Virus removal device, virus removal system, and virus removal method

Abstract

To provide a virus removal device that can remove virus.SOLUTION: A virus removal device 1 has a sprayer 11 that sprays a mist 7 of an anti-viral liquid 115, ultraviolet irradiation means 13 that irradiates air containing the mist 7 with ultraviolet rays, a cyclone 12 that separates liquid from the air containing the mist 7, and a fan 14 that blows air so that the air flows from an inlet 122a to an outlet 124 in the cyclone 12.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a virus removal device for removing viruses. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, sterilization and the like have been performed in air purifiers using cyclones. For example, in the stage preceding the cyclone that performs dehydration, sterilization has been performed using strongly acidic water, and oxidized air has been neutralized using strongly alkaline water (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Also, sterilization, disinfection, particle removal, and the like have been performed using multi-stage cyclones (see, for example, Patent Document 2). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2013-31825 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 1-206979 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, in conventional air purifiers using cyclones, the cyclone is used for gas-liquid separation, i.e., dehydration. Since conventional air purifiers do not use the cyclone itself for sterilization, a separate sterilization component is required in addition to the cyclone. This tends to result in larger devices. Furthermore, even when using a component other than a cyclone, there has been a demand for a simpler configuration for removing viruses.

[0005] The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and has an object to provide a virus removal device or the like that can remove viruses using a simpler device. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to achieve the above object, a virus removal device according to one aspect of the present invention comprises a sprayer that sprays mist, an ultraviolet irradiation means that irradiates the air with ultraviolet rays, and a blower that blows air that has been irradiated with ultraviolet rays and air that has been humidified by the mist.

[0007] With this configuration, viruses can be inactivated by irradiating air containing viruses with ultraviolet light, which allows viruses to be removed with a simpler device, making it possible to realize, for example, a compact virus removal device.

[0008] In addition, in a virus removal device according to one aspect of the present invention, the mist is an antiviral liquid, the ultraviolet irradiation means irradiates the air containing the mist with ultraviolet light and further includes a cyclone for separating the liquid from the air containing the mist, and the blower may blow air so that the air flows from the inlet to the outlet of the cyclone.

[0009] With this configuration, air containing a mist of antiviral liquid is introduced into the cyclone, the temperature is lowered inside to cause condensation with virus nuclei, and the virus-containing droplets are then discharged, thereby removing viruses from the air. In this way, viruses can be removed using the cyclone itself. Viruses can also be inactivated by contacting the antiviral liquid with the virus or by irradiating the virus with ultraviolet light. Bacteria, dust, and other particles can also be removed along with viruses.

[0010] In addition, in a virus removal device according to one aspect of the present invention, the cyclone has a cyclone body having a hollow portion that includes a cylindrical upper hollow portion and a truncated conical lower hollow portion that is continuous with the lower side of the upper hollow portion and tapers downward; an inlet portion having an inlet located above the hollow portion; a drain pipe for discharging the liquid separated in the hollow portion, the upper end of which is connected to the lower end of the lower hollow portion and the lower end of which is inserted into the liquid in the drainage liquid storage tank; and an outlet pipe that is coaxial with the hollow portion and through which air in the center of the hollow portion flows out, and the drain pipe may have a length that prevents the liquid in the storage tank from flowing into the hollow portion when gas-liquid separation is being performed in the cyclone.

[0011] With this configuration, when removing viruses, the lower end of the drain pipe is inserted into the drained liquid, preventing dust and other particles from flowing back from the drain pipe into the hollow portion. Also, the drain pipe has a length that prevents the liquid in the storage tank from flowing into the hollow portion during gas-liquid separation in the cyclone, preventing the drained liquid from flowing back into the hollow portion.

[0012] In a virus removal device according to an aspect of the present invention, the axial length of the upper hollow portion may be within a range of four to six times the inner diameter of the upper hollow portion.

[0013] This configuration allows condensation to occur in the hollow portion and eliminates the need for a more powerful blower, because the longer the axial length of the upper hollow portion, the more likely condensation will occur, but the more powerful the blower must be.

[0014] In the virus removal device according to one aspect of the present invention, the cyclone body and the outflow pipe may be made of metal.

[0015] This configuration makes the cyclone body and outflow pipe less susceptible to the effects of the antiviral liquid. Also, for example, when ultraviolet light is irradiated inside the cyclone, the ultraviolet light is reflected by the inner circumferential surface of the cyclone body and the outer circumferential surface of the outflow pipe, which allows the ultraviolet light to be irradiated over a wider area, thereby enhancing the effectiveness of the ultraviolet light in inactivating viruses and the like.

[0016] In addition, in a virus removal device according to an aspect of the present invention, the ultraviolet light may include ultraviolet light having a wavelength of 222 nm.

[0017] With this configuration, the effects of ultraviolet rays on the human body can be reduced.

[0018] In the virus removal device according to one aspect of the present invention, the antiviral liquid may be ozone water.

[0019] With this configuration, for example, ozone water as an antiviral liquid can be generated in the device by direct electrolysis or the like, which has the advantage of eliminating the need to prepare an antiviral liquid such as alcohol in advance.

[0020] In the virus removal device according to one aspect of the present invention, the sprayer may spray mist inside the cyclone, and the ultraviolet irradiating means may irradiate ultraviolet rays inside the cyclone.

[0021] With this configuration, a compact virus removal device can be provided.

[0022] In addition, in a virus removal device according to an aspect of the present invention, the ultraviolet light may include ultraviolet light having a wavelength of 254 nm.

[0023] This configuration can enhance the inactivation effect on viruses and the like.

[0024] In addition, a virus removal device according to one aspect of the present invention may further include a vertically arranged duct having an intake port at the bottom and an outlet port at the top, with multiple cyclones provided within the duct, and the blower may blow air so that it flows from the intake port toward the outlet port, with the air drawn in from the intake port flowing into the inlets of the multiple cyclones and the air flowing out from the outlet ports of the multiple cyclones being blown out from the outlet ports.

[0025] With this configuration, it becomes possible to remove viruses from a larger amount of air.

[0026] In addition, in a virus removal device according to one aspect of the present invention, mist may be sprayed and ultraviolet light may be irradiated in a space within the duct upstream of the inlets of the multiple cyclones.

[0027] With this configuration, the sprayer and ultraviolet irradiation means can be used in common for multiple cyclones, resulting in a simpler configuration compared to when mist is sprayed or ultraviolet rays are irradiated for each cyclone.

[0028] In addition, a virus removal device according to one aspect of the present invention may further include a vertically arranged duct having an intake port at the bottom and an outlet port at the top, within which mist is sprayed and ultraviolet light is irradiated, and the blower may blow air so that the air flows from the intake port toward the outlet port.

[0029] With this configuration, after the air drawn in through the intake port is inactivated to inactivate viruses, etc., the inactivated air can be output from the outlet. Furthermore, if the air output from the outlet contains ozone, for example, the ozone will also inactivate viruses in the space to which the air from the outlet is supplied.

[0030] In addition, a virus removal device according to one embodiment of the present invention may further include a first temperature acquisition unit that acquires the temperature of the air blown out of the duct, a humidity acquisition unit that acquires the relative humidity of the air blown out of the duct, a humidity determination unit that determines the absolute humidity of the air blown out of the duct using the temperature acquired by the first temperature acquisition unit and the relative humidity acquired by the humidity acquisition unit, a second temperature acquisition unit that acquires the temperature of the space to which air is supplied from the duct, a target humidity determination unit that determines a target absolute humidity, which is the absolute humidity corresponding to the temperature acquired by the second temperature acquisition unit and a predetermined relative humidity, and a spray control unit that controls the sprayer so that the absolute humidity determined by the humidity determination unit becomes the target absolute humidity.

[0031] With this configuration, it becomes possible to output air from the duct that has a predetermined relative humidity in the space to which the air is supplied from the duct.

[0032] In addition, a virus removal device according to one aspect of the present invention may further include an air volume adjustment unit that adjusts the air volume of the blower so that the concentration of ozone generated by irradiating the air with ultraviolet rays reaches a desired value.

[0033] With this configuration, air with a desired ozone concentration can be supplied to the space from the air outlet. For example, it is possible to prevent the concentration of ozone supplied to the space from becoming too high, thereby preventing adverse effects on the human body.

[0034] In the virus removal device according to one aspect of the present invention, the air blown out from the outlet may be a turbulent flow.

[0035] This configuration increases the opportunities for ozone to come into contact with viruses, compared to when laminar airflow is blown out or when there is no airflow throughout the room, as occurs with general air purifiers, making it possible to remove viruses in a shorter time.

[0036] Furthermore, a virus removal system according to one aspect of the present invention includes a plurality of virus removal devices and a control device that controls the plurality of virus removal devices, wherein the antiviral liquid is ozone water, and the control device includes a people flow prediction unit that predicts people flow information, which is information regarding people flow, for each of a plurality of compartments to which air is respectively supplied from the plurality of virus removal devices, and a control unit that controls the plurality of virus removal devices so that more ozone is supplied to compartments with more people based on the people flow information predicted by the people flow prediction unit.

[0037] With this configuration, more ozone can be supplied to areas with more people, which allows viruses and the like to be inactivated using ozone and also prevents the ozone concentration in the entire space from increasing.

[0038] In addition, a virus removal system according to one embodiment of the present invention comprises a plurality of virus removal devices and a control device that controls the plurality of virus removal devices, and the control device comprises a people flow prediction unit that predicts people flow information, which is information regarding people flow, for each of a plurality of compartments to which air is respectively supplied from the plurality of virus removal devices, and a control unit that controls the plurality of virus removal devices so that more ozone is supplied to compartments with more people based on the people flow information predicted by the people flow prediction unit.

[0039] With this configuration, more ozone can be supplied to areas with more people, which allows viruses and the like to be inactivated using ozone and also prevents the ozone concentration in the entire space from increasing.

