JP2008055285A - Hydrothermal treatment device and method of carrying out hydrothermal treatment of object to be treated by water component of steam and heat of steam - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method for carrying out a hydrothermal treatment which attempts to simply maintain the treatment conditions of a hydrothermal treatment and to enhance the treatment efficiency in conducting the hydrothermal treatment by a water component of steam and heat of steam, and to provide a hydrothermal treatment device therefor. <P>SOLUTION: In introducing steam with high temperature and high pressure of about 200°C/2MPa into a treatment kettle 110 and carrying out the hydrothermal treatment of the object to be treated by the water component of steam with high temperature and high pressure and heat of the steam in the treatment kettle 110, steam to be sent under pressure by a boiler 120 is heated by a steam overheating heater 130. Prior to the introduction of steam, the inside of the treatment kettle 110 is set to a high-pressurized environment in advance by introducing hyperbaric air into the treatment kettle 110 and the object to be treated is warmed in advance by spraying the object to be treated before the hydrothermal treatment is conducted with the residual steam upon the previous hydrothermal treatment. Thus, the treatment environment is maintained at high temperature and high pressure in the treatment kettle 110. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a hydrothermal treatment for treating an object to be treated such as food residue, wood waste, waste paper, raw garbage, food residue, plastic container lunch box, and plastic packaging onigiri residue with steam and its heat.

  In recent years, awareness of environmental conservation and resource circulation has increased, and various methods have been proposed to replace existing processing methods such as incineration of processed objects (for example, Patent Document 1). In this patent document, feed and compost are produced by hydrothermally treating a general waste such as food residue, wood waste, paper waste, raw garbage, and food waste with high-temperature and high-pressure steam.

JP 2003-47409 A

  Patent Document 1 proposes that the temperature in a treatment kettle is set to a temperature of about 150 ° C. under a pressure of less than 1 MPa when the object to be treated is hydrothermally treated with the water component of water vapor and the heat of water vapor. As research on hydrothermal treatment progresses and the treatment environment is increased to a higher temperature and pressure, the remaining plates of plastic container lunch boxes and plastic packaging onigiri (hereinafter referred to as plastic-containing residue) are mixed with general waste. It has been expected that the treated product can also be hydrothermally treated.

  However, even if the hydrothermal treatment conditions are increased to high temperatures and pressures, the introduction of high temperature and high pressure steam treatment tanks is limited by the ability of the boiler that is the source of water vapor, so hydrothermal treatment under high temperature and pressure does not proceed. Is the current situation. In addition, there is a need to increase the size of the treatment kettle from the viewpoint of improving the hydrothermal treatment capacity, but there is still room for improvement in securing and maintaining the treatment conditions during hydrothermal treatment as the kettle becomes larger. .

  In addition, in order to improve the processing efficiency, it is desired to start the next processing early by quickly discharging the processing product after the hydrothermal treatment is completed. However, since the treatment kettle is filled with high-temperature and high-pressure steam, a temperature drop and a pressure drop due to cooling of the treatment kettle are necessary for this steam discharge. The pressure drop took a long time. For this reason, there is still room for improvement in terms of shortening the time to the next hydrothermal treatment of the object to be treated, and thus improving the treatment efficiency.

  The present invention was made in order to solve the above problems when performing hydrothermal treatment by the water component of water vapor and the heat of water vapor in the treatment kettle, and to easily maintain the treatment conditions of hydrothermal treatment and improve the treatment efficiency. Alternatively, the purpose is to achieve both.

  In order to solve at least a part of such problems, in the hydrothermal treatment apparatus and method of the present invention, when hydrotreating the workpiece with the water component of steam and the heat of steam, the inlet and outlet of the workpiece are discharged. The object to be processed is introduced into the hollow processing tank having an outlet from the charging port, and steam is pumped into the processing tank from a steam generation source that generates steam. By such steam pumping, the inside of the treatment kettle is brought into contact with the steam that has been fed and the heat of the steam is subjected to the hydrothermal treatment of the workpiece. Then, by stirring the charged object to be processed in the processing vessel into which the steam has been introduced, the object to be processed is uniformly contacted with the water vapor, and more uniform heat is transmitted to the object to be processed. The hydrothermal treatment is advanced.

  In order to proceed with such hydrothermal treatment, it is indispensable to continue the high-pressure and high-pressure steam pumping from the steam generation source. Therefore, in view of such knowledge, the present invention intends to maintain the treatment environment during the hydrothermal treatment. In other words, by heating the steam introduced into the treatment kettle and then sending the steam to the treatment kettle, it is possible to achieve stable pumping of high-temperature and high-pressure steam regardless of the ability of the steam generation source, and high-temperature and high-pressure pressurization steam. Therefore, it was decided to maintain the hydrothermal treatment environment. In this case, it is easy to heat the steam through a route for introducing the steam into the treatment kettle.

  In addition, by introducing pressurized air into the inside of the treatment tank prior to the start of the hydrothermal treatment, the inside of the treatment pot is set in a high-pressure environment in advance, thereby increasing the pressure of the hydrothermal treatment environment. It was decided to maintain this. Alternatively, the water vapor remaining in the treatment kettle after the hydrothermal treatment is finished is discharged from the treatment kettle and stored in a hollow container, and the stored water vapor is fed from the inlet of the treatment kettle for the next treatment. By spraying on the processed material and raising the temperature of the next processed material, the temperature drop due to the input of the processed material during the next hydrothermal treatment is suppressed, and the processing environment is maintained from the beginning of the hydrothermal treatment. It was. Since the next temperature increase of the object to be processed is performed with the remaining steam, it is not necessary to separately prepare a heat source for increasing the temperature of the object to be processed, and the configuration can be simplified and the resources can be saved.

