JP2003168370A - Mercury recovery method of waste fluorescent lamp and its device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a processing method and device capable of reducing the quantity of mercury contained in an arc tube glass member to a level of a specified reference value of 0.005 mg/liter or less and requiring a low processing cost and a safe work environment, in a mercury recovery process of the arc tube glass member of a waste fluorescent lamp, particularly a used fluorescent lamp. <P>SOLUTION: This method is used for recovering the mercury 16 from the arc tube glass member 4 separated from the waste fluorescent lamp. The glass member 4 is crushed, the crushed pieces are put into a hot-water washing machine 8 to be agitated with hot water, the mercury is separated from the glass crushed pieces, the separated mercury 16 is put into a tank 9 with the hot water and recovered by precipitating it in the lower part of the tank 9, the glass crushed pieces are dried and removed to a container 20, and the hot water of a supernatant fluid of the tank 9 is recycled and fed to the washing machine 8. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for recovering mercury from waste fluorescent lamps, particularly used lamps.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art With the advent of an energy-saving era, fluorescent lamps have high lamp efficiency as a feature among illumination light sources, and thus demand for main light sources is expected to grow.

On the other hand, in recent years, in order to protect the global environment, there is a demand for recovery of harmful substances used in products and recycling of members. Here, since mercury, which is an ultraviolet radiating substance enclosed as a basic constituent member in a fluorescent lamp, is a harmful substance, in recent years, especially when the waste fluorescent lamp and related members are disposed of or recycled and used, no pollution is required. Therefore, the removal of the enclosed mercury by recovery has been required.

The conventional waste fluorescent lamp has two waste categories for its disposal, namely (a) general waste which is a used fluorescent lamp in general households, and (b).
It is classified into industrial waste such as used fluorescent lamps in general building offices and factories and defective lamps in the manufacturing process. Most of the former general waste is currently landfilled like non-combustible general household waste. On the other hand, the latter industrial waste, such as waste fluorescent lamps and related components, was subjected to the elution test method specified by the Environmental Agency Notification No. 13 on February 17, 1973, and the standard value of mercury in the eluate was 0.005 mg / It is required to be liter or less. Here, it is stipulated that industrial waste containing mercury above the standard value should be detoxified or transported to a specially controlled landfill for disposal.

As mentioned above, the waste fluorescent lamps that are required to recover mercury as industrial wastes are used fluorescent lamps on the market and defective lamps in the manufacturing process. Further, as a related member of the waste fluorescent lamp, there is a thin glass tube for exhaust used in the manufacturing process. The mercury recovery method for such waste fluorescent lamps and related members has been widely studied in the past, and is disclosed in, for example, JP-A-52-33387.
JP-A-54-137426, JP-A-6-
Japanese Patent No. 154641, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-168747,
JP-A-10-12149, JP-A-11-2073
No. 13, JP-A-2000-202319, JP-A-2000-215811, and JP-A-2000-303.
No. 125, JP 2001-11548 A, JP 2001-81449 A, etc. are proposed.

The constituent members of the fluorescent lamp are, in addition to the enclosed mercury, (i) an arc tube glass forming the arc tube, (ii) holding a pair of tungsten coil electrode portions and hermetically sealing the both ends of the tube. The formed stem glass, the base attached to the stem glass, and (iii) the phosphor coated on the inner surface of the tube. Further, the enclosed mercury in the waste fluorescent lamp is attached and contained in a large amount particularly in the phosphor of (iii) above. Therefore, in the treatment process of a waste fluorescent lamp which has been generally applied in the prior art, the lamp is first separated into three members, that is, an arc tube glass, a phosphor and a stem glass with a base (however, some phosphor is mixed). Then, a method adapted to each has been adopted for the mercury recovery of each member.