[0040] In addition, in a virus removal system according to one aspect of the present invention, the control device further includes a people flow acquisition unit that acquires people flow information for each of the multiple sections, and the control unit controls the concentration of ozone generated by the multiple virus removal devices to be higher than a threshold value when the people flow information acquired by the people flow acquisition unit indicates that there are no people in any of the multiple sections, and when ozone is being generated at a concentration higher than the threshold value, stops the irradiation of ultraviolet rays by the ultraviolet irradiation means and controls the multiple virus removal devices to blow out air humidified by mist when the people flow information acquired by the people flow acquisition unit indicates that there are people in at least one of the multiple sections.

[0041] With this configuration, when there are no people present, viruses can be effectively removed by supplying a higher concentration of ozone, and when a person is detected in such a situation, high humidity air is supplied to reduce the ozone concentration in a shorter time, thereby avoiding adverse effects on the human body.

[0042] Furthermore, a virus removal method according to one aspect of the present invention includes the steps of spraying a mist, irradiating the air with ultraviolet rays, and blowing the air irradiated with ultraviolet rays and the air humidified by the mist.

[0043] Furthermore, a virus removal method according to one aspect of the present invention includes the steps of spraying a mist of an antiviral liquid, irradiating air containing the mist with ultraviolet light, and using a cyclone to separate the liquid from the air containing the mist. [Effects of the Invention]

[0044] According to a virus removal device or the like according to one aspect of the present invention, viruses in the air can be removed using, for example, a cyclone or ultraviolet light. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0045] [Figure 1]FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a virus removal device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the appearance of the cyclone according to the embodiment; [Figure 3] FIG. 10 is a perspective side view showing the internal structure of the cyclone in the embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the appearance of a virus removal device including a duct according to the embodiment; [Figure 5] FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a plurality of cyclones arranged in a duct in the embodiment; [Figure 6] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a virus removal system according to the embodiment; [Figure 7] FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view showing the configuration of a virus removal device according to a second embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0046] The virus removal device and virus removal method according to the present invention will be described below using embodiments. In the following embodiments, components with the same reference numerals are the same or equivalent, and repeated description may be omitted.

[0047] (Embodiment 1) The virus removal device according to this embodiment removes viruses by causing condensation in a cyclone.

[0048] Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a virus removal device 1 according to the present embodiment. Fig. 1 shows the internal structure of a cyclone 12. Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing the appearance of cyclone 12. Fig. 3 is a transparent side view showing the internal structure of cyclone 12.

[0049] The virus removal device 1 according to this embodiment comprises a sprayer 11 that sprays mist, a cyclone 12 that separates liquid from air containing the mist, an ultraviolet irradiation means 13 that irradiates ultraviolet rays, and a blower 14 that blows air from the inlet 122a of the cyclone 12 toward the outlet 124a.

[0050] The sprayer 11 sprays the mist 7 of the antiviral liquid. Note that the position from which the sprayer 11 sprays the mist 7 of the antiviral liquid is not important, as long as air containing the mist 7 is supplied to a hollow portion 125, which will be described later. For example, as shown in FIG. 1 , the mist 7 may be supplied to the inlet portion 122 of the cyclone 12, or the mist may be supplied upstream of the inlet 122a of the cyclone 12. In other words, the sprayer 11 may spray the mist 7 inside the cyclone 12, or may spray the mist outside the cyclone 12. Note that spraying the mist outside the cyclone 12 will be described later.

[0051] In this embodiment, a case will be mainly described in which the sprayer 11 has a nozzle 111 for spraying a mist 7 of an antiviral liquid, a liquid supply path 112 that supplies the antiviral liquid to the nozzle 111, a pump 113 provided in the liquid supply path 112, and a tank 114 that stores an antiviral liquid 115. The antiviral liquid 115 in the tank 114 is sent to the nozzle 111 by the pump 113 and sprayed from the nozzle 111, thereby generating a mist 7 of the antiviral liquid. Note that the sprayer 11 may have a configuration other than that shown in FIG. 1 . The sprayer 11 may, for example, generate a mist using an ultrasonic vibrator. In this way, the air can be humidified by spraying the mist.

[0052] The mist 7 is preferably a dry mist in a fine mist state. This is because dry mist evaporates easily, allowing the humidity of the air inside the cyclone 12 to approach 100%, making condensation more likely to occur. The average particle size of the dry mist 7 is not particularly limited, but for example, the Sauter mean particle size determined by the Fraunhofer diffraction method (laser method) using a laser may be 20 μm or less, 18 μm or less, or 16 μm or less. Note that the mist 7 does not have to be a dry mist.

[0053] The antiviral liquid may be, for example, ozone water, alcohol, or any other liquid that can reduce the number of viruses. The antiviral liquid may be effective against all viruses or only some viruses. For example, alcohol is effective against enveloped viruses such as coronaviruses and influenza viruses, but not against non-enveloped viruses such as noroviruses. However, alcohol is effective against at least coronaviruses and other viruses, making it an antiviral liquid. This embodiment will mainly describe the case where the antiviral liquid is ozone water. Ozone water can be generated, for example, by a gas dissolution method in which ozone gas is dissolved in water or a direct electrolysis method in which water is directly ozonated. When the antiviral liquid is ozone water, ozone water can be generated in tank 114 with just water, making it easy to prepare the antiviral liquid. Furthermore, when the antiviral liquid is ozone water, effluent 5, which will be described later, is also ozone water, and therefore, the effluent 5 may be used as the antiviral liquid. When the effluent 5 is used as an antiviral liquid, for example, in order to prevent clogging of the nozzle 111, the effluent 5 from which dust and the like have been removed using a filter or the like may be supplied to the nozzle 111 by the pump 113.

[0054] The cyclone 12 includes a cyclone body 121 in which gas-liquid separation takes place, an inlet 122 for introducing air into the cyclone body 121, a drain pipe 123 for discharging the separated liquid, and an outlet pipe 124 through which the air separated from the liquid flows out.

[0055] The cyclone body 121 has a hollow section 125 including a cylindrical upper hollow section 125a and a lower hollow section 125b that is continuous with the lower side of the upper hollow section 125a. The lower hollow section 125b has a truncated cone shape that tapers downward. The upper hollow section 125a and the lower hollow section 125b are normally continuous so that their central axes are aligned. Note that "upper" and "lower" usually refer to upper and lower in the vertical direction.

[0056] The inlet section 122 is provided above the hollow section 125 and has an inlet 122a. In this embodiment, the mist 7 is sprayed near the inlet 122a of the inlet section 122. The shape of the inlet section 122 is not limited, but for example, as shown in FIG. 2, the inlet section 122 may have a tapered shape in which the cross-sectional area in the direction perpendicular to the gas flow gradually decreases from the upstream side (the inlet 122a side) to the downstream side, or the cross-sectional area may be constant. Note that the cross-sectional area is the cross-sectional area of ​​the region through which the gas passes. It is preferable that the gas introduced from the inlet section 122 into the hollow section 125 be introduced in a tangential direction to the hollow section 125 when viewed from above.

[0057] The drain pipe 123 is a pipe for discharging the liquid separated in the hollow portion 125. The upper end of the drain pipe 123 is connected to the lower end of the lower hollow portion 125b. Furthermore, the lower end of the drain pipe 123 is inserted into the liquid in the storage tank 3 for the drained liquid 5 when viruses are being removed by the virus removal device 1. This allows the liquid that has been gas-liquid separated in the hollow portion 125 to be discharged into the storage tank 3, and prevents dust and other particles from being sucked up into the hollow portion 125 from the lower side of the drain pipe 123. The drain pipe 123 has a length that prevents the liquid in the storage tank 3 from flowing into the hollow portion 125 when gas-liquid separation is being performed in the cyclone 12. In other words, the length of the drain pipe 123 is assumed to be a length (cm) greater than the centimeter of water column that corresponds to the static pressure (gauge pressure) in the hollow portion 125 of the cyclone 12 during gas-liquid separation. Note that if the drained liquid is not water, the centimeter of water column corresponds to the centimeter of liquid column of that liquid. The drain tube 123 is typically a circular tube.

[0058] The outlet pipe 124 is disposed coaxially with the hollow portion 125 and is a pipe through which air in the center of the hollow portion 125 flows out. The center of the hollow portion 125 refers to the portion near the axial center of the hollow portion 125. As shown in FIG. 3, the inner diameter of the outlet pipe 124 is smaller than the inner diameter of the upper hollow portion 125a. Air flowing in from the lower end of the outlet pipe 124, i.e., air from which liquid has been separated in the hollow portion 125, flows out from the outlet 124a at the upper end of the outlet pipe 124. The outlet pipe 124 is typically a circular pipe. As shown in FIG. 1, on the outer periphery of the outlet pipe 124 in the hollow portion 125, air flowing in from the inlet 122a moves downward while swirling. Meanwhile, air from which liquid has been separated enters the outlet pipe 124 from the lower end, moves upward, and flows out from the outlet 124a at the upper end. Thus, the cyclone 12 shown in Figure 1 is of the tangential inlet, reverse type.

[0059] The materials of each component of the cyclone 12, i.e., the cyclone body 121, inlet 122, drain pipe 123, and outlet pipe 124, are not critical. They are preferably made of a material that is not easily affected by the antiviral solution. The cyclone body 121, inlet 122, drain pipe 123, and outlet pipe 124 may be made of, for example, metal. The metal is not particularly limited, but may be, for example, stainless steel or a nickel alloy. Furthermore, the drain pipe 123 may be made of, for example, resin.

[0060] Referring to FIG. 3 , the axial length B of the upper hollow portion 125a may be, for example, within a range of four to six times the inner diameter A of the upper hollow portion 125a. Typically, the longer the axial length B of the upper hollow portion 125a, the lower the gas temperature and the more accelerated gas-liquid separation. On the other hand, if the axial length B of the upper hollow portion 125a is increased, a blower 14 with a higher output must be used. Therefore, from the viewpoint of achieving appropriate gas-liquid separation and not requiring a particularly large output of the blower 14, it is preferable that the axial length B of the upper hollow portion 125a be within a range of four to six times the inner diameter A, as described above. Although not particularly limited, for example, the inner diameter A may be 56.5 mm, the axial length B of the upper hollow portion 125a may be 247 mm, and the inner diameters of the drain pipe 123 and the outflow pipe 124 may be 32 mm. 3, the length of outflow pipe 124 within hollow portion 125 may be shorter than axial length B of upper hollow portion 125a, or may be approximately the same as axial length B of upper hollow portion 125a. Note that the above-mentioned size of cyclone 12 is merely an example, and it goes without saying that cyclone 12 may be of other sizes as long as it can perform appropriate gas-liquid separation.

