Sterilizer water vapor separation device

Abstract

This application discloses a water vapor separation device for a sterilizer, belonging to the field of auxiliary components for sterilization equipment. The water vapor separation device includes a cylindrical body with an exhaust pipe at the top for communication with the steam inlet of the sterilizer, an inlet pipe at the lower part of the side wall, and a drain pipe at the bottom. The cylindrical body is divided into a centrifugal separation chamber, a baffle separation chamber, and a membrane filtration chamber from bottom to top, connected by vertical guide pipes. The inlet pipe is connected to the centrifugal separation chamber. The inner wall of the centrifugal separation chamber is provided with spiral guide ribs, the baffle separation chamber is provided with multiple inclined corrugated baffles, and the membrane filtration chamber is provided with a gas-liquid separation membrane. Steam passes through three stages of separation from bottom to top: centrifugation, baffle separation, and membrane filtration. Centrifugal force first removes large particles of condensate, baffle impacts and condenses tiny water mists, and finally, membrane filtration intercepts residual micron-sized water mists, ensuring steam dryness. The "bottom in, top out" chamber sequence conforms to the natural upward trend of steam, preventing condensate from accumulating at the top of the chamber.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of auxiliary components technology for sterilization equipment, specifically a water vapor separation device for a sterilizer. Background Technology

[0002] In the fields of medical treatment, food processing, and biopharmaceuticals, steam sterilizers are crucial equipment for ensuring the sterility of goods. Their sterilization effect is highly dependent on the quality of the steam delivered to the sterilization chamber. Saturated steam, with its stable high temperature and good heat penetration, is an ideal sterilization medium. However, during the actual operation of a steam sterilizer, saturated steam is prone to heat loss during pipeline transport due to factors such as pipeline heat dissipation and ambient temperature differences. This leads to condensation, ultimately resulting in the steam delivered to the sterilization chamber being wet steam containing liquid water droplets.

[0003] Wet steam directly causes the "wet bag" problem—that is, sterilized items remain damp after cooling, and "wet bags" are clearly defined in the industry as sterilization failure. This problem not only requires staff to re-clean, dry, and re-sterilize the items, significantly reducing production and operational efficiency, but also consumes additional energy such as steam and electricity, significantly increasing equipment operating costs, becoming a core pain point restricting the efficient and stable operation of steam sterilizers.

[0004] To mitigate the negative effects of wet steam, technological improvements have been implemented in related fields. For example, Chinese utility model patent CN202342518U discloses a water-vapor separation device for sterilizers. This device addresses the high-vacuum performance of the vacuum pump in sterilization equipment by adding a water-vapor separation process to separate the water-vapor mixture generated after sterilization. This allows for the independent discharge of water and steam, increasing the pre-vacuum level of the last two stages to 0.7 bar to 0.82 bar, thus optimizing the sterilization performance for porous, permeable sterilization loads to a certain extent.

[0005] However, this existing technology still has significant limitations: it can only effectively separate large particles of condensate in water vapor mixtures, but it cannot efficiently capture and remove tiny water mist particles with smaller diameters. These unseparated tiny water mist particles will enter the sterilization chamber along with the steam, causing irregular temperature fluctuations within the sterilization chamber, disrupting the temperature stability of the sterilization process, and thus affecting the reliability of the sterilization effect.

[0006] Therefore, this application provides a water vapor separation device for a sterilizer to solve the above-mentioned problems. Utility Model Content

[0007] This application provides a water vapor separation device for a sterilizer, which aims to solve the problems mentioned in the background art, such as existing water vapor separation devices can only remove large particles of condensate and cannot effectively separate fine water mist, resulting in sterilization temperature fluctuations.

[0008] To achieve the above objectives, this application provides the following technical solution: a sterilizer water-vapor separation device, comprising a cylinder, wherein the top of the cylinder is provided with an exhaust pipe for communicating with the steam inlet of the sterilizer, the lower part of the side wall is provided with an inlet pipe, and the bottom is provided with a drain pipe; to improve water-vapor separation efficiency: the cylinder is divided into a centrifugal separation chamber, a baffle separation chamber, and a membrane filtration chamber from bottom to top, and the chambers are connected by vertical guide pipes, the steam inlet pipe being connected to the centrifugal separation chamber; the inner wall of the centrifugal separation chamber is provided with spiral guide ribs, the baffle separation chamber is provided with multiple inclined corrugated baffles, and the membrane filtration chamber is provided with a gas-liquid separation membrane. This achieves efficient three-stage separation of steam through centrifugation + baffle + membrane filtration, significantly improving water-vapor separation efficiency and steam dryness, preventing condensate from accumulating at the top of the chamber, ensuring the quality of steam entering the sterilizer, and reducing the "wet bag" problem.

