JP2005288217A - Concentration device for aqueous solution - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve various problems accompanying with a vertical structure when a solution such as sea water is concentrated/treated such as a problem of warping of an osmotic membrane support plate and a problem of quality reduction by an adhesive and of assembling/deassembling in a device capable of efficiently concentrating an aqueous solution. <P>SOLUTION: The thin support plate having one surface becoming an evaporation surface of a liquid to be concentrated and the other surface becoming a condensation surface is hung/supported in the state that it is inclined vertically or in a range of 30° or smaller from the vertical plane. It is made to a structure that the liquid to be concentrated is fed to the evaporation surface and a condensation liquid is recovered from the condensation surface. Therefore, its own weight is acted on the support plate in a vertical direction, deflection and deformation of the support plate by deflection and thermal distortion are outstandingly reduced and a drift current of the liquid to be concentrated is also suppressed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

The present invention relates to an apparatus that removes and concentrates water in an aqueous solution such as squeezed juice obtained from seawater or animals and plants, and has a very high concentration efficiency and a high production rate.

JP-A-57-184405 discloses a concentrator capable of obtaining the maximum concentration efficiency with a minimum amount of heat without the need to boil or evaporate a low-concentration solution particularly under reduced pressure. Yes. Its structure is as follows.

The concentrator has a structure in which a large number of thin support plates each having a liquid permeable membrane, that is, permeable membranes attached on both upper and lower surfaces, are arranged slightly parallel to each other through a narrow gap. However, the uppermost support plate has a permeable membrane attached only to its lower surface. The uppermost support plate is heated and the lowermost support plate is cooled to cause a temperature difference between the support plates. The osmosis membrane is a material (for example, a cloth) in which a liquid permeates and spreads, and the osmosis membrane on the lower surface of each support plate has a liquid to be concentrated (such as seawater) as an example. Is permeating. Driven by the temperature difference between the support plates, the water evaporates from the membrane in which seawater penetrates, diffuses in the air layer in the gap, and condenses into the osmosis membrane on the upper surface of the next support plate To do. Similarly, the evaporation-diffusion-condensation process occurs between all the support plates, and concentrated seawater and condensed water (fresh water) are obtained. Hereinafter, the osmosis membrane in which seawater permeates and causes evaporation is referred to as an evaporation osmosis membrane, and the osmosis membrane in which condensation occurs is referred to as a condensation osmosis membrane.

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of the support plate with the evaporation osmosis membrane attached and the support plate with the condensation osmosis membrane attached, taken out one by one for ease of explanation. The present invention is also applicable to a support plate to which all the permeable membranes are attached. The upper and lower support plates 1a and 1b have V-shaped grooves 2a and 2b at both ends, respectively, and are bent into a square shape near one groove 2b. The support plates 1a and 1b are inclined at an angle from the horizontal so that the V-groove 2a side far from the bent portion 3 is at a high position. The evaporation osmosis membrane 4 is attached so as to cover the lower surface of the upper support plate 1a from the bottom vertex of one V-groove to the other bottom vertex. On the other hand, the condensation osmosis membrane 5 is affixed so as to cover the region from end to end of the V-groove excluding the V-groove at both ends of the upper surface of the lower support plate 1b.

In this structure, seawater S1 is supplied from the seawater supply pipe 6 at the left end to the V groove at the high position of the lower support plate 1b, and the end of the evaporating membrane 4 on the lower surface of the upper support plate 1a is accumulated in the V groove. Soak in seawater S1. The evaporating osmosis membrane 4 sucks up the seawater S1, and permeates and flows down while evaporating in the osmotic membrane 4 inclined along the support plate 1a. It collects in. On the other hand, the condensed water formed by condensing water vapor in the space between the upper and lower support plates 1a and 1b permeates and flows down in the inclined osmotic membrane 5 on the upper surface of the lower support plate 1b, and is collected in the bent portion 3 to be capillary. It is sucked out of the vessel using the phenomenon and siphon principle. Therefore, it is necessary to install a thick osmotic membrane with good absorbability or a small diameter tube 7 along the bottom of the bent portion 3 to the outside in the span direction (perpendicular to the paper surface). The above evaporation-diffusion-condensation process between the two support plates also occurs between all the support plates in the concentrator having a large number of support plates. A condensation osmosis membrane and an evaporation osmosis membrane impregnated with seawater are attached to the upper and lower surfaces of the support plate inside the concentrator. The condensation latent heat generated in the condensation osmosis membrane on the upper surface passes through the support plate and is Since the seawater in the osmotic membrane is evaporated, the process of evaporation-diffusion-condensation is sequentially repeated between all the support plates.

The substantially horizontal structure as disclosed in the above publication of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 57-184405 has many problems described below. An apparatus for distilling seawater using a vertical structure that can solve some of these problems. Is proposed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 55-127102. This apparatus is provided with a support plate (referred to as a reflective cooling plate in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 55-127102) having an evaporating permeable membrane (referred to as a porous water supply sheet in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 55-127102) on the back surface The structure is such that the upper and lower ends or the four sides are fixed to the heat insulating structure frame.
JP 57-184405 JP 55-127102