[0061] The ultraviolet irradiation means 13 irradiates the mist-containing air with ultraviolet rays. This ultraviolet irradiation is performed to inactivate viruses and the like by directly irradiating the mist-containing air with ultraviolet rays, or to generate ozone. Note that the position from which the ultraviolet irradiation means 13 irradiates the mist-containing air with ultraviolet rays is not important, as long as the mist-containing air is irradiated with ultraviolet rays. For example, as shown in FIG. 1 , ultraviolet rays may be irradiated from the upper hollow portion 125a of the cyclone body 121, from the inlet portion 122, or upstream of the inlet 122a of the cyclone 12. That is, the ultraviolet irradiation means 13 may irradiate ultraviolet rays from within the cyclone 12, or from outside the cyclone 12. The irradiation of ultraviolet rays from outside the cyclone 12 will be described later.

[0062] The ultraviolet ray irradiation means 13 may be, for example, an LED (Light Emitting Diode) that emits ultraviolet rays, a cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL) that emits ultraviolet rays, a mercury lamp, an excimer lamp, or any other configuration that emits ultraviolet rays, or a combination thereof. The ultraviolet ray irradiation means 13 may be, for example, a device that inactivates viruses or bacteria using light, a device that generates ozone, or both. From the viewpoint of inactivating viruses and bacteria, it is preferable that the ultraviolet rays have a wavelength of more than 200 nm. On the other hand, from the viewpoint of generating ozone, it is preferable that the ultraviolet rays have a wavelength of less than 200 nm. For example, the ultraviolet ray irradiation means 13 may include a light source that irradiates ultraviolet rays with a wavelength of more than 200 nm and a light source that irradiates ultraviolet rays with a wavelength of less than 200 nm. This case will be mainly described in the present embodiment. When the ultraviolet irradiation means 13 is a cold cathode fluorescent tube, the cold cathode fluorescent tube may have any shape, such as a straight line, a U-shape, or a spiral shape. The wavelength of the ultraviolet light irradiated by the ultraviolet irradiation means 13 is not particularly limited as long as it is within a range capable of inactivating viruses, and may be, for example, within a range of 100 to 300 nm. The wavelength of the ultraviolet light that inactivates viruses and the like may be, for example, 222 nm. Even if ultraviolet light with a wavelength of 222 nm leaks to the outside, it has almost no effect on the human body. The wavelength of the ultraviolet light that inactivates viruses, bacteria, and the like may be, for example, 254 nm. Ultraviolet light with a wavelength of 254 nm is known to have a high inactivation effect on viruses and the like. The wavelength of the ultraviolet light that generates ozone may be, for example, 185 nm. Furthermore, when ultraviolet rays are irradiated in upper hollow portion 125a and cyclone body 121 and outflow pipe 124 are made of metal, the ultraviolet rays are reflected by the metal surface, resulting in the ultraviolet rays being irradiated over a wider area. Although Fig. 1 shows multiple ultraviolet irradiation means 13 provided on the inner peripheral surface on the upper side of upper hollow portion 125a, the number and installation positions of ultraviolet irradiation means 13 are not important.For example, the ultraviolet ray irradiation means 13 may be provided on the upper inner surface of the upper hollow portion 125a, and irradiate the space between the inner peripheral surface of the upper hollow portion 125a and the outer peripheral surface of the outflow pipe 124 with ultraviolet rays.

[0063] The blower 14 blows air so that it flows from the inlet 122a of the cyclone 12 toward the outlet 124a. In this embodiment, a case will be mainly described in which the blower 14, provided downstream of the cyclone 12, sucks air from the interior of the cyclone 12, thereby blowing air from the inlet 122a toward the outlet 124a. As shown in FIG. 1 , a duct 141 for guiding air from the outlet 124a to the blower 14 and a duct 142 for guiding air discharged from the blower 14 may be provided. It is preferable that the blower 14 blows air so that the static pressure in the hollow portion 125 is a pressure that allows appropriate gas-liquid separation in the cyclone 12. Therefore, the blower 14 may be a blower whose air volume can be adjusted by, for example, inverter control. The blower 14 may also be provided upstream of the cyclone 12 and blow air toward the interior of the cyclone 12.

[0064] Next, the operation of the virus removal device 1 according to this embodiment will be described using a specific example. First, the cyclone 12 is typically arranged so that the axial directions of the hollow portion 125, the drain pipe 123, and the outflow pipe 124 are vertical. Before the virus removal device 1 is operated, there is no drained liquid in the storage tank 3, so for example, water is placed in the storage tank 3. Note that when the sprayer 11 sprays the liquid in the storage tank 3, ozone water may be placed in the storage tank 3. Furthermore, the tank 114 is filled with the antiviral solution 115, which is ozone water. Then, with the lower end of the drain pipe 123 inserted into the liquid in the storage tank 3, the blower 14 and the pump 113 are operated, and ultraviolet irradiation by the ultraviolet irradiation means 13 is initiated. As the pump 113 operates, a mist 7 of ozone water is sprayed from the nozzle 111. Furthermore, since the lower end of the drain pipe 123 is inserted into the liquid, operation of the blower 14 generates an air flow from the inlet 122a of the cyclone 12 toward the outlet 124a.

[0065] Due to this air flow, air containing mist 7 flows tangentially into the upper side of hollow section 125 and moves downward while swirling around the outer periphery of outlet pipe 124. This swirling flow moves the humid air, along with viruses, bacteria, dust, and the like, toward the inner periphery of hollow section 125. Furthermore, because the pressure in hollow section 125 is lower than atmospheric pressure, the temperature of the air flowing in through inlet 122a drops due to adiabatic expansion, forming droplets 9 that condense on the inner periphery of hollow section 125. When these droplets 9 form, viruses, bacteria, dust, and the like contained in the air become nuclei. Therefore, the viruses, bacteria, dust, and the like are contained in the droplets 9. The centrifugal force generated by the swirling air causes the droplets 9 to adhere to the inner periphery of hollow section 125 and flow downward, thereby removing viruses and the like from the air flowing out of cyclone 12. Furthermore, viruses and bacteria are inactivated by the oxidizing power of ultraviolet light and ozone water irradiated by ultraviolet irradiation means 13. Furthermore, ozone is generated by irradiating the mist 7 with ultraviolet light, and the generated ozone also inactivates viruses and bacteria. In this way, viruses and the like can be inactivated, and the droplets 9 containing viruses and the like are discharged through the drain pipe 123, so that most of the viruses and the like that flowed in from the inlet 122a are inactivated. Note that viruses and bacteria contained in the drained liquid are inactivated by the ozone in the drained liquid. In this way, the virus removal device 1 according to this embodiment can remove not only viruses but also bacteria, dust, and the like.

[0066] As the humid, heavy air moves from the upper side to the lower side of hollow portion 125, it swirls and moves toward the inner circumferential surface of hollow portion 125, resulting in the air in the center of hollow portion 125 becoming low-humidity air separated from the liquid. Furthermore, as described above, viruses and bacteria are contained in droplets 9 and move toward the inner circumferential surface of hollow portion 125, so the low-humidity air in the center contains almost no or almost no viruses or bacteria. This low-humidity, clean air enters outflow pipe 124 from the lower end, moves upward, and is discharged through outlet 124a. It is then blown out to a desired location via duct 141, blower 14, and duct 142. For example, virus removal device 1 may be a device that draws in air from a room, removes viruses and the like, and blows the virus-free air into the same room. Note that a large amount of ozone water exists in hollow portion 125, and ozone can also be generated by irradiation with ultraviolet rays, so ozone is contained in the air in hollow portion 125. As a result, ozone is also contained in the air output from outlet 124a, and this ozone can inactivate viruses and the like attached to, for example, the surface of the human body or indoor surfaces.

[0067] To confirm the effectiveness of the cyclone 12 according to this embodiment, an experiment was conducted using hollow nanosilica (nanoparticles of silica (silicon dioxide) with a hollow structure) that is approximately the same size as a coronavirus (diameter of approximately 100 nm). The particle size of the hollow nanosilica is approximately 80 to 100 nm. It is known that the specific gravity of influenza viruses is approximately 1.1, and the specific gravity of coronaviruses is thought to be similar. On the other hand, the specific gravity of silica is approximately 2.65, which is larger than that of coronaviruses. Therefore, in this experiment, hollow silica was used to bring the specific gravities of the two closer together. In this experiment, a cyclone 12 was used in which the inner diameter of the upper hollow portion 125a was 56.5 mm, the axial length was 247 mm, the inner diameters of the drainage pipe 123 and the outflow pipe 124 were 32 mm, and the length of the outflow pipe 124 in the hollow portion 125 was 160 mm. In this experiment, the lower end of drain pipe 123 was inserted into the liquid, and air was blown by blower 14 so that the static pressure (gauge pressure) of hollow portion 125 was -80 centimeters of water column, that is, so that the length from the liquid level in storage tank 3 to the liquid level in drain pipe 123 was 80 centimeters. In this experiment, water was sprayed instead of the antiviral liquid. Furthermore, ultraviolet light irradiation was not performed.

[0068] When hollow nanosilica was introduced into the inlet 122a while the blower 14 was operating and water was being sprayed into the inlet 122, the white hollow nanosilica was caught in the water droplets that condensed in the hollow portion 125 and fell into the drain pipe 123 due to gas-liquid separation, and no hollow nanosilica was found to be present visually in the outlet pipe 124. Therefore, it was confirmed that even objects of similar size to viruses can be separated by the cyclone 12. Furthermore, when an antiviral liquid is sprayed or ultraviolet light is irradiated, it is expected that the virus will be inactivated by the antiviral liquid or ultraviolet light, and it is thought that more thorough virus removal can be achieved.

