GB2223563A

GB2223563A - Centrifugal water separator

Info

Publication number: GB2223563A
Application number: GB8823393A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Wan-Ho Chen
Original assignee: CHEN WAN HO
Current assignee: CHEN WAN HO
Priority date: 1988-02-02
Filing date: 1988-10-05
Publication date: 1990-04-11
Also published as: DE8801215U1; GB8823393D0

Abstract

A helix type water separator has a blast feeder applicable to water impermeable waste (such as plastic bags, plastic sheets, plastic bottles, plastic containers), after the same are crushed and cleaned for reprocessing as a secondary raw material. The separator includes a water separation column (2) with a helix-shaped passageway (22) disposed in the interior thereof, and at the bottom and near the diametral outside of the passageway is disposed separation mesh wall (25) to divide the passageway into a separation zone (26). The lower end inlet of the separation column (2) and the outlet of the blast feeder, are connected together by an S-shaped guiding pipe (23), and the upper end outlet and the inlet of the collecting assembly are connected together by a 90 DEG -elbow pipe (24), thereby the crushed, cleaned, and water adhered waste material is first blasted into the helix-shaped passageway (22) of the water separation column (2) by the blast feeder (3), and during the fast delivery of the waste material inside the helix-shaped passageway (22), the adherent water is separated by way of centrifugal force, and consequently the waste material is collected via the collecting assembly (4). <IMAGE>

Description

HELIX TYPE WATER SEPARATOR WITH A BLAST FEEDER The present invention relates to a helix type water separator with a blast feeder, which comprises mainly of a water separation column with a helix-shaped passageway disposed in the interior thereof; a blast feeder; and a collecting assembly; wherein the water separation column and the blast feeder are connected to each other by an S-shaped guiding pipe, and the water separation column and the collecting assembly are connected by a 900 -elbow guiding pipe; and the helix-shaped passageway inside the water separation column is partitioned by a mesh wall into a separation zone at the bottom thereof and in the vicinity of the diametral side. The separation zone is connected to the drain zone located under the helix-shaped passageway.Thus, when the crushed, cleaned waste material with water adhered thereon is blown forward along the helix-shaped passageway by wind generated by the blast feeder, the adhered water is separated from the waste material by centrifugal force as it moves from the helix-shaped passageway to the collecting assembly, thereby a continuous water separation and material collection can be achieved in a single process, thus making the process economical and cost effective.

In a plastic waste reprocessing plant, the regenerated materials (or secondary materials) are generally obtained from the crushed, cleaned, and dehydrated plastic waste. During the prcessing of the plastic waste, the most labour and time consuming procedures are the selection, cleaning, water separation and drying of the plastic waste. Unless the crushed and cleaned plastic waste fragments are dehydrated to a certain extent they cannot be utilized in their subsequent process, and must be heated until dried.

Nowadays, many plants utilize industrial machines operated on centrifugal force to effect the dehydrating purpose, but those machines are manually loaded and unloaded and are, therefore, inefficient, and laborious to operate. Furthermore, the most serious disadvantage, when utilized for dehydrating purpose, is that plastic waste is not absorbent and is impermeable of water, when loaded into and dealt with in such a centrifugal force machine; the waste will stick to the outer wall of the water separating tank layer after layer, not only preventing the passage of adhered water from the inner layers but also reducing the dehydration efficiency; even by stopping and stirring up repeatedly the dehydrating efficiency is still not satisfactorily improved, so extra subsequent heating to dry the waste is required.Though the centrifugal force water separating machines have such disadvantages, they are still popular with the related industries. The main reason for such is the lack of breakthrough in solving these problems.

A roller type water separator has been marketed recently which adopts a cyclic mesh form conveyor belt which is provided with one or more pairs of pressing rollers. This type water separator is designed to eliminate the above mentioned shortcomings by squeezing out the adhered water as the crushed and cleaned plastic waste chips are delivered by the conveyor belt. However, due to the fact that plastic materials do not absorb water as well as being relatively hard in nature, they can rarely be distributed evenly along the conveyor belt (not uniform in thickness), therefore, all the adhering water cannot be effectively separated by a squeezing and pressing operation. In order to achieve a better effect, a larger pressing force is required.However, the increased pressing force does not always result in an improved dehydrating effect, in addition, the rollers and the mesh type conveyor belt themselves will be exposed to damage directly, and their respective operation lives are consequently shortened, as a result of these above cited shortcomings found during the trial period, they are not widely adopted by the industry.