However, in the substantially horizontal structure as in Patent Document 1, various problems remain as follows.
1. In the concentrator structure as described above, the thin plates 1a and 1b for supporting the concentrated liquid permeable membrane cause deflection due to their own weight and thermal distortion due to thermal expansion, thereby causing a drift of the concentrated liquid. In the case of high concentration concentration, the drift current causes a scale (crystallization of salt) in the osmotic membrane and becomes a trouble. Further, when the deflection and distortion are large, the osmosis membrane comes into contact with the condensing surface of the thin plate at the next stage, and mixing of the liquid to be concentrated and condensed water occurs.
2. Due to the deflection and distortion of the support plate, the gap between the upper and lower support plates cannot be sufficiently narrowed. As a result, both the efficiency of concentration (defined as the ratio of production to input heat) and production rate are both low. Processing such as V-groove is troublesome.
3. When trouble of clogging of the osmosis membrane due to generation of scale or dirt occurs, it is not possible to disassemble the concentrator and wash the osmosis membrane.
4). In conventional concentrators, the osmotic membrane is bonded to the support plate with an adhesive, but it is easy to cause peeling because it is immersed in a high temperature concentrated liquid for a long time. This causes mixing troubles between the liquid to be concentrated and condensed water.
5). A trace amount of the component dissolved from the adhesive is mixed into the concentrated solution, thereby reducing the quality of the produced concentrated solution. This is a fatal problem when concentrating to a high concentration.
6). In the conventional method for supplying liquid to the osmotic membrane, it is difficult to supply liquid at a uniform speed in the span direction of the osmotic membrane. Inhomogeneous liquid supply causes a drift of the liquid to be concentrated and causes a scale problem. Moreover, high concentration concentration is impossible.
7). In order to accurately set and maintain the concentration of the concentrated liquid flowing out from the upper and lower osmotic membranes, it is necessary to adjust to an appropriate liquid supply speed that differs depending on the osmotic membrane. Have difficulty.
8). In many production processes, the concentration treatment is a pretreatment step for crystallization separation of the solute in the liquid to be concentrated, and it is ideal if concentration and crystallization (or part of the crystallization) can be performed simultaneously. In addition, many liquids to be concentrated have a plurality of types of solutes, and the concentration at which crystallization starts varies depending on each solute. Even with a multi-effect concentrator, it is possible to crystallize a single or multiple solutes that crystallize first, but this crystallization is the same as the generation of scale, and the conventional concentrator has a problem. Have been treated. That is, in the conventional concentrator, the solute that crystallizes first cannot be crystallized on the osmotic membrane and separated.

On the other hand, in the vertical structure as in Patent Document 2, the upper and lower ends or four sides of the support plate (reflection cooling plate) are fixed even if the processing problems such as the V-groove are solved. In addition to the problem that it is difficult to escape due to deflection or thermal expansion due to its own weight, it is premised on the distillation of seawater and it is not intended to concentrate the solution. Has been. In other words, seawater drifts due to the warping of the support plate caused by the structure in which the support plate (reflective cooling plate) is upright, the bottom end or the four sides are fixed, and in the case of high concentration concentration, scale is generated in the evaporative permeation membrane. In addition, the gap between the support plates cannot be sufficiently narrow, and the concentration efficiency and the production rate are both low. Further, it is impossible to solve the problem that the trace component dissolved from the adhesive for joining the evaporation osmosis membrane to the support plate is mixed into the concentrated liquid and the quality is deteriorated. Furthermore, since the upper and lower ends or the four sides of each support plate are fixed, assembly / disassembly and maintenance become difficult.

The technical problem of the present invention pays attention to such problems, and is a vertical structure when concentrating a solution such as seawater, such as a problem of warpage of the osmotic membrane support plate, a deterioration of quality due to an adhesive, and a problem of assembly / disassembly. It is to be able to solve various problems associated with this.

The technical problem of the present invention is solved by the following means. In the first aspect, a thin support plate having one surface serving as an evaporation surface and the other surface serving as a condensation surface is suspended and supported in a state of being inclined within 30 degrees from the vertical or vertical, Is a concentrator having a structure for supplying a liquid to be concentrated and collecting condensed water from the condensing surface.

As described above, in the present concentration apparatus, a thin support plate in which one surface is an evaporation surface and the other surface is a condensing surface is suspended and supported in a state inclined within 30 degrees from the vertical or vertical, Since the lower end is not fixed, the support plate is subject to its own weight in the vertical direction and can escape by expansion and contraction due to thermal expansion, etc., compared to the conventional structure where the upper and lower ends or four sides of the support plate are fixed, Deflection and deformation of the plate due to its own weight and thermal expansion are greatly reduced.

In addition, if a spacer having an appropriate number of surfaces between each support plate is used, the deflection of the concentrated liquid can be suppressed by suppressing its own weight deflection and thermal distortion. Furthermore, the distance between adjacent support plates is uniform, and can be very narrow (for example, 5 mm or less), and the production rate of the concentrated liquid and condensed water can be significantly improved. Or it becomes possible to arrange | position many support plates at a narrow space | interval, and concentration efficiency improves remarkably.

Any method can be used to wet the evaporating surface of the support plate with the liquid to be concentrated or to collect condensed water from the condensing surface. However, even when using the most common permeable membranes, it is necessary to use an adhesive as before. There is no. In other words, by erecting the support plate to have a vertical or nearly vertical structure, the osmosis membrane for evaporation can be attached to the support plate without using a material such as an adhesive or an adhesive film. The osmotic membrane containing the liquid to be concentrated can be attached to the support plate by the capillary action of the liquid to be concentrated without those materials, and can be spread without making wrinkles using its own weight. Thereby, at the time of concentration of solutions, such as food material, it can prevent mixing into an undesired component and impurities, such as environmental hormones from an adhesive and an adhesive film, to a concentrated liquid.

2. The concentration according to claim 1, wherein an osmosis membrane for evaporation is provided on the evaporation surface, and an osmosis membrane for collecting condensed water is provided at least on the lower end portion of the condensation surface. Device. As described above, the osmosis membrane for condensation is not necessarily required by raising the support plate to be in the vertical or nearly vertical state. That is, it condenses on the surface of a bare support plate without an osmotic membrane, and the condensed water flows down with a streak formed on the bare surface. And since only the lower end part of the support plate is provided with the permeable membrane, the condensed water is guided through the permeable membrane to a predetermined site and collected.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, a reservoir groove for storing the liquid to be concentrated is provided along the top of the support plate, and the liquid to be concentrated is supplied from the osmotic membrane immersed in the reservoir groove to the evaporating osmosis membrane on the surface of the support plate by capillary action. The concentrating device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the concentrating device has a structure.

