WO2002038503A1

WO2002038503A1 - Centrifugal cartridge and method of capturing, concentrating and collecting microorganisms

Info

Publication number: WO2002038503A1
Application number: PCT/JP2001/009774
Authority: WO
Inventors: Motohiro Iseki; Isao Teramoto; Takeshi Yoshida; Osami Kato; Yoshie Tanizaki
Original assignee: Mitsubishi Rayon Co., Ltd.
Priority date: 2000-11-09
Filing date: 2001-11-08
Publication date: 2002-05-16
Also published as: AU2002224021A1; JPWO2002038503A1; JP4299537B2

Abstract

A cartridge which can be mounted on a centrifuge characterized by having a raw water supply port and a filtrate withdrawal port and being provided with a filter within the cartridge and between the raw water supply port and the filtrate withdrawal port, whereby protozoa such as cryptosporidium can be conveniently and economically captured and concentrated at a high accuracy without resort to any skill; and a method of capturing, concentrating and collecting protozoa.

Description

Description: Cartridge for centrifugation and method for capturing and concentrating microorganisms

The present invention relates to a cartridge for centrifugation for concentrating and recovering solids present in raw water, and a method for concentrating and recovering microorganisms using the same. Background art

Centrifugation is used for various purposes, and it is widely known that centrifugation is performed for the purpose of concentrating and recovering solids present in water. At this time, if the amount of solids present in the water is small, it is necessary to perform high-concentration enrichment.

Such applications include testing and identifying microorganisms in the fields of food and medicine. Inspection and identification of microorganisms are performed while observing them with a microscope. However, when the amount of microorganisms in water is small, direct observation is difficult, so concentration must be performed.

The work required for the inspection and identification of such microorganisms will be explained with reference to the example of inspection of Cryptosporidium, which has recently become a major problem in developed countries.

Cryptosporidium is a protozoan parasite in livestock such as humans, cattle and pigs. Cryptosporidium is often mixed into tap water, causing large numbers of infected people. Cryptosporidium is contaminated in tap water because the parasites discharged into feces of patients and infected animals flow into surface water and contaminate the tap water source.

Cryptosporidium is excreted along with feces in an infectious form called an ostium. Since oocysts are wrapped in a dense membrane, they have very poor permeability of chemicals such as disinfectants, have extremely high resistance to chlorination, and are not suitable for chlorination in normal water treatment. Not activated.

In addition, since oocysts are spherical with a diameter of about 5 m and are very small, it is extremely difficult to completely remove oocysts contained in raw water at the water treatment plant by current water purification treatment such as coagulation sedimentation and sand filtration. Have difficulty. In addition, oocysts are very infectious Infect with one or several ingestions. Infection causes severe watery diarrhea, often fatal in immunocompromised patients.

Therefore, it is necessary to establish a technology to accurately and simply detect the extremely small number of oocysts contained in tap water and tap water sources, and to constantly check tap water to ensure its safety.

An outline of a conventional cryptosporidium analysis method is described below.

(1) Collection process: A sample of 10 to 140 liters of raw tap water such as surface water from rivers, and a sample of several 10 to 1400 liters of purified water is subjected to a membrane filter (fraction pore diameter 1 to 3). (Jum) or a 10-inch spool (fraction pore size: 1 jum), and collect on the membrane surface. At this time, the filtration flow rate should be 4 liters or less.

(2) Extraction process: In the case of a membrane filter, extract from the filter by washing or dissolving the filter. In the case of a spool with a 10-inch spool, divide the cartridge into three parts, wash the cartridge with 1 liter of washing liquid by hand, and extract the collected matter from the spool.

(3) Concentration and purification: Normally, a sucrose solution, Tween 80 (Polyoxyethylene (20) Sorbitan Monooleate), sodium dodecyl sulfate, potassium citrate solution is used and concentrated by centrifugation using a density gradient. Purify.

