JP2012152656A - Cleaning system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a cleaning system which can reduce the consumption of fossil fuel, suppress a running cost and COemissions, and improve the work environment of workers.SOLUTION: The cleaning system 100 using hot water to clean a processed body (a tray 102) has a structure including: a processed body moving path 104 where the processed body moves; water storage tanks 110a and 110b disposed under the processed body moving path and storing hot water; water sprinkling means 120a and 120b connected with the water storage tanks and sprinkling the processed body with the stored hot water; a heat pump 130 generating the hot water to be supplied to the water storage tanks with air as a heat source; and cold air ejectors 108a-108c ejecting air cooled by the heat pump to a predetermined position in a room where the processed body moving path is provided.

Description

  The present invention relates to a cleaning system that cleans an object to be processed using hot water.

  In factories and distribution centers that produce foods (hereinafter simply referred to as foods), washing apparatuses for washing dishes on which the foods are produced and transport containers for transporting foods (hereinafter referred to as objects to be treated) May be installed. As a general configuration of such a cleaning device, a tableware continuous cleaning device disclosed in Patent Document 1 can be exemplified. In the cleaning apparatus of Patent Document 1, hot water or high temperature hot water (hereinafter simply referred to as hot water) is poured into a tableware (object to be processed) placed on a conveyor and moved in a cleaning room using a sprinkling pipe. It is washed by.

JP-A-7-313424

By the way, as described also in Patent Document 1, in a general cleaning apparatus, hot water used for cleaning is generated using steam obtained by a boiler provided in or near the inside. However, a facility that burns fossil fuel like a boiler is not preferable from the viewpoint of environmental load because CO ₂ is generated when steam is generated (combustion). Moreover, since the boiler requires enormous running costs for fossil fuel for generating steam, cost reduction is also required.

  As another problem, as described above, since a large amount of hot water is used in the cleaning device, the temperature in the room where the cleaning device is installed, particularly in the vicinity of the cleaning device that is the cleaning process line for the object to be processed, increases significantly. It is in a state extremely higher than room temperature. For this reason, the worker who is working there may be uncomfortable, and improvement of the working environment has been demanded.

In view of such problems, the present invention can reduce the amount of fossil fuel used, reduce running costs and CO ₂ emissions, and improve the working environment of the operator. The aim is to provide a possible cleaning system.

  In order to solve the above problems, a typical configuration of a cleaning system according to the present invention is a cleaning system that cleans an object to be processed using hot water, and an object moving path for moving the object to be processed, A hot water storage tank that is disposed below the object movement path, stores hot water, is connected to the hot water storage tank, sprinkles means for sprinkling the stored hot water to the target object, and hot water that supplies air as a heat source to the hot water storage tank And a cool air ejector that ejects air cooled by the heat pump to a predetermined position in a room where the object movement path is installed.

In the above configuration, hot water is generated by a heat pump instead of a conventional boiler. As a result, the amount of fossil fuel used in the cleaning system can be reduced, and the running cost and CO ₂ emission can be reduced. Of course, if the heat source is simply replaced with a heat pump from a boiler, it is not a novel story. However, in the above-described configuration, the air (cold air) cooled by the heat pump is ejected to a predetermined position in the room by the cold air ejector, and becomes a spot cooler. Here, since hot air is trapped around the object movement path (hereinafter collectively referred to as a cleaning device) where the hot water storage tank and the watering means are arranged in the vicinity, the temperature is likely to be uncomfortable for the operator. In the cleaning apparatus, the position (movement range) of the worker is limited, such as replenishment of the object to be processed and monitoring of the inside of the apparatus and the operation panel. Therefore, by locally cooling the fixed position (predetermined position) on such work, it is possible to effectively supply cold air to the worker, and to improve the work environment and to be cooled by a heat pump. Effective use of air. In other words, the present invention can be said to be a cleaning system that uses a heat pump and gains the benefits of a cleaning device.