[0069] As described above, the virus elimination device 1 according to this embodiment removes viruses and other contaminants by introducing air containing a mist of antiviral liquid into the cyclone 12, lowering the temperature in the hollow portion 125, causing condensation around viruses, bacteria, and dust, and then discharging the condensed droplets. Viruses and bacteria can also be inactivated using ultraviolet light or the antiviral liquid. Viruses and bacteria can also be inactivated using ozone generated by ultraviolet light irradiation. As a result, clean air containing fewer viruses and other contaminants can be discharged from the outlet 124a. This allows viruses and other contaminants to be removed and the risk of infection reduced in, for example, homes, commercial facilities, underground malls, offices, airports, cars, trains, and airplanes. For example, ventilation is recommended as a countermeasure against coronavirus infection, and ventilation is sometimes performed while air conditioning is in operation. However, this practice is counter to energy conservation. On the other hand, the virus elimination device 1 according to this embodiment can reduce airborne viruses without ventilation, thereby achieving energy conservation in air-conditioned spaces.

[0070] The virus removal device 1 according to this embodiment is not limited to the one described above, and various modifications are possible. The following describes some of these modifications.

[0071] [Virus removal device with multiple cyclones] The virus removal device 1 may be equipped with multiple cyclones 12. Figure 4 is a perspective view showing the appearance of a virus removal device 1 having multiple cyclones 12, and Figure 5 is a perspective view showing the internal structure of the virus removal device 1.

[0072] The virus removal apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 4 is equipped with multiple cyclones 12 and also includes a duct 200. The duct 200 is arranged vertically and includes a vertical duct 201, an intake section 202, a blow-out section 204, and a storage section 206 having an internal storage tank for waste liquid. The intake section 202 is provided with an intake port 203 for drawing air into the duct 200, and the blow-out section 204 is provided with an outlet 205 for blowing air out of the duct 200. The vertical duct 201 connects the intake section 202 and the blow-out section 204. Inside the duct 200, a blower 14 blows air from the intake port 203 at the lower end toward the outlet 205 at the upper end. The blower 14 may be arranged, for example, within the blow-out section 204. The housing of the duct 200 may be made of a metal such as stainless steel, for example.

[0073] As shown in FIG. 5 , multiple cyclones 12 are arranged in the duct 200. Note that a liquid is stored in a storage tank inside the storage unit 206, and the lower ends of the drain pipes 123 of the multiple cyclones 12 are inserted into the liquid. As described above, the spraying of the antiviral liquid mist and the irradiation of ultraviolet light may be performed inside each of the multiple cyclones 12, or may be performed outside the multiple cyclones 12. When the spraying of the mist and the irradiation of ultraviolet light are performed outside the multiple cyclones 12, the spraying of the mist and the irradiation of ultraviolet light may be performed in a space inside the duct 200 upstream of the inlets 122 a of the multiple cyclones 12. Specifically, the spraying of the antiviral liquid mist and the irradiation of ultraviolet light by the ultraviolet light irradiation means 13 may be performed in a space 208 where the inlets 122 a of the multiple cyclones 12 are present. In this case, viruses and bacteria contained in the air flowing into the inlet 122a are inactivated by the ultraviolet rays, and air containing mist flows into the inside of the cyclone 12 from the inlet 122a. In addition, ozone can be generated by irradiating the air with ultraviolet rays. In this way, by spraying mist and irradiating ultraviolet rays in the space 208 within the duct 200, the overall configuration can be simplified compared to when mist is sprayed or ultraviolet rays are irradiated separately for each cyclone 12.

[0074] Air drawn into the duct 200 through the intake port 203 flows into the inlets 122a of the multiple cyclones 12. Air flowing out of the outlets 124a of the multiple cyclones 12 is blown out through the outlet 205. A partition plate 207 is provided inside the duct 200 to prevent the air drawn in through the intake port 203 from being discharged from the outlet 205 without passing through the cyclones 12. The partition plate 207 may have, for example, multiple holes through which the multiple outlet pipes 124 pass. Preferably, there is no gap between the partition plate 207 and the outer peripheral surfaces of the multiple outlet pipes 124, and there is also no gap between the inner peripheral surface of the vertical duct 201 and the partition plate 207. Note that FIG. 5 shows a case in which a partition plate 209 similar to the partition plate 207 is provided between the intake section 202 and the storage section 206; however, the partition plate 209 may be omitted.

[0075] With this configuration, for example, by using blower 14 provided in blowing section 204 to move air in duct 200 from the lower side to the upper side, air from which viruses, bacteria, dust, etc. have been removed inside cyclones 12 flows out from outlets 124a of multiple cyclones 12, and clean air can be blown out from outlet 205. Furthermore, during cooling in the summer, virus removal device 1 can move cold air near the floor upward to where the temperature is higher, thereby improving the efficiency of air conditioning.

[0076] [Control of virus removal equipment using pedestrian flow prediction results] The people flow prediction results may be used to control multiple virus removal devices 1 having ducts 200. Here, such a virus removal system 500 shown in FIG. 6 will be described. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of the virus removal system 500. The virus removal system 500 includes multiple virus removal devices 1-1 to 1-6 and a control device 300 that controls the multiple virus removal devices 1-1 to 1-6. The control device 300 includes a people flow acquisition unit 301, a memory unit 302, a people flow prediction unit 303, and a control unit 304.

[0077] The virus elimination devices 1-1 to 1-6 are similar to the virus elimination device 1 having the duct 200 that was explained with reference to Figures 4 and 5, and detailed explanations thereof will be omitted. When no particular distinction is made between the multiple virus elimination devices 1-1 to 1-6, they may be simply referred to as virus elimination device 1. In the multiple virus elimination devices 1 included in the virus elimination system 500, the antiviral liquid is ozone water.

[0078] The people flow acquisition unit 301 acquires people flow information for each of the sections 401 to 412 of the space 400. The sections 401 to 412 are sections obtained by virtually dividing the space 400 horizontally. The people flow information is information related to people flow. The people flow information for a certain section may include, for example, the total passage time per unit time in that section, or the number of passersby per unit time in that section. The total passage time per unit time in a certain section is the sum of the passage times of each passerby in that section for each unit time. Furthermore, the number of passersby per unit time in a certain section is the total number of passersby per unit time in that section. Note that if the areas of multiple sections are not equal, the people flow information may be a value that takes the area into consideration, for example, a value per unit area. Therefore, the people flow information may be, for example, a person density.

[0079] Space 400 is a space where air is provided from multiple virus elimination devices 1, and is a space where people move around, such as a commercial facility such as a store, or an underground shopping mall. FIG. 6 illustrates a case where space 400 is a store space. The space 400 shown in FIG. 6 is a plan view of the space. Display shelves 420 are arranged in space 400, and six virus elimination devices 1 are also arranged, each of which supplies air from which viruses and other contaminants have been removed in the direction indicated by the arrow. Furthermore, sections 401 to 412 are set in space 400. These sections are virtually set in space 400, and there do not need to be walls or partitions between the sections.

[0080] The people flow acquisition unit 301 may acquire people flow information using, for example, sensing results acquired by a sensor provided in each section. The sensor may be, for example, a laser range finder (laser range sensor) or a camera. For example, sensing results for one section may be acquired by one sensor, or sensing results for one section may be acquired by two or more sensors. The sensing results acquired by the sensors may be passed to the people flow acquisition unit 301, for example, via a wired or wireless connection. Note that methods for acquiring people flow information using sensing results from sensors such as laser range finders or cameras are already known, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

[0081] A learning device is stored in the storage unit 302. This learning device is trained using a plurality of sets of training input information including people flow information acquired for each section for a predetermined period, and training output information which is people flow information acquired for each section after the predetermined period.

[0082] The time point corresponding to the people flow information included in the training output information may be immediately after the last time point corresponding to the people flow information included in the training input information paired with that training output information. In this case, for example, the training input information may include people flow information from 8:00 to 8:30, people flow information from 8:30 to 9:00, people flow information from 9:00 to 9:30, and people flow information from 9:30 to 10:00, and the training output information paired with that training output information may include people flow information from 10:00 to 10:30.

[0083] The learning device may be, for example, the learning result of a neural network (NN), a support vector machine (SVM) or a support vector regression (SVR), or other machine learning learning results. The storage unit 302 is preferably realized by a non-volatile recording medium, but may also be realized by a volatile recording medium. The recording medium may be, for example, a semiconductor memory, a magnetic disk, an optical disk, or the like.

[0084] The people flow prediction unit 303 acquires predicted people flow information for each block by applying input information acquired by the people flow acquisition unit 301 to a learning unit. The people flow prediction unit 303 inputs input information to the learning unit to acquire output information, i.e., predicted people flow information, which is the output of the learning unit. For example, as described above, if learning is performed using three consecutive pieces of people flow information every 30 minutes as training input information and people flow information for the following 30 minutes as training output information, output information including people flow information for the following 30 minutes can be obtained by applying the input information acquired by the people flow acquisition unit 301, including three consecutive pieces of people flow information every 30 minutes, to the learning unit. The people flow information for that 30 minutes becomes predicted people flow information.

[0085] The people flow prediction unit 303 predicts people flow information for each of multiple compartments to which air is supplied from multiple virus elimination devices 1. The people flow prediction unit 303 may also predict people flow information for compartments to which air is not supplied from a virus elimination device 1. In this embodiment, the people flow prediction unit 303 acquires predicted people flow information for at least compartments 401-406 to which air is supplied from multiple virus elimination devices 1. Since predicted people flow information for compartments 407-412 is not used, it is not necessary to predict people flow information for these compartments. Even in this case, the input information applied to the learning module may include people flow information for compartments 407-412.