  The present invention having the above-described configuration can also take the following aspects. For example, a water vapor introduction path for introducing water vapor from a water vapor generation source into the inside of the treatment kettle is disposed so as to introduce water vapor into a plurality of introduction locations of the treatment kettle, and at least one of the plurality of introduction locations. One can be used as the discharge port of the processing pot, and the object to be processed at the discharge port can be pushed back into the processing pot. If it carries out like this, it can avoid that a to-be-processed object block | closes a discharge port and solidifies in the middle of the hydrothermal treatment under high temperature / high pressure, and a discharge port is blocked. Therefore, the discharge of the processed product after the hydrothermal treatment becomes smooth and preferable.

  Furthermore, a hollow fluid introduction part is formed around the treatment kettle, a heat exchange kettle that enables heat exchange between the fluid introduced into the fluid introduction part and the treatment kettle, and after the hydrothermal treatment is finished Fluid introduction means for introducing a fluid having a temperature lower than the temperature of residual water vapor remaining in the treatment kettle to the heat exchange pot, and water vapor discharge means for discharging the residual water vapor from the treatment kettle after completion of the hydrothermal treatment. You can also In this way, the steam after the hydrothermal treatment can be efficiently cooled within a short time by heat exchange with a low-temperature fluid to promote the temperature drop and pressure drop inside, and the remaining water vapor can be discharged. Therefore, in addition to the above-described maintenance of the hydrothermal treatment environment, it is possible to shorten the time until the next hydrothermal treatment of the object to be processed, and to improve the treatment efficiency.

  In this way, introduction of the low-temperature fluid into the heat exchange kettle and the kettle can be configured independently of maintaining the treatment environment of the hydrothermal treatment, and in this way, shortening until the next hydrothermal treatment of the workpiece, The processing efficiency can be improved.

  In introducing the low-temperature fluid into the heat exchange kettle, when introducing the low-temperature fluid into the heat exchange kettle, the fluid can be introduced while gradually lowering the fluid temperature from the temperature of the residual water vapor. If it carries out like this, since the rapid temperature change (temperature fall) of the processing pot used as heat exchange object can be suppressed, it is preferable from ensuring durability of a processing pot.

  Further, in addition to introducing the low-temperature fluid into the heat exchange kettle, in the next hydrothermal treatment of the object to be treated, after discharging the low-temperature fluid already introduced into the heat exchange kettle, the steam generation source It is also possible to introduce the generated water vapor into the heat exchange kettle. In this way, in the next hydrothermal treatment, the temperature of the treatment kettle can be raised also by heat exchange with water vapor introduced into the heat exchange kettle, which can contribute to maintaining the environment of the next hydrothermal treatment.

  In the hydrothermal treatment of the present invention described above, for example, it is desirable that the treatment environment in the treatment vessel is a high temperature environment of about 200 ° C. under a high pressure of about 2 MPa. Such a high-temperature and high-pressure environment is preferable from the viewpoints of environmental protection and resource circulation, because it is possible to hydrotreat the processed material in which the plastic-containing residual rice and the general waste are mixed. And according to this invention mentioned above, it can contribute to the processing environment maintenance at the time of the hydrothermal treatment under the high temperature high pressure of about 2 MPa / about 200 degreeC, and improvement of production efficiency.

  Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described based on examples. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a hydrothermal treatment apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in the figure, the hydrothermal treatment apparatus 100 of this embodiment includes a treatment kettle 110, a boiler 120, a steam superheater 130, a compressor 135, a heat exchange kettle 140, a cooling device 150, and a waste charging hopper 160. And a control device 170. The processing pot 110 is a hollow processing pot for processing general waste such as food residue and plastic-containing leftover as a processing object in this embodiment, and is made of steel or stainless steel having pressure resistance and temperature resistance. It is a made kettle. And this processing pot 110 is equipped with the input port 111 and the discharge port 112 of a to-be-processed object in the upper and lower sides of a pot, and is equipped with the some stirring blade 113 inside the pot rotatably. The insertion port 111 is opened and closed by an opening / closing device 114 that is driven under the control of the control device 170, opens when the workpiece is charged, and is closed until the next loading of the workpiece. The discharge port 112 is opened and closed by an opening / closing device 115 that is driven under the control of the control device 170, opens when the processing of the object to be processed (hydrothermal treatment) is completed, and is closed during the hydrothermal treatment. . Processed products discharged from the discharge port 112, that is, compost, feed, fuel, and the like, which will be described later, are transported to the outside by a transport device (not shown).

  The stirring blade 113 rotates inside the processing pot 110 as the motor 116 outside the processing pot 110 rotates, and stirs the object to be processed that has been put into the processing pot 110. As will be described later, since the inside of the processing pot 110 is filled with water vapor at a high temperature and high pressure, the stirring blade 113 rotates to stir the object to be processed. A uniform heat transfer to the object to be processed while uniformly contacting the water vapor.

  The processing pot 110 is equipped with a pot temperature sensor 200 for detecting the internal temperature and a pot pressure sensor 201 for detecting the internal pressure, and these sensors output detection signals to the control device 170. The control device 170 receives the output signals from these sensors, and drives and controls the boiler 120, the steam superheater 130, and the like. The state of such device control will be described later.

