KR100587616B1 - A deodorizing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention solves the problem of deodorization performance and discharge sound by discharge at a frequency higher than human audible range, reduces the amount of ozone generated, extends the life of ozone decomposing means, and eliminates the need for a cooling device for the control circuit. In order to provide a deodorizing device, a high pressure discharge means (11) for generating ozone and ultraviolet rays and a decomposing action such as odorous substances or harmful substances activated by ultraviolet rays generated by the high pressure discharge means and contained in the air are performed. In the deodorizing device (1) in which the photocatalyst module (5) and the ozone decomposing means (10) for decomposing ozone generated by the high pressure discharging means are arranged in the blowing path (3), The discharge frequency is characterized by being above the audible range and intermittently discharging.

Description

Deodorizer {A DEODORIZING APPARATUS}

1 is a schematic longitudinal cross-sectional view of a deodorizer in Embodiment 1 of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a graph showing the relationship between the noise and the discharge frequency by the apparatus of Figure 1,

Figure 3 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view showing a deodorizing device of Embodiment 3 of the present invention;

4 is a table showing the experimental results in Example 3.

* Explanation of symbols for main parts of the drawings

1: deodorizer 2: duct member

3: Furnace 4: Blowing Fan

5: photocatalyst module 6, 7: photocatalyst filter

8: discharge electrode 9: counter electrode

10: ozone decomposition catalyst filter 11: power circuit

12: trance

The present invention relates to a deodorizing device for deodorizing by decomposing odor components and harmful substances contained in the air.

In recent years, with the normalization of environmental pollution such as outdoor air and noise, the densification of houses is progressing, and the demand for improving air quality in living spaces is increasing. Among the air quality, the demand for reducing the metabolic odor in the smoke smell of the smoke, the nursing environment of the sick, or the removal of harmful gas constituents represented by VOC (volatile organic matter) generated from housing building materials is particularly high.

In response to these demands, a method of changing the quality of odor by deodorizing by adsorbing odorous molecules typified by activated carbon or reacting odor components with other pharmaceutical ingredients has been adopted.

In the prior art, the amount of adsorption by the adsorbent and removal of harmful gas components is limited, and replacement of the deodorization filter is indispensable for long-term use. In addition, the deodorizing filter has a problem of odor generation by releasing odorous molecules adsorbed at the end of the life even during the lifetime.

On the other hand, the method of changing the quality of the malodor by reacting the malodorous component with other pharmaceutical components is consumed, so it is necessary to replace the absorbent drug at a frequency of once or twice a month, which is complicated. Since the amount of release into the environment was controlled at room temperature, the amount of release of the drug substance increased when the room temperature was high, and there was a difficulty in controlling the release amount for the deodorizing effect and the related life of the drug substance.

In addition, the decomposition and removal of harmful gas components, such as formaldehyde, requires a catalytic reaction with a high redox potential. However, oxidative decomposition by ozone does not lead to complete decomposition and remains at the stage of intermediate decomposition products. Therefore, it was difficult to completely harmless.

The photocatalyst represented by titanium oxide can be irradiated with ultraviolet rays to generate free radicals and completely decompose harmful gas components with its strong oxidizing power. However, since it uses a fluorescent tube lamp containing mercury in the tube as an ultraviolet light source, However, it was not preferable in terms of the load on the environment at the time of disposal.

In order to solve these problems, ozone or ultraviolet rays are generated by high-pressure discharge, and the photocatalyst module activated by the ultraviolet rays decomposes odor components and harmful substances contained in the air, and is generated by high-pressure discharge means. Deodorizers have been proposed in which ozone is decomposed by ozone decomposing means.

This deodorizer is excellent in terms of controlling deodorizing performance, completely decomposing harmful gas, and load on the environment when disposing of the device. However, high pressure discharge makes it possible to generate a discharge sound corresponding to the discharge frequency. There is. In addition, depending on the conditions of high-voltage discharge, noise is generated, which also affects television reception.

As for discharge noise, as described in Japanese Patent Application No. 2001-159477 by the applicant of the present invention, the effect was obtained by discharging the frequency outside the human audible range. Since the amount of ultraviolet or ozone that can be obtained is reduced in proportion to the frequency, there is a problem that the deodorizing performance is impaired.

In addition, when discharged at an audible frequency or higher, problems with discharge sound or deodorization performance do not occur, but ozone generated in proportion to the discharge frequency is generated more than necessary in some cases, which shortens the life of the ozone decomposing means. In addition, when 20 kpps or more of discharge, which is higher than the audible region, is generated, the amount of heat generated by the control circuit increases, and a separate cooling device is required.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and solves the problem of deodorization performance and the discharge sound by the discharge at a frequency higher than the human audible range, and also reduces the amount of ozone generated to extend the life of ozone decomposition means and control It is an object of the present invention to provide a deodorizing device which makes the cooling device for the circuit unnecessary.