[0086] Although the case where a learning device is used for pedestrian flow prediction has been described above, the pedestrian flow prediction unit 303 may predict pedestrian flow information, which is information related to pedestrian flow, for each block without using a learning device. Specifically, pedestrian flow prediction may be performed using the history of pedestrian flow information for each block based on a model that assumes that changes in pedestrian flow have periodicity, such as a weekly or annual cycle. In this case, the pedestrian flow prediction unit 303 may acquire, for example, pedestrian flow information related to pedestrian flow from one week or one year prior to the time of prediction as the predicted pedestrian flow information. Furthermore, pedestrian flow prediction may be performed using other pedestrian flow prediction methods. For other methods, see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2018-195215. In such a case where pedestrian flow prediction is performed without using a learning device, for example, the memory unit 302 may store the history of pedestrian flow information instead of a learning device. Furthermore, if the people flow information acquired by the people flow acquisition unit 301 is not used in people flow prediction that does not use a learning device, the control device 300 does not need to include the people flow acquisition unit 301 either.

[0087] People flow prediction is already known. For more information on people flow prediction, see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2020-115075.

[0088] Based on the people flow information predicted by the people flow prediction unit 303, the control unit 304 controls the multiple virus elimination devices 1 so that more ozone is supplied to sections with more people. For example, if the predicted people flow information indicates that the number of people in sections 402 and 406 is greater than the number of people in other sections 401, 403, 404, the control unit 304 may control the virus elimination devices 1-2 and 1-6 corresponding to the sections 402 and 406 with more people to output more ozone, and control the other virus elimination devices 1-1, 1-3, 1-4, 1-5 to output less ozone. To perform such control, the control unit 304 may, for example, use the predicted people flow information to identify sections with more people and sections with fewer people. For example, the control unit 304 may identify a predetermined number of sections, starting from the section with the largest people flow, as sections with more people and identify the remaining sections as sections with fewer people. The control unit 304 may then control the virus elimination device 1 corresponding to the section with more people to output more ozone, and may control the virus elimination device 1 corresponding to the section with fewer people to output less ozone. These settings may be determined in advance. Furthermore, the setting to output less ozone may be, for example, a setting to stop the virus elimination device 1.

[0089] To increase the amount of ozone output, the control unit 304 may, for example, increase the amount of air supplied from the virus elimination device 1 to each compartment by adjusting a volume damper or the like provided in the blowout unit 204, or may increase the concentration of ozone output from the virus elimination device 1. In the latter case, for example, the control unit 304 may increase the ozone concentration in the sprayed ozone water, increase the amount of mist, or increase the amount of UV light irradiated onto the air containing the mist. Note that when increasing the amount of ozone output from a certain virus elimination device 1, it is preferable to reduce the amount of ozone output from other virus elimination devices 1, as described above, to prevent the ozone concentration from becoming too high in the space 400 as a whole. This is to reduce the impact of ozone on the human body. Note that changing the amount of ozone in each compartment in the space 400 cannot be done instantly; it takes time. Therefore, by controlling the virus elimination device 1 based on predicted pedestrian flow information rather than current pedestrian flow information, the amount of ozone in each compartment can be optimized at each point in time.

[0090] In this way, more ozone can be supplied to areas with more people, facilitating the inactivation of viruses, bacteria, and the like adhering to people's surfaces and the surfaces of their clothing. Furthermore, although an increase in the ozone concentration throughout the space 400 could have an adverse effect on the human body, by increasing only the ozone concentration in the areas with more people, it is possible to prevent an increase in the ozone concentration throughout the space 400. As a result, the effects of ozone output from multiple virus elimination devices 1 on the human body can be reduced.

[0091] Each component of the control device 300 may be configured by dedicated hardware, or a component that can be realized by software may be realized by executing a program. For example, each component may be realized by a program execution unit such as a CPU reading and executing a software program recorded on a recording medium such as a hard disk or semiconductor memory.

[0092] (Embodiment 2) The virus removal device according to this embodiment does not have a cyclone and removes viruses by irradiating them with ultraviolet light and by generating ozone by irradiating the air with ultraviolet light. Note that removing viruses includes physically removing the viruses and eliminating their infectivity.

[0093] FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing the configuration of a virus elimination device 2 according to the present embodiment. FIG. 7 also shows the internal structure of a duct 200. The virus elimination device 2 according to the present embodiment includes a sprayer 11 that sprays mist 7, an ultraviolet irradiation means 13 that irradiates air with ultraviolet rays, a blower 14 that blows the air irradiated with ultraviolet rays and the air humidified by the mist, and a vertically disposed duct 200 having an intake port 203 at its lower end and an outlet port 205 at its upper end. The spraying of the mist 7 and the irradiation of ultraviolet rays are performed within the duct 200. The blower 14 blows air so that the air flows from the intake port 203 toward the outlet port 205. The configurations of the sprayer 11, the ultraviolet irradiation means 13, the blower 14, and the duct 200 are the same as those of the first embodiment except as specifically described below, and therefore further description thereof will be omitted. In this embodiment, the mist 7 sprayed by the sprayer 11 may be a mist of an antiviral liquid or a mist of another liquid, such as water. This embodiment will mainly describe a case in which the sprayer 11 sprays a mist of water. Accordingly, in FIG. 7 , the tank 114 of the sprayer 11 contains water 215, and the sprayer 11 sprays a mist of the water 215. While FIG. 7 illustrates the mist 7 only in a partial area within the duct 200 for ease of explanation, it goes without saying that the mist 7 may also be present in other areas, such as near the air outlet 205. Furthermore, this embodiment will mainly describe a case in which ultraviolet rays are irradiated onto air containing the mist 7. However, irradiation of the air with ultraviolet rays and humidification of the air with the mist 7 may be performed separately. For example, ultraviolet rays may be irradiated onto the air upstream of the duct 200, and the air may be humidified by the mist 7 downstream, or vice versa. Even in such cases, it is preferable that ozone generated by irradiating air with ultraviolet rays and air humidified by the mist 7 are output together from the duct 200. This is because, as will be described later, it is known that the presence of a certain concentration of ozone in highly humid air increases the effectiveness of inactivating viruses.

[0094] In addition, the virus elimination device 2 according to this embodiment further includes a first temperature acquisition unit 601 that acquires the temperature of the air blown out from the duct 200, a humidity acquisition unit 602 that acquires the relative humidity of the air blown out from the duct 200, a humidity determination unit 603 that determines the absolute humidity of the air blown out from the duct 200 using the temperature acquired by the first temperature acquisition unit 601 and the relative humidity acquired by the humidity acquisition unit 602, a second temperature acquisition unit 604 that acquires the temperature of the space to which air is supplied from the duct 200, a target humidity determination unit 605 that determines a target absolute humidity, which is the absolute humidity corresponding to the temperature acquired by the second temperature acquisition unit 604 and a predetermined relative humidity, a spray control unit 606 that controls the sprayer 11 so that the absolute humidity determined by the humidity determination unit 603 becomes the target absolute humidity, and an air volume adjustment unit 607 that adjusts the air volume of the blower 14.

[0095] The first temperature acquisition unit 601 may be, for example, a temperature sensor. The humidity acquisition unit 602 may be, for example, a humidity sensor. The first temperature acquisition unit 601 and the humidity acquisition unit 602 may be arranged, for example, inside or outside the air outlet 205 to acquire the temperature and humidity of the air blown out from the duct 200. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7 , a case will be mainly described in which the temperature and humidity of the air blown out from the air outlet 205 are measured inside the air outlet 205.

[0096] The humidity determination unit 603 may use, for example, a psychrometric chart to determine the absolute humidity corresponding to the temperature acquired by the first temperature acquisition unit 601 and the relative humidity acquired by the humidity acquisition unit 602. That is, the absolute humidity associated with the temperature and relative humidity by the psychrometric chart may be determined.

[0097] The second temperature acquisition unit 604 may be, for example, a temperature sensor. In order to acquire the temperature of a space to which air is supplied from the duct 200, the second temperature acquisition unit 604 may be disposed, for example, in the space, or may be disposed inside or outside the intake port 203 through which air from the space is drawn in. Even in the latter case, air from the space to which air is supplied from the duct 200 flows into the intake port 203, so the temperature of the space to which air is supplied from the duct 200 can be measured. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7 , a case will be mainly described in which the temperature of the space to which air is supplied from the duct 200 is measured inside the intake port 203.

[0098] The target humidity specifying unit 605 may specify a target absolute humidity, which is an absolute humidity corresponding to the temperature acquired by the second temperature acquiring unit 604 and a predetermined relative humidity, using, for example, a psychrometric chart. That is, the target absolute humidity, which is an absolute humidity associated with the temperature and relative humidity by the psychrometric chart, may be specified. The predetermined relative humidity is a target relative humidity, which may be set in advance, for example, to 60%, 80%, or the like. The predetermined relative humidity is preferably a humidity at which condensation does not occur. From this perspective, the relative humidity may be set to, for example, 80% or less.

[0099] The spray control unit 606 controls the sprayer 11 so that the absolute humidity determined by the humidity determining unit 603 becomes the target absolute humidity. This control may be, for example, feedback control for adjusting the absolute humidity determined by the humidity determining unit 603 to the target absolute humidity. For example, when the determined absolute humidity is lower than the target absolute humidity, the sprayer 11 may be controlled so that the spray amount increases as the difference between the determined absolute humidity and decreases as the difference between the determined absolute humidity and the target absolute humidity. The control of the spray amount may be control of the spray time. For example, the sprayer 11 may perform intermittent spraying, and the spray amount may be increased or decreased by increasing or decreasing the proportion of time during which spraying is performed during the intermittent spraying. Furthermore, when the determined absolute humidity is higher than the target absolute humidity, the sprayer 11 may be controlled to stop spraying. This control allows the relative humidity of the air output from the duct 200 to become the predetermined relative humidity set in the target humidity determining unit 605 at the temperature of the space to which the air from the duct 200 is supplied. Therefore, for example, the relative humidity in the space outside the duct 200 from which the air is output can be set to a relative humidity that enhances the virus removal effect. Also, it is possible to prevent condensation from occurring in the space to which the air from the duct 200 is supplied.