  The boiler 120 receives a control signal from the control device 170, generates steam with a heat source (not shown), and pumps the steam to the steam superheater 130 on the downstream side, and further to the treatment kettle 110. The steam is introduced into the processing kettle 110 through the steam introducing pipe 180 disposed from the boiler 120 to the processing kettle 110. The steam introduction pipe 180 is branched into a plurality of pipes and formed in the treatment tank 110, and water vapor is ejected into the treatment tank from a plurality of ejection holes in the treatment tank 110. By such water vapor ejection, water vapor is introduced into the processing kettle 110. A branched water vapor introduction pipe 181 branched from the water vapor introduction pipe 180 is piped to an ejection hole 182 installed at the discharge port 112 of the processing tank 110, and water vapor is ejected from the ejection hole 182 into the processing tank 110. Since the ejection hole 182 is disposed so as to face the inside of the processing hook 110 at the discharge port 112, specifically, the ejection hole 182 is directed upward at the discharge port 112 at a position below the pot. The water vapor ejected from 182 pushes the object to be processed at the outlet 112 to the inside of the processing pot 110.

  In FIG. 1, the branching form of the water vapor introduction pipe 180 is omitted, but a plurality of branch water vapor introduction pipes 180 a, 180 b, 180 c, etc. are branched from the water vapor introduction pipe 180. Therefore, the inside of the processing pot 110 is quickly and completely filled with the water vapor simultaneously ejected from the ejection holes corresponding to each of the plurality of branch water vapor introduction pipes. Such introduction and filling of water vapor is caused by water vapor pumping by the boiler 120, and in this embodiment, the pressure inside the treatment tank 110 is set to about 2 MPa.

  As described above, the treatment kettle 110 that receives the introduction of water vapor has two water vapor discharge systems. One discharge system is a discharge system including a water vapor discharge pipe 193, a valve 194 of the pipe line, and a silencer 195, and discharges water vapor directly from the processing tank 110 to the atmosphere. This discharge system corresponds to the water vapor discharge means for discharging the water vapor (residual water vapor) remaining in the treatment kettle 110 after the hydrothermal treatment is finished.

  The other exhaust system injects the water vapor (residual water vapor) remaining in the treatment tank 110 at the end of the hydrothermal treatment to the treatment object to be subjected to the next hydrothermal treatment, and the treatment object is subjected to the hydrothermal treatment. A steam reflux pipe 196 piped from the treatment kettle 110 to the waste charging hopper 160, a valve 197 for the pipe line, an accumulator 198, and a valve 199 downstream of the accumulator are provided for raising the temperature. The valve 197 is a hollow container, stores the residual water vapor in the processing tank 110 during the period when the pipe line of the valve 197 is opened and the pipe line of the valve 199 is closed. In the period of 199 opening of the pipe line, the waste is injected into the object to be processed (object to be processed for the next processing) of the hopper 160. As a result, the temperature of the object to be processed next time is increased prior to the water treatment, so that the water vapor reflux pipe 196 cooperates with the accumulator 198 to constitute the temperature increasing mechanism of the present invention, and is one of the maintaining means of the present invention. Applicable.

  The steam superheater 130 is disposed on the downstream side of the boiler 120 so as to surround the steam introduction pipe 180, heats the heater (not shown) to the steam that passes through the steam introduction pipe 180, and heats the steam. Heated water vapor is sent out to the processing pot 110 side. Therefore, since the steam superheater 130 is for making the inside of the processing pot 110 into a high temperature environment by the heat of high temperature steam, it corresponds to the steam heating mechanism of the present invention and corresponds to one of the maintenance means of the present invention. To do. In this embodiment, the steam heated up to about 200 ° C. by heating with the steam superheater 130 is pumped to the treatment kettle 110. For this reason, the treatment kettle 110 is brought into a high-temperature and high-pressure environment having a pressure of about 2 MPa and a temperature of about 200 ° C. upon receiving the introduction of high-temperature and high-pressure steam. Hydrothermal treatment is performed.

  Since the steam introduction pipe 180 is provided with a meandering pipe line in a region that is heated by the steam superheater 130, heating by the steam superheater 130 is performed in a range where the path is long due to meandering of the steam introduction pipe 180. Therefore, the steam heating efficiency by the steam superheater 130 can be increased.

  The above-described opening and closing of the water vapor introduction pipe 180 is performed by a valve 183 that is driven by receiving a drive signal from the control device 170 and a valve 184 in the vicinity of the ejection hole. The branch steam introduction pipes 180a to 180c and the like are also opened and closed by a valve (not shown) in the vicinity of the ejection hole in each pipe line. In this case, the branch water vapor introducing pipe 181 is opened and closed only by the most upstream valve 183 for the purpose of taking the function of pushing back the object to be processed by the water vapor ejection described above. In other words, the branch steam introduction pipe 180a other than the branch steam introduction pipe 181 is configured so that steam can be ejected only from the branch steam introduction pipe 181 with these pipes closed. The steam jet only from the branched steam inlet pipe 181 will be described later.

  A sensor 190 for detecting the pressure of water vapor passing therethrough is mounted on the water vapor introducing pipe 180, and sensors 191 to 192 for detecting the temperature of water vapor passing therethrough are mounted on the boiler 120 and the steam superheater 130. Detection signals of these sensors are output to the control device 170, and are used for controlling the boiler 120, the steam superheater 130, and the like by the control device 170. Further, in each of the branch steam inlet pipes 180a to 180c, such as the steam inlet pipe 180, the branch steam inlet pipe 181 and the like, in addition to a backflow valve (not shown) for preventing the backflow of water vapor, the gas is discharged after being decompressed when the pressure rises excessively. A discharge valve (not shown) for performing is appropriately installed.

