KR20090019834A - Sterilization Method and Clean Air Supply Device in Clean Air Supply Device - Google Patents

Abstract

It provides a clean air supply having the ability to uniformly and effectively sterilize the secondary surface of the filter. A pre-filter 23 for preliminarily filtering the air introduced in order from the air inlet 18 for introducing air to the air supply port 22 for sending clean air to the working environment, and for sucking in air to be introduced. From the blower 24, the heater 25 for adjusting the temperature of the introduced air, the chemical gas supply device 27, the chemical gas discharge device 26 for supplying the chemical gas to the air passage, and the air supply port 22 And a high performance filter and / or ultra high performance filters 41 and 42 for filtering clean air to produce clean air.

Description

Sterilization method and clean air supply device in clean air supply device {METHOD OF STERILIZATION IN CLEAN AIR SUPPLY SYSTEM AND CLEAN AIR SUPPLY SYSTEM}

The present invention relates to a sterilization method and a clean air supply apparatus for sterilizing an air passage including an air passage wall, a filter, and the like in a clean air supply apparatus for supplying clean air to a work environment covering a work machine.

In a food filling plant or the like, a work booth is arranged in a clean room or a general room in order to eliminate dust and microbial adverse effects on the product in the work environment. The work is performed by arranging work equipment such as a container cleaning device, a content liquid filling device, a capping device, or the like.

In order to keep the work booth in a clean environment, air is supplied to a clean air supply device from a clean room or a general room, the air is cleaned by a filter, and clean air is supplied to the work booth. (See Patent Documents 1 to 3) )

[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-126638

[Patent Document 2] Japan Patent Publication, Showa 54-162841

[Patent Document 3] Japan Patent Publication, Showa 51-109143

[Patent Document 4] Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-172285

[Initiation of invention]

[Problem to Solve Invention]

Patent Documents 1 to 3 disclose clean air supply technology in a clean room for general industry. In a food filling factory, although the cleansing technology conventionally adopted by semiconductor factories etc. is used as it is, this is inadequate. That is, in a food filling factory, since the food itself handled always becomes a pollution source which discharge | releases a microparticle or microorganism, it is necessary to always blow clean air into a work booth. For this reason, it is necessary to also sterilize the equipment constituting the air passage in the clean air supply device, for example, the surface of the wall of the air passage or other air passages, and the secondary side surface of the outlet side of the filter. For sterilization of the secondary side surface of the filter, it is possible to consider spraying and cleaning a chemical solution such as hydrogen peroxide solution from the working environment side to the secondary side surface of the filter. In some cases, a uniform distribution may not be obtained due to the limitation of the injection of the chemical liquid into the filter, and a nonuniform distribution may occur in the sterilization effect. In addition, the filter may be wetted with a chemical agent and the performance may decrease. In addition, although the reference document 4 relates to the technology of supplying clean air for a food filling device, it does not mention the technique of sterilization of the secondary side surface of a filter. In view of this, it is desired to develop sterilization techniques for air passages such as sterilization techniques to replace spray cleaning from the working environment side on the filter secondary side surface.

This invention is made in view of the above circumstances, and it does not complicate the structure of a working environment in a food filling plant, etc., and also completely fills the air passage, for example, the space between a filter and a filter, without degrading the performance of a filter. It is an object of the present invention to provide a sterilization method and apparatus for a clean air supply having an ability to effectively sterilize.

[Means for solving the problem]

In response to this object, the sterilization method in the clean air supply apparatus of the present invention is a sterilization method of the air passage in the clean air supply apparatus for supplying clean air to the working environment, and includes hydrogen peroxide (H _{2) in} the air passage. O ₂ ) is characterized in that the air passage is sterilized by passing gas.

Moreover, the sterilization method in the clean air supply apparatus of this invention is a sterilization method of the air passage which has a 1st filter and a 2nd filter from an upstream part to a downstream part in the clean air supply apparatus which supplies clean air to a working environment. And passing through a hydrogen peroxide (H ₂ O ₂ ) gas into the air passage, the first filter including a primary side surface and a secondary side surface of the first filter and a primary side surface and a secondary side surface of the second filter. The air passage in the downstream portion from the vehicle side surface is sterilized.

