a view showing a method of measuring the RPM of the blower motor according to the flow rate.
8 is a view showing a method of measuring the flow rate of the blower motor according to the RPM.
9 is a view showing a “main screen” of a computer program for driving a ventilation management system of a breeding cage for culturing experimental animals.
10 is a view showing “environmental settings” of a computer program for driving a ventilation management system of a breeding cage for culturing experimental animals.
11 is a view showing a “graph” of a computer program for driving a ventilation management system of a breeding cage for culturing experimental animals.
12 is a view showing a “system” of a computer program for driving a ventilation management system of a breeding cage for culturing experimental animals.
13 is a diagram illustrating a method of detecting an “error” with a computer program for driving a ventilation management system of a breeding cage for culturing experimental animals.
14 is a flowchart illustrating "a method for controlling air information customized for the inside of a breeding cage" proposed by the present invention.
15 is an example of an experiment of the present invention.
16 is a functional block diagram of a cage for breeding experimental animals in which the present invention is implemented.
17 is a functional block diagram illustrating a process performed in the sterile telephone apparatus of the present invention.
18 shows an example of a pre-filter and a HEPA filter used in the present invention.

Since the present invention can apply various transformations and can have various embodiments, specific embodiments are illustrated in the drawings and described in detail.

However, this is not intended to limit the specific embodiment of the present invention, it should be understood to include all transformations, equivalents and substitutes included in the spirit and scope of the present invention. In describing the present invention, if it is determined that a detailed description of a related known technology may obscure the gist of the present invention, the detailed description thereof will be omitted.

Terms such as first, second, etc. may be used to describe various elements, but the elements should not be limited by the terms. The above terms are used only for the purpose of distinguishing one component from another.

The terms used in the present invention are only used to describe specific embodiments, and are not intended to limit the present invention. The singular expression includes the plural expression unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. In the present application, terms such as “comprise” or “have” are intended to designate that a feature, number, step, operation, component, part, or combination thereof described in the specification exists, but one or more other features It should be understood that this does not preclude the existence or addition of numbers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof.

Therefore, the spirit of the present invention should not be limited to the described embodiments, and not only the claims to be described later, but also all those with equivalent or equivalent modifications to the claims will be said to belong to the scope of the spirit of the present invention. .

Hereinafter, with reference to the drawings, a method for sterilizing and purifying exhaust pollutants of a new type of experimental animal breeding cage proposed by the present invention will be described.

However, in the present invention, a "method for customizing air information in the breeding cage" to be implemented along with the method for sterilizing and purifying exhaust pollutants in the breeding cage for experimental animals will be described first.

14 is a flowchart illustrating "a method for controlling air information customized for the inside of a breeding cage" proposed by the present invention.

The system of the present invention basically includes an intake pipe through which external air is supplied to the inside of the breeding cage, an exhaust pipe through which air inside the breeding cage is exhausted, and an intake part (with a first motor and a first blower) connected to the intake pipe; An exhaust part connected to the exhaust pipe (with a second motor and a second blower), a flow rate sensor installed inside the intake pipe, and a sensor for measuring air information installed inside the exhaust pipe to measure information on exhausted air; and a control unit for controlling duty ratios of the first and second motors. For reference, in the breeding cage of the present invention, a plurality of unit cages are stacked in a rack type to maintain a mattress type, and a pressure sensor is mounted on one of the unit cages. This is used to determine whether to maintain a positive pressure state or a negative pressure state inside the breeding cage.

As shown, the method for controlling air information customized for the inside of the breeding cage according to the present invention is controlled in the following steps.

(a) transmitting the setting ACH to be set to the control unit

This step may be selected on the display unit of FIG. 4 .

That is, the user can set the ACH through the display unit.

(b) in response to the set ACH, calculating the air flow rate supplied to the intake pipe in the control unit

The control unit calculates the air flow rate corresponding to the input set ACH

The required air flow rate calculation according to the set ACH value is as follows.