Conventionally, soda glass and lead glass have been mainly used as the above-mentioned light-emitting glass and stem glass of fluorescent lamps, respectively. However, recently, sodium-free barium-based glass or the like has been used as the arc tube glass in place of soda glass in order to improve the efficiency and life characteristics of fluorescent lamps.

The method of recovering mercury from waste fluorescent lamps and related members according to the prior art can be roughly classified into two types: dry type and wet type.

As the former dry method, basically, the waste fluorescent lamp member and the thin tube glass member are first heated in a depressurized apparatus including atmospheric pressure or vacuum to separate the attached / contained mercury as mercury vapor, and then A method of (a) cooling and coagulating and collecting the mercury vapor or (b) adsorbing and removing the mercury vapor with a mercury adsorbent such as activated carbon or a chelate resin has been widely applied.

On the other hand, as the latter wet method, for example, (a) the once crushed waste fluorescent lamp member is immersed in a mercury solution such as dilute nitric acid to separate the adhered / contained mercury by dissolution, and then the following method is applied. Mercury dissolved in mercury solution is adsorbed and recovered by a mercury adsorbent such as chelate resin.
Alternatively, (b) a method in which a crushed waste fluorescent lamp member is brought into contact with an aqueous solution of a sulfide treating agent containing active sulfur as a main component, and the mercury adhering to and contained therein is recovered as a water-insoluble mercury sulfide compound or the like. Etc. have been disclosed and applied. In addition, regarding the related thin glass tube members, first, the crushed thin glass is washed with water and immersed in a floating cleaning water tank to separate the attached mercury as free mercury, and then such cleaning water and free mercury in the floating cleaning water tank are separated. Is collected by sedimentation,
That method has been proposed.

[0011]

As efforts to protect the global environment are accelerated in the future, it will be even more desirable to thoroughly collect mercury from waste fluorescent lamps, including general waste, and to recycle the members. It is certain that it will be done.

According to the present inventors' investigation of the recycling and use status of waste fluorescent lamps, at present, mainly incompletely manufactured lamps of industrial waste, arc tube glass members of thin tube glass and some phosphor members are recycled. It is only used. Therefore, the main issue in the future is to progress the recycling of the used fluorescent lamp members, including the general waste that occupies most of the waste fluorescent lamps, among them, the arc tube glass member with the largest amount of used members. is there.

Based on the above background, the present inventors have made efforts to develop a mercury recovery method and an apparatus to which the method is applied, which is particularly necessary for promoting the recycling and use of arc tube glass members of used fluorescent lamps.

The inventors of the present invention first searched for a mercury recovery method suitable for the recycling use of the arc tube glass member in the present development from the above-mentioned conventional techniques. In this case, the applicable conditions are (a) first, the amount of mercury contained in the arc tube glass can be removed to a level below the standard value of 0.005 mg / liter, (b) used fluorescent light to be developed In order to improve the progress of the lamp treatment, we have set three factors: the treatment process and equipment are relatively simple, the treatment cost can be reduced, and (c) the work environment in the treatment process is safe.

However, as a result, it has been found that none of the above-mentioned conventional mercury recovery methods can satisfy the above-mentioned three conforming conditions. For example, “Recovery of mercury vapor from heating” that has been widely applied to the treatment of defective lamps.
The above dry method could not satisfy the above condition (a). Further, the wet method using a mercury solution or a sulfide treating agent could not satisfy the above conditions (b) and (c). Further, the wet method such as mere washing with water for treating the thin tube glass member does not satisfy the above condition (a) at all.

As described above, in order to make progress in the recycling and use of arc tube glass members of used fluorescent lamps in the future, first, a mercury treatment method satisfying the above three conformity conditions is found,
The next major technical issue is to devise a treatment process and equipment to which it is applied.

According to the present invention, in the mercury recovery treatment of the arc tube glass member of a waste fluorescent lamp, particularly a used fluorescent lamp, the mercury content of the arc tube glass is recovered / removed to a level of 0.005 mg / liter or less. An object of the present invention is to find a mercury recovery method that can be carried out at a low processing cost and a safe working environment, and by applying the method, a processing method and an apparatus that can promote the recycle use of the arc tube glass member. .