Moreover, the clean air supply apparatus of this invention is a clean air supply apparatus which supplies clean air to a working environment, The said clean air supply apparatus is equipped with the chemical | medical agent gas supply apparatus, and is provided between the air intake port and the air supply port. A prefilter, a blower, a heater, a drug gas discharge device, and a filter device are sequentially provided in the air passage. The drug gas supply device generates a drug gas and supplies the drug gas to the drug gas discharge device. The pre-filter is to pre-filter the air received in the air passage from the air inlet, the blower is to send air into the air passage, the heater is to control the temperature of the air in the air passage, The medicine gas discharging device supplies the medicine gas into the air passage, and the filter device supplies the air. And in that from the characteristic for filtering air to be supplied to the working environment.

[Effects of the Invention]

According to the invention described in Claim 1, since the sterilization of the air passage of the clean air supply device is performed by hydrogen peroxide gas, a uniform sterilization effect in the air passage can be realized without degrading the performance of the filter.

According to the invention described in Claim 2, a good sterilization effect can be obtained with a small consumption of hydrogen peroxide.

According to the invention described in Claim 3, a better sterilization effect can be obtained with a small amount of hydrogen peroxide gas.

According to the invention described in Claim 4, since the sterilization of the air passage of the clean air supply device is performed by gasifying hydrogen peroxide, a uniform sterilization effect in the air passage can be realized without degrading the performance of the filter.

According to the invention described in Claim 5, since the sterilizing agent is supplied into the air passage of the clean air conveyed to the working environment, the sterilizing agent contacts with the passage inner wall or the filter and sterilizes when passing through the air passage. In addition, since the air heated by the heater contacts the filter, the filter secondary side surface is dried and heat sterilized to superimpose the sterilization action by the sterilizing agent and the sterilization action by the hot air. The sterilizing agent acts on the secondary side surface of the filter in a gaseous state so that the distribution of the drug is uniform and effective sterilization is possible with a small amount of the drug, and the droplets of the drug do not adhere to the filter. There is no case.

Moreover, when the said filter apparatus is comprised with two filters arrange | positioned at intervals along the flow of a chemical | medical agent gas, even if the filter of a working environment side is damaged and does not function, for example, the upstream filter and two Since the air passage between the filters of the sieve is sterilized by the chemical gas passing through the upstream filter, there is no fear that contaminated air will be supplied to the working environment.

According to the invention described in Claim 6, the sterilization ability of the apparatus can be improved by selecting a high performance filter and an ultra high performance filter as a filter and combining them in multiple stages.

According to the invention described in Claim 7, since there is no need to provide a chemical injection nozzle or the like for sterilizing the filter secondary side surface from the working environment side, the structure of the working environment is not complicated.

According to the invention described in Claim 8, the generation of the sterilizing drug gas is extremely simple, and the drug can be vaporized efficiently.

According to the invention described in Claim 9, since the heating plate is used as the device for vaporizing the drug, the structure of the device can be easily and surely vaporized.

According to the invention described in Claim 10, since the use of hydrogen peroxide as a medicament, the sterilization action is further improved.

1 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of a charging device.

2 is a configuration explanatory diagram showing a configuration of a clean air supply device.

3 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of a chemical gas supply device;

5 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of a test apparatus

5 is an explanatory diagram showing the attachment position of the indicator in the test apparatus.

[Description of the code]

1: filling device 2: bottle supply device

3: sterilizer 4: rinser

5: Filler 6: Capper

7: bottle discharge device 8: rinser booth

11: filler booth 12: capper booth

13: clean room or common room 14: arrow

16: clean air supply device 17: air passage

18: air inlet 21: air supply port

22: clean air inlet 23: pre-filter

24: blower 25: heater

26: drug gas discharge device 27: drug gas supply device

31 air inlet 32 gas outlet

33: Prefilter 34: Blower

35: temperature control member 36: heating member

37: aeration 38: heating plate

41: filter 42: filter

51: chemical liquid supply device 52: dropping nozzle

53 metering pump 54 drug tank

EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Hereinafter, the figure which shows one Embodiment with detail of this invention is demonstrated.