The present invention provides a helix type water separator, with a blast feeder by which the crushed and cleaned plastic waste chips are blasted to move along a helix-shaped passageway or corridor, thereby, a continuous and effective water separating operation is achieved. It is particularly characterized in that the adhered water on the crushed and cleaned plastic waste chips is not only separated by centrifugal force while the chips are blasted to move along the helix-shaped passageway, but also the residual water thereon is dried by the strong blast, thus labour saving, practical, and econominal advantages are achieved with such an operation.

A specific embodiment of the present invention will now be described by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings of which: Figure 1 shows the perspective view of present invention; Figure 2 illustrates that in the present invention how the inlet guiding pipe is connected to the blast feeder; Figure 3 is the longitudinal sectional view of the water separating column of the present invention; Figure 4 is the top view of the operation of the rotatable elbow means; Figure 5 is the transverse sectional view of the water separating column of the present invention; Figure 6 is the illustration of the water drain in between the helix-shaped passageway and the related zone; Figure 7 is a diagram showing the assembly of the blast feeder and the hopper of the present invention.

Referring to Figure 1, the present helix type water separator, with a blast feeder, which comprises mainly of a water separating column 2 with a helix-shaped passageway or corridor in the interior thereof, a blast feeder 3, an outlet guiding pipe 4, and a hopper 5.

The water separating column 2 has a barrel-shaped body, the central portion thereof is provided with a through inner column 21, the outer surface of the inner column 21 is provided with an upward winding helix-shaped, close-ended passageway 22 from the bottom to top thereof. The lower end and inlet port of this passageway is connected to an inlet guiding pipe 23, above and near the bottom side of which is provided with a separating mesh wall 231 which creates a separating zone 232. The inlet guiding pipe 23 can be S-shaped or arcly-shaped by bending upwardly and with its other end connected to the outlet port of the blast feeder 3 for letting the crushed and cleaned plastic waste chips be blown into the helix-shaped passageway 22.The outlet port of the helix-shaped passageway located on the upper side of the water separating column is connected to an outlet collecting assembly 4 via an elbow connecting pipe 34 to allow the dehydrated plastic chips to be collected thereafter.

The location between the bottom side of the passageway 22 and the space near the outer diameter of the water separating column 2 is partitioned by a separating mesh wall 25 which runs upwardly along the helix-shaped passageway 22 and parallel with both the walls of the water separating column 2 and the inner column 21 to form a separating zone 26. The separating mesh wall 25 is also joined to the outer diameter of the water separating column 2 and sealed by three removable doors D. The bottom side portion of the separating zone, lower than the bottom surface of the passageway 22, is connected to the drain trough 27 disposed thereunder.Said drain 27 is located below the inner side of the separating zone 26 and is provided with through drain holes 271 for leading the separated water into the inner column 21 under which is disposed a funnel-shaped water collecting tank 29, for permitting water to flow through a drain pipe 292.

The blast feeder 3 is a commonly known device, the output port of which is connected to the water separating column 2 via an inlet guiding pipe 23, and the input port thereof is joined to the hopper 5.

The hopper 5 stores the crushed and cleaned plastic waste chips which are fed into the blast feeder 3.

The outlet collecting assembly 4 is a mesh tubular body with an opening at its lower end and is connected to the outlet port of the water separating column 2 by an 900 - elbow 24. Said elbow 24 is also divided, at a location near its outer diameter by a separating mesh wall 241, into a separating zone 242 and is also provided with a drain hole 243 for effecting further water separation during the feeding of the dehydrated plastic waste chips.

Referring to Figure 2, it can -seen that the crushed and cleaned plastic waste chips are blasted out by the blast feeder 3, whereby the chips rushinto the S-shaped inlet guiding pipe 23, since the lower part of the pipe 23 is provided with a separating mesh wall 231 to form a separating zone 232. The lowest part of the separating zone 232 is provided with a drain hole 233, therefore, when the chips ae blasted to rise inside the pipe 23, the water adhering to them will be removed to a large extent due to entering into the separating zone 232.

