JPH038822B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a clean bench that has been improved so that experiments involving anaerobic microorganisms can be easily conducted.

[Conventional technology]

Clean benches, which are commonly used in microbial experiments, biochemistry experiments, etc., flow purified and sterilized air from above the working space where experimental operations are performed through ultra-high performance air filters. By forcefully venting downward,
A clean and sterile work space is being ensured. Conventionally, when conducting experiments involving anaerobic microorganisms in a clean bench like this, it has been common practice to keep a nitrogen gas cylinder nearby, guide nitrogen gas from there with a hose, etc. to the work surface, and blow it into test tubes or flasks. It was hot.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

However, blowing nitrogen gas into areas that require an anaerobic state with a hose or the like complicates experimental operations, and is difficult to handle, especially when a large number of test tubes, etc., must be processed to ensure the necessary anaerobic state. I was also afraid that I wouldn't be able to do it. In addition, if experiments were continued for a long time while flowing a large amount of nitrogen gas, the nitrogen gas that leaked out could lower the oxygen concentration in a small laboratory, causing a so-called oxygen deficiency accident.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a high-performance clean bench that solves the above-mentioned problems with conventional clean benches, facilitates the handling of anaerobic microorganisms, and eliminates the risk of oxygen deficiency accidents. .

[Means for solving problems]

The present invention consists of two inventions, the first of which is a clean bench, in which an ultra-high-performance air filter is installed on the ceiling surface, and a means for pumping gas to the air filter is provided to supply clean gas to the work space. An exhaust means for suctioning the gas in the work space is installed below the work surface to make it possible to suction the gas in the work space, and the clean gas supply means consisting of the gas pressure feeding means and an ultra-high performance air filter is further divided into two, It is characterized in that air is supplied from one side and nitrogen gas or a mixed gas of nitrogen gas and another inert gas (for example, carbon dioxide) is supplied from the other side.

Moreover, the clean bench according to the second aspect of the present invention is
The clean bench according to the first aspect of the present invention is further provided with an in-air nitrogen gas concentrator using a gas separation membrane, and nitrogen gas obtained from the nitrogen gas concentrator is supplied from above the work space.

In the clean bench of the present invention, it is desirable to use an ultra-high performance air filter that has a collection efficiency of 99.97% or more in the 0.3 μm HOT DOP test, as specified in the US MIL standard. Examples of suitable commercially available products include the so-called
There are HEPA filters, such as the Absolute Filter manufactured by Kondo Kogyo Co., Ltd.

The most suitable nitrogen gas concentrator is a device that uses a gas separation membrane to separate oxygen and nitrogen from the air (for example, Asahi Glass Co., Ltd.'s Hysep), but is not limited thereto.

[Effect]

The clean bench of the present invention allows clean nitrogen gas to flow down through one side of an ultra-high-performance air filter to form an area inside the bench that is made up almost exclusively of nitrogen gas, and this area is used as an experiment site for handling anaerobic microorganisms. It is something.

[Example] The drawing is a schematic view showing the configuration of a clean bench according to the second aspect of the present invention from the front side. Work space 1 is
It is surrounded by fixed walls 2 on both sides and the back and a glass door (not shown) on the front. The area near the ceiling is divided into two parts by a partition wall 3, and ultra-high performance air filters 5, 6 are stretched between each part with a space provided between them and the ceiling surface 4. The floor 7, which serves as a workbench, is an air permeable floating floor made of perforated stainless steel plate.

The upper space 8 of the ultra-high performance air filter 5 communicates with a nitrogen gas concentrator 10 via a duct 9 provided on the outside of the side wall 2, and a blower 11 is installed between the space 8 and the duct 9. ing.

The space 12 in which the ultra-high performance air filter 6 is installed is connected to the lower space 14 of the floor 7 through a duct 13 provided on the outside of the side wall 2, and a blower 15 is installed between the space 12 and the duct 13. has been done.

