AU689401B1

AU689401B1 - Treating method for converting waste into resources and its equipment

Info

Publication number: AU689401B1
Application number: AU16510/97A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Hong-Paul Wang
Original assignee: California Engineering Consultants Co Ltd
Current assignee: California Engineering Consultants Co Ltd
Priority date: 1997-03-25
Filing date: 1997-03-25
Publication date: 1998-03-26
Anticipated expiration: 2017-03-25

Description

S F Ref: 375070

AUSTRALIA

PATENTS ACT 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT

ORIGINAL

6bt** Name and Address of Applicant: Actual Inventor(s): Address for Service: Invention Title: California Engineering Consultants Co., Ltd.

4F, No. 198-2, Chung Hwa Road Yung-Kang City Tainan Hsien

TAIWAN

Hong-Paul Hang a.

Spruson Ferguson, Patent Attorneys Level 33 St Martins Tower, 31 Market Street Sydney, New South Wales, 2000, Australia Treating Method for Converting Waste into Resources and its Equipment The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me/us:- 5845 TREATING METHOD FOR CONVERTING WASTES INTO RESOURCES AND ITS EQUIPMENT BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention concerns a treating method for converting wastes into resources and its equipment, particularly able to apply to scrap petrochemical products, utilizing waste heavy oil, motor oil and lubricating oil as an oil solvent medium, coordinated of..

operation of a plurality of inclined scre converters, 10 through a variety of processes of continuously feeding wastes, liquefying separating, and recycling, treating more than two kinds of wastes synchronously.

:.kidAt present, solid organic wastes produced among all kinds of wastes discarded in Taiwan is estimated more 15 than 30 million tons, and their latent heat value may *amount to 40 thousand billion calories. Half of the solid organic wastes may be petrochemical products such eg as auto shredder residues, scrap tires, scrap printed electric circuit boards, scrap plastics scrap rubber, oily dirt, sludge, etc. However, this extremely large amount of petrochemical waste includes many kinds of inorganic matters, such as iron, copper, lead, zinc, fiber, wood, glass, etc., so treating and converting it into resources is a gigantic difficulty.

Generally speaking, there are many methods for disposing or treating wastes, depending on the kind of L I wastes and objects, in addition to advantages and disadvantages. Although a traditional simple land filling method can collect wastes in a set location, but unable land filling to recycle properly its heat value. Treating with incinerating can solve a partial problem, but very small particles of heavy metals, nitric oxide or haloids continuously produced thereby will pollute the environment in a long period of time.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is the object of the present invention to overcome or substantially ameliorate the above disadvantages.

There is disclosed herein a treating method for converting petrochemical product wastes into resources comprising: a crushing process, wherein wastes are crushed by a crusher into small bits or pieces of proper size; (II) an oil soaking process, wherein said crushed wastes are placed in an oil sealed feed conveyor to receive oil soaking with used oil and air insulation at the same time for continuous subsequent treating processes; (II) a liquefaction process, wherein said oil-soaked wastes are sent in an inclined screw converter wherein the oil-soaked waste pieces are liquefied and dissolved at temperatures of 200 370'C for 30 minutes for separating organic matters from inorganic matters; 20 (IV) a condensing process, wherein said organic matters produced in said liquefaction process evaporates to leave said converter to be condensed by a condenser and stored in a storage tank; and, a washing process, wherein said inorganic matters in wastes not yet decomposed or dissolved in said converter are taken out of said converter, being conveyed on a residue conveyor and receiving washing process during movement thereon so as to extract remaining oil off solid inorganic matters by washing.

