JP2002338731A - Apparatus for reducing volume of and recovering foamed synthetic resin and circulation type recycling system for foamed synthetic resin - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an apparatus for reducing the volume of and recovering a foamed synthetic resin that can recover a used foamed synthetic resin product by efficiently using a solvent and a circulation type recycling system for a foamed synthetic resin. SOLUTION: The apparatus for reducing the volume of and recovering a foamed synthetic resin is provided with, within a housing of the apparatus, a storage tank 36 for storing a solvent which reduces the volume of a foamed synthetic resin product as a material to be treated, a reaction tank 26 for reacting the solvent and the material to be treated, a separation tank 44 for precipitating and separating from the solvent a gel-form product produced in the reaction tank, a heating tank 48 for heating the separated gel-like product to evaporate the solvent and a recovery tank 52 for recovering the solvent produced by heating the gel-form product in the heating tank.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for reducing the volume of a foamed synthetic resin and a recycling system for the foamed synthetic resin, and more particularly to a foamed synthetic resin suitable for collecting and recycling a foamed synthetic resin useful as a resource. And a recycling system for foamed synthetic resin.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Foamed synthetic resins such as polystyrene foam are lightweight, easy to handle and have a high heat insulating effect.
It is used in a wide range of fields as trays for placing foods, as transport containers for transporting perishables, and as packing materials, cushioning materials, building materials, and the like. However, such foamed synthetic resin products have a disadvantage that once used, they are bulky, so that the recovery cost is high.

[0003] Therefore, today, a dedicated solvent for dissolving these foamed synthetic resins is provided, and in a fish market using a large amount of foamed synthetic resin products, the object to be treated with the foamed synthetic resin is dissolved in the solvent. A recycling system is used in which the gel is formed and then collected by a trader. In this case, for example, if the product is a fish box made of styrofoam, the volume of the fish box is reduced by using a solvent dedicated to styrene.

[0004] According to the conventional recycling system for foamed synthetic resin performed in this manner, all the used solvents must be recovered. That is, as shown in FIG. 2, the user using the foamed synthetic resin purchases the solvent 2, dissolves the unnecessary foam 4 in the solvent 2, and then dissolves the solvent 4 While the 2 'is collected by the trader, the solvent trader brings the collected solvent 2' to the regeneration plant 6 as shown in FIG. Separation has been done.

[0005]

Solvents used in such a recycling system can be used repeatedly, but many solvents are converted into gel-like products. On the side, equipment for removing the once-dissolved solvent 2 from the gel-like product was necessary, and as a result, the solvent was all recovered when the gel-like product was no longer formed.

On the other hand, on the solvent handling side, since the gelled product which has become heavier due to the solvent 2 being dissolved in a large amount has to be recovered from a business establishment or the like, the amount of foam is small for the heavy carrying weight. As a result, there has been a problem that the collection frequency increases. The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and provides a foam synthetic resin volume reduction collection device and a foam synthetic resin circulation type recycling system that can efficiently collect used foam synthetic resin with respect to a solvent. It is intended to be.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for reducing the volume of a synthetic foam resin according to the present invention. A storage tank in which a solvent for reducing the volume of the object to be processed made of the foamed synthetic resin is stored, a reaction tank for reacting the solvent with the object to be processed, and A gel-like product formed in a tank is separated from the solvent by separation from the solvent, a separation tank, a heating tank for heating the gel-like product separated in the separation tank to emit a solvent, and a heating tank. A recovery tank for recovering the solvent obtained by heating the gel-like product in the storage tank,
It is characterized by having.

According to the present invention having such a configuration, the steps from dissolution of the foamed synthetic resin to extraction of the solvent by heating can be performed continuously and collectively in one apparatus housing. Accordingly, the solvent handling company only needs to collect the waste plastic which has been hardened by heat as much as possible, thereby improving the collection efficiency and consequently reducing the frequency of collection at one business office. be able to. Further, from the viewpoint of the user, it is economical because it is not necessary to purchase a new solvent by leaving the recovered solvent at hand.

