Classifications

• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F23—COMBUSTION APPARATUS; COMBUSTION PROCESSES
  • F23G—CREMATION FURNACES; CONSUMING WASTE PRODUCTS BY COMBUSTION
  • F23G5/00—Incineration of waste; Incinerator constructions; Details, accessories or control therefor
  • F23G5/44—Details; Accessories
  • F23G5/442—Waste feed arrangements
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F23—COMBUSTION APPARATUS; COMBUSTION PROCESSES
  • F23G—CREMATION FURNACES; CONSUMING WASTE PRODUCTS BY COMBUSTION
  • F23G2205/00—Waste feed arrangements
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F23—COMBUSTION APPARATUS; COMBUSTION PROCESSES
  • F23G—CREMATION FURNACES; CONSUMING WASTE PRODUCTS BY COMBUSTION
  • F23G2209/00—Specific waste
  • F23G2209/18—Radioactive materials

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a supply device for a thermal waste treatment plant.
• the heat treatment processes in question here are intended in particular to condition certain hazardous products, typically waste from the nuclear industry, in a suitable matrix before storing them. They are carried out in containers associated with heating means which bring their content to a high temperature. These thermal processes can be the following: a two-step vitrification process with calcination of the waste then melting with a glass frit in a melting pot before flowing into a container for storage and subsequent storage, or a vitrification process in a cold crucible, or even a process according to which the heat treatment of the waste and of the material of the matrix are brought to temperature directly in the container intended to be stored and stored.
• the containers considered here and so called in the remainder of the description are generally pieces of equipment into which the waste or the material of the matrix will be fed, for example a pot, a crucible, an calciner, a container, etc.
• Certain technical difficulties inherent in these processes relate to the feeding of the waste into the installation in which the heat treatment process is implemented. It is usual to arrange a vertical sleeve above the container, to dock it with an opening in the top of one of the containers by a downward movement of the sleeve to guarantee the confinement of the installation, to prevent the dispersion of gases and volatile particles in the environment and to pour the waste and products feeding the heat treatment process through respective conduits which terminate inside the sleeve.
• the products feeding the heat treatment process are here defined as all the ingredients mixed to implement the heat treatment processes, therefore both the hazardous products, i.e. the waste, and the material of the matrix. of conditioning, the latter which may consist of precursors of the matrix, in particular glass precursors.
• This material is often a glass frit, and the waste is of very diverse natures, but a significant part is viscous, sticky, very finely fragmented, or powdery. All these products are likely to foul the inner face of the wall of the sleeve instead of falling into the container. This risk of clogging is increased by the release of gases during the heat treatment, which rise in the sleeve before being evacuated, and which include fumes heavily loaded with impurities, particles which can be deposited on the inside face of the wall. of the cuff.
• a main object of the invention is therefore to fight against fouling of the inner face of the wall of the sleeve and other surfaces of the device, while facilitating the docking of the sleeve on the container.
• the invention in a general form, relates to a device for supplying a container for a heat treatment and waste conditioning installation, comprising a sleeve having a lower opening to dock with an upper opening of the container, a first supply line for waste to be treated being connected to the sleeve and penetrating therein, the sleeve containing a scraping tool on its inner face, characterized in that the scraping tool is a sheath with an axis parallel to the sleeve and forming a terminal section of the first line feed, and the device includes a holder for the quill, the holder having a motorized eccentric mechanism from which the quill is suspended, the eccentric mechanism moving the quill into orbits adjacent to the inner face of the cuff.
• the scraper tool reduces or prevents clogging of the cuff. It can be active during heat treatment operations to scrape off fouling products, before they solidify.
• JP S61-11519 A describes a waste transport installation which can be provided in particular with a rotating auger and a paddle wheel to move the waste forward, without the rotating auger seeming to have a scraping.
• a construction favorably allowing the eccentricity of the sheath and its transverse displacement, without harming the tightness of the device is characterized in that the sheath extends beyond the cuff in a direction opposite to the lower opening, through a sealing plate at an upper end of the sleeve, the sealing plate comprising a movable plate linked to the sleeve, and a fixed plate linked to the sleeve and in front of which the movable plate moves, the fixed plate being provided with a sleeve passage opening wider than the sleeve, and a sealing device connects the fixed plate to the movable plate.
• the eccentric mechanism comprises a toothed gear wheel from which the sheath is suspended, without being coaxial with an axis of rotation of said toothed wheel.
• the scraping is greatly improved if (according to a particularly preferred embodiment) the eccentricity mechanism is arranged to also cause the sheath to rotate around itself.
