JP2003038948A - Device for processing particle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To efficiently separate and collect particles of a powder and granular material from a gas, to efficiently return the particles to a particle processing zone and to make cleaning work easy. SOLUTION: The particle processing zone (fluidized bed) 24 for drying or processing the particles 25 of the powder and granular material by passing a gas through the particles 25 in a treating vessel 21 is formed. A particle collecting means 30 for separating and collecting particles in the gas discharged after the particle processing zone (fluidized bed) has been formed and an ejector 31 for sucking the particles separated and collected at the particle collecting means 30 and for returning the particles to the particle processing zone 24 are provided. The particle collecting means 30 is constituted of a spiral passage 30a and a collected particle recovering chamber 30b which is communicated to the outside of the spiral passage 30a via a trap gate 30g, and the collected particle recovering chamber 30b is communicated to a negative pressure generating part 31a of the ejector 31.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method in which a gas body is ventilated through powder particles in a processing container to dry or process the particles, and particles in the gas discharged from the processing container are separated and collected. The present invention relates to an apparatus for processing particles, which is used in the field of manufacturing foods, pharmaceuticals, agricultural chemicals and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there are a cyclone system and a bag filter system as a method for separating and collecting particles from a gas body in which powder particles are mixed.

The former is industrially used for separating and collecting relatively large particles of several tens of microns or more, but the separating and collecting of fine particles in the fields of pharmaceuticals, foods, pesticides, etc. is shown in FIG.
In a particle processing device (such as a fluidized bed device) as shown in,
Usually, in order to easily return the separated and collected particles to the particle processing zone, a bag filter 2 is installed on the upper part of the processing container 1, and the granular particles filtered and separated by the bag filter 2 are collected in the bag filter 2. A method of returning to the lower particle processing zone (fluidized bed) 3 by removing the particles with an accompanying installation mechanism (not shown) is adopted.
In the particle processing apparatus of FIG. 2, a gas body (for example, air) is introduced from the gas body introduction port 4 in the lower part of the processing container 1, and the gas body is dispersed upward through the dispersion plate 5 having a large number of ventilation holes. It is supplied, whereby the fluidized bed 3 of the granular particles 6 is formed and dried, and the liquid 9 for particle processing is sprayed and supplied from the spray nozzle 8 toward the fluidized bed 3 to carry out the intended particle processing. Is given. The liquid 9 is, for example, a coating liquid or a binder liquid. The gas body dispersedly supplied into the processing container 1 contributes to dispersion, drying or other processing while forming the fluidized bed 3 of the powder particles 6, and then is filtered and solidified by the bag filter 2 above the processing container 1. The gas is separated into only gas, which is exhausted from the exhaust duct 10.

In the bag filter 2, relatively large particles can be captured by the mesh of the bag filter 2, but fine powder particles can be captured only by clogging occurring with the progress of operation. Therefore, the particle collection efficiency in the initial stage of operation is not sufficient, especially when handling powder particles with a size of less than several tens of microns, the loss in the initial stage of operation cannot be ignored, and the increase in the collection efficiency becomes a very serious problem. There is.

[0005] Further, although a shredding mechanism is used to return the powdery and granular particles filtered and collected by the bag filter 2 to the particle processing zone (fluidized bed) 3, among the shredded particles, Since the fine powder particles have a small mass, they are soaring again that they tend to adhere to the bag filter 2 and are unlikely to return to the particle processing zone 3. In addition, there is a problem that the cleaning work of the bag filter 2 after the work, which is necessary for removing clogging, preventing the generation of bacteria and cross contamination, is extremely troublesome.

