ES2942810B2 - INSTALLATION AND PROCEDURE FOR COLLECTION OF MICROPLASTICS AND MICROFIBERS - Google Patents

Description

DESCRIPTION

INSTALLATION AND PROCEDURE FOR COLLECTION OF MICROPLASTICS AND MICROFIBERS

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

The present invention can be included within the technical field of installations and procedures for washing textiles, synthetic or natural materials and/or garments, of the type that are provided with reactors or thermal devices configured to minimize the discharge of microparticle waste, microplastics and microfibers from said textiles, synthetics, garments, etc. More particularly, the object of the invention is an installation and a procedure that make use of the process waters that are used during washing to be introduced into a reactor, obtaining a substantially solid carbonaceous residue composed, among other possible substances, of the chemical substances and species from the thermal decomposition of microparticles, microplastics and microfibers released in the reactor.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The problem of micro and nanoparticles (mainly in the form of micro plastics and microfibers) that reach waterways and end up in the sea is well known in the scientific community. According to a 2015 report in the journal "Science", nearly eight million tons of plastic enter the world's oceans. Another study published in the journal "Royal Society Open Science" in 2014 already warned that the deep sea is They are becoming a large deposit of microscopic plastic remains.

The UN declared in 2017 that there are around 51 billion microplastic particles in the sea, which can be ingested by marine animals and end up in our food chain, being present in food, drinks and even tap water.

The EUNOMIA study carried out in 2019 called "Plastic in the Marine Environment", concludes that 80% of the plastics that reach the oceans come from land sources. 94% of the plastic that enters the ocean ends up on the seabed. This study estimates that there are 70 Kg/km2 on the seabed.

The textile industry is the third net contributor of this type of waste, which is generated during the useful life of the product, and especially, in the washing stages of the textile article.

Larger microplastics are more likely to exert negative effects, if any, through chemical toxicity. Manufacturers add compounds such as plasticizers, stabilizers, and pigments to plastics, and many of these substances are dangerous, for example, they interfere with endocrine (hormonal) systems. But whether ingesting microplastics significantly increases our exposure to these chemicals depends on how quickly they move out of the plastic flecks and how quickly the flecks travel through our bodies, factors that researchers are barely understanding. starting to study.

Research has been carried out on the risks of micro plastics for marine organisms. Zooplankton, for example, one of the smallest marine organisms, grow more slowly and reproduce less successfully in the presence of microplastics. Other studies suggest that the animals' eggs may be smaller and less likely to hatch. These experiments show that reproduction problems are due to zooplankton not eating enough food.

Fibers seem to be a particular problem. Compared to spheres, fibers take longer to pass through zooplankton, Lindeque 2019. In 2017, Australian researchers reported that zooplankton exposed to microplastic fibers produced half the usual number of larvae and that the resulting adults were smaller. The fibers were not ingested, but the researchers saw that they interfered with swimming and identified deformations in the organisms' bodies. Another study in 2019 found that adult Pacific mole crabs (Emerita analoga) exposed to fibers lived shorter lives.

The known solutions for the treatment of microparticles, microfibers and microplastics currently involve the use of filters with greater or lesser retention capacity. The problem they face is that if they use a very small mesh size, overpressure occurs in the system, which is why 60-75% of the larger microplastics and microfibers are industrially filtered, but the smaller ones (and more harmful to life) are not retained in the filters.

At the domestic level, solutions such as “Guppyfriend” washing bags are known. According to the manufacturer, “Guppyfriend” wash bags reduce the amount of friction experienced by clothes in the washing machine, and reduce the shedding of microfibers by about 90%, according to tests carried out by the Fraunhofer Institute. The microfibers that are released become trapped inside the bag along the seams. The fibers must be collected later and placed in the common garbage.

Another well-known product is the coral-shaped balls commercially called “Cora Balls”. These balls are made of recycled plastic. The coral-shaped ball traps microfibers, and is discarded in the trash. It is stated in the product information that Cora balls last for years. They are capable of retaining around 26% of the microfibers of the garments in the environment. Another similar product is the “Katinax” balls.

Some discharge filters, such as the one on the LINT LUV-R washing machine, are installed in the discharge line of the washing machine. The above filter is stainless steel and is cleaned as needed, discarding all microfibers in the trash. The filter is not disposable.