[0100] The air volume adjustment unit 607 adjusts the air volume of the blower 14 so that the concentration of ozone generated by irradiating the air containing the mist 7 with ultraviolet rays reaches a desired value. When the ultraviolet irradiation intensity is constant and the air volume is small, the time that the air containing the mist 7 is irradiated with ultraviolet rays becomes longer, and more ozone is generated, resulting in a higher ozone concentration. On the other hand, when the ultraviolet irradiation intensity is constant and the air volume is large, the time that the air containing the mist 7 is irradiated with ultraviolet rays becomes shorter, and less ozone is generated, resulting in a lower ozone concentration. In this way, by adjusting the air volume in the duct 200, the concentration of ozone generated in the duct 200 can be adjusted. Note that once the absolute humidity and the ultraviolet irradiation intensity are determined, the correspondence relationship between the air volume of the blower 14 and the concentration of ozone generated by the virus removal device 2 is determined. Therefore, the correspondence relationship between the air volume and the ozone concentration for a given ultraviolet irradiation intensity and multiple absolute humidities may be obtained in advance by experimentation. A storage unit (not shown) may store a plurality of pieces of information correlating absolute humidity values ​​with information indicating the correspondence between air volume and ozone concentration at the absolute humidity values, obtained through such experiments. The air volume adjustment unit 607 may then receive the absolute humidity values ​​identified by the humidity determination unit 603 via a path (not shown) and adjust the air volume of the fan 14 to achieve a desired ozone concentration by using information indicating the correspondence between air volume and ozone concentration, which is associated with an absolute humidity value closest to the identified absolute humidity value. That is, the air volume adjustment unit 607 may adjust the air volume of the fan 14 to achieve the air volume associated with the desired ozone concentration by the information indicating the correspondence between air volume and ozone concentration. The desired ozone concentration may be, for example, a preset value. The air volume adjustment unit 607 may adjust the air volume to achieve an ozone concentration of 0.05 ppm or 0.1 ppm, for example. It should be noted that since the absolute humidity at the location where ultraviolet light is irradiated and the absolute humidity of the air blown out of the duct 200 are considered to be similar, the absolute humidity determined by the humidity determination unit 603 is used here.

[0101] Note that Figure 7 shows the case where the humidity determination unit 603, target humidity determination unit 605, spray control unit 606, and air volume adjustment unit 607 are located outside the duct 200, but this is for the sake of convenience of explanation, and the humidity determination unit 603, target humidity determination unit 605, spray control unit 606, and air volume adjustment unit 607 may each be located inside the duct 200 or outside the duct 200.

[0102] In this embodiment, viruses are removed by irradiation with ultraviolet rays. More specifically, viruses contained in the air are inactivated by direct irradiation of ultraviolet rays, and viruses are also inactivated by ozone generated by irradiating the air with ultraviolet rays. From the perspective of inactivating viruses by irradiating them with ultraviolet rays, the duct 200 may be designed so that all air moving from the upstream side to the downstream side passes near the ultraviolet irradiation means 13 (a range where the inactivation effect of viruses, etc. is obtained) for a time longer than the inactivation effect is obtained. Therefore, for example, the ultraviolet irradiation means 13 may be densely arranged so that no areas within a predetermined range in the duct 200 are left without the inactivation effect, and the ultraviolet irradiation means 13 may be configured so that it takes longer than a predetermined time for the air to pass through the predetermined range even when the airflow rate of the blower 14 is at its maximum, i.e., the ultraviolet irradiation is performed for a predetermined time or longer. From the perspective of irradiating ultraviolet rays over a predetermined length or longer in the direction of air movement, it is preferable to use a cold cathode fluorescent lamp as the ultraviolet irradiation means 13. In this embodiment, too, the case where the ultraviolet ray irradiation means 13 includes a light source that irradiates ultraviolet rays with a wavelength exceeding 200 nm and a light source that irradiates ultraviolet rays with a wavelength less than 200 nm will be mainly described.

[0103] Next, the operation of the virus elimination device 2 according to this embodiment will be described. First, ultraviolet irradiation by the ultraviolet irradiation means 13 is started, and the blower 14 and the pump 113 are operated. As a result, water mist 7 is sprayed, and ultraviolet rays are irradiated onto the air containing the mist 7. Furthermore, the first temperature acquisition unit 601 acquires the temperature of the air blown out of the duct 200, and the humidity acquisition unit 602 acquires the relative humidity of the air blown out of the duct 200. Then, the humidity determination unit 603 determines the absolute humidity of the air blown out of the duct 200 based on the temperature and relative humidity. Furthermore, the second temperature acquisition unit 604 acquires the temperature of the space outside the duct 200, and the target humidity determination unit 605 determines a target humidity corresponding to the temperature and a predetermined relative humidity. Then, the spray control unit 606 controls the sprayer 11 based on the determined absolute humidity and the determined target humidity, so that the absolute humidity of the air output from the duct 200 becomes the target humidity. Furthermore, air volume adjustment unit 607 adjusts the air volume of blower 14 so that the ozone concentration reaches a desired value. Note that acquisition of temperature and relative humidity, specification of absolute humidity, specification of target absolute humidity, control of sprayer 11, and adjustment of air volume are repeatedly performed while virus removal device 2 is operating.

[0104] As described above, the virus elimination device 2 according to this embodiment inactivates viruses and bacteria by directly irradiating them with ultraviolet light. Furthermore, the ozone-containing air generated by the ultraviolet light is output from the outlet 205 of the duct 200, and the ozone can also be used to inactivate viruses and bacteria present in the space to which the air is supplied from the outlet 205. In this way, a healthy space with reduced virus levels can be achieved. For example, it is known that when the relative humidity is 80%, a concentration of ozone of 0.05 ppm reduces the infectivity of coronaviruses to 5.7% (see, for example, the following website: URL: https: / / www.fujita-hu.ac.jp / news / j93sdv0000007394.html). Therefore, it is believed that the virus elimination device 2 according to this embodiment can sufficiently reduce the infectivity of coronaviruses. Furthermore, airborne viruses can be reduced without ventilation, thereby achieving energy savings in air-conditioned spaces. Furthermore, the virus elimination device 2 according to this embodiment has a simple configuration, allowing for miniaturization.

[0105] The virus removal device 2 according to this embodiment is not limited to the one described above, and various modifications are possible. The following describes some of these modifications.

[0106] [Control using relative humidity outside the duct] When the amount of air supplied from duct 200 is sufficiently large relative to the space to which the air is supplied, the virus elimination device 2 described above can adjust the relative humidity of the space to the predetermined relative humidity set in target humidity specifying unit 605. Therefore, the predetermined relative humidity can be set to a desired relative humidity. On the other hand, when the amount of air supplied from duct 200 is not large relative to the space to which the air is supplied, for example, when the space is large such as an airport, it is difficult for the virus elimination device 2 described above to adjust the relative humidity of the space to the predetermined relative humidity set in target humidity specifying unit 605. In such a case, the predetermined relative humidity set in target humidity specifying unit 605 may be set to a value higher than the target relative humidity of the space to which the air is supplied from duct 200. More specifically, a humidity acquisition unit (hereinafter sometimes referred to as a "second humidity acquisition unit") that acquires the relative humidity of the space to which the air from duct 200 is supplied may be located in the same position as the second temperature acquisition unit 604. If the relative humidity acquired by the second humidity acquisition unit is lower than the target relative humidity, the target humidity specifying unit 605 may set the predetermined relative humidity to a value higher than the target relative humidity. In this case, the greater the difference between the target relative humidity and the relative humidity acquired by the second humidity acquisition unit, the higher the predetermined relative humidity may be set. However, as described above, it is preferable that the predetermined relative humidity be set to a value that does not cause condensation. On the other hand, if the relative humidity acquired by the second humidity acquisition unit is equal to or higher than the target relative humidity, the target humidity specifying unit 605 may set the predetermined relative humidity to the target relative humidity. In this way, for example, if the relative humidity of the space outside the duct 200 is 40% and the target relative humidity is 60%, air with a relative humidity of 80% can be output from the duct 200, thereby making it possible to increase the relative humidity of the space outside the duct 200 to 60% in a shorter time. In this case, the virus elimination device 2 may further include a second humidity acquisition unit.

[0107] [Controlling ozone concentration according to dust amount] When there is a large amount of dust in the space to which air is supplied from duct 200, the dust breaks down ozone, resulting in a decrease in the ozone concentration in the space. Therefore, air volume adjustment unit 607 may adjust the air volume of blower 14 in accordance with the amount of dust measured by a dust meter that measures the amount of dust in the space to which air is supplied from air outlet 205 of duct 200. In this case, it is preferable that air volume adjustment unit 607 adjusts the air volume of blower 14 so that the ozone concentration of the air supplied from duct 200 increases as the measured amount of dust increases, and adjusts the air volume of blower 14 so that the ozone concentration of the air supplied from duct 200 decreases as the measured amount of dust decreases.

[0108] In this case, virus removal device 2 may further include, for example, a dust meter that measures the amount of dust in the space to which air is supplied from air outlet 205 of duct 200. The dust meter may be, for example, a light scattering type dust meter or a dust meter of another type.

[0109] [Controlling ozone concentration according to ozone concentration measurement results] In the present embodiment, the case where the air volume is adjusted so that the ozone concentration reaches a desired value has been described. However, the adjustment of the air volume, i.e., the control of the ozone concentration, may also be performed based on the results of measuring the ozone concentration in the space to which air is supplied from duct 200. Specifically, air volume adjustment unit 607 may adjust the air volume of blower 14 in accordance with the ozone concentration measured by an ozone concentration meter that measures the ozone concentration in the space to which air is supplied from air outlet 205 of duct 200. In this case, air volume adjustment unit 607 may perform feedback control so that the measured ozone concentration approaches the desired value. Note that when it is desirable for the ozone concentration in the space not to exceed a set value, for example, when exceeding the set value could have adverse effects on the human body, it is preferable that the feedback control be performed so as not to cause overshoot.

