JPH03216174A - Aseptic freezing device using liquefied nitrogen - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] Industrial application field> The present invention relates to a device for sterilizing and freezing drugs and the like using liquefied nitrogen, and mainly for preventing contamination of frozen drugs filled into vials etc. by microorganisms, dust, etc. Protect and donate items that can be safely frozen.

<Prior Art> Conventionally, the freezing and powdering of drugs and the like using liquefied nitrogen has been carried out by directly immersing the target drug in a cryogenic liquid of liquefied nitrogen derived from a liquefied nitrogen gas cylinder.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention> However, in the above-mentioned conventional technology, it is unavoidable that trace amounts of dust and bacteria are mixed into the liquefied nitrogen. When freezing foods such as ordinary livestock meat and fish meat, there is relatively little problem, but when it comes to drugs for filling vials or syringes, the problem is serious considering the effect on the human body.

In the present invention, when freezing a processed material using liquefied nitrogen,
The technical challenge is to smoothly remove contamination such as germs and dust.

Means for Solving the Problems> Means for solving the above problems will be described below using drawings corresponding to embodiments.

That is, the first invention connects the liquefied nitrogen supply source 7 to the filtration device 3 via the vaporization means 8, connects the filtration device 3 to the freezing chamber 5 through the nitrogen gas supply path 4, and vaporizes the liquefied nitrogen. The means 8 vaporizes the nitrogen gas, passes it through the filtration device 3, sends the nitrogen gas in an extremely low temperature state to the freezing chamber 5 through the nitrogen gas supply path 4, and injects the nitrogen into the object to be treated stored in the freezing chamber 5. This is a sterilization freezing device using liquefied nitrogen, characterized in that it is configured to freeze the object to be treated with extremely low temperature nitrogen gas by bringing the gas into contact with the object.

Further, in a second invention, in the first invention, a heat exchanger 15 is interposed in the nitrogen gas supply path 4, and the nitrogen gas passing through the nitrogen gas supply path 4 and the liquefied nitrogen gas derived from the liquid nitrogen supply source 7 are provided. The liquefied nitrogen is made to flow into the heat exchanger 15 so as to be able to exchange heat with nitrogen, and the liquefied nitrogen is flowed from the heat exchanger 15 to the air blowing means 8. The structure is such that high-temperature nitrogen gas is cooled to an extremely low temperature in a heat exchanger 15 by applying the cold energy of liquefied nitrogen to the gas.

The above-mentioned object to be processed is a drug filled in a vial, or
It includes drugs for filling into syringes, raw meat such as livestock meat and fish, and other foods.

The vaporization means mentioned above refers to vaporizers such as heaters and heat exchangers.

The above-mentioned P filtration device refers to, for example, a sterilization filter that filters out and removes minute substances such as microorganisms and dust.

The nitrogen sludge to be supplied to the freezing chamber is as follows: (1) Nitrogen sludge that has been heated to a high temperature by vaporization may be cooled to an extremely low temperature by using the cold heat of liquid arsenic nitrogen as shown in the second invention; (2) Vaporizing means It is also possible to bring the nitrogen gas to a cryogenic state at the time the liquefied nitrogen is vaporized by adjusting the
However, in this case, a filter device that can be used at low temperatures is required.)

The above-mentioned freezing chamber may be configured so that cryogenic nitrogen gas is directly sprayed onto the processed material to freeze it, or the chamber is filled with cryogenic nitrogen gas and the processed material is brought into contact with the nitrogen gas atmosphere. There is no problem.

Effect〉 (1) The first invention operates as follows.

The liquefied nitrogen derived from the nitrogen supply source 7 is once converted into nitrogen gas by the vaporization means, and then when passing through the P filter device 3, microorganisms such as bacteria, filamentous fungi, and yeast are removed. ■ Microscopic dust is removed.

In case 2, since the object to be filtered by the P filtering device 3 is gas and not liquid, the filtering accuracy can be improved and more minute microorganisms or dust can be effectively removed.