  Further, a branch steam introduction pipe 185 is further branched from the branch steam introduction pipe 181, and this branch steam introduction pipe 185 passes the valve 186 and the decompression equipment unit 187, and the decompression steam is introduced into the heat exchange kettle 140 described later. Introduce. This introduction timing will be described later.

  The compressor 135 is connected to the processing kettle 110 through a valve 136, and introduces approximately 2 MPa of high-pressure air into the processing kettle 110. As will be described later, the introduction of the high-pressure air is performed prior to the hydrothermal treatment in the treatment tank 110 and is performed for maintaining the treatment environment. Therefore, the compressor 135 corresponds to the pressurized air introduction mechanism of the present invention, This corresponds to one of the maintenance means of the present invention.

  The heat exchange pot 140 includes a fluid introduction part 141 that is hollow so as to surround the periphery of the body part of the processing pot 110. Since the fluid introduction part 141 is hermetically sealed and is in contact with the conductor side wall of the processing pot 110, heat exchange between the fluid introduced into the fluid introduction part 141 and the processing pot 110 is enabled. In the present embodiment, the fluid introduced into the fluid introduction part 141 is cooling water and water vapor as will be described later. That is, the heat exchanging pot 140 includes a cooling water discharge pipe 142 and a water vapor discharge pipe 143 as a fluid discharge path from the fluid introduction part 141, and valves 144 to 145 of the respective pipe lines driven and controlled by the control device 170 Cooling water discharge and water vapor discharge are performed in the fluid introduction part 141. Cooling water is introduced into the fluid introduction part 141 of the heat exchange kettle 140 from a cooling device 150 described later, and water vapor is introduced through the branched water vapor introducing pipe 185 described above. The introduction / discharge timing of the cooling water / steam will be described later. In addition, although the water vapor discharge pipe 143 is drawn below in the drawing, it is actually installed at the upper part of the fluid introduction part 141 so as not to hinder the introduction and discharge of the cooling water.

  The cooling device 150 includes a first tank 151 and a second tank 152, mixes the cooling water in both tanks by a mixing valve 153, and passes the mixed cooling water through a cooling pipe 154 and a valve 155 of the pipe line. It introduces into the fluid introduction part 141 of the heat exchange pot 140. The cooling water is introduced into the fluid introduction part 141 after the hydrothermal treatment in the treatment tank 110 is completed. The second tank 152 includes a spiral pipe portion of a heat exchange pipe 188 branched from the water vapor introduction pipe 180 in the tank, and the water in the tank is cooled to a predetermined temperature, for example, 50 to 80 ° C. by the water vapor passing through the pipe. Maintain to a degree. A diversion valve 189 is disposed at a branch point of the heat exchange pipe 188, and water vapor passes through the heat exchange pipe 188 with a diversion passage amount determined by the diversion valve 189. Therefore, the cooling device 150 sends cooling water having a temperature determined by the amount of cooling water from the first tank 151 side and the amount of cooling water from the second tank 152 side according to the mixing ratio by the mixing valve 153 to the fluid introduction unit 141. be able to. The temperature of the cooling water (mixed cooling water) introduced from the cooling device 150 to the fluid introduction unit 141 is the upper limit of the cooling water temperature (50 to 80 ° C.) in the second tank 152, and this temperature is The temperature is lower than the water vapor temperature introduced (about 200 ° C.). Therefore, the cooling device 150 corresponds to the fluid introducing means of the present invention.

  The waste input hopper 160 inputs the object to be processed into the input port 111 while conveying the object to be processed at a timing that matches the hydrothermal treatment cycle in the processing pot 110. The control device 170 performs overall control of the hydrothermal treatment device 100 of this embodiment, and includes a CPU that executes logical operations, a ROM that stores programs and data, and a RAM that allows temporary reading and writing of data. Etc. It is comprised with the computer which has etc. The control device 170 receives detection signals from the various sensors described above, and controls various valve drive controls such as the valve 183 and the boiler according to the detection signals and operating condition setting parameters from an operation panel (not shown). Drive control of equipment such as 120 is executed.

  Next, a hydrothermal treatment process performed in the hydrothermal treatment apparatus 100 of the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 2 is a process diagram showing the steps of the hydrothermal treatment process. Prior to the description of the hydrothermal treatment, a process performed by the hydrothermal treatment apparatus 100 for performing the hydrothermal treatment will be described.

  The control device 170 inputs detection signals of the sensor 190 of the steam introduction pipe 180, the sensor 191 of the steam superheater 130, the sensor 192 of the boiler 120, the pot temperature sensor 200 of the processing pot 110 and the pot pressure sensor 201, and the boiler 120. The operation state (heating temperature, etc.) of the steam superheater 130 is controlled while controlling the operation state (water vapor generation amount, pumping amount, etc.). Thereby, the hydrothermal treatment apparatus 100 pumps water vapor so that the treatment pot 110 is filled with water vapor at a stable temperature and pressure (200 ° C./2 MPa). In this case, in the initial stage of introduction of water vapor into the treatment kettle 110, it is possible to introduce water vapor about 10 ° C. higher than the above temperature in consideration of cooling due to contact with the object to be treated.