• a suitable construction then comprises a gear between a toothed wheel fixed to the sleeve and a ring gear fixed to the eccentric mechanism, and the sleeve is rotatably mounted in the gear wheel, from which it is suspended.
• Scraping is facilitated if the sheath carries a protrusion, in particular a helical blade, on its outer face and can thus push the fouling products downwards as it detaches them, by rotating around itself.
• a protrusion in particular a helical blade
• the invention is characterized in that the first supply line contains at least one rotating swirler (known as a “pigtail”) to advance or accompany the waste to be treated.
• a rotating swirler known as a “pigtail”
• part of the first feed line consists of a vertical section containing a spiral, or helical conveyor, which must follow the possible orbital movements of the barrel, which can be obtained if, in conjunction with certain optional characteristics already mentioned, the auger extends beyond the scabbard in the opposite direction to the lower opening of the cuff, is suspended from a second motorized eccentric mechanism, synchronized with the eccentric mechanism to which the scabbard is suspended, and is driven in rotation by a motor mounted on the second eccentricity mechanism. Synchronization can be ensured if, for example, the eccentric mechanism from which the sheath is suspended and the second eccentric mechanism are mechanically linked together and driven by the same motor.
• the supply lines are generally formed of several successive sections connected together.
• a construction of the first supply line, compatible with the movable arrangement of the end of the sheath in the sleeve, is characterized in that the first supply line comprises an upstream section, forming an angle with the terminal section and connected to the end section by a weir box, the end section being provided with a funnel at its top, which is connected to a perforated underside of the weir box, the sheath being movable under the weir box.
• This construction is also advantageous because it allows translational movements of the sleeve in the sleeve in their axial direction, in order to lower the sleeve at the end of the sleeve and even into the container after docking, and thus reduce fouling of the sleeve by the waste to be treated arriving via the first supply line.
• the upstream section is advantageously tiltable by being hinged, at its two ends, to a fixed point of the device and to a wall of the weir box.
• the upstream section can be equipped with a motorized rotating auger; it can also be connected, at an opposite end to the overflow housing, to a discharge hopper for the waste to be treated.
• the device comprises, in many applications, a second supply line of the container, made of the material of a waste conditioning matrix, this second line opening into the sleeve.
• Other applications include a single supply line, in which the waste and the material of the conditioning matrix are transported, possibly after having been mixed; the invention is not modified thereby.
• the sleeve is composed of two extending parts, removable from each other and equipped with separate cooling fluid circuits, including a lower part comprising the lower opening, and an upper part in which open the second supply line and a line for discharging gaseous vitrification products.
• This scraper can however be quite different from the scraping tool in question: a construction, advantageous by its simplicity, consists of a ring sliding in a section of the second supply line adjacent to the sleeve, and housed in an extension of said section of the second supply line, beyond an upstream section of the second supply line forming an angle with said section adjacent to the cuff.
• the scrapings can also be completed by rinsing.
• the corny above is advantageously traversed by a bore and a conduit for rinsing liquid.
• the sleeve comprise a rigid tubular main part and a docking device, the docking device comprising a docking sleeve surrounding the main part by extending it downwards, comprising the lower opening of the cuff, mounted on the main part and movable along the main part.
• the docking sleeve comprises a portion that is compressible in the direction of mobility of the docking sleeve.
• the compressible portion is a bellows
• the rinsing means comprises inlet ducts in the annular volume which overhang the bellows, directed radially towards the main part of the cuff and producing rebounds or projections of liquid from rinsing radially outwards and towards the bellows.
• the docking sleeve comprises a docking sleeve sliding on the main part of the sleeve, and docking sleeve movement actuators connecting the docking sleeve to the main part of the cuff.
• a pressure tapping conduit comprising rinsing means, extending in a wall of the cuff along the cuff, and opening out at a lower edge of the cuff; or by means of measuring the filling level of the receptacle, arranged through the sleeve.
• Figure 1 a general view of a particular heat treatment installation, namely "in can” vitrification, that is to say directly in the container intended for storage and storage, in which the device for feed according to the invention can be used;
• Figure 2 a general view of the feed device in a state without docking the container ("pigtail”raised);
• Figure 3 another general view of the same, in the docking state of the container ("pigtail" engaged in the container);
• Figure 4 the insulated sheath
• Figure 5 the top of the sleeve, in section
• Figure 6 the device for supporting and motorizing the sheath, in general representation
• Figure 7 a detailed view, in section and perspective, of part of this device
• Figure 8 some gears of this device
• Figure 9 the top of the cuff, in section and perspective
• Figure 10 the support and motorization device, and the adjacent parts of the device, in section;
• Figure 11 the configuration of the device and the container in the state without docking
• Figure 12 the configuration, in the docking state
• Figure 13 a partial view of the sheath in section
• Figure 14 the second supply line, in the normal state
• FIG. 16 details of the docking device
• FIG. 17 other details of the docking device
• Figure 18 an inspection device.