  It is good to further provide an electric heater for supplementarily heating the hot water in the hot water tank. As a result, when a plurality of hot water storage tanks are installed in the cleaning process line and the object to be processed is continuously cleaned, individual temperature adjustment is possible even if the temperature settings of the plurality of hot water storage tanks are different. Further, even if the amount of heat is insufficient, for example, when the temperature of the air serving as the heat source of the heat pump is low, the hot water in the hot water storage tank can be reliably heated to a desired temperature.

  The air serving as the heat source of the heat pump may be indoor air in which the object movement path is installed. Since hot air is trapped around the cleaning device, the room air can be effectively used as a heat source for the heat pump. Therefore, with the above configuration, it is possible to efficiently obtain the amount of heat that becomes the heat source of the heat pump while effectively using the heat of the air in the room, that is, the work site, and simultaneously achieve reduction of energy loss and improvement of the energy efficiency of the entire cleaning system. It becomes possible to do.

  The hot water storage tank is connected to a boiler supply path through which hot water generated by an existing boiler is supplied, and the hot water generated by the heat pump is preferably supplied to the hot water storage tank via the boiler supply path.

  According to such a configuration, it is possible to introduce the cleaning system according to the present invention without large-scale remodeling even in a facility that uses an existing boiler. Further, by using an existing boiler supply path as a path for supplying hot water generated by the heat pump, it is possible to reduce the amount of new installation of the path for supplying such hot water, thereby reducing costs.

According to the present invention, there is provided a cleaning system that can reduce the amount of fossil fuel used, can reduce running costs and CO ₂ emissions, and can improve the working environment of workers. Can be provided.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the washing | cleaning system concerning 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the structure of the washing | cleaning system concerning 2nd Embodiment.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The dimensions, materials, and other specific numerical values shown in the embodiments are merely examples for facilitating understanding of the invention, and do not limit the present invention unless otherwise specified. In the present specification and drawings, elements having substantially the same function and configuration are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted, and elements not directly related to the present invention are not illustrated. To do.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a cleaning system 100 according to the first embodiment. In the following description, as an object to be processed, a thin container for food transportation (sometimes referred to as a weight or a plastic container; hereinafter referred to as a weight 102) is exemplified, but the present invention is not limited thereto. is not.

  In the cleaning system 100 shown in FIG. 1, the weight 102 that is the object to be processed is cleaned using hot water. The weight 102 moved into the cleaning chamber 100a is placed on the object movement paths 104a and 104b (hereinafter collectively referred to as the object movement path 104) and moved thereby. That is, the workpiece movement paths 104a and 104b are moving means for the weight 102, and can be called a cleaning process line. A belt conveyor or the like can be preferably used as the workpiece movement paths 104a and 104b.

  In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the weight 102 (object to be processed) moves on the object movement path 104 from the right side (upstream) in the drawing to the left side (downstream) in the drawing. In the cleaning system 100 of the present embodiment, the two object movement paths 104a and 104b are provided. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and they may be integrated or further subdivided. Good.

  Hot water storage tanks 110 a and 110 b are disposed below the object movement path 104. In these hot water storage tanks 110a and 110b, hot water for sprinkling water on the weight 102 by watering means 120a and 120b described later is stored. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, hot water of 70 ° C. to 80 ° C. is stored in the hot water storage tank 110a, and hot water of 60 ° C. to 70 ° C. is stored in the hot water storage tank 110b.

  In addition, the number of the hot water storage tanks described above is merely an example, and is not limited thereto, and can be arbitrarily determined. Further, the temperature of the water stored in the hot water storage tanks 110a to 110b is not limited to this, and only a specific temperature is illustrated for easy understanding.

  Sprinkling means 120a and 120b are connected to hot water storage tanks 110a and 110b, respectively. The water sprinkling means 120a and 120b sprinkle hot water stored in the connected hot water storage tanks 110a and 120b to the weight 102 which is the object to be processed.

  Sprinkling passages 122a and 122b are connected to the sprinkling means 120a and 120b, respectively, and sprinkling pumps 124a and 124b are provided in these sprinkling passages 122a and 122b, respectively. As a result, water from the hot water storage tanks 110a and 110b is supplied to the sprinkling means 120a and 120b from the sprinkling paths 122a and 122b, respectively, using the sprinkling pumps 124a and 124b as motive power, Done.