[0018]

In order to achieve the above object, a method for recovering mercury from a waste fluorescent lamp according to the present invention is a method for recovering mercury from an arc tube glass member separated from a waste fluorescent lamp. The arc tube glass member is crushed, the crushed product is put into a warm water washing machine and stirred with warm water, and the crushed glass and mercury are separated, and the separated mercury is put in a storage tank together with hot water, and is stored in the lower part of the storage tank. It is characterized in that it is precipitated and recovered, the crushed glass is dried and taken out, and the warm water of the supernatant liquid of the storage tank is recycled and supplied to a warm water washing machine.

Next, the mercury recovery apparatus for the waste fluorescent lamp of the present invention is an apparatus for recovering mercury from the arc tube glass member separated from the waste fluorescent lamp, the means for crushing the arc tube glass member, and the crushed material. Means for charging the hot water washer, means for supplying hot water to the hot water washer, and a stirring means for separating glass crushed material and mercury, put the separated mercury in a storage tank together with hot water, The apparatus further comprises means for collecting the glass crushed product by precipitation in the lower part of the storage tank, means for drying and taking out the crushed glass, and means for recycling hot water of the supernatant liquid of the storage tank and supplying it to a hot water washing machine. To do.

As a result, basically, the amount of mercury contained in the glass member of the arc tube can be recovered / removed to a level below the specified standard value of 0.005 mg / liter, and a low processing cost and a safe working environment can be obtained. By applying this mercury recovery method, it is possible to implement a method and apparatus for promoting the recycling use of the arc tube glass member.

[0021]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION In the present invention, it is preferable that the temperature of the hot water used for the hot water washing treatment is in the range of 35 ° C. or higher. As a result, the amount of mercury contained in the arc tube glass member can be recovered / removed to a level of a specified standard value of 0.005 mg / liter or less, more preferably 0.002 mg / liter or less, and the arc tube glass member can be recycled. Becomes The temperature of the hot water is 40
It is preferably in the range of ℃ to 80 ℃.

Further, in the present invention, it is preferable that the treatment in the warm water washing machine with a stirrer is a batch type or a continuous type.

Further, in the present invention, it is preferable that the stirring means in the hot water washing machine is stirring by a stirrer or by rotating a tank of the hot water washing machine.

As a result, the amount of mercury contained in the glass member of the arc tube can be recovered / removed to a level of 0.005 mg / liter or less of the standard value, and a low processing cost and a safe working environment can be obtained. It is possible to implement a highly efficient method and apparatus for processing the glass member of the arc tube in which the processing time by cleaning is shortened.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
Will be explained.

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 shows a method for recovering mercury from an arc tube glass member of a used fluorescent lamp, which is Embodiment 1 of the present invention, and an apparatus for treating the arc tube glass member, to which the method is applied. The overall configuration is shown. In the used fluorescent lamp 1, first, stem glass members 2 and 3 with caps at both ends of the tube are cut and separated by a mixed gas burner of propane gas and oxygen gas, and then the arc tube glass member 4 by high pressure air blow.
The phosphor 5 member coated on the inner surface of is removed and separated. Then, the remaining arc tube glass 4 member related to the present invention is treated by the treatment process and equipment to which the mercury recovery method according to the first embodiment described below is applied.

The separated stem glass members 2 and 3 with a cap are detoxified as industrial waste after a part of mercury is recovered and removed by a heating process in a heating furnace (not shown). Or transported to a specially managed landfill site. Further, as described above, the phosphor member 5 containing a large amount of mercury is once recovered as a powder, and then the mercury contained in the powder is recovered by a mercury distilling device (not shown) to remove the remaining powder. The eggplant phosphor member 5 is similarly treated as industrial waste. Here, the mercury recovered by the mercury distillation apparatus is recycled and used as it is for fluorescent lamps.