(4) Concentration, detection and identification: The purified sample is filtered through a membrane filter, and the lysate is stained with the antibody by the direct or indirect fluorescent antibody method. This is then inspected with an epifluorescence microscope and identified by size and internal shape.

In the conventional detection method described above, the recovery rate is as low as about 30 <½, and thus the detection error is large, and the following problems are pointed out to be improved.

When collecting using a membrane filter, the recovery by dissolution requires a solvent, which is complicated and also affects the growth activity.

When collecting using a thread wound cartridge, microorganisms are likely to remain on the membrane surface during collection and extraction, and the trapped material penetrates into the inside, so that the recovery rate is significantly reduced and the microorganisms are collected. Requires a large amount of washing solution, resulting in a low concentration rate. While skilled techniques are required for extraction and concentration, skilled technologists being insufficient.

If the probability of presence of microorganisms is low, it is necessary to concentrate raw water in large-scale treatment.However, if the membrane area is small, clogging of the membrane surface occurs before filtration of the target amount of water, and it takes time for the collection operation. And the filtration efficiency is poor.

In order to solve these problems, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. H10-3104552 and H11-190184, a hollow fiber membrane having a large membrane area per unit volume can be obtained. The use of this technology allows for an improved method for capturing and recovering microorganisms, such as an increase in the amount of treated water, a reduction in filtration time, a reduction in the size of the apparatus, and a method for capturing and recovering protozoa existing in raw water in a short time. A proposal has been made on a hollow fiber membrane module for capturing microorganisms.

Also, when performing a washing operation to recover the microorganisms trapped on the membrane surface, a method of immersing the hollow fiber membrane in the washing liquid, a method of ultrasonic cleaning with the hollow fiber membrane immersed in the washing liquid There have been proposed, for example, a method of reversely passing a liquid through a hollow fiber membrane, a method of immersing the hollow fiber membrane in a cleaning liquid to wash the fibers, and a method of cutting the hollow fiber membrane and then performing the cutting in the cleaning liquid.

However, these cartridges require a large amount of washing solution to wash the membrane separately after concentration, so the concentration rate is low, and the concentration work must be performed separately before detection. As a result, the method is not only complicated, but also has a problem that the detection accuracy is reduced.

In addition, since the container and the membrane are integrally formed, if the cartridge is disposable in order to achieve high test accuracy, there is a problem that the inspection cost becomes high and the amount of waste increases.

In addition, when testing raw tap water such as river surface water, a cartridge is connected to the raw water supply pump with a hose to perform filtration and collection, so use a hose band or the like to prevent leakage at the connection. There is a problem that requires complicated work for tightening. In the case of tap water inspection, sampling from a faucet is common, and in this case also, since the faucet and the cartridge are connected with a hose, the same complicated work as above is required.

It is also required to monitor the water flow on the spot until the required water volume is filtered. When the amount of treated water is large, it is very time-consuming and troublesome. When collecting raw water from the faucet, an integrating flow meter and a valve may be installed in the piping between the faucet and the cartridge, and the integrating flow meter and the valve may be linked to automatically filter a specified amount of water. It is complicated, and especially on the raw water side of the cartridge, there is a problem that microorganisms and the like are caught on the integrating flow meter and valves, and as a result, the accuracy of collecting microorganisms is reduced.

In addition, these methods have a problem that the operation is complicated and requires a skill of an operator to perform a reproducible test.

The present invention has been made to solve such problems, and is a cartridge and a microorganism capture / concentration / recovery capable of capturing and concentrating microorganisms easily and inexpensively with high accuracy and without requiring skill in work. The aim is to provide a method. Disclosure of the invention

A first aspect of the present invention is a cartridge that can be mounted on a centrifugal separator, having a raw water supply port and a filtered water outlet, wherein the cartridge is provided inside and between the raw water supply port and the filtered water outlet. It is characterized in that a filtration filter is provided between the cartridges, and the solid matter deposited on the filtration filter can be peeled off by centrifuging the cartridge.

