Process for producing ozone-containing sterilizing water and an apparatus used therefor

• US 6,821,443 B2
• Filed: 02/07/2003
• Issued: 11/23/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 08/18/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Advanced Scientific Technology Co., Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Se-Ham Kim
• Inventors: Kim, Se-Ham
• Primary Examiner(s): LAWRENCE JR, FRANK M
• Application Number:
  US10/344,297
• Publication Number:
  US 20030173309A1
• Time in Patent Office: 655 Days
• Field of Search: 210/760, 210/198.1, 210/205, 261/DIG.42, 261/DIG.75, 422/28, 422/29, 422/33, 422/186.07
• US Class Current: 210/760
• CPC Class Codes: A61L 2/183 Ozone dissolved in a liquid
• CPC Class Codes: A61L 2/202 Ozone
• CPC Class Codes: A61L 2202/11 Apparatus for generating biocidal substances, e.g. vaporisers, UV lamps
• CPC Class Codes: A61L 2202/17 Combination with washing or cleaning means
• CPC Class Codes: C02F 1/78 with ozone C02F1/4672 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: C02F 2201/782 Ozone generators
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 261/42 Ozonizers
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 261/75 Flowing liquid aspirates gas

Abstract

Disclosed is a process for producing ozone-containing sterilizing water and apparatus used in the process. Ozone-containing sterilizing water can be continuously produced by maintaining a mixture of raw water and ozone gas under a predetermined pressure and time with the use of two separate compartments of a compression mix.

Claims

1. A process for producing ozone-containing sterilizing water continuously, comprising the steps of:

introducing raw water and ozone gas, together, into a compression tank to produce a bubble phase mixture, said raw water being moved at a faster speed at a predetermined passage to induce a pressure drop, said ozone gas being drawn into the compression tank by the pressure drop;

charging said bubble phase mixture into any one of compartments of the compression tank, and pressurizing the mixture in the charged compartment to give ozone-containing sterilizing water, said compartments being sealably separated by a movable partition within the compression tank;

moving the partition to reduce the volume of the charged compartment to discharge the ozone-containing sterilizing water while another of said compartments is expanded in volume through being charged with said bubble phase mixture; and

repeating the above steps.

2. The process according to claim 1, wherein said raw water and said ozone gas are introduced through an injector having a structure with a narrowed cross section therein, said raw water being moved at a faster speed at the narrowed cross section to induce a pressure drop, leading to the drawing of the ozone gas into the injector.

3. The process according to claim 1, wherein said bubble phase mixture is maintained in the compartment for 15 sec to 5 min under a pressure of 15 to 40 kg/cm².

4. The process according to claim 3, wherein said bubble phase mixture is maintained in the compartment for 0.5 to 1 min under a pressure of 20 to 30 kg/cm².

5. The process according to claim 1, wherein said compression tank comprises two said compartments divided by a partition.

6. The process according to claim 5, wherein said partition of the compression tank is a sealably reciprocating piston member.

7. The process according to claim 5, wherein said partition of the compression tank is a flexible resilient diaphragm placed in the middle of the compression tank.

8. An apparatus for continuously producing ozone-containing sterilizing water, comprising:

a pump for transferring a bubble phase mixture of raw water and ozone gas; and

a compression tank, divided into plural number of compartments, for pressurizing the bubble phase mixture to produce ozone-containing sterilizing water, said plural compartments, in turn, receiving, pressurizing, and discharging the bubble phase mixture.

9. The apparatus according to claim 8, further comprising an injector for introducing raw water and ozone gas into the compression tank therethrough, said injector having a structure with a narrowed cross section therein, said raw water being moved at a faster speed at the narrowed cross section to induce a pressure drop, leading to the drawing of the ozone gas into the injector.

10. The apparatus according to claim 8 or 9, wherein said compression tank forms a hollow cylinder, comprising;

a piston member sealably reciprocating within the hollow cylinder; and

a guide bar, extended from the piston to the outside of the compression tank through a hole established in one side of the hollow cylinder, for guiding the motion of the reciprocating piston member,

whereby said hollow cylinder is divided into a first compartment and a second compartment by said piston member and the compartments vary in volume according to the motion of said piston member.

11. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein said piston member is provided with a plurality of sealing rings at its outer circumference to sealably separate the first and the second compartment from each other so as to prevent the leakage of a fluid pressure exerted on either of the compartments into the other compartment, and said hole is provided with a plurality of sealing rings at its wall to prevent the leakage of a fluid pressure of the compartment to the outside therethrough during the reciprocating motion of said guide bar.

12. The apparatus according to claim 11, wherein said guide bar allows the piston member to be at a regular position in the hollow cylinder, and is marked on its one side with degrees so that the position of the piston member can be easily found from outside.

13. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein each of the two compartments has an inlet for introducing a bubble phase mixture of raw water and ozone gas and an outlet for discharging pressurized ozone-containing sterilizing water, and a pair of said inlet and outlet are formed in each of the upper verge and lower verge of the cylinder, respectively.

14. The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said plural compartments are defined by a flexible resilient diaphragm placed in the middle of the compression tank, consisting of a first compartment and a second compartment, said flexible resilient diaphragm being operated in such a way that the flexible resilient diaphragm is expanded toward the second compartment by increasing the pressure of the first compartment to a predetermined value and maintaining the pressure for a predetermined period of time to discharge a fluid from the second compartment, and toward the first compartment by increasing the pressure of the second compartment to a predetermined value and maintaining the pressure for a predetermined period of time to discharge a fluid from the first compartment.

15. An apparatus for continuously producing ozone-containing sterilizing water, comprising:

a pump for transferring a bubble phase mixture of raw water and ozone gas; and

a cylindrical compression tank, divided into a plural number of compartments by a donut-type piston member having a hole at the center, for pressurizing the bubble phase mixture to produce ozone-containing sterilizing water, said piston member being provided with a plurality of sealing rings at its circumference and at the inner circumference of the hole to sealably separate the plural compartments from each other so as to prevent the leakage of a fluid pressure exerted on either of the compartments into the other compartment, and moving, along a guide bar, in such a reciprocating manner within the compression tank as to pressurize the bubble phase mixture in the plural compartments, in turn, said guide bar extending from one end side of the compression tank to the other side through the hole of the piston member to support the reciprocating motion of the piston member.

16. The apparatus according to claim 15, further comprising an injector for introducing raw water and ozone gas into the compression tank therethrough, said injector having a structure with a narrowed cross section therein, said raw water being moved at a faster speed at the narrowed cross section to induce a pressure drop, leading to the drawing of the ozone gas into the injector.

17. The apparatus according to claim 15, further comprising a piston proximity sensor for monitoring the position of the piston within the cylindrical compression tank and determining whether the piston is normally operated or not.

18. The apparatus according to claim 15, wherein each of the two compartments has an inlet for introducing a bubble phase mixture of raw water and ozone gas and an outlet for discharging pressurized ozone-containing sterilizing water, and a pair of said inlet and outlet are formed in each of the upper verge and lower verge of the cylinder, respectively.

19. The apparatus according to claim 16, wherein a backflow prevention check valve is provided just before the inlets for introducing raw water and ozone gas into the injector, each, to prevent the raw water and ozone gas from flowing backward by a back pressure of the pump.

20. An apparatus for continuously producing ozone-containing sterilizing water, comprising:

an injector for mixing raw water with ozone gas to give a bubble phase mixture of raw water and ozone gas, said injector having a structure with a narrowed cross section therein, said raw water being moved at a faster speed at the narrowed cross section to induce a pressure drop, leading to the drawing of the ozone gas into the injector;

a pump for transferring a bubble phase mixture of said raw water and ozone gas; and

a compression tank, formed into a hollow cylinder, for pressurizing the bubble phase mixture to produce ozone-containing sterilizing water, said compression tank comprising;

a piston member sealably reciprocating within the hollow cylinder; and

a guide bar, extended from the piston to the outside of the compression tank through a hole established in one side of the hollow cylinder, for guiding the motion of the reciprocating piston member,

whereby said hollow cylinder is divided into a first compartment and a second compartment by said piston member and the compartments vary in volume, in turn, to pressurize the bubble phase mixture according to the reciprocating motion of said piston member.

