Pulse electric field processing device

Abstract

This pulsed electric field processing device is provided with: a pulsed power supply that generates a pulsed voltage; a pair of electrodes to which a pulsed voltage is applied to generate a pulsed electric field; a processing chamber that is disposed between the electrodes and generates a pulsed electric field in a space in which a liquid object to be processed flows; a temperature calculation unit (42) that calculates a processing temperature, which is the temperature of the object to be processed in the processing chamber, on the basis of a preset correction value and a resistance value obtained from the pulse voltage and a pulse current flowing in the object to be processed in the processing chamber when the pulse voltage is applied; and a power supply control unit (41) that controls the pulsed power supply on the basis of the processing temperature and a preset target temperature.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to a pulse electric field treatment device for generating a pulse electric field. Background Art

[0002] As a technology capable of treating a treatment object such as food or beverage at a lower temperature than heat treatment, a pulse electric field treatment technology can be cited.

[0003] In the liquid sterilization device described in Patent Document 1, a destruction reference value is shown, which is a value required for destroying the bacteria based on the diameter and shape coefficient of the bacteria to be sterilized, the distance between electrodes in the sterilization treatment section, and the voltage applied to the bacteria in the sterilization treatment section by a pulse voltage, that is, the bacteria applied voltage. Regarding the pulse voltage applied to the sterilization treatment section, the required pulse value, which is a value required to set the bacteria applied voltage to the destruction reference value, is calculated, and based on the calculation result and the measurement result of the pulse voltage, the output of the pulse voltage from the pulse power supply is adjusted.

[0004] Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2021-114943 Summary of the invention

[0005] In Patent Document 1, the pulse power supply is controlled using the resistivity of the liquid before it flows into the sterilization treatment section, which is obtained by a resistivity meter disposed upstream of the sterilization treatment section. Therefore, there is a problem that a difference occurs between the resistivity measured by the resistivity meter and the resistivity of the sterilization treatment section, and the temperature of the liquid cannot be controlled with high accuracy, which reduces the sterilization quality of the liquid.

[0006] The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to obtain a pulse electric field treatment device that can control the temperature of a treatment object with high accuracy and improve the treatment quality of the treatment object.

[0007] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems and achieve the purpose, the pulse electric field treatment device in the present invention is characterized in that it has: a pulse power supply, which generates a pulse voltage; a pair of first electrodes, which are applied with the pulse voltage to generate a pulse electric field; a first treatment chamber, which is arranged between the pair of first electrodes and generates a pulse electric field in the space where the liquid treatment object flows; a temperature calculation unit, which calculates the temperature of the treatment object in the first treatment chamber, that is, the first treatment temperature, based on the resistance value obtained according to the pulse voltage and the pulse current flowing through the treatment object in the first treatment chamber when the pulse voltage is applied and a pre-set correction value; and a power supply control unit, which controls the pulse power supply based on the first treatment temperature and the pre-set target temperature.

[0008] Effects of the Invention

[0009] The pulse electric field treatment device according to the present invention has the effect of being able to control the temperature of a treatment object with high accuracy, thereby improving the treatment quality of the treatment object. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0010] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram showing a configuration example of a pulse electric field treatment device according to the first embodiment.

[0011] Figure 2 It is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration example of a treatment unit of the pulse electric field treatment device according to the first embodiment.

[0012] Figure 3 It is a cross-sectional view showing another configuration example of the treatment section of the pulse electric field treatment device according to the first embodiment.

[0013] Figure 4 1 is a circuit diagram showing a configuration example of a pulse power supply of the pulse electric field treatment device according to the first embodiment.

[0014] Figure 5 This is a timing chart showing an example of the waveform of the pulse voltage and the waveform of the pulse current of the pulse power supply of the pulse electric field treatment device according to the first embodiment.

[0015] Figure 6 This is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a control system of the pulse electric field treatment device according to the first embodiment.

[0016] Figure 7 This is a timing chart showing the temporal change of the processing temperature calculated by the pulse electric field processing device according to the first embodiment.

[0017] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram showing another configuration example of the pulse electric field treatment device according to the first embodiment.