Most of the solutions known in the state of the art refer to washing water treatment procedures where the microfibers are removed, as far as possible, using traditional filtering equipment. However, to be truly effective, the mesh pitch must be so small that the pressure loss and the probability of failure increase dramatically.

An example of the above is document WO2019017848. Furthermore, it does not refer to the filtering of microfibers either.

Document WO 2021/023909 describes a thermal treatment of water, which, through evaporation of water through temperature, aims to drag microfibers and micro plastics in the vapor phase to an electrostatic device that retains them.

A technology that wants to make its way in the elimination of microplastics is ultrafiltration. Several authors have published works related to this technological proposal, all with similar results: it is a technology with high energy consumption, requires high maintenance, performance is not constant between cleaning cycles and does not guarantee 100% elimination of microplastics and microfibers.

On the other hand, the published hydrocarbonization studies are oriented exclusively towards the production of hydrocarbon for subsequent energy recovery. In no case for the collection of microfibers and micro plastics.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

A first aspect of the present invention describes an installation for collecting micro plastics and microfibers from the washing of textiles, synthetic or natural materials and garments, in which the installation in turn comprises one or more washing modules, and where said installation It also includes:

- at least one reactor of the hydrothermal thermal carbonization type (HTC) or a hydrothermal liquefaction reactor (HTL), where said reactor receives a pipe that channels process water from the washing carried out in the one or more washing modules, where Said reactor operates at temperatures between 100-500°C, for a residence time of between 1 to 3 hours and at variable pressures.

In a preferred embodiment, a substantially solid carbonaceous residue is obtained that comprises chemical substances and species from the thermal decomposition of microparticles, microplastics and microfibers in the reactor.

Alternatively, or in addition to the carbonaceous residue, the reactor can generate a resulting output flow that may contain an organic phase (fats, for example), partially or completely immiscible with the washing water, so the HTC or HTL reactor is It behaves like a phase separator device (which, in the case of fats, can later be collected and valorized).

In the previous case, for example, for the industrial washing of rags stained with grease, the reactor can help separate between grease and water, and this occurs at temperatures not as high as for carbonization. If there is fat or organic phase, the reactor facilitates the separation between both phases without the need to obtain carbon as a by-product and the fats have an energetic interest in themselves.

The by-products resulting from the degradation of detergents, softeners and third substances present in the water after the washing stage are also incorporated into the carbonaceous residue.

The reactor can be hydrothermal thermal carbonization of the type known as HTC ("Hydrothermal Thermal Carbonisation"), or hydrothermal liquefaction known as HTL ("Hydrothermal lycuefaction"), which, under the conditions mentioned above, allow the transformation of waste from textiles, synthetic or natural materials and garments in the washing stage, into a carbonaceous residue stabilized in a substantially solid state and easy to eliminate. Specifically, substances derived from the thermal decomposition of microparticles, microplastics and microfibers, both synthetic and natural, are constituents of said carbonaceous waste.

The reactor can serve a plurality of washing modules, for example, in an industrial laundry where the washing machines cycle and the washing water accumulates, and when there is a certain volume, said water is introduced into a reactor of the type HTC or HTL, depending on the case and degrading or separative objective that you want to achieve.

Furthermore, each installation may comprise at least one HTC type reactor and another HTL reactor each configured to operate with the process waters of one or more washing modules.

In a preferred embodiment, each reactor works batchwise. Alternatively, the reactors could work continuously, being of the type of extrusion cylinder, compression cylinder or others that allow working not in washing batches but in a continuous manner and fed by several independent modules or installations. .

Each washing module may comprise a pre-wash device, a washing device and/or a bleaching device. These devices can be connected in parallel so that the combined output flows result in the process water flow, if there is only a single washing module. In the case of several washing modules, the washing waters can go independently to different reactors or join together and feed a single reactor.

The installation may be provided with a first heat exchanger fed with a flow of steam at the outlet of the reactor and with a flow of water, giving rise to a flow of heated water and a flow of cooled steam.

Additionally, the installation may also have a second heat exchanger fed with the heated water flow and with the process water, giving rise to heating of the process water before being introduced into the reactor and a flow of chilled water.