There is further disclosed herein equipment for treating and converting Spetrochemical product wastes into resources comprising: oooo :oeo• Out 2.

o S oeS Qe2 [N:\LBLL]01305:TCW an oil sealed feed conveyor consisting of a feed funnel, a feed tube, a housing, a screw, a motor, said housing being properly sloped and containing said screw therein, said screw being rotated by said motor to transport waste coming in said housing from a feed inlet to a feed outlet, said feed inlet located at a lower portion of said housing, said feed outlet located at an upper portion of said housing, waste coming in said housing being soaked in oil and then sent into a converter described; said converter consisting of a housing of a U-shaped cross-section, a screw installed in a lengthwise lower half portion of said housing, a motor rotating said screw, an inlet tube protruding in said housing and connected with said feed tube which lo is connected with said feed outlet of said oil sealed feed conveyor, liquefying crushed wastes by hot oil; an oil sealed residue conveyor having the similar structure as said oil sealed feed conveyor, an inlet tube, a housing, a screw and a motor, separating inorganic residue from that coming from said converter; a soaking oil control device consisting of a heavy oil storage tank, a heavy oil drum, a passageway solid-liquid separating control set, and liquid pumps, keeping oil level constant in said oil sealed feed conveyor by said heavy oil drum together coordinated operation of said liquid pump and said passageway solid-liquid separating control set, performing oil soaking of wastes and insulating it from air; a converter oil control device consisting of a fire heater, a hot oil drum, a mixed heavy oil storage tank, a heavy oil cooler, a passageway solid-liquid separating control set, and liquid pumps, said hot oil drum connected with an oil outlet tube of ~i said housing of said oil sealed feed conveyor and an oil outlet tube of said converter not only supplying partial heavy oil by operation of said liquid pumps of said soaking oil 25 control device and said liquid pump of said converter oil control device but also sending recycled hot oil into said mixed heavy oil storage tank and said fire heater by operation of said passageway solid-liquid separating control set and said heavy oil cooler, supplying hot oil solvent of proper temperature into said converter so as to separate waste into said organic matters Ond said inorganic matters; S 30 a wash oil control device consisting of a wash oil drum, a wash oil cooler, a passageway solid-liquid separating control set and a liquid pump, oil flowing through an outlet tube of said housing of said oil sealed residue conveyor into said wash oil 3

J-

[N:\LEBLL]01305:TCW drum and then being cooled and sent into said residue conveyor by operation of said wash oil cooler, said liquid pump and said passageway solid-liquid separating control set, washing, extracting and separating residue of waste after liquefying process into said inorganic matters such as metals; an inorganic recycling device consisting of a connect tube, a buffer storage tank, a residue storage tank and a residue oil drum and an oil pump, said connect tube connected with an oil outlet of said oil sealed residue conveyor and sending residue into said buffer storage tank for separating solids from liquid, with said solids and liquid respectively sent into said residue drum and said residue oil drum, oil in said residue oil drum being sent into said mixed heavy oil storage tank of said converter oil control device by operation of said oil pump; and a gas liquid separating device being connected with a passageway tube of said housing of said oil sealed feed conveyor and two passageway tubes of said housing of said converter and c.nsisting of a condensate cooler, a condensate drum, an intermediate oil storage tank and a liquid pump, gaseous oil produced after liquefaction process of said organic matters being cooled and condensed properly by said condensate cooler, condensate thereby produced being sent into said condensate drum and then into said intermediate oil storage tank, said condensate stored in said intermediate oil storage tank being then sent into said wash oil drum of said wash oil control device by operation of said liquid pump, volatile gas being forcibly blowed to other places for other treatments by a noncondensable blower.

.i BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS :A preferred form of the present invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein: FIG. 1 is a flow chart of a treating method for converting wastes into resources and its equipment in the present invention; *FIG. 2 is a diagram of equipment for treating and converting wastes into resources in the present invention; FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a converter in the equipment for treating and converting wastes into '3 !3a [N:\LBLLO1305:TCW resources in the present invention; and, FIG. 4 is a front cross-sectional view of the converter in the equipment for treating and converting wastes into resources in the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A treating method for converting wastes into resources in the present invention, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, includes following treating processes arranged in *see %coo: flowing order: Crushing: Wastes are crushed by a crusher into tiny bits or small pieces of proper size, for example, scrap tires preferably crushed into 5 10 cm.

Soaking in oil: Crushed wastes are placed in an oil sealed feed conveyor for soaking it in oil therein, wetting the surface of wastes and insulating it from air and removing air in the wastes so as to be continuously operated.

go* 0 (III). Liquefying/and disssolving: The oilsoaked crushed wastes are transported into a converter circulating oil of high temperature and with the temperatures of 200 370*C for 30 minutes to liquefy and dissolve the oil socked wast pieces, so that organic matters are converted into oils and separated from inorganic matters in wastes.

