A study on the decomposition of ethylene generated during transportation of agricultural products

2020 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 18H02305
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 41040:Agricultural environmental engineering and agricultural information engineering-related
• Research Institution: Kyushu University
• Principal Investigator: Shiraishi Fumihide 九州大学, 農学研究院, 教授 (90171040)
• Project Period (FY): 2018-04-01 – 2021-03-31
• Keywords: エチレン分解 / 農産物輸送 / 光触媒反応

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Achievements; 1) establishment of a method for measuring a very low ethylene concentration with a gas chromatograph, 2) development of a method for preparing a TiO2 coating solution with an autoclave, 3) finding that glass materials are suitable to a TiO2 support for the photocatalytic decomposition of ethylene, 4) confirmation of an increase in the rate of decomposition of ethylene by depositing Pt on TiO2, 5) development of a spiral-type reactor for the treatment of a small amount of air and a reactor with a parallel array of UV reaction tubes for the treatment of a large amount of air, and confirmation that the quality of agricultural products is not lowered over at least nine days in the use of the former reactor, 6) development of a reactor design method and simulation technique, and 7) confirmation of the effectiveness of a photocatalytic reactor with a parallel array of UV reaction tubes through an experiment modeled for the use of a truck container.

Free Research Field

化学反応工学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

TPP（環太平洋パートナーシップ協定）の締結により、日本から加盟国へ農産物を混載したコンテナーの海上輸送技術の開発が望まれている。しかし、輸送中に農産物が放出するエチレンによりその品質低下を防止する技術がない。そこで本研究では、これまで申請者が確立した空気中のVOCを極低濃度域まで分解する光触媒反応法を応用することにより、エチレンを効率よく極低濃度まで分解する技術を確立した。現在、協力会社と実用化の検討を行っているが、これを実現化すれば、農産物のコンテナー輸送が可能となり、海外諸国を市場とする産業の育成が可能となる。