In this way, a reservoir groove for storing the liquid to be concentrated is provided along the horizontal top of the support plate that is suspended vertically or at an angle close thereto, and from the permeable membrane immersed in the reservoir groove, Since the concentrated liquid is supplied to the evaporative osmosis membrane by capillary action, the suction height of the concentrated liquid in the span direction of the support plate is uniform, and as a result, the liquid supply speed is uniform and the drift is suppressed. And the flow of seawater contained in the evaporative osmosis membrane can be made uniform in the span direction. In other words, the horizontal level of the top of the support plate that is supported vertically or at an angle close to the vertical can be finely adjusted individually, so that the suction height of the liquid to be concentrated can be made strictly uniform, and the liquid supply speed can be made uniform in the span direction. Can be. In addition, uniform heating in the span direction of the first support plate with steam or hot water and uniform clearance between the support plates due to the small deflection of the support plate, uniform heating in the span direction on all support plates It can be realized. By such a uniform flow of the liquid to be concentrated and uniform heating, the liquid to be concentrated such as seawater can be concentrated to a high concentration.

Further, it is possible to prevent the partial dry surface from being generated in the evaporation osmosis membrane. Seawater tends to flow low in the osmosis membrane, so if the support plate is placed in a horizontal position as before, or if the support plate is installed at a large angle from the vertical, due to the action of gravity or thermal strain, etc. Since the unevenness of the support plate is generated, the flow of the liquid to be concentrated in the osmotic membrane becomes non-uniform, and the gaps are also non-uniform. A dry surface is likely to occur. When a dry surface is generated, in addition to a significant reduction in production rate, scale is generated in the osmotic membrane (salt is precipitated in the case of seawater), which causes a problem. As a result, there are many harmful effects such as stoppage of operation due to scale and salt washing treatment.

By installing each support plate in the vertical direction, uniform supply of the liquid to be concentrated, and uniform heating, it is possible to prevent a dry surface from being generated on the evaporative osmosis membrane even if it is concentrated to a high concentration. Seawater can be concentrated by separating calcium. Calcium sulfate is an unfavorable ingredient for food, and most of the ingredients in seawater are precipitated as crystals at the earliest stage. Since calcium sulfate is deposited and accumulated on the evaporating osmosis membrane, it is necessary to disassemble the concentrator and replace the osmosis membrane at regular intervals. The removed osmotic membrane is washed to remove calcium sulfate. In this way, it is possible to remove the undesired components that precipitate first from the liquid to be concentrated.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is a structure in which water is supplied to each reservoir groove by a capillary from the bottom of the supply container for the liquid to be concentrated, and the liquid supply speed is set by changing the length, inner diameter, and insertion length of each capillary. The concentrator according to claim 3, wherein In this way, water is supplied to each reservoir groove with a capillary tube from the bottom of the tank containing the liquid to be concentrated, and by changing the length and inner diameter of each capillary tube, and also changing the insertion length of the capillary tube into the tank, By changing the head difference between the outlet and the tank liquid level, the liquid supply speed to each reservoir groove can be roughly adjusted within a large flow rate range, and then finely adjusted to set the optimum value. Thereby, the density | concentration of the concentrate obtained from the lower end of each evaporation osmosis membrane can be adjusted with exact precision separately. As a result, high concentration concentration and fine adjustment of the concentration of the concentrated liquid produced can be achieved by uniform liquid supply, uniform heating, and fine adjustment of the liquid supply. In addition to uniform liquid supply, heating, and fine adjustment of the liquid supply, it is easy to disassemble, assemble, attach and remove the osmosis membrane, so that the solute that precipitates in the liquid to be concentrated can be crystallized. It becomes possible.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the lower end of the osmosis membrane for evaporation and the lower end of the osmosis membrane for collecting condensed water at the lower end of the support plate are triangularly waved, and the V-shaped hanging portions of both triangular waved portions are staggered. The concentrator according to claim 1, claim 2, or claim 3, wherein the concentrator is shifted as described above.

In this way, the lower end of the evaporating osmosis membrane and the lower end of the condensed water recovery osmosis membrane at the lower end of the support plate are formed in a triangular wave shape. Dripping from the hanging part of the character. And since each V-shaped drooping part of both triangular wave-shaped parts is shifted so that it may become alternate, the concentrated solution dripped from the V-shaped drooping part of the evaporation osmosis membrane and the V shape of the osmosis membrane for condensed water recovery The condensate dripping from the hanging part does not mix and can be completely separated and recovered. Moreover, the interval between the support plates can be narrowed compared to the case where the support plates are laid down almost horizontally as in the prior art and provided with a trough or groove for collecting the concentrated liquid or the condensed liquid. Manufacture is also easier compared to the case of providing ridges and grooves.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, the horizontal beam supporting the upper end of each support plate is slid on a rail provided in a direction perpendicular to the horizontal beam. The concentrator according to any one of the items. In this way, since each support plate can be slid while being supported on the rail, it is very easy to attach and remove each support plate, so that each support plate can be disassembled and assembled. It becomes easy and maintenance becomes easy. In particular, during high concentration concentration, a series of procedures such as adjusting the amount of liquid supplied to each evaporative osmosis membrane, measuring the flow rate and concentration of the effluent concentrate during trial operation, and checking for scale generation by disassembly. It must be repeated, and the ease of disassembly and assembly is very important.

A seventh aspect of the present invention is characterized in that both the concentration efficiency and the production speed can be improved by putting the concentration processing section in a pressure vessel and realizing high temperature heating. A concentrating device according to any of the above items. Thus, since the concentration processing unit is put in a pressure vessel and heated at a high temperature, both the concentration efficiency and the production rate are remarkably improved. Moreover, although the said airtight container needs to be a pressure container, since the thickness of the whole concentration processing part is 50 cm or less, the airtight container also becomes thin and manufacture of an airtight container is easy.

Claim 8 is a structure according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the concentration processing section is placed in a sealed container and the air inside is replaced with hydrogen or helium. Device. In this way, by placing the concentration processing unit in a sealed container and replacing the internal air with hydrogen, helium, etc., the vapor diffusion rate between the evaporation surface of each support plate and the condensation surface of the next stage is promoted, Both the concentration efficiency and the production rate are significantly improved.

As in claim 1, in the present concentration apparatus, a thin support plate in which one surface is an evaporation surface and the other surface is a condensing surface is suspended and supported vertically or tilted within 30 degrees from the vertical, Since both the left and right sides and the lower end are not fixed, the support plate has its own weight in the vertical direction and can escape due to thermal expansion, etc., and has a structure in which the upper and lower ends or four sides of the support plate are fixed as before. In comparison, the deflection and deformation of the plate due to thermal strain and the like are greatly reduced.