The present inventors have used the used fluorescent lamp 1 of FIG.
In developing the treatment process and apparatus for the arc tube glass member 4, the method for recovering mercury from the arc tube glass member 4 was searched and studied. As a result, it has been found that a mercury recovery method, in which the crushed arc tube glass member 4 of the used fluorescent lamp 1 is basically washed with warm water as described below, can satisfy the above-mentioned three compatible conditions.

As a series of processing steps of the arc tube glass member 4, (i) the arc tube glass member 4 is crushed by the glass crusher 6, and (ii) the crushed arc tube glass member 4 is heated by the transport conveyor 7 into hot water. Transported and put into the washing machine 8,
(Iii) The mercury contained in the arc tube glass member 4 is present in the first embodiment.
Is removed to a level of 0.005 mg / liter or less by the washing treatment in the warm water washing machine 8, which is (i
v) Conveyor 1 for arc tube glass from which mercury has been removed
It is conveyed and thrown into the rotary dryer 18 equipped with the warm air circulation device 19 by (7), and (v) the arc tube glass member 4 is finally dried here and collected in the glass container 20. Then, the recovered arc tube glass member 4 can be recycled and used as it is for a cullet for a glass melting furnace, a glass tile, a roadbed material for a road, and the like.

The process step (iii) and equipment to which the mercury recovery method of the first embodiment is applied will be described in detail. First, a storage tank 9 is provided below the warm water washing machine 8,
A hot water circulation pump 21 is attached to this, and hot water whose temperature is controlled is injected from the hot water circulation line 10 through the upper water supply pipe 11. A stirring blade 12 that is rotated by a motor is also attached to the warm water washing machine 8, and the arc tube glass member 4 immersed in warm water is stirred and treated. Here, as described below, the stirring blade 12 is installed in order to shorten the processing time for washing with warm water. The diameter of the hot water washing machine is 150 cm,
When the height is 200 cm and the treatment amount is 3500 liters, the rotation speed of the stirrer is preferably 3 to 5 rpm, and the treatment time is 2
About 0 minutes is preferable.

Further, in the hot water washing treatment step according to the first embodiment, particularly, a predetermined amount of the arc tube glass member 4 is put into the hot water washing machine 8 at a time, and so-called batch type mercury recovery / treatment is performed. The processed arc tube glass member 4 is transferred to the transfer conveyor 17 through the lower opening 14 together with warm water by opening the shutter 13 for each batch processing. On the other hand, at the same time, the hot water is once collected and processed in the storage tank 9 through the hot water hopper 15, and is again supplied to the water supply pipe 11 as the temperature-controlled hot water. Here, the mercury contained in the hot water once collected in the storage tank 9 is deposited on the bottom of the storage tank 9 together with the phosphor and the glass powder waste, and the deposit containing the mercury is converted into pancake-like sludge 16. Be recovered. Then, the sludge 16 is detoxified as industrial waste or transported / treated to a specially managed landfill.

The number of used fluorescent lamps for each batch treatment is about 40 in 40 W type when using a cylindrical hot water washing machine 8 having a diameter of 1.5 m / deep length of 2.0 m, for example.
It was 00 lights.

The characteristic of the mercury recovery method of the first embodiment is that hot water cleaning is adopted to recover and remove the mercury contained in the arc tube glass member 4.

The inventors of the present invention focused on hot water washing treatment while searching for and examining a method of recovering mercury from the arc tube glass member 4 of the used fluorescent lamp 1, and particularly focused on the temperature of hot water used for the treatment and the washing treatment time. The effect of recovering / removing contained mercury when the two parameters were changed was investigated. As a result, as shown in FIG. 2, it was found that the temperature of the hot water is closely related to the effect of recovering and removing the contained mercury.