[0018] Fig. 9 This is a schematic diagram showing a configuration example of a pulse electric field treatment device according to the second embodiment.

[0019] Fig.10 This is a schematic diagram showing an example of temperature distribution in the pulse electric field treatment device according to the second embodiment.

[0020] Fig.11 This is a block diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration for realizing the control system according to the first embodiment and the second embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0021] Hereinafter, the pulse electric field treatment device according to the embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[0022] Implementation method 1.

[0023] Figure 1 1 is a schematic diagram showing a structural example of a pulse electric field treatment device involved in Embodiment 1. The pulse electric field treatment device includes a pulse power supply 10, a control device 40, a treatment unit 50, an upstream piping 70 and a downstream piping 71. The pulse electric field treatment device performs treatment including sterilization treatment on the treatment object. The pulse power supply 10 outputs a pulse voltage having a voltage greater than or equal to 1 kV and a pulse width less than or equal to 100 microseconds. The upstream piping 70 is connected to the treatment unit 50, and the treatment unit 50 is connected to the downstream piping 71. A liquid treatment object flows inside in the order of the upstream piping 70, the treatment unit 50, and the downstream piping 71. The treatment object is, for example, a liquid such as juice or milk. The treatment unit 50 is electrically connected to the pulse power supply 10, and has the following function, namely, repeatedly applying a pulse electric field to the treatment object flowing inside the treatment unit 50 by means of a pulse voltage output by the pulse power supply 10. The control device 40 controls the pulse power supply 10.

[0024] Figure 2 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a structural example of a treatment unit 50 of a pulse electric field treatment device according to Embodiment 1. The treatment unit 50 has an electrode 51 as a first electrode, an insulating material 54, and a treatment chamber 55. The electrode 51 has a pair of high-voltage electrodes 52 and a low-voltage electrode 53. A pulse voltage is applied to the high-voltage electrode 52, and the low-voltage electrode 53 is maintained at a ground potential. By setting the material of the electrode 51 to titanium, platinum, stainless steel, etc., wear caused by the pulse voltage is suppressed. The high-voltage electrode 52 and the low-voltage electrode 53 are in the shape of a flat plate and are arranged opposite to each other across the treatment object. That is, the high-voltage electrode 52 and the low-voltage electrode 53 are arranged to generate an electric field in a direction substantially perpendicular to the flow direction W of the treatment object.

[0025] The processing chamber 55 is a space in the processing unit 50 where an electric field is generated by the electrode 51 and through which the processing object passes. Thus, when the high-voltage electrode 52 and the low-voltage electrode 53 are in the shape of a flat plate and are arranged opposite to each other, the processing chamber 55 becomes a rectangular parallelepiped. For electrical insulation, the high-voltage electrode 52 is connected to the tubular metal upstream piping 70 and the downstream piping 71 via the insulating material 54. In the low-voltage electrode 53, it can be set to be connected to the upstream piping 70 and the downstream piping 71 via the insulating material 54, or it can be integrated with the upstream piping 70 and the downstream piping 71 without the insulating material 54. In the former case, it has the effect of reducing the electrical noise generated by the pulse voltage, and in the latter case, it has the advantage of being able to miniaturize the processing unit 50. By setting the material of the insulating material 54 to a resin material or ceramic containing fluorine, it has high heat resistance and voltage resistance.

[0026] Figure 3FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing another configuration example of the treatment unit 50 of the pulse electric field treatment device according to Embodiment 1. Figure 3 In the embodiment, the electrode 51 as the first electrode having the high-voltage electrode 52 and the low-voltage electrode 53 is an annular structure with the flow direction W of the object to be processed as the axis. From the upstream side of the object to be processed, the upstream piping 70, the insulating material 54, the low-voltage electrode 53, the insulating material 54, the high-voltage electrode 52, the insulating material 54, the low-voltage electrode 53, the insulating material 54, and the downstream piping 71 are sequentially arranged. An electric field is generated in a direction roughly along the flow direction of the object to be processed, so when all of the high-voltage electrode 52, the low-voltage electrode 53, and the insulating material 54 are set to an annular structure with the same inner diameter, the processing chamber 55 becomes a cylindrical or annular shape. In addition, since the low-voltage electrode 53 is arranged at two locations with the high-voltage electrode 52 separated therefrom relative to the flow direction W of the object to be processed, the current path flowing from the high-voltage electrode 52 to the low-voltage electrode 53 is divided into two. The insulating material 54 between the low voltage electrode 53 and the upstream piping 70 and the insulating material 54 between the low voltage electrode 53 and the downstream piping 71 may not necessarily be provided. If provided, they have the effect of reducing electrical noise, and if not provided, they have the advantage of enabling miniaturization.

