WO2009099190A1 - Washing apparatus, washing method, and ozone water producing device used in the apparatus and method - Google Patents

Abstract

Provided is a washing apparatus for producing ozone water having an especially high washing efficiency easily so that it can afford a high washing efficiency. Water (30) flows from a discharge opening (122) into a body pipe (121). This body pipe (121) is arranged in water to become ozone water. A plurality of slits (124) is formed in the lower portion in Fig. 2. The slits (124) communicate the inside of the body pipe and the outside water, and are formed in parallel at an inclination angle (ϑ) with respect to the side of the discharge opening (122) toward the side of the discharge opening (122) in the direction joining the discharge opening (122) and a collision wall (123). On the side closer to the discharge opening (122) than those slits (124), there is disposed a gas supply pipe (125) in communication with the body pipe (121). An ozone gas (in a gaseous phase) is introduced from the gas supply pipe (125) into the body pipe (121) by a vacuum established by the water flow. Specifically, this ozone water producing device (10) is activated when a pump (16) is driven to circulate the water in a micro bubble producing device (12).

Description

Cleaning device, cleaning method, and ozone water generating device used therefor

The present invention relates to a cleaning apparatus and a cleaning method for cleaning various materials using water to which fine ozone bubbles are added, and an ozone water generating apparatus that can be used for this purpose.

For example, in a washing machine for washing clothes, the clothes are immersed in washing water mixed with various detergents, and the washing dirt is washed by rotating and stirring together with the washing water. At this time, as the rotation and agitation are vigorously performed for a long time, the cleaning effect increases, while the possibility that the garment itself is damaged by mechanical impact increases. The same applies to items other than clothing as long as the item to be cleaned may be damaged. Therefore, there has been a demand for a cleaning apparatus that can provide a high cleaning effect without vigorous rotation and stirring.

As one method for this purpose, for example, Patent Document 1 describes a cleaning device using ozone water. In this technique, ozone (O ₃ ) gas having a high oxidizing action, sterilizing action, deodorizing action, organic substance removing action, etc. is generated and bubbled, and ozone is melted or contains many bubbles of ozone. Ozone water is generated. When this ozone water is used in the washing apparatus (washing machine), it has a higher washing ability than washing water using a normal detergent. At this time, since ordinary clothing is not adversely affected by ozone, it is particularly effective against contamination by organic matter. Accordingly, a sufficient cleaning effect can be obtained without vigorous rotation and stirring when washing the clothes, so that damage to the clothes can be reduced.

At this time, the ozone gas itself can be easily produced from the oxygen gas by, for example, a so-called silent discharge method in which oxygen (O ₂ ) gas is ionized and recombined by discharge between electrodes. In addition, ozone is toxic to the human body at high concentrations, but is unstable, and is easily decomposed into normal non-toxic oxygen molecules in air at room temperature, so that it is easy to handle. Therefore, the structure of the cleaning apparatus using this is not complicated. Ozone water is easily obtained by bubbling this ozone gas in water. In addition, by using ozone instead of a conventional detergent, it is possible to reduce environmental pollution caused by the detergent.

Therefore, as a result, a washing apparatus having sufficient washing ability for clothes, etc., reducing damage to clothes, and inexpensive. The same applies to the case of cleaning materials that are not adversely affected by ozone, such as metal parts and semiconductor wafers.

On the other hand, Patent Document 2 describes conditions for ozone water suitable for cleaning. Here, in particular, ozone water containing bubbles (nanobubbles) of ozone gas having a bubble diameter in the range of 50 to 500 nm is suitable for cleaning, and this ozone water has a particularly high bactericidal effect, and is therefore effective. Indicated. This ozone water can be generated by adjusting the electrical conductivity of water and applying a physical stimulus such as applying ultrasonic waves.

JP-A-8-141270 JP 2005-246293 A

However, in the technique described in Patent Document 1, the optimal ozone water condition for cleaning is not always clear. For example, it is obvious that the effect is large if the concentration of ozone is high, but the conditions other than this are not clear. However, ozone decomposes easily in a short time to become non-toxic oxygen gas, but itself is toxic, so it is preferable that the ozone concentration be as low as possible. It is also clear that it is easy to produce ozone water having a low ozone concentration. Therefore, ozone water having a low ozone concentration and high cleaning efficiency is preferable, but this point is not disclosed at all in Patent Document 1.

On the other hand, in Patent Document 2, it was clarified that the bactericidal effect is particularly enhanced by setting the bubble diameter in the above range. However, in order to produce this ozone water, complicated processes and operations such as adding an electrolyte to adjust the electrical conductivity of the water itself and applying ultrasonic waves are necessary. In addition, although the sterilizing effect is enhanced, it is also clear that the presence of an additive substance in water is not suitable for cleaning for purposes other than sterilization. Therefore, this condition is intended only for sterilization, and is not suitable for, for example, general clothing cleaning or semiconductor wafer cleaning.

That is, it was difficult to obtain a cleaning device having particularly high cleaning efficiency in a cleaning device using ozone water.