In addition, it is preferable that the filtration filter is removably arranged because the number of disposal members can be reduced.

In addition, it is preferable that the member of the cartridge, to which the filtration filter is fixed, and the member having a portion where solids precipitate after centrifugal separation be detachable, because the operation can be easily performed.

In addition, it is preferable that the raw water supply port has a faucet mounting mechanism because connection and fixation are easy and work is simple.

Further, it is preferable to provide a constant flow rate mechanism for passing water at a constant flow rate through the filtered water outlet, because it is not necessary to constantly monitor the state of filtration of the raw water.

In addition, it is preferable that the cartridge be self-supporting with the portion where solids settle down after centrifugation, so that an instrument such as a stand is not separately required for work. New

In addition, it is preferable that the filtration filter is formed of a porous hollow fiber membrane because the membrane area of the cartridge body can be increased.

Further, it is preferable that the filtration filter is any material selected from the group consisting of polyolefin, cellulose acetate, polysulfone, PAN, and polyvinylidene fluoride.

Further, it is preferable that the cartridge other than the filtration filter is made of a material having a heat resistance of 100 ° C. or more, because heat sterilization can be repeatedly performed. A second aspect of the present invention is a method for capturing, concentrating, and recovering microorganisms. In capturing and concentrating microorganisms present in raw water, and collecting the microorganisms, the raw water is filtered through the above-mentioned centrifugal separation cartridge. Then, by centrifuging without removing the filtration filter, the microorganisms accumulated on the filtration filter are separated from the filtration filter, settled on the bottom of the cartridge, and thereafter collected.

As a result, regardless of the skill level of the worker, microorganisms can be collected with high accuracy, easily, and at a high rate.

When the microorganism is Cryptosporidium, the probability of its presence in raw water is extremely low, and therefore the capture / concentration / recovery method of the present invention is particularly effective. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view showing an example of the cartridge for capturing and concentrating parasites of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing another example of the cartridge for capturing and concentrating parasites of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing another example of the protozoan capture and concentration cartridge of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing another example of the protozoan capture / concentration cartridge of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing another example of a protozoan capturing and enriching cartridge of the present invention. It is.

FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing another example of the protozoan capturing and concentrating cartridge of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing one example of the cartridge for protozoan capture and concentration of the present invention. BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings, but the present invention is not limited to the embodiments shown in these drawings.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing an example of the cartridge for centrifugation of the present invention, which has a raw water supply port 4 and a filtered water outlet 5, and has a raw water supply port 4 and a filtered water outlet inside the container 1. 5 is a centrifugal separation cartridge having a filtration filter 6 between the cartridge 5. The filtration filter 6 is preferably disposable because it is clogged by one concentration operation. Therefore, it is preferable to be arranged so as to be detachable from the cartridge.

The attaching and detaching method is not particularly limited as long as the liquid tightness of the primary side and the secondary side is maintained during filtration. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, a filtration filter 16 can be assembled between the raw water supply port 4 and the filtered water outlet 5 inside the container 1 via a sealing material 7. The assembling method may be such that the filter 6 is pressed into a fixing member having an inner diameter substantially the same as the outer diameter of the filter 6 and fixed. Alternatively, an elastic member having an inner diameter slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the filtration filter 6 may be used, and the filtration filter 6 may be pushed in and fixed. Also, screw fitting may be used.

In the case where the filtration filter 6 is detachably disposed, the cartridge is made detachable between a member to which the filtration filter 16 is fixed and a member having a portion where solids settle after centrifugation. It is preferable because there is no fear of re-mixing the precipitated solid matter when removing the filter 6.

The attaching / detaching method is not particularly limited as long as the liquid does not leak during centrifugation. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, a cap 2 to which a filtration filter 6 is detachably fixed is provided, and the cap 2 is screwed into the container 1 so as not to leak through the sealing material 3 or the like. Can be assembled. Further, as described above in attaching and detaching the filtration filter, the attachment / detachment portion may have a substantially same inner / outer diameter and may be pushed in and fixed. On the other hand, the elasticity having an inner diameter smaller than the other outer diameter may be used. It may be fixed by pushing it in using a flexible member.