[0027] like Figure 2 As shown, when the high voltage electrode 52 and the low voltage electrode 53 are arranged opposite to each other, the electric field generated in the processing chamber 55 can be spatially uniform, thereby achieving the effect of reducing the unevenness of the processing. Figure 3 As shown, when the high voltage electrode 52 and the low voltage electrode 53 are arranged along the flow direction W of the processing object, the processing chamber 55 can be set to a cylindrical shape, and the processing object can flow unimpeded with low pressure loss from the upstream piping 70 to the downstream piping 71.

[0028] Figure 4 1 is a circuit diagram showing a configuration example of a pulse power supply 10 of a pulse electric field treatment device according to Embodiment 1. In the pulse power supply 10, a switch 13, a capacitor 11, a switch 14, and a capacitor 12 are connected in series in order from the ground side. The high voltage electrode 52 of the treatment unit 50 is connected to the capacitor 12 via a cable or the like. In the capacitor 11, the terminal on the switch 13 side is a charging side terminal, and the switch 14 side is a ground side terminal. In addition, in the capacitor 12, the switch 14 side is a charging side terminal, and the high voltage electrode 52 side is a ground side terminal.

[0029] The DC power supply 15 generates a DC voltage for charging the capacitor 11 and the capacitor 12. The DC power supply 15 is connected to the charging side terminals of the capacitor 11 and the capacitor 12 via at least one current limiter 16. In addition, at least one current limiter 16 is provided between the charging side terminals of the capacitor 11 and the capacitor 12. Similarly, the ground side terminals of the capacitor 11 and the capacitor 12 are grounded via at least one current limiter 16, and at least one current limiter 16 is provided between the ground side terminals of the two.

[0030] The pulse power supply 10 outputs a pulse voltage through two steps including a charging step and a discharging step. In the charging step, the capacitor 11 and the capacitor 12 are charged by the DC power supply 15. In the discharging step, the charging voltages of the capacitors 11 and 12 are superimposed and output by setting the switches 13 and 14 to ON at approximately the same time. After the charging voltage is output, the discharging step is terminated by setting the switches 13 and 14 to OFF. That is, the period during which the switches 13 and 14 are ON is the period of the discharging step, corresponding to the pulse width Tp of the pulse voltage output from the pulse power supply 10. The switching control of the switches 13 and 14 is performed by the control device 40.

[0031] A semiconductor switch such as MOSFET (Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor) or IGBT (Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor) is used for the switch 13 and the switch 14. In addition, a resistor or a reactor is used for the current limiter 16. When a resistor is used, there is an advantage that the capacitors 11 and 12 can be charged with a stable voltage, and when a reactor is used, power consumption can be reduced.

[0032] exist Figure 4 In the configuration example of the pulse power supply 10 shown, two capacitors and two switches are used, but three or more of each may be used with the same configuration. The greater the number of capacitors and switches, the higher the pulse voltage can be obtained.

[0033] Figure 5 1 is a timing chart showing an example of the waveform of the pulse voltage Vp and the waveform of the pulse current Ip of the pulse power source 10 of the pulse electric field treatment device according to the first embodiment. Figure 5 In the above figure, the pulse voltage Vp is the voltage output to the high voltage electrode 52 by the pulse power supply 10 during the discharge step, and has a pulse width Tp. Figure 5 In the lower figure, the pulse current Ip is the current flowing through the processing chamber 55 corresponding to the pulse voltage Vp.

