Ozone generator

Abstract

To solve the problem that ozone concentration rapidly decreases when indoor air conditioning equipment is operated in cooling mode, in a situation where the use of ozone for virus countermeasures and deodorization purposes in indoor environments is increasing and where it is desirable to maintain ozone concentration at 0.1 ppm or below to safely utilize ozone without affecting the human body and 0.025 ppm or above when used for virus countermeasure purposes, and most household ozone generators are used within this range.SOLUTION: By providing the ozone generator with a function to change the ozone generation amount according to the operating state of indoor air conditioning equipment, it becomes possible to provide a safe and effective ozone generator.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an ozone generator. [Background technology]

[0002] Ozone, which can be generated using oxygen in the air and is ultimately reduced to oxygen without leaving any harmful residues, is attracting attention for many applications. In particular, research has progressed on the inactivation of viruses using low-concentration ozone of 0.1 ppm or less, which is considered harmless to the human body, and low-concentration ozone generators are becoming more common. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0003] Research has shown that low concentrations of ozone, around 0.05 ppm to 0.025 ppm, are effective in inactivating viruses, and the use of ozone generators for space disinfection and deodorization is increasing. However, since ozone concentrations above 0.1 ppm are said to be harmful to the human body, most ozone generators for general household use are designed to keep ozone concentrations below 0.05 ppm, but this does not take into account the operating conditions of air conditioners installed in the room or obstacles in the room.

[0004] It was found that when an air conditioner is operating in cooling mode, the ozone concentration in the room drops by about 50% to 70% compared to when the air conditioner is off, and when the air conditioner is operating in fan or heating mode, the ozone concentration rises by about 20% to 50%. From this, a new issue was discovered: in order to inactivate viruses without causing harm to the human body, it is necessary to change the amount of ozone generated by the ozone generator depending on the operating state of the air conditioner. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] To solve the above problems, we propose an ozone generator (10) that has ozone generator (10) grasp information about the operating state of air conditioner (20) installed in the same space as ozone generator (10), and based on that information, control unit (11) determines control parameters such as circulating air volume and ozone generation amount, and based on that, controls at least one of ozone generator (13) and fan motor (14) to adjust the amount of ozone generated. The operating status information of the air conditioner 20 is transmitted directly to the information input unit 13 of the ozone generator 10 by wire or wirelessly, or is provided to the ozone generator 10 by an operating status information changeover switch 15 which is manually set, or is provided using IoT. [Effects of the Invention]

[0006] According to the present invention, an ozone generator 10 can be realized that can supply an appropriate amount of ozone depending on the operating state of the air conditioner 20 in the room. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0007] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of an ozone generator according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 2] Evaluation conditions in one embodiment of the present invention [Figure 3] Indoor ozone concentration evaluation result 1 in one example of the present invention [Figure 4] Indoor ozone concentration evaluation result 2 in one example of the present invention [Figure 5] Indoor ozone concentration evaluation result 3 in one example of the present invention [Figure 6] Indoor ozone concentration evaluation result 4 in one example of the present invention [Figure 7] Control parameters in one embodiment of the present invention DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0008] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0009] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of an ozone generator 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows the evaluation conditions for this embodiment.

[0010] In this example, one ozone generator 10 was installed on the floor of an evaluation room measuring 8 m wide, 4.5 m deep, and 2.6 m high. The ozone generator 10 was installed at either ozone generator installation position a 30, ozone generator installation position b 31, or ozone generator installation position c 32. The ozone concentration was measured for each of the operating states of the wall-mounted air conditioner 20: stopped, fan, cooling, and heating. In this example, the ozone generator 10 was provided with operating state information by switching an operating state information selector switch 15 provided on the ozone generator 10. The amount of ozone generated by the ozone generator 10 could be adjusted by controlling at least one of the fan motor 14 and the ultraviolet lamp 18 in the ozone generator 13 under predetermined conditions in accordance with the operating state information. The ozone concentration was measured at ozone generator inlet 16, air conditioner inlet 21, air conditioner outlet 22, measurement point a on the central floor surface of evaluation room 40, and measurement points b to e on the floor surfaces at the four corners of evaluation room 50, with measurements taken at five points a to e at a height of 50 cm from the floor surface. Furthermore, measurements were not taken at air conditioner inlet 21 and air conditioner outlet 22 when air conditioner 20 was stopped.

[0011] Figure 3 shows the results of measuring the ozone concentration at each of the measurement points a to e two hours after the air conditioner operation status information was changed to fan, cooling, or heating, while the ozone concentration was controlled by the ultraviolet lamp 18 of the ozone generator 13 so that the average ozone concentration at each of the measurement points a to e in the evaluation room 40 was 0.05 ppm when the air conditioner operation status information was stopped.

