JP3534224B2 - How to reduce the volume of used optical cables - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for reducing the volume of a used optical cable which is a target of safe and economical disposal, which has a simple processing method and can contribute to reducing the load on the global environment.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Optical cables for information and communication have been widely used instead of copper cables in communication equipment. However, used and discarded optical cables from waste communication equipment have conventionally been cut to an appropriate length. Afterwards, they are either incinerated and landfilled, or they are landfilled directly without incineration. When incinerated, the volume reduction rate is generally about 1/5 to 1/10.

In the case of a copper cable, copper is recycled for recovery, but since the main component of an optical cable is plastic, there is nothing that contains extra high added value.
At present, it is discarded without being recycled.

Generally, material recycling can be considered for the same type of plastic discharged, but the optical cable is complicatedly composed of many materials, and it is difficult to recycle many kinds of plastic at the same time. . Thermal recycling is also conceivable, but some optical cables are flame-retardant types, and it is difficult to burn them because they contain a flame retardant.

Further, some of the members use metals such as iron, copper and aluminum and polyvinyl chloride, and are not suitable for thermal recycling. Recently, attempts have been made to convert plastics into oils by thermal decomposition oil conversion, but there are few practical ones, and they are limited to those easily decomposed by heat such as polyolefin.

In addition, in the case of pyrolysis and oilification, when metal is mixed, there are cases in which the reaction proceeds rapidly due to the catalytic action of the metal, the reaction temperature cannot be suppressed, and smooth treatment cannot be performed.

[0007]

Optical cables will be used in the future.
It is expected that it will be laid over a wider area as a nationwide network, but when considering global environmental issues, it has the following problems.

That is, the reuse of the used optical cable is a subject for further study. The removal, collection, and disposal of optical cables will become a long-term problem, but the extra cable length (the extra cable end when laying) when laying the optical cable,
A considerable amount of cables have been removed due to changes in the road widening laying route and those due to breakdowns. Moreover, it is self-evident that the problem of reusing the optical cables to be discarded will become more serious as the optical cable network is enhanced.

Conventionally, the optical cable removed as described above is crushed together with the optical cable and incinerated and then landfilled.
Or it is landfilled as it is and is not actively recycled like copper cables. This is because most of the components of the optical cable are plastic and glass, and the metal is copper wire used as a tensile strength body, copper wire is used for intervening pair, aluminum is used for wrap, but its use The amount is small, and at present, they are not disassembled / sorted and recycled from the viewpoint of recovery cost.

When the incineration is carried out, the glass and the metal oxides remain as the incinerated ash of the residue and are landfilled in the controlled final disposal site.

On the other hand, when not incinerated, it can be landfilled in a stable final disposal site, but the amount of the discarded container is several to several tens of times more than in the case of not incinerated.

[0012] The present invention has been proposed in view of the above, and an object thereof is to provide a simple and safe treatment method, contribute to the global environment, economical, reduce volume and recycle resources. An object of the present invention is to provide a possible method for reducing the volume of used optical cables.

[0013]

The present invention SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, a first aspect of the invention, the metal product from the first step and, pulverized product obtained through this process of pulverizing the optical cable And a third step of adding a liquid after this step, and after this step, the mixture of the pulverized product and the liquid is heated to a high temperature of 400 ° C. or higher and a high pressure of 230 atmospheres or higher. And then a fifth step of maintaining a mixture of a pulverized product and a liquid at the high temperature and high pressure state, and then a sixth step of cooling and depressurizing and the produced organic compound.
The seventh step is for separating the solid residue .

According to a second aspect of the invention, a first step of disassembling the optical cable, taking out the slot and crushing, a second step of adding a liquid after this step, and a crushed product after this step Mix the mixture with the liquid at a high temperature of 400 ℃ or more and
A third step of the 0 atm or more high-pressure, and then a fourth step of holding a mixture of ground product and the liquid at high temperature and high pressure state, and thereafter, the fifth step of cooling and depressurizing and live
The sixth step comprises a step of separating the formed organic compound .