• FIG. 1 shows a vitrification installation.
• Containers for the vitrification of radioactive waste are called pots 1, and they are successively brought into a furnace 2 composed here of two semi-cylindrical halves which can be brought together to enclose a pot 1.
• the pots 1 have a neck 3, provided with an upper opening 4 delimited by a flat flange 5, at their top. They are in fact crucibles resistant to the very high temperatures produced during vitrification operations.
• the oven 2 can be resistive type heating.
• Its upper lid 6 (shared between the two halves) has a central opening 7 under which is the neck 3 of the pot 1 enclosed by oven 2 during a vitrification operation.
• a pot pre-loading station 1 foreign to the invention, bears the reference 8.
• FIG. 1 illustrates that it comprises in particular: a sleeve 10, which mainly comprises a vertical cylindrical tube open downwards and which extends, in the disjointed state of the device preceding vitrification, opposite the neck 3 of the pot 1 hemmed in a short distance above him; on the left of this figure 1, appear means 12 for treating the gases resulting from the vitrification operations, according to characteristics known to those skilled in the art and which do not form part of the invention.
• a sleeve 10 which mainly comprises a vertical cylindrical tube open downwards and which extends, in the disjointed state of the device preceding vitrification, opposite the neck 3 of the pot 1 hemmed in a short distance above him; on the left of this figure 1, appear means 12 for treating the gases resulting from the vitrification operations, according to characteristics known to those skilled in the art and which do not form part of the invention.
• the detail of the feed device 9 appears better in FIG. 2. It comprises a feed line 11 for the waste to be treated, composed of a vertical sleeve 16 containing a twist 18 which rotates therein, which is in the form of a helix. with close and slightly inclined turns (“pigtail”), a hopper 14 from which the waste is withdrawn and an oblique section 15 connected to the vertical sleeve 16.
• the oblique section 15 contains a twist 17 which rotates therein, also of the "pigtail" type.
• the oblique section 15 and the sheath 16 are connected to each other by a weir box 19.
• a motorization device 20 extends above the sleeve 10.
• the rigid main tube of the sleeve 10 is composed of a lower part 21 and an upper part 22 which extends the previous one upwards, and which is connected to it by an assembly of bolted flanges 23.
• the second supply line 24 comprises in particular a vertical section 26, a descending oblique section 27 which connects the vertical section 26 to the sleeve 10, and an extension 28 of the descending oblique section 27 which extends, with respect to this here, on the side opposite the cuff 10.
• the invention could be applied to devices without such a second supply line, if all the products to be treated are introduced via the same supply line.
• the lower part 21 of the sleeve 10 comprises on its outer face a docking device 29 on the collar 5 of the pot 1, and to which the lower opening 109 of the sleeve 10 belongs; the cylindrical tube composed of the lower part 21 and the upper part 22 stops a little above the lower opening 109.
• Figure 2 illustrates the feed device 9 in a fully raised state, where it does not touch the collar 5.
• Figure 3 shows it in the fully lowered state, characterized by an expansion of the docking device 29 downwards , which makes it reach the collar 5 with a compressive force, and by a descent of the sheath 16, which projects its lower end into the neck 3 of the pot 1; the motorization device 20 is also lowered, and the oblique section 15 is inclined downwards approaching the sheath 16; it is for this articulated via a ball joint 30 to the weir box 19, and to a horizontal pivot 31 mounted at a fixed location of the supply device 9, at its opposite end.
• the state of FIG. 2 corresponds to the phases of changing pot 1, which the supply device 9 releases; and the state of FIG. 3 corresponds to the phases of the vitrification operations, where a seal is produced between the supply device 9 and the pot 1.
• the sheath 16 is shown in Figures 4 and 5. It carries a helix 32 on the outer face of its cylindrical wall, the turns of which are steeply inclined and quite distant from each other. Its upper end carries an inlet funnel 33, the upper face of which is a flat collar 34.
• the wall of the sheath 16 is double and cooled by circulation of fluid in conduits 35 (visible in FIG. 5) forming an internal cooling cavity , and which open a little below the funnel 33 in a water box 36 which tightly surrounds the part of the sheath 16 located at this height.
