Technical Field

The invention relates to an air cleaning device.

The invention is especially related to air cleaning device for sterilizing air by using disinfectant liquid comprising lithium chloride (LiCI) and an antiviral/antimicrobial nanotechnology shield.

The State of Art

Clean air is important for human in terms of health and environmental reasons. Polluted air poses a threat to public health and increases the risk of dying especially for those having chronic respiratory problems (asthma or COPD). The life quality is significantly reduced in places with clean air problems. Viruses, microbes, impurities and similar molecules in polluted air cause the spread of infectious diseases in the worldwide. SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) was a disease that emerged in China in November 2002 and spread to the other countries of the world and has a high mortality rate. MERS-CoV (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus) was a virus that first appeared in Saudi Arabia in September 2012 and caused respiratory infection. In particular, patients with diabetes, chronic lung, kidney failure and immunodeficiency were more affected.

Another effect of polluted air is environmental pollution and global warning. Pollutants have also effect on accelerating climate change, and this has a potential to have devastating effect on the planet in the future.

Several systems and devices have been developed in the technical field to provide solutions to the polluted air problem. One of these is air cleaning systems containing UV light. In order to provide the desired efficiency in these systems, microorganisms must be exposed to UV light for a certain period of time. Therefore, the same microorganism is passed multiple times in front of UV light and this reduces the efficiency. In addition, these systems have a limited capacity and cannot be used in areas that require higher capacity. Another problem of the system containing UV light is that the UV light bulbs are always exposed to dust and need to be cleaned after pollination. Otherwise, the effectiveness of UV light decreases significantly due to dust. Since UV bulbs have a short service life (approximately 800 hours), these bulbs need to be replaced at certain periods. The other system known in the technical field is HEPA air cleaning systems. These systems only remove particles larger than 0.3 microns. It cannot remove gases, smoke, bacteria and viruses from the air. Filters used in the system need to be replaced monthly, resulting in serious cost increases.

Ozone generator, another system used for air cleaning, works on the basis of cleaning the air by converting 2-atom oxygen in the air into 3-atom ozone gas. However, it is known that the increase of the ozone gas level in the inhaled air increases allergic reactions and the accumulation of ozone gas can reach toxic levels. The increase in ozone gas negatively affects people with diseases such as asthma. Apart from these, ozone is ineffective against viruses, molds, bacteria and other biological pollutants unless used in amounts exceeding public health standards.

A Japan patent application with the publication number of JP2011015655 A relates to greenhouse air-conditioning system. The system disclosed in the document comprises of a ventilation device, an air flowing path, a hygroscopic-liquid, a hygroscopic-liquid supply section to ensure gas-liquid contact with air. In the document, it is stated that the system makes LiCI contact with air and the air is cleaned from bacteria with the help of the disinfectant effect of this hygroscopic liquid. The main purpose of the system is to improve the growing conditions of the plants in the greenhouse and to increase their growth rates. However, the document does not contain any explanation about viruses and nanoscale cleaning.

As a result, an improvement needs to be made since current applications cannot solve problems in the technical field.

The Purpose of the Invention

The invention aims to bring a solution for the negative aspects for air cleaning devices stated above, constructed with the inspiration from the current state of art.

The main object of the invention is to provide an air cleaning device that cleans polluted air by using high concentration disinfectant liquid (LiCI). Owing to the air cleaning device according to the invention, microorganisms that come into contact with the disinfectant liquid are instantly killed, and molecules, chemicals and other impurities that cause odor are removed from the air.

Another object of the invention is to provide an air cleaning device that can be used in all desired areas. Since the air cleaning device has a modular structure, it can be used in larger areas by combining several units and/or integrated into industrial ventilation systems. The device has cleaning capacity of 15000 m ³ air per hour.

Another object of the invention is to develop an air cleaning device with a long service life. The disinfectant liquid in the air cleaning device is not consumable and can be used for the life of the device. Using the same liquid for all service life also provides financial advantage.

Another object of the invention is to filter the air gradually and provide nano-size disinfection. In this way, it is possible to add a secondary level of protection against viruses and bacteria.

The structural and characteristic specifications of the invention and the advantages will be better understood with the help of Figures given below and the detail explanation referring those Figures, so the evaluation of the invention should be carried out accordingly.

Figures for Better Understanding the Invention

Figure 1 is the general view of air cleaning device.