In a preferred embodiment, the installation comprises a final tank that stores the reactor output flow.

In the embodiment where the reactor gives rise to a resulting output flow with immiscible fats in the washing water, said resulting flow is no longer passed through the second heat exchanger but is passed through a separation or filtration module. the aqueous phase from the organic phase, in such a way that on one side the organic phase (for example fats) is collected and on the other the process water. The aqueous phase can be recirculated to the reactor, with the consequent destruction of microplastics.

Furthermore, the installation may be equipped with a post-wash module that comprises at least one spinning device and a rinsing device for the garments coming from the washing module.

The aforementioned post-wash module can use a rinse flow to carry out the post-wash initially, and comprises a pumping element that drives a post-wash output flow from the post-wash module to the final tank of the installation. , so that said final tank stores both post-washing water and the reactor output flow.

Likewise, the post-wash module can be provided with a second pumping element that drives part of the water stored in the final tank to the post-wash module in order to be used as an inlet flow in the post-wash module. thus forming a closed hydraulic circuit.

The installation may have one or more sensors arranged along the installation's conduits, which measure water losses in the closed hydraulic circuit, said one or more sensors communicating with a control device that is in turn operationally communicated with a pump, in such a way that the control device transmits an order to the pump to introduce water flow only when it is necessary to compensate for said losses.

In a second aspect of the present invention, a procedure for capturing microplastics and microfibers from the washing of textiles, synthetic or natural materials and garments is described, where said procedure includes the steps of:

to. ) wash the garments in one or more washing modules using at least one input water flow, and giving rise to process water that leaves the washing module,

b. ) feed a hydrothermal thermal carbonization (HTT) or hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) reactor with the process waters,

c. ) operate said reactor at temperatures between 100-500°C, for a residence time of between 1 to 3 hours and at variable pressures,

The process described above may comprise a step d.) of obtaining a substantially solid carbonaceous residue that comprises chemical substances and species from the thermal decomposition of microparticles, microplastics and microfibers in the reactor.

Furthermore, the procedure described above allows, in a single operation, the elimination of both microparticles, microfibers and microplastics as well as the waste generated by the added agents in the washing and bleaching stages, including the dirt carried over from washing, soaps, etc As a consequence, it also makes it possible to dispense with water treatment or discharge stages, as occurs in most of the installations known in the state of the art.

The washing step may comprise a prewash step, a washing step and a bleaching step. Consequently, process waters may include traces of detergents, in addition to the aforementioned microparticles, microplastics and microfibers.

The HTC reactor works at temperatures of up to 500°C with an optimum between 250 and 300°C. The reactor operates discontinuously (or continuously if the reactor allows it, such as the use of a mechanical compression system - spindle or plunger, for example - or combination of the different systems) by heating the washing water incorporated into it. , and by combination with the increasing pressure as a consequence of the effect of the water vapor in the system and the gases produced by the decomposition of the substances present in the washing water. The effect of pressure can be accentuated by incorporating third gases such as Nitrogen or Argon, for example, which causes greater overpressures in the reactor. The residence time in the HTC reactor depends on the operating conditions (temperature and pressure), and is estimated to be less than 3 hours, preferably 1 to 2 hours.

In a preferred embodiment, the steam flow resulting from the treatment in the HTC reactor passes through a first heat exchanger, through which a flow of water is also circulated, for example mains water, which can be the inlet water. mentioned above, this being heated before entering the washing module, or, alternatively, an alternative flow of water that is heated in the first heat exchanger and introduced as an inlet flow for washing in the washing module.

Therefore, the method may comprise feeding a heat exchanger with the steam flow and with a water flow that is heated by the steam flow resulting in a heated water flow and a cooled steam flow.

Furthermore, it may comprise an additional step of feeding a second heat exchanger with the heated water flow and with the process waters, giving rise to heating the process waters before being introduced into the reactor in step b.) and a a flow of cooled water, and introducing the cooled flow of water into the one or more washing modules.

The reactor can be fed back with the steam flow cooled in the first heat exchanger.

Furthermore, the procedure includes circulating the reactor outlet flow to a final tank.

Therefore, most of the water is recirculated, and is mainly lost due to the water content retained in (wet) clothing, which is estimated to be around 10%.