FIG. 2 shows the mercury recovery method according to the first embodiment with respect to the soda glass arc tube glass member 4 coated with a halogen phosphoric acid phosphor and a three-wavelength rare earth phosphor as the phosphor member 5. The relationship between the amount of mercury contained in the arc tube glass member 4 treated by washing with warm water (value according to the dissolution test method) and the temperature of warm water is shown. In addition, in this measurement, the stirring blade 12 attached to the warm water washer 8 was 5r.
Stirred at pm. The amount of mercury contained in the crushed arc tube glass member 4 before the hot water washing treatment was 0.031 each.
mg / liter and 0.032 mg / liter.

From the results shown in FIG. 2, the mercury content decreases to 80 ° C. as the temperature of the hot water rises from 20 ° C. at room temperature, and then becomes saturated at 80 ° C. or higher, regardless of the type of phosphor used. It has been found. And room temperature 20
It was found that the effect of reducing / removing the amount of mercury contained in the arc tube glass member 4 of the used fluorescent lamp 1 is small by so-called simple water washing at around ° C. Further, the warm water 10 has a temperature range of 35 ° C or higher, particularly 40 ° C or higher,
The amount of mercury contained in the glass member 4 of the arc tube is the above-mentioned standard value of 0.00.
It has become clear that it can be reliably reduced / removed to a level of 5 mg / liter or less.

On the other hand, even if the temperature is raised above 80 ° C., the reduction of the contained mercury becomes saturated, so it is appropriate to keep the temperature within the range of 80 ° C. or less from the viewpoint of energy saving in the treatment process.

On the other hand, before investigating the relationship with another parameter, that is, the cleaning treatment time, first, the stirring effect by the stirring blades 12 attached to the hot water cleaning machine 8 was investigated in advance. As a result, it was found that the treatment time by the above-mentioned washing with warm water can be greatly shortened. That is, the cleaning treatment time required to reduce / remove the contained mercury amount to the same value is 8
By stirring the stirring blades 12 attached to, it was possible to shorten the average to about 1/3 as compared with the case without stirring.

Next, the diffusion blade 12 originally included in the configuration of the first embodiment is stirred, and the reduction rate of the mercury content when the cleaning treatment time is changed within the range of 5 minutes to 60 minutes is measured. did. As a result, as shown in FIG. 2, it was found that the reduction rate of the contained mercury by prolonging the cleaning treatment time was smaller than the increase in the warm water temperature. Further, when the cleaning treatment time is increased to 10 minutes or longer, the reduction rate of the contained mercury becomes relatively small. Therefore, the cleaning treatment time may be shortened to 10 minutes or less from the viewpoint of improving the efficiency of the treatment process.

In the mercury recovery method of the first embodiment described above, the fact that the hot water washing treatment is particularly effective for reducing and removing the mercury contained in the arc tube glass member 4 is basically the mercury contained in the arc tube glass member 4. Exists mainly by generating an amalgam with an alkali metal such as sodium segregated on its surface or an alkaline earth metal such as barium, and the alkali metal or alkaline earth metal in the amalgam is warm water rather than mere water. This is due to the property of being easily dissolved.

In the method for recovering mercury by washing with warm water according to the present invention, (a) firstly, in addition to being able to reduce / remove the amount of mercury contained in the arc tube glass member 4 to a level below the reference value,
(B) Although it is a wet method, it does not require a mercury solution such as dilute nitric acid or a sulfide treatment agent, which is expensive due to the handling precautions of the prior art, and the treatment process and equipment are designed relatively simply. And the processing cost can be reduced, (b)
In addition, because mercury-containing liquids and sulfide treatment agents that require careful handling are not necessary, and because the wet method suppresses the generation of glass dust, the working environment in the treatment process is safe,
As described above, all of the three matching conditions set in the present invention can be satisfied.