Referring to Figure 3, it can be seen that around the outer surface of the inner column 21, located in the inner space of the water separating column 2, is provided with a helix-shaped passageway 22. The passageway 22 is further partitioned from the separating zone 26 by a mesh separating wall 25, and the separating zone 26 is connected to the drain trough 27 disposed thereunder, and the same is connected to the inner space of the inner column 21 by through drain holes 271, so that when the crushed and cleaned plastic waste chips are blasted into the helix-shaped passageway 22, they will be forced to rush along the passageway 22 while the adhering water drops are removed by the centrifugal force and cast into the separating zone 26, through the meshed separating wall.When the water drops hit the outer wall of the separating zone 26, they will drop as a result of gravitational force with the accumulated water going into the drain trough 27, and further to the inner space of the inner column 21 via the through drain holes 271 (since a certain amount of the strong wind will be led into the separating zone 26, drain trough 27, and come out of the through drain holes 271, thus advancing the drain function of the drain holes 271). Obviously, the present invention is operated in continuous manner and water is removed by centrifugal force along the helix-shaped passageway 22 of the water separating column, it is very labour saving and effective.

Furthermore, since the crushed and cleaned plastic waste chips are blasted into the helix-shaped passageway 22 in dispersed and flying manner, the chance of accumulating and folding of the chips greatly reduced, even if there exists folding phenomenon, the water separator of the present invention is still superior in performance than traditional water separators.

One question remains of how the water in the drain trough 27 can be effectively drained out without accumulation? Effective measures are taken to provide partition plates 272 at a proper distance in the drain trough 27 to divide the same into several zones C, and to locate the through drain holes 271 in the lowest portion of the zone C (referring to Figures 5 and 6, although drain holes 271 can be provided in multiple form only one of them is lcoated in the lowest portion of the zone C), since the natural principle of water flowing toward the lower level is applied the accumulated water, not blown out by wind force via the regular through drain holes, will be drained out via the special through drain hole located in the lowest portion of the zone C.

Also the hopper 5 of the blast feeder 3 is formed into an inverted cone shape, with its end reduced in size into an inlet port and with its breathing port 51 located at the opposite side of the input port of the blast feeder 3, also the input port of the hopper 5 is provided with a downwardly slanted board 52, under which is disposed a transverse axle 53 on which poking blades 531 are mounted, and the top ends of these poking blades 531 are extended over the lower end of the slanted board 52 (as shown-in.

Figure 7) for poking the crushed and cleaned plastic waste chips into the inlet port of the hopper 5 when they are loaded into the hopper 5 and rotated by the transverse axle 53. Since the breathing port 51 of the hopper 5 is located opposite to the input port of the blast feeder 3, the wind blows the chips into the blast feeder from the back side, consequently over feeding and blockage to the passage are thereby prevented.

In addition, the elbow 24 is connected at one end to the outlet port of the helix-shaped passageway 24 of water separating column 2 and at the other end thereof bends 900 into the. collecting assembly 4.

So that the strong wind and the water vapour can be released, the collecting assembly 4 is constructed in a mesh structure with an opening at its lower end; and by the use of elbow 24, the collecting assembly 4 can be aimed in any direction for releasing the strong wind and water vapour while the chips are collected as they fall down (as shown in Figures 3 and 4).

Another problem may arise, at this moment, if the separating mesh wall 25, provided inside the helix-shaped passageway 22 which is utilized for the blockage of the plastic waste chips from entering into the separating zone 26 while the adhered water drops are removed by centrifugal force through the same wall 25, is not able to stop fine particles or chips entering into the separating zone 26 which are smaller than the eyelet of the mesh. This problem is solved by means of providing a cage. Though fine plastic waste particles or chips may enter into the separating zone 26 with water drops, they will be drained out together with water by the wind blow, (the residual will be cleaned manually).For cleaning the accumulated residual and for recovering the fine plastic waste particles or chips, a water tank 29 with a diameter slightly larger than the inner column 21 is disposed underneath the water separating column 2, the upper end portion of this water tank 29 is provided with a filter 291 and the lower end portion thereof is connected to a drain pipe 290 for effective recovery of the same.