[0110] In this case, the virus removal apparatus 2 may further include an ozone concentration meter that measures the ozone concentration in the space to which air is supplied from the air outlet 205 of the duct 200, for example.

[0111] [Control of virus removal equipment using pedestrian flow prediction results] Similar to the virus removal system 500 shown in FIG. 6 of the first embodiment, multiple virus removal devices 2 may be controlled using the people flow prediction results. In this case, the same control as in the first embodiment may be performed, except that the virus removal device 1 is replaced with the virus removal device 2. That is, the virus removal system 500 may include multiple virus removal devices 2 and a control device 300 that controls the multiple virus removal devices 2. The control device 300 may also include a people flow acquisition unit 301, a memory unit 302, a people flow prediction unit 303, and a control unit 304. The people flow prediction unit 303 may predict people flow information, which is information about the flow of people, for each of the multiple compartments to which air is supplied from the multiple virus removal devices 2. The control unit 304 may also control the multiple virus removal devices 2 based on the people flow information predicted by the people flow prediction unit 303 so that more ozone is supplied to the compartments with more people. The operation of the control device 300 is similar to that of the first embodiment, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

[0112] In addition, when the control unit 304 increases or decreases the concentration of ozone output from a certain virus removal device 2, the control unit 304 may change the concentration of ozone by adjusting the air volume of the blower 14 using the air volume adjustment unit 607.

[0113] Furthermore, when the people flow information acquired by the people flow acquisition unit 301 indicates that no people are present in any of the multiple sections, the control unit 304 may control the ozone concentration generated by the multiple virus elimination devices 2 to be higher than a threshold value. The threshold value is preferably set to a value that does not adversely affect the human body when the ozone concentration is lower than the threshold value. For example, the threshold value may be 0.05 ppm or 0.1 ppm. Furthermore, when the people flow information acquired by the people flow acquisition unit 301 indicates that people are present in at least one of the multiple sections while ozone is being generated at a concentration higher than the threshold value, the control unit 304 may stop ultraviolet radiation irradiation by the ultraviolet radiation unit 13 and control the multiple virus elimination devices 2 to blow out air humidified by mist.

[0114] A case where the people flow information acquired by the people flow acquisition unit 301 indicates that there are no people in all of the multiple sections may be a case where the sensing results acquired by the sensors installed in each section indicate that there are no people in all of the sections.

[0115] For example, when it is indicated that there are no people in any compartments, the control unit 304 controls the multiple virus removal devices 2 to output a higher concentration of ozone (e.g., 0.1 ppm or 0.5 ppm), thereby making it possible to more effectively inactivate viruses and bacteria in the space to which air is supplied from the multiple virus removal devices 2.

[0116] On the other hand, such high concentrations of ozone may have adverse effects on the human body, so when a person is detected, multiple virus removal devices 2 supply humid air that does not contain ozone to the space, thereby allowing the ozone to be broken down in a short period of time and reducing the effects on the human body.

[0117] Furthermore, even when the control unit 304 controls the ozone concentration generated by the multiple virus elimination devices 2 to be higher than a threshold, the control unit 304 may control the multiple virus elimination devices 2 so that the ozone concentration in the space to which air is supplied from the multiple virus elimination devices 2 decreases by the time when, based on the people flow prediction results, it is indicated that a person will be present in at least one of the multiple compartments. Specifically, the control unit 304 may control the ozone concentration generated by the multiple virus elimination devices 2 to be below the threshold a predetermined time before the time when, based on the people flow prediction results, it is indicated that a person will be present in at least one of the multiple compartments. This predetermined time may be set to the time when high concentrations of ozone reach a concentration that does not adversely affect the human body. Furthermore, the control unit 304 may, for example, stop emitting ultraviolet light from the multiple virus elimination devices 2 immediately before the time when, based on the people flow prediction results, it is indicated that a person will be present in at least one of the multiple compartments, and control the output of only high-humidity air, thereby decomposing the ozone in a short time.

[0118] [Controlling ozone concentration according to UV irradiation intensity] The concentration of ozone generated can also be changed by changing the intensity of ultraviolet light emitted by the ultraviolet light irradiation means 13. Therefore, for example, if a higher concentration of ozone is desired to be generated, the intensity of ultraviolet light may be increased, and if a lower concentration of ozone is desired to be generated, the intensity of ultraviolet light may be decreased. In this way, the concentration of ozone generated may be controlled by controlling the ultraviolet light irradiation means 13. The intensity of ultraviolet light irradiation may be controlled, for example, by changing the number of ultraviolet light irradiation means 13 turned on. More specifically, if the ultraviolet light irradiation means 13 irradiates ultraviolet light using multiple cold cathode fluorescent tubes, the control may be performed so that more cold cathode fluorescent tubes are turned on to increase the intensity of ultraviolet light irradiation, and fewer cold cathode fluorescent tubes are turned on to decrease the intensity of ultraviolet light irradiation. If the ultraviolet light irradiation means 13 irradiates both ultraviolet light with a wavelength less than 200 nm and ultraviolet light with a wavelength greater than 200 nm, the above control may be performed only on the ultraviolet light with a wavelength less than 200 nm that generates ozone.

[0119] [Turbulent air coming out of the outlet] Typically, the air blown out from duct 200 is blown out as a laminar flow with a low wind speed so as not to cause discomfort to people in the space to which the air is supplied. On the other hand, in order to allow more ozone to come into contact with viruses and bacteria and thereby enhance the inactivation effect of viruses and bacteria, it is preferable that turbulent air be blown out from duct 200. Therefore, the air blown out from outlet 205 of duct 200 may be made turbulent. In this case, for example, the opening area of ​​outlet 205 may be made smaller so that the wind speed of the air blown out from outlet 205 is increased. In order to make the air blown out from outlet 205 a turbulent flow, the wind speed of the air blown out from outlet 205 may be set to, for example, 0.4 (m / s) or more, 1 (m / s) or more, or 2 (m / s) or more. Furthermore, in order to make the air blown out from the air outlet 205 a turbulent flow, the Reynolds number of the air blown out from the air outlet 205 may be set to, for example, 1000 or more, or may be set to 2000 or more. Note that the representative length used in calculating the Reynolds number may be, for example, the representative length of the opening of the air outlet 205. When the opening of the air outlet 205 is circular, the representative length of the opening may be, for example, the length of the diameter of the circle. When the opening of the air outlet 205 is rectangular, the representative length of the opening may be, for example, the length of the diameter of the circle having an area equal to the area (S) of the rectangular opening (2·(S / π) 1 / 2 ), and the length of the diameter of the circular shape (2·(S·C / π)) is equal to the area (S·C) obtained by multiplying the area (S) of the rectangular opening by a predetermined coefficient (C) such as 0.8. 1 / 2 ) may be used. This coefficient is used to take into account, for example, the corners of a rectangular opening. Furthermore, in order to make the air blown out from the air outlet 205 turbulent, a turbulence generating mechanism that generates turbulence may be provided at the opening of the opening of the air outlet 205 or inside or outside the opening. The turbulence generating mechanism may be, for example, a protrusion or a recess. Furthermore, the air blown out from the air outlet 205 can also be made turbulent by reducing the opening ratio of a mesh portion such as a wire mesh provided at the opening of the air outlet 205. In this case, the mesh portion such as a wire mesh provided at the opening may be the turbulence generating mechanism.

[0120] An experiment was conducted to examine the virus removal effect of turbulence. In this experiment, the sterilization effect of spraying air containing 0.1 ppm or less of ozone onto shopping carts used in shopping centers was confirmed. The ozone-containing air was sprayed onto the shopping carts at a wind speed of 0.4 to 2 m / s. Bacteria were collected from the grips of shopping carts that had been sprayed with ozone-containing air for 30 seconds and from the grips of shopping carts that had not been sprayed with ozone-containing air. After wet stirring, a certain amount of the collected bacteria was applied to a petri dish and maintained at approximately 30°C. After 24 hours, bacterial growth was observed. No bacterial growth was observed on the grips of shopping carts that had been sprayed with ozone-containing air for 30 seconds, but bacterial growth was observed on the grips of shopping carts that had not been sprayed with ozone-containing air. Therefore, it was found that spraying ozone-containing air for 30 seconds can sterilize resident bacteria. If resident bacteria can be sterilized by ozone-containing air, it is known that ozone-containing air can also inactivate viruses. Furthermore, the ozone-containing air sprayed onto the shopping cart in this experiment is thought to be turbulent, judging from its wind speed. Therefore, it is clear that spraying turbulent ozone-containing air can inactivate viruses and bacteria in a short period of time. For example, the website at the aforementioned URL shows that a 0.05 ppm ozone concentration can reduce the infectivity of coronaviruses by 5.7% when the relative humidity is 80%, but this requires 10 hours. This is thought to be because the experiment was conducted in an enclosed space with no air movement. On the other hand, creating turbulent ozone-containing air increases the opportunities for contact between the ozone and viruses and bacteria, resulting in faster inactivation of viruses and bacteria.

