GB2338720A

GB2338720A - Plate filter

Info

Publication number: GB2338720A
Application number: GB9813330A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Chin-San Hsieh
Original assignee: KANG DIH EN ENTERPRISE CO LIMI
Current assignee: KANG DIH EN ENTERPRISE CO LIMI
Priority date: 1998-06-10
Filing date: 1998-06-19
Publication date: 1999-12-29
Also published as: JP2000005530A; DE19825977C2; JP2898963B1; DE19825977A1; FR2779976A1; FR2779976B1; GB9813330D0

Abstract

A plate filter with high odor and toxin removing and water absorbing capacities and its manufacturing processes includes specific amounts of a first catalyst such as hydrochloric acid, a second catalyst such as formalin, a vegetable starch, PVA, active carbon and fibres. The materials are orderly processed through mixing, stirring and coating on a plate fiber. Then the plate fiber passes through a foaming step, a cooling step, a washing and compressing step and a drying step, becoming a plate filter washable and able to remove odor and toxin sufficiently and absorb water.

Description

2338720 IMPROVED PLATE FILTER AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING THE SAME 2 '

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Th-'s invention concerns a plate Eilter, and a manufacturing process for such a filter, with high odor and toxJ.n removing and water absorbing capacity, particularly able to absorb water, was,'-,able, with an effective filtering function and able to remove odor and toxin.

An imoortant function of a filter net is to filter miscellaneous substances, odors and toxins in air and water so as to obtain clean air or water. For example, a sponge used as a filter may remove miscellaneous matters, but has no -function of removing odors or toxins, and is prone to decay after a period of use because it has no endurable structure to last long.

Figure 1, shows a filter net 10 of the prior art which -;_s sQrayed with a layer of active carbon 11 on its outer surface to remove odor, but this method cannot keep the active carbon firmly adhered, only coating it on the surface. The layer of active carbon is liable to peel off by touching or washing. To prevent the layer of active carbon from dropping or peeling off, some makers use a thin layer of non-fabric 12 on an outer surface of a filter net. However, th-'s method only collects peeled or dropped-off active carbon, having no substantial effect of filtering, resulting in increased cost.

U. S. Patent No. 3857732 disclose,5_ a manufacturing process for an odorremoving filter net wherein liquid PVA (polyvinyl alcohol) is added with ionexchanging resin, active carbon or coconut shell c:..arc--al, becoming a paste so'lution, in which an ac---Jd agent J_s added, and then this mixed solution is coated on a non-fabric. Finally, the r.c:-,-fabric soaked with the mixed solution is dehydrated in 70 - 100'C ---cr 310, 120 minutes, finishing the filter net. in this process, carbon is added before --h'a-s process be-ns, absorbed and surrounded in the paste-like solutlon. in this nr--or art the strong absorbing character of active carbon is not taken intc cons ide ration; the active carbon is already added in the paste solution, which absorbs i t and thus surrounds it. In this disadvantageous prior art nrocess, after this has happened, even in a dehydrating step, the active carbon is completely surrounded inside the filter structu_re, and cannot Qass through percolating air holes to contact the open air, as shown in Eia. 2, so that the active carbon 20 is obstructed from reaching the percolating holes 21 for performing functions of filtering, and removing toxin odor. At the same t-J.me, this prior art patent does not mention stability, structure and absorbability of the filter net, and thus so far has not been realized as merchandise.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A main purpose of the present invention is to offer a Diate filter with high odor and toxin removing and water absorbing capabilities, being washable, an effective filter, and capable of removing odors and toxins, and its manufacturing processes.

In accordance with the invention, there is provided a manufacturing process for a plate filter 2 - 1 Z 3 c with high odor and toxin removing and water absorbing capacity, this process comprising: a material preparation step wherein PVA is mixed, heated and stirred, making it in a ncn-particle condition, and then cooled, a vegetable starch is added with water, heated and stirred to JEorm a pas7ie and --hen cooled, and catalyzers I and II for assist-Ing chemical reaction, active carbon and plate fiber are prepared; a stirring and mixing step wherein said coolLed paste-like starch is mixed and stirred sufficiently with said catalyzer I to form a firs-L solution, which is then mixed with said PVA to form a second solution, which is then mixed and stirred sufficiently to become a third saturated solution, which is then finally added and stirred with active carbon to become a fourth solution; a coating step wherein said fourth solution is coated on said plate fiber; a foaming step wherein said plate fiber coated with said fourth solution is placed in a reaction furnace, to foam said solution on said plate fiber; a cooling step wherein said plate fiber having finished said foaming step is cooled to a room temperature; a washing and compressing step wherein said plate fiber having finished said cooling step is washed to neutralize said plate fiber into a neutralized condition, and then compressed to remove water and said catalyze-rs I and II still remaining in said percolating holes of said plate fiber; and, a drying step wherein said plate --":iber having finished washing and compressing steps is dried to become a completely finished plate filter.