Additionally, after the washing step, the procedure may also include rinsing steps, application of softener and spinning. As a consequence, and in the case of facilities that require it, the procedure would include the stages of:

- rinse and spin the clothes coming from the washing module in a post-wash module, initially using a flow of rinsing water,

- pump a post-wash output flow and channel it from an outlet duct of the post-wash module to the final tank, so that said final tank stores both the output flow and condensed water from the steam flow, - pump the fluid stored in the final tank to the post-wash module and use at least part of said stored fluid as the inlet flow of the post-wash module, thus forming a closed post-wash circuit.

In a preferred embodiment, the procedure comprises measuring water losses in the closed post-wash circuit and introducing rinse water flow into the post-wash module only when it is necessary to compensate for said losses.

If the embodiment does not include the post-wash steps (rinsing, softening and spinning), then the residual fluid stored in the final tank is eventually reintroduced into the washing module.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

To complement the description that is being made and in order to help a better understanding of the characteristics of the invention, in accordance with a preferred example of its practical implementation, a set of drawings is attached as an integral part of said description. where, for illustrative and non-limiting purposes, the following has been represented:

Figure 1.- Shows a schematic view of a first preferred embodiment of the installation, where the washing module, the HTT reactor, the exchangers and the storage tank are illustrated.

Figure 2.- Shows a schematic view of a second preferred embodiment of the installation, where it is illustrated that it is also provided with a post-washing module whose output flow is channeled to the storage tank to be reused.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

Below, with the help of the attached figures 1-2 described above, a detailed description of two examples of preferred embodiments of the object of the invention is offered.

As illustrated in Figure 1, in a second aspect the invention describes a Facility (13) for washing textiles, synthetic or natural materials and garments and collecting microparticles, microplastics and microfibers from them, in which the The installation (13) in turn comprises a washing module (1), and an HTTC hydrothermal thermal carbonization reactor (4) fed with a process water outlet (3) from the washing carried out in the washing module (1). , where said reactor (4) is configured to operate at an optimum temperature of between 250-300°C, variable pressures and for a residence time of between 1 to 2 hours, in such a way that it is finally obtained in said reactor ( 4) a substantially solid carbonaceous residue formed wholly or in part by the substances formed during the thermal decomposition of microparticles, microplastics and microfibers released during the washing process.

Additionally, in the preferred embodiment illustrated by Figure 1, the washing module (1) is equipped with at least one prewash device (14), a washing device (15) and a bleaching device (16), where said devices (14,15,16) are connected in parallel so that the added output flows result in the process water flow (3).

In order to maximize the energy efficiency of the installation (13), it also comprises a first heat exchanger (6) fed with a flow resulting from the reactor (5) at the outlet of the reactor (4) and with a flow of water (8), giving rise to a heated water flow (8') and a cooled steam flow (5').

In the preferred embodiment, the installation (13) also comprises a second heat exchanger (7) fed with the heated water flow (8') and with the process waters (3), giving rise to heating of the process water (3) before being introduced into the reactor (4) and at a cooled water flow rate (8'').

In order to reuse the water and avoid its discharge, the installation includes a final tank (9) that stores a reactor output flow (5'') as shown in Figures 1 and 2.

Figure 2 shows a schematic view of a second preferred embodiment of the invention that is also provided with a post-wash module (10) comprising at least one spinning device and a rinsing device for the garments coming from the module. washing (1), where said post-wash module (10) initially uses a rinse flow (11) to carry out the post-wash,

In the second preferred embodiment of the installation (13), the post-wash module (10) in turn comprises:

- a pumping element (17) that drives outlet water (12) from the post-wash module (10) to the final tank (9),

- a second pumping element (18) that drives the water (12.5'') stored in the final tank (9) to the post-wash module (10) to be used in the post-wash module (10). ) thus forming a closed circuit.

A second aspect of the invention has as its object, as seen in Figure 1, a procedure for capturing microparticles, microplastics and microfibers from washing textiles, synthetic or natural materials and/or garments, where said procedure includes the steps of: a.) washing the garments in one or more washing modules (1) using at least one flow of inlet water (2), and giving rise to an output flow of process water (3), b .) feed a hydrothermal thermal carbonization (HTT) or hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) reactor (4) with the process waters (3), c.) operate said reactor (4) at temperatures between 100-500°C, during a residence time of between 1 to 3 hours and at variable pressures, d.) obtain a substantially solid carbonaceous residue that comprises chemical substances and species from the thermal decomposition of the microparticles, microplastics and microfibers in the reactor (4).