When using this clean bench, the nitrogen gas concentrator 10 and blowers 11 and 15 are all operated. Nitrogen gas separated from air by the nitrogen gas concentrator 10 enters the duct 9, is pressurized by the blower 11, and enters the space 8. Further, while passing through an ultra-high performance air filter 5, fine dust and microorganisms are removed, and the gas becomes clean nitrogen gas, which enters the work space 1. On the other hand, the space 12 is
The space sent into the air is filled with ultra-high performance air filter 6.
The air passes through the air and enters the work space 1 as clean air. The air sent by the blower 15 is the gas in the work space 1 that flows into the space 13 and space 14, which have become under negative pressure due to the operation of the blower 15.

In this case, if the blowing capacities of the blower 11 and the blower 15 are adjusted to equalize the amount of gas blown out per unit area of the ultra-high performance air filters 5 and 6, the blown gas from each filter will flow approximately vertically within the work space 1. As a result, a region consisting almost only of nitrogen gas is formed in the working space 1 directly below the ultra-high performance air filter 5. Therefore, if experiments involving anaerobic microorganisms are carried out in an area consisting only of nitrogen gas, there is no need to create an anaerobic atmosphere by installing nitrogen gas piping. The area directly under the ultra-high performance air filter 6 from which air is blown out can be used for experiments that do not require an anaerobic state.

The nitrogen gas concentrator 10 releases oxygen during the process of separating nitrogen gas from air, so if this oxygen is released into the laboratory, the air in the laboratory will be changed to nitrogen gas by the nitrogen gas discharged from the clean bench. There is no risk of overconsumption and oxygen deficiency accidents can be prevented. Therefore, it is desirable to install the nitrogen gas concentrator 10 together with the clean bench body inside the laboratory, and even when it is installed outdoors, it is desirable to introduce the released oxygen into the laboratory.

If the nitrogen gas concentrator 10 in the clean bench is replaced with a nitrogen gas cylinder or an inert gas supply pipe, the clean bench according to the first aspect of the present invention will be obtained.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As mentioned above, the clean bench of the present invention allows clean nitrogen gas to flow down from the ceiling to form an area inside the bench that is made up almost exclusively of nitrogen gas. There is no need to carry out experiments by creating an anaerobic state while spraying.
Experiments involving anaerobic microorganisms can be conducted easily and in reliable anaerobic conditions.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the above effects, even when experiments are continued for a long time while flowing a large amount of nitrogen gas, the concentration of nitrogen gas in the laboratory increases, causing unexpected accidents due to oxygen deficiency. You can eliminate fear.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawing is a schematic front view showing the configuration of the clean bench of the present invention. 1: Work space, 2: Fixed wall, 3: Partition wall, 4: Ceiling, 5, 6: Ultra high performance air filter, 7: Floor,
8: upper space, 9, 13: duct, 10: nitrogen gas concentrator, 11, 15: blower, 12: space,
14: Lower space.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. An ultra-high-performance air filter is installed on the ceiling surface, and means for pumping gas to the air filter is provided to supply clean gas to the work space, and to suck the gas from the work space. An exhaust means is installed below the work space to make it possible to suck in the gas from the work space, and the clean gas supply means consisting of the gas pressure means and an ultra-high performance air filter is divided into two parts, with air coming from one side and nitrogen from the other. A clean bench for microbial experiments, characterized in that gas or a mixed gas of this and other inert gases are supplied respectively. 2 Install an ultra-high performance air filter on the ceiling and provide a means to forcefully feed gas to the air filter to supply clean gas to the work space, and install an exhaust means below the work surface to suck in gas from the work space. installed in the workspace to enable suction of gas from the work space.
In addition, an in-air nitrogen gas concentrator using a gas separation membrane is attached, and the clean gas supply means consisting of the gas pressure feeding means and an ultra-high performance air filter is divided into two, and air is supplied from one side and from the nitrogen gas concentrator from the other. A clean bench for microbial experiments, characterized in that the obtained nitrogen gas is supplied separately.