According to the third aspect of the invention, the first step of disassembling the optical cable, taking out the press winding, and crushing the optical cable,
After this step, a second step of adding liquid and after this step,
The mixture of the crushed product and the liquid is heated to a temperature of 400 ° C. or higher and
A third step of increasing the pressure to 30 atm or higher, a fourth step of holding the mixture of the pulverized material and the liquid at the high temperature and high pressure state, and a fifth step of cooling and reducing the pressure thereafter;
It is configured to include a sixth step of separating the produced organic compound .

According to the invention of claim 4, a first step of disassembling the optical cable, taking out the tear cord, and crushing it,
After this step, a second step of adding liquid and after this step,
The mixture of the crushed product and the liquid is heated to a temperature of 400 ° C. or higher and
A third step of increasing the pressure to 30 atm or higher, a fourth step of holding the mixture of the pulverized material and the liquid at the high temperature and high pressure state, and a fifth step of cooling and reducing the pressure thereafter;
The sixth step is for separating the produced organic compound and the solid residue .

[0017]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION As a result of intensive research efforts by the present inventors regarding the method of treating an optical cable, the plastic, which is the main component of the optical cable, consists of high-temperature and high-pressure water, hydrogen peroxide water, and the like. Decomposed by supercritical water,
It was found to be a low molecular weight compound. As a result, the following measures were taken to realize a volume reduction treatment method for optical cables that is simple in treatment method and can contribute to the global environment.

[0018]

Example 1 A 300-fiber type optical cable was crushed by a crusher, and 0.1 g of the crushed product A of the optical cable and 10 cc of water B were put into a Henzaloy hermetically sealed pressure vessel C as shown in FIG. The pressure was adjusted to 600 at 600 ° C. The state of supercritical water at 600 ° C. at 600 ° C. was maintained for 1 hour, and the temperature was returned to room temperature and atmospheric pressure. The pressure vessel C was opened and the liquid and the solid residue D were separated. The solid residue was quartz, iron hydroxide, copper hydroxide and carbide. As a result of investigating liquid components other than water using a gas chromatograph mass spectrometer, formation of tetrahydrofuran, benzene, acetic acid, 2-ethylhexanol, toluene, cyclohexanone, methylpyridine, aniline, phenol, cresol, quinoline, and indole can be confirmed. It was Of these, acetic acid was 60%, phenol was 30%, and other components were 10% or less. The volume of solid residue is 1 / m
The volume reached 30 and could be reduced.

[0019]

[Example 2] 1 g of the same pulverized product as in Example 1 and 10 cc of hydrogen peroxide solution were put in a pressure vessel C made of Henzaloy for 600
The pressure was adjusted to 600 atm. The state of supercritical water at 600 ° C. at 600 ° C. was maintained for 1 hour, and the temperature was returned to room temperature and atmospheric pressure. The pressure vessel C was opened and the liquid and the solid residue were separated. The solid residue was silicate, iron oxide, copper oxide, and carbon. When liquid components other than water were examined using a gas chromatograph mass spectrometer, the production of benzene, acetic acid, pyridine, and toluene could be confirmed. Among them, acetic acid was 90% and toluene was 5%, and other components were 5% or less. The volume of solid residue was 1/30 of the initially charged crushed product.

[0020]

Example 3 A 100-fiber induction-free optical cable was crushed with a crusher and the same treatment as in Example 1 was performed.
The solid residue was quartz and carbide. The liquid component is Example 1
It was the same component as, but acetic acid 56%, phenol 2
7% and the content of aniline became 8%. The volume of solid residue was 1/100 of the initially charged crushed product.

[0021]

[Example 4] An optical cable having 100 cores of air core was crushed by a crusher, and the same treatment as in Example 2 was performed. The solid residue was silicate, iron oxide, copper oxide, aluminum oxide and carbon. The liquid components were the same as in Example 2. The volume of solid residue was 1/10 of the initially charged crushed material.