[0034] Figure 6 1 is a block diagram showing a structural example of a control system of a pulse electric field treatment device according to Embodiment 1. The pulse power supply 10 has a pulse voltage measuring device 22 for measuring a pulse voltage Vp, and a pulse current measuring device 23 for measuring a pulse current Ip. When the pulse voltage Vp is applied to the electrode 51, the pulse current measuring device 23 measures the pulse current flowing through the treatment object in the treatment chamber 55. The pulse voltage measuring device 22 and the pulse current measuring device 23 repeatedly measure the pulse voltage Vp and the pulse current Ip in a cycle shorter than the pulse width Tp, and calculate the pulse voltage Vp and the pulse current Ip using the obtained multiple measured values. Alternatively, a capacitor for measurement may be provided, and the pulse voltage Vp and the pulse current Ip may be estimated using the value obtained by integrating the pulse width Tp. In the former case, there is an advantage of being able to perform measurements with high precision, and in the latter case, the device can be miniaturized.

[0035] In order to further simplify the device, the pulse voltage Vp and the pulse current Ip can be estimated based on the voltage or current inside the pulse power supply 10. The pulse voltage Vp can be calculated using the voltage for charging the capacitor 11 or the capacitor 12. In addition, the pulse current Ip can be calculated based on the pulse voltage Vp, the pulse width Tp, and the current flowing in the capacitor 11 or the capacitor 12 after the discharge step. The pulse power supply 10 has a function of arbitrarily setting the output voltage and pulse width Tp of the DC power supply 15, so if only the current flowing in the capacitor 11 or the capacitor 12 is measured, the pulse voltage Vp and the pulse current Ip can be estimated.

[0036] like Figure 6As shown, the control device 40 includes a power supply control unit 41, a temperature calculation unit 42, a first abnormality detection unit 43, and a second abnormality detection unit 44. The temperature calculation unit 42 calculates the resistance value Rw (not shown) of the processing object existing in the processing chamber 55 using the pulse voltage Vp measured by the pulse voltage measuring device 22 and the pulse current Ip measured by the pulse current measuring device 23. In addition, the temperature calculation unit 42 calculates the temperature of the processing object in the processing chamber 55, that is, the processing temperature tw as the first processing temperature, using a preset correction value and the calculated resistance value Rw. The correction value is a value based on the temperature dependence of the conductivity in the processing object, and a value corresponding to the type of the processing object is used. In addition, the temperature calculation unit 42 has a function of calculating the processing temperature tw in the first period Tc and storing the calculated processing temperature tw. The calculation of the processing temperature tw can be performed each time the pulse voltage Vp is output, or each time the pulse voltage Vp is output twice or more. In the former case, the calculation cycle is short, so the responsiveness is improved, and in the latter case, the calculation load is reduced, and the device is miniaturized.

[0037] The power supply control unit 41 controls the switch 13 and the switch 14 to turn on and off based on the processing temperature tw calculated by the temperature calculation unit 42 and the pre-set target temperature, and controls the output of the pulse power supply 10. Specifically, at least one of an upper limit value and a lower limit value is pre-set for the processing temperature tw as the target temperature. When the processing temperature tw exceeds the upper limit value, the output of the pulse power supply 10 is controlled to be reduced, and when it is lower than the lower limit value, the output of the pulse power supply 10 is controlled to be increased. When the processing temperature tw is too high, the flavor and nutrients of the processing object are damaged. On the contrary, when the processing temperature tw is too low, the effect of sterilization, etc. is reduced. Therefore, by performing the above control, the processing object can be kept at an appropriate temperature, and the quality of the processing object can be improved.

[0038] The output control of the pulse power supply 10 is adjusted by changing at least one of the pulse voltage Vp, the pulse width Tp and the pulse frequency fp (not shown). When the pulse voltage Vp is changed, the DC power supply 15 needs to be controlled, and the responsiveness is low. Therefore, the ON and OFF control of the switch 13 and the switch 14 is performed without changing the pulse voltage Vp, and at least one of the pulse width Tp and the pulse frequency fp is changed, thereby obtaining high responsiveness.