  In the present embodiment, the first weight 102 is moved by the object moving path 104a and immersed in the hot water in the hot water storage tank 110a from the water spraying means 120a, whereby the first stage cleaning (immersion cleaning) is performed. And, at the end point of the object movement path 104a, the weight 102 is moved to the object movement path 104b, and the hot water in the hot water storage tank 110b from the water sprinkling means 120b is sprinkled by moving along the object movement path 104b. As a result, second-stage cleaning (low-pressure cleaning) is performed.

  In addition, in this embodiment, although the structure which wash | cleans the weight 102 by the two water sprinkling means 120a and 120b was illustrated, it is not limited to this. For example, in addition to the watering means 120a and 120b illustrated, it may be further added, and a label peeling process, a circulation rinsing process, and a high-pressure washing process may be provided, or other processes may be added.

  The hot water sprinkled on the weight 102 by the sprinkling means 120a and 120b falls and returns to the hot water storage tanks 110a and 110b. At this time, the strainer 112a is installed above the hot water tank 110a, and the strainer 112b is installed above the hot water tank 110b, thereby removing foreign matters contained in the hot water returning to the hot water tanks 110a and 110b.

  Hot water stored in the hot water storage tanks 110a and 110b is generated by the heat pump 130. In the heat pump 130, the primary refrigerant circulates in the internal primary refrigerant circulation path 130a, and generates hot water supplied to the hot water storage tanks 110a and 110b using air as a heat source. An evaporator 132, a compression unit 134, a condenser 136, and an expansion unit 138 are provided on the primary refrigerant circulation path 130a.

  The evaporator 132 performs heat exchange between the primary refrigerant and air. As a result, the primary refrigerant absorbs the heat of the air and evaporates, and the air dissipates heat to the primary refrigerant and is cooled. The air supplied to the evaporator 132 (heat pump 130) may be air in a room where the object movement path 104 is installed, that is, in the cleaning room 100a. Since hot air is trapped around the cleaning device, the room air can be effectively used as a heat source for the heat pump. Thereby, the heat quantity which becomes the heat source of the heat pump 130 can be efficiently obtained while effectively using the heat of the air having a high temperature in the room (work site). Therefore, it is possible to simultaneously reduce energy loss and improve energy efficiency of the entire cleaning system 100.

  Further, as a feature of the present embodiment, the air supplied to the evaporator 132 and cooled by heat exchange with the temporary refrigerant therein, that is, the air cooled by the heat pump 130 is cold air provided in the cleaning chamber 100a (indoor). It is supplied to the ejectors 108a, 108b and 108c.

  The cool air ejectors 108a to 108c are arranged at predetermined positions in the vicinity of the object movement path 104 (cleaning process line) provided in the cleaning chamber 100a, and so-called spot coolers that jet cool air into the cleaning chamber 100a. It is. The predetermined positions at which the cold air ejectors 108a to 108c are arranged are fixed positions (positions where the worker's residence time is long) such as replenishment of the weight 102 and monitoring of the inside of the apparatus and the operation panel.

  Thereby, cold air is locally supplied to the worker engaged in the work in a high-temperature environment in the vicinity of the workpiece moving path 104, and the work environment can be improved. And by using the air cooled with the heat pump 130 as the cold wind which these cool air ejectors 108a-108c eject, the effective utilization of the air is attained. That is, using a heat pump as a heat source in the cleaning system 100 and using the cold air as a spot cooler have advantages unique to a cleaning device using a heat pump.

  In addition, in this embodiment, although the case where three cold-air ejectors 108a-108c (spot cooler) were installed in 100a was illustrated, the number can be changed arbitrarily and it does not necessarily need to be processed also in an installation place. It does not need to be in the vicinity of the body movement path 104, and may be installed in another place in the cleaning chamber 100a or outdoors. Further, the cold air ejector to which the air cooled by the heat pump 130 is supplied may not be a spot cooler that locally supplies cold air into the cleaning chamber 100a, but may be another device or equipment. For example, the air cooled by the heat pump 130 may be supplied to an air conditioner (not shown) that performs air conditioning of the entire cleaning room 100a.