21. The apparatus according to claim 20, further comprising a piston proximity sensor for monitoring the position of the piston within the cylindrical compression tank and determining whether the piston is normally operated or not.

22. The apparatus according to claim 20, wherein a backflow prevention check valve is provided just before inlets for introducing raw water and ozone gas into the injector, each, to prevent the raw water and ozone gas from flowing backward by a back pressure of the pump.

23. The apparatus according to claim 20, wherein the first and the second compartment are individually provided with an inlet for introducing the bubble phase mixture of ozone gas and raw water thereinto and an outlet for discharging the pressurized ozone-containing sterilizing water therefrom, and a pair of said inlet and outlet are formed in each of the upper verge and lower verge of the cylinder, respectively, and the apparatus further comprises:

a storage tank for storing the ozone-containing sterilizing water, provided with an off-gas filter for venting the gas generated during the storage of the ozone-containing sterilizing in the storage tank;

a first conduit, provided with a first solenoid valve, for connecting each outlet with said storage tank; and

a second conduit, provided with a second solenoid valve, for connecting each outlet with a drainage pipe, said first and second solenoid valve functioning in such a way that, during the trial run of said apparatus, said second solenoid valve is opened with closing of said first solenoid valve so as to drain unpressurized raw water from the compression tank and, during the steady operation of said apparatus, said first solenoid valve is opened with closing of said second solenoid valve so as to discharge ozone-containing sterilizing water into the storage tank.

24. The apparatus according to claim 20, wherein said ozone gas is generated by an ozonizer using oxygen provided from an oxygen generator.

25. An apparatus for continuously producing ozone-containing sterilizing water, comprising:

an injector for mixing raw water with ozone gas to give a bubble phase mixture of raw water and ozone gas, said injector having a structure with a narrowed cross section therein, said raw water being moved at a faster speed at the narrowed cross section to induce a pressure drop, leading to the drawing of the ozone gas into the injector;

pump for transferring a bubble phase mixture of said raw water and ozone gas; and

a compression tank, formed into a hollow cylinder, for pressurizing the bubble phase mixture to produce ozone-containing sterilizing water, said hollow cylinder being divided into a first and a second compartment by a flexible resilient diaphragm placed in the middle of the compression tank, said flexible resilient diaphragm being operated in such a way that the flexible resilient diaphragm is expanded toward the second compartment by increasing the pressure of the first compartment to a predetermined value and maintaining the pressure for a predetermined period of time to discharge a fluid from the second compartment, and toward the first compartment by increasing the pressure of the second compartment to a predetermined value and maintaining the pressure for a predetermined period of time to discharge a fluid from the first compartment.

26. The apparatus according to claim 25, wherein the first and the second compartment are individually provided with an inlet for introducing the bubble phase mixture of ozone gas and raw water thereinto and an outlet for discharging the pressurized ozone-containing sterilizing water therefrom, and a pair of said inlet and outlet are formed in each of the upper verge and lower verge of the cylinder, respectively, and the apparatus further comprises:

a storage tank for storing the ozone-containing sterilizing water, provided with an off-gas filter for venting the gas generated during the storage of the ozone-containing sterilizing in the storage tank;

a first conduit, provided with a first solenoid valve, for connecting each outlet with said storage tank; and

a second conduit, provided with a second solenoid valve, for connecting each outlet with a drainage pipe, said first and second solenoid valve functioning in such a way that, during the trial run of said apparatus, said second solenoid valve is opened with closing of said first solenoid valve so as to drain unpressurized raw water from the compression tank and, during the steady operation of said apparatus, said first solenoid valve is opened with closing of said second solenoid valve so as to discharge ozone-containing sterilizing water into the storage tank.

27. The apparatus according to claim 25, wherein said ozone gas is generated by an ozonizer using oxygen provided from an oxygen generator.