Here, it is preferable that the solvent is sprayed into the reaction tank by a blowing means connected to the storage tank. In this case, since a fresh solvent is ejected each time in a small amount, it contributes to downsizing of the entire apparatus. Further, in the present invention, it is preferable that cooling means for cooling the solvent is provided in the collection tank and the storage tank.

With such a configuration, it is possible to prevent the solvent stored in the recovery tank or the storage tank from being vaporized by the heat in the apparatus. In the present invention, it is preferable that the collection tank and the storage tank are connected via a pipe provided with a water separation device. With such a configuration, water collected together with the solvent can be removed.

It is preferable that the reaction tank, the recovery tank, the separation tank, the storage tank, and the heating tank are respectively arranged in this order from above to below. Such a configuration contributes to downsizing of the entire device.
Further, it is preferable that a space in the device housing is communicated with a pressure reducing unit. With such a configuration, the distillation efficiency of the solvent can be improved.

Further, in the present invention, it is preferable that the pressure reducing means includes an odor removing means. With such a configuration, the odor can be removed when the air is sucked by the decompression means, thereby preventing the odor from being diffused to the outside. Further, in the foamed synthetic resin circulation type recycling system according to the present invention, a step of forming a gel-like product by reacting an object to be processed made of the expanded synthetic resin with a solvent that reduces the volume of the object to be processed. And, the step of sedimentation of the gel-like product from the solvent, and the step of separating and removing the precipitated gel-like product,
Heating the taken-out gel-like product in a heating tank to disperse the solvent component contained in the gel-like product;
Is continuously performed in one apparatus housing, the solvent is repeatedly used, and the obtained waste plastic is collected for recycling.

According to the recycling system for foamed synthetic resin of the present invention having such a configuration, the solvent contained in the gel-like product is blown away on the user side.
Solvent handlers only need to recover substantially pure waste plastic, thus improving recovery efficiency.

[0014]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a foamed synthetic resin circulation type recycling system according to the present invention. FIG. 1 shows a foam synthetic resin volume reduction and recovery apparatus suitable for implementing a foam synthetic resin circulation type recycling system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The volume reduction / recovery device 20 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped device housing 22 which is completely hermetically sealed, and an object to be processed made of a foamed synthetic resin is put into a side wall surface of the device housing 22. Opening 24 that can be opened and closed. On the other hand, a wire mesh 27 is installed inside the charging port 24, and a reaction tank 26 whose upper opening spreads like an umbrella is formed below the wire mesh 27. On the wire mesh 27, an object to be processed M of the foamed synthetic resin supplied from the input port 24 is temporarily stored. An outlet 28 is formed at the bottom of the reaction tank 26, and the primary product dissolved in the reaction tank 26 can be taken out from the outlet 28. In addition, a jetting unit 32 for jetting a solvent to the object to be processed M is provided above the reaction tank 26. The jetting means 32 is connected to a pump 34 via a pipe line 33, and the storage tank 3 pumped by the pump 34
The solvent in 6 is sprayed.

On the other hand, a suction pipe 41 connected to a vacuum pump 40 is arranged near the ejection means 32, and a filter 38 is attached to the suction pipe 41. A cooling coil 29 is provided around the filter 38. Downstream of the vacuum pump 40, an odor removing means 51 provided with activated carbon is connected. One end of the downstream pipe 42 connected to the vacuum pump 40 is
It is open in the device housing 22. In addition, the above-mentioned reaction tank 2
6, a separation tank 44 is provided. In the separation tank 44, a gel-like product obtained by a reaction between the solvent and the foamed synthetic resin in the reaction tank 26 is guided by the baffle plate 31 and stored below. Then, the gel-like product dropped into the separation tank 44 is settled below the solvent in the separation tank 44 because it is heavier than the solvent. Therefore,
By this separation tank 44, an unreacted solvent and a gel product can be separated. Further, the gel-like product separated in the separation tank 44 can be automatically discharged through an automatic valve 46.