(c) Next, the control unit calculates a first air flow rate corresponding to the air flow rate.

(d) Next, the control unit calculates the RPM of the first blower corresponding to the first air flow rate.

The calculation method is as follows.

That is, in the present invention, it can be seen that the number of rotations of the first blower can be appropriately adjusted according to the size (diameter or area information) of the intake pipe. That is, it can be seen that the versatility is very good.

(e) Next, the control unit calculates a duty ratio of the first motor that controls the first blower to maintain the RPM of the first blower

This is because the RPM of the blower is determined by the PWM signal for motor control, and thus the number of rotations of the blower can be adjusted by adjusting the PWM duty ratio.

(f) Next, the first motor in the intake section is operated.

At this time, the duty ratio of the second motor is automatically linked so that a predetermined value differs from the duty ratio of the first motor.

(g) In the present invention, the second motor is operated to have a duty ratio different from that of the first motor by 10%.

It depends on the breeding mode

Here, the breeding mode means whether the inside of the breeding cage is in a positive pressure state or a negative pressure state.

In general, it may be desirable to maintain a negative pressure state to maintain comfortable conditions and prevent contamination.

In the present invention, the control unit determines whether the pressure sensor is in a positive pressure state or a negative pressure state using the pressure inside the cage.

15 is an example of a differential pressure test of the present invention.

As can be seen from the experimental results, as a result of the comparison experiment of differential pressure of the cage equipped with the pressure sensor, when the duty ratio of the first blower of the intake part and the second blower of the exhaust part is 10% different, it is confirmed that positive or negative pressure is maintained for proper breeding mode. Could know.

That is, in the case of negative pressure, the duty ratio of the first blower is 10% lower than the duty ratio of the second blower, and in the case of positive pressure, it is preferable to set the duty ratio of the first blower to be 10% higher than the duty ratio of the second blower did

(h) next, measuring the flow rate of the second air supplied to the intake pipe through a flow rate sensor installed inside the intake pipe and transmitting it to the control unit; (i) calculating a second air flow rate corresponding to the second air flow rate in the control unit; (j) deriving a measurement ACH that is a measurement value calculated according to the second air flow rate in the control unit and comparing the difference with the set ACH is performed

;

(k) Next, the steps (f) to (j) are repeated until the difference between the set ACH and the measured ACH converges to zero, but the duty for operating the first motor in step (f) After increasing or decreasing the ratio by a predetermined value, the optimal state is maintained while repeating the steps.

As described above, in order to operate the second motor to have a duty ratio that is 10% different from that of the first motor in step (g), when it is desired to maintain the inside of the breeding cage in a negative pressure state, the second motor When the duty ratio of the first motor is 10% lower than the duty ratio of the second motor and it is desired to maintain the positive pressure inside the breeding cage, the duty ratio of the first motor is 10% than the duty ratio of the second motor It is preferable to make it high

On the other hand, a sensor for measuring air information is installed inside the exhaust pipe of the present invention, and the information is transmitted to the control unit.

The sensor for measuring air information measures at least one of temperature, humidity, oxygen, carbon dioxide, and ammonia information of air exhausted through the exhaust pipe.

When the pollution degree of the air information measured by the sensor for measuring air information deviates from a reference value established by the controller, the controller controls the duty ratios of the first motor and the second motor in steps (f) and (g). can quickly remove the source of contamination inside the breeding cage by increasing the existing tabby by 5%

As described so far, in the case of performing the air-conditioning control method tailored to the inside of the breeding cage proposed by the present invention, the air environment inside the breeding cage can be optimally maintained according to the size of the intake pipe exhaust pipe and the internal air information of the breeding cage. There are advantages to being able to

That is, in the case of carrying out the present invention, the size of the intake pipe and exhaust pipe is reflected and the rotation speed of the blower can be adjusted to create an optimal breeding environment when intake or exhaust to the outside of the breeding cage. It is possible to enable optimal control of the blower to optimally adjust the amount of air flowing into or exhausted from the inside of the breeding cage according to the air information.