The procedure described above allows the elimination of both microparticles in a single operation. microfibers and microplastics as well as the waste generated by the added agents in the washing stage a), including the dirt carried over from the washing, soaps, etc. As a consequence, it makes it possible to dispense with water treatment or discharge stages, as occurs in most of the facilities known in the state of the art.

In order to improve the energy efficiency of the procedure and the installation (13), in a first preferred embodiment the procedure also includes the steps of: d.) feeding a heat exchanger (6) with the resulting reactor flow ( 5) and with a flow of water (8) that is heated by the resulting flow of reactor (5) giving rise to a heated water flow (8') and a cooled steam flow (5').

In the first preferred embodiment described by Figure 1, the procedure includes the step of: e) feeding a second heat exchanger (7) with the heated water flow (8') and with the process waters (3) giving rise to heating the process water (3) before being introduced into the reactor (4) in stage b.) and to a flow of cooled water (8''), and f.) introducing the flow of cooled water ( 8'') in the one or more washing modules (1).

As shown in Figure 1, the procedure comprises reintroducing the resulting reactor flow (5) into the reactor (4) after step e), and channeling a reactor output flow (5') to the outlet. from the reactor (4) to a final tank (9) once the reactor (4) has finished a work cycle.

In the first preferred embodiment being described, lacking a post-wash module (10), the fluid stored in the storage tank (9) is recirculated to the washing module (1), the only water losses being those due to the absorbed by clothes.

As a consequence, the procedure includes the step of measuring water losses in the washing module (1) and feeding water inlet flow (2) into the washing module (1) only when it is necessary to compensate for said losses.

Figure 2 describes a second preferred embodiment of the installation (13) which in turn comprises the step of g.) rinsing and spinning the garments from one or more washing modules (1) in a post-washing module (10). ), initially using a flow of rinsing water (11),

Said post-washing stage (10) in a preferred embodiment also includes the steps of:

h. ) pump a post-wash output flow (12) and channel it from an outlet duct of the post-wash module (10) to the final tank (9), so that said final tank (9) stores both the flow outlet (12) as the reactor outlet flow rate (5''),

Yo. ) pump the stored water (12.5'') in the final tank (9) to the post-wash module (10) and use at least part of said stored fluid as the inlet flow of the post-wash module (10) in stage g.), thus forming a closed post-washing circuit.

Therefore, the procedure includes measuring water losses in the closed post-wash circuit and feeding the flow of rinse water (11) into the post-wash module (10) only when it is necessary to compensate for said losses.

Claims (20)