The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and an object thereof is to provide an invention that solves the above problems.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention has the following configurations.
The ozone water generator of the present invention is an ozone water generator that circulates water and ozone gas in a microbubble generator to form ozone gas as microbubbles in water, and the microbubble generator is circulated at one end. A main body pipe disposed in the water, and a gas supply pipe that communicates with the main body pipe and introduces ozone gas into the main body pipe. And a slit that is formed at an inclination angle with respect to a line connecting one end and the other end of the main body pipe, and communicates the inside of the main body pipe with the outside water.
In the ozone water generating apparatus of the present invention, a plurality of the slits are formed with substantially the same inclination angle.
In the ozone water generating apparatus of the present invention, the inclination angle is in a range of 30 ° to 90 ° toward the one end side.
The ozone water generation method of the present invention is an ozone water generation method in which water and ozone gas are circulated through a microbubble generator to form ozone gas as microbubbles in water, with a discharge port provided at one end and the other end closed. A main body pipe having the above-described structure is disposed in the water, and the water to be circulated is introduced into the main body pipe from the one end, and ozone gas is introduced into the main body pipe by using a negative pressure due to a water flow in the main body pipe. The water and ozone microbubbles to be circulated are introduced from a slit having an inclination angle with respect to a line connecting one end and the other end of the main body pipe, and communicating the inside of the main body pipe and the outside water. The ozone water is generated by discharging the ozone water.
The ozone water generation method of the present invention is characterized in that microbubbles of the ozone gas are discharged into water from the plurality of slits formed with substantially the same inclination angle.
The ozone water generating method of the present invention is characterized in that the inclination angle is in a range of 30 ° to 90 ° toward the one end side.
The cleaning apparatus according to the present invention includes a cleaning tank having a structure in which ozone microbubble water containing ozone microbubbles having a bubble diameter of 100 μm or less is introduced, and an object to be cleaned is immersed in the ozone microbubble water. And
In the cleaning apparatus of the present invention, the average zeta potential of the ozone microbubbles is −40 mV or less.
In the cleaning apparatus of the present invention, the cleaning tank does not include a rotation mechanism and a stirring mechanism.
In the cleaning apparatus of the present invention, the object to be cleaned is any one of clothing, vegetables, metal parts, and semiconductor wafers.
In the cleaning apparatus of the present invention, the ozone microbubble water is generated by the ozone water generator.
The cleaning method of the present invention is characterized in that ozone microbubble water containing ozone microbubbles having a bubble diameter of 100 μm or less is introduced into a cleaning tank, and an object to be cleaned is immersed in the ozone microbubble water.
In the cleaning method of the present invention, the ozone microbubbles have an average zeta potential of −40 mV or less.
In the cleaning method of the present invention, the ozone microbubble water is generated by the ozone water generator.

Since the present invention is configured as described above, a cleaning device having particularly high cleaning efficiency can be obtained in a cleaning device using ozone water.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the ozone water production | generation apparatus used as the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic sectional drawing which shows the structure of the microbubble generator used in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is the external appearance photograph before washing | cleaning of the cloth contaminated with coffee used in experiment. It is the result of investigating the immersion time dependency of the appearance of the immersed fabric when the oxygen flow rate is 40 mL / min and θ = 30 °. It is the result of investigating the immersion time dependency of the appearance of the immersed fabric when the oxygen flow rate is 40 mL / min and θ = 60 °. It is the result of having measured the elapsed time dependence of the ozone concentration of ozone water when an oxygen flow rate is 40 mL / min in the case of θ = 30 ° and 60 °. It is the result of measuring the elapsed time dependence of the ozone concentration when the oxygen flow rate is 40 ml / min when θ = 30 ° and the oxygen flow rate is 24 ml / min when θ = 60 °. It is the result of measuring the immersion time dependency of the appearance of the immersed fabric when the ozone concentration is substantially the same as when θ = 60 ° and θ = 30 °. It is the result of investigating the immersion time dependence of the appearance of the immersed fabric when the ozone concentration is substantially the same as when θ = 30 ° and θ = 60 °. This is the result of washing the fabric contaminated with food sources when θ = 30 ° (1) and 60 ° (2). It is the result of having measured the bubble diameter distribution of the microbubble in the ozone water produced | generated in the case of (theta) = 30 degrees and 60 degrees. It is the result of measuring the decrease in the ozone concentration when the water temperature is 12 ° C. (a) and the case of 21 ° C. (b) when the ozone microbubble water is left. It is the result of having measured the distribution of the zeta potential of the microbubble in the ozone water produced | generated in the case of (theta) = 30 degrees and 60 degrees. It is the photograph which image | photographed the condition where the ozone microbubble adhered to the fiber in the case of PH = 4 (a) and PH = 10 (b). It is a result (a: before washing | cleaning, b: after ozone water washing | cleaning, c: after washing | cleaning using air instead of ozone) which shows the cleaning effect with respect to the curry contamination of ozone micro bubble water. It is the result (a: before application, b: after application) which applied the ozone water generator which becomes the 1st Embodiment of this invention with respect to the oil pollution of water. It is a figure which shows the structure of the washing | cleaning apparatus used as the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the modification of the washing | cleaning apparatus used as the 2nd Embodiment of this invention.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

According to the ozone water generating apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to generate ozone microbubble water that contains particularly a lot of fine bubbles (microbubbles) of ozone as compared with ozone water that is generally known ozone-dissolved water. it can. The inventor has found that this ozone microbubble water is particularly effective for cleaning. The cleaning device of the present invention is a cleaning device using ozone microbubble water. However, in this cleaning device, as long as ozone microbubble water having the same property, one generated by another ozone water generator or the like may be used.

