JPH051024B2 - - Google Patents

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 is mainly used to protect frozen drugs filled into vials from contamination by microorganisms, dust, etc. Provide something that can be protected and safely frozen.

<Prior art> Conventionally, the freezing and powdering of drugs using liquefied nitrogen was carried out by directly immersing the target drug into a cryogenic liquid of liquefied nitrogen extracted 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 germs are mixed into the liquefied nitrogen, and the object to be treated is frozen by bringing the liquefied nitrogen into contact with it. There are relatively few problems with normal foods such as meat and fish, but for filling vials or
Medications for filling syringes pose a serious problem when considering the effects on the human body.

A technical problem of the present invention is to smoothly remove contamination such as germs and dust when freezing a processed object using liquefied nitrogen.

<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 filter device 3 via the vaporization means 8, and
is connected to the freezing chamber 5 through the nitrogen gas supply path 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 a cryogenic state is passed through the nitrogen gas supply path 4. and send it to freezing chamber 5.
This is a sterilization freezing apparatus using liquefied nitrogen, characterized in that the object to be processed is brought into contact with the nitrogen gas and the object to be processed is frozen with extremely low temperature nitrogen gas.

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 derived from the liquefied nitrogen supply source 7 are combined. is passed through the heat exchanger 15 in a heat exchangeable manner, and the liquefied nitrogen is passed through the heat exchanger 15.
The nitrogen gas, which has become high in temperature due to vaporization in the vaporization means 8, is supplied with the cold heat of the liquefied nitrogen, and is then passed through the heat exchanger 1.
5, the high-temperature nitrogen gas is cooled to an extremely low temperature.

The above-mentioned objects to be processed include not only medicines filled into vials or medicines to be filled into syringes, but also raw meat such as livestock meat and fish meat, and other foods.

The vaporizer means a vaporizer such as a heater or a heat exchanger.

The above-mentioned filtration device is, for example, a sterilization filter, which filters microorganisms, dust, and other microscopic substances.
Refers to what is removed.

The nitrogen gas supplied to the freezing chamber is the nitrogen gas heated to high temperature by vaporization, and is
As shown in the invention, the nitrogen gas may be cooled to an extremely low temperature by using the cold energy of liquefied nitrogen, or the nitrogen gas may be brought to an extremely low temperature at the time the liquefied nitrogen is vaporized by adjusting the vaporization means ( However, in this case, a filtration device that can be used at low temperatures is required.)

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

<Effect> (1) The first invention operates as follows.

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

In this case, since the target of the filtering device 3 is gas and not liquid, the precision can be increased and finer microorganisms or dust can be effectively removed.

In general, microorganisms should be killed to some extent when liquefied nitrogen is heated with a vaporization means to turn it into nitrogen gas. ) and other bacteria that produce heat-resistant spores can be effectively sterilized using the filtration device 3.

Furthermore, since the gas is overtreated, the passage resistance is reduced and the overtreatment device 3 can be made smaller.

The liquefied nitrogen that has passed through the 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 liquefied nitrogen immediately after coming out of the liquefied nitrogen supply source 7 receives heat from the nitrogen gas in the heat exchanger 15 and increases its temperature, so the heat applied by the vaporization means 15 is reduced and the vaporization energy is saved. can be converted into

<Effects of the Invention> (1) In the prior art, there was no technical idea to sterilize liquefied nitrogen itself, which is a means of freezing drugs, etc., whereas in the first and second inventions, liquefied nitrogen is converted into nitrogen gas. After that, it sterilizes and removes dust using a filtration device (because the sterilization method is filtration, even bacteria that produce heat-resistant spores can be smoothly removed), making the objects to be treated, including drugs, sterilized. Can be frozen to ensure safety for humans.

(2) In the first and second inventions, since nitrogen is exchanged from liquid to gas and then overtreated, even the smallest 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> Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

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

A plurality of liquefied nitrogen cylinders 6 are combined to form a liquefied nitrogen supply source 7, and the liquefied nitrogen supply source 7 is connected to a heater type heater 8 through the liquefied nitrogen supply line 1.

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

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

Overaccuracy: 0.2 μm Normal pressure: 2.0 Kg/cm ² Operating temperature: -20°C to 0°C Maximum flow rate: 150 m ³ /Hr The temperature sensor 11 is placed on the nitrogen gas introduction line 2, and the temperature control device is placed on the heater 8. 12, the temperature control device 12 receives the detected temperature signal from the temperature sensor 11, controls the heating temperature of the heater 8, and maintains the nitrogen gas flowing through the introduction line 2 at a predetermined temperature.

A midway portion of the nitrogen gas introduction line 2 is branched into two, and a variable throttle valve 9a is attached to one side, and a variable throttle valve 9b and a flow rate adjustment valve 10 are attached to 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 1 is connected to the nitrogen gas derivation line 4.
5, the nitrogen gas in the nitrogen gas derivation line 4 and the liquefied nitrogen in the liquefied nitrogen supply line 1 are passed through the heat exchanger 15 so as to be able to exchange heat, and the nitrogen gas sterilized by the sterilization filter 3 is passed through the heat exchanger 15. is configured to be cooled by the cold energy of liquefied nitrogen.

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

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

(1) −180 supplied from liquefied nitrogen supply line 1
After the temperature of liquefied nitrogen at 0.degree. C. is raised in advance in a heat exchanger 15, it is vaporized in a heater 8 to become nitrogen gas at 0.degree.

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 passed through a sterilization filter 3 in the nitrogen gas introduction line 2, where microorganisms such as bacteria and filamentous fungi (especially bacteria that produce heat-resistant spores) are sterilized, and microorganisms are removed. Dust is removed and cleaned.

(3) The purified high-temperature nitrogen gas is sent to the heat exchanger 15 through the nitrogen gas outlet line 4, and is heated to -180°C.
It is given the cold energy of liquefied nitrogen and cooled to an extremely low temperature of -170℃.

(4) Freezing chamber 5 injected with cryogenic nitrogen gas
is the flow rate adjustment valve 1 of the nitrogen gas to be fed.
The temperature is maintained within the range of -80 to -100°C.

As a result, the workpiece 20 that has been intermittently transported by the transport line 18 and entered the freezing chamber 5 is in a liquid state P
It is frozen and powdered into a powder state Q.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

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

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. The liquefied nitrogen supply source 7 is connected to the filter device 3 via the vaporization means 8, and the filter device 3 is connected to the nitrogen gas supply path 4.
is connected to the freezing chamber 5, the liquefied nitrogen is vaporized into nitrogen gas by the vaporization means 8, the nitrogen gas is passed through the filtration device 3, and the nitrogen gas in a cryogenic state is passed through the nitrogen gas supply path 4.
The method uses liquefied nitrogen characterized in that it is configured to be sent to the freezing chamber 5 and brought into contact with the object to be treated stored in the freezing chamber 5, thereby freezing the object to be treated with extremely low temperature nitrogen gas. 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 transferred into the heat exchanger 15. The liquefied nitrogen is configured to flow in a heat exchangeable manner from the heat exchanger 15 to the vaporizing means 8, and the cold heat of the liquefied nitrogen is imparted to the nitrogen gas which has become high temperature due to vaporization in the vaporizing means 8. heat exchanger 1
5. The sterilization freezing device using liquefied nitrogen according to claim 1, wherein the sterilization freezing device uses liquefied nitrogen.