  Subsequently, the primary refrigerant after the heat exchange in the evaporator 132 is compressed by using the electric power in the compression unit 134 to be in a high pressure state and generate high heat. And the primary refrigerant | coolant compressed by the compression means 134 performs heat exchange with the water supplied from the water supply path 105 in the condenser 136. As a result, the primary refrigerant dissipates heat into the water and condenses, and the water absorbs heat from the primary refrigerant and is heated to become hot water. The generated hot water is supplied to the hot water storage tanks 110a and 110b through the hot water supply path 106 and stored. The hot water tank 110 a is also supplied with detergent water mixed with detergent by hot water generated by the heat pump 130 via the detergent tank 103.

  On the other hand, the primary refrigerant after the heat exchange in the condenser 136 is decompressed and expanded and cooled by the expansion means 138, so that it can absorb the heat of the air again and circulates through the primary refrigerant circulation path 130a. Heat exchange with air is performed again in the evaporator 132.

As described above, by using the heat pump 130 to generate hot water to be stored in the hot water storage tanks 110a and 110b, a boiler that has been conventionally used for generating hot water becomes unnecessary. Therefore, the amount of fossil fuel used in the cleaning system 100 can be reduced, and the running cost and CO ₂ emission amount can be suppressed. In the present embodiment, the case where the heat pump 130 is installed in the cleaning chamber 100a is illustrated, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the heat pump 130 can also be installed outdoors.

  Further, in the present embodiment, electric heaters 114a and 114b for supplementarily heating the hot water stored in the hot water storage tanks 110a and 110b after being generated by the heat pump 130 described above are provided in each of the hot water storage tanks 110a and 110b. . Thereby, when installing the several hot water storage tanks 110a and 110b and wash | cleaning the weight 102 continuously, even if the temperature setting of those hot water storage tanks differs, individual temperature adjustment is attained.

  For example, as described above, when hot water of 70 ° C. to 80 ° C. is stored in the hot water tank 110a and hot water of 60 ° C. to 70 ° C. is stored in the hot water tank 110b, the temperature of the hot water generated by the heat pump 130 is set to 60 ° C. Set to 70 ° C. Then, if the hot water is supplied to the hot water tanks 110a and 110b and auxiliary heating is performed by the electric heater 114a in the hot water tank 110a, the temperature of the hot water stored in the hot water tank 110a can reach a desired temperature.

As described above, according to the cleaning system 100 according to the first embodiment, hot water can be generated by the heat pump 130, and therefore, compared to the case where hot water is generated by a boiler as in the prior art, the use of fossil fuel is used. It is possible to reduce the amount, and thus to reduce the running cost and the CO ₂ emission amount. Further, the air cooled by the heat pump 130 (cold air) is ejected into the room (cleaning chamber 100a) by the cool air ejectors 108a to 108c, thereby supplying cold air to the worker and improving the working environment, and the heat pump 130. Effective use of air cooled in

(Second Embodiment)
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a cleaning system 200 according to the second embodiment. In addition, about the component same as the washing | cleaning system 100 mentioned above, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected and description is abbreviate | omitted. The cleaning system 200 of the second embodiment shown in FIG. 2 illustrates the case where the equipment having the existing boiler 202 is modified. From the boiler 202, a boiler supply path 205 for supplying hot water generated therein and a steam supply path 206 for supplying steam generated there are connected to the hot water storage tanks 110a and 110b.

  In the cleaning system 200 of the second embodiment, the hot water supply path 106 is connected to the boiler supply path 205, and the hot water generated by the heat pump 130 is supplied to the hot water storage tanks 110a and 110b via the boiler supply path 205. With such a configuration, even if the facility uses the existing boiler 202, the same advantages as those of the above-described cleaning system 100 can be obtained without a large-scale modification. In addition, by connecting the hot water supply path 106 to the boiler supply path 205, it is possible to reduce the amount of new installation of the hot water supply path 106, which is a path for supplying hot water generated by the heat pump 130, and thus it is possible to reduce costs.