On the other hand, the treatment process and equipment of the used fluorescent lamp 1 of FIG. 1 which is the first embodiment is applied with the method for recovering mercury by washing with warm water according to the present invention to reduce the basic treatment cost and work. In addition to environmental safety, the introduction of a circulating hot water circulation device 9 saves water and reduces energy costs. Further, the cleaning effect can be shortened to about 1/3 due to the stirring effect of the rotary stirring blades 12 attached to the hot water washer 8 as described above.
Therefore, the efficiency of the cleaning process was improved.

In order to reconfirm the effect of the method for recovering mercury by the hot water cleaning and the treatment process and equipment to which it is applied, the present inventors actually performed the treatment process and equipment shown in FIG. Use, 40W type used fluorescent lamp 1
The arc glass member 4 was subjected to a so-called practical scale mercury recovery process. In this case, as the phosphor member 5, the used phosphor lamp 1 including the halogen phosphoric acid phosphor and the three-wavelength rare earth phosphor is applied, and the used fluorescent lamp 1 including the soda glass arc tube glass member 4 is used. Also, using a cylindrical hot water washing machine 8 with a diameter of 1.5 m / depth of 2.0 m, 10 batches were processed with 4000 lights per batch, and the treatment process conditions were a temperature of warm water 10 of 50 ° C. and a washing treatment time of 10 Set to minutes. As a result, the amount of mercury contained in the arc tube glass member 4 collected in the final glass container 20 is distributed in the range of 0.0027 to 0.0033 mg / liter, and the level of the standard value of 0.005 mg / liter or less. It was confirmed that it was surely reduced / removed until.

(Embodiment 2) FIG. 3 is a process of treating the arc glass member of a used fluorescent lamp according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention, to which the method for recovering mercury by washing with warm water of the present invention is basically applied. The overall configuration of the equipment is shown.

Arc tube glass member 10 according to the second embodiment.
Among the specific series of treatment steps and equipment of 4, except for mercury recovery by washing with warm water, the same as in Embodiment 1 above. The mercury recovery treatment process and equipment according to the second embodiment are different from those of the first embodiment. Firstly, a so-called continuous treatment method capable of obtaining high efficiency treatment as compared with the batch treatment method of the first embodiment. Is adopted. Specifically, first, the hot water washing machine 108 has a storage tank 109.
A predetermined amount of warm water whose temperature is controlled by this is continuously injected from the upper water supply shower pipe 111 through the warm water circulation pump 121 and the warm water circulation line 110.
Further, a rotating screw 112, which is rotated by a motor, is attached to the warm water washing machine 108, whereby the arc tube glass member 104 continuously charged into the warm water washing machine 108.
Is subjected to a cleaning treatment for a prescribed processing time while being rotated and stirred for the recovery and removal of the contained mercury, and is continuously transferred to the conveyor 117 through the outlet 114. . On the other hand, the water supply shower pipe 11
A predetermined amount of hot water continuously injected from 1 is used for cleaning treatment of the arc tube glass member 104 for recovering and removing mercury, and the same predetermined amount of hot water passes through the drain port 115 and the hot water circulating device 109. It is once collected and processed in the water supply shower pipe 11 as hot water whose temperature is controlled again.
1 is supplied. Here, the mercury contained in the hot water once collected in the storage tank 109 is deposited together with the phosphor and the glass powder on the bottom of the storage tank 109 as in the case of the first embodiment, and the pancake-like sludge 116 is obtained. Will be collected as. Then, this is detoxified as industrial waste or transported / treated to a specially managed landfill.

The first feature of the treatment process and equipment according to the second embodiment is that the continuous treatment system is adopted as described above, and thereby a treatment process of high efficiency is basically obtained. Another feature is that the rotary screw 112 is attached to the hot water washing machine 108. In other words, due to this rotation / stirring effect, when the temperature of the hot water 100 is defined as the same range as in the first embodiment as a process treatment condition even though it is a continuous treatment system, one cleaning treatment time (the arc tube glass member 104 is washed with warm water It was possible to shorten / define the time period from the time when the machine was loaded into the machine 108 to the time when it was transferred to the conveyor 117) within the same range as in the first embodiment.