On the other hand, when the conventional cyclone system is used to treat the exhaust gas discharged from the particle processing apparatus, as shown in FIG. 3, the gas discharged from the particle processing apparatus 11 is separated into the separation chamber 13 in the cyclone container 12. Is introduced tangentially to the upper part of the gas chamber, the gas body is swirled in the separation chamber 13, and the centrifugal force generated by the swirling flow causes the granular particles contained in the gas body to fly to the outer peripheral side for separation and separation. The powder particles are dropped into the lower funnel chamber 14 of the cyclone container 12 by their own weight to be collected, the gas body is exhausted from the upper center part of the cyclone container 12, and the collected powder particles are collected at an appropriate time. Then, the rotary valve 15 is taken out from the lower funnel chamber 14 by rotating. In order to return the taken-out particles to the particle processing apparatus 11, it is necessary to drop the particles by using gravity through a pipe that penetrates the wall of the particle processing chamber, and it is not always possible to return the particles to a location suitable for particle processing. Further, in the conventional cyclone method, since the particle separation efficiency is not sufficient, a method of reinforcing the particle separation by further passing the exhaust of the cyclone through a bag filter is adopted. In order to improve the collection efficiency of powder particles with only a cyclone without connecting a bag filter, the flow velocity of the gas body at the gas body inlet 16 is made sufficiently large, and the shape of the separation chamber 13 is devised so that the dimensions can be improved. Needs to be increased. In this way, the cyclone system having the above configuration is provided in the upper part of the particle processing device container.
It cannot be considered at all due to structural and operational constraints. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3, it is necessary to once exhaust the exhaust gas from the particle processing apparatus to the outside of the particle processing apparatus and then separate and collect the powder particles contained in the exhaust gas. In this case, a special device is required to return the separated and collected powder particles to a desired place in the particle processing device. Also, as mentioned above,
Even when the conventional bag filter system is provided outside the particle processing apparatus, special measures are required to return the separated and collected particles to the particle processing zone. Furthermore, the problem that cleaning after the work is difficult is also stuffed.

[0007]

Thus, in the particle separating and collecting mechanism attached to the particle processing apparatus, the collecting efficiency is high, and the separated and collected particles can be efficiently returned to the particle processing zone. There has been a strong demand for a particle separation and collection mechanism that is easy to handle and wash.

The present inventors have completed the present invention as a result of intensive research to meet the above-mentioned demand.
The purpose is that the powder particles can be efficiently separated and collected from the gas body containing the powder particles,
Further, it is an object of the present invention to provide a particle processing apparatus having a powdery particle particle collecting means which can efficiently return the separated and collected powdery particle particles to the particle processing zone and which can be easily handled and washed.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a method for aerating a powder or granule particles in a processing container with a gas to dry or granulate or coat the particles. In a particle processing device that forms a particle processing zone, a mechanism that efficiently separates and collects particles by using the centrifugal force that accompanies the swirling motion of a gas body, using a mechanism that is as simple as possible without using a bag filter as much as possible. Devised. That is, in order to increase the separation efficiency, means for increasing the swirling speed of the swirling flow of the gas body, means for efficiently separating and collecting, and efficiently returning the separated and collected particles to the particle processing zone. I devised a means for it. Next, this will be described more specifically. In order to increase the swirling speed of the swirling flow, a gas body containing powder blows compressed air into the swirling flow path in the swirling direction as needed, and the swirling flow path is made a spiral flow path, and its cross-sectional area is appropriate. By increasing the flow velocity of the swirl flow and increasing the centrifugal force applied to the particles, the separation efficiency is increased and the particles in the gas discharged after the particle processing zone are formed. It is a particle collecting means for efficiently separating and collecting. In order to take out the particles moving near the outer wall of the swirl flow path by the centrifugal force to the outside of the swirl flow, slits (30g, 30h) are provided on the outer wall of the swirl flow path, and particles provided from the slit to the outside of the swirl flow system. A particle-rich gas body was introduced into the collection chamber (30b). In order to allow an optimum amount of gas to flow out from the slit, the pressure balance inside and outside the slit must be appropriate. Therefore, the particle collection chamber (3
0b) and the suction port of the ejector (31) were connected, and the particle collection chamber (30b) was adjusted to a negative pressure appropriately. By providing the suction port of the ejector (31) at the bottom of the particle collection chamber through the particle collection chamber, the particles settled in the particle collection chamber are efficiently sucked by the ejector. The particles sucked into the ejector (31) can be easily returned to an appropriate place in the particle processing zone by the flow of compressed air. Adopting the ejector (31), even if the cyclone is placed outside the particle processing equipment as shown in Fig. 3, it can be returned to an appropriate place in the particle processing zone by connecting the ejector suction port to the lower part of the cyclone. Will be easier. Since this ejector only needs to be connected to a supply pipe for a gas body such as compressed air, it does not require an opening / closing operation like a rotary valve, and moreover the separated and collected powder particles are sucked into the negative pressure generating section. Then, it can be efficiently returned to the particle processing zone by being entrained in a gas body such as compressed air.