1 shows an apparatus for filling beverages. The filling device 1 includes a bottle supply device 2, a sterilizer 3, a rinser 4, a filler 5, a capper 6, and a bottle discharge device 7.

The bottle containing the drink enters the filling device 1 from the bottle supply device 2, the sterilization treatment is performed by the sterilizer 3, the rinsing treatment is performed by the rinser 4, and the beverage is filled by the filler 5. The filling is capped by the capper 6 to complete the filling process and is sent out from the bottle discharging device 7.

The work equipment of the rinser 4, the filler 5, and the capper 6 is installed in the rinser booth 8, the filler booth 11, and the capper booth 12, which is a work environment surrounded by the machine cover, and the rinser booth ( 8), the filler booth 11 and the capper booth 12 are installed in the clean room or the general chamber 13. The air pressure of each booth (8, 11, 12) is maintained at a positive pressure, among which the filler booth (11) having the filler (5) is the highest, and the booth (8,12) of the terminal ), The exhaust pressure is kept positive so that the filler booth 11 is upstream, as shown by the arrow 14.

Among the booths 8, 11 and 12, the filler booth 11 of the filler 5 is demonstrated as a representative example. As shown in FIG. 2, the filler booth 11 is equipped with the work machine (filler 5 in this embodiment), and the clean air supply apparatus 16 is attached. The filler 5 is a device for filling beverages into bottles.

The clean air supply device 16 is a device for supplying clean air into the filler booth 11. As shown in FIG. 2, the clean air supply device 16 has an air passage 17 and an air supply port 21 of the air passage 17. Is connected to the clean air inlet 22 of the filler booth 11. The prefilter 23 is disposed in the air inlet 18 of the air passage 17, the blower 24 is disposed downstream thereof, and the heater 25 and the chemical gas discharge device 26 downstream thereof. Is arranged, and the filters 41 and 42 are arranged downstream thereof. The filter 42 is attached to the air supply port 21 adjacent to the clean air inlet 22 of the filter booth 11. The filters 41 and 42 are constituted by a single layer or a plurality of layers of a high performance filter or an ultra high performance filter, or a combination of a high performance filter and an ultra high performance filter. In this embodiment, as an example, the filter 41 is constituted by a high performance filter (HEPA), and the filter 42 is constituted by an ultra high performance filter (ULPA).

The prefilter 23 preliminarily filters the air entering the air passage 17 to remove dust having a large particle diameter from the air. The blower 24 introduces air into the clean air supply device 16 from the outside and supplies it to the working environment. The heater 25 is to control the temperature or humidity of the air toward the filters 41 and 42. As shown in FIG. 3, the chemical | medical agent gas supply apparatus 27 is an apparatus which supplies a chemical | medical agent in gas state to the chemical | medical agent gas discharge apparatus 26, such as a nozzle in the air path 17. As shown in FIG. The chemical gas supply device 27 is connected to the chemical gas discharge device 26, and the prefilter 33 is sequentially provided in the air passage 37 between the air inlet 31 and the gas outlet 32. And a blower 34, a temperature control member 35, and a heating member 36. The prefilter 33 preliminarily filters the air taken into the air passage 37 from the air inlet 31, and the blower 34 sends air into the air passage 37, and the temperature regulating member 35 ) Is to control the temperature of the air in the vent 37, the heating member 36 is to heat the supplied chemical liquid or spray chemical liquid to produce a chemical gas. The generated chemical gas is sent to the chemical gas discharge device 26 and supplied to the air passage 17. The supplied chemical becomes gas and flows through the air passages 17 to reach the filters 41 and 42.