As in the case of the first embodiment, the present inventors actually used the processing steps and equipment of FIG. 3 to put the arc tube glass member 104 of the same 40 W type used fluorescent lamp 101 into practical use. A mercury recovery process on a scale was performed. In this case, using a cylindrical hot water washing machine 108 having a diameter of 1.0 m / total length of 5.0 m, the washing process time is set to 10 minutes at a hot water temperature of 50 ° C. as a treatment process condition, and the washing treatment time is 20 minutes per hour.
The treatment of 00 lights was continuously performed for 48 hours. As a result, the amount of mercury contained in the arc tube glass member 104 recovered in the final glass container 120 is 0.0026 to 0.0035 mg /
It is distributed in the range of liters and the standard value is 0.005m.
It was confirmed that it was surely reduced / removed to the level of g / liter or less.

(Embodiment 3) FIG. 4 is a treatment process of an arc tube glass member of a used fluorescent lamp according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention, to which the method for recovering mercury by washing with warm water according to the present invention is basically applied. The overall configuration of the equipment is shown.

Arc tube glass member 20 according to the third embodiment.
Of the specific series of treatment steps and equipment of No. 4, except for mercury recovery by washing with warm water, it is the same as in the second embodiment. The third embodiment is different from the second embodiment in the mercury recovery treatment process and equipment, but basically the same continuous treatment system is adopted, but a warm water washing machine 208 having a unique configuration is used. It is adopted. In particular,
The cylindrical hot water washer 208 has a unique structure in which the motor is rotated by itself, so that the arc tube glass member 204 continuously charged into the hot water washer 208.
Is subjected to a cleaning treatment for a prescribed processing time while being rotated and stirred for the recovery and removal of the contained mercury, and is finally continuously transferred to the transfer conveyor 217 via the outlet 214. . The configurations, functions, and operations of the storage tank 209 and the water supply shower pipe 211 attached to the warm water washing machine 208 are the same as those in the second embodiment.

A feature of the treatment process and equipment according to the third embodiment is that the warm water washing machine 208 having a peculiar structure in which the motor itself is rotated as described above is adopted. Due to this rotation / stirring effect, the second embodiment
In the same manner as in the above case, when the temperature of hot water is defined as the same range as in the first embodiment as the process treatment condition in spite of the continuous treatment method, one cleaning treatment time is shortened / specified to the same range as in the first embodiment. We were able to.

As in the case of the second embodiment, the inventor of the present invention actually uses the processing steps and equipment of FIG. 4 to make a practical scale of the arc tube glass member 204 of the same 40 W type used fluorescent lamp 201 as described above. The mercury recovery process was performed. In this case, by using a cylindrical hot water washing machine 208 having a diameter of 1.0 m / total length of 5.0 m, the washing process time is set to 10 minutes at a hot water temperature of 50 ° C. as a treatment process condition, and the washing treatment time is 20 minutes per hour.
The treatment of 00 lights was continuously performed for 48 hours. As a result, the amount of mercury contained in the arc tube glass member 204 recovered in the final glass container 220 is 0.0026 to 0.0036 mg /
It is distributed in the range of liters and the standard value is 0.005m.
It was confirmed that it was surely reduced / removed to the level of g / liter or less.

The method of recovering mercury by washing with hot water and the treatment process and equipment to which the method is applied in the above-described embodiment uses sodium-free barium-based glass or the like as the arc glass member instead of soda glass. It can also be applied to the mercury recovery process of used fluorescent lamps.

As described above, in the mercury recovery processing of the arc tube glass member of the waste fluorescent lamp, particularly the used fluorescent lamp, by applying the mercury recovery method characterized by the warm water washing shown in the above-mentioned embodiment. In addition, it is possible to realize a mercury recovery treatment method and apparatus which can remove the mercury content of the arc tube glass member to a level of the above-mentioned standard value of 0.005 mg / liter or less and which has a low treatment cost and a safe working environment.