To summarize the above-mentioned particle collecting means, a swirl flow passage or a spiral passage for passing a gas body containing particles, and a collected particle recovery chamber provided outside the swirl flow passage or the spiral passage,
A structure is provided in which a swirl flow path or a spiral passage and a passage for connecting the collected particle collection chamber to each other are provided, and the collected particle collection chamber is connected to the negative pressure generating portion of the ejector. The spiral passage is for regulating a swirling flow and forming a swirling flow having a flow velocity above a certain level. With this configuration, the granular particles contained in the gas body gather near the outer wall of the flow passage due to centrifugal force while passing through the swirl flow passage or the spiral passage, and due to the negative pressure of the ejector, the swirl flow passage outer wall The particles are suctioned and collected in the collection particle collection chamber through the slit provided in the. The collected particles are sucked by the ejector and are returned to the particle processing zone by being entrained in a gas body such as compressed air supplied to the ejector.

Further, the particle collecting means is provided with a trap gate in the swirl flow path or a passage for connecting the spiral passage and the collected particle recovery chamber, and is formed in an armored shape as required. With this configuration, the particulate material particles contained in the gas body are moved toward the outer wall of the flow passage by centrifugal force while passing through the swirling flow passage or the spiral passage, pass through the trap gate, and the collected particle recovery chamber. Are efficiently separated and collected.

Further, the particle collecting means may be provided with a gas body injection nozzle provided so as to accelerate the swirling flow velocity of the gas body in the swirling flow path. According to this configuration, the swirling flow of the gas body passing through the spiral passage or the swirling flow passage is accelerated, the centrifugal force is increased, and the granular particles contained in the gas body are moved to the vicinity of the outer wall of the swirling flow passage. The separation and collection efficiency can be further improved.

Further, the particle collecting means has a high efficiency of separating and collecting particles as compared with a generally used cyclone,
Most particles are collected, but just in case, a final separation / collection chamber is provided near the end of the swirl flow path or spiral path to collect and collect the small amount of particles remaining in the gas body by filtration. You may arrange | position the filter material which does. According to this structure, the efficiency of collecting the powder particles is further improved, and the scattering loss is extremely reduced. In this configuration, most of the granular material particles are separated and collected by the centrifugal force separating action in the swirling flow path or the spiral passage, and the remaining very small amount of granular material is separated and collected in the final separation collection chamber. Since they are collected, the filtration area of the filter medium can be extremely small as compared with the conventional bag filter system. Therefore, compared to the conventional bag filter method, the handling is easier and the cleaning work of the filter medium is easier.

Further, the particle collecting means is arranged in the upper part of the processing container, and according to this structure, the particle processing apparatus including the particle collecting means can be made compact.

Even if the particle separating and collecting mechanism is arranged outside the particle processing apparatus, the particle separating and collecting mechanism naturally functions satisfactorily. Even if the conventional cyclone type particle separating and collecting mechanism is arranged outside the particle processing apparatus, the ejector mechanism according to the present invention can be fully utilized.

The particle processing zone formed in the processing container is a fluidized bed of powder particles. The fluidized bed here also includes a fluidized bed accompanied by one or more of rolling, stirring, and jet (including Worster system).

[0017]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic vertical sectional view showing an embodiment of a particle processing apparatus according to the present invention, in which 21 is a processing container, 22 is a gas body inlet, 23 is a dispersion plate, and 24 is a particle processing zone (fluidized bed). , 25 is powder particles, 27 is a spray nozzle, 28 is from the spray nozzle 27 to the fluidized bed 2
A spray liquid for processing particles to be sprayed toward 6, 29 is an exhaust duct, 30 is a particle collecting means, 31 is an ejector, 32 is a collected particle discharge pipe, 33 is a collected particle feedback pipe, and 34 is a final separation. A collection chamber, 35 is a filter medium.