[0009] Preferably, to avoid steam short-circuiting, the top of the guide pipe is lower than the top of the corresponding upper-level cavity. This effectively prevents steam short-circuiting, ensuring that steam must sequentially pass through the separation structure of the corresponding cavity to complete the separation process, guaranteeing sufficient and effective separation at each stage, and improving the overall water-vapor separation effect.

[0010] Preferably, the steam inlet pipe is welded obliquely to the side wall of the centrifugal separation chamber, and its axis is tangent to the inner wall of the shell. This allows the steam to quickly form a stable, high-speed rotating airflow after entering the centrifugal separation chamber, enhancing the centrifugal force and improving the separation efficiency of the centrifugal separation chamber for large particles of condensate.

[0011] Preferably, the baffles are made of stainless steel, with an inclination angle of 30°, and adjacent baffles are arranged in a staggered manner. This improves the condensation efficiency and interception effect of fine water mist, and the stainless steel material has high temperature resistance and corrosion resistance, extending the service life of the baffles and ensuring the long-term stable operation of the baffle separation chamber.

[0012] Preferably, the gas-liquid separation membrane is a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) microporous membrane with a pore size of 0.1-0.2 μm. This precisely intercepts micron-sized water mist remaining in the steam, further improving steam dryness. Furthermore, the PTFE material is resistant to high temperatures and chemical corrosion, ensuring long-term stable operation of the gas-liquid separation membrane in a steam environment.

[0013] Preferably, to facilitate the drainage of condensate: a conical water collection tank is designed at the bottom of the centrifugal separation chamber, a liquid level sensor is installed in the conical water collection tank, and a solenoid valve adapted to the liquid level sensor is installed on the drain pipe. This enables automatic, timely, and efficient drainage of condensate, preventing condensate from accumulating at the bottom of the centrifugal separation chamber and affecting the separation effect, while also reducing energy waste and manual operation.

[0014] In this application, the steam undergoes a three-stage separation process from bottom to top: centrifugation, baffle flow, and membrane filtration. Centrifugal force first removes large particles of condensate, baffle flow condenses tiny water mist, and finally, membrane filtration intercepts residual micron-sized water mist, ensuring the dryness of the steam. The "bottom in, top out" chamber sequence conforms to the natural upward trend of steam, preventing condensate from accumulating at the top of the chamber.

[0015] This application achieves automatic, timely, and efficient discharge of condensate by using a liquid level sensor in conjunction with a solenoid valve, avoiding the accumulation of condensate at the bottom of the centrifugal separation chamber that would affect the separation effect, while also reducing energy waste and manual operation. Attached Figure Description

[0016] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of a water vapor separation device for a sterilizer. Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the internal structure of the cylinder.

[0017] In the picture: 1. Shell; 11. Exhaust pipe; 12. Inlet pipe; 13. Drain pipe; 131. Solenoid valve; 2. Centrifugal separation chamber; 21. Spiral guide rib; 22. Conical water collection tank; 23. Liquid level sensor; 3. Baffle separation chamber; 31. Baffle plate; 4. Membrane filtration chamber; 41. Gas-liquid separation membrane; 5. Guide pipe. Detailed Implementation

[0018] The technical solutions of the embodiments of this application will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of this application, and not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of this application, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of this application. Example 1

[0019] This embodiment provides a water vapor separation device for a sterilizer, such as... Figure 1-2As shown, the water-vapor separation device includes a cylinder 1. The top of the cylinder 1 has an exhaust pipe 11 for connecting to the steam inlet of the sterilizer, the lower part of the side wall has an inlet pipe 12, and the bottom has a drain pipe 13. To improve water-vapor separation efficiency, the cylinder 1 is divided into a centrifugal separation chamber 2, a baffle separation chamber 3, and a membrane filtration chamber 4 from bottom to top. The chambers are connected by vertical guide pipes 5, and the inlet pipe 12 connects to the centrifugal separation chamber 2. The inner wall of the centrifugal separation chamber 2 is provided with spiral guide ribs 21, the baffle separation chamber 3 is provided with multiple inclined corrugated baffles 31, and the membrane filtration chamber 4 is provided with a gas-liquid separation membrane 41. This achieves efficient three-stage separation of steam through centrifugation, baffles, and membrane filtration, significantly improving water-vapor separation efficiency and steam dryness, preventing condensate from accumulating at the top of the chambers, ensuring the quality of steam entering the sterilizer, and reducing the "wet bag" problem. Cold steam enters the lower centrifugal separation chamber 2 from the external pipe via the steam inlet pipe 12. Guided by the spiral guide ribs 21 on the inner wall of the centrifugal separation chamber 2, it forms a high-speed rotating airflow. Under the action of centrifugal force, the condensate is thrown towards the wall of the centrifugal separation chamber 2 and flows downward along the wall. The steam that has removed large particles of condensate enters the middle baffle separation chamber 3 through the vertical guide pipe 5. After the airflow hits the inclined corrugated baffle 31 in the baffle separation chamber 3, it is forced to change its flow direction and flow upward in a zigzag pattern. During the process, tiny water mists accumulate on the surface of the corrugated baffle 31. The steam condenses into water droplets, which drip downwards and flow back to the water collection tank of the centrifugal separation chamber 2 through the guide pipe 5. The steam after secondary dehydration enters the upper membrane filtration chamber 4 through the guide pipe 5, passes through the gas-liquid separation membrane 41 in the membrane filtration chamber 4, and the residual tiny water mist is intercepted and condensed by the gas-liquid separation membrane 41 and flows back downwards along the membrane wall, finally obtaining dry steam. The dry steam enters the sterilizer through the exhaust pipe 11 at the top of the cylinder 1. The "bottom in, top out" chamber sequence conforms to the natural upward trend of steam, avoiding the accumulation of condensate at the top of the chamber.