1 -- 23 2 5 A feature of the -'nvj-=ntio7. is first to prepare a catalyzer T (such as hydrochloric acid), a catalyzer I! (such as formalin), a vegetable starch (sweet po--a---c powder), a licruid non-art-Jcle PVA and active carbon as mair. materials. Then these ma±.er-a-ls are crder-lv mixed and and t'-en they pass thro--gn' coat-4ng steD, a focaming step, an acid removing step, cooling step, a washing and compressing step, and a drying step, becoming a plate _ 11 t er, whi ch has character ist ics of absorbing, washabIllity, filtering, and removing odor and -ox-'n at the same time.

In accordance with a furt-er aspect of the invention there is provided a plate 'Lilt-er with high oder and toxin removing and water absorbing capacity comprising a cazalyzer IL! of 3.6 - 10.0 percent by weight-, a caialyzer I of 4.5 10.0 percent by weight, a paste-like vegetable starch of 28 - 47 percent by weight, liquid non-particle PVA (polyvinyl alcohol) of 47 - 65 percent by weight, and active carbon and fiber of 0.3 percent by the aggreaa.:e weight of all of said former materials.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The invention will be better understood by means of the following description of a preferred embodiment, referring to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspect--ve view of a known conventional filter net with a layer of active carbon on its surface; Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of another known conventional filter net for removing odor; Figure 3 is a table of materials for a plate filter with high odor and toxin -removing and water 4 absorbing capacity in accordance with the present invention; E'igure 4 is a f low chart illustrating a manufacturing process for a plate filter in accordance With the present invention.:

-gure 5 is a cross-sectional view o:E a plate filter in accordance with tl-e Present invention; and, Figure 6 is a table of test resu',.-.s for the nLate filter of the present invention.

L -- c DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

A preferred embodiment of a plate fil-zer with high odor and toxin removing and water absorbing Ity in accordance with the present invention (as capac. shown in Figs, 3, 4 and 5) contains a catalyzer II such as formalin of 3.6 10.0 percent by weight, a catalyzer I, such as hydrochloric acid of concentration 32 percent, of 4.5 - 10.0 percent by weight, a paste-like vegetable starch, such as sweet potato powder, of 28 - 47 percent by weight (the proportion of the starch to water being 1: 5 1: 10, and 1: 6 used in this example), and liquid non-particle PVA (for example, B7-17 produced by Chan Chum Chemical Co. Ltd, in proportion of PVA to water being 1: 5 - 1: 10, and 1: 6 used in this example) of 47 percent by weight, and active carbon and fiber (preferably in a plate form) of 0.3 - 180 percent by the aggregate weight the former four materials.

The active carbon can be adjusted according to necessity, but it should be noted that the more active r 0 31 carbon is added, the more brittle the structure of the filter becomes. In this embodiment c-' the invention, a foaming agent of 0.015 0.06 Pe-cent by the aggregate weight c-." the former four materials is added, n correspondence to- the active carbon.

z--er t e materials mentioned above, e catalyze-r i, the catalyzer 11, paste-like vege.:ab-- starch, PVA (B-7-1-7) and actJ1.ve carbon, are p-repa-red, -L'-e PVA is first mixed wit-1.1 -water, heated and --'-en stirred into non-r)art--'cle and then cooled to become material A. Then the vegetable starch is mixed wth water, heated and stirred --asze, and then cooled to become naste-like r-,,ater..a-l B, in which the, ca.ia-'yze-- i is mixed, becoming solution C. Then the material A is mixed w--th t-e solution C to become solu.iJ-on D, then the catalyzer II is then mixed and stirred -M this solution D to become an even solution.

The catalyzer II car- functlon to surely assist the paste-like vegetable starch mixed with the liquid non pa---ic-',e PVA to react. A mixing and stirring step forces paste-like material B with the catalyzer I mix completely to become solution C, which is then mixed and stirred with the material A to become solution D, which is then mixed with the catalyzer II to become a saturated solution, and then finally active carbon is mixed in this saturated solution to become solution E.