Filters 41 and 42 are arranged in the air supply port 21 of the air passage 17. The high performance filter (HEPA) constituting the filter 41 can capture, for example, 99.97% or more of particles having a particle diameter of 0.3 µm or more, and prevent secondary contamination after the high performance filter. The ultra-high performance filter constituting the filter 42 is, for example, a filter for trapping particles having a small particle diameter capable of trapping 99.99999% or more of particles having a particle diameter of 0.3 µm or more. This ultra high performance filter 42 is preferably constituted by a water repellent filter given chemical resistance.

In the clean air supply device 16 configured as described above, air is received from the clean room or the general chamber 13 and supplied into the filler booth 11. The air received by the operation of the blower 24 from the clean room or the general chamber 13 is removed by the prefilter 23 to remove dust having a large particle size, the bacteria are collected by the filter 41, and the bacteria and fine particles by the filter 42. Removal is done. Further, by controlling the temperature with the heater 25 to dry the ultra-high performance filter 42, the ultra-high performance filter can be maintained, and extremely clean air can be supplied into the filler booth 11.

The drug gas is sterilized by contact with the secondary surface as it passes through filter 42. In addition, the chemical gas which entered the filler booth 11 is sterilized by contacting the secondary side surface of the filter 42 from the filler booth 11. Since the distribution of the chemical | medical agent in this chemical | medical agent gas is extremely uniform, sterilization of the secondary side surface of the filter 42 can be performed effectively even with a small chemical | medical agent amount. In addition, even when the droplet of the washing | cleaning agent in the case of wash | cleaning the booth adhered to the filter 42, a hot chemical gas dries the droplet and the performance of the filter 42 can be maintained.

Since it is necessary to prevent the chemical gas from condensing in the air passage 17, the chemical gas is kept at a temperature of 55 ° C. or higher in the air passage 17 when, for example, the H ₂ O ₂ concentration is 1700 to 2400 ppm. When the concentration of H ₂ O ₂ is 900 to 2400 ppm, it is necessary to maintain the temperature at 75 ° C. or higher, and the temperature range of the chemical gas is set within the range not damaging the constituent material of the air passage.

Example 1

The sterilization effect was verified using the test apparatus for clean air supply of this invention.

(Test content)

The test apparatus is shown in FIG.

The test clean air supply device 16t has an air passage 17t, a prefilter 23t is disposed at an air inlet 18t of the air passage 17t, and a blower 24t is disposed downstream thereof. On the downstream side, a chemical gas discharge device 26t for supplying the chemical gas generated by the heater 25t and the chemical gas supply device 27t is disposed, and the HEPA filters HEPA1 and HEPA2 are disposed downstream. . The chemical gas supply device 27t is a prefilter 33t, a blower 34t, and a temperature regulating member 35t in order in the air passage 37t between the air inlet port 31t and the gas outlet 32t. And a heating member 36t. The heating member 36t heats and vaporizes the chemical liquid supplied from the chemical liquid supply device 51 to generate the chemical gas. The chemical liquid supply device 51 for supplying the chemical liquid to the heating member 36t includes a droplet nozzle 52, a metering pump 53, and a chemical tank 54, and heats the chemical liquid at a controlled flow rate. It is dripped at the member 36t.

(Attachment Position of Indicator) a1 to a4, b1 to b3, and c1 to c3 shown in FIG.

(Process) 1 filter warm air heating

2 H ₂ O ₂ gas heating

(Flow rate of air taken in from air inlet 18t) 1 m 3 / min

(Flow rate of air introduced from air inlet port 31t) 0.1 m 3 / min

(Test Methods)

A bacterial suspension of Geobacillus, stearothermophilus ATCC7953 was attached to an aluminum test piece at 1.8 × 10 ⁵ cfu / piece and dried in a clean room.