Since water separation is achieved by wind force, one may wonder whether the reduction of wind strength during operation might have an adverse effect on the water separation efficiency, but the fact is that the structure of the water separating column may be designed to match the power requirement of the blast feeder, in other words, a high power rating blast feeder is matched to a high power rating water separating column (by lengthening the helix-shaped passageway), a low power rating blast feeder is matched to a low power rating water separating column (by shortening the helix-shaped passageway). If the length of the helix-shaped passageway is fixed it can also be compensated by adding one or more blower units midway in the helix-shaped passageway so to build up the intensity of the wind.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A helix type water separator comprising a water separating column with a helix-shaped passageway and a blast feeder for generating a wind in the passageway, the arrangement being such that the wind produced by the blast feeder blasts, in use, a substance having water adhered to it through the helix-shaped passageway wherein the adhered water is removed by centrifugal force.

2. A helix type water separator with a blast feeder, mainly comprising: a water separating column in combination with a blast feeder and a hopper means, wherein the central portion of said water separating column is furnished with a through inner column from the top to bottom end thereof, and around the outer wall of said inner column, is provided with a sealed and upward running helix-shaped passageway, and the internal space of said helix-shaped passageway is further partitioned by a mesh separating wall into a separating zone which runs in parallel with said helix-shaped passageway and it is utilized for water-draining purposes; the lower end of said helix-shaped passageway is extended into the outlet port of said blast feeder via an inlet guiding pipe; the upper end of said helix-shaped alley is extended into a collecting assembly, which is used to pick up the processed waste chips, via a 900 -bent elbow; in operation, the crushed and cleaned plastic waste chips at the hopper of said blast-feeder are blasted into said helix-shaped passageway by strong wind produced by the blast feeder the adhered water on said chips will be removed or separated by centrifugal force while they are rushing upwardly along said helix-shaped passageway.

3. A helix type water separator with a blast feeder as set forth in either of claims 1 and 2; wherein, the level of the bottom surface of the separating zone, defined inside said water separating column is lower than the level for the bottom surface of said helix-shaped passageway.

4. A helix type water separator with a blast feeder as set forth in any of claims 1 to 3; wherein the water separating column is furnished with a water drain trough disposed underneath said helix-shaped passageway, and is connected to said separating zone, also the level of the bottom surface of which is lower than the level for the bottom surface of said separating zone.

5. A helix type water separator with a blast feeder as set forth in claim 4; wherein the bottom portion of said helix-shaped passageway is partially or fully partitioned from the water drain trough disposed underneath it by a mesh floor to increase the efficiency of water separation.

6. A helix type water separator with a blast feeder as set forth in claims 4 or 5; in which, the water drain trough for water separation is partitioned into several zones by partition plates, also on the lowest location of each said zone is furnished with a through water drain hole which goes into the inner space of said inner column for draining the accumulated water.

7. A helix type water separator with a blast feeder as set forth in any of claims 1 to 6, wherein the input port of the blast feeder is coupled to a hopper assembly which has a cone-shaped funnel body, the inside of said funnel body being furnished with a downwardly slanted poking board extending from the open top end into the reduced neck portion of the funnel body, and inside the inner space of said funnel body, at a location adjacent to the neck portion, just under the lower end of said downwardly slanted poking board there is disposed a transverse poking axle having evenly distributed radial poking blades around the outer surface thereof, which by co-operating with said poking plate, pokes the plastic waste chips accumulated inside said funnel and causes them to uniformly fall down when said poking axle is rotated.

8. A hopper assembly as set forth in claim 7; wherein, at a location on the left side lower portion of said hopper assembly, just opposite to the input port of said blast feeder, and underneath said poking axle, there is provided a breathing port.

9. A helix type water separator with a blast feeder as set forth in any of claims 1 to 8; wherein said water separating column is joined to the blast feeder via an upwardly slanted inlet guiding pipe, also the inner space near the bottom side of said inlet guiding pipe is partitioned by a mesh separating floor to form a separation zone, the lowest location of which is furnished with a water drain out port.

10. A helix type water separator with a blast feeder substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to any of the drawings.