In addition, the control device 170 controls the temperature of the second tank 152 in the cooling device 150. That is, the opening degree of the diversion valve 189 provided in the water vapor introduction pipe 180 is adjusted, and the cooling water temperature of the second tank 152 is adjusted to the above-described predetermined temperature of 50 to 80 ° C., for example, 80 ° C. In this temperature adjustment, a detection signal of a temperature sensor (not shown) provided in the second tank 152 is used. The tank capacity of the second tank 152 is a capacity sufficient to fill the heat exchange pot 140 around the trunk of the processing pot 110, more specifically, the fluid introducing portion 141. Therefore, the internal volume of the processing pot 110 (in this embodiment, about 10 m ³ ), which is sufficiently smaller than 0.5 m ³ . Moreover, since the adjustment temperature is 50 to 80 ° C., which is lower than the water vapor temperature (about 200 ° C.) introduced into the processing tank 110, the diverter valve 189 adjusts the cooling water temperature of the second tank 152. The amount of water vapor diverted to the heat exchange pipe 188 is also small. Therefore, even if the water vapor is divided as described above, there is no influence on the temperature rise of the processing pot 110 due to the introduction of the water vapor.

  The hydrothermal treatment apparatus 100 performs the hydrothermal treatment of FIG. 2 while executing the above-described device control by the control apparatus 170. In this hydrothermal treatment process, first, an object to be treated is introduced into the waste input hopper 160 (step S100). Following the introduction of the object to be processed, the control device 170 causes the waste input hopper 160 to carry the input object to be processed to the input port 111 while stirring and to store the object to be processed in the accumulator 198. Water vapor is sprayed to increase the temperature of the object to be processed (step S110). The accumulator 198 accumulates steam in a high temperature state in step 150 to be described later after completion of the hydrothermal treatment, so that the high temperature steam in the accumulator 198 is sprayed by the valve opening control of the valve 199 by the control device 170. This is to increase the temperature of the object. Although the temperature of the water vapor decreases during the accumulation in the accumulator 198, the temperature of the object to be processed is not increased because the temperature decreases little during the period until the next hydrothermal treatment.

  Subsequent to step S110, the control device 170 opens the input port 111 with the opening / closing device 114, and inputs an object to be processed from the waste input hopper 160 into the input port 111 in a temperature-rising state (step S120). Subsequently, the control device 170 closes the input port 111 and then controls to open the valve 136 for a predetermined time, and during this time, compressed air is introduced from the compressor 135 to the processing hook 110 (step S130). By introducing this compressed air, the pressure increase of the processing kettle 110 by the subsequent introduction of water vapor is promoted.

  Subsequently, the control device 170 controls the opening of the uppermost valve 183 of the water vapor introduction pipe 180 and the respective valves such as the branch water vapor introduction pipes 180a to 180c, and the steam generated by the boiler 120 in the treatment tank 110 is steam overheated. High-temperature and high-pressure (200 ° C./2 MPa) water vapor that has been heated by the heater 130 is introduced, and the stirring blade 113 in the processing pot is rotated by the motor 116 to stir the already-treated workpiece (step S140). By introducing such high-temperature and high-pressure steam, inside the treatment tank 110, the already-treated workpiece comes into contact with the high-temperature and high-pressure steam, and the heat of the steam is subjected to the hydrothermal treatment of the workpiece. Then, by stirring the object to be processed by the stirring blade 113, the already-processed object is uniformly brought into contact with the high-temperature and high-pressure steam, and more uniform heat is transmitted to the object to be processed, so that the hydrothermal treatment is advanced. It should be noted that the processing object stirring by the stirring blade 113 may be performed in parallel with the introduction of compressed air in step S130.

  High-temperature and high-pressure steam introduction through the steam introduction pipe 180, the branched steam introduction pipes 180a to 180c, etc. is continued during the hydrothermal treatment of the workpiece. At the discharge port 112, the water vapor is continuously introduced from the outlet hole 182 in the kettle through the branched water vapor introduction pipe 181. Therefore, during the hydrothermal treatment, the object to be processed is pushed back into the kettle by introducing water vapor from the ejection hole 182 at the discharge port 112, so that the discharge port 112 can be prevented from being inadvertently blocked.

The controller 170 of the hydrothermal treatment apparatus 100 performs hydrothermal treatment of the object to be treated with high-temperature and high-pressure steam for a predetermined time, and then performs valve closing control of the valve 183 and stop control of the motor 116 to finish the hydrothermal treatment. Let Then, the control device 170 executes the valve opening control of the valve 197 of the water vapor reflux pipe 196 and the valve closing control of the valve 199 to guide the residual water vapor in the processing tank 110 to the accumulator 198, and the accumulator 198 is kept at a high temperature. Water vapor is accumulated (step S150). This water vapor accumulation is completed when the valve 197 is closed. The water vapor thus accumulated is used to raise the temperature of the workpiece as already described in step S110. Since the internal volume of the accumulator 198 is smaller than the internal volume (about 10 m ³ ) of the processing tank 110, even after the water vapor has accumulated in the accumulator 198, water vapor still remains in the processing tank 110. Yes.

  When the accumulation of water vapor in the accumulator 198 is completed, the control device 170 introduces cooling water from the cooling device 150 to the fluid introducing portion 141 of the heat exchange kettle 140 (step S160). This cooling water introduction is performed as follows.