[0121] As described above, increasing the wind speed of the air blown out from the air outlet 205 can cause discomfort to people in the space to which the air is supplied. Therefore, for example, when a person is present in the space to which air is supplied, the wind speed of the air blown out from the air outlet 205 may be decreased, and when no person is present in the space, the wind speed of the air blown out from the air outlet 205 may be increased. In this case, for example, air with a low wind speed does not need to be turbulent, but air with a high wind speed is preferably turbulent. This wind speed switching may be performed, for example, by a wind speed control unit that changes the opening area of ​​the air outlet 205. This wind speed control unit may switch the wind speed by controlling, for example, an opening area changing unit such as an electric damper or electric shutter that changes the opening area of ​​the air outlet 205. The wind speed control unit may switch the wind speed, for example, depending on time, or depending on whether or not a person is present in the space to which the air blown out from the air outlet 205 is supplied. More specifically, if the space to which air is supplied is a store or the like, the air speed control unit may control the air speed to be low during store business hours and high at other times. Furthermore, if a sensor or the like is used to detect whether or not a person is present in the space to which air is supplied, the air speed control unit may control the air speed to be low when a person is detected and high when no person is detected. In a situation where there is a high need to remove viruses, such as a situation where there are a large number of people infected with the virus, the air speed control unit may, for example, control the air speed to be high regardless of the time of day or the presence or absence of people, so as to effectively remove the viruses. Furthermore, the air speed control unit may control the opening area change unit so that the air blown out from the air outlet 205 maintains a wind speed that causes turbulence, even when the air volume adjustment unit 607 adjusts the air volume. Maintaining the wind speed may, for example, mean ensuring that the wind speed exceeds a threshold. For example, the air speed control unit may receive the wind speed of the air blown out from the air outlet 205 from a sensor and perform feedback control so that the wind speed exceeds a threshold.Furthermore, when the relationship between the air volume required to make the wind speed of air blown out from air outlet 205 exceed a threshold and the opening area of ​​air outlet 205 is determined in advance, the air speed control unit may use the current air volume received from air volume adjustment unit 607 and the relationship to identify the opening area at which the wind speed exceeds the threshold, and control the opening area change unit so that the opening area of ​​air outlet 205 becomes the identified opening area. For example, when the air volume adjustment unit 607 decreases the air volume, the air speed control unit may control the opening area change unit so that the opening area of ​​air outlet 205 decreases. Note that when the air volume adjustment unit 607 increases the air volume, the air speed control unit may control the opening area change unit so that the opening area of ​​air outlet 205 increases, or may not perform such control.

[0122] Furthermore, although the above has described the case where the air blown out from the outlet 205 is turbulent in the virus removal device 2 according to this embodiment, it goes without saying that the air blown out from the outlet 205 may also be turbulent in the virus removal device 1 according to embodiment 1.

[0123] [Other variations] In this embodiment, the virus elimination device 2 is described as including a first temperature acquisition unit 601, a humidity acquisition unit 602, a humidity specifying unit 603, a second temperature acquisition unit 604, a target humidity specifying unit 605, and a spray control unit 606, but this is not necessarily the case. For example, when continuously spraying a constant amount of mist, the virus elimination device 2 is not required to include the first temperature acquisition unit 601, the humidity acquisition unit 602, the humidity specifying unit 603, the second temperature acquisition unit 604, the target humidity specifying unit 605, and the spray control unit 606.

[0124] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the virus elimination device 2 is described as being equipped with the air volume adjustment unit 607, but this is not necessarily the case. For example, if the ozone concentration is not to be adjusted, the virus elimination device 2 does not need to be equipped with the air volume adjustment unit 607.

[0125] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the virus elimination apparatus 2 is described as having a duct 200 that is arranged vertically, but this is not necessarily the case. For example, if viruses are removed in a location other than the duct 200 that is arranged vertically, the virus elimination apparatus 2 does not need to have a duct 200.

[0126] Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications are possible, and it goes without saying that these modifications are also included within the scope of the present invention. [Industrial Applicability]

[0127] As described above, the virus removal device according to one aspect of the present invention has the effect of being able to remove viruses, and is useful as a device for removing viruses. [Explanation of symbols]

[0128] 1, 1-1~1-6, 2 Virus removal device 3. Reservoir 11 Sprayer 12 Cyclone 13 Ultraviolet irradiation means 14 Blower 121 Cyclone body 122 Inlet 122a Inlet 123 Drainage tube 124 Outflow pipe 124a Outlet 125 Hollow part 125a Upper hollow part 125b Lower hollow part 200 duct 203 Intake 205 Air outlet 300 control device 301 People flow acquisition department 302 Storage section 303 People flow prediction department 304 Control Unit 500 Virus Removal System 601 first temperature acquisition unit 602 Humidity acquisition section 603 Humidity identification section 604 Second temperature acquisition unit 605 Target humidity identification section 606 Spray control unit 607 Air volume adjustment section

Claims

1. A sprayer that sprays a mist of an antiviral liquid; an ultraviolet irradiation means for irradiating the air containing the mist with ultraviolet rays; a vertically disposed duct having an intake port at a lower end and an outlet port at an upper end; a plurality of cyclones provided in the duct for separating liquid from the mist-containing air; a blower that blows air that has been irradiated with the ultraviolet rays and humidified by the mist, The blower blows air so that the air flows from the intake port toward the outlet port, The air drawn in through the intake port flows into the inlets of the plurality of cyclones, A virus removal device, wherein air flowing out from the outlets of the plurality of cyclones is blown out from the outlet.

2. The virus removal device according to claim 1 , wherein the mist is sprayed and the ultraviolet light is irradiated in a space within the duct upstream of the inlets of the plurality of cyclones.

3. A plurality of virus removal devices according to claim 1 or 2; a control device that controls the plurality of virus removal devices, the antiviral solution is ozone water, The control device a people flow prediction unit that predicts people flow information, which is information about people flow, for each of a plurality of compartments to which air is supplied from the plurality of virus removal devices; A virus removal system comprising: a control unit that controls the multiple virus removal devices so that more ozone is supplied to areas with more people, based on the pedestrian flow information predicted by the pedestrian flow prediction unit.

4. A vertically disposed duct having an intake port at a lower end and an outlet port at an upper end; a sprayer that sprays mist in the duct; an ultraviolet irradiation means for irradiating ultraviolet rays onto the air within the duct; a blower that blows air so that the air flows from the intake port toward the outlet port; a first temperature acquisition unit that acquires the temperature of the air blown out from the duct; a humidity acquisition unit that acquires the relative humidity of the air blown out from the duct; a humidity determination unit that determines the absolute humidity of the air blown out from the duct using the temperature obtained by the first temperature obtainment unit and the relative humidity obtained by the humidity obtainment unit; a second temperature acquisition unit that acquires the temperature of a space to which air is supplied from the duct; a target humidity specifying unit that specifies a target absolute humidity, which is an absolute humidity corresponding to the temperature acquired by the second temperature acquiring unit and a predetermined relative humidity; a spray control unit that controls the sprayer so that the absolute humidity specified by the humidity specifying unit becomes a target absolute humidity.

5. A vertically disposed duct having an intake port at a lower end and an outlet port at an upper end; a sprayer that sprays mist in the duct; an ultraviolet irradiation means for irradiating ultraviolet rays onto the air within the duct; a blower that blows air so that the air flows from the intake port toward the outlet port; and an air volume adjustment unit that adjusts the air volume of the blower so that the concentration of ozone generated by irradiating the air with ultraviolet rays reaches a desired value.

6. A plurality of virus removal devices; a control device that controls the plurality of virus removal devices, The virus removal device comprises: a vertically disposed duct having an intake port at a lower end and an outlet port at an upper end; a sprayer that sprays mist in the duct; an ultraviolet irradiation means for irradiating ultraviolet rays onto the air within the duct; a blower that blows air so that the air flows from the intake port toward the outlet port, The control device a people flow prediction unit that predicts people flow information, which is information about people flow, for each of a plurality of compartments to which air is supplied from the plurality of virus removal devices; A virus removal system comprising: a control unit that controls the multiple virus removal devices so that more ozone generated by irradiating the air with ultraviolet rays is supplied to areas with more people, based on the people flow information predicted by the people flow prediction unit.

7. The control device further includes a people flow acquisition unit that acquires people flow information for each of the plurality of sections, The virus removal system of claim 6, wherein the control unit controls the concentration of ozone generated by the plurality of virus removal devices to be higher than a threshold value when the people flow information acquired by the people flow acquisition unit indicates that there are no people in any of the plurality of sections, and when ozone at a concentration higher than the threshold value is being generated, the control unit stops the irradiation of ultraviolet rays by the ultraviolet irradiation means and controls the plurality of virus removal devices to blow out air humidified by the mist when the people flow information acquired by the people flow acquisition unit indicates that there are people in at least one of the plurality of sections.

8. A step of spraying a mist of an antiviral liquid; irradiating the air containing the mist with ultraviolet light; and blowing the air irradiated with the ultraviolet rays and humidified by the mist, In the step of blowing air, a duct is disposed vertically, and has an intake port at a lower end and an outlet port at an upper end, and the duct is provided with a plurality of cyclones for separating liquid from the air containing the mist. The duct blows air so that the air flows from the intake port to the outlet port; The air drawn in through the intake port flows into the inlets of the plurality of cyclones, The virus removal method, wherein the air flowing out from the outlets of the plurality of cyclones is blown out from the outlet.

9. A step of spraying mist in a vertically arranged duct having an intake port at a lower end and an outlet port at an upper end; irradiating the air in the duct with ultraviolet light; blowing air so that the air flows from the inlet toward the outlet; acquiring the temperature of the air blown out of the duct; obtaining the relative humidity of the air blown out of the duct; determining an absolute humidity of the air blown out of the duct using a temperature of the air blown out of the duct and a relative humidity of the air blown out of the duct; acquiring a temperature of a space to which air is supplied from the duct; specifying a temperature of a space to which air is supplied from the duct and a target absolute humidity, the absolute humidity corresponding to a predetermined relative humidity; and a step of controlling the spraying of the mist so that the absolute humidity of the air blown out of the duct becomes a target absolute humidity.

10. A method of spraying mist in a vertically arranged duct having an inlet at a lower end and an outlet at an upper end, irradiating the air in the duct with ultraviolet light; blowing air so that the air flows from the inlet toward the outlet; and adjusting the air volume in the blowing step so that the concentration of ozone generated by irradiating the air with ultraviolet rays reaches a desired value.

11. A control method for controlling a plurality of virus removal devices, comprising: The virus removal device comprises: a vertically disposed duct having an intake port at a lower end and an outlet port at an upper end; a sprayer that sprays mist in the duct; an ultraviolet irradiation means for irradiating ultraviolet rays onto the air within the duct; a blower that blows air so that the air flows from the intake port toward the outlet port, predicting people flow information, which is information about people flow, for each of a plurality of compartments to which air is supplied from each of the plurality of virus removal devices; and controlling the plurality of virus removal devices based on predicted pedestrian flow information so that more ozone generated by irradiating the air with ultraviolet rays is supplied to areas with more people.

Images