Next, an additional method for removing contamination of the air inside the breeding cage in the present invention, "a method for sterilizing and purifying exhaust pollutants of a breeding cage for laboratory animals" will be described.

16 is a functional block diagram of a cage for breeding experimental animals in which the present invention is implemented.

Except that the sterilization and purification device is added in FIG. 16, there is basically no significant difference from the configuration described above, so a repetitive description will be omitted.

16, the experimental animal breeding cage of the present invention has a breeding cage, an intake pipe through which external air is supplied into the breeding cage, an exhaust pipe through which the internal air of the breeding cage is exhausted, and internal air exhausted from the exhaust pipe. A sterilization and purification device having one or more AOP lamps and at least one UV lamp and a filter in order to sterilize and purify by receiving a supply of It includes an exhaust unit connected to the device (with a second motor and a second blower), a measuring unit, and a control unit.

In the present invention, a flow rate sensor may be installed inside the intake pipe, and a sensor for measuring air information for measuring information of exhausted air may be provided inside the exhaust pipe, and the control unit receives an external input through an operation unit not shown. can receive and acquire various sensor information, in particular, has a function of controlling the duty ratio of the first and second motors

In operation, the internal air of the breeding cage supplied from the exhaust pipe to the sterilization and purification device is sterilized through at least one AOP lamp and at least one UV lamp, and then is supplied to the exhaust unit through a filter. Accordingly, there is an advantage that it becomes possible to provide purified air.

17 is a functional block diagram illustrating a process performed in the sterile telephone apparatus of the present invention.

As is known, the AOP (Advanced Oxidation Process) method is an oxidation mechanism that has already been verified at home and abroad with air or water treatment oxidation technology, such as ultraviolet (UV), morning (O3), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and photocatalyst (TiO2) It is a chemical oxidation process that sterilizes pathogenic microorganisms such as bacteria, mold and viruses by fusion of OH radicals, which are oxides with high reactivity and strong oxidizing power, and decomposes/removes harmful substances and odors.

Here, the OH radical is a highly reactive and powerful oxidizing agent that completely oxidizes and decomposes the object, and has a faster reaction time and superior oxidizing power than ozone or hydrogen peroxide.

This AOP method is used in the water treatment field for sterilization and purification of groundwater or drinking water, chlorine and THM (trihalomethane) removal, decomposition of difficult-to-decompose organic substances, heavy metal removal and wastewater treatment in the industrial field, industrial chemicals and toxic compounds, residual organic matter. The scope of application is expanding to various fields such as substances, endocrine disruptors, pharmaceuticals, cosmetic products, pesticides, deodorization/discoloration/odor removal, etc. , it is mainly used to decompose and remove harmful substances such as VOCs (volatile organic compounds) and odors.

In the present invention, odor removal and sterilization were first applied to the air exhausted from the exhaust pipe by applying the AOP method.

In other words, the air exhausted from the breeding cage was sent to a sterilization and purifier, and the AOP method was applied to remove odors and sterilize them first.

Next, in the present invention, a second process of removing odor and sterilizing the internal air was performed using a UV lamp.

Ultraviolet sterilization means to damage or destroy DNA to prevent further cell proliferation by penetrating the cell membranes of various bacteria such as bacteria and viruses in UV-C, which is an ultraviolet region of 200 to 280 nm. Since the sterilization power is the highest, it was sterilized by applying a 253.7nm UV lamp as an example of the present invention.

Finally, in the sterilization and purification apparatus of the present invention, a filter, that is, a pre-filter and a HEPA filter, was applied to enable tertiary air purification for internal air.

For reference, the pre-filter is a filter that filters relatively large dust with a particle size of 50 µm or more, and the HEPA filter is a filter that filters pollutants such as house dust, mites, viruses, and mold with a particle size of 0.3 µm or more suspended in the air. In the present invention, H-13 grade was applied. Here, H-13 grade is a filter developed for medical purposes, and the dust collection performance is known to be about 99.75 ~ 99.95%.