Generally, microorganisms should be killed to some extent when liquefied nitrogen is heated to nitrogen gas.
Even with this heating, it is difficult to sterilize Bacillus (Ba
Ci l lus), Clostricium spp.
Bacteria that produce heat-resistant spores such as P. ridium can also be effectively sterilized by the filtration device 3.

Furthermore, since the gas is subjected to one-time treatment, the passing resistance is reduced and the filtration device 3 can be made smaller.

The liquefied nitrogen that has passed through the phosphor filtration device 3 is supplied to the freezing chamber 5 at an extremely low temperature to sterilize and freeze the object 20 in the freezing chamber 3 .

(2) In the second invention, the liquefied nitrogen derived from the liquefied nitrogen supply source 7 is vaporized by the vaporization means 8 to become high-temperature nitrogen gas, but when passing through the heat exchanger 15, the cold heat of the liquefied nitrogen is It is cooled down and becomes cryogenic nitrogen gas.

On the other hand, the temperature of the liquefied nitrogen immediately after coming out of the liquefied nitrogen supply source 7 is increased by distributing heat from the nitrogen gas in the heat exchanger 15, so that the heat provided by the air (heat) means 15 is reduced. It can save energy and energy.

(Effects of the Invention) (1) In the prior art, there was no technical idea of sterilizing the liquid (arsenic nitrogen itself) that is a means of freezing drugs, etc., whereas in the first and second inventions, the liquid f is converted into nitrogen scum, and then sterilized and dusted with a P filter device (the sterilization method is P
This method allows for the smooth removal of bacteria that produce heat-resistant spores.)
It can be frozen to ensure safety for humans.

(2) In the first and second inventions, nitrogen is converted from a liquid to a gas and then subjected to P overtreatment, so even finer germs and dust can be strongly removed, increasing safety.

(3) In the second invention, since the cold heat of liquefied nitrogen and the warm heat of nitrogen gas can be effectively utilized, the heat exchange efficiency can be increased and the vaporization means can be downsized.

<Example> Embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings.

The drawing is liquefied nitrogen 1! FIG. 2 is a schematic explanatory diagram of a commercial sterilization freezing device, which includes a liquefied nitrogen supply line 1, a heater type heater 8, a nitrogen gas introduction line 2, a sterilization filter 3, a nitrogen gas derivation line 4, and a freezing chamber. 5 are connected in order.

A plurality of liquefied nitrogen cylinders 6 are combined to form a liquefied nitrogen supply source 7efll, and the liquefied nitrogen supply source 7 is connected to the heater type heater S through the liquid nitrogen supply line 1.

The heater 8 is connected to the sterilizing filter 3 through the nitrogen gas introduction line 2, and the sterilizing filter 3 is connected to the freezing chamber 5 through the nitrogen gas deriving line 4.

The sterilization filter 3 has a structure in which the gas to be treated passes through a ceramic permeation membrane, and has the following characteristics.

Overflow accuracy: Normal pressure: Operating temperature: Maximum flow rate: Nitrogen gas introduction line above 02μm 2.0KI? /am2 - 20°C to 0°C 150m3/Hr Temperature control device 1 has temperature sensor 11 facing oven 2, and has temperature control device 12 interlocked with heater 8 to receive a detected temperature signal from temperature control device 11.
2 controls the heating temperature of the heater 8 and is configured to maintain the nitrogen gas flowing through the introduction line 2 at a predetermined temperature.

The nitrogen gas introduction line 2 is branched into two parts in the middle, and a variable throttle valve 9a is installed on one side, and a variable throttle valve 9b and a flow rate adjustment valve 10 are installed on the other side.

Further, a temperature sensor 13 is attached to the freezing chamber 5, and a temperature control device 14 is linked to the flow rate adjustment valve 10, so that the temperature control device 14, which receives the detected temperature signal from the temperature sensor 13, controls the flow rate adjustment valve 10. The atmosphere in the freezing chamber 5 is maintained at a predetermined temperature by controlling the flow rate.

