EP2303478B1 - Cleaning machine for cleaning bottles or similar containers - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to a cleaning machine according to the preamble of claim 1.

In the beverage industry, it is customary to offer high-quality products in packaging with correspondingly high-quality equipment. Specifically, it is known to offer high-quality types of beer in bottles with a so-called foliation, each consisting of an example printed and applied to the sealed bottles in the region of their mouth bottle by wrapping foil made of aluminum or an aluminum alloy and through which the optical appearance quality of the product is increased ,

Also known are cleaning machines for cleaning bottles or similar containers, in which the containers to be cleaned are moved through various treatment zones by means of a machine-internal transport system, which as a rule consists of a large number of bottle or container baskets each having a plurality of bottle or container cells. and others by immersion baths, of which at least one as Vorwelche and at least one further in the transport direction of the machine-internal transporter following immersion bath are formed as lye bath, and by further in the transport direction subsequent treatment zones, which serve in particular for the inner and Außenabapritzung the container. At least in the at least one alkaline bath is usually used as a treatment or cleaning liquid sodium hydroxide.

When cleaning bottles or containers containing a metal portion, i. Residues of the aforementioned foliation, there is the problem that these metal residues with the contained in the at least one immersion bath cleaning medium, for example sodium hydroxide to form hydrogen, with the risk of oxyhydrogen gas formation inside the cleaning machine. It is therefore absolutely necessary and customary, by appropriate ventilation, to keep the hydrogen concentration in all areas of the interior of a cleaning machine well below the critical concentration of 4%, for example in the range of 2% or lower.

For this reason, it is also known to provide in cleaning machines suction devices with which aspirated during operation of the machine interior air and thereby accumulating at least one outlet of the suction Suction or exhaust air to the environment. The exhaust air discharged from the cleaning machine is replaced by ambient air, which passes through various flow paths in the cleaning machine.

A cleaning machine for cleaning containers in the form of bottles with the features of the preamble of patent claim 1 is known ( DE 38 24 641 C1 ). The known cleaning machine has, inter alia, at least one electrically heated alkaline bath. Whenever the hydrogen concentration of the air in the room above the lye bath exceeds a predetermined limit value, there takes place an air exchange with suction of the air by means of a blower. To remove the hydrogen from the exhaust air, this is compressed and the hydrogen is then burned in a catalyst. The resulting heated exhaust air is used to heat the liquor bath via a heat exchanger provided in addition to the Helzvorrichtung.

Also known is a cleaning machine for cleaning containers ( DE 38 16 916 A1 ), in order to aerate the room above a lye bath, a fan having a ventilation device is provided, sucked with the air from the room above the lye bath, passed through a caustic bath arranged in the catalyst for burning the hydrogen and then in the room above the lye bath again is returned.

Also known is a cleaning machine ( DE 39 14 412 A1 ), whose waste heat is used via at least one heat exchanger for preheating drinks in a hot filling.

The object of the invention is to design a cleaning machine for bottles or similar containers so that the energy loss is kept as small as possible by the exhaust air. To solve this problem, a cleaning machine according to the patent claim 1 is formed.

In the invention, the energy contained in the exhaust air and in particular the potential energy of the hydrogen contained in the exhaust air is supplied to a use. This is done by the exhaust air, optionally after passing through a heat exchanger and optionally after the deposition of a majority of moisture, for example, in this heat exchanger, directly as combustion air of a heater having at least one burner the cleaning machine is supplied, so that the in The hydrogen contained in the combustion air is used for the combustion process, or in that at least the hydrogen is separated or filtered out of the exhaust air and, for example, in concentrated form the gaseous fuel or even the combustion air for at least one burner of the heating device of the cleaning machine is mixed.

According to one aspect of the invention, an exact regulation of the at least one ventilation device or of the at least one suction device as a function of the actual hydrogen concentration in the cleaning machine determined by at least one measuring sensor takes place as an actual value and a predetermined desired value. As a result, the ventilation of the Immenräumes the cleaning machine is limited to the actual necessary level, so that this alone energy losses are reduced by the exhaust air to a minimum.