[0020] To prevent steam short-circuiting, the top of the guide pipe 5 is lower than the top of the corresponding upper-level chamber. This effectively prevents steam short-circuiting, ensuring that steam must pass through the separation structure of the corresponding chamber sequentially to complete the separation process, guaranteeing sufficient and effective separation at each stage and improving the overall water-vapor separation effect. As a channel connecting adjacent chambers, the guide pipe 5's top is lower than the top of the corresponding upper-level chamber, creating a height difference. This prevents steam from directly entering the outlet of the upper-level chamber from the gap above the top of the guide pipe 5 after entering the lower-level chamber. Instead, it flows along the predetermined path of "centrifugal separation chamber 2 → guide pipe 5 → baffled separation chamber 3 → guide pipe 5 → membrane filtration chamber 4," forcing the steam to pass through each separation structure and preventing steam from being discharged directly without sufficient separation.

[0021] The steam inlet pipe 12 is welded obliquely to the side wall of the centrifugal separation chamber 2, with its axis tangent to the inner wall of the shell. This allows the steam to quickly form a stable, high-speed rotating airflow after entering the centrifugal separation chamber 2, enhancing the centrifugal force and improving the separation efficiency of the centrifugal separation chamber 2 for large-particle condensate. When cold steam enters the centrifugal separation chamber 2 from the steam inlet pipe 12, the steam airflow direction is consistent with the tangential direction of the inner wall of the centrifugal separation chamber 2. Without additional guidance, it can quickly rotate along the inner wall of the centrifugal separation chamber 2, rapidly forming a high-speed rotating airflow. Combined with the spiral guide ribs 21 on the inner wall of the centrifugal separation chamber 2, the rotation effect is further enhanced, causing large-particle condensate in the steam to be thrown towards the chamber wall under greater centrifugal force, improving the separation speed and amount of large-particle condensate.

[0022] The baffle plate 31 is made of stainless steel with a 30° inclination angle, and adjacent baffle plates 31 are arranged in a staggered manner. This improves the condensation efficiency and interception effect of the fine water mist, and the stainless steel material has high temperature resistance and corrosion resistance, extending the service life of the baffle plate 31 and ensuring the long-term stable operation of the baffle separation chamber 3. The baffle plate 31 is made of stainless steel, which can withstand the high temperature environment of steam and is not easily corroded by condensate; the 30° inclination angle ensures that the steam flow has sufficient contact area and impact force when it hits the baffle plate 31, promoting the condensation of fine water mist, and also facilitates the downward dripping of the condensed water droplets along the inclined plate surface; the staggered arrangement of adjacent baffle plates 31 creates a tortuous flow path for the steam flow in the baffle separation chamber 3, prolonging the residence time of the steam in the baffle separation chamber 3, increasing the number of contacts between the steam and the baffle plate 31, allowing more fine water mist to condense into water droplets on the surface of the baffle plate 31, and the water droplets drip downward under the action of gravity and flow back to the centrifugal separation chamber 2 through the guide pipe 5.