(First embodiment)
The first embodiment of the present invention is an ozone microbubble water generator that is particularly preferably used in the above-described cleaning device, that is, an ozone water generator that generates ozone microbubble water containing a large number of fine bubbles of ozone. . Generally known ozone water is simply ozone-dissolved water, while ozone microbubble water generated by this ozone water generator produces ozone water that contains a lot of fine bubbles of ozone. can do. Due to the fine bubbles, the ozone microbubble water has a particularly high cleaning effect.

The configuration of the ozone water generator 10 is shown in FIG. The ozone water generator includes an ozone generator 11 and a microbubble generator 12. Oxygen (O ₂ ) gas is supplied to the ozone generator 11 from an oxygen cylinder 13 through an oxygen supply valve 14 and an oxygen flow meter 15. The oxygen supply valve 14 controls the on / off of the oxygen gas, and the oxygen flow meter 15 monitors and controls the flow rate of the oxygen gas, thereby controlling the flow rate of the ozone gas. The microbubble generator 12 immersed in the water 30 is supplied with water by the pump 16 and simultaneously with the ozone gas generated by the ozone generator 11. As a result, water and ozone gas are circulated in the microbubble generator 12 in the inside, and the ozone gas is discharged into the water 30 in the form of many small bubbles (microbubbles) in the water. At this time, a part of the ozone gas is dissolved in water, and the other is left in the water 30 as ozone bubbles, or is released from the surface of the water 30 to the atmosphere. That is, the water 30 becomes ozone water. At this time, the smaller the bubble size, the greater the probability that it will remain in the water 30, and the rate of release to the air will decrease. That is, ozone microbubble water containing a large amount of ozone can be generated. In FIG. 1, since the description is simplified, water is supplied to the microbubble generator 12 from the left side and ozone is supplied from the right side, but these are actually supplied. The direction is the direction shown in FIG. Moreover, although the pump 16 is installed outside the tank in which the water 30 is stored, this configuration is optional as long as the water can be circulated through the microbubble generator 12.

As the ozone generator 11, any device can be used, for example, a silent discharge type device can be used. In this configuration, a silent discharge is generated between a pair of electrodes, and oxygen (O ₂ ) gas therebetween is ionized and recombined to generate ozone (O ₃ ) gas. The gas sent from the ozone generator 11 to the microbubble generator 12 does not need to be 100% ozone, and may have an ozone concentration of about 1000 ppm, for example. However, as will be described later, according to the ozone water generating apparatus of the present invention, ozone water with particularly high cleaning efficiency can be generated, so that this concentration can be made 100 ppm or less. In this case, the concentration of ozone is determined by the flow rate of oxygen and the setting of the ozone generator 11 (for example, the potential between electrodes).

In ozone water, OH radicals and O ₂ ⁻ (superoxide ions) are generated by the reaction of OH ⁻ ions in water (H ₂ O) with ozone. Since these chemical substances have particularly strong oxidizing power, they have a high bactericidal action, deodorizing action, and organic substance removing action.

Here, in the ozone water generating apparatus 10, a slit type microbubble generating apparatus is used as the microbubble generating apparatus 12. The microbubble generator is the same as that described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-334869 (hereinafter referred to as Patent Document 3). A schematic cross-sectional view of the configuration of the microbubble generator 12 is shown in FIG. In the microbubble generator 12, a discharge port 122 is provided at one end of the main body pipe 121, and the other end is closed by providing a collision wall 123. Water 30 flows into the main body pipe 121 from the discharge port 122. The main body pipe 121 is disposed in water which is ozone water, and is made of acrylic having an inner diameter of about 10 mm, for example. A plurality of slits 124 are formed in the lower part of FIG. The slit 124 communicates the inside of the main body pipe with the outside water, and extends from the direction (horizontal direction in FIG. 2) connecting the discharge port 122 and the collision wall 123 toward the discharge port 122 to the discharge port 122 side. In contrast, they are formed in parallel at an inclination angle θ. The width of the slit is, for example, about 0.5 mm. Further, a gas supply pipe 125 is provided in communication with the main body pipe 121 on the side closer to the discharge port 122 than the slits 124 (upstream side with respect to the water flow), from which ozone gas (gas) flows into the water flow. The main pipe 121 is introduced by the negative pressure due to the above. That is, the ozone water generator 10 operates by driving the pump 16 and circulating water through the microbubble generator 12.

As described in Patent Document 3, the microbubble generator 12 operates as a shear type microbubble generator. That is, when water is introduced into the main body pipe 121 from the discharge port 122 by the pump 16, gas (ozone gas) is introduced from the gas supply pipe 125 by the negative pressure due to the water flow, and bubbles in the main body pipe 121 are formed. . The bubbles are finely sheared at the entrance of the slit 124 in the main body pipe 121 to become fine bubbles (microbubbles) and are discharged into the water simultaneously with water from the tip of the slit 124. As described in Patent Document 3, the microbubble generator 12 can effectively generate a large number of bubbles having a diameter smaller than 100 μm with this simple configuration. At this time, it is preferable to provide the gas supply pipe 125 on the upper side in the vertical direction and the slit 124 on the lower side. With this configuration, microbubbles can be generated efficiently and diffused widely in the water 30.