Further developments, advantages and applications of the invention will become apparent from the following description of exemplary embodiments and from the figures. All described and / or illustrated features alone or in any combination are fundamentally the subject of the invention, regardless of their summary in the claims or their dependency. Also, the content of the claims is made an integral part of the description.

The invention will be explained in more detail below with reference to the figures, which show a schematic representation of a cleaning machine 1 for cleaning bottles 2 or the like containers together with a device for using the energy contained in the exhaust air.

In the FIG. 1 1 is the cleaning machine for cleaning containers in the form of bottles 2, the remains of a special equipment (foil) in the form of a metal or aluminum foil. The bottles 2 to be cleaned are supplied to the cleaning machine 1 at a container task 3. The cleaned bottles 2 are removed from the cleaning machine 1 at a container discharge and fed to a further use, for example a filling machine, not shown, for refilling.

In the interior of the cleaning machine, ie inside a closed inside of the housing of the cleaning machine inside the machine bottles 2 are moved by means of a transport system 5 through several treatment zones, including by immersion baths 6, one of which serves as Vorweiche and another with Metal under formation of hydrogen (H ₂ ) reacting liquor, eg sodium hydroxide included.

A problem with this is that the generation of hydrogen significantly increases the risk of the formation of oxyhydrogen gas and thus a significant risk of explosion if the hydrogen concentration reaches a critical limit of about 4%. It is therefore essential to ventilate the interior of the cleaning machine 1, in particular in the region of the immersion baths 6, so that the hydrogen concentration in the entire interior of the cleaning machine is significantly below the critical concentration, ie below 4% by volume based on the respective total volume of air. For this purpose, at least one suction device 8 with at least one blower 9 having at least one fan is provided on the upper side of the cleaning machine 1. This is controlled by a control device 10, for example in the form that the fan 9 or its delivery rate continuously and / or stepwise and / or time-controlled and / or clocked or pulse-shaped as a function of Number of foil-provided bottles 2 is controlled, which are supplied to the cleaning machine 1 to the container task 3 per unit time. In the case of a clocked control or time control of the blower 9, it is switched on, for example, for a certain period of time, for example for a period of 60 seconds, as soon as a predetermined number of bottles 2, for example 1000 bottles 2 have been introduced into the cleaning machine 1 via the container task 3 ,

This control is based on the finding that the amount of hydrogen produced by chemical reaction in the immersion baths 6 is approximately proportional to the number of bottles 2 provided with the residues of the aluminum foil and thus approximately proportional to the quantity of the bottles into the immersion baths 6 introduced metal or aluminum.

Preferably, however, the blower 9 is operated via the control device 10 as a function of measurement signals which are supplied to the control device 10 by measuring sensors 11, which respectively supply a measurement signal dependent on the hydrogen concentration and in the dip baths 6 and / or in the region of these dip baths and / or are provided in other areas or dead spaces in the interior of the cleaning machine 1, in which hydrogen could accumulate. By controlling the blower 9 as a function of the measuring signals supplied by the measuring sensors 11, a true regulation of the hydrogen concentration within the cleaning machine, and in particular also in the region or above the immersion baths 6, is optimally possible.

Since the immersion baths 6 are at least partially heated, the waste air arising at the outlet 8.1 of the suction device 8 contains not only hydrogen as the energy source but also a high proportion of internal energy (enthalpy) due to the almost 100% saturation with moisture and relative humidity high temperature, for example, a temperature of about 80 ° C. The invention provides to supply these contained in the exhaust air energy use, namely in the cleaning machine 1 of FIG. 1 for the heating of this machine or the immersion baths 6 and further treatment zones 7.

The heating of the cleaning machine 1 via a heating device 12, which consists essentially of a burner 13 for a gaseous or liquid fuel and from a arranged in the combustion chamber of the burner 13 and of a Heat transfer medium flowing through the heat exchanger 14 consists. The burner 13 is supplied via an air inlet 15 combustion air, which is at least partially formed by the accumulating at the suction device 8 and at the outlet 8.1 exhaust air. For this purpose, the outlet 8.1 is connected to the air inlet 15 of the burner 13 in the simplest case.