[0022]

[Example 5] The ground material of Example 1 was magnetically separated to separate iron, and then specific gravity to separate copper. These can be recycled. The remaining pulverized material was treated in the same manner as in Example 1. The only solid residue was quartz and carbide. The composition of the liquid was the same as in Example 1. The volume of solid residue was 1/50 of the initially charged crushed material.

[0023]

[Example 6] The ground product of Example 1 was magnetically separated to separate iron, and then specific gravity was used to separate copper. The remaining pulverized material was treated in the same manner as in Example 2. The solid residue was only silicate and carbon. The composition of the liquid was the same as in Example 2. The volume of solid residue was 1/50 of the initially charged crushed material.

[0024]

Example 7 The same treatment as in Example 5 was carried out, but sodium hydroxide was added to water before the treatment to make it alkaline.
The processing time was 30 minutes. The solid residue after the treatment was in the form of powder and was silicate and carbide. The volume of solid residue was 1/50 of the initially charged crushed material.

[0025]

Example 8 The same treatment as in Example 5 was carried out, but hydrochloric acid was added to the water before the treatment to make it acidic. The processing time was 30 minutes. The solid residue after the treatment was quartz and carbide.
The volume of solid residue was 1/50 of the initially charged crushed material.

[0026]

[Embodiment 9] A 300-fiber flame-retardant type optical cable was crushed with a crusher, and the same treatment as in Embodiment 6 was performed. The solid residue was silicate, magnesium oxide, carbon. The volume of the solid residue was 1/15 of the initially added crushed material.

[0027]

Example 10 The same process as in Example 6 was carried out, but the process temperature was 800 ° C. and the pressure was 400 atm. The solid residue was silicate only. The volume of solid residue was 1/100 of the initially charged crushed product.

[0028]

[Embodiment 11] An optical fiber having 300 fibers was disassembled, a slot was taken out and crushed. The pulverized product composed of the main members such as plastic was treated in the same manner as in Example 1. There are no solid residues and the resulting liquids are benzene, acetic acid, phenol and cresol, with 60% acetic acid and 2 phenols.
Other liquids were 8% and less than 10%.

[0029]

Example 12 A 300-core optical cable was disassembled, and a press winding was taken out and crushed. The pulverized product composed of the main members such as plastic was treated in the same manner as in Example 1.
There is no solid residue, and the resulting liquid is benzene, acetic acid, aniline, 2-ethylhexanol, phenol, quinoline,
Indole with 60% acetic acid and 28% phenol
The other liquids were less than 10%. 27% 2-ethylhexanol, 24% phenol, 13% benzene,
Quinoline 11%, indole 10% and other liquids 1
It was 0% or less.

[0030]

[Example 13] A 300-fiber optical cable was disassembled, and a tear string was taken out and crushed. This pulverized product was treated in the same manner as in Example 1. The solid residue contained charcoal and the resulting liquids were benzene, aniline, phenol and indole, with 82% aniline and less than 10% other liquids. The volume of solid residue was 1/30 of the initially charged crushed product.

[0031]

Example 14 A 300-fiber optical cable was disassembled, a slot was taken out, and it was crushed. This pulverized product was treated in the same manner as in Example 2. There was carbon as a solid residue and most of the resulting liquid was acetic acid. The volume of solid residue was 1/20 of the initially charged crushed material.

[0032]

Example 15 A 300-core optical cable was disassembled, and a press roll was taken out and crushed. This pulverized product was treated in the same manner as in Example 2. There were no solid residues, and the resulting liquids were benzene, acetic acid, and toluene. Benzene, acetic acid, and toluene were 30%, 25%, and 45%, respectively.

[0033]

Example 16 A 300-core optical cable was disassembled, and a tear string was taken out and crushed. This pulverized product was treated in the same manner as in Example 2. There was almost no solid residue. The resulting liquid was acetic acid and acetamide, with 94% acetic acid and 6% acetamide.