The number of slits 124 is arbitrary, but a larger number is preferred because microbubbles can be generated efficiently. However, strictly speaking, the generation efficiency of microbubbles is not determined only by this number, but also depends on other geometric conditions, for example, the cross-sectional area ratio between the inlet and outlet (slit) of water in the microbubble generator 12. .

Therefore, if the microbubble generator 12 is placed in the water 30 and the pump 16 is operated to circulate the water, the water 30 becomes ozone microbubble water. That is, there are microbubbles made of a large number of ozone gas in the water 30, and part of the ozone is dissolved in the water. Therefore, the ozone concentration with respect to the entire water can be increased. The ozone concentration can be increased by increasing the flow rate of water by the pump 16 and the operation time thereof.

The inventor examined the cleaning effect on clothes using the ozone micro-bubble water generated by the ozone water generating apparatus 10 having the above configuration. In particular, the inclination angle θ of the slit 124 has a great influence on the cleaning effect. I found out that The experimental results will be described below.

Here, the degree of contamination removal when the cloth soaked in coffee and soaked in water 30 (ozone microbubble water) in the form of FIG. 1 and left without rotation and stirring was examined. In this case, the oxygen flow rate is 40 ml / min, and the water temperature is 8 ° C. Water is general tap water having an electrical resistivity of about 0.004 to 0.015 × 10 ⁶ Ω · cm, and the resistivity is not particularly adjusted. For the inclination angle θ of the slit 124, two types of 30 ° and 60 ° were used. The observation was continued for 40 minutes after the pump 16 was operated, but the pump 16 was operated only for 0 to 20 minutes and stopped for 20 to 40 minutes.

FIG. 3 shows the appearance of the sample before the treatment, and FIGS. 4A to 4D show the observation results of the surface of the fabric when 10, 20, 30, and 40 minutes have elapsed when θ is 30 °, respectively. FIGS. 5 (a) to 5 (d) show the observation results of the surface of the fabric when 10, 20, 30, and 40 minutes have elapsed when θ is 60 °, respectively. From this result, it is clear that in both cases, the dirt is removed with the passage of time. That is, it can be confirmed that organic contamination is removed using ozone microbubble water generated using the ozone water generating apparatus 10. However, when θ is 60 °, the contamination is almost removed after 20 minutes (FIG. 5B), whereas when it is 30 °, the contamination is sufficient even after 30 minutes (FIG. 4C). It has not been removed. Therefore, when θ is 60 °, the effect is greater than when 30 °, and it can be confirmed that the cleaning ability is high.

Since it is clear that the ozone concentration in the ozone microbubble water greatly affects the cleaning effect, the ozone concentration in the ozone microbubble water was measured according to these elapsed times. The ozone measured here is the sum of the microbubbles present in water and those dissolved in water. Measurement was performed by absorptiometry. The measurement results are shown in FIG. The ozone concentration at the start of the operation is zero, regardless of the value of θ, the ozone concentration increases until 20 minutes after the operation of the microbubble generator 12, and after 20 minutes after the stop, Although the concentration decreases, it remains sufficiently. However, the absolute value of the ozone concentration is higher at θ = 60 ° at any time.

Based on the results shown in FIG. 6, the difference in the cleaning effect when the ozone concentration was the same between θ = 30 ° and 60 ° was examined in the same manner. That is, the oxygen flow rate when θ = 30 ° is 40 ml / min, and the oxygen flow rate when θ = 60 ° is 24 ml / min. FIG. 7 shows the elapsed time dependence of the ozone concentration at this time under the same conditions as in FIG. In either case, the ozone concentration of the generated ozone microbubble water could be made substantially the same.

In this case, the same results as FIG. 4 when θ = 30 ° are shown in FIGS. 8A to 8D, and the same results as FIG. 5 when θ = 60 ° are shown in FIGS. d). Also in this result, as in the case of FIGS. 4 and 5, a better result was obtained when θ = 60 °. That is, when θ is 60 °, the contamination is almost removed after 20 minutes (FIG. 9B), whereas when it is 30 °, 30 minutes later (FIG. 8C). ) But not removed. Therefore, the higher cleaning effect is obtained when θ = 60 ° not only because a high ozone concentration is obtained but also due to other factors.

Similarly, the initial (a), 10 minutes (b), 20 minutes (c), and 30 minutes (when the cloth contaminated with the food source is immersed in these ozone microbubble waters ( d) After 40 minutes, (e) appearance photographs are shown in (1) and (2) of FIG. 10 for θ = 30 ° and 60 °, respectively.

From this result, when θ = 30 ° (1), some dirt remains after 40 minutes, but when θ = 60 ° (2), dirt cannot be confirmed after 40 minutes. ing. That is, it was confirmed that the cleaning efficiency was higher when θ = 60 ° than when 30 °.

In order to investigate this cause, the state of microbubbles of ozone in ozone water was examined here from two viewpoints. One is the bubble diameter of the microbubble, and the other is the potential of the microbubble (zeta potential).