(IV) Condensing; The organic matters separated in the converter are taken out of it and are condensed to be stored in a storage tank.

Washing: Solid residues are removed from the converter, and are washed or extracted with product condensate in a residue screw conveyor, separating leftover solid inorganic matters.

Equipment for treating and converting waste into resources in the present invention, as shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, includes an oil sealed feed conveyor 1, a converter 2, an oil sealed residue conveyor 3, an oil 10 soaking control device 4, a converter oil control device 5, a wash oil control device 6, an organic matter recycling device 7 and a gas-liquid separating device 8 combined together.

The oil sealed feed conveyor 1 shown in FIG. 2 0 consists of a feed funnel 11, a feed tube 12, a housing 13, a screw 14 and a motor 15. Wastes such as auto shredder residues, scrap tires, printed circuit boards, etc., is crushed by a crusher 16 into tiny bits or i pieces of proper size, and transported into the inclined conveyor housing 13. The feed funnel 11 is arranged with a hood 163, a vent blower 164 connected with an activated carbon absorber. A screw 14 is fixed in the sloped housing 13, rotated by a motor 15. A feed inlet 131 is provided in a lower portion of the housing 13 and a feed outlet 132 is provided in an upper portion thereof so that wastes conveyed in thei housing 13 may be properly soaked in oil when moving in the housing 13 and then carried into the converter 2. The housing 13 also has an oil outlet tube 133 an oil inlet tube 134 and a passageway tube 135. The feed inlet 131 is located just under the feed inlet tube 12 fixed under the feed funnel 11, and the feed inlet tube 12 is attached with an overflow tube 136.

The converter 2, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, consists of a housing 21 of a U-shaped cross-section, a ii screw 22 fixed in a lower portion of the housing 21 and a motor 23 rotating the screw 22. An inlet tube 24 is provided to protrude in the housing 21, connected with a converter feed tube 25 at an upper portion, with t)le converter feed tube 25 being connected with the outlet V 132 of the oil sealed feed conveyor 1 so as to liquefy crushed waste solids by means of circulating oils S. and dissolve them in oil solvent. The housing 21 of the converter 2 is properly sloped, having an outlet tube an oil outlet tube 211 and an oil inlet tube 212, an S.overflow tube 213, and passageway tubes 214 and 215 on the top. Oil-soaked waste pieces are liquefied and dissolved at temperatures of 200 370°C for 30 minutes when moving in the converter 2.

The oil sealed residue conveyor 3 has the similar structure as the oil sealed feed conveyor 1, having an feed inlet tube 31, a housing 32, a screw 33 and a motor 34 combined together. The housing 32 has an oil outlet 321, an oil inlet 322, an oil outlet tube 323, an oil inlet tube 324 and an overflow tube 325. The oil sealed residue conveyor 3 washes and separates residue inorganic wastes after liquefying process while moving in the housing 32.

The soaking oil control device 4 consists of a heavy oil storage tank 41, a heavy oil drum 42, a passageway solid-liquid separating control set 43, and liquid pumps 44, 45 and 46. The heavy oil drum 42 is connected with the feed tube 12 to feed oil in the oil 10 sealed feed conveyor 1 and keep the oil therein at a constant level, together with operation of the liquid pump 46 and the passageway solid-liquid separating 9 control set 43 so that the wastes moving in the oil sealed conveyor 1 may be soaked in oil and insulated from air for continuous subsequent operations.

The converter oi! -ontrol device 5 consists of a "oo fire heater 51, a hot oil drum 52, a mixed heavy oil storage tank 53, a heavy oil cooler 54, a passageway i. solid-liquid separating control set 55, and liquid pumps 56, 57. The hot oil drum 52 is connected with the oil outlet tubes 133, 211, supplying partial heavy oil by means of the pumps 44 and 57, and transporting recycled hot oil in the mixed heavy oil storage tank 53 and the fire heater 51 together with operation of the passageway solid-liquid separating control set 55 and the heavy oil cooler 51 so as to supply hot oil of 200'C 450°C to the converter 2, wherein oil-soaked waste may be heated by high temperature for seaparating the organic matters from the inorganic matters.