  First, the valve 144 of the cooling water discharge pipe 142 is controlled to be closed, and the fluid introduction part 141 is filled with cooling water. Thereafter, the valve 144 on the discharge side and the valve 155 on the introduction side are controlled to open, and the cooling water of the cooling device 150 is circulated and supplied to the fluid introduction unit 141. FIG. 3 is an explanatory view for explaining the circulation and supply of cooling water.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the control device 170 sets the flow rate ratio by the mixing valve 153 to 100% on the second tank 152 side and 0% on the first tank 151 side during the initial period of introduction of the cooling water, Thereafter, the flow rate of the second tank 152 is reduced, and the flow rate of the first tank 151 is increased. In the final stage of the introduction of the cooling water, the second tank 152 side is set to 0%, and the first tank 151 side is set to 100%. Therefore, the temperature of the cooling water circulated and supplied to the fluid introduction unit 141 becomes the cooling water temperature (about 80 ° C.) of the second tank 152 in the initial period of the introduction of the cooling water, and thereafter gradually decreases, and the cooling water At the end of the introduction, the cooling water temperature (normal temperature) of the first tank 151 is reached. Since such cooling water circulation is performed, the heat exchange kettle 140, specifically, the fluid introduction part 141, performs a heat exchange (cooling) with the treatment kettle 110, and initially the difference from the internal temperature of the treatment kettle 110. While cooling at a low temperature, gradually cool with cooling water at a lower temperature. This cooling is preferably continued until the environment inside the processing pot 110 reaches about 100 ° C.

  Subsequent to the cooling of the treatment tank 110, the valve 194 of the water vapor discharge pipe 193 is controlled to open, and all the water vapor remaining at the completion of the cooling is released to the atmosphere (step S170). This water vapor release is performed in a state where both the temperature and the pressure are lowered as described above.

  Subsequently, the control device 170 drives the opening / closing device 115 to open the discharge port 112, and discharges the processed product (compost, feed, fuel) from the processing pot 110 (step S180). When the processed product is discharged, the controller 170 closes the discharge port 112 to prepare for the next hydrothermal treatment. The discharged processed product is conveyed by a belt conveyor (not shown).

  When the residual steam is released into the atmosphere in step S170, the control device 170 starts to raise the temperature of the processing kettle 110 in preparation for the next hydrothermal treatment in parallel with the discharge of the processed material. That is, the control device 170 controls to open the valve 144 of the cooling water discharge pipe 142 with the cooling water introduced into the heat exchange pot 140 (specifically, the fluid introduction part 141) for cooling the processing pot 110. Thereby, it collect | recovers to the 1st tank 151 and the 2nd tank 152 of the cooling device 150 (step S190). Next, the valve 144 is controlled to be closed so that the fluid introduction part 141 is hermetically sealed, and then the steam is introduced into the fluid introduction part 141 via the branch steam introduction pipe 185 (step S200), and the treatment kettle 110 is surrounded by its circumference. The temperature is raised by the fluid introduction part 141. The introduced water vapor is released into the atmosphere from the water vapor discharge pipe 143 of the fluid introduction part 141 when the cooling water is introduced in step S160 described above, so that there is no problem in introducing the cooling water.

  In the hydrothermal treatment apparatus 100 of the present embodiment described above, when the object to be treated is hydrothermally treated in the treatment kettle 110 with the water component of high-temperature and high-pressure steam of about 200 ° C./2 MPa and the heat of the steam, the treatment kettle 110 is treated. An object to be processed is introduced into the treatment tank 110, and the high-temperature and high-pressure steam is passed through the steam introduction pipe 180, the branched steam introduction pipes 180a to 180c, and the like into the boiler 120 and the steam superheater 130. Pumped from. By such steam pumping, the inside of the processing pot 110 is brought into contact with the high-temperature and high-pressure steam to which the already-processed workpiece has been pumped, and the heat of the steam is subjected to the hydrothermal treatment of the workpiece. Then, by stirring the charged object to be processed evenly by the stirring blade 113 in the processing vessel 110 into which the high-temperature and high-pressure steam has been introduced, the object to be processed is uniformly contacted with the water vapor. The water component of water vapor and the hydrothermal treatment by the heat are advanced while achieving proper heat propagation.

  In proceeding with such a hydrothermal treatment, in this embodiment, the steam generated by the boiler 120 is heated by the steam superheater 130 in the pumping process, and high-temperature and high-pressure steam of about 200 ° C./2 MPa is supplied to the processing kettle 110. It was decided to continue introduction (step S140). In order to bear the generation and pumping of such high-temperature and high-pressure steam with a boiler, the boiler is required to have high capacity. However, since the boiler capacity is limited, the high-temperature and high-pressure steam as described above can be stably stabilized. Although it is difficult to continuously introduce, in this embodiment, high-temperature and high-pressure steam can be stably and continuously introduced by performing steam heating by the steam superheater 130 as described above. According to the hydrothermal treatment apparatus 100 that continuously introduces such high-temperature and high-pressure steam, the treatment kettle 110 can be placed in a treatment environment desirable for hydrothermal treatment (about 200 ° C./2 MPa), and the treatment environment is kept at high temperature and high pressure. Easy to maintain. In this case, in the present embodiment, when steam heating is performed by the steam superheater 130, the path to be heated by the steam superheater 130 is a meandering path to increase the heating efficiency by increasing the path length. As a result, it is suitable for maintaining the processing environment of the processing pot 110.

  Then, as described above, the processing environment inside the processing pot 110 is maintained at a high temperature and high pressure of about 200 ° C./2 MPa, and the plastic-containing residual rice or the processing object mixed with general waste is hydrothermally treated. So you can achieve high productivity. In addition, since it is a hydrothermal treatment, there is no generation of dust and soot, which is preferable from the viewpoint of environmental conservation, and also from the point of view of resource circulation that produces useful processed products (compost, fertilizer, fuel) from the processed material. preferable.