18 shows an example of a pre-filter and a HEPA filter used in the present invention.

In the case of using the sterilization and purification apparatus of the present invention described above, it is possible to efficiently sterilize and remove the contaminants inside the breeding cage, and it is more comfortable when carried out in conjunction with the air information customized air conditioning control method inside the breeding cage described above. And there is an advantage that it is possible to provide purified air.

So far, the present invention has been looked at with respect to preferred embodiments thereof. Those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains will understand that the present invention can be implemented in a modified form without departing from the essential characteristics of the present invention.

Therefore, the disclosed embodiments are to be considered in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense. The scope of the present invention is indicated in the claims rather than the foregoing description, and all differences within the scope equivalent thereto should be construed as being included in the present invention.

Claims (2)

An intake pipe through which external air is supplied into the breeding cage, an exhaust pipe through which the internal air of the breeding cage is exhausted, and one or more AOP lamps and at least one UV lamp and filter to receive and sterilize the internal air exhausted from the exhaust pipe A sterilization and purification apparatus comprising: an intake part (with a first motor and a first blower) connected to the intake pipe; an exhaust part (with a second motor and a second blower) connected to the sterilization and purification apparatus; A laboratory animal comprising: a flow rate sensor installed inside the intake pipe; a sensor for measuring air information installed inside the exhaust pipe to measure information on exhausted air; and a control unit for controlling duty ratios of the first and second motors. As a method for sterilizing and purifying exhaust pollutants of breeding cages,
The internal air of the breeding cage supplied from the exhaust pipe to the sterilization and purification device is sterilized through at least the one or more AOP lamps and the at least one or more UV lamps, and then is supplied to the exhaust unit through the filter,
For customized air conditioning control of air information inside the breeding cage
(a) transmitting a setting ACH (Air Change per Hour: number of ventilations per hour) to be set for internal ventilation of the breeding cage to a control unit;
(b) calculating, by the control unit, a flow rate of air supplied to the intake pipe in response to the set ACH;
(c) calculating, by the control unit, a first air flow rate corresponding to the air flow rate;
(d) calculating the RPM of the first blower corresponding to the first air flow rate in the control unit;
(e) calculating, by the control unit, a duty ratio of the first motor for controlling the first blower to maintain the RPM of the first blower;
(f) operating the first motor;
(g) operating the second motor to have a duty ratio different from that of the first motor by 10%;
(h) measuring a flow rate of a second air supplied to the intake pipe through a flow rate sensor installed inside the intake pipe and transmitting it to the control unit;
(i) calculating a second air flow rate corresponding to the second air flow rate in the control unit;
(j) deriving a measurement ACH that is a measurement value calculated according to the second air flow rate in the control unit and comparing the difference with the set ACH;
(k) Repeat steps (f) to (j) until the difference between the set ACH and the measured ACH converges to zero, but the duty ratio for operation of the first motor in step (f) is A method for sterilizing and purifying exhaust pollutants of a cage for breeding experimental animals, characterized in that it comprises; repeating after increasing or decreasing a predetermined value. The method of claim 1,
In order to operate the second motor to have a duty ratio that is 10% different from the first motor in step (g),
When it is desired to maintain the inside of the breeding cage in a negative pressure state, the duty ratio of the first motor is 10% lower than that of the second motor,
When it is desired to maintain the inside of the breeding cage in a positive pressure state, the duty ratio of the first motor is 10% higher than that of the second motor,
The sensor for measuring air information installed inside the exhaust pipe measures at least any one or more of temperature, humidity, oxygen, carbon dioxide, and ammonia information of the air exhausted through the exhaust pipe, and the air information measured by the sensor for measuring air information When the pollution degree of the control unit deviates from the reference value established by the control unit, the duty ratio of the first motor and the second motor in steps (f) and (g) is increased by 5% compared to the existing state A method for sterilizing and purifying exhaust pollutants in animal breeding cages.

Images