Below the separation tank 44, a heating tank 48 is arranged. The heating tank 48 is for applying heat to the gelled product separated in the separation tank 44 to disperse the solvent contained therein and solidify the synthetic resin component. Therefore, for example, two containers 63, 63 are placed on the upper part of the heating tank 48 to receive the gel-like product. Then, at the point in time when one container 63 is filled with a prescribed volume of gel-like product, the next container 63 is filled with gel-like product. After the specified amount of the gel-like product is filled in the two containers 63, 63, the heating tank 48
The two vessels are heated simultaneously to nearly 100-115 ° C.

In the distillation chamber 57 above the heating tank 48, a far-infrared heater 59 is provided.
Thus, the gel-like product in the container 63 can be heated. Further, the air in the distillation chamber 57 can be promoted by being stirred by the stirring means 61. On the other hand, the inside of the separation tank 44 and the distillation chamber 57 are separated.
Inside, sensors 65, 67 and 69 are installed, respectively.
Thereby, the amount of the gel-like product can be measured. That is, in the separation tank 44, it can be determined by the lower level sensor 67 whether the internal volume is empty or there is a remaining amount. Therefore, since empty detection in the separation tank 44 can be performed, it is possible to prevent the gel-like product from solidifying in this tank due to the insufficient amount of the solvent. When both the upper level sensor 65 and the lower level sensor 67 are operating, the level sensor 67
In the vicinity, it can be determined that a gel product having a heavy weight is settled. Therefore, it can be determined that the gel product can be dropped from the separation tank 44. Therefore, in this case, a predetermined amount of the gel-like product can be dropped from the separation tank 44 by the automatic valve 46. On the other hand, by the operation of the sensor 69 in the distillation chamber 57,
The amount dropped from the separation tank 44 can be detected.

Therefore, such sensors 65, 6
Based on the detections at 7 and 69, the operation of the automatic valve 46 can be controlled to adjust the timing for dropping the gel-like product and the amount of drop. On the side of the separation tank 44,
The storage tanks 36 are arranged side by side.
The solvent used for reducing the volume of the plastic is supplied from the liquid supply port 15. The solvent overflowing from the separation tank 44 is returned to the storage tank 36 via the baffle 39 and the strainer 37. Therefore, these baffles 39
The strainer 37 prevents the suspended matter of the foamed plastic from being returned to the storage tank 36.

The storage tank 36 is provided with a liquid level sensor 41, so that when the amount of liquid in the storage tank 36 falls below a certain level, the solvent is automatically replenished from the auxiliary tank 55. It has become. In the storage tank 36, a cooling coil 43 is provided, and a stirring means 45 is further provided. Above the storage tank 36 and below the reaction tank 26, a gutter-like recovery tank 52 is provided so as to surround the inner wall surface. This collection tank 52
When the gel-like product is heated in the heating tank 48, the solvent evaporating from the inside is cooled by the cooling device including the inner wall surface of the apparatus housing and the cooling coil 43 in the collection tank 52, and the solvent is dropped. This is to recover the solvent in the form. That is, the solvent generated from the gel-like product due to the heating of the heating tank 48 is vaporized here, and then reaches the upper part of the apparatus housing in a gaseous state, but is cooled and liquefied by the cooling coil 43 and the like. Are collected in the collection tank 52. In addition, the recovered solvent passes through an opening formed below the recovery tank 52,
The water is returned to the storage tank 36 through the water separator 60. Therefore, unnecessary water is not returned to the storage tank 36 together with the solvent.

Further, in this embodiment, a cooling coil 43 is also provided in the recovery tank 52 so that the recovered solvent is cooled. Therefore, if the device housing 2
Even if the temperature in 2 becomes high, the solvent does not evaporate again from recovery tank 52. In this embodiment, when the vacuum pump 40 is driven, the reaction tank 26
The pressure in the entire device housing 22 is reduced through the connecting pipe 70 connecting the upper portion of the device and the recovery tank 52, so that the heating tank 48 radiates the solvent and the solvent in the device housing 22 Distillation can be performed quickly. Further, in this embodiment, when the pressure is reduced by the vacuum pump 40, the internal air is sucked through the filter 38, and a part of the sucked air is discharged to the atmosphere after passing through the odor removing means 51. In addition, the odor in the device housing 22 does not escape to the outside.