  Prior to the introduction of the high-temperature and high-pressure steam described above, high-pressure air is introduced into the processing tank 110 so that the inside of the processing tank 110 is set in a high-pressure environment in advance. it can. Moreover, since high-pressure air is introduced by introducing high-temperature air prior to the introduction of high-temperature and high-pressure water vapor, and then high-temperature and high-pressure water vapor is introduced into the treatment tank 110, it becomes even easier to maintain the treatment environment for hydrothermal treatment.

  In addition, the high-temperature residual steam remaining in the treatment kettle 110 in the previous hydrothermal treatment is sprayed on the treatment object before the hydrothermal treatment (step S110), and the treatment object is elevated in advance. Keep warm. Therefore, the temperature drop due to the introduction of the workpiece into the processing pot 110 can be suppressed, so that the processing environment can be maintained at a high temperature and high pressure from the beginning of the hydrothermal treatment. In addition, since the temperature of the object to be processed is increased with the remaining water vapor stored in the accumulator 198, it is not necessary to prepare a separate heat source for increasing the temperature of the object to be processed. Recycling can be achieved.

  Further, in this embodiment, the steam introduction pipe 180 for introducing steam from the boiler 120 into the processing kettle 110 is branched into a plurality of branch steam introduction pipes 180a to 180c and the like at the plurality of introduction places. Steam was introduced into the interior of 110, and then the ejection hole 182 of one branch steam introduction pipe 181 was installed at the discharge port 112 of the treatment tank 110. The steam sprayed from the ejection hole 182 through the branch steam inlet pipe 181 acts to push the object to be treated at the discharge port 112 back into the treatment tank 110, so that during the hydrothermal treatment under high temperature and high pressure, It can be avoided that the processed material blocks and solidifies the discharge port 112 and the discharge port 112 is blocked. Therefore, the discharge of the processed product after the hydrothermal treatment becomes smooth and preferable.

  Furthermore, a heat exchange kettle 140 provided with a hollow fluid introduction part 141 surrounding the periphery of the body part of the treatment kettle 110 was disposed. Then, after the hydrothermal treatment is completed, the cooling water is introduced into the fluid introduction part 141, the heat of the processing tank 110 with the cooling water is exchanged to cool the processing tank 110, and the remaining in the processing tank 110. Water vapor was discharged from the treatment kettle 110. Therefore, after the hydrothermal treatment, the treatment kettle can be efficiently cooled within a short time by heat exchange with the cooling water to promote the temperature drop and pressure drop inside, and the remaining water vapor can be discharged. For this reason, in addition to the above-described maintenance of the hydrothermal treatment environment, it is possible to shorten the time until the next hydrothermal treatment of the object to be treated, and to improve the treatment efficiency.

  In addition, when the cooling water is introduced into the heat exchange pot 140 (fluid introduction part 141), the temperature of the introduced cooling water is gradually lowered as shown in FIG. This is preferable from the viewpoint of ensuring the durability of the treatment kettle because the treatment kettle 110 can be prevented from being exposed to a rapid temperature change (temperature decrease). In adjusting the cooling water temperature, the heat of the steam introduced into the treatment tank 110 is used in the heat exchange pipe 188, which is preferable from the viewpoint of energy efficiency.

  In addition to the introduction of the cooling water into the heat exchange kettle 140 (fluid introduction part 141), the discharge of the cooling water already introduced into the heat exchange kettle 140 (fluid introduction part 141) is performed during the next hydrothermal treatment of the object to be treated. After performing, the water vapor | steam which the boiler 120 produced | generated can also be made to introduce | transduce into the said heat exchanger. In this way, in the next hydrothermal treatment, the temperature of the treatment kettle can be raised also by heat exchange with water vapor introduced into the heat exchange kettle, which can contribute to maintaining the environment of the next hydrothermal treatment.

  Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments and embodiments, and can of course be implemented in various modes without departing from the gist of the present invention. is there. For example, in the above embodiment, when maintaining the processing environment in the processing pot 110, the water vaporization heat by the steam superheater 130, the introduction of high-pressure air in advance by the compressor 135, the temperature increase of the object to be processed for the next processing using the remaining steam. However, these can be appropriately selected and employed according to the internal volume of the treatment kettle 110, the type of the object to be treated, and the environment (temperature / pressure) during hydrothermal treatment.

It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of the hydrothermal processing apparatus 100 which is an Example of this invention. It is process drawing showing the process of this hydrothermal treatment process. It is explanatory drawing explaining the mode of circulation supply of a cooling water.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Hydrothermal treatment apparatus 110 ... Processing pot 111 ... Input port 112 ... Discharge port 113 ... Stirrer blade 114, 115 ... Opening / closing device 116 ... Motor 120 ... Boiler 130 ... Steam superheater 135 ... Compressor 136 ... Valve 140 ... Heat exchange pot DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 141 ... Fluid introduction part 142 ... Cooling water discharge pipe 143 ... Water vapor discharge pipe 144 ... Valve 150 ... Cooling device 151 ... 1st tank 152 ... 2nd tank 153 ... Mixing valve 154 ... Cooling piping 155 ... Valve 160 ... Waste input hopper DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 170 ... Control apparatus 180 ... Steam introduction pipe 180a-180c ... Branch steam introduction pipe 181 ... Branch steam introduction pipe 182 ... Injection hole 183, 184 ... Valve 185 ... Branch steam introduction pipe 186 ... Valve 187 ... Decompression equipment unit 188 ... Heat exchange Piping 189 ... Diversion valve 190 ... Sensors 191, 192 ... Sensor 193 ... Water vapor discharge pipe 194 ... Valve 195 ... Silencer 196 ... Water vapor reflux pipe 197 ... Valve 198 ... Accumulator 199 ... Valve 200 ... Kettle temperature sensor 201 ... Kettle pressure sensor