[0054]

According to the present invention, in the mercury recovery process of the arc tube glass member of a waste fluorescent lamp, particularly a used fluorescent lamp, the mercury content of the arc tube glass member is not more than a specified standard value of 0.005 mg / liter. A method of recovering mercury that can be recovered and removed to the level of, and that has a low processing cost and a safe working environment, and which is basically applied to promote the recycling use of the arc tube glass member And a device can be realized.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a mercury recovery method and device for a used fluorescent lamp according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a graph showing the relationship between the temperature of hot water and the rate of decrease in the amount of contained mercury in the hot water cleaning process in the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a processing step and an apparatus of a used fluorescent lamp according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of a processing step and an apparatus of a used fluorescent lamp according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 101, 201 Used fluorescent lamps 2, 3, 102, 103, 202, 203 Stem glass member with base 4, 104, 204 Arc tube glass member 5, 105, 205 Fluorescent material member 6, 106, 206 Crusher 7 , 17, 107, 117, 207, 217 Conveyors 8, 108, 208 Hot water washer 9, 109, 209 Storage tanks 10, 110, 210 Hot water circulation line 11, 111, 211 Water (shower) pipe 12, 112 Stirrer blade ( Screw) 16,116,216 Sludge containing mercury 18,118,218 Rotary dryer 19,119,219 Hot air circulation device 20,120,220 Glass container 21,121,221 Hot water circulation pump

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Kiyokatsu Fujinami             1006 Kadoma, Kadoma-shi, Osaka Matsushita Electric             Sangyo Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Toshikazu Sasada             1006 Kadoma, Kadoma-shi, Osaka Matsushita Electric             Sangyo Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 4D004 AA50 AB03 BA02 BA05 BA06                       CA04 CA13 CA15 CA22 CA40                       CA42 CB36 CB45 CB50 DA03                       DA06

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A method for recovering mercury from an arc tube glass member separated from a waste fluorescent lamp, wherein the arc tube glass member is crushed, and the crushed material is put into a hot water washing machine and stirred with hot water. , Glass crushed material and mercury are separated, the separated mercury is put in a storage tank together with warm water, precipitated and collected at the bottom of the storage tank, the glass crushed material is dried and taken out, and hot water of the supernatant liquid of the storage tank Is a method of recovering mercury from waste fluorescent lamps, which is recycled and supplied to a hot water washer. 2. The method for recovering mercury from a waste fluorescent lamp according to claim 1, wherein the temperature of the hot water used in the hot water washing treatment is in the range of 35 ° C. or higher. 3. The method for recovering mercury from a waste fluorescent lamp according to claim 1, wherein the temperature of the hot water used for the hot water washing treatment is in the range of 80 ° C. or lower. 4. An apparatus for recovering mercury from an arc tube glass member separated from a waste fluorescent lamp, said means for crushing said arc tube glass member, and means for charging said crushed material into a hot water washer. A means for supplying hot water to the hot water washing machine and a stirring means for separating glass crushed material and mercury are provided, and the separated mercury is put into a storage tank together with the hot water, and is precipitated and collected in the lower part of the storage tank. A mercury recovery device for a waste fluorescent lamp, comprising: means, means for drying and taking out the crushed glass, and means for recycling hot water of the supernatant liquid of the storage tank and supplying it to a hot water washing machine. 5. The mercury recovery apparatus for a waste fluorescent lamp according to claim 4, wherein the treatment in the hot water washer with an agitator is a batch type or a continuous type. 6. The mercury recovery apparatus for a waste fluorescent lamp according to claim 4, wherein the stirring means in the hot water washing machine is stirring by a stirring machine or by rotating a tank of the hot water washing machine.