The attachment / detachment site is not particularly limited. As shown in FIG. 4, the V-shaped member 15 of the container 1 may be divided from the cylindrical portion. It may be made possible to divide from.

As the filtration filter 6, a filter having an appropriate pore size may be selected according to the size of the microorganism to be captured.For example, a filter having a maximum pore size of 2 m or less is used for capturing cryptosporidium moss. Can be used. The shape of the filter is not necessarily limited.

FIG. 2 shows an example using a bag-shaped filtration filter, which comprises a bag-shaped filtration filter 6 arranged on the surface of a hollow tubular porous body 17.

FIG. 3 shows an example in which a flat membrane filter is used, which is composed of a flat membrane filter 6 disposed on the surface of a porous body 17 having a hole for supplying raw water at the center. It is preferable to use a hollow fiber membrane for the filtration filter because a membrane area per filter volume can be widened and a larger amount of water can be filtered.

The upper limit of the membrane area per volume substantially occupied by a part of the filter is preferably 40 cm ² / cm ³ , because if it is too large, the membrane will be too dense and the recovery efficiency will be poor. On the other hand, if it is too small, clogging is likely to occur, so the lower limit is preferably 4 cm ² Z cm ³ .

Although the material is not particularly limited, a filtration filter made of a polyolefin-based material, a cellulose acetate-based material, a polysulfone-based material, a PAN-based material, or a polyvinylidene fluoride-based material is preferred because it is easily available.

Furthermore, it is more preferable to use a polyolefin-based material because it has the advantages of being tough and flexible, not being easily damaged during use, being inexpensive, and being incinerated at the time of disposal.

In the example of FIG. 1, a plurality of porous hollow fiber membranes 8 are bent in a U-shape and fixed with a potting material 9 so that an open end is located on the filtered water outlet 5 side. At this time, the raw water enters the container 1 through the raw water supply port 4, is filtered by the filter 6, and comes out from the filtered water outlet 5. Therefore, the microorganisms present in the raw water accumulate on the outer surface of the porous hollow fiber membrane 8 of the filtration filter 16.

Microorganisms deposited on the outer surface of the porous hollow fiber membrane 8 after passing the raw water through water are attached to a centrifugal separator and centrifuged as they are without removing the filtration filter. It is separated from the outer surface of the porous hollow fiber membrane 8 and concentrated at the bottom of the container 1.

Thereafter, the microorganisms concentrated at the bottom of the container 1 are collected and detected. The method for collecting the microorganism is not particularly limited.

For example, remove the member to which the filtration filter 6 is fixed, and use a pipette or the like to suck up the sediment from the bottom of the container 1, or conversely, only the supernatant is sucked and then left. It is possible to use a method of recovering the deposited precipitate, and the like. Alternatively, a sediment take-out port may be provided at the bottom of the container 1 and taken out from the sediment.

Also, after centrifugation, before removing the member to which the filtration filter 6 is fixed, the supernatant is extracted from the filtered water outlet 5 through the filtration filter 6, and then the member to which the filtration filter 6 is fixed is removed. Thus, a method of collecting the microorganisms remaining at the bottom of the container 1 is more preferable because the process is simple.

When collecting the sediment by centrifugation, if the concentrate is settled in the narrowest possible area, the volume of the sediment part will be small, so that it is possible to concentrate at a higher concentration, and it will be easier to collect and more accurate Therefore, the inside of the bottom of the container 1 is preferably tapered.

If the cartridge after centrifugation is turned over or rolled over, the precipitated microorganisms will be dispersed again, so it is necessary to stand with the part where the solid precipitates after centrifugation down.