Claims (9)

A hydrothermal treatment apparatus for hydrothermally treating an object to be treated with water component of water vapor and heat of water vapor,
A hollow processing pot having an inlet and an outlet for the object to be processed;
A steam generation source for generating and pumping steam for introduction into the treatment kettle;
A water vapor introduction path arranged to introduce the water vapor produced by the water vapor production source into the treatment kettle;
Agitation means for agitating the object to be treated put in the treatment vessel in the treatment vessel;
Maintenance means for maintaining the treatment environment during the hydrothermal treatment,
The maintenance means includes
A steam heating mechanism that is formed in a path of the steam introduction path, and that feeds the steam to the treatment kettle after heating the steam passing through the path;
A pressurized air introduction mechanism that introduces pressurized air into the treatment kettle prior to the start of the hydrothermal treatment;
The residual water vapor in the treatment kettle after completion of the hydrothermal treatment is discharged from the treatment kettle and stored in a hollow container, and the treated water for the next treatment is introduced from the inlet of the treatment kettle. A hydrothermal treatment apparatus having at least one mechanism for raising the temperature of the object to be treated next time by spraying it onto the water. The hydrothermal treatment apparatus according to claim 1,
The water vapor introduction path is disposed so as to introduce water vapor into a plurality of introduction locations of the treatment kettle, and at least one of the plurality of introduction locations serves as the discharge port of the treatment kettle, and the treatment target in the discharge port A hydrothermal treatment device that pushes objects back into the treatment kettle. The hydrothermal treatment apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
Furthermore,
A heat exchange pot that forms a hollow fluid introduction portion around the treatment kettle and enables heat exchange between the fluid introduced into the fluid introduction portion and the treatment kettle;
Fluid introduction means for introducing a fluid having a temperature lower than the temperature of the residual water vapor remaining in the treatment kettle into the heat exchange kettle after completion of the hydrothermal treatment;
Water vapor discharge means for discharging the residual water vapor from the treatment kettle after completion of the hydrothermal treatment;
A hydrothermal treatment apparatus. A hydrothermal treatment apparatus for hydrothermally treating an object to be treated with water component of water vapor and heat of water vapor,
A hollow processing pot having an inlet and an outlet for the object to be processed;
A steam generation source for generating and pumping steam for introduction into the treatment kettle;
A water vapor introduction path arranged to introduce the water vapor produced by the water vapor production source into the treatment kettle;
Agitation means for agitating the object to be treated put in the treatment vessel in the treatment vessel;
A heat exchange pot that forms a hollow fluid introduction portion around the treatment kettle and enables heat exchange between the fluid introduced into the fluid introduction portion and the treatment kettle;
Fluid introduction means for introducing a fluid having a temperature lower than the temperature of the residual water vapor remaining in the treatment kettle into the heat exchange kettle after completion of the hydrothermal treatment;
A hydrothermal treatment apparatus comprising: water vapor discharge means for discharging the residual water vapor from the treatment kettle after completion of the hydrothermal treatment. The hydrothermal treatment apparatus according to claim 3 or 4, wherein
The fluid introducing means includes
A hydrothermal treatment apparatus for introducing a fluid while gradually lowering the temperature of the fluid introduced into the heat exchange kettle from the temperature of the residual water vapor. The hydrothermal treatment apparatus according to any one of claims 3 to 5,
The fluid introducing means includes
A hydrothermal treatment apparatus that, after the next hydrothermal treatment of the object to be treated, discharges the low-temperature fluid already introduced into the heat exchange kettle, and then introduces the steam produced by the steam production source into the heat exchange kettle. A hydrothermal treatment method for hydrothermally treating an object to be treated with water component of water vapor and heat of water vapor,
A step of introducing the object to be processed into the hollow processing pot having an inlet and an outlet of the object to be processed from the inlet;
A step of pumping water vapor from a water vapor generating source for generating water vapor into the processing kettle;
Stirring the charged workpiece in the treatment kettle into which the water vapor has been introduced;
A process for maintaining a treatment environment during the hydrothermal treatment,
The step of maintaining the processing environment includes:
A step of heating the steam introduced into the treatment kettle and then sending the steam to the treatment kettle;
Introducing pressurized air into the treatment kettle prior to the start of the hydrothermal treatment;
The residual water vapor in the treatment kettle after completion of the hydrothermal treatment is discharged from the treatment kettle and stored in a hollow container, and the treated water for the next treatment is introduced from the inlet of the treatment kettle. A hydrothermal treatment method comprising at least one of the steps of injecting water into the substrate and raising the temperature of the object to be processed next time. The hydrothermal treatment method according to claim 7,
For a heat exchange kettle that introduces a fluid into a hollow fluid introduction section formed around the treatment kettle and enables heat exchange between the introduced fluid and the treatment kettle, after the hydrothermal treatment is completed. Introducing a fluid having a temperature lower than the temperature of the residual water vapor remaining in the treatment kettle;
A hydrothermal treatment method comprising: discharging residual water vapor remaining in the treatment kettle from the treatment kettle after completion of the hydrothermal treatment. The hydrothermal treatment method according to claim 7 or 8,
In the step of pumping steam from the steam generation source into the processing kettle,
While introducing the water vapor into a plurality of introduction points of the processing kettle, at least one of the plurality of introduction points serves as the discharge port of the treatment kettle, and pushes the object to be treated at the discharge port back into the treatment kettle. Hydrothermal treatment method.

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