As shown in Fig. 5, the most -Important step is m-'Lx-'ng the active carbon in the saturated solution in the present invention. Because active carbon has characteristic of absorbing matter around it w a strong force, it may undoubtedly absorb the pastelike vegetable starch in the mixing and stirring step, and be surrounded inside the cool caste- like starch. If 6 - 1 c is 25: 6, this wrong flow process should happen, the active carbon will be completely surrounded by the paste-like starch and, unable to reach the open a il r through percolating holes, even if the resulting pIat-e filter has passed through steps of dehydrating and,n'Lx'Lna --he ca..a. 'iyzers I and II. Consequently, a clate 'L--'jter resulting from such a process cannot provide good f-"tering functions, removing odor and toxins, because the active carbon is obstructed, ineffective and unable to act.

Therefore, completely mixing the active carbon with the saturated solution of pastelike vegetable starch mixed with liquid non-particle PVA is an essential feature in the present invention.

This important invention improves the drawback of the prior art filters in whilch active carbon is only sprayed on the surface of a filter which cannot abso-b strongly because of an obstructed-inactive condition and which can be peeled or fall off by washing or touching.

The preparation and mixing of the materials in an embodiment the manufacturing process of the invention is described as follows.

(1) PVA is mixed with water in the proportion 1 and then heated up to 120'C or so and stirred at the same time making it into a non-particle condition. Then it is cooled down to 40'C or so, becoming a material A, with its whole weight being 350 grams.

(2) A vegetable starch (such as sweet potato powder) is mixed with water in the proportion 1: 06, heated up to 900C or so, and stirred at the same time into a paste condition. Then it is cooled down to 40'C - 1 or so, becoming a paste----"ke material B with its whole weight beina more than 1-60 grams.

(3) A caialyzer 1-, for example in the invention, hydrochloric acid of 32 percent concen--ra---"0-., is prepared, having weight more than 25 crams.

(4) A cata-'.vzer T---', is c5rei3a--ed, having functioof assisting and promot'l= chemical reacton, and in the:)rese,-it example, formali- w it h 37 percent concentration is used, w--'th _its weight be-'ng more than 20 arams.

(5) Active carbon is prepared, and in the present it is used in the roport--'or 0.3 -IBO:)e--cen-to the aggregate weight of the material finally got in the process (4).

(6) A foaming aceni can be Dret:)ared, and in the present invention it is used in the proportion 0.015 0.06 percent to the aggregate we-ighi of the mater'i-al got in the process (5).

A mixing process is performed after preparation of the necessary materials just described. First, the J cooled paste--',--'ke material B is sufficiently mixed with the ca::allyzer 7-, becoming the solution G, which is then mixed and stirred to become the solution D. Then the solution D is mixed and stirred sufficiently with the catalyzer II to become the saturated solution E, in which is finally mixed active carbon. After that, the solution E with active carbon is evenly spread to coat, on a plate f-iber being continually conveyed along. The p-ate fiber can be of any thickness according. _o necessity. Then the plate fiber coated with the solution 7_ with active carbon -is moved into a foaming process, wherein it is placed in a reaction furnace with an inner temperature adjusted within 60 - 200'C C 1 ^ r for 10 minutes to 11.0 hours for foaming. The temperature of the reaction furnace can be adjusted according to different demand, and the length of the furnace and the speed of the process are also adjustable. The foaming step is to let the materials A and B produce closelinking action and removing water by means of temperature and time so that the material plate fiber may become porous with many tiny percolating holes 30, i.e. a well-st.-uctured r) 'L a t e filter 3. Water temporarily stays in the percolatJnc holes 30 and completely removed out of the plate filter 3 by another step taken later.

The wet- plate filter 3 contains active carbon 31 strongly attaching on the surface or in the interior of the filter 3, and with the cooperation of the percolating holes 30 active carbon 31 may come in contact with flowing gas or air to filter the gas. Then the olate f ilter 3 is cooled down to the room temperature and then moved into a washing and compressing step, allowing the plate filter 3 to show neutral feature, and to be washed and compressed to remove water and the catalyzer I still remained in the percolating holes 30. The high water containing characteristic of the present invention is due to the existence of many percolating holes and the water absorbing character of the materials themselves. Consequently the plate filter of the present invention can absorb and store a large quantity of water. After that, it is dried to become a plate filter having excellent stability and high odor and toxin removing and water absorbing capacity.

As shown in Fig. 4, in the present invention, an acid removing process may be added to the processes -1 2 _r described above, just after the foaming process. In acid removing process, a neut--a'--z-,g agent, such as soda water used in the present example, is added to the plate filter coming out of the foaming process, 'l-e,:, zing it croduce ne,-,.Era' reac.ion o': PH io get r-,'d of reip,a.-n--na orcanic acid therein But, of course, to cor7..p'e.zely remove organic acid, a washing process can the ac-d a so be used by prolonging Jts iime, as -em oving process which involves adding a reutra.lizJng agent may be liable to harm, the plate filter -'n sorr.e degree.