First, FIG. 11 shows the results of measuring the bubble diameter distribution of microbubbles when θ = 30 ° and 60 °. Here, the vertical axis represents the existence probability density, and the horizontal axis represents the measured bubble diameter, and the measurement was performed by the light transmittance method and the microscope method. In both cases, microbubbles having a bubble diameter of 100 μm or less are effectively generated, but when 30 °, the distribution is relatively flat, whereas when θ = 60 °, Compared to the case of 30 °, it can be confirmed that the ratio of those having a bubble diameter of 60 μm or less is particularly high. However, in either case, it is clear from the results in FIG. 11 that the existence probability of bubbles in the water whose bubble diameter is 100 μm or less is 80% or more. That is, ozone microbubble water containing a large number of microbubbles having a bubble diameter of 100 μm or less has a high cleaning effect as described above. In particular, when θ = 60 °, the number of microbubbles having a small bubble diameter increases. That is, many fine ozone microbubbles are generated.

Further, as shown in FIG. 6, the ozone concentration in the ozone microbubble water does not rapidly decrease even after the operation of the microbubble generator 12 is stopped. FIG. 12 shows the temperature dependence of this point. 12A shows the result of measuring the change in ozone concentration after the operation of the microbubble generator 12 was stopped when the water temperature was 12 ° C., and FIG. 12B was the case when the water temperature was 21 ° C. The rate of decrease in concentration is lower as the water temperature is lower. In particular, in the case of 12 ° C., the ozone concentration after 30 minutes can be 40% or more in both θ = 30 ° and 60 °. Further, at both temperatures, the ozone concentration reduction rate is lower when θ = 60 °, which reflects the bubble diameter distribution. That is, the ozone concentration reduction rate can be lowered by allowing ozone to be present in the water as microbubbles. This property is suitable when this ozone microbubble water is used for cleaning.

On the other hand, FIG. 13 shows the results of measuring the zeta potential of the microbubbles when θ = 30 ° and 60 °. Here, the water used as the base of this ozone water is tap water. The horizontal axis is the range of the bubble diameter, and the zeta potential in the range of each bubble diameter was measured. The measurement was performed by electrophoresis. From this result, it is clear that in both cases, a large zeta potential is present on the negative side of −40 mV or less. Further, it is clear that the case where θ = 60 ° has a larger zeta potential on the negative side regardless of the bubble diameter. In general, in a shear type microbubble generator, it is known that a large zeta potential is applied to bubbles (microbubbles), but a large zeta potential is obtained particularly when θ = 60 °. .

That is, the microbubble generating device 12 can obtain fine ozone microbubbles having a large zeta potential. This effect is particularly great when θ is 60 °. Therefore, in the case of the above washing, the zeta potential is preferably −40 mV or less, and particularly preferably −70 mV or less.

FIG. 14 shows the case where the zeta potential is adjusted by adjusting PH in ozone microbubble water (a: PH = 4 (small absolute value of zeta potential), b: PH = 10 (large absolute value of zeta potential)). It is the enlarged photograph which image | photographed the state of the fiber in case of (5) with the high speed camera. In each photograph, the fibers extend vertically, and ozone microbubbles appear as white spots around it. From this photograph, it is clear that ozone microbubbles adhere to the fibers, and the ozone concentration in the vicinity of the fibers becomes particularly high, and it is considered that the cleaning proceeds. Alternatively, in the vicinity of the fiber, even if ozone in water changes to oxygen due to consumption or chemical reaction, since it is immediately supplied from the ozone microbubble, a high ozone concentration can always be maintained. Therefore, the cleaning using ozone microbubble water can provide higher cleaning efficiency than the conventionally known cleaning using ozone water.

Therefore, it can be seen that the adhesion rate of microbubbles is particularly high especially when θ = 60 °. Therefore, also from this point, when θ = 60 °, particularly high cleaning efficiency can be obtained.

However, the preferred zeta potential polarity varies depending on the object to be removed by washing. For example, in general, organic contamination such as oil often has a positive charge, so the negative zeta potential as described above is preferable. On the other hand, since metal contamination or the like may have a negative charge, in such a case, it is preferable that the ozone microbubble has a positive zeta potential. In such a case, the zeta potential of the ozone microbubble water can be appropriately adjusted by adjusting its PH.

It should be noted that similar microbubbles can be generated by the microbubble generator 12 using normal air instead of ozone. In this case, FIG. 15 shows the result of examining the difference in the cleaning effect between the air microbubble water and the ozone microbubble water. Here, in the case of washing the cloth soaked with curry, the appearance of the sample before washing (a), the appearance after being immersed in ozone water generated at θ = 60 ° for 30 minutes (b), the ozone gas Instead, the appearance (c) after dipping under the same condition in water bubbled with the same condition is shown. Although the cleaning effect is seen also in (c), clearly high cleaning efficiency is obtained in (b) using ozone microbubble water. That is, ozone microbubble water is particularly effective for cleaning, and ozone microbubble water having a particularly high cleaning effect can be generated using the microbubble generator 12.