• a permanent circulation of the cooling fluid is maintained by providing the water box 36 with a water inlet chamber 37 and a water outlet chamber 38 which are both circular but at different altitudes, and in which the inlet 98 and outlet 99 ends of the ducts 35, at corresponding altitudes, constantly emerge.
• the sleeve 16 is held by a first toothed eccentric 39 with a horizontal axis while being able to turn there around itself, and it extends downwards through a bore 40 of the first toothed eccentric 39.
• the sleeve 16 finally carries a toothed wheel 41 which extends around its outer face, and a crown 95 slightly above the toothed wheel 41, with which it is concentric.
• the crown 95 is connected to it by a bearing 96 and can therefore rotate around it.
• the crown carries axes 97 for rotation of toothed pinions 42 (visible in FIG. 8) which mesh with the toothed wheel 41.
• Bearings 100 are arranged between the first toothed eccentric 39 and the sheath 16 to ensure that the latter remains centered in the bore 40, and rotates without significant effort relative to the first toothed eccentric 39.
• the motorization device 20 is now described by means of FIGS. 6 to 8. It comprises a support 44, supported by a pair of vertical cylinders 45 mounted on the upper part 22 of the sleeve 10, and which can therefore lift the support 44 and the entire motorization device 20 above the sleeve 10 (which is illustrated in this figure and corresponds to the raised state of the sleeve 16 illustrated in Figure 2), or lower the support 44 by placing it on the top 46 of the cuff 10 (which corresponds to the lowered state of the sheath 16 illustrated in FIG. 3); guide posts 47, vertical and fixed under the support 44, maintain its horizontal position by sliding in the holes of a flange 48 fitted to the top 46.
• the support 44 carries a ring gear 49, a first motor 50, and the weir box 19, which are attached to it; it still carries the first toothed eccentric 39 via a drive ring 101, and a second toothed eccentric 51, having the same dimension and toothing characteristics as the first toothed eccentric 39, coaxial and parallel to it, and provided with a shaft end 52 rotating in a cylindrical housing 102 established on a top face 53 of the weir housing 19.
• the shaft stub 52 is supported by a bottom face 103 of the cylindrical housing 102.
• the auger 18 is suspended from the second toothed eccentric 51 and attached to it (visible in Figure 10), and it extends through the weir box 19 passing through a bore 54 of the top face 53, then it extends into the sheath 16.
• the second toothed eccentric 51 also carries a second motor 55, which drives the auger 18 in rotation by a gear 56 (figure 2).
• the first motor 50 drives the slewing ring 101, with a vertical axis of rotation, and the first toothed eccentric 39.
• the latter 39 meshes with a first drive pinion 58 with a vertical axis, and it still drives a second pinion drive 59 above the previous one, similar and united to this one by a vertical synchronization shaft 60.
• FIG. 9 illustrates that the sheath 16 is surrounded by an outer flange 61, which is retained in a horizontal rebate 104 inside the flange 48 in being able to slide there horizontally: it slides on a flat surface 62 horizontal established around a central bore 105 of the flange 48, much wider than the sheath 16, and it is covered by an anti-flying plate 63 which retains it on the flat surface 62 and delimits the rabbet 104 with the latter, thus forming a sealing plate. Seals 64 are added between the outer collar 61, the flat surface 62, the anti-flying plate 63 and the sheath 16. And FIG.
• FIG. 10 shows a similar arrangement under the weir box 19, with the flat collar 34 of the funnel 33 sliding in a flat and circular rebate 65 established between two thicknesses of a bottom face 66 of the weir box 19, seals 67 still being placed between the flat collar 34 and the opposite flat faces of the rabbet 65. Furthermore, the bottom face 66 is fixed to a structure uprights 68 belonging to the support 44 and which makes it possible to raise the weir box 19 above the gears for setting the sheath 16 in motion.
• cooling circuits for the main tube of the sleeve 10 which include water inlet and outlet ducts, 110 for the upper part 22 and 111 for the lower part 21, which open into cooling cavities, 112 for the upper part 22 and 113 for the lower part 21, constituting double cooling envelopes; these cooling circuits are completely separate.
• FIGs 2, 3, 11 and 12 help to describe the docking device 29. It surrounds the lower part 21 of the sleeve 10, and it is fixed thereto by an annular support 69. Screw jacks 70 are supported by the annular support 69, and they suspend a docking sleeve 71 sliding along the sleeve 10 in the direction of its axis.
• the docking sleeve 71 In the state of Figure 2, the docking sleeve 71 is lifted; in that of Figure 12, corresponding to the lowered state of Figure 3, it is lowered, a docking flange 72 which constitutes its lower end is joined to the top flange 5 of the pot 1, and the flanges 5 and 72 can be held against each other by tightening a collar 73 arranged around the docking flange 72.
