Superheated steam treatment apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9989245-B2
Application number	US-201415031940-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 10, 2014
Priority date	Oct 24, 2013
Publication date	Jun 5, 2018
Grant date	Jun 5, 2018

Abstract

To provide a superheated steam treatment apparatus capable of efficiently treating an object by superheated steam containing a high concentration of hydroxyl radicals. The superheated steam treatment apparatus includes an induction heating unit 4 configured to generate superheated steam by induction heating saturated stream, a treatment chamber 5 configured to allow the superheated steam generated by the induction heating unit 4 to be introduced thereinto, and a discharge treatment unit 6 located in the treatment chamber 5 and configured to treat the introduced superheated steam by discharge. The discharge treatment unit 6 has a frame serving as a support for the discharge treatment unit, a discharge electrode located at an upper part of the frame, a mesh-like opposite electrode located below the discharge electrode, and a high-frequency power source configured to supply high-frequency, high-voltage power between the discharge electrode and the opposite electrode to cause the discharge, whereby an object immediately below the opposite electrode is allowed to be treated by the superheated steam having an increased hydroxyl radical concentration due to the discharge.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A superheated steam treatment apparatus comprising
an induction heating unit configured to generate superheated steam by induction heating saturated stream,
a treatment chamber configured to allow the superheated steam generated by the induction heating unit to be introduced thereinto, and
a discharge treatment unit located in the treatment chamber and configured to treat the introduced superheated steam by discharge,
the discharge treatment unit being characterized by having
a frame serving as a support for the discharge treatment unit,
a discharge electrode located at an upper part of the frame,
a mesh-like opposite electrode located below the discharge electrode, and
a high-frequency power source configured to supply high-frequency, high-voltage power between the discharge electrode and the opposite electrode to cause the discharge, whereby an object immediately below the opposite electrode is allowed to be treated by the superheated steam having an increased hydroxyl radical concentration due to the discharge.

2. The superheated steam treatment apparatus of claim 1 , characterized by further comprising a conveyor means for moving the object into the treatment chamber, through a region immediately below the opposite electrode in the discharge treatment unit, and out of the treatment chamber.

3. The superheated steam treatment apparatus of claim 2 , characterized in that at a position upstream of the discharge treatment unit inside the treatment chamber, the conveyor means permits the object to be exposed to the superheated steam introduced into the treatment chamber so as to perform pretreatment.

4. The superheated steam treatment apparatus of claim 1 , characterized in that with the object placed immediately below the opposite electrode of the discharge treatment unit,
the high-frequency power source avoids supplying the power to the discharge treatment unit for a predetermined time after the introduction of the superheated steam into the treatment chamber, thereby allowing the object to be pretreated for the predetermined time by the superheated steam inside the treatment chamber, and
after the elapse of the predetermined time, the high-frequency power source starts to supply the power to the discharge treatment unit to cause the discharge.

5. The superheated steam treatment apparatus of claim 1 , characterized in that the discharge treatment unit has a gas supply port for supplying a gas to a region where the discharge occurs, and upon the introduction of the superheated steam into the treatment chamber, the gas supply port allows an argon gas, a helium gas or a mixture gas thereof to be supplied at a ratio of 20 to 400 parts by weight to 100 parts by weight of the superheated steam.

6. The superheated steam treatment apparatus of claim 1 , characterized by further comprising an insulator member between the discharge electrode and the opposite electrode.

7. The superheated steam treatment apparatus of claim 6 , characterized in that the insulator member is a cover enclosing the discharge electrode.

8. The superheated steam treatment apparatus of claim 1 , characterized in that the induction heating unit is a cylindrical container partitioned into a plurality of spaces with a plurality of partition walls, and one or more openings are formed in each of the partition walls such that openings in adjacent partition walls do not face each other.

9. The superheated steam treatment apparatus of claim 8 , characterized in that the opening has a maximum diameter equal to or less than 5 mm.

10. The superheated steam treatment apparatus of claim 8 , characterized in that the spaces partitioned with the partition walls are filled with spherical or amorphous magnetic particles to have a porosity equal to or less than 30% inside the container.

11. The superheated steam treatment apparatus of claim 1 , characterized in that the saturated steam supplied to the induction heating unit has a pressure of 1.1 to 1.5 atmospheres.

Assignees

• Shinetsu Chemical Co

Inventors

• Fujimura Naoto

Classifications

• F22B1/281

  other than by electrical resistances or electrodes · CPC title

• Y02P80/154

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic

• F22G1/165 Primary

  by electricity · CPC title

• H05B6/108

  for heating a fluid · CPC title

• Y02P80/15

  On-site combined power, heat or cool generation or distribution, e.g. combined heat and power [CHP] supply · CPC title