Further, from the result of FIG. 7, the ozone concentration of the ozone microbubble water is as low as about 1 mg / L and has the above high cleaning efficiency. The reason for the high cleaning efficiency at such a low ozone concentration is as follows from the above results. First, as described above, since the microbubbles of ozone generated by the microbubble generator 12 are particularly fine, they can particularly stay in water for a long time. At this time, since the mass transfer at the interface and the bursting of the micro bubbles gradually progress, ozone is easily dissolved in water, and the chemical substance having a high cleaning effect is efficiently generated. In addition, as described above, microbubbles are likely to gather near the object to be cleaned due to the electrostatic force due to the zeta potential. Particularly, ozone is likely to be released into the water in this vicinity, so that a chemical substance having a high cleaning effect is effective on the object to be cleaned. Works.

Most of the microbubbles in ozone microbubble water having such a high cleaning efficiency have a bubble diameter of 100 μm or less from the results shown in FIG. From the results of FIGS. 6 and 7, etc., as the ozone concentration in the ozone microbubble water, for example, 0.2 mg / L or more has particularly high cleaning efficiency. In this ozone microbubble water, there are two types of ozone, one dissolved in water and one existing as microbubbles. The ozone that directly contributes to cleaning is mainly the former, but in the case of ozone microbubble water, ozone continues to be supplied from the microbubbles to the water in the vicinity of the object to be cleaned. The ozone concentration that directly contributes can be increased. Furthermore, due to the effect of the zeta potential, ozone microbubbles can be effectively attached to the object to be cleaned. Due to these synergistic effects, particularly high cleaning efficiencies are obtained. Strictly speaking, the cleaning capability depends on the object to be cleaned, the object to be removed by cleaning, the temperature, and the like, so the ozone concentration in the ozone microbubble water used for cleaning does not necessarily have to be 0.2 mg / L or more. .

Conversely, when generating the ozone microbubble water, the ozone concentration in the gas charged into the microbubble generator 12, that is, the gas generated in the ozone generator 11, is a low value of 100 ppm or less. Also good. That is, ozone microbubble water with a high ozone concentration can be generated with a low ozone gas concentration. Therefore, since it can handle in the state where the density | concentration of harmful ozone gas is low, this ozone water production | generation apparatus 10 can be used safely. In addition, since ozone gas dissolved in water is decomposed faster than in the atmosphere and becomes H ₂ O, even if the dissolved ozone concentration is high, adverse effects on the human body and the like are extremely small.

From the above results, it was confirmed that the ozone microbubble water generated by the ozone generator 10 using the microbubble generator 12 has high cleaning efficiency in the range of θ of 30 to 60 °. In addition, a large cleaning effect can be obtained by setting θ to 60 ° or more. If θ is larger than 90 °, it is difficult to effectively generate microbubbles. Therefore, a particularly preferable range of θ is 60 to 90 °. That is, by using the ozone water generating apparatus 10 having this configuration, ozone microbubble water having a particularly large cleaning effect can be generated, and a cleaning apparatus having high cleaning efficiency can be obtained using this.

At this time, a characteristic of the ozone water generator 10 is a microbubble generator 12. As shown in FIG. 2, the structure of the microbubble generator 12 is simple and can be manufactured at low cost. That is, ozone microbubble water having high cleaning efficiency can be easily generated.

Moreover, it was shown in the above experiment that this ozone microbubble water has a high cleaning effect against organic contamination by coffee and the like. Furthermore, the ozone microbubble water is effective against other contamination. FIG. 16 is a photograph of appearance before and after the above-described ozone water generating apparatus 10 is operated in this water by putting contaminated water in an emulsion state in which water and oil are mixed into a transparent water tank (a: before operation, b: 30 minutes after the operation). Here, in order to determine the transparency, a white fabric with a graphic is placed outside the transparent aquarium. As a result, after 30 minutes, the oil contamination is decomposed and removed (the oil is decomposed by ozone and does not reattach), and it can be confirmed that the transparency of water is improved. Thus, not only the sample to be cleaned is immersed and cleaned in the ozone microbubble water, but also the purification of the water itself can be performed using the ozone water generator 10 (microbubble generator 12). . Therefore, similarly to the case of FIG. 16, if this ozone water generating apparatus 10 is installed in, for example, a pool, it is useful for disinfecting the pool water or the pool itself.

Therefore, it can be confirmed that the ozone microbubble water generated by the ozone water generation apparatus 10 is effective against various organic contaminations. Furthermore, the fact that the above-mentioned microbubbles are small and the effect of the zeta potential produces a particularly effective chemical substance with a high cleaning effect, and this also applies to other conventionally known actions. . Therefore, it is clear that this ozone water is effective for sterilization and deodorization.

(Second Embodiment)
The second embodiment of the present invention is a cleaning apparatus using ozone microbubble water. From the above experiments, it became clear that the ozone microbubble water used in the above experiments has high cleaning efficiency. Therefore, in this cleaning apparatus, the above-described ozone water generating apparatus can be used, and it is apparent that high cleaning efficiency can be obtained. A schematic configuration of this cleaning apparatus is shown in FIG. In addition, if ozone microbubble water with the same property can be produced | generated, it is clear that another ozone water production | generation apparatus can also be used.