[0039] The first abnormality detection unit 43 outputs a first abnormality signal when the processing temperature tw calculated with the first period Tc exceeds the normal temperature range set by a preset setting value, or when a difference exceeding a setting value Δtmx occurs relative to the average value of the past processing temperatures tw stored in the temperature calculation unit 42. Figure 7 1 is a timing chart showing the time change of the processing temperature tw calculated by the pulse electric field processing device involved in the first embodiment. The black circle represents the processing temperature tw calculated for each first cycle Tc. The average value tav is the average value of a plurality of past processing temperatures tw. When the difference Δta between the currently calculated processing temperature tw and the average value tav exceeds the set value Δtmx, the first abnormality detection unit 43 outputs the first abnormality signal.

[0040] The temperature calculation unit 42 can calculate the temperature rise Δt of the object to be processed during the period of passing through the processing unit 50. In other words, the temperature calculation unit 42 can calculate the temperature rise Δt, which is the temperature difference between the temperature of the object to be processed before passing through the processing unit 50 and the temperature of the object to be processed after passing through the processing unit 50. That is, the temperature calculation unit 42 can calculate the temperature rise Δt of the object to be processed during the period of passing through the processing unit 50 based on the relationship between the flow rate and physical property value of the object to be processed and the power output by the pulse power supply 10. The processing temperature tw calculated by the temperature calculation unit 42 represents the average temperature of the temperature distribution in the space in the processing chamber 55, so by adding about 1 / 2 of the temperature rise Δt to the processing temperature tw, the temperature twd of the object to be processed downstream of the processing unit 50 can be estimated. The temperature calculation unit 42 can transmit the estimated temperature twd of the object to be processed downstream of the processing unit 50 to the second abnormality detection unit 44.

[0041] In addition, a temperature measuring device 24 for measuring the temperature of the object to be processed is provided downstream of the processing unit 50. The temperature measuring device 24 is, for example, a thermocouple.

[0042] The second abnormality detection unit 44 periodically compares the temperature twd of the object to be processed downstream of the processing unit 50 estimated by the temperature calculation unit 42 with the temperature of the object to be processed downstream of the processing unit 50 measured by the temperature measuring device 24. The second abnormality detection unit 44 outputs a second abnormality signal when a difference exceeding a set value occurs between the two compared temperatures. By providing the second abnormality detection unit 44, there is an advantage that it is possible to always monitor whether the processing temperature tw calculated by the temperature calculation unit 42 is correct, and detect when an abnormality occurs.

[0043] In addition, the temperature measuring device 24 may be provided upstream of the processing unit 50, and the second abnormality signal may be output based on the comparison between the measurement value of the temperature measuring device 24 provided upstream of the processing unit 50 and the temperature of the processing object upstream of the processing unit 50 estimated by the temperature calculation unit 42. In addition, the second abnormality signal may be output based on the comparison between the measurement value of the temperature measuring device 24 provided downstream and upstream of the processing unit 50 and the temperature of the processing object downstream and upstream of the processing unit 50 estimated by the temperature calculation unit 42.

[0044] The pulse electric field treatment device of embodiment 1 has a state observation unit 90 and a machine learning unit 91. The state observation unit 90 has a function of observing the charging voltage or charging current in the capacitor 11 or the capacitor 12 as a state variable. The machine learning unit 91 learns the value of the normal charging voltage or charging current according to a training data set created based on the state variable and the physical property value of the treatment object. By creating a training data set, it is possible to consider the wear of the electrode 51 caused by the aging degradation for the value of the normal charging voltage or charging current. In addition, the machine learning unit 91 has a function of transmitting the abnormality of the situation to the control device 40 when the value of the charging voltage or charging current deviates from the normal value.

[0045] Figure 8 FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing another configuration example of the pulse electric field treatment device according to the first embodiment. Figure 8 In the embodiment, a heating unit 72 is provided upstream of the treatment unit 50, and the heating unit 72 has the function of increasing the temperature of the treatment object. In the treatment object, the pulse voltage Vp is applied at a higher temperature, thereby obtaining a higher treatment effect. By using the pulse power supply 10 and the heating unit 72 together, the pulse power supply 10 can be miniaturized, and miniaturization and cost reduction of the pulse electric field treatment device can be expected.