As shown in Fig. 4, a foamIng agent of 0.015 0.0 percent by weight can be added J= the aggregate we-'ght of the materials in the present invention. The _caming agent may be PNS of a commercial name, and also called a disiDersing agent, consisting of P-toluene sulfonate and alkyl sulfonate. A plate _filter produced with t-his foaming agent has a szructure which is comparatively loose and porous with many rather large percolating air holes, not in a cellular condition. Consequently, this filter has better percolation. Though usage of a foaming agent in a _filter is commonly described in books, it may be the first attempt that a foaming agent is used with other materials in a filter in such a way as described in this invention, and this art contributes to industry in a great. degree, largely elevating utilizable worthiness and functions of a In addition, in the manufacturing processes L wherein the materials of a filter are mixed and stirred, the foaming agent is added therein before the active carbon is added so that the plate filters thus produced can remove odor and toxin by means of active carbon, and increase percolating and dispersing e--'::fect of a plate filter. In particular, the absorbing function may reach as much as 276.8 percen7_-, so a plaze -'::i-'lter with a foaming agent and active carbon added according to the present invention permits percolating, easy washing, filtering, and removing odor and --ox-n ai the same time. In other words, a nlate filter accordina to the present invention possesses more _functions 7-han a conventional plate filter does.

Fig. 6 clearly shows that a plate filter produced accord-ing to the present invention has a good an--i tension, anti-deformation, low percentage 0 deformation, good softness, low abrasion, and high absorbing effect, etc. (CNS is an abbreviation of Chinese National Standard).

1 -- c

Claims

CLAIMS manufacturing process fcr a plate f ter with hil gh odor and toxin

removing and water absorbing caDac--ty, th-s process comprising:

a material preparation step wherein PVA is mixed wIth wat-er, and stirrec, making it in a non- particle condition, and then cooled, a vegetable starch is added with water, heated an- s±irred to form a Daste and then cooled, and catalyzers I and I! -for assisting chemical reaction, active carbon and plate fiber are prepared; a stirring and m-.x"Lna step wherein said cooled paste-like starch is mixed and stirred sufficiently wi th said catalyzer I to form a first solution, which. is then mixed with said PVA to form a second sclu--'on, which is then mixed and stirred sufficiently to become a third saturated solution, which is then finally added and stirred with active carbon to become a fourth solution; coating step wherein said fourth solution coated on said plate fiber; foaming step wherein said plate fiber coated with said fourth solution is placed in a reaction furnace, to foam said solution on said plate fiber; a cooling step wherein said plate fiber having finished said foaming step is cooled to a room temperature; a washing and compressing step wherein said plate fiber having finished said cooling step is washed to neutralize said plate fiber into a neutralized condition, and then comoressed to remove water and said catalyzers 'L and II still remaining in said percolating holes of said plate fiber; and, i 2 a drying step wherein said plate fl-ber havi-ng..inJshed washing and compressing steps is dried to become a completely finished plate filter.

c 2. A process as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the foaming temperature in said foaming step is 60 - 200cC, and foaming time required is 10 minutes to 10 3. A process as claimed in Claim 1 or 2, where-'n said foaming step causes said materials to produce close-link-ing and removing function by means of temperature and time so that said plate fiber may become well structured and porous with many percolating holes.

4. A process as claimed in Claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein said coating step il s carried out by coating said saturated solution on said plate fiber, while the:)late f iber is conveyed continuously, to a required thickness dependent on the desired characteristics of the finished plate filter.

5. A process according to any preceding claim, wherein an acid removing step is further used after said foaming step, adding a neutralizing agent to neut-ralize said plate fiber and any acid remaining therein.

6. A process according to any preceding claim wherein the catalyzer II is stirred and mixed in to said second solution.

7 ---A plate -fi'zer with high odor and toxin removing and water absorbing - capacity comprising a catalyzer II of 3.6 10.0 c)e--cent by weight, a catalyzer I of 4.5 - 10.0 percent by weighc, a starch of 28 - 4-1 percent by (polyv.'i.nyl alcohol) active carbon and the aggregate weight particle PVA weight, and percent by ma--e-als.

paste-like vegetable weight, 1 -i c,-- i d n c n of 47 - 65 percent by fiber of 0.3 - 180 of all of said 8. A plate filter as claimed as Claim 7, -wherein a fo-aming agent is added in said preparing mater-a-' st--ei:)s in =Portion of 0.015 - 0.06 percent to the aggregate weight of said materials.

9. A plate f"--ter as claimed as Claim 8, wherein said foaming agent Js a mixture consisting of p-toluene sul-fonate and alkvI sulfonate.

1. 4 -