By using the exhaust air of the suction device 8 as combustion air results in a significant energy savings. If, for example, the cleaning machine 1 is operated at an output of 50,000 bottles per hour and it is further assumed that all bottles have 2 residues of the aluminum foil, then about 24 m ^{3 of} hydrogen per hour are produced at atmospheric pressure and at a temperature of about 80 ° C. , and that at an exhaust air flow rate of about 1400 m ³ per hour, which is necessary in a conventional cleaning machine to ensure a hydrogen concentration well below 4%, for example, about 2% safe. Alone by the combustion of the accumulating hydrogen approx. 200000 kJ per hour, ie 55 kilowatts can be recovered, without consideration of the internal energy of the exhaust air resulting from the high moisture content and the temperature.

It has been assumed above that the cleaning machine 1 is provided with a central suction device 8 equipped with a single blower 9. Of course, it is possible to provide a plurality of suction devices 8 distributed and / or one or more suction 8 to provide with multiple inlets, and in particular so that everywhere targeted air can be sucked out of the interior of the cleaning machine 1, where hydrogen is produced and / or in particular could accumulate in dead spaces. In particular, when using several or by one or more suction devices 8 with multiple fans 9, it is possible to assign the inlets of the suction or suction 8 or blowers or fans so that the extraction of hydrogen-containing air from individual areas of the cleaning machine controlled individually This can be controlled in all areas of the cleaning machine 1, the hydrogen content is kept well below the critical value of 4%, but at the same time only the actually required amount of air from the cleaning machine is sucked and thereby unnecessary energy losses are avoided.

While in the cleaning machine 1 of FIG. 1 the exhaust air of the at least one suction device 8 is supplied directly to the heater 12 and the burner 13 as combustion air, shows the FIG. 2 the cleaning machine 1 with a system in which the energy contained in the exhaust air of the at least one suction device 8 is recovered and used in different ways. For this purpose, a heat exchanger 17 and a device 18 for gas separation are provided in a channel 16 connected to the outlet 8.1 and through which the exhaust air of the suction device 8 flows.

With the heat exchanger 17 through which a liquid, heat-transporting medium flows, for example, the exhaust air is taken off at least part of the internal energy resulting from the high moisture saturation and the temperature and via a device 19 which, for example, contains a further heat exchanger and / or a heat pump can, the cleaning machine 1 supplied as process heat or other use.

At the device 18 for gas separation is preferably a separate separation of hydrogen (H ₂ ) and / or oxygen (O ₂ ) from the exhaust air. These components are then admixed, for example via a device 20, to the fuel gas and / or the combustion air for the operation of the gas burner 13 or supplied to another use.

In order to use even after passing through the device 18 in the exhaust air energy, it is possible to supply the exhaust air via the channel 16 to the burner 13 and the combustion chamber of the heater 12 as combustion air.

Since most of the moisture originally contained in the exhaust air (in particular water) is already deposited on the heat exchanger 17, only a small proportion of moisture in the heating device 12, as exhaust air supplied to the combustion air, has to be reheated during combustion.

The invention has been described above by means of exemplary embodiments. It is understood that numerous changes and modifications are possible without thereby departing from the invention inventive concept is abandoned.

Thus, it is possible, for example, to form the heat exchanger 17 in such a way that it preheats combustion air supplied to the burner 13 from another source, for example from the environment, directly or alternatively indirectly, for which the heat exchanger 17 is then provided with two separate, e.g. each of a plurality of flow channels formed flow paths is executed, one of which is traversed by the exhaust air of the at least one suction device 8 and a supplied from the heater 12 combustion air. Also in this embodiment, the hydrogen contained in the exhaust air is then further utilized by combustion, preferably by being deposited on the device 18 and mixed with the fuel gas supplied to the burner 13.