[0046] As described above, according to the first embodiment, the temperature calculation unit 42 calculates the temperature of the object to be processed in the processing chamber 55, that is, the processing temperature tw, based on the resistance value Rw obtained from the pulse voltage Vp and the pulse current Ip flowing through the object to be processed in the processing chamber 55 when the pulse voltage Vp is applied, and the preset correction value, and the power supply control unit 41 controls the pulse power supply 10 based on the processing temperature tw and the preset target temperature. Therefore, the temperature of the object to be processed can be controlled with high accuracy, and the processing quality of the object to be processed can be improved.

[0047] Implementation method 2.

[0048] Fig. 91 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration example of a pulse electric field treatment device according to Embodiment 2. In Embodiment 2, a treatment section 80 as a second treatment section is added downstream of the treatment section 50 of the pulse electrolysis treatment device according to Embodiment 1. In addition, the same reference numerals are given to the components having the same functions as those in Embodiment 1, and repeated descriptions are omitted.

[0049] The processing section 80 has the same structure as the processing section 50. That is, the processing section 80 has the same structure as the electrode 51, i.e., an electrode as the second electrode (not shown), the same structure as the insulating material 54, i.e., an insulating material (not shown), and the same structure as the processing chamber 55, i.e., a processing chamber as the second processing chamber (not shown). The second pulse voltage output by the pulse power supply 10 is applied to the electrode on the high voltage side of the second electrode, and the second pulse current flows in the second processing chamber according to the second pulse voltage and the resistance value of the processing object inside the second processing chamber. The temperature calculation section 42 calculates the temperature of the processing object in the second processing chamber, i.e., the second processing temperature tw2, based on the resistance value obtained by the second pulse voltage and the second pulse current flowing through the processing object in the second processing chamber when the second pulse voltage is applied and the correction value set in advance. The power supply control unit 41 adjusts the output of the pulse power supply 10 based on at least two of the processing temperature tw of the processing object in the processing unit 50 , the second processing temperature tw2 , and the target temperature set for the downstream of the processing unit 80 .

[0050] Fig.10 This is a schematic diagram showing an example of temperature distribution in the pulse electric field treatment device according to the second embodiment. Fig.10 The horizontal axis represents the processing temperature, and the vertical axis represents the position of the processing object in the flow direction. The processing temperature of the processing object rises in the process of passing through the processing unit 50, and the processing temperature of the processing object further rises in the process of passing through the processing unit 80.

[0051] The power supply control unit 41 adjusts the output of the pulse power supply 10 in accordance with the difference between the processing temperature tw and the second processing temperature tw2. At this time, by setting the difference between the two to 2 times, the temperature rise of the processing object in the process of passing through the processing unit 50 and the processing unit 80 can be calculated, so that the output of the pulse power supply 10 can be adjusted to achieve the desired temperature rise. Alternatively, a target temperature can be set for the downstream of the processing unit 80, and the target temperature and the value obtained by adding half of the power consumed by the processing unit 80 to the second processing temperature tw2 are compared to adjust the output of the pulse power supply 10. Therefore, by using at least two of the processing temperature tw, the second processing temperature tw2 and the target temperature set for the downstream of the processing unit 80, the output of the pulse power supply 10 can be controlled for either the upper limit value of the temperature or the value of the temperature rise for the processing object. The pulse power supply 10 outputs different voltage waveforms for both the processing unit 50 and the processing unit 80 based on independent control. Through the control as described above, the second processing temperature tw2 can be made closer to the target temperature with higher accuracy. Alternatively, the same voltage waveform may be output to both the processing unit 50 and the processing unit 80. In this case, there is an advantage that the pulse power supply 10 is simplified.

[0052] As described above, according to Embodiment 2, a processing unit 80 is added downstream of the processing unit 50, and the temperature of the processing object is controlled using at least two of the processing temperature tw, the second processing temperature tw2, and the target temperature set for the downstream of the processing unit 80. Therefore, the accuracy of the temperature control of the processing object is further improved, and the processing quality of the processing object can be further improved.