[0023] The gas-liquid separation membrane 41 is a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) microporous membrane with a pore size of 0.1-0.2 μm. It precisely intercepts residual micron-sized water mist in the steam, further improving steam dryness. The PTFE material is resistant to high temperatures and chemical corrosion, ensuring long-term stable operation of the gas-liquid separation membrane 41 in a steam environment. The gas-liquid separation membrane 41 uses a PTFE microporous membrane, which is resistant to high steam temperatures and not easily corroded by substances in the steam. The 0.1-0.2 μm pore size allows dry steam molecules to pass through smoothly while precisely intercepting micron-sized water mist particles larger than the pore size. When the steam after secondary water removal passes through the gas-liquid separation membrane 41, the residual tiny water mist is intercepted on the membrane surface and gradually condenses into water droplets. These droplets flow back down the membrane wall under gravity, resulting in steam with higher dryness. Example 2

[0024] Unlike Example 1, to facilitate the drainage of condensate, a conical water collection tank 22 is designed at the bottom of the centrifugal separation chamber 2. A liquid level sensor 23 is installed inside the conical water collection tank 22, and a solenoid valve 131 adapted to the liquid level sensor 23 is installed on the drain pipe 13. This enables automatic, timely, and efficient drainage of condensate, preventing condensate from accumulating at the bottom of the centrifugal separation chamber 2 and affecting the separation effect, while also reducing energy waste and manual operation. The conical water collection tank 22 at the bottom of the centrifugal separation chamber 2 utilizes the water-collecting characteristics of the conical structure to collect the condensate separated in the centrifugal separation chamber 2, as well as the condensate returning from the baffle separation chamber 3 and the membrane filtration chamber 4. The liquid level sensor 23 in the conical water collection tank 22 detects the liquid level of the condensate in the tank in real time. When the liquid level reaches the preset threshold, the liquid level sensor 23 sends a signal to the solenoid valve 131 on the drain pipe 13. After receiving the signal, the solenoid valve 131 automatically opens, and the condensate is discharged through the drain pipe 13. When the liquid level drops to the preset lower limit threshold, the liquid level sensor 23 sends a signal again, and the solenoid valve 131 automatically closes, realizing the automatic and on-demand discharge of condensate.

[0025] The wiring diagram of the liquid level sensor 23 and the solenoid valve 131 in this application is common knowledge in the field. Its working principle is a well-known technology. The appropriate model is selected according to the actual use. Therefore, the control method and wiring arrangement of the liquid level sensor 23 and the solenoid valve 131 will not be explained in detail.

[0026] The control method of this application is through a controller. The control circuit of the controller can be implemented by a person skilled in the art through simple programming. The power supply is also common knowledge in the art. Since this application is mainly used to protect mechanical devices, the control method and circuit connection will not be explained in detail here.

[0027] All electrical components mentioned in the text are electrically connected to the main controller and power supply. The main controller can be a conventional and known device such as a computer, and the existing publicly available power connection technology will not be elaborated in the text.

[0028] It should be noted that many of the standard parts used in this application are available on the market, while non-standard parts can be specially customized. The connection method used in this application is also a very common method in the mechanical field, and will not be described in detail here.

[0029] The above description is merely a preferred embodiment of this application, but the scope of protection of this application is not limited thereto. Any equivalent substitutions or modifications made by those skilled in the art within the scope of the technology disclosed in this application, based on the technical solution and concept of this application, should be included within the scope of protection of this application.

Claims

1. A water vapor separation device for a sterilizer, comprising a cylinder (1), wherein the top of the cylinder (1) is provided with an exhaust pipe (11) for communicating with the steam inlet of the sterilizer, the lower part of the side wall is provided with an inlet pipe (12), and the bottom is provided with a drain pipe (13). Its features are: The cylinder (1) is divided into a centrifugal separation chamber (2), a baffle separation chamber (3) and a membrane filtration chamber (4) from bottom to top. The chambers are connected by a vertical guide pipe (5). The steam inlet pipe (12) is connected to the centrifugal separation chamber (2). The centrifugal separation chamber (2) is provided with spiral guide ribs (21) on its inner wall, the baffle separation chamber (3) is provided with multiple inclined corrugated baffles (31), and the membrane filtration chamber (4) is provided with a gas-liquid separation membrane (41).

2. The sterilizer water vapor separation device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The top of the guide tube (5) is lower than the top of the corresponding upper-level cavity.

3. The sterilizer water vapor separation device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The steam inlet pipe (12) is inclinedly welded to the side wall of the centrifugal separation chamber (2) and its axis is tangent to the inner wall of the shell.

4. The sterilizer water vapor separation device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The baffle plate (31) is made of stainless steel and has an inclination angle of 30°. Adjacent baffle plates (31) are arranged in staggered layers.

5. The sterilizer water vapor separation device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The gas-liquid separation membrane (41) is a polytetrafluoroethylene microporous membrane with a pore size of 0.1-0.2 μm.

6. The sterilizer water vapor separation device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The bottom of the centrifugal separation chamber (2) is designed with a conical water collection tank (22), and a liquid level sensor (23) is installed in the conical water collection tank (22). A solenoid valve (131) for matching the liquid level sensor (23) is installed on the drain pipe (13).

Images