Non-thermal Plasma Cleaning Device Cycles
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing non-thermal plasma cleaning devices are inefficient in reducing contaminants, requiring unacceptably long durations to achieve effective sterilization, particularly for gram-negative bacteria and spores, and fail to reach the desired reduction factor of 10^6 within a reasonable time.
Innovation Solution
A non-thermal plasma cleaning device that alternates between active and inactive states of a radio-wave source to generate and then terminate plasma cycles, allowing gas flow during the inactive phase to regenerate reactive species, thereby enhancing the efficiency of contaminant degradation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If continuous plasma generation is used, then sterilization effectiveness is maintained, but cleaning duration becomes unacceptably long (over 1 hour for bacteria, 2 hours for spores)
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies periodic action by alternating between plasma generation phases and gas flow phases. During the plasma generation phase, reactive species are produced to degrade contaminants. During the gas flow phase, fresh gas introduces new reactants to regenerate reactive species. This periodic cycling maintains high sterilization effectiveness while significantly reducing total cleaning time compared to continuous plasma generation.
2Reliability
If plasma generation time is extended to achieve 10^6 reduction factor, then sterilization completeness improves, but time consumption increases unacceptably
Solution Approach 1:
The patent ensures continuity of useful action by immediately introducing fresh gas during the plasma generation phase and continuing gas flow during the subsequent gas flow phase. This continuous supply of reactants maintains high concentrations of reactive species throughout the cycle, enabling rapid contaminant degradation and achieving the 10^6 reduction factor in much shorter time than traditional continuous plasma methods.
3Productivity
If gas flow is introduced during plasma generation, then reactive species regeneration improves, but plasma stability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies segmentation by dividing the cleaning process into distinct temporal phases: plasma generation phases where plasma stability is maintained for effective contaminant degradation, and gas flow phases where fresh gas is introduced to regenerate reactive species. By segmenting the process rather than continuously mixing gas flow with plasma generation, the patent achieves both reactive species regeneration and plasma stability.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach significantly improves the cleaning efficiency by leveraging the transient state's higher concentration of reactive species, achieving faster and more effective sterilization compared to traditional methods.
Implementation Method 1
a radio-wave source having an active state wherein the radio-wave source outputs an electromagnetic wave... the electromagnetic wave having a frequency in the radio wave range or the microwave range
Implementation Method 2
controlling the radio-wave source to be in the active state during a first predetermined duration, thereby generating a non-thermal plasma in the enclosure
Data Source
Figure 1A~1C
Figure 2
Figure 3~4
AI summary
A non-thermal plasma cleaning device (12) including: - an enclosure (16) including an input port (30) for fluid connection with a gas supply; - a radio-wave source (18); - a controller (22) configured to successively perform, during a cleaning step, at least two, preferably at least three, non-thermal plasma generation cycles each comprising: controlling the radio-wave source (18) to be in an active state during a first predetermined duration to generating a non-thermal plasma in the enclosure (16); and controlling the radio-wave source (18) to be in an inactive state during a second predetermined duration, the input port (30) being in an open state at least during the second predetermined duration.