The apparatus for reducing and recovering the volume of the synthetic foam resin according to the present embodiment is constructed as described above. The operation of the apparatus will be described below. Now, such a volume reduction and recovery apparatus 20 is installed in a business place where a large amount of foam is used, such as a fish market. The foamed synthetic resin to be treated is, for example, styrene foam, and a dedicated solvent for dissolving the foamed synthetic resin is stored in the storage tank 36.

At a business place such as a fish market, a user of the styrofoam first opens the charging port 24 and loads the object to be treated into the reaction tank 26. As described above, when the inlet 24 is opened, the opening of the inlet 24 is detected by a sensor (not shown), whereby the operation of the vacuum pump 40 is started. Therefore, the odor in the volume reduction and recovery device 20 does not leak outside. When a predetermined amount of polystyrene foam is charged into the reaction tank 26, the charging port 24 is closed, and the inside of the apparatus housing 22 is completely sealed. Thereafter, a start switch (not shown) is turned ON. Then
The pump 34 is driven, and the solvent is sprayed from the ejection port of the ejection means 32. In addition, since the vacuum pump 40 is driven, the inside of the device housing 22 is depressurized by this, and the heat-exchanged air flows through the device housing 2 through the pipe 42.
It is returned in 2. A part of the air sucked by the vacuum pump 40 is released to the atmosphere after the odor is removed by the odor removing means 51.

Then, the gel-like product that is being formed in the reaction tank 26 gradually falls into the separation tank 44. Separation tank 4
At 4, the heavy gel product settles below the solvent. That is, in the separation tank 44, the solvent is present at the upper side and the gel-like product is present at the lower side. While detecting the amount in the separation tank 44 with the sensors 67 and 65, the amount of fall from the automatic valve 46 is adjusted. Thereby, a predetermined amount of the gel-like product is transferred to the container 6 placed on the heating tank 48.
3 can be dropped. Further, the sensor 69 allows an appropriate amount of the gel-like product to be dropped into the container 63. Then, as time elapses, the heat of the heating tank 48 and the heat of the far-infrared heater 59 expel the solvent of the gel-like product. Note that the heating tank 48 is
By heating to about 0 ° C. to 115 ° C., the solvent can be blown off to about 5 to 10% by weight.

When heated in this way, the gel-like product changes to a slab-like solid, becomes waste plastic, and is in a loose state in the container 63. During the heating in the heating tank 48, air is sent from the pipe 42, so that the evaporation can be accelerated by the air. Therefore, by using the volume reduction and recovery device 20 of the present embodiment, it is possible for the user to treat even a gel-like product having a solvent content as small as possible. Moreover, after the solvent blown off in the heating tank 48 becomes gas,
Since the liquid is cooled by the cooling device including the inner wall surface of the device housing and the cooling coil 43 in the collection tank 52 and collected in the collection tank 52 as a liquid, almost the entire amount can be reused. Therefore, the amount of the solvent used may be small.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, a large plant is not required, and the volume of styrofoam can be promptly reduced at home or each business site. Further, since the device used for volume reduction is small, it is effective in reducing the installation space. Furthermore, since there is no need for the collector to collect the untreated gel-like product and separate the solvent component and the waste plastic therefrom as in the past, the recovery efficiency can be improved. .

Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the case where styrofoam is treated has been described.However, the present invention is of course applicable to other synthetic resins, and in that case, a solvent suitable for the foamed synthetic resin may be prepared. good. In the above embodiment, the heating tank 48
The two containers 63, 63 are set on the upper part of the
Individual or more can be placed. Of course, heating can be performed one by one.

Further, according to the above embodiment, the heating tank 48
The residual solvent can be blown down to nearly 5 to 10%, but if it is desired to further reduce the residual amount, a storage box 72 for performing secondary distillation is used to distill the solvent in the storage box. Good. This storage box 72
Is the gel-like product after the primary distillation in the heating tank 48,
It is further heated to further remove the solvent, and is connected to the volume reduction and recovery device 20 via a pipe 76. The storage box 72 includes shelves for accommodating a large number of containers 63 in multiple stages, and is provided with a heating means 74 such as a temperature-controllable heater. The processing chamber in the storage box 72 is connected to the vacuum pump 40 via a pipe 76, so that the pressure can be reduced. Therefore, by sequentially storing the waste plastics whose primary distillation has been completed in the heating tank 48 in such a storage box 72, a large number of waste plastics can be secondarily distilled. In this case, the container 6
If the shelf supporting 3 is configured to be lowered step by step from the top to the bottom, the usability is improved, and the distillation can be performed in a substantially uniform state over time of continuous operation.