The wash oil control device 6 consists of a wash oil drum 61, a wash oil cooler 62, a passageway solidliquid separating control set 63, and a liquid pump 64.

Oil coming from the outlet tube 323 and the overflow tube 325 enters the wash oil drum 61, cooled by coordinated operation of the wash oil cooler 62, the liquid pump 64 and the passageway solid-liquid separating control set 63, and then sent into the residue conveyor 3, wherein residue passing through the liquefying process is washed and separated.

The inorganic matter recycling device 7 has a connect tube 71 connected with the outlet tube 321 of the sealed residue conveyor 3, sending residue into the buffer storage tank 72 wherein liquid is separated from solids. Then the solid and the liquid are respectively sent into a residue storage tank 73 and a residue oil drum 74. Then oil is sent into the mixed heavy oil storage tank 53 by operation of the pump The gas and liquid separating device 8 is connected with the passageway tubes 135, 214 and 215, consisting of a condensate cooler 81, a condensate drum 82, a condensate storage tank 83, and a liquid pump 84 and a noncondensable blower 85. Gaseous oil produced after liquefying of the organic matters in hot oil medium is condensed by the condensate cooler 81 to become condensate to enter the condensate drum 82 and then the condensate storage tank 83, from which condensate is sent into the wash oil drum 61 of the wash oil control device 6 by operation of the liquid pump 84. Besides, volatile gas is blown to some other places for other traeatments by a noncondensable blower As can be understood from the above description, this invention has the following advantages: e 1. It can treat more than two kinds of wastes at 10 the same time, using spent motor oil or lubricating oil 0 as a solvent medium, for liquefying wastes, and treating and converting solid waste a having a high p heat latent energy into resources.

2. It uses temperature below 3700C°G as operating means for reaction, far less than that used in other conventional heat treating methods, producing comparatively small volume of gas and reducing the scale of eqdp.ent ai d ccst needed for treating gas, and producing mainly oils possible to be refined or to be directly used for a fuel.

3. It can dispose auto shredder residues scrap tires, scrap electric wires and cables, scrap plastics, scrap rubber, scrap printed/electric circuit boards, hardware organic residue, sludge, oily dirt, oil fouled so soil, refuse derived fuel (RDF), widely compatible and suitable for many kinds of organic wastes and converting them into resources.

4. It receives feed of wastes and treats them orderly and continuously, with reaction time able to be adjusted in case of need, and solvent oil for liquefying can be circulatingly and continuously used, and in addition, having a characteristic that all products are able to be recycled, to a resultant high sconomic effectiveness.

Catalysts such as spherical metal oxidies, or absorbers such as spherical molecular seives or metal 10 oxides can be added in it for enhancing condensate production rate and separating heavy metals, sulfur, chlorine, or toxic inorganic matters.

While the preferred embodiments of the invention have been described above, it will be recognized and understood that various modifications may be made therein and the appended claims are intended to cover all such modifications which may fall within the spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A treating method for convertinZ .trochemical product wastes into resources comprising: a crushing process, wherein wastes are crushed by a crusher into small bits or pieces of proper size; (II) an oil soaking process, wherein said crushed wastes are placed in an oil sealed feed conveyor to receive oil soaking with used oil and air insulation at the same time for continuous subsequent treating processes; (II) a liquefaction process, wherein said oil-soaked wastes are sent in an inclined screw converter wherein the oil-soaked waste pieces are liquefied and dissolved at temperatures of 200 370'C for 30 minutes for separating organic matters from inorganic matters; (IV) a condensing process, wherein said organic matters produced in said liquefaction process evaporates to leave said converter to be condensed by a condenser and stored in a storage tank; and, a washing process, wherein said inorganic matters in wastes not yet decomposed or dissolved in said converter are taken out of said converter, being conveyed on a residue conveyor and receiving washing process during movement thereon so as to extract remaining oil off solid inorganic matters by washing.