Further, if an appropriate number of spacers are used between the support plates, it is possible to suppress the deflection of the liquid to be concentrated by suppressing its own weight deflection and thermal distortion. Furthermore, the interval between adjacent support plates can be made uniform and can be very narrow (for example, 5 mm or less), and the production rate of concentrated seawater and condensed water can be significantly improved. Or it becomes possible to arrange | position many support plates which stick the permeable membrane of a to-be-concentrated liquid at a narrow space | interval, and a concentration efficiency improves remarkably.

Although the method for wetting the evaporation surface of the support plate with the liquid to be concentrated is arbitrary, even when the most general permeable membrane is used, it is not necessary to use an adhesive as in the prior art. In other words, by erecting the support plate to have a vertical or nearly vertical structure, the osmosis membrane for evaporation can be attached to the support plate without using a material such as an adhesive or an adhesive film. The osmotic membrane containing the liquid to be concentrated can be attached to the support plate by the capillary action of seawater without those materials, and can be spread without making wrinkles using its own weight. Thereby, at the time of concentration of solutions, such as food material, it can prevent mixing into an undesired component and impurities, such as environmental hormones from an adhesive and an adhesive film, to a concentrated liquid.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the osmosis membrane for condensation is not necessarily required by making the support plate vertical or nearly vertical. That is, it condenses on the surface of a bare support plate without an osmotic membrane, and the condensed water flows down with a streak formed on the bare surface. Since only the lower end portion of the support plate is provided with a permeation membrane for collecting condensed water, the condensed water is guided to a predetermined site through this permeation membrane and collected.

A reservoir groove for storing the liquid to be concentrated is provided along a horizontal top portion of the support plate that is vertically or at an angle close to that of the support plate as in claim 3, and the support from the osmotic membrane immersed in the reservoir groove. Since the concentrated liquid is supplied to the evaporation osmosis membrane on the plate surface by capillary action, the suction height of the concentrated liquid in the span direction of the support plate is uniform, and as a result, the liquid supply speed is uniform and the drift is reduced. Therefore, the flow of the liquid to be concentrated contained in the evaporation / osmosis membrane can be made uniform in the span direction. In addition, uniform heating of the first support plate by steam condensation and hot water and uniform clearance between the support plates due to the small deflection of the support plate realizes uniform heating in the span direction on all the support plates. obtain. By such a uniform flow of the liquid to be concentrated and uniform heating, the liquid to be concentrated such as seawater can be concentrated to a high concentration.

Further, it is possible to prevent the partial dry surface from being generated in the evaporation osmosis membrane. When the support plate is placed in a horizontal position as in the past, or when the support plate is installed at a large angle from the vertical, uneven deflection occurs in the support plate due to the action of gravity or thermal strain, etc. Since the flow of the concentrated liquid is non-uniform and the gaps are also non-uniform, the non-uniform flow of the liquid to be concentrated in the osmotic membrane and excessive dryness tends to occur. When a dry surface is generated, in addition to a significant reduction in production rate, scale is generated in the osmotic membrane (salt is precipitated in the case of seawater), which causes a problem. As a result, there are many harmful effects such as stoppage of operation due to scale and salt washing treatment.

Even if it concentrates to a high concentration by the vertical suspension support of each support plate and uniform supply and uniform heating, it is possible to prevent a dry surface from being generated on the evaporation osmosis membrane. The seawater can be concentrated by separating calcium sulfate. Calcium sulfate is an unfavorable ingredient for food, and most of the ingredients in seawater are precipitated as crystals at the earliest stage. Since calcium sulfate is deposited and accumulated on the evaporating osmosis membrane, it is necessary to disassemble the concentrator and replace the osmosis membrane at regular intervals. The removed osmotic membrane is washed to remove calcium sulfate. In this way, it is possible to remove undesirable components that are first precipitated from the liquid to be concentrated.

As in claim 4, water is supplied to each reservoir groove by a capillary tube from the bottom of the supply container containing the liquid to be concentrated, and the length and inner diameter of each capillary tube are changed, and the length of insertion of the capillary tube into the tank is reduced. By changing the head difference between the outlet and the tank liquid level, the liquid supply speed to each reservoir groove can be roughly adjusted in a large flow rate range, and then finely adjusted to set the optimum value. . As a result, high concentration concentration is possible by uniform liquid supply, uniform heating, and fine adjustment of the liquid supply. In addition to uniform liquid supply, heating, and fine adjustment of the liquid supply, it is easy to disassemble, assemble, attach and remove the osmosis membrane, so that the solute that precipitates in the liquid to be concentrated can be crystallized. It becomes possible.

Since the lower end of the evaporative osmosis membrane at the lower end of the support plate and the lower end of the osmosis membrane for condensed water recovery are formed in a triangular wave shape as in claim 5, both the concentrated liquid after evaporation and the condensed water are in a triangular wave shape. It is dripped from the V-shaped hanging part of the part. And since each V-shaped drooping part of both triangular wave-shaped parts is shifted so that it may become alternate, the concentrated solution dripped from the V-shaped drooping part of the evaporation osmosis membrane and the V shape of the osmosis membrane for condensed water recovery Condensed water dripping from the hanging part does not mix and can be completely separated and recovered. Moreover, the interval between the support plates can be narrowed as compared with the conventional case where the support plates are laid down almost horizontally and provided with a trough or groove for collecting concentrated liquid or condensed water. Compared with the case where a ridge or a groove is provided as in the prior art, the manufacture is also easier.

Since each support plate can be slid while being supported on the rail as in claim 6, it is very easy to attach and detach each support plate. As a result, each support plate can be disassembled. Assembling becomes easy and maintenance becomes simple.

Since the concentration processing unit is put in the pressure vessel and heated at a high temperature as in the seventh aspect, both the concentration efficiency and the production rate are remarkably improved. Moreover, although the said airtight container needs to be a pressure container, since the thickness of the whole concentration processing part is 50 cm or less, the airtight container also becomes thin and manufacture of an airtight container is easy.