[0034]

[Embodiment 17] The same treatment as in Embodiment 5 was carried out, but before the treatment, the pressure vessel was replaced with oxygen to change the treatment temperature to 8
The treatment was carried out at 00 ° C and a pressure of 400 atm. The solid residue was silicate only. The volume of solid residue was 1/100 of the initially charged crushed product.

[0035]

Example 18 A 300-core type optical cable was crushed with a crusher. 1 g of the pulverized product and 15 cc of water were placed in a pressure container made of Henzaloy, and the pressure was adjusted to 230 atm at 400 ° C. 40
The state of 230 atm at 0 ° C was maintained for 1 hour, and the temperature was returned to room temperature and normal pressure. The container was opened and the liquid and solid residue were separated. The solid residue was quartz, iron hydroxide, copper hydroxide and polyethylene. When liquid components other than water were investigated using a gas chromatograph mass spectrometer, the main liquid produced was hexanol,
Phenol, oxalic acid, ethanol, t-butanol,
Butanol, methyl ethyl ketone, ethylene glycol, pyrrole, tetrahydrofuran, butyrolactone,
Butanediol, diethylene glycol, benzene, methylpyrrolidone, pyrrolidinone, aniline, benzoic acid,
Formation of phenylenediamine, aminophenol, hydroquinone, and benzamide was confirmed. Of these, the phenol content was 38%, and the other components were 10% or less. Volume of solid residue is 62
%Became.

[0036]

Example 19 The ground product of Example 18 was magnetically separated to separate iron, and then specific gravity to separate copper. The remaining pulverized material was treated in the same manner as in Example 18.
The only solid residue was quartz and polyethylene. The composition of the liquid was the same as in Example 1. The volume of solid residue amounted to 60% of the initially charged grind.

[0037]

Example 20 A 100-core optical cable was disassembled, the slot was taken out and crushed. This pulverized product was treated in the same manner as in Example 18. The main liquids produced were pentanol, hexanol, phenol, heptanone, heptanol, decane, dodecane, tetradecane, hexadecane, and oxalic acid, with 57% phenol and 10% hexanol.
The other liquids were less than 10%. In addition, 0.7 g of solid remained, and the structure was found to be polyethylene.

[0038]

[Example 21] A 100-fiber optical cable was disassembled, and a press winding was taken out and crushed. This pulverized product was treated in the same manner as in Example 18. There were no solid residues, and the main liquids produced were ethanol, t-butanol, methyl ethyl ketone,
Ethylene glycol, pyrrole, methylcyclohexanol, ethylcyclohexanol, and benzamide, 64% ethanol, 16% t-butanol, and 10% or less for other liquids.

[0039]

[Example 22] A 100-fiber optical cable was disassembled, and a tear string was taken out and crushed. This pulverized product was treated in the same manner as in Example 18. There were no solid residues, and the main liquids produced were benzene, aniline, phenol, benzoic acid, phenylenediamine, aminophenol, hydroquinone, and benzamide, with 30% phenol and 18 benzoic acid.
%, Phenylenediamine was 17%, aniline was 11%, and other liquids were 10% or less. The volume of solid residue was 1/30 of the initially charged crushed product.

[0040]

[Example 23] An optical fiber having 100 fibers was disassembled, and a tape fiber was taken out and crushed. This pulverized product was used in Example 1.
The same treatment as 8 was performed. A fibrous solid residue formed. The main liquids produced were tetrahydrofuran, butanol, ethylene glycol, butyrolactone, butanediol, diethylene glycol, phenol, methylpyrrolidone,
Pyrrolidinone, tetrahydrofuran was 38%, butanediol was 10%, and other liquids were 10% or less. The volume of solid residue was ⅛ of the initially charged crushed material.