2. The treating method of claim 1 wherein said wastes include waste 0. tyres, said crushing process crushing said waste tyres into pieces 5 to 10 cm long. o* Equipment for treating and converting petrochemical product wastes into resources comprising: San oil sealed feed conveyor consisting of a feed funnel, a feed tube, a housing, 25 a screw, a motor, said housing being properly sloped and containing said screw therein, said screw being rotated by said motor to transport waste coming in said housing from a feed inlet to a feed outlet, said feed inlet located at a lower portion of said housing, said feed outlet located at an upper portion of said housing, waste coming in said housing being soaked in oil and then sent into a converter described; said converter consisting of a housing of a U-shaped cross-section, a screw installed in a lengthwise lower half portion of said housing, a motor rotating said screw, an inlet tube protruding in said housing and connected with said feed tube which is connected with said feed outlet of said oil sealed feed conveyor, liquefying crushed wastes by hot oil; an oil sealed residue conveyor having the similar structure as said oil sealed feed conveyor, an inlet tube, a housing, a screw and a motor, separating inorganic residue from that coming from said converter; 011W [N:\LIBLL]0135:TCW a soaking oil control device consisting of a heavy oil storage tank, a heavy oil drum, a passageway solid-liquid separating control set, and liquid pumps, keeping oil level constant in said oil sealed feed conveyor by said heavy oil drum together coordinated operation of said liquid pump and said passageway solid-liquid separating control set, performing oil soaking of wastes and insulating it from air; a converter oil control device consisting of a fire heater, a hot oil drum, a mixed heavy oil storage tank, a heavy oil cooler, a passageway solid-liquid separating control set, and liquid pumps, said hot oil drum connected with an oil outlet tube of said housing of said oil sealed feed conveyor and an oil outlet tube of said converter not only supplying partial heavy oil by operation of said liquid pumps of said soaking oil control device and said liquid pump of said converter oil control device but also sending recycled hot oil into said mixed heavy oil storage tank and said fire heater by operation of said passageway solid-liquid separating control set and said heavy oil cooler, supplying hot oil solvent of proper temperature into said converter so as to separate waste into said organic matters and said inorganic matters; a wash oil control device consisting of a wash oil drum, a wash oil :'ooler, a passageway solid-liquid separating control set and a liquid pump, oil flowing through an outlet tube of said housing of said oil sealed residue conveyor into said wash oil drum and then being cooled and sent into said residue conveyor by operation of said wash oil cooler, said liquid pump and said passageway solid-liquid separating control set, washing, extracting and separating residue of waste after liquefying process into S: said inorganic matters such as metals; S"an inorganic recycling device consisting of a connect tube, a buffer storage tank, a residue storage tank and a residue oil drum and an oil pump, said connect tube 25 connected with an oil outlet of said oil sealed residue conveyor and sending residue into said buffer storage tank for separating solids from liquid, with said solids and liquid respectively sent into said residue drum and said residue oil drum, oil in said residue oil drum being sent into said mixed heavy oil storage tank of said converter oil control device by operation of said oil pump; and a gas liquid separating device being connected with a passageway tube of said housing of said oil sealed feed conveyor and two passageway tubes of said housing of said converter and consisting of a condensate cooler, a condensate drum, an intermediate oil storage tank and a liquid pump, gaseous oil produced after liquefaction process of said organic matters being cooled and condensed properly by said condensate cooler, condensate thereby produced being sent into said condensate drum and then into said intermediate oil storage tank, said condensate stored in said intermediate oil storage tank being then sent into said wash oil drum of said wash oil control device by 12 [N:\LiBLL]1305:TCW operation of said liquid pump, volatile gas being forcibly blowed to other places for other treatments by a noncondensable blower.

4. The equipment for treating and converting wastes into resources as claimed in claim 3, wherein said housing of said oil sealed feed conveyor has its entrance connected with said feed tube and said feed funnel. A treating method for converting petrochemical product wastes into resources, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

6. Equipment for treating and converting petrochemical product wastes into resources, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. 9 Se 9 *49S 4 *9 9 0 S* Dated 22 January, 1998 California Engineering Consultants Co., Ltd. Patent Attorneys for the Applicant/Nominated Person SPRUSON FERGUSON 13 i 'wr oe %Tr O^ IN:\LIBLL]01305:TCW