The processing container 21 has a substantially cylindrical shape, a gas body introduction port 22 is formed on the bottom side surface, and a dispersion plate 23 is installed above the bottom part by a predetermined height. The dispersion plate 23 has a large number of ventilation holes, and the gas body introduced from the gas body introduction port 22 is substantially evenly dispersed and jetted to the upper particle processing zone (fluidized bed) 24, and the gas is introduced into the particle processing zone 24. It is for forming the fluidized bed 24 of the powder particles 25 being supplied. The spray nozzle 27 sprays a spray liquid 28 for particle processing toward the fluidized bed 24, whereby granulation and coating processing of the powder particles 25 are performed. The exhaust duct 29 is connected to the central portion of the ceiling plate of the processing container 21.

The particle collecting means 30 is arranged in the upper part of the processing container 21. The particle collecting means 30 includes a spiral passage 30a for passing a gas body containing particles and a spiral passage 30.
a, a trapped particle recovery chamber 30b outside the a, and a spiral passage 30a
And a passage for communicating the collected particle collection chamber 30b with each other, for example,
A trap gate 30g, and the trapped particle recovery chamber 30
b is connected and communicated with the negative pressure generating portion 31a of the ejector 31 via the collected particle discharge pipe 32.

The spiral passage 30a is used to generate a swirling flow in the gas body containing the particles and separate and collect the particles in the gas body by the centrifugal force in the outer collection particle recovery chamber 30b. The spiral partition plates 30e are vertically arranged at a predetermined pitch in the annular space between the outer wall 30c and the inner wall 30d to form a passage having a rectangular cross section, and a gas body introduction port 30f is formed at the center of the lower end. Has been done. Here, the spiral passage generates the swirling flow in the optimum state, but the partition plate can be partially omitted as long as the velocity of the swirling air flow is guaranteed (see FIG. 4).

The upper end of the outer wall 30c is fixed to the ceiling plate of the processing container 21, and the upper end of the inner wall 30d is shorter than that.
The upper and lower ends or one end of the inner wall 30d are closed. Then, a space between the upper end of the inner wall 30d and the ceiling plate of the processing container 21 is provided as a final separation / collection chamber 34, and a filter medium 35 is attached to this portion so as to surround a connection port to the exhaust duct 29, The filter medium 35 is, for example, a bag filter, and is provided with a mechanism for accelerating the swirling airflow and a mechanism for removing collected particles (not shown) in the periphery.

The trapped particle recovery chamber 30b has a spiral passage 30.
It may be vertically formed outside the outer wall 30c of a and may be divided into upper and lower parts. The spiral passage 3 is formed on the outer wall 30c between the collected particle recovery chamber 30b and the spiral passage 30a.
The trap gate 30g is formed in multiple stages as a passage for efficiently separating and collecting particles that are blown outward by the centrifugal force due to the swirling flow at 0a. The trap gate 30g includes, for example, an aperture adjusting blade 30 such as a shutter.
h is attached to facilitate the intake of particles into the collected particle recovery chamber 30b. The operation of adjusting the opening degree of the shutter in the processing container 21 can be enabled from the outside.

In the swirling flow path or spiral path 30a,
A gas body injection nozzle (not shown) for ejecting a gas body such as compressed air for accelerating the swirling flow of the gas body containing the powder particles 25 can be installed. This injection nozzle is installed near the gas body introduction port 30f or at a suitable place on the way, and is installed so as to accelerate the swirling flow of the gas body from the direction substantially tangential to the spiral passage 30a, for example.

The ejector 31 is attached to the outside of the processing container 21, but may be provided inside the particle processing container.
The negative pressure generating part 31a of the ejector 31 is connected via a collected particle discharge pipe 32 provided at the bottom of the collected particle recovery chamber 30b. Further, the tip compressed air discharge port of the ejector 31 is connected to an appropriate place of the particle processing zone 24, for example, a spray zone or the like, via the collected particle feedback pipe 33, and the granular material recovered in the collected particle recovery chamber 30b. The particles 25 are sucked into the negative pressure generating portion 31a and are returned together with the compressed air or an appropriate gas body.