Explanation of the Reference Numbers

D Air cleaning device

1 Pre-filter

2 Liquid line

3 Evaporative panel

4 Droplet eliminator

5 Air filter

6 Main body

7 Air circulation fan

8 Liquid circulation tank

9 Liquid filter

10 Power source

Detailed Explanation of the Invention

In this section, the preferred embodiments of air cleaning device (D) subjected to the invention is clarified such that there is no limiting effect for the sake of better understanding the subject. The invention relates to an air cleaning device (D). The air cleaning device (D) comprises a main body (6) on which all components are connected and that holds the said components together. The main body (6) comprises at least one air circulation fan (7) allowing the air to be passed through air cleaning device (D) and to be returned to the outside of the air cleaning device (D). There is at least one pre-filter (1 ) in the air cleaning device (D) in order to remove large particles and dust from the air passing through air cleaning device (D). In this way, the air sucked in by the air circulation fan (7) is cleaned from said contaminants/impurities. The air cleaning device (D) also comprises disinfectant liquid containing lithium chloride (LiCI). This disinfectant liquid is not consumable and can be used for the service life of the air cleaning device (D). Lithium chloride (LiCI) in the air cleaning device (D) has a function of cleaning and sterilizing the air. At least one liquid line (2) is configured in the air cleaning device (D) for the disinfectant liquid to circulate through the air cleaning device (D). The movement of the liquid is provided by at least one power source (10). The power source (10) is preferably electric motor-pump system. At least one liquid filter (9) is also configured in the air cleaning device (D) to remove unwanted substances from said disinfectant liquid.

At least one evaporative panel (3) is used in the air cleaning device (D) for increasing the contact surface of the disinfectant liquid cleaned in the liquid filter (9) with the air cleaned in the pre-filter (1). As the contact surface between the disinfectant liquid and the air increases, the efficiency of air cleaning process increases. Preferably, the evaporative panels (3) have two-stage structure.

After the air cleaning process in the evaporative panels (3), the disinfectant liquid fills into at least one liquid circulation tank (8). Said liquid circulation tank (8) is located at the bottom of the air cleaning device (D). Thus, the circulation of the disinfectant liquid in the air cleaning device (D) is ensured.

After the air cleaning process in the evaporative panels (3), at least one droplet eliminator (4) is used to separate the disinfectant liquid particles in the air. This particles are recovered to the liquid circulation tank (8). In this sense, droplet eliminators (4) prevent the disinfectant liquid from escaping out of the air cleaning device (D). This disinfectant liquid can be used repeatedly for subsequent cleaning processes.

In order to filter the air passed through the air cleaning device (D) for the last time before the air is sent out, at least one air filter (5) is used in the air cleaning device (D). The air filter (5) is covered with at least one nanotechnology antiviral/antibacterial shield. An air cleaning process according to the invention comprises several steps. First of all, the air in the environment to be disinfected is passed through the air cleaning device (D) by means of the air circulation fan (7). The air sucked into the air cleaning device (D) is filtered by at least one pre filter (1) to remove large particles and dust. The air free of particles passes to the evaporative panels (3). At the same time, disinfectant liquid containing lithium chloride (LiCI) is passed through the liquid line (2) with the power supplied by at least one power source (10) and filtered by at least one liquid filter (9) to remove unwanted substances. In the next process step, air and disinfectant liquid come into contact with each other in the evaporative panels (3). The cleaning of the air with lithium chloride (LiCI) takes place in the evaporative panels (3). After cleaning, the disinfectant liquid fills in the liquid circulation tank (8) located at the bottom of the main body (6). Since some disinfectant liquid particles remain in the cleaned air, these particles need to be recovered. For this purpose, the droplet eliminators (4) are used. The air passing through the droplet eliminatos (4) is disinfected one more time in at least one air filter (5) which is covered with at least one nanotechnology antiviral/antibacterial shield. In the final step, the cleaned air is sent outside by the air circulation fan (7).

In order to fulfill all aims of the invention and solve the problems of the state of art, the invention is an air cleaning device (D) characterized in comprising:

• at least one air circulation fan (7) for sucking the air in the environment and discharging the cleaned air to the environment,

• a disinfectant liquid comprising lithium chloride for cleaning air sucked into the air cleaning device (D),

• at least one liquid line (2) to circulate the disinfectant liquid through the air cleaning device (D),

• at least one power source (10) to provide power for the circulation the disinfectant liquid,

• at least one evaporative panel (3) allowing air to contact with said disinfectant liquid,

• at least one air filter (5) which is covered with at least one nanotechnology antiviral/antibacterial shield to trap and kill remaining viri, bacteria and microbes.