If the bottom of the cartridge container is tapered, it is difficult to set it up as it is, and it is difficult to stand alone with the part where solids settle down after centrifugation. For this reason, it is preferable to provide a support member so that the tapered bottom can be made to stand on its own side. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing another example of the centrifugal separation cartridge of the present invention. In this example, a support member 14 for making the cartridge self-supporting is provided at the bottom of the container 1. The shape of the support member 14 is not particularly limited as long as the cartridge can be made independent.

For example, when the tapered portion of the container 1 faces downward, a hakama-shaped support member 14 surrounding the tapered portion can be provided at a height equal to or lower than the height of the tapered portion.

At this time, as shown in FIG. 5, the support member 14 having a skirt shape may have a horizontal cross section equal to the outer circumference of the container 1 or, if the cartridge can stand alone, from the outer circumference of the container 1. The horizontal cross section may be small or large. In addition, the shape of the support member 14 can be any shape such as a circular cross-section, an ellipse, a polygon, and a star in a horizontal cross section.

Further, in addition to the structure shown in Fig. 5, when the tapered portion of the container is turned downward, a support member may be provided so that a plurality of legs are extended from the outer wall of the container to a height equal to or lower than the height of the tapered portion. I don't care. Also in this case, the shape or number of the feet is not particularly limited as long as the cartridge can stand alone.

Further, a plate-shaped support member may be provided on the top of the tapered portion of the cartridge. Also in this case, the size of the plate-shaped support member is not particularly limited as long as the cartridge can stand alone, and the horizontal cross section may be smaller or larger than the outer periphery of the container 1. The shape is not particularly limited, and may be any shape such as a circle, an ellipse, a polygon, and a star.

Alternatively, the outer diameter of the bottom of the cartridge may be the same as the top, and the thickness of the bottom may be increased so that only the inside is tapered.

When filtering raw water, it is preferable that the cartridge be easily connected and fixed in a stable state. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 6, the raw water supply port 4 of the cap 2 preferably has a faucet mounting mechanism to the faucet 13.

Although there is no particular limitation on the faucet mounting mechanism, as shown in FIG. 6, a mounting mechanism including a packing 12, a rotating ring 10 having a notch, and a mounting nut 11 can be used for simple and easy mounting. It can be fixed securely and is preferable.

The cartridge is attached to the tap 13 by the following operation. Mounting nut 1 1 faucet Pass through 13 and then fit the rotating ring 10 into the end of the faucet 13, and attach the cartridge on which the packing 12 is set with the mounting nut 11. At this time, the rotating ring 10 is securely fixed to the faucet 13 by tightening the faucet 13 due to the taper of the rotating ring 10.

After the filtration is completed, the microorganisms deposited on the outer surface of the porous hollow fiber membrane 8 are removed by removing the cartridge 11 from the faucet 13 and centrifuging the cartridge without removing the filter. By being attached to the device and centrifuging, the porous hollow fiber membrane 8 is separated from the outer surface and concentrated at the bottom of the container 1.

In performing the filtration work, the filtration flow rate is adjusted by adjusting the water flow pressure, for example, by adjusting the opening / closing degree of a valve. At this time, since the membrane is clogged by the progress of the filtration, even if the flow rate is adjusted first, the filtration flow rate will decrease if left untreated. For this reason, it is preferable to provide a constant flow mechanism 16 at the filtered water outlet 5 as shown in FIG.

The constant flow mechanism 16 is installed at the filtered water outlet 5 on the secondary side of the filtration filter 6. Install the cartridge securely so that it does not fall off when the cartridge is set in the centrifuge and centrifuged. In this example, the constant flow mechanism 16 is installed so as to be integrated with the cartridge.However, a drain pipe (not shown) is connected to the filtered water outlet 5, and the constant flow mechanism 16 is connected to the drain pipe. It may be provided.

Although the type of the constant flow mechanism is not limited, the use of a constant flow valve that changes the resistance of the internal flow path using an elastic body such as rubber or a spring according to changes in the flow rate or pressure is excellent in handling, It is preferable because the price is low. The size is preferably 5 cm or less as the outer diameter, more preferably 3 cm or less.