1. - Installation (13) for collecting micro plastics and microfibers from the washing of textiles, synthetic or natural materials and garments, in which the installation (13) in turn includes one or more washing modules (1), and where said installation (13) is characterized because it also includes: - at least one reactor (4) of the hydrothermal thermal carbonization (HTC) type or a hydrothermal liquefaction reactor (HTL), where said reactor (4) receives a pipe that channels process water (3) from the washing carried out in one or more washing modules (1), where said reactor (4) operates at temperatures between 100-500°C, for a residence time of between 1 to 3 hours and at variable pressures. 2. - The installation (13) of claim 1, in which the reactor (4) after one or more work cycles gives rise to a carbonaceous residue within it, said substantially solid carbonaceous residue comprising chemical substances and species from the thermal decomposition of microparticles, micro plastics and microfibers. 3. - The installation (13) of claim 1, in which the reactor (4) after one or more work cycles gives rise to a flow resulting from the reactor (5) at its outlet, where said flow resulting from reactor (5) comprises organic substances totally or partially immiscible with the water or steam included therein, the reactor (4) acting as a phase separator. 4. - The installation (13) of claim 1, wherein each one or more washing modules (1) comprise a prewash device (14), a washing device (15) and a bleaching device (16) . 5. - The installation (13) of claim 1, which further comprises: - a first heat exchanger (6) fed with a flow resulting from the reactor (5) and with a flow of water (8), giving rise to a flow of heated water (8') and a flow of cooled steam (5' ). 6. - The installation (13) of claim 5, which also comprises a second heat exchanger (7) fed with the heated water flow (8') and with the process waters (3), giving rise to heating the process water (3) before being introduced into the reactor (4) and at a cooled water flow rate (8''). 7. - The installation (13) according to any one of claims 1 or 6, which comprises a final tank (9) that stores a reactor output flow (5'') once the reactor (4) has finished a work cycle. 8. - The installation (13) according to any one of claims 7, which further comprises: - a post-wash module (10) comprising at least one spinning device and a rinsing device for the garments coming from the one or more washing modules (1), where said post-wash module (10) uses initially some rinsing water (11) to carry out the post-wash, - a pumping element (17) that drives outlet water (12) from the post-wash module (10) to the final tank (9), - a second pumping element (18) that drives the water (12.5'') stored in the final tank (9) to the post-wash module (10) to be used in the post-wash module (10). ) thus forming a closed circuit. 9. - The installation (13) of claim 8, which further comprises a sensor that measures water losses in the closed circuit, said sensor communicating with a control device that is in turn operatively communicated with a pump, such that the control device transmits an order to the pump to introduce rinsing water (11) only when it is necessary to compensate for said losses. 10. - Procedure for capturing micro plastics and microfibers from washing textiles, synthetic or natural materials and garments, where said procedure includes the stages of: to. ) wash the garments in one or more washing modules (1) using at least one input water flow (2), and giving rise to an output flow of process water (3), b. ) feeding a hydrothermal thermal carbonization (HTT) or hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) reactor (4) with the process waters (3), c. ) operate said reactor (4) at temperatures between 100-500°C, for a residence time of between 1 to 3 hours and at variable pressures, 11. - The procedure of claim 10, which further comprises a step d.) of obtaining a substantially solid carbonaceous residue within the reactor (4), where said carbonaceous residue comprises chemical substances and species from the thermal decomposition of the microparticles, micro plastics and microfibers in the reactor (4). 12. - The procedure of claim 11, which further comprises a step of removing the carbonaceous residue from the reactor (4) each one or more work cycles of said reactor (4). 13. - The procedure of claim 10 or 11, which comprises obtaining a flow resulting from the reactor (5) at its outlet, which comprises organic substances totally or partially immiscible with the water or steam included therein, the reactor acting (4) as a phase separator. 14. - The procedure of claim 10, which further comprises the steps of: d.) feeding a heat exchanger (6) with the flow resulting from the reactor (5) and with a flow of water (8) that is heated by a flow resulting from the reactor (5) giving rise to a heated water flow ( 8') and at a flow of cooled steam (5'). 15. - The procedure of claim 14, which further comprises the step of: e) feeding a second heat exchanger (7) with the heated water flow (8') and with the process water (3), giving rise to heating of the process water (3) before being introduced into the reactor (4) in stage b.) and at a cooled water flow rate (8''), f.) introduce the cooled water flow (8'') into the one or more washing modules (1). 16. - The procedure of claim 15, which comprises feeding the reactor (4) with the flow of cooled steam (5'). 17. - The procedure of claim 16, which comprises measuring water losses in the one or more washing modules (1) and feeding inlet flow (2) into said washing modules (1) only when it is necessary to compensate for said losses. . 18. - The procedure of claim 16, which further comprises channeling an output flow from the reactor (5'') to a final tank (9) once the reactor (4) has finished a work cycle. 19. - The procedure of claim 18, which further comprises the steps of: g. ) rinse and spin the garments from one or more washing modules (1) in a post-wash module (10), initially using a flow of rinsing water (11), h. ) pump a post-wash output flow (12) and channel it from an outlet duct of the post-wash module (10) to the final tank (9), so that said final tank (9) stores both the flow of post-washing outlet (12) as the reactor outlet flow rate (5''), Yo. ) pump the stored water (12.5'') in the final tank (9) to the post-wash module (10) and use at least part of said stored fluid as the inlet flow of the post-wash module (10) in stage g.), thus forming a closed post-washing circuit. 20. - The procedure of claim 19, which further comprises measuring water losses in the closed post-wash circuit and feeding the flow of rinse water (11) into the post-wash module (10) only when necessary. necessary to compensate for such losses.