In this cleaning device 40, an ozone water generating device (ozone micro bubble water generating device) 10 that generates ozone micro bubble water is used, and the micro bubble generating device 12 is attached to the ozone water generating tank 41. A pump 16 is provided outside the lever. Water is introduced into the ozone water generation tank 41 with the water supply valve 42 open, the microbubble generator 12 is immersed in water, and the pump 16 operates to generate the ozone microbubble water. When the ozone water supply valve 43 is opened, the ozone microbubble water is guided to the cleaning tank 44 and collected therein, and the object to be cleaned 45 is immersed in the ozone microbubble water. In the washing tank 44, the rotation / stirring mechanism used in a normal washing apparatus (washing machine) is not used. Further, the cleaning tank 44 is provided with a drain 46, and ozone microbubble water is appropriately discharged. Thereafter, new ozone micro-bubble water is generated again and supplied through the ozone water supply valve 43.

This cleaning tank 44 is used for cleaning the object to be cleaned 45 after the ozone microbubble water generated in the ozone water generation tank 41 is collected. That is, here, the ozone microbubble water once generated is used in a tank different from the ozone water generation tank 41. In this case, the ozone microbubble water is generated in the ozone water generation tank 41 and the ozone (ozone microbubble) concentration is abrupt even after the ozone microbubble water moves into the cleaning tank 44 from the result of FIG. Therefore, it can be increased to 1 mg / L or more. That is, high cleaning efficiency can be obtained.

The object to be cleaned 45 is arbitrary, such as cloth. In particular, contamination by organic substances can be effectively removed by the effect of ozone. Further, as the object to be cleaned 45, for example, in addition to clothing (cloth), vegetables, metal parts, semiconductor wafers, etc., particularly those that are not adversely affected by ozone, this can be cleaned.

Here, the cleaning object 45 is cleaned by immersing the cleaning object 45 in ozone microbubble water in the cleaning tank 44. In particular, since the ozone microbubble water has a high cleaning effect as described above, the cleaning device 40 has a high cleaning efficiency. That is, it is effective for removal of organic contamination, sterilization, deodorization and the like.

In addition, when this ozone microbubble water is used, a great cleaning effect can be obtained without rotating and stirring the ozone microbubble water and the object to be cleaned 45. Therefore, the cleaning tank 44 is provided with a rotation mechanism and a stirring mechanism. There is no need. In this case, the power consumption of the cleaning device 40 can be reduced. Further, the cleaning tank 44 can be made of metal or plastics, but since the object to be cleaned 45 does not collide with the inner wall, its life can be extended.

However, in order to obtain a higher cleaning effect, a rotation / stirring mechanism may be provided to rotate / stir the ozone microbubble water or the object to be cleaned 45. Even in this case, when this ozone microbubble water is used, this rotation / stirring is weaker than, for example, normal ozone water, or high even if this ozone microbubble water is not used. A cleaning effect is obtained.

In the case of cleaning using a detergent, it is essential to perform normal water rinsing after cleaning in order to prevent the detergent from remaining on the object to be cleaned. However, the ozone used in place of the detergent in the cleaning device 40 naturally changes to oxygen (O ₂ ) gas and desorbs into the air, so that it is not necessary to perform rinsing. However, in order to more strongly remove contamination, ozone microbubble water is drained from the drain 46 after cleaning with ozone microbubble water, and then normal water can be introduced into the cleaning tank 44. Rinsing can also be performed after washing with bubble water.

In the configuration of FIG. 17, since there are a large number of objects to be cleaned 45, when it is necessary to perform cleaning several times continuously, cleaning is performed in the cleaning tank 44, and at the same time, ozone is separately generated in the ozone water generation tank 41. It becomes possible to newly generate microbubble water. Therefore, cleaning can be performed particularly efficiently in such a case.

However, it is not necessary to exchange this ozone microbubble water for each washing. Since ozone microbubbles and molten ozone in the ozone microbubble water contribute to the cleaning effect, a high cleaning effect can be obtained as long as they remain sufficiently in the ozone microbubble water. Therefore, in this case, the amount of water used for cleaning can be saved.

For example, when clothing is used as the object to be cleaned 45, it is necessary to dry it after cleaning. Ozone has a peculiar odor and is toxic, so it is not desirable that ozone remain in clothing, but ozone also vaporizes simultaneously with moisture during drying, and changes to non-toxic, odorless oxygen (O ₂ ) gas. It doesn't matter.

Also, unlike the washing water using the detergent, the ozone micro bubble water has little adverse effect on the environment. This is because, as described above, ozone naturally changes to nontoxic oxygen gas. Therefore, it is not necessary to perform a special process (detoxification process) on the wastewater discharged through the drain 46 after cleaning. This is the same as in the case of using normal ozone water.

Also, for example, small dust adhering to clothing is removed by adhering to microbubbles in ozone microbubble water. This effect is particularly remarkable when the microbubbles have a particularly large zeta potential and a large electrostatic force is generated.

The form of the cleaning tank 44 is arbitrary, but in order to reduce the amount of ozone with a specific odor leaking to the outside or to suppress the desorption of ozone from the ozone water, a lid is provided and sealed. Is preferred. Further, it is preferable that an exhaust mechanism is provided so that the cleaning tank 44 is exhausted immediately before the user opens the lid after ozone microbubble water is drained from the drain 46.