After the filtration, concentration by centrifugation, and subsequent recovery, the filter 6 is removed and discarded, and the other components are reused. At this time, it is preferable to sterilize other members in order to prevent contamination from the previous test from being carried into the next test and from contaminating the workers with microorganisms.

The sterilization method is not particularly limited, and can be performed by heat sterilization, sterilization by a chemical such as hypochlorous acid, formaldehyde, benzalkonium chloride, ethylene oxide gas, or sterilization by irradiation with ultraviolet rays or gamma rays. Cheap and It is preferable to perform sterilization by heating because the effect is reliable.

Sterilization by heating is preferably performed by heating in hot water at about 100 ° C. for about 1 minute to 10 minutes. Therefore, it is preferable that the material to be reused be a material having heat resistance that can withstand this.

As the material, stainless steel, heat-resistant plastic, and the like can be used, but since molding is easy, heat-resistant plastic, for example, polycarbonate resin, polyacetal resin, polyphenylene oxide resin, rigid It is preferable to use a plastic such as a polyvinyl chloride resin or a tetrafluoroethylene resin or an engineering plastic.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to examples.

In the present example, a solution containing 20 oocysts of purified and purified Cryptosporidium per liter was prepared and used in a 10 liter experiment. For the preparation of the liquid, experiments were performed for two cases, using distilled water as diluting water and using tap water.

A porous hollow fiber membrane (Polyethylene hollow fiber membrane EX540V manufactured by Mitsubishi Rayon Co., Ltd. (nominal maximum pore diameter 0.4 m, inner diameter 360 m, outer diameter 54 Oim)) is used as a filtration filter. The effective fiber length of the hollow fiber membrane is 7 O mm (number: 528 hydrophilic porous hollow fiber membranes, 66 hydrophobic porous hollow fiber membranes), and the membrane area of the hollow fiber membrane is 705 cm ² (Hollow fiber membrane outer diameter base) A filtration filter was manufactured.

The container and the cap were made of polycarbonate having heat resistance to hot water of 100 ° C. As shown in Fig. 3, the shape of the container can be directly attached to the centrifugal separator, and the bottom has a pointed shape so that the sediment after centrifugation can be collected efficiently. The height of the cusp was 3.5 cm, and the outer diameter of the container was 6 cm.

At this time, when 200 ml of water is poured into the container with the cap with the hollow fiber membrane filter attached to the container, the entire hollow fiber membrane is immersed in water, and the water in the container is hollow. The amount of water remaining in the container when the membrane was filtered until it could not be filtered because it was exposed to the air was 25 mI. In addition, the cap and the hollow fiber membrane filter, and the cap and the container were sealed with water using a sealing material. A silicone rubber having heat resistance to hot water of 100 ° C. was used as a sealing material.

Next, an embodiment using the above-described centrifugal separation cartridge will be described.

Connect to the faucet using a faucet mounting mechanism consisting of a packing, a notched rotating ring, and a mounting nut so that the raw water flows into the raw water supply port of the protozoan capture / concentration cartridge, and to the other end of the faucet. Was connected to a tank containing 10 liters of a liquid containing 20 of the above-mentioned cryptosporidium cysts per liter. A hose was connected to the filtered water outlet so that the filtered water could flow out. In this example, the hollow fiber membrane was connected to the filtered water outlet so that the raw water could be suction-filtered by a suction pump, and the hollow fiber membrane was exposed to air at a flow rate of about 60 O mm _Hg at a flow rate of about 2 liters per minute. Suction filtration was performed until filtration became impossible.

Next, after removing the faucet on the raw water supply side and the hose on the filtered water outlet side, put in PBS (phosphate buffer solution) 175 ml into the cartridge to collect the protozoa deposited on the filtration filter. After shaking several times by hand, it was attached to a centrifuge with the cap still attached, and centrifuged at 150 G for 10 minutes.