As in claim 8, the vapor diffusion rate between the evaporation surface of each support plate and the condensation surface of the next stage is accelerated by placing the concentration processing unit in a sealed container and replacing the internal air with hydrogen, helium or the like. Thus, both the concentration efficiency and the production rate are significantly improved.

Next, an embodiment of how the apparatus for concentrating an aqueous solution according to the present invention is practically described will be described. First, in FIG. 2 to FIG. 11, after describing the configuration of the apparatus, the operation of the apparatus will be described in detail. 2 and 3 are schematic cross-sectional views showing the basic configuration of the concentrator according to the present invention. The concentration principle of this concentrator is the evaporation from the osmosis membrane, the diffusion in the air layer of the gap, and the condensation on the opposite surface as in the conventional one, but there are important improvements as follows.

H is a heating chamber, and a plurality of, for example, nearly 20 support plates 8 are suspended and supported on the left and right sides of the heating chamber, but only the left side will be described in detail below. Each of the support plates 8 is made of a corrosion-resistant thin plate such as a stainless steel plate having a thickness of about 0.5 mm, for example, and an evaporation osmosis membrane 9 for allowing a liquid to be concentrated such as seawater to permeate is in close contact with one surface thereof. . For convenience of explanation, the drawing shows that there is a gap between the osmosis membrane and the support plate, but in actuality it is in close contact. The upper end of the evaporative osmosis membrane 9 is extended and immersed in seawater in a reservoir groove 10 provided on the upper end side of the support plate 8, seawater is supplied by capillary action, and the whole to the lower end is always seawater. Wet. A concentrated liquid recovery container 11 is provided below the lower end of the evaporation osmosis membrane 9.

In this apparatus, when the heating is performed constantly by supplying steam into the heating chamber H, the water in the seawater permeating into the evaporating permeable membrane 9 adhering to each support plate 8 evaporates. And water vapor | steam is supplied to the space between each support plate 8 ..., and is spread | diffused to an opposing surface. And it cools in the back surface of the support plate 8 which opposes, becomes condensed water, and is collect | recovered through the condensation permeable membrane 12 of a lower end. On the other hand, the concentrated seawater remaining after the evaporation of water descends along the evaporative osmosis membrane 9 and is collected in the lower concentrated liquid collection container 11. In the illustrated support plate 8, the back surface to which the evaporation osmosis membrane 9 is not attached functions as a condensation surface that cools and condenses the water vapor.

In FIG. 3, the support plates 8 are suspended and supported in an inclined state within 30 degrees from the vertical. In this case, it is tilted so that the surface to which the vapor permeable membrane 9 is attached faces upward. In the case of operating by tilting in this way, the lower part of the heating chamber H is insulated with the heat insulating plate 13, and the right half of the figure is not used.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the evaporative osmosis membrane 9 is operated in a state where it is always wet by supplying seawater as the liquid to be concentrated, so that the surface tension of the liquid to be concentrated can be reduced without using an adhesive. By the action, the evaporation osmosis membrane 9 can be adhered to the support plate 8 in a close contact state. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, when the support plate 8 is vertically suspended and supported, two concentrators can be configured with one heating chamber H, and the area required for heat insulation of the heating container is greatly reduced. . As shown in FIG. 3, when the evaporation osmosis membrane 9 side is inclined upward and slightly tilted from the vertical, since the action of its own weight is added to the capillary action, the work of attaching the evaporation osmosis membrane 9 to the support plate 8 is easy. become.

As described above, when a large number of support plates 8 are suspended and supported at intervals, an appropriate number of spacers or mesh-like members are sandwiched between adjacent support plates 8. 8 can be made very narrow and uniform. In addition, it is desirable that the surface of these spacers or meshes be hydrophobic in order to prevent the condensed water from being mixed into the liquid to be concentrated or in the reverse direction.

2 and 3, the surface opposite to the evaporation osmosis membrane 9 is barely exposed, but the condensed water recovery osmosis membrane 12 is adhered to the lower end, A condensation osmosis membrane may be attached to the entire surface of the opposite side.

2 and 3, the nearest support plate 8 is heated by supplying and condensing water vapor into a heating vessel constituting the heated greenhouse H and heating it at a uniform temperature. For example, when the pressure in the greenhouse is 1 atm, since water vapor condenses at 100 ° C., it can be heated without uneven temperature. Then, the nearest support plate 8a is heated, and the evaporation / osmosis membrane 9a on the back surface thereof is heated, and water vapor is generated from the liquid to be concentrated, and is cooled and condensed by the adjacent support plate 8. The evaporation permeation membrane 9 on the back surface of the adjacent support plate 8 is heated by the condensation heat at this time. Such a thermal action is sequentially transmitted to the next adjacent support plate 8, and all the support plates 8 are heated to perform evaporation and condensation.

4 is an enlarged view of the lower end side of each support plate 8 in FIGS. 2 and 3, and is a front view seen from the condensation surface side. As described above, the permeable membrane 12 is attached to the lower end of each support plate 8 on the condensing surface side for collecting condensed water. The lower end of the osmotic membrane 12 for collecting condensed water has a triangular wave shape. Is formed. And only the lower end 12e pointed in the triangle protrudes downward from the support plate lower part 8u. And since the condensed water collection | recovery container 14 is provided under the lower end 12e pointed to this triangle, the water condensed on the condensing surface of the support plate 8 permeates the permeable membrane 12 for collecting condensed water, It reaches the lower end 12e pointed in a triangle and drops, and accumulates in the lower condensed water recovery container 14.

In FIG. 4, the lower side of the evaporation osmosis membrane 9 that is in close contact with the back side of each support plate 8, that is, the evaporation side, is also formed in a triangular wave shape. Since the concentrated liquid recovery container 11 is provided below the triangularly-pointed lower end 9e, the concentrated liquid concentrated by the evaporating osmosis membrane 9 permeates and falls to the lower part, and the triangularly-lowered lower end 9e. And drops, and accumulates in the lower concentrated liquid recovery container 11.