Although ordinary water does not dissolve organic substances,
When in a supercritical state of 400 ° C. and 230 atm or higher, the dielectric constant decreases, and as shown in each of the above-described examples, the organic substance is dissolved. Then, the ionic product increases by 2-3 orders of magnitude, and the oxidizing ability becomes strong. To further increase the oxidizing power, for example, hydrogen peroxide solution may be used as shown in Example 2 or oxygen may be supplied as shown in Example 17. Further, the hydrolysis rate of the plastic can be improved by changing the water from neutral to alkaline or acidic. Furthermore, since water is used as the reaction solvent, it is harmless, nonflammable, and inexpensive. Since the generated organic compounds have different boiling points, they can be easily purified by fractional distillation or the like and can be recycled.

As described above, in the present invention, the supercritical water used in each of the above embodiments is in the range of 400 ° C. to 800 ° C. and 230 atm to 600 atm.
Further, the processing time may be one hour or less as long as the crushed optical cable or its main member can be processed as desired.

[0043]

As described above, according to the present invention, since the used optical cable is treated in a supercritical state such as water, the plastic is decomposed very easily, and the volume can be reduced and the resource can be recycled. . Moreover, this method has advantages that it uses water as a reaction solvent, is safe and economical, and does not impose a heavy load on the global environment.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a main part of a processing step of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

A crushed optical cable B Water-like liquid C pressure container D Liquid and solid residue

Front page continuation (72) Inventor Yoshio Konaka 3-19-2 Nishishinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo Nihon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (56) Reference JP-A-3-263716 (JP, A) JP-A 5-31000 (JP, A) JP-A-6-279762 (JP, A) JP-A-7-56069 (JP, A) JP-A-8-71527 (JP, A) JP-A-9-101438 (JP, A) JP-A-9-263772 (JP, A) JP-A-10-10384 (JP, A) JP-A-10-24274 (JP, A) JP-A-7-306321 (JP, A) JP-A-63 -248891 (JP, A) Tokuhyo 9-508595 (JP, A) International Publication 97/034660 (WO, A1) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) C08J 11/00-11 / 10 B09B 3 / 00,5 / 00 B29B 17/00

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A first step of crushing an optical cable, a second step of removing a metal material from a crushed material obtained through this step, and a third step of adding a liquid after this step, After the step, a fourth step of bringing the mixture of the pulverized product and the liquid to a high temperature of 400 ° C. or higher and a high pressure of 230 atm or more, and then a fifth step of maintaining the mixture of the pulverized product and the liquid at the high temperature and high pressure state. and steps thereafter, it was sixth step and generation of cooling and depressurizing
A method for reducing volume of a used optical cable, comprising a seventh step of separating an organic compound and a solid residue . 2. A first step in which an optical cable is disassembled, a slot is taken out and crushed, a second step in which a liquid is added after this step, and a mixture of the crushed material and the liquid is heated to 400 ° C. after this step. The third step of making the above high temperature and the high pressure of 230 atm or more, then the fourth step of keeping the mixture of the pulverized material and the liquid at the high temperature and high pressure state, and then the fifth step of cooling and depressurizing Process and generated
A method for reducing the volume of a used optical cable, comprising a sixth step of separating an organic compound . 3. A first step of disassembling an optical cable, taking out a press winding and crushing, a second step of adding a liquid after this step, and a 400 step of a mixture of the crushed material and the liquid after this step. The third step of making the temperature higher than ℃ and the pressure higher than 230 atm, the fourth step of holding the mixture of the pulverized material and the liquid in the high temperature and high pressure state, and then the fifth step of cooling and depressurizing. Process and generated
A method for reducing the volume of a used optical cable, comprising a sixth step of separating an organic compound . 4. A first step of disassembling an optical cable, taking out a tear string and crushing, a second step of adding a liquid after this step, and a 400 step of a mixture of the crushed material and the liquid after this step. The third step of making the temperature higher than ℃ and the pressure higher than 230 atm, the fourth step of holding the mixture of the pulverized material and the liquid in the high temperature and high pressure state, and then the fifth step of cooling and depressurizing. Process and generated
A method for reducing the volume of a used optical cable, comprising a sixth step of separating an organic compound and a solid residue .