After that, the suction pump was connected again to the filtered water outlet via a hose, and the supernatant was sucked through the filter until the hollow fiber membrane was exposed to the air and could not be filtered.

After performing a series of operations for removing the protozoa from the hollow fiber membrane using PBS as described above a total of three times, 25 ml of the liquid containing sediment remaining on the V-shaped bottom of the container was collected, and collected. This was filtered through a 1 im membrane filter, and the lysate was stained with an antibody by a direct fluorescent antibody method, and then the Cryptosporidium cyst was counted using an epifluorescence microscope. Then, (the number of cryptosporidium mosquitoes counted) / (the number of cryptosporidium cells in the liquid used for filtration = 200)

X 100 was defined as the recovery rate.

The above experiment was performed five times each for distilled water as the dilution water and for tap water, and the recovery rate was determined.

As a result, when distilled water was used, the recovery was 90 <½ or more. In addition, when tap water containing solids other than Cryptosporidium moss was used, the recovery was 80 ± 5%.

The containers, caps, and sealing materials could be reused by boiling and disinfecting them with hot water for 5 minutes. Industrial applicability

According to the cartridge for centrifugation and the method for capturing and concentrating microorganisms using the same according to the present invention, the cartridge is disassembled when the turbid component containing microorganisms present in the raw water is captured by a filtration filter, concentrated, and recovered. Since the enrichment process from capture to pre-recovery can be performed by a series of operations, it is easy to handle, and it is possible to recover a very small amount of a concentrated solution with a high concentration. It is possible to provide a technique that is simple in operation, does not require a skilled technique, and has high detection accuracy.

In addition, the cost of inspection can be reduced because it is possible to dispose of only a part of the filter after use.

In addition, since the cartridge is self-supporting, it can be placed anywhere on a flat surface without the need for a stand or other device for setting up the cartridge, or the cartridge can be connected by installing a faucet mounting mechanism at the raw water intake. This eliminates the need for complicated work for fixing and extra equipment, and can greatly improve the handling.

In addition, if a constant flow mechanism is provided at the filtered water outlet at a constant flow rate, there is no need to constantly monitor the filtration of raw water.

Claims

The scope of the claims

1. A cartridge attachable to a centrifugal separator, having a raw water supply port and a filtered water outlet, and having a filtration filter inside the cartridge and between the raw water supply port and the filtered water outlet. And a cartridge for centrifugation, wherein the cartridge is centrifuged to remove solid matter deposited on the filter.

2. The centrifugal force cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the filtration filter is detachably arranged.

3. The cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the cartridge is configured such that a member to which the filtration filter is fixed and a member having a portion where solids precipitate after centrifugation are detachable. Item 3. The cartridge for centrifugation according to item 2 or 2.

4. The centrifugal separation cartridge according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the raw water supply port has a faucet mounting mechanism.

5. The centrifugal separation cartridge according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein a constant flow rate mechanism for passing water at a constant flow rate is provided at the filtered water outlet.

6. The centrifugal separator according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the cartridge is capable of standing on its side where solids precipitate after centrifugation. cartridge.

7. The cartridge for centrifugation according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the filtration filter is made of a porous hollow fiber membrane.

8. The filter is made of polyolefin, cellulose acetate, poly The centrifugal separation cartridge according to any one of claims 1 to 7, comprising a material selected from the group consisting of sulfone, PAN, and polyvinylidene fluoride.

9. The centrifuge according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the cartridge excluding the filtration filter is made of a material having heat resistance of 100 ° C or more. Cartridge for separation.

10. When capturing and concentrating the microorganisms present in the raw water and collecting them, the raw water is passed through the centrifugal separation cartridge according to any one of claims 1 to 9, By centrifuging the cartridge without removing the filtration filter, microorganisms deposited on the filtration filter are separated from the filtration filter, settled on the bottom of the cartridge, and then collected. A method for concentrating and recovering microorganisms.

11. The method for capturing, concentrating and recovering microorganisms according to claim 10, wherein the microorganisms are cryptosporidium.