In this way, the condensed water drops from the triangular lower end 12e of the triangular wave-shaped portion of the condensed water recovery osmotic membrane adhered to one surface of the support plate 8, and the evaporated osmotic membrane 9 is in close contact with the other surface. Since the concentrated liquid drops from the triangular lower end 9e of the triangular wave-shaped part, the condensed water and the concentrated liquid can be separated and recovered with the thin support plate 8 interposed therebetween. In order to separate in this way, it is important that the triangle lower end 12e on the near side and the triangle lower end 9e on the back side are shifted in phase by exactly half a pitch. In the state where the V-shaped hanging portions 12e and 9e are alternately arranged in this manner, in the space below the lower end edge 8e of the lower portion 8u of the support plate 8, the front V-shaped hanging portion 12e and The V-shaped hanging portion 9e on the back side is not overlapped. That is, a region where neither the condensed water recovery osmosis membrane 12 nor the evaporation osmosis membrane 9 is in close contact is provided between the front and back V-shaped hanging portions 12e and 9e, as in the region indicated by 8x in the support plate 8. It is. As a result, the concentrated seawater and the condensed water are collected at the respective triangular wave-shaped tips without being mixed with each other and easily recovered. The water condensed on the bare surface of the plate flows down the bare surface, is absorbed by the permeated membrane for collecting condensed water at the lower end, and is collected as described above.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing the concentrated liquid reservoir groove 10 provided at the upper end of each support plate 8 in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, and on the side surface along the horizontal top end 8t of each support plate 8. A reservoir groove 10 is provided. The reservoir groove 10 is provided over substantially the entire length of the support plate 8 in the horizontal direction, and for example, seawater W, which is a liquid to be concentrated, is placed therein. The upper end of the evaporating and permeable membrane 9 on the side surface of the support plate 8 extends into the reservoir groove 10 and is inserted and immersed to the bottom.

9t is an extension part, and the evaporation osmosis membrane 9 is extended as it is or with another body, and since there is a liquid osmosis action, the seawater absorbed from the portion immersed in the reservoir groove 10 is caused by capillary action. It is sucked up, supplied to the evaporating and permeable membrane 9 on the back surface of the support plate 8 through the horizontal top end of the support plate 8 and continuously permeating and flowing down. And since the evaporation osmosis membrane 9 is always evaporated in a state wet with seawater, the seawater becomes a high concentration and is collected as a concentrated liquid from the lower end of the evaporation osmosis membrane 9. By making the top side of each support plate 8 horizontal, it is possible to make the suction height of seawater from the reservoir groove 10 uniform, and to supply seawater uniformly in the span direction of the evaporative osmosis membrane 9. In addition, although the dimension from the liquid level in the storage groove | channel 10 to the top end of the support plate 8 is suitable, for example, about 1-10 cm, it is not limited to this dimension.

FIG. 6 shows a control unit for quantitatively supplying the liquid to be concentrated to each reservoir groove 10, and overflowing from the weir 17 while supplying the liquid to be concentrated from the supply port 16 into the supply tank 15 of the liquid to be concentrated. To maintain a constant liquid level. Then, a large number of capillaries 19 are pierced through the bottom plate 18 of the supply tank 15, the upper end is placed in the liquid to be concentrated in the supply tank 15, and the liquid to be concentrated flowing out from the lower end is separated from another tube (FIG. 5, It flows so that it may flow in into each said storage groove | channel 10 through the tube 19t) of FIG. FIG. 11 is a perspective view of this state. With such a configuration, the supply amount of seawater from the supply tank 15 to each reservoir groove 10 is determined by the inner diameter and length of the capillary tube 19 and the seawater surface and the head height h at the lower end of the capillary tube 19. It is possible to control so that seawater is supplied. In the present invention, the head height h can be controlled and the flow rate can be adjusted by changing the insertion distance of the capillary tube 19 into the supply tank 15. In addition, the to-be-concentrated liquid which flows out from the lower end of the capillary tube 19 may be configured to insert the capillary tube 19 directly into the reservoir groove 10 in addition to supplying seawater to each reservoir groove 10 via the tube 19t.

FIG. 7 is a longitudinal sectional view of a closed type concentrating device. The concentrating device as described above is housed in a sealed container 20. In this embodiment, the inner space of the sealed container 20 is filled with a low molecular weight (light) gas such as hydrogen or helium instead of air, so that the concentrated liquid evaporative permeation membrane 9 and the support plate 8 are bare. During this period, the diffusion rate of water vapor in the gas is promoted, and the concentration efficiency (the ratio of the concentrate production amount to the amount of heat applied) and the concentrate production rate are both improved. In this case, the cooling pipe 21 may be stretched around the outer surface of the side wall of the sealed container 20 and cooled with cooling water or the like, or may be air-cooled. Alternatively, instead of the cooling pipe 21, an osmotic membrane may be attached to the outer surface of the sealed container 20 to impregnate and evaporate water or the like for cooling. The pressure difference between the inside and outside of the sealed container 20 is almost zero, and the sealed container 20 does not have to be a pressure container.

On the other hand, while making the said airtight container 20 into a pressure container, it is also possible to supply a high temperature / high pressure steam to the said heating chamber H. FIG. Thus, when high-temperature and high-pressure steam is supplied to the heating chamber H and heated, each concentrated liquid evaporating and permeating membrane 9 performs evaporative concentration at a higher temperature. As a result, the concentration efficiency and the concentrated liquid production rate are obtained. Is significantly improved. Further, since a large temperature difference between the heating chamber H and the side wall of the sealed container 20 can be obtained, a larger number of support plates 8 for closely contacting the evaporation osmosis membrane 9 can be installed, and the concentration efficiency is further improved.

FIGS. 8 and 9 show another embodiment of the heating means for the support plate 8a near the greenhouse H in FIGS. 2 and 3, and the first support plate 8a is provided with a hot water channel. That is, in FIG. 8, a zigzag or meandering flow channel 23 is formed by providing the guide plate 22 in a comb-like shape from the left and right sides between the left and right partition walls of the heating chamber that also serves as the first support plate 8a. . Then, when hot water heated by the heating means is supplied from the lower end inlet 23i, the hot water rises in a zigzag manner in the flow channel 23 and flows out from the upper end outlet 23o. Can be heated.