  Next, effects of the cleaning system 100 according to the present embodiment will be described. Here, the set temperature of the washing machine (cleaning apparatus), which is the set temperature of the hot water to be generated, is 60 ° C., the supply water temperature, which is the temperature of the water supplied to the heat pump 130 by the water supply path 105, is 15 ° C. The amount of water used by the washing machine, which is the amount of water used per minute (the amount of hot water), is assumed to be 10 L / hour. In addition, all of these numerical values are examples for facilitating understanding, and are not limited.

  When each of the above parameters is used, the amount of heat supplied to the cleaning system 100 (strictly speaking, the amount of hot water supply) is calculated as follows: “Washer use water amount (10 L / min) × (Washer set temperature (60 ° C.) − Supply water temperature (15 ° C)) "is calculated as 27000 kcal / hour. Assuming that the heat quantity of steam is 656 kcal / hour when the heat quantity of the steam is 0.4 MPa, the heat quantity of the feed water is divided by “656 kcal / hour-washing machine set temperature (60 ° C.)” to be converted into a steam quantity. The amount is calculated as 45.3 kg / hour. Further, the amount of heat supplied is divided by 860 kcal / kW to be converted into the amount of power, and this amount of power is calculated as 31.4 kW / hour.

As described above, it is assumed that the COP of the heat pump is 4 when the amount of power converted from the amount of heat supplied, that is, the amount of power required to generate hot water is 31.4 kW / hour. Then, since 3/4 of the amount of power is covered by heat from the air, the amount of power consumed by the heat pump is substantially 7.9 kW / hour. In this way, the amount of heat required for hot water generation can be reduced to ¼ of the conventional amount, and the running cost can be drastically reduced. In addition, it is possible to reduce the amount of fossil fuel used and, in turn, reduce CO ₂ emissions.

  As mentioned above, although preferred embodiment of this invention was described referring an accompanying drawing, it cannot be overemphasized that this invention is not limited to the example which concerns. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made within the scope of the claims, and these are naturally within the technical scope of the present invention. Understood.

  The present invention can be used as a cleaning system for cleaning an object to be processed using hot water.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Cleaning system, 100a ... Cleaning room, 100b ... Sheet metal, 100c ... Exhaust port, 102 ... Number of weights, 103 ... Detergent tank, 104 ... To-be-processed object movement path, 104a ... To-be-processed object movement path, 104b ... To-be-processed object Moving path, 105 ... Water supply path, 106 ... Hot water supply path, 108a ... Cold air ejector, 108b ... Cold air ejector, 108c ... Cold air ejector, 110 ... Water tank, 110a ... Hot water tank, 110b ... Hot water tank, 112a ... Strainer, 112b ... Strainer, 114a ... Electric heater, 114b ... Electric heater, 120 ... Watering means, 120a ... Watering means, 120b ... Watering means, 122a ... Watering path, 122b ... Watering path, 124a ... Watering pump, 124b ... Watering pump, 130 ... heat pump, 130a ... primary refrigerant circulation path, 132 ... evaporator, 134 ... compression means, 136 ... Condenser, 138 ... expansion means, 200 ... cleaning system, 202 ... boiler, 205 ... boiler supply path, 206 ... steam supply path

Claims (4)

A cleaning system for cleaning an object to be processed using hot water,
An object moving path for moving the object to be processed;
A hot water storage tank which is disposed below the object movement path and stores the hot water;
Sprinkling means connected to the hot water storage tank and sprinkling the stored hot water on the object to be treated;
A heat pump that generates hot water supplied to the hot water tank using air as a heat source;
A cold air ejector for ejecting air cooled by the heat pump to a predetermined position in a room where the object movement path is installed;
A cleaning system comprising:   The cleaning system according to claim 1, further comprising an electric heater for supplementarily heating the hot water in the hot water tank.   The cleaning system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein air serving as a heat source of the heat pump is indoor air in which the object movement path is installed. The hot water tank is connected to a boiler supply path to which hot water generated by an existing boiler is supplied,
The hot water generated by the heat pump is supplied to the hot water storage tank through the boiler supply path, and the cleaning system according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

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