• the sleeve 10 itself does not change altitude between these two states, but the docking sleeve 71 extends it downwards by a variable height.
• the docking sleeve 71 comprises an elastic portion 74 constituted by a bellows, which absorbs the compressions due to the excessive descent of the docking sleeve 71 beyond the contact with the flange 5 of the top of the pot 1, and to thermal expansions pot 1 during the vitrification operations.
• the collar 73 is supported by static tie rods 75 extending vertically along the elastic portion 74.
• the device further comprises an end piece 78 of the water box 36, and a circular supply chamber 79, hollowed out in the water box 36 at another altitude than the previous ones. It should be noted that this device is used, in the absence of rinsing, as a pressure tap inside the pot 1, by connecting a measuring device to the tip 78.
• FIGS 14 and 15 illustrate a device associated with the second supply line 24.
• the extension 28 contains a scraping ring 80, which consists of a piston at the end of the rod of a cylinder 81.
• the ring 80 remains in the extension 28 in the rest state, but it slides in the downward oblique section 27 when the rod of the cylinder 81 is deployed, rubbing against its wall or at least passing against it, which removes the dirt which clogs it.
• the box 80 and the rod of the cylinder 81 are further hollowed out by a flushing conduit 82, which can be connected to a pressurized water supply device and used when necessary to flush the descending oblique sections 24 and 27.
• FIG 16 indicates that the docking device 29 can be provided with air injection tubes 83 in a gap between the sleeve 16 and a docking sleeve 84 sliding over it.
• Docking sleeve 84 belongs to docking sleeve 71, of which it forms an upper portion, and it guides its vertical sliding movement.
• the annular gap is closed by circular seals 85 located at its upper and lower ends. The overpressure which is established in the gap thwarts the entry of impurities deposited on the sleeve 16 into this gap when the docking sleeve 84 descends, and therefore reduces the risks of blockage.
• the bellows 74 is retained between an upper flange 86 and a lower flange 87, better represented in FIG. 17.
• the volume 106 that it encloses around the sleeve 10 must also favorably be guaranteed against dirt.
• the upper flange 86 is crossed by an air injection tube 88 to create an overpressure in this volume 106. It is still crossed by water injection holes 89, and the flange lower 87 is traversed by water evacuation holes 91.
• the water injection holes 89 are distributed around the circumference of the upper flange 86, and they extend from water boxes 90 hollowed out at the top of top flange 86 to a tapered undercut 107 below top flange 86, running downward and radially inward.
• the water evacuation holes 91 also have a radial and vertically oblique orientation, and they descend from a bottom of the volume 106 to an interior of a funnel 108 which forms the bottom of the docking device 29, and which ends to the docking flange 72.
• the overpressure produced by the injection of air largely prevents the dirt carried upwards by the fumes from entering the volume 106.
• the water injected radially inwards rebounds against the exterior face of the sleeve 10 and emerging from the water injection holes 89, disperses in the conical clearance 107 then throughout the volume 106, before flowing into the funnel 108 either directly or by borrowing the water evacuation holes 91.
• FIG. 18 represents a sight tube 92 which crosses the upper flange 86 obliquely and is directed into the interval between the bottom of the sleeve 10 and the docking sleeve 71; the sight passes through a local notch 93 of the sleeve 10; the sighting direction then extends through the neck 3 and ends in the pot 1.
• the measurement is carried out for example by a laser 114, leaving the sighting tube 92 closed by a transparent porthole 94, behind which the laser 114 is installed; its beam 115 is directed along the axis of the sight tube 92; the latter is swept by an injection of pressurized gas, introduced through a conduit 116 which is connected to the interior of the sight tube 92 below the transparent porthole 94, to keep it clear of smoke.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Environmental & Geological Engineering (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Feeding, Discharge, Calcimining, Fusing, And Gas-Generation Devices (AREA)
• Processing Of Solid Wastes (AREA)
• Refuse Collection And Transfer (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=77411813

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (5)

Family Cites Families (3)

• 2021
  • 2021-06-08 FR FR2106002A patent/FR3123713B1/fr active Active
• 2022
  • 2022-06-02 EP EP22734025.4A patent/EP4352413A1/de active Pending
  • 2022-06-02 WO PCT/FR2022/051043 patent/WO2022258914A1/fr active Application Filing
  • 2022-06-02 KR KR1020237042497A patent/KR20240017828A/ko unknown
  • 2022-06-02 CN CN202280040625.3A patent/CN117501048A/zh active Pending

Also Published As

Similar Documents

Legal Events