Oxygen-enriched air producing device and oxygen-enriched air producing method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9254493-B2
Application number	US-201214003700-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 8, 2012
Priority date	May 19, 2011
Publication date	Feb 9, 2016
Grant date	Feb 9, 2016

Abstract

The invention is characterized in: forming a magnetic field inside a flow channel tube, the tube wall of which is formed from a material that is nonmagnetic and which, when the pressure outside the flow channel tube is lower than the pressure inside the flow channel tube, passes a portion of the air flowing inside the tube through the tube wall and discharges same to the outside thereof; supplying air to the flow channel tube so that at least a region of laminar flow is formed inside the flow channel tube; and reducing the pressure outside the flow channel tube to a prescribed pressure.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An oxygen-enriched air producing device that produces oxygen-enriched air, an oxygen concentration of the oxygen-enriched air being higher than that of input air, the oxygen-enriched air producing device comprising:
a hermetically sealed container unit that surrounds a specified pressure reduction region so as to hermetically seal the pressure reduction region;
a flow channel tube, at least part of the flow channel tube extending through the hermetically sealed container unit;
an air supply unit that supplies air into the flow channel tube;
a pressure reducing unit that reduces pressure in the hermetically sealed container unit so that the pressure in the hermetically sealed container unit is lower than that in the flow channel tube; and
a magnetic field forming unit that forms a magnetic field in the flow channel tube,
wherein the flow channel tube has a region therein where the air supplied by the air supply unit flows at least under laminar flow conditions, and
wherein a tube wall of a pressure reduction region portion of the flow channel tube, the pressure reduction region portion being positioned in the hermetically sealed container unit, is formed of a non-magnetic material that allows part of the air flowing in the pressure reduction region portion to pass through the tube wall to be exhausted to an outside of the pressure reduction region portion when the pressure in the hermetically sealed container unit is lower than that in the pressure reduction region portion.

2. The oxygen-enriched air producing device according to claim 1 ,
wherein a sectional area of a section of the flow channel tube perpendicular to a tube axis of the flow channel tube in a flow channel space, the air flowing in the flow channel space, in the flow channel tube is reduced step-by-step or continuously toward a downstream side.

3. The oxygen-enriched air producing device according to claim 1 ,
wherein the flow channel tube has an inlet portion and an outlet portion at an end from which the air is supplied and at an end on a side opposite to the inlet portion, respectively, and a ratio between an opening area of the inlet portion and an opening area of the outlet portion is a value set in accordance with the oxygen concentration of the oxygen-enriched air to be exhausted from the outlet portion.

4. The oxygen-enriched air producing device according to claim 1 ,
wherein a plurality of the flow channel tubes are provided, and the flow channel tubes are disposed parallel to one another.

5. The oxygen-enriched air producing device according to claim 1 ,
wherein the flow channel tube is disposed so as to have a spiral shape or a meandering shape, and at least part of the flow channel tube extends through the hermetically sealed container unit.

6. The oxygen-enriched air producing device according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a control unit that controls the air supply unit and the pressure reducing unit,
wherein the control unit causes the air supply unit and the pressure reducing unit to adjust a flow rate of the air to be supplied into the flow channel tube and the pressure in the hermetically sealed container unit, respectively, so that a region in which the air flows at least under the laminar flow conditions is formed in the flow channel tube and so that a flow velocity gradient of the air in a region adjacent to an inner circumferential surface of the flow channel tube is uniform.

7. The oxygen-enriched air producing device according to claim 1 ,
wherein the magnetic field forming unit forms the magnetic field of equal to or more than 3 T in the pressure reduction region portion.

8. The oxygen-enriched air producing device according to claim 1 ,
wherein the magnetic field forming unit includes a plurality of solenoid coils,
wherein the plurality of solenoid coils are disposed such that axes of the solenoid coils are parallel to one another and arranged on a specified circumference of a circle, and orientations of magnetic poles of the adjacent solenoid coils are opposite to each other, and
wherein the flow channel tube is inserted through the solenoid coils.

9. The oxygen-enriched air producing device according to claim 1 ,
wherein the tube wall in the pressure reduction region portion is formed of a material having permeability to nitrogen higher than permeability to oxygen thereof.

10. The oxygen-enriched air producing device according to claim 1 ,
wherein the flow channel tube has a flow regulating member that regulates the air flow flowing therein.

11. An oxygen-enriched air producing method for producing oxygen-enriched air, an oxygen concentration of the oxygen-enriched air being higher than that of input air, the oxygen-enriched air producing method comprising:
a step of forming a magnetic field in a flow channel tube having a tube wall, the tube wall being formed of a non-magnetic material that allows part of air flowing in the flow channel tube to pass through the tube wall to be exhausted to an outside of the flow channel tube when pressure outside the flow channel tube is lower than that in the flow channel tube;
a step of supplying the air into the flow channel tube so that a region in which the air flows at least under laminar flow conditions is formed in the flow channel tube; and
a step of reducing pressure that reduces the pressure outside the flow channel tube to a specified pressure.

12. The oxygen-enriched air producing device according to claim 2 ,
wherein a plurality of the flow channel tubes are provided, and the flow channel tubes are disposed parallel to one another.

13. The oxygen-enriched air producing device according to claim 3 ,
wherein a plurality of the flow channel tubes are provided, and the flow channel tubes are disposed parallel to one another.

Assignees

• Inoue Kenichi
• Hase Takashi
• Kasai Shingo
• Kobe Steel Ltd

Inventors

• Inoue Kenichi
• Hase Takashi
• Kasai Shingo

Classifications

• B01D53/22 Primary

  by diffusion (manufacturing semi-permeable membranes B01D67/00; form, structure or properties of semi-permeable membranes B01D69/00; material for semi-permeable membranes B01D71/00) · CPC title

• B03C2201/16

  Magnetic separation of gases from gases, e.g. oxygen from air · CPC title

• C01B13/0248

  Physical processing only · CPC title

• B01D57/02

  by electrophoresis (treatment of water, waste water, sewage or sludge by electrophoresis C02F1/469; electrophoretic production of compounds or non-metals C25B7/00; investigating or analysing materials by using electrophoresis G01N27/26) · CPC title

• B03C1/00 Primary

  Magnetic separation · CPC title