In FIG. 9, instead of forming the flow path by the guide plate 22, the hot water pipe 24 is formed in a zigzag shape or a meandering shape, and is bonded or welded to the first support plate 8a. A serpentine channel is formed. When hot water is supplied from the lower end inlet 24i, the hot water pipe 24 rises while meandering, flows out from the upper end outlet 24o, and the entire surface of the support plate 8a is heated. Since the piping structure shown in FIG. 9 is easier to manufacture than the heating chamber structure shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, heating steam is supplied to the piping structure shown in FIG. The entire surface of 8a can also be heated. Further, for uniform heating, uniform steam heating as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 is desirable, but a steam generator is required separately. When the heating source is 100 ° C. or lower, warm water heating as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 is simple, but it is necessary to devise the guide plate or piping so as to achieve uniform heating in the span direction of the support plate 8a. .

FIG. 10 is an exploded perspective view showing a structure in which the support plates 8 are suspended and supported, and the first support plate 8a and the last support plate 8z equipped with the meandering hot water pipe 24 of FIG. 9 appear. FIG. 11 shows a state in which a plurality of support plates 8 between the first support plate 8a and the last support plate 8z are also mounted. Further, FIG. 12 shows the state of the perspective view of FIG. 11 in a front view and a longitudinal sectional view. As shown on the rear surface of the last support plate 8 in FIG. 10, a large number of spacer projections 25 are fixed. By providing such a spacer means also on the back surface of each support plate 8 in FIG. 11, the plurality of support plates 8 can be supported by being suspended with a constant interval of, for example, about 5 mm.

In order to suspend and support the support plates 8..., Horizontal rails 26 are attached to the upper portions of the support plates 8 at positions immediately below the storage grooves 10. Guide rails 27 are provided at right angles in the upper portions on both sides of each support plate 8 to support both ends of each cross rail 26. In this way, each support plate 8 has a structure in which both ends of the horizontal beam 26 attached to the upper side thereof are placed on the horizontal beam 26, so that each support plate 8 is suspended and supported by the guide rail 27. The support plates 8 are suspended and supported. Since the guide rails 27 are inserted into the recesses 26 a formed at the lower ends of the both ends of each horizontal rail 26, each support plate 8 has an arrow on the guide rails 27 while maintaining a fixed position with respect to the guide rails 27. It can slide in the a1 direction. Instead of the recess 26a, as shown in FIG. 12 (1), both ends of the cross rail 26 may be hooked on the outside of the guide rail 27 so that the structure cannot be detached.

Therefore, it is possible to assemble the concentrator simply by suspending and supporting the respective support plates 8 on the left and right guide rails 27 and sliding them, and it is easy for maintenance such as periodic inspection and cleaning. Can also be disassembled. A pulley-like wheel may be interposed between the rail 26 and the guide rail 27 in order to make the horizontal rail 26 slide smoothly.

[Operation of the device]
As described above, a certain distance G is provided between the support plates 8 by the spacer means, and an air layer is formed therebetween. Therefore, the vapor evaporated from the evaporation osmosis membrane 9 diffuses in the air layer, reaches the bare surface on the back surface of the next adjacent support plate 8, and condenses there to transmit heat. In addition, heat is transferred from the evaporation / permeable membrane 9 to the bare surface of the support plate by conduction and radiation. Of these three types of heat transfer, the heat transfer mode by vapor diffusion, on average, transfers about 90% of the heat, but the rate is higher at higher temperatures. Therefore, the efficiency of the concentration means as a whole increases as the temperature increases.

Next, the narrower the gap G forming the air layer, the shorter the diffusion distance, and the smaller the temperature difference between the evaporation osmosis membrane 9 and the condensation surface required for a sufficient diffusion rate (evaporation rate). On the other hand, since the upper limit of the temperature of the first evaporative osmosis membrane 9a on the back surface of the first support plate 8a is limited by the boiling point of the liquid to be concentrated, the temperature difference between the initial evaporative osmosis membrane 9a and the ambient air is limited. . Therefore, the narrower the air layer, the more support plates 8 for attaching the evaporative permeation membrane can be arranged, so that a concentrated liquid can be obtained from the larger number of evaporative permeation membranes, and the concentration efficiency of the entire concentrating device is improved. To do.

On the other hand, the production speed decreases as the number of support plates 8 arranged increases. The temperature difference between the first support plate 8a and the ambient air is limited, and when the number of the support plates 8 is large, the temperature difference between each evaporative permeable membrane 9 and the bare surface of the support plate 8 at the next stage is small. . As a result, the vapor diffusion rate and the evaporation rate in the air layer are also reduced, and the concentrate obtained from the individual evaporative permeable membranes is also reduced in the overall production rate. At the same time, the amount of input heat decreases approximately in proportion to the evaporation rate from the first evaporation osmosis membrane 9a, but the amount of decrease is more significant than the production rate, so the concentration efficiency defined by the ratio of input heat amount to production amount Will improve. From the above relationship, if the gap G between the support plates 8 is narrowed to the limit and a larger number of support plates 8 are suspended, the concentration efficiency can be remarkably improved and a sufficient production speed can be secured. become.

If the portion of the concentration means is placed in the pressure vessel, the boiling point of the liquid to be concentrated can be raised to a higher temperature. Therefore, the first evaporative osmosis membrane 9a can be heated at a higher temperature, and the temperature difference from the ambient air can be increased. Therefore, even when a larger number of support plates 8 are installed, the temperature between the bare surfaces of the individual evaporative permeation membranes and the support plate of the next stage can be the same or larger, so that the efficiency and the production speed are remarkably improved. obtain. In this case, efficiency is mainly improved by increasing the number of support plates. However, since the temperature of each air layer is also higher, among the three forms of heat transfer, the rate of heat transfer by vapor diffusion is also increased. As a result, the effect of improving efficiency is also added.