The created test piece was attached to a predetermined position. In the sterilization process, after maintaining constant temperature only for warm air, 35% H ₂ O ₂ was dropped on a hot plate to generate H ₂ O ₂ gas, thereby producing a H ₂ O ₂ gas maintained at a temperature. With a GWI manufactured by H ₂ O ₂ gas monitor arranged in the region b and measure TEMP (℃), H ₂ O ₂ gas (ppm), H ₂ O gas (ppm), was blown a predetermined period of time H ₂ O ₂ gas . The termination was performed by stopping the generation of H ₂ O ₂ and confirming that the densitometer was below the 0 measurement detection limit. The test piece after sterilization was immersed in 15 ml of SCD medium, and cultured at 55 ° C. for 7 days. The medium was cloudy (+) and the medium was not cloudy (-).

[table]

From the above test results, it was confirmed that sterilization was possible at 55 ° C, 1700 ppm, 10 min or more, and 75 ° C, 900 ppm, 20 min or more.

As described above, according to the present invention, since the sterilizing agent is supplied into the air passage of clean air sent to the working environment, the secondary side surface is also sterilized when the sterilizing agent passes through the filter in a gaseous state. The gaseous agent has a uniform distribution of drug components, can be effectively sterilized with a small amount of drug, and the droplets of the drug do not adhere to the filter, and thus the performance of the filter is not deteriorated.

In addition, since it is not necessary to provide a chemical injection nozzle or the like for sterilizing the filter secondary surface from the working environment side, the structure of the working environment is simplified.

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, the air charger, the secondary side surface of the filter, the wall surface of the air passage in the clean air supply device, and the other inner surface of the air passage are not complicated in the food charger or the like. Clean air supply methods and devices can be obtained with effective sterilization capabilities.

Claims (10)

A sterilization method of an air passage in a clean air supply device for supplying clean air to a work environment, wherein the air passage is sterilized by passing hydrogen peroxide (H ₂ O ₂ ) gas through the air passage. Sterilization Method in Apparatus. 2. The sterilization method according to claim 1, wherein the concentration of hydrogen peroxide in the hydrogen peroxide water gas in the air passage is 900 ppm or more. The sterilization method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the temperature of the hydrogen peroxide gas in the air passage is 55 ° C or higher. In a clean air supply device for supplying clean air to a working environment, a method of sterilizing an air passage having a first filter and a second filter from an upstream portion to a downstream portion, wherein hydrogen peroxide (H ₂ O ₂ ) gas is introduced into the air passage. Passing through to sterilize the air passage downstream of the primary side of the first filter, including the primary and secondary surfaces of the first filter and the primary and secondary surfaces of the second filter. Sterilization method in a clean air supply apparatus. A clean air supply device for supplying clean air to a working environment, wherein the clean air supply device includes a chemical gas supply device, and further includes a prefilter and a blower in order in the air passage between the air intake port and the air supply port. And a heater, a drug gas discharge device, and a filter device, wherein the drug gas supply device generates a drug gas and supplies the drug gas to the drug gas discharge device, and the prefilter is supplied to the air passage from the air inlet. Pre-filtering the air, the blower is to send air in the air passage, the heater is to control the temperature of the air in the air passage, the drug gas discharge device to supply the drug gas into the air passage The filter device filters the air supplied from the air supply port to the working environment. A clean air supply, characterized in that the. 6. The clean air supply device according to claim 5, wherein the filter device comprises at least two filters arranged at intervals along the air passage. 7. The clean air supply device according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the chemical gas is configured to contact the primary side surface and the secondary side surface of the filter of the filter device. The said chemical | medical agent gas supply apparatus is provided with the prefilter, a blower, a heater, and a heating member in order in the ventilation path between an air inlet port and a chemical | medical agent gas outlet, The said prefilter is the said air inlet. Preliminary filtration of air taken into the vent from the sphere, the blower is to send air into the vent, the heater is to control the temperature of the gas in the vent, the heating member Clean air supply device characterized in that for generating gas by chemical vaporization by heating. 9. The clean air supply device according to claim 8, wherein the heating member is a heating plate. 9. The clean air supply device according to any one of claims 5 to 8, wherein said medicament is hydrogen peroxide.

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