The embodiment of the device of the present invention has the above-mentioned configuration, and the operation thereof will be described below. An appropriate gas body, for example, hot air, is supplied from the gas body inlet port 22 at an appropriate flow rate, for example, an appropriate flow rate for forming a fluidized bed of the granular particles 25 in the particle processing zone 24, and the dispersion plate 23. Through the particle processing zone 24 is dispersedly supplied. As a result, in the particle processing zone 24, the powder particles 25 are blown up by the mounding power of the hot air ejected from the numerous vent holes of the dispersion plate 23, eventually fall by their own weight, and again blown up from the middle, and this is repeated. A fluidized bed 24 of powder particles 25 is formed, and a spray nozzle 27 is formed on the fluidized bed 24.
By spraying and supplying the spray liquid 28 for particle processing, predetermined granulation or coating processing and drying are performed.

The hot air, which has contributed to the formation of the fluidized bed 24 of the powder particles 25, brings the particles in the processing container 21 into a fluid dispersion state, is subjected to an appropriate particle processing, and then is processed by the particle collecting means 30. While passing through the swirl flow path (spiral passage) 30a while swirling from the gas body introduction port 30f, the granular particles in the gas body are moved toward the outer wall by centrifugal force, and the trap gate 30
g to be separated and collected in the collected particle collection chamber 30b, and further to the final separation and collection chamber 34 and swirl around it, and since the trap gate 30g is also provided here, the particulate particles in the gas body Are separated and collected in the collected particle collection chamber 30b by centrifugal force. Further, after the particulate material particles are completely filtered and separated by the filter material 35, the gas body in which the particulate material particles are almost absent is discharged from the exhaust duct 29 to the outside of the system.

In the ejector 31, a gas body such as compressed air is set to an appropriate supply pressure according to the flow rate of the hot air and the concentration of particles contained in the hot air. As a result, an optimal negative pressure is generated in the throat portion of the ejector 31, that is, the negative pressure generating portion 31a, and the particles contained in the gas are separated and collected in the collected particle recovery chamber 30b. The powder particles settled in the lower part are sucked through the collected particle discharge pipe 32, and are entrained in the compressed air or gas body supplied to the ejector 31 to collect particle feedback pipe 33.
Is fed back to the particle processing zone 24 for particle processing.

The passage cross-sectional area of the spiral passage 30a is properly set in relation to the flow rate of the gas body introduced into the processing container 21, and the separation and collection efficiency of the powder particles is predetermined. To maintain the level, for example, the flow velocity of the gas body is 5
0 m / s or more, and if necessary, install a gas body injection nozzle (not shown) for compressed air or the like near the gas body inlet 30f or in an appropriate place on the way to accelerate the swirling flow of the gas body. It is preferable to be able to do so. Further, in order to increase the separation and collection efficiency, the length of the spiral passage 30a is appropriately designed according to the particle size and concentration of the particles. The pressure of the compressed air supplied to the ejector 31 is adjusted so that the collection state of the trapped particle collection chamber is optimized. Further, the tips of the collected particle feedback tubes 33 are inserted at the optimum locations and directions for particle processing.

In the embodiment described here, the particle separation / collection device is provided inside the particle processing device. However, the particle separation / collection device is installed outside the particle processing device and collected in the particle collection / recovery chamber. The particles may be returned to the particle processing device by the same ejector. Alternatively, a conventional cyclone may be installed outside the particle processing device, and particles accumulated in the cyclone may be returned to the particle processing device by an ejector (see FIG. 5).

[0030]

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, the apparatus of the present invention can be used without using a bag filter, which has been problematic in the past such as solid-gas separation characteristics, feedback of separated particles to a particle processing zone, and cleaning work after operation. According to this, almost complete solid-gas separation is possible, the separated and collected particles can be fed back to a desired part of the particle processing zone, and cleaning after operation becomes easy. The benefits to you are immeasurable. Recently, in pharmaceutical and food production sites, fine particles are often used as a raw material in order to impart the functionality of the particles, and the scattering loss from the particle processing zone tends to increase, but the raw material loss is minimized. The economic effect is extremely large in order to reduce it.