When the secondary distillation is performed in this manner, the solvent is reduced to about 1
00% can be recovered. Also, according to such a circulation system, the solvent can be recovered almost completely,
Even if a harmful solvent is used, it can be managed under a safe condition.

[0030]

As described above, according to the apparatus for reducing the volume of a foamed synthetic resin according to the present invention, the user of the foamed synthetic resin uses the solvent component contained in the gel-like product. Can be extracted to almost 100%. Therefore, the treating company does not need to collect the solvent, so that the collection efficiency can be improved. In addition, since the entire apparatus is compact, there is no problem with the installation location.

Further, since the solvent can be automatically and repeatedly reused in one apparatus, the amount of solvent used can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an apparatus for reducing the volume of a synthetic foam resin according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart on the user side illustrating a conventional recycling system for foamed synthetic resin.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart on the side of a trader explaining a conventional recycling system for foamed synthetic resin.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 20 volume reduction / recovery device 22 device housing 24 input port 26 reaction tank 28 outlet 32 ejection means 33 conduit 36 storage tank 38 filter 40 vacuum pump 44 separation tank 48 heating tank 51 odor removal means 52 collection tank 60 water separation device

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Hirohisa Yoshioka 1-chome, Aobadai, Aoba-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture 4 Akudai Sunkus Building 502 F-term (reference) 4D076 AA12 BC03 4F301 AA15 AD08 AD09 BG02 BG15 CA03 CA09 CA14 CA41 CA53 CA63 CA64

Claims (8)

[Claims] An opening for opening and closing a foamed synthetic resin is formed on a side wall of an apparatus housing so as to be freely opened and closed, and a solvent for reducing a volume of an object to be processed made of the foamed synthetic resin in the apparatus housing. A storage tank in which is stored, a reaction tank for reacting the solvent with the object to be processed, a separation tank for separating a gel-like product formed in the reaction tank from the solvent by separation, and the separation. A heating tank for heating the gelled product separated in the tank to emit a solvent, and a recovery tank for collecting the solvent obtained by heating the gelled product in the heating tank to the storage tank. A volume reduction and recovery device for a foamed synthetic resin, comprising: 2. The apparatus for reducing the volume of a synthetic foam resin according to claim 1, wherein the solvent is sprayed into the reaction tank by an ejection means connected to the storage tank. 3. In the collection tank and the storage tank,
2. The apparatus for reducing the volume of a foamed synthetic resin according to claim 1, further comprising cooling means for cooling the solvent. 4. A space between the collection tank and the storage tank,
The volume reducing and collecting apparatus for a foamed synthetic resin according to claim 1, wherein the apparatus is connected via a pipe provided with a water separator. 5. The reaction tank, the recovery tank, the separation tank,
The said synthetic | combination tank and the said heating tank are each arrange | positioned from the upper part to the lower part in this order, The volume reduction collection | recovery apparatus of the foaming synthetic resin of Claim 1 characterized by the above-mentioned. 6. The apparatus for reducing the volume of a synthetic foam resin according to claim 1, wherein the space inside the apparatus housing is communicated with a pressure reducing means. 7. The apparatus for reducing the volume of a synthetic foam resin according to claim 6, wherein the pressure reducing means includes an odor removing means. 8. A step of reacting an object to be processed made of a foamed synthetic resin with a solvent that reduces the volume of the object to be processed to form a gel-like product; and setting the gel-like product out of the solvent. Causing the gelled product to be separated and taken out; and heating the taken out gelled product in a heating tank to disperse the solvent contained in the gelled product. When,
The recycling system for foamed synthetic resin is characterized in that the process is performed continuously in one device housing, the solvent is repeatedly used, and the obtained waste plastic is collected for recycling.