Vapors diffuse faster in low molecular weight gases such as hydrogen and helium. If the air between the support plates 8 is replaced with hydrogen, helium, or the like, the vapor diffusion rate in each gas layer and the heat transfer rate due to vapor diffusion increase, so the production speed and efficiency of the entire concentrator are both high. Remarkably improved.

[Additional Notes]
A condensing permeation membrane may be attached to the entire surface without making the condensing surface of the support plate 8. However, when partial contact occurs through the condensation osmosis membrane, care should be taken because there is a risk of mixing the liquid to be concentrated and the condensed water. If the entire surface of the evaporation osmosis membrane 9 is wetted, it can be held in close contact with the support plate 8 by the capillary phenomenon of the liquid to be concentrated, so that the use of an adhesive can be avoided. In addition, it is safe to hold the evaporation osmosis membrane 9 with a clip or the like at an appropriate location on the top side of the support plate 8. However, the present invention does not exclude the use of an adhesive.

It is desirable that the first support plate 8a is positively heated by providing a heating chamber H, whereas the last support plate 8z is positively cooled. In this way, the following three methods are conceivable for cooling the last stage support plate 8z facing the ambient air.
1. An osmotic membrane is attached to the outer surface of the support plate 8z, impregnated with a liquid to be concentrated or water, and cooled by the heat of evaporation.
2. A cooling chamber or a cooling pipe is provided on the outer surface of the support plate 8z, and the inside is cooled through cooling water. 3. The outer surface of the support plate 8z is made bare and air-cooled.
The first evaporative cooling method and the second cooling water cooling method are preferable because the support plate can be cooled at a lower temperature than the third air cooling method, but the permeation membrane is attached or the piping for cooling is used. Is required.

In the above embodiment, seawater was taken as an example of the liquid to be concentrated, but the liquid to be concentrated is not limited to seawater. It can also be applied to the concentration of animal and plant solutions and aqueous solutions of other organic compounds and anaerobic compounds, and the condensed water generated during concentration can be recovered and used as a by-product. However, the present invention is not limited to only aqueous solutions, and application to the concentration of organic solutions such as alcohol, benzene, and acetone is also conceivable. In the above description, the osmotic membrane is a generic term for membranes, sheets, films, and the like that have a liquid osmotic action such as cloth.

As described above, according to the concentrating device according to the present invention, seawater and other aqueous solutions can be efficiently concentrated and recovered, and condensed water generated during concentration can also be effectively recovered and used as a water resource. Has the effect of two birds with one stone.

It is sectional drawing of the concentration apparatus using the conventional evaporation osmosis membrane. It is sectional drawing explaining the basic composition of the concentration apparatus by this invention, and is an example of a vertical type. It is sectional drawing explaining the basic composition of the concentration apparatus by this invention, and is an example of an inclination type. It is the figure which expanded and showed the lower end side of each support plate in FIG. 2, FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows the reservoir groove of the to-be-concentrated liquid provided in the upper end of each support plate in FIG. 2, FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows the control part for supplying a to-be-concentrated liquid quantitatively to each said reservoir groove. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a closed type concentration apparatus. It is embodiment which shows the guide plate type heating means of the first support plate, (1) is a front view, (2) is the AA sectional drawing. It is embodiment which shows the warm water pipe | tube type heating means of the first support plate, (1) is a front view, (2) is the BB sectional drawing. It is a disassembled perspective view of the state which suspended and supported the first and last support plates. It is a perspective view which shows the state by which the some support plate is suspended and supported between the 1st support plate and the last support plate. The state of the perspective view of FIG. 11 is shown with the front view and the longitudinal cross-sectional view, (1) is a front view, (2) is a longitudinal cross-sectional view.

Explanation of symbols

4 Evaporation and osmosis membrane 5 Condensation and osmosis membrane S Concentrated liquid H Heating chamber
8 Support plate
8a First support plate
8z Last support plate
9 evaporative osmosis membrane 9a first evaporative osmosis membrane 9e evaporative osmosis membrane lower triangle end 9z last evaporative osmosis membrane 10 reservoir groove
11 Concentrated liquid collection container
12 Condensed water recovery osmosis membrane 12e Triangular lower end 13 of the condensed water recovery osmosis membrane
14 Condensed water recovery container 15 Concentrated liquid supply container 16 Concentrated liquid supply port 17 Weir 19 Capillary tube 19 t Tube 20 Sealed container 21 Cooling pipe 22 Partition wall 23 Water flow path 24 Hot water pipe 25 Spacer projection 26 Side rail 27 Guide rail

Claims (8)

A thin support plate with one surface serving as the evaporation surface and the other surface serving as the condensing surface is suspended and supported vertically or tilted within 30 degrees from the vertical, and the liquid to be concentrated is placed on the evaporation surface. A concentrating device characterized in that it is configured to supply and collect condensate from the condensing surface. 2. The concentrating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an osmosis membrane for evaporation is provided on the evaporation surface, and an osmosis membrane for condensate recovery is provided at least on the lower end of the condensation surface. A reservoir groove for storing the concentrated liquid is provided along the top of the support plate, and the concentrated liquid is supplied from the osmotic membrane immersed in the reservoir groove to the osmotic membrane for evaporation on the support plate surface by capillary action. The concentrator according to claim 1 or 2, wherein 4. The structure according to claim 3, wherein water is supplied to each reservoir groove by a capillary from the bottom of the supply container of the liquid to be concentrated, and the liquid supply speed is set by changing the length of each capillary. The concentration apparatus as described. The lower end of the osmosis membrane for evaporation and the lower end of the osmosis membrane for condensate recovery at the lower end of the support plate have a triangular wave shape, and are shifted so that the V-shaped hanging portions of both triangular wave portions are staggered. The concentrator according to claim 2, 3, or 4. 6. The structure according to claim 1, wherein a horizontal beam that supports the upper end of each support plate is suspended on a rail provided in a direction perpendicular to the horizontal beam. The concentration apparatus as described. 7. The heat efficiency and production rate can be improved by housing the concentration processing unit in a pressure vessel and realizing high-temperature heating. 8. Concentrator. The concentration apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the concentration processing unit is housed in a sealed container and the internal air is replaced with hydrogen or helium.

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