[0053] Fig.11 This is a block diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration for realizing the control system according to the first embodiment and the second embodiment. Figure 6 The components of the control device 40 , the state observation unit 90 , and the machine learning unit 91 are implemented by a processor 93 and a memory 92 .

[0054] The structures shown in the above embodiments represent a part of the contents of the present invention and can be combined with other known technologies. Without departing from the gist of the present invention, they can be appropriately combined, or a part of the structures can be omitted or changed.

[0055] Description of the label

[0056] 10 pulse power supply, 11, 12 capacitors, 13, 14 switches, 15 DC power supply, 16 current limiter, 22 pulse voltage measuring device, 23 pulse current measuring device, 24 temperature measuring device, 40 control device, 41 power supply control unit, 42 temperature calculation unit, 43 first abnormality detection unit, 44 second abnormality detection unit, 50, 80 processing unit, 51 electrode, 52 high voltage electrode, 53 low voltage electrode, 54 insulating material, 55 processing chamber, 70 upstream piping, 71 downstream piping, 72 heating unit, 90 state observation unit, 91 machine learning unit, 92 memory, 93 processor.

Claims

1. A pulse electric field treatment device, characterized in that: have: A pulse power supply that generates a pulse voltage; a pair of first electrodes to which the pulse voltage is applied to generate a pulse electric field; a first processing chamber disposed between the pair of first electrodes and generating the pulse electric field in a space where the liquid processing object flows; a temperature calculation unit that calculates a first processing temperature, which is a temperature of the processing object in the first processing chamber, based on a resistance value obtained from the pulse voltage and a pulse current flowing through the processing object in the first processing chamber when the pulse voltage is applied, and a preset correction value; as well as A power supply control unit controls the pulse power supply based on the first processing temperature and a preset target temperature.

2. The pulse electric field treatment device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The device further includes a first abnormality detection unit that outputs a first abnormality signal based on a comparison between the first processing temperature calculated by the temperature calculation unit and a preset set value or an average value of the first processing temperatures in the past.

3. The pulse electric field treatment device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The power supply control unit performs control to change at least one of a pulse frequency and a pulse width of the pulse voltage without changing a voltage value of the pulse voltage.

4. The pulse electric field treatment device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: The pulse power supply has a circuit including a capacitor and a switch connected in series, and discharges the charged voltage of the capacitor to apply a pulse voltage to the pair of first electrodes. The temperature calculation unit calculates the pulse current based on the charging current of the capacitor.

5. The pulse electric field treatment device according to claim 4, characterized in that: have: a state observation unit that observes a charging voltage and a charging current of the capacitor as a state variable; and A machine learning device learns the normal charging voltage or the normal charging current according to a training data set created based on the state variable and the physical property value of the processing object.

6. The pulse electric field treatment device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: A temperature measuring device for measuring the temperature of the processing object is provided at at least one of the upstream and downstream of the first processing chamber. The device further includes a second abnormality detection unit that outputs a second abnormality signal based on a comparison between the temperature measured by the temperature measuring device and the temperature of at least one of the upstream and downstream of the first processing chamber calculated by the temperature calculation unit.

7. The pulse electric field treatment device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that: A heating unit for heating the object to be processed is provided upstream of the first processing chamber.

8. The pulse electric field treatment device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that: have: a second electrode, which is arranged downstream of the first electrode and to which the pulse voltage of the pulse power source is applied to generate a pulse electric field; as well as a second processing chamber disposed between the pair of second electrodes and generating the pulse electric field in a space where the processing object flows; The temperature calculation unit calculates the temperature of the object to be processed in the second processing chamber, i.e., the second processing temperature, based on the resistance value obtained according to the pulse voltage and the pulse current flowing through the object to be processed in the second processing chamber when the pulse voltage is applied, and a pre-set correction value. The power supply control unit controls the pulse power supply based on at least two of the first processing temperature, the second processing temperature, and a target temperature set for a downstream of the second processing chamber.

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