[0012] Figure 4 shows the results of measuring the ozone concentration at each of the measurement points a to e two hours after the air conditioner operation status information was changed to blowing air, cooling, or heating, while controlling the ozone concentration using the ultraviolet lamp 18 of the ozone generator 13 so that the average ozone concentration at each of the measurement points a to e in the evaluation room 40 was 0.05 ppm when the air conditioner operation status information was set to blowing air.

[0013] Figure 5 shows the results of measuring the ozone concentration at each of the measurement points a to e two hours after the air conditioner operation status information was changed to fan, cooling, or heating, while the ozone concentration was controlled by the ultraviolet lamp 18 of the ozone generator 13 so that the average ozone concentration at each of the measurement points a to e in the evaluation room 40 was 0.05 ppm when the air conditioner operation status information was set to cooling.

[0014] Figure 6 shows the results of measuring the ozone concentration at each of the measurement points a to e two hours after the air conditioner operation status information was changed to fan, cooling, or heating, while the ozone concentration was controlled by the ultraviolet lamp 18 of the ozone generator 13 so that the average ozone concentration at each of the measurement points a to e in the evaluation room 40 was 0.05 ppm when the air conditioner operation status information was set to heating.

[0015] Figures 3, 4, and 6 show that the average ozone concentration is higher when air conditioner 20 is in fan or heating operation than when it is stopped, and lower when air conditioner 20 is in cooling operation. Furthermore, there is no difference depending on the location of the ozone generator, and it can be seen that the ozone concentration when air conditioner 20 is in cooling operation is significantly lower than 0.025 ppm, making it impossible to expect a virus inactivation effect. Furthermore, Figure 5 shows that if the average concentration is 0.05 ppm when air conditioner 20 is in cooling operation, the average concentration exceeds 0.1 ppm when air conditioner 20 is in fan operation, heating operation, or stopped, posing a risk of harm to the human body. Based on these results, in order to achieve a virus inactivation effect when air conditioner 20 is used in cooling operation, the amount of ozone generated must be increased compared to when air conditioner 20 is stopped, in fan operation, or in heating operation.

[0016] At least the amount of ozone generated by the ozone generator 10 is changed depending on whether the operating state of the air conditioner 20 is cooling or not. Regardless of the operating state of the air conditioner 20, a constant virus inactivation effect can be achieved without causing any harmful effects to the human body. Improved comfort can be expected by controlling the amount of ozone generated by the ozone generator 10 depending on the operating state of the air conditioner 20. In this example, an evaluation was performed when the ozone generator 10 was installed on the floor, but it has been confirmed that similar results can be obtained when the ozone generator 10 is installed on a ceiling or wall.

[0017] In this embodiment, the means for transmitting the operating status information of the air conditioner 20 to the ozone generator 10 is performed by switching the operating status information changeover switch 15 provided on the ozone generator 10. However, since there is a risk that improper switching may have harmful effects on the human body, it is preferable to transmit and link the information directly via wired or wireless communication, or using IoT, etc.

[0018] In this embodiment, the amount of ozone generated by the ozone generator 10 was controlled by controlling the ultraviolet lamp 18 of the ozone generator 13, but it can also be controlled by controlling the fan motor 14 of the ozone generator 13 or by controlling both the ultraviolet lamp 18 and the fan motor 14. Figure 7 shows an example of parameters when the ozone concentration is controlled by the power consumption of the ultraviolet lamp 18 and the fan speed of the fan motor 14 under the conditions of this embodiment, and shows the ratios for each operating state information when the fan speed of the fan motor 14 and the power consumption of the ultraviolet lamp 18 when the air conditioner 20 is not operating are each set to 1. These parameters are only an example and do not guarantee performance under all conditions. [Explanation of symbols]

[0019] 10. Ozone generator 11 Control section 12. Information input section 13. Ozone generator 14 Fan motor 15. Operation status information changeover switch 16. Ozone generator intake port 17 Ozone generator outlet 18. Ultraviolet lamp 20...Air conditioner 21 Air conditioner intake 22 Air conditioner outlet 30. Ozone generator installation location a 31. Ozone generator installation location b 32. Ozone generator installation location c 33 Measurement point a 34...Measurement point b 35...Measuring point c 36 Measurement point d 37 Measurement point e 40. Evaluation Room

Claims

1. An ozone generator comprising an information input unit for providing information on operation, stoppage, and operating status (hereinafter referred to as "operating status information") of an air conditioner installed in a room, an ozone generator, and a control unit, wherein the control unit controls the ozone generator based on the operating status information from the information input unit.

2. 2. The ozone generator according to claim 1, further comprising an information transmission unit that transmits the operating state information to the information input unit by wire or wirelessly.

3. 2. The ozone generator according to claim 1, wherein the information transmission unit has a changeover switch, and the operating state information is transmitted to the control unit by changing over the changeover switch.

4. A method for controlling an ozone generating unit, which controls the amount of ozone generated by the ozone generating unit based on information on the operating state of a specific air conditioner installed in a room.

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