On the other hand, a heat exchanger 15 is interposed in the nitrogen gas derivation line 4, and the nitrogen gas in the nitrogen waste derivation line 4 and the liquefied nitrogen in the liquefied nitrogen supply line 1 are allowed to flow into the heat exchanger 15 so as to be able to exchange heat. , so that the nitrogen gas sterilized by the sterilization filter 3 is cooled by the cold energy of liquefied nitrogen.

Low-temperature nitrogen gas supplied through the nitrogen gas derivation line 4 is injected into the freezing chamber from the injection nozzle 16, and is stirred by the ventilation fan 17 to maintain the inside of the freezing chamber 5 at an extremely low temperature. The material to be treated 20 (for example, a medical solution for intravenous drip) transported by the transport line 18 is frozen and powdered in the freezing chamber 5 .

Therefore, the functions of the above-mentioned freezing device will be explained.

(1) After the liquefied nitrogen at -180°C supplied from the liquefied nitrogen supply line 1 is heated in advance in the heat exchanger 15, it is vaporized in the heater 8 to become nitrogen gas at 0°C.

In this case, the nitrogen gas discharged from the heater 8 needs to be heated once to 0°C in order to pass through the sterilization filter 3, which is required to be used at relatively high temperatures, as described above. The temperature of the nitrogen gas is controlled by a temperature control device 12.

(2) The heated nitrogen gas is transferred to the nitrogen gas introduction line 2.
Then, it is passed through a sterilization filter 3, where microorganisms such as bacteria and filamentous fungi (especially bacteria that produce heat-resistant spores) are sterilized, and fine dust is removed and purified. (3) The high-temperature nine element gas that has been soaked and purified is sent to the heat exchanger 15 through the nitrogen gas derivation line 4, where it is given the cooling heat of -180°C liquid 1 nitrogen, and is heated to -170°C. It is cooled to an extremely low temperature.

(4) i The freezing chamber 5 into which low-vortex nitrogen gas is blown is kept at a low temperature within the range of -80 to -100°C by controlling the flow rate of the nitrogen gas fed by the flow rate adjustment valve 10. be done.

As a result, the processed material 20 that has been intermittently transported by the transport line 18 and entered the freezing chamber 5 changes from the liquid state P to the powder state WQ.
It is frozen and powdered.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawing is a schematic illustration of a sterilization freezing device using liquefied nitrogen. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1...Liquid nitrogen supply line, 2...Nitrogen gas introduction line, 3...P filtration device, 4...Nitrogen gas derivation line, 5.Freezing chamber, 7...Liquid nitrogen supply source, 8 . . . Vaporization means, 15. Heat exchanger, 20. Object to be treated.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. The liquefied nitrogen supply source 7 is passed through the filtration device 3 through the vaporization means 8.
The filtration device 3 is connected to the freezing chamber 5 through the nitrogen gas supply line 4, the liquefied nitrogen is vaporized by the vaporization means 8 to form nitrogen gas, the nitrogen gas is passed through the filtration device 3, and the nitrogen gas in the cryogenic state is The gas is sent to the freezing chamber 5 through the nitrogen gas supply path 4, and the nitrogen gas is brought into contact with the object to be processed stored in the freezing chamber 5, so that the object to be processed is frozen with extremely low temperature nitrogen gas. A sterilization freezing device 2 that uses liquefied nitrogen is characterized in that a heat exchanger 15 is interposed in the nitrogen gas supply path 4, and the nitrogen gas passing through the nitrogen gas supply path 4 and the liquefied nitrogen derived from the liquefied nitrogen supply source 7 are and is configured to flow into the heat exchanger 15 so as to be able to exchange heat, and the liquefied nitrogen is flowed from the heat exchanger 15 to the vaporization means 8, and is liquefied into the nitrogen gas which has become high temperature due to vaporization in the vaporization means 8. The sterilization freezing apparatus using liquefied nitrogen according to claim 1, characterized in that the apparatus is configured to cool high-temperature nitrogen gas to an extremely low temperature in a heat exchanger 15 by applying cold energy of nitrogen.