In order to solve the above problems, the invention of the deodorizing apparatus according to claim 1 is a high-pressure discharge means for generating ozone and ultraviolet rays, and odorous components or harmful substances contained in the air activated by the ultraviolet rays generated by the high-pressure discharge means. In the deodorizing apparatus in which a photocatalyst module for performing the decomposition operation and an ozone decomposing means for decomposing ozone generated by the high-pressure discharge means are disposed in a blowing path, the discharge frequency of the high-pressure discharge means is 20 kpps or more and 40 kpps or less. In addition, the high-pressure discharge means is characterized in that the intermittent discharge.

This configuration can reduce the amount of ozone generated to increase the life of the ozone decomposing means without causing the problem of discharge sound, and can also reduce the cost by suppressing the amount of heat generated by the circuit unit, thereby eliminating the need for a dedicated cooling device. .

The invention as set forth in claim 2 is characterized in that the on / off interval of discharge of the high-voltage discharge means is executed at a predetermined time interval, and the intermittent operation frequency is set to 50 Hz or less, or 20 Hz or more and 50 kHz or less. Even if it is outside the audible range, the problem of noise caused by the frequency of the intermittent operation being within the audible range can be eliminated.

The invention described in claim 3 is characterized in that the intermittent operation control of the high-pressure discharge means is changed in response to the detected value of the odor sensor. When the odor is relatively low, the amount of ozone generation and the amount of heat generated by the circuit can be reduced.

EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Hereinafter, one Embodiment of this invention is described based on drawing. 1 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the deodorizing device 1 according to the present invention, wherein the blowing fan 4 is placed in the air path 3 formed by the duct member 2 such as the air duct in the cold air duct or the air conditioner of the refrigerator. It arrange | positions, The photocatalyst module 5 is installed in the wind-up side, and the ozone decomposition catalyst filter 10 is provided between the photocatalyst module 5 and the blowing fan 4. As shown in FIG.

The photocatalyst module 5 is provided by adjoining two photocatalyst filters 6 and 7 which are coated with a photocatalyst material represented by titanium oxide and dried or sintered to a surface of a substrate made of a porous ceramic such as alumina or silica and adhered thereto. A discharge electrode 8 formed in a mesh shape by etching a thin plate of stainless steel or the like is erected between the filters, and in the air passages 3 of the two photocatalyst filters 6 and 7, the discharge electrode is provided on the wind and wind side. The counter electrode 9 formed as in (8) is arrange | positioned, respectively.

In the photocatalyst module 5, two photocatalyst filters are not necessarily provided adjacent to each other. However, if the odor component or ethylene floating bacteria are relatively small, such as a deodorizer installed in the cold air passage from the refrigerator compartment to the vegetable compartment, The counter electrode 9 and the discharge electrode 8 may be provided before and after the photocatalyst filter.

Denoted at 11 is a power supply circuit, and a high voltage generating transformer 12 applies a positive pulsed DC high voltage between the discharge electrode 8 and each counter electrode 9.

The mesh size of the discharge electrode 8 is larger than that of the counter electrode 9. By this structure, the discharge electrode 8 and the counter electrode 9 function as discharge means for generating ultraviolet rays, and discharge occurs between both electrodes, generating ultraviolet rays having a wavelength of 380 nm or less.

In addition, when the discharge electrode 8 and the counter electrode 9 discharge, ozone is generated together with the ultraviolet rays. Thus, the photocatalyst module 5 has a function of completely decomposing harmful gas components due to generation of active oxygen by ultraviolet rays. At the same time, it also functions as an ozone generating means. In this photocatalyst module 5, the ozone decomposition catalyst filter 10 for absorbing ozone provided at a predetermined distance from the wind down side is formed of a honeycomb-shaped sintered body composed mainly of manganese dioxide. .

When deodorizing apparatus 1 of the said structure is operated, it performs as follows. That is, when power is supplied to the power supply circuit 11, the blower fan 4 is driven, and a voltage is applied between the discharge electrode 8 and the counter electrode 9, discharge occurs between the electrodes to generate ultraviolet rays.

The active oxygen generated by activating the photocatalyst by irradiating the photocatalyst filters 6 and 7 flows through the air path 3 and adheres to the surface of the photocatalyst filters 6 and 7 by strong oxidation of hydroxyl radicals (free radicals). Deodorizes by odorless or low odor by decomposing odor gas components or organic compounds.

In addition, microorganisms on the surface of the photocatalytic filters 6 and 7 can be suppressed by embrittling the bacterial cell membranes of bacteria, and by oxidative decomposition, the deodorizing apparatus 1 and the air passage 3 walls. Decontaminate the surface.

In the above operation as a comparative example of one embodiment of the present invention, the peak voltage is 4kV between the discharge electrode 8 and the counter electrode 9, and the discharge frequency is equal to or higher than that of the human audible region. Continuous operation was performed at a voltage of 20 kpps (kilopulse / sec).