With the above configuration, the cleaning device 40 can clean various objects to be cleaned that are inexpensive and have high cleaning efficiency and are not adversely affected by ozone. In particular, it is effective for removal of organic contamination, sterilization, deodorization and the like.

FIG. 18 shows a configuration diagram of a modified example of the above-described cleaning apparatus. In this cleaning device 50, the cleaning tank 44 and the ozone water generation tank 41 are combined, and the generation and cleaning of ozone microbubble water are performed simultaneously or continuously in one tank. In addition, four microbubble generators 12 are installed in the cleaning tank 44 (ozone water generation tank 41). The functions of the other components are the same as in FIG. In this case, since the cleaning tank 44 and the ozone water generation tank 41 are shared, the cleaning device 50 can be further downsized. Moreover, since it can wash | clean in the state with the high density | concentration of the ozone microbubble in the produced | generated ozone microbubble water, especially cleaning efficiency can be made high.

In this case, it is preferable to arrange a plurality of microbubble generators 12 so that the microbubbles are uniformly generated. In the example of FIG. 18, four microbubble generators 12 are arranged on the bottom surface radially and symmetrically from the center of the cleaning tank 44 (ozone water generation tank 41). This configuration is optional depending on the shape of the microbubble generator. Moreover, it is not always necessary that the specifications of the plurality of microbubble generators are the same.

In the above experiment, the water temperature was 8 ° C., but in order to obtain a greater cleaning effect, the water temperature is more preferably adjusted to 4 to 16 ° C. by adjusting with a heater or the like. This temperature adjustment can be performed, for example, in the ozone water generation tank 41 or in the cleaning tank 44 in the cleaning device 40 described above.

In the above example, the example in which the ozone water generating apparatus according to the first embodiment is used for the cleaning apparatus has been described. However, the same applies to the case where ozone water requiring a particularly high ozone concentration is used. It is clear that it can be used for That is, it is clear that the use of the ozone water generating device is not limited to the cleaning device.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Ozone water generator 11 Ozone generator 12 Micro bubble generator 13 Oxygen cylinder 14 Oxygen supply valve 15 Oxygen flow meter 16 Pump 30 Water (ozone micro bubble water)
40 Cleaning device 41 Ozone water generation tank 42 Water supply valve 43 Ozone water supply valve 44 Cleaning tank 45 Object to be cleaned 46 Drain 121 Body pipe 122 Discharge port 123 Collision wall 124 Slit 125 Gas supply pipe

Claims (14)

An ozone water generator that circulates water and ozone gas in a microbubble generator to form ozone gas as microbubbles in water,
The microbubble generator is
One end is a discharge port through which the circulated water is introduced, the other end is closed, and a main body pipe disposed in water,
A gas supply pipe communicating with the main body pipe and introducing ozone gas into the main body pipe;
An ozone water generating apparatus, comprising a slit formed at an inclination angle with respect to a line connecting one end and the other end of the main body pipe and communicating the inside of the main body pipe with the outside water. The ozone water generating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of the slits are formed with substantially the same inclination angle. 3. The ozone water generating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the inclination angle is in a range of 30 ° to 90 ° toward the one end side. A method for generating ozone water in which water and ozone gas are circulated through a microbubble generator to form ozone gas as microbubbles in water,
A main body pipe having a structure in which a discharge port is provided at one end and the other end is closed is placed in water, and the water to be circulated into the main body pipe is introduced from the one end,
Introducing ozone gas into the main body pipe using negative pressure due to water flow in the main body pipe,
The circulating water and ozone gas microbubbles are discharged into water from a slit having an inclination angle with respect to a line connecting one end and the other end of the body pipe and communicating the inside of the body pipe with the outside water. By
A method for producing ozone water, comprising producing the ozone water. The ozone water generation method according to claim 4, wherein the ozone gas microbubbles are discharged into water from the plurality of slits formed with substantially the same inclination angle. 6. The ozone water generating method according to claim 4, wherein the inclination angle is in a range of 30 ° to 90 ° toward the one end side. A cleaning apparatus comprising a cleaning tank having a structure in which ozone microbubble water containing ozone microbubbles having a bubble diameter of 100 μm or less is introduced and an object to be cleaned is immersed in the ozone microbubble water. The cleaning apparatus according to claim 7, wherein an average zeta potential of the ozone microbubbles is -40 mV or less. The cleaning apparatus according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the cleaning tank does not include a rotation mechanism and a stirring mechanism. The cleaning apparatus according to any one of claims 7 to 9, wherein the object to be cleaned is any one of clothing, vegetables, metal parts, and semiconductor wafers. . The ozone microbubble water is generated by the ozone water generation device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the ozone microbubble water is any one of claims 7 to 10. Cleaning equipment. A cleaning method comprising introducing ozone microbubble water containing ozone microbubbles having a bubble diameter of 100 μm or less into a cleaning tank and immersing an object to be cleaned in the ozone microbubble water. The cleaning method according to claim 12, wherein an average zeta potential of the ozone microbubbles is -40 mV or less. The cleaning method according to claim 12 or 13, wherein the ozone microbubble water is generated by the ozone water generating device according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

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