GMP (Good Management Practice)
From the standpoint as well, the benefits of eliminating the problematic bag filter are immeasurable. That is, when a bag filter is used, if the powder particles attached to the bag are insufficiently washed, there is a defect that the attached particles of the previous time become foreign matters and the quality is impaired at the time of the next particle processing. It took a lot of time to clean it because
According to the present invention, the particle collecting means has a structure that does not cause clogging as described above, and can be automatically cleaned by a jet water stream in the cleaning process after particle processing, which can be automated and is optimal for GMP. The process of can be built. In addition, since the separation and collection function does not change from the beginning to the end of operation, there is no loss at the beginning of operation as in the bag filter method. Therefore, the present invention can bring a great contribution to the production sites of pharmaceuticals and foods.

By disposing the particle collecting means in the upper part of the processing container, the particle processing apparatus including the particle collecting means can be made compact.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic vertical sectional view showing an embodiment of a particle processing apparatus according to the present invention using a spiral flow path.

FIG. 2 is a schematic vertical cross-sectional view of a conventional particle processing apparatus equipped with a bag filter type particle collecting means.

FIG. 3 is a schematic vertical cross-sectional view of a conventional particle processing apparatus equipped with a cyclone type particle collecting means.

FIG. 4 is a schematic vertical cross-sectional view showing an embodiment of a particle processing device according to the present invention using a swirl flow path without a spiral partition plate.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of a mechanism in which a conventional cyclone-type particle separation / collection device is provided outside the particle processing device, and the collected particles are returned to the particle processing device by an ejector.

[Explanation of symbols] 21 Processing container 22 Gas body inlet 23 Dispersion plate 24 Particle processing zone (fluidized bed) 25 powder particles 27 spray nozzles 28 Particle processing spray liquid 29 Exhaust duct 30 Collection means 30a spiral passage 30b Collection particle collection room 30g trap gate 31 ejector 31a Negative pressure generating section 32 Collected particle discharge pipe 33 Collected particle feedback tube 34 Final Separation Collection Room 35 filter media

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Kazuo Oishi             31-15 Tanagura, Kyotanabe City, Kyoto Prefecture F term (reference) 3L113 AA07 AB03 AC01 AC58 AC67                       BA02 DA04 DA14 DA24                 4D031 AC02 AC04 BA01 BA03 BB00                       DA01                 4G004 AA01 BA02

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A particle processing apparatus for forming a particle processing zone for aerating a gas body through particles in a processing container to dry or granulate or coat the particles. It is characterized by further comprising a particle collecting means for separating and collecting particles in a gas body to be discharged later, and an ejector for sucking the particles separated and collected by the particle collecting means and returning them to the particle processing zone. Particle processing equipment. 2. The particle collecting means comprises a swirl flow path for passing a gas body containing particles, a collected particle recovery chamber provided on an outer peripheral portion of the swirl flow path, a swirl flow path and a collected particle recovery chamber. The particle processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a passage for communicating the collected particle collection chamber with the negative pressure generating portion of the ejector. 3. The particle processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the swirl flow path forms a spiral passage. 4. The particle processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the passage that connects the spiral passage and the collected particle recovery chamber has a trap gate formed in a multi-stage shape. 5. The particle processing device according to claim 3, 4, or 5, further comprising a gas body injection nozzle for accelerating the swirling flow of the gas body in the swirling flow path or the spiral passage. 6. The final separation / collection chamber is provided near the end of the swirl flow path or the spiral passage, and a filter medium for filtering and separating particles in the gas body is provided therein. The particle processing device according to claim 1. 7. The particle processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the particle collecting means is arranged in the upper part of the processing container. 8. A particle processing method, wherein means for collecting and separating particles is provided outside a particle processing container, and the collected and separated particles are sucked by an ejector and returned to a particle processing zone together with ejector exhaust. apparatus. 9. The particle processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the particle processing zone formed in the processing container is a fluidized bed of powder particles.