In this case, as the peak voltage shown in FIG. 2 is understood as a graph of the relationship between the discharge frequency of 4 kV and the noise level, the discharge sound generated when the discharge frequency is 20 kpps is equal to or greater than the audible range of the human being. Since it is a range that cannot be felt, the noise value as the device was 17.6 db, a low value close to the low noise (15.4 db), and there was no problem.

However, the ozone discharged was 1.1 ppm, exceeding the working environment standard of 0.5 ppm, and the resistance surface temperature on the power supply circuit 11 for supplying a high voltage was also 150 ° C, which was very high temperature. In general, if the resistance surface temperature exceeds 70 to 80 ° C, the circuit life will be extremely short. In this comparative example, since the cooling device is required to maintain the circuit life, the following examples are used. Responded by.

(Example 1)

The deodorizing device of one embodiment of the present invention has the same configuration as that in Fig. 1, and has a peak voltage of 4 kV and a voltage of 20 kpps between the discharge electrode 8 and the counter electrode 9, and the on time of discharge is 0.01 second. The intermittent operation was performed with the off time of 0.09 seconds.

The operating frequency, which is the on / off frequency per second in the intermittent operation, is outside the audible range of 50 Hz or less or 20 Hz or more, and eliminates the problem of noise caused by the frequency of the intermittent operation being within the audible region even when the discharge frequency is outside the audible range. I'm trying to.

As a result, the noise value was 17.6db, the same value as in the comparative example, and there was no change, but the discharge ozone was 0.09ppm, which is far below the working environment standard, and the resistance surface temperature on the high voltage circuit 11 was 38 ° C. It was a level which does not need cooling in circuit life.

(Example 2)

A power supply circuit 11 for supplying a high voltage with the same basic configuration as that of the first embodiment was provided on the air path 3. At this time, the noise value was 17.6 db, the discharge ozone was 0.09 ppm, which is the same as the value of Example 1, and the resistance surface temperature on the high voltage circuit 11 was 32 deg.

Usually, it is necessary to provide a heat dissipation device such as a cooling fan in the heat generating portion such as a resistor on the high voltage circuit 11, but the wind always flows in the air path by the rotation of the fan during the operation of the deodorizer according to the present embodiment. The high voltage circuit 11 is provided in a part of the cross section of the air path 3 at the time of intermittent discharge, and when the circuit heats up, it is forced to blow and cool in synchronization with this, and a separate heat dissipation device is required. The heat generating portion can be cooled to generate heat.

(Example 3)

As shown in FIG. 3, which is basically the same as that of the first embodiment, and in which the same parts are denoted by the same reference numerals, the photocatalyst module 5 on the air path 3 includes the power supply circuit 11 including the high voltage generating transformer 12. And upstream side A) and downstream of the ozone decomposition catalyst filter 10 were installed at the position indicated by B between the blowing fan 4 and compared. At the same time, a deodorization endurance comparison test for 10 hours was carried out using ammonia that generates urine odor, and the appearance was examined.

As a result, as shown in the table of Fig. 4, the resistance surface temperature on the high voltage transformer 12 was 55 ° C at both the A and B positions, which was the same temperature and was a problem-free level, but the A position was upstream of the photocatalyst module 5. It was recognized that rust occurred in the metal part of the transformer (5) under the influence of ammonia. On the contrary, the B position on the side of the wind can be cooled by clean air subjected to oxidative decomposition by a photocatalyst, and the high voltage transformer 5 can be protected from contamination by odorous substances.

(Example 4)

Although not shown, an odor sensor such as a heat linear semiconductor sensor using tin oxide is installed in the deodorizer as a sensitizing material that detects odors when it comes into contact with odorous substances. The circuit was configured so that the ON time was changed between 0.01 and 0.09 seconds in proportion to the signal from the odor sensor. At this time, the noise level was as low as 16.8 ~ 17.8db, and the ozone generation amount could be 0.13 ~ 0.23ppm, which is 0.5ppm or less of the working environment standard.

As described above, according to the configuration of the present invention, by discharging intermittently with the discharge frequency above human audible range, it is possible to increase the life of ozone decomposition means by reducing the amount of ozone generated without causing the problem of discharge sound. In addition, the amount of heat generated in the circuit portion can be suppressed, thereby making the dedicated cooling device unnecessary, thereby reducing the cost.

Claims (3)

A high-voltage discharge means for generating ozone and ultraviolet rays, a photocatalyst module that is activated by ultraviolet rays generated by the high-pressure discharge means, and performs photocatalytic modules for decomposing odorous substances and harmful substances contained in the air, and the high-pressure discharge means In the deodorizing apparatus arranged in the blowing path, ozone decomposing means for decomposing generated ozone, And a discharge frequency of the high voltage discharge means is 20 kpps or more and 40 kpps or less, and the high pressure discharge means is intermittently discharged. The method of claim 1, An on-off interval of discharge of said high-voltage discharge means at predetermined time intervals, and an intermittent operation frequency is 50 kHz or less, or 20 kHz or more and 50 kHz or less. The method according to claim 1 or 2, And an intermittent operation control of the high-voltage discharge means in response to a detected value of the odor sensor.

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