It is also possible, as in the FIG. 3 shown, the exhaust air of the cleaning machine, directly or also via a heat exchanger 17, a device 18 to perform gas separation, in which preferably a separate separation of hydrogen (H ₂ ) and / or oxygen (O ₂ ) is carried out from the exhaust air, wherein the hydrogen (H ₂ ) and / or oxygen (O ₂ ) freed drain is returned to the cleaning machine housing, whereby less cold ambient air is sucked into the cleaning machine housing by the blower 9 of the suction device.

It is also possible, as well as in the FIG. 3 shown to supply the exhaust air of the heating or combustion process in the heater 12 to a heat exchanger 17 in order to supply the heat contained in the exhaust air of a use.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

1

cleaner

2

bottle

3

container infeed

4

container removal

5

transport system

6

dip

7

further treatment zones

8th

suction

8.1

Outlet of the suction device

9

Blower of the suction device

10

control device

11

Measuring sensors for measuring the hydrogen content

12

heater

13

burner

14

Heat exchanger of the heater 12th

15

Inlet for combustion air

16

Duct for extraction and exhaust air

17

heat exchangers

18

Device for gas separation

19, 20

Device for using the energy contained in the exhaust air

Claims (7)

1. Cleaning machine for cleaning bottles or similar containers (2) using a liquid cleaning medium, for example using a cleaning medium containing sodium hydroxide, which chemically reacts with metal, for example with aluminium or an aluminium alloy, on the containers during the treatment, thereby forming hydrogen, comprising at least one device (8) for venting the cleaning machine and for removing air containing hydrogen from the cleaning machine as exhaust air via at least one outlet (8.1), to which there is connected at least one device for utilising the energy at least of the hydrogen contained in the exhaust air, and comprising a heating device (12) for heating at least one treatment zone or one treatment medium,
   characterised
   in that the heating device (12) comprises at least one burner (13) for a gaseous or liquid fuel, and in that at least a portion of the exhaust air and/or of the hydrogen separated or filtered out of the exhaust air is fed to the at least one burner (13) as combustion air or the hydrogen separated or filtered out of the exhaust air is mixed with the gaseous fuel of the at least one burner (13) designed as a gas burner, and/or
   in that at least one device (18) for gas separation or for separating at least hydrogen out of the exhaust gas is provided in a flow channel (16) which is connected to the at least one outlet (8.1) for the exhaust air, and in that means (20) are provided for feeding the separated hydrogen to a use outside the cleaning machine (1).
2. Cleaning machine according to claim 1, characterised by at least one control device (10) for actuating the venting device (8), namely in a time-controlled manner and/or as a function of the containers (2) fed to the cleaning machine per unit time and/or as a function of measurement signals from at least one measuring sensor (11) which detects the actual hydrogen concentration within the cleaning machine.
3. Cleaning machine according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the treatment medium which reacts with metal is the treatment medium of at least one immersion bath (6).
4. Cleaning machine according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the at least one venting device is a suction device (8) comprising at least one fan (9) which has at least one ventilator.
5. Cleaning machine according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that at least one heat exchanger (17) through which the exhaust air flows is provided in a flow channel (16) which is connected to the at least one outlet (8.1), and in that the thermal energy obtained from the exhaust air at the heat exchanger (17) is fed to the cleaning machine (1) in order to heat at least one treatment medium and/or to the combustion air fed to a heating device (12) and/or to another use outside the cleaning machine (1).
6. Cleaning machine according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that at least one device (18) for gas separation or for separating at least hydrogen out of the exhaust gas is provided in a flow channel (16) which is connected to the at least one outlet (8.1) for the exhaust air, wherein the exhaust air provided at least with a reduced hydrogen content is fed to the cleaning machine housing.
7. Cleaning machine according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised by being configured with a conveying system (5) which is internal to the machine and by means of which the containers (2) are moved between a container infeed (3) and a container discharge (4) through a plurality of treatment zones, at least one of which reacts with the metal present on the containers, for example aluminium or aluminium alloy, thereby forming hydrogen.

Images