JP7381001B2 - Hydrothermal treatment equipment - Google Patents

Description

The present disclosure relates to a hydrothermal treatment apparatus.

For example, in the process of manufacturing paper products using waste paper as a raw material, a large amount of wastewater is generated, so a wastewater treatment device is required. Water treated in wastewater treatment is either reused in the process or discharged into rivers, etc. In addition to treated water, wastewater treatment also generates sludge. In recent years, processes have been put into practical use to produce fuel and the like by subjecting such sludge to hydrothermal treatment.

Hydrothermal treatment equipment can generally be broadly classified into batch type and continuous type. A batch type hydrothermal treatment apparatus is disclosed in, for example, Patent Document 1, and a continuous type hydrothermal treatment apparatus is disclosed in, for example, Patent Document 2.

Patent No. 3089543 Patent No. 3354438

However, batch-type hydrothermal treatment apparatuses are time-constrained in each process, such as supplying the material to be treated, hydrothermal reaction, and discharging the reactants of the hydrothermal treatment, and have a low treatment density. Furthermore, in the thermal cycle of the hydrothermal treatment device, energy is required again to raise the temperature, resulting in poor energy efficiency. On the other hand, in continuous hydrothermal treatment equipment, the material to be treated is supplied by a pressure pump, so it is necessary to crush the material and transport it along with a large amount of water, which necessitates a pulverization process. There were problems such as the loss of energy for heating water.

In view of the above circumstances, at least one embodiment of the present disclosure aims to provide a hydrothermal treatment apparatus that has the advantages of both batch and continuous systems.

( 1 ) A hydrothermal treatment apparatus according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure,
A hydrothermal treatment device for hydrothermally treating a material to be treated,
a reaction vessel configured to be able to receive the object to be processed;
a discharge route for discharging reactants after the hydrothermal treatment of the object to be treated;
An opening/closing mechanism for opening and closing the discharge path, the opening and closing mechanism comprising a first discharge valve provided in the discharge path and a second discharge valve provided in the discharge path downstream of the first discharge valve. mechanism and
a supply route for supplying the object to be processed into the reaction container;
a first supply valve provided in the supply path;
a second supply valve provided in the supply path downstream of the first supply valve;
A front chamber defined between the first supply valve and the second supply valve in the supply path, and a rear chamber defined between the first discharge valve and the second discharge valve in the discharge path. A pressure balance line that communicates with
a communication blocking member that communicates or blocks communication between the front chamber and the rear chamber via the pressure balance line;
a first steam supply member for supplying steam to the front chamber;
a first pressure release member that releases the pressure in the front chamber to the atmosphere;
a second steam supply member for supplying steam to the rear chamber;
a second pressure release member that releases the pressure in the rear chamber to the atmosphere;
A liquid phase composed of water at a temperature of 120° C. to 240° C. and a gas phase are contained in the reaction container before receiving the object to be treated, and the object to be treated received in the reaction container A substance is configured to be supplied into the liquid phase.

By opening the first supply valve with the second supply valve closed, the object to be processed can be supplied into the front chamber. After that, by closing the first supply valve and opening the second supply valve, the material to be processed in the front chamber can be supplied into the reaction container, but since the pressure difference between the front chamber and the reaction container is large, These valves may fail. Further, by opening the first discharge valve with the second discharge valve closed, the reactant resulting from the hydrothermal treatment can be supplied into the rear chamber. After that, the reactants in the rear chamber can be discharged by closing the first discharge valve and opening the second discharge valve, but since the pressure difference between the downstream side of the second discharge valve and the rear chamber is large, These valves may fail. According to the configuration (6) above, due to the exchange of steam between the front chamber and the rear chamber and the supply of steam to the front chamber and the rear chamber, the pressure difference between the front chamber and the reaction vessel when each valve is opened and closed is and the pressure difference between the downstream side of the second discharge valve and the rear chamber, it is possible to reduce the possibility that these valves will malfunction.

( 2 ) In some embodiments, in the configuration of ( 1 ) above,
The reaction vessel has a shape with a longitudinal axis,
The reaction vessel is arranged such that the longitudinal axis makes an acute angle with respect to a horizontal direction,
A transport member is provided in the reaction container,
The discharge path is connected to an end side of the reaction vessel that is higher in the vertical direction, and the supply path is connected to an end side of the reaction vessel that is lower in the vertical direction.

According to the configuration ( 2 ) above, the slurry containing the reactant resulting from the hydrothermal treatment is transported into the gas phase by the transport member, and is discharged from the reaction vessel via the discharge path. Since the slurry is subjected to solid-liquid separation in the gas phase, solid-liquid separation is possible at high temperatures such as those during hydrothermal treatment.

( 3 ) In some embodiments, in the configuration of ( 2 ) above,
A weight measuring member is provided to measure the weight of the reaction container.
If the supply of the material to be treated to the reaction container and the discharge of the reactant by hydrothermal treatment are balanced, the weight of the reaction container will be maintained within a certain range. On the other hand, if the reactants remain without being discharged from the reaction vessel, the weight of the reaction vessel will continue to increase. Therefore, by observing the measured value of the weight measuring member, if the weight of the reaction container continues to increase, it can be accurately determined that the reactant is not being properly discharged.

According to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, the material to be treated can be supplied to the hot water in the reaction vessel, so there is no need to increase the temperature of the material to be treated after supplying it into the reaction vessel, and energy efficiency is improved. improves. Moreover, since hot water is previously present in the reaction vessel, there is no need to supply the material to be treated together with water to the reaction vessel. Therefore, it is possible to realize a hydrothermal treatment apparatus that has the advantages of both a batch type and a continuous type.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a hydrothermal treatment apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present disclosure. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a plant that generates sludge to be treated in a hydrothermal treatment apparatus according to Embodiment 2 of the present disclosure. FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a hydrothermal treatment apparatus according to Embodiment 2 of the present disclosure.

Hereinafter, some embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. However, the scope of the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments. The dimensions, materials, shapes, relative arrangements, etc. of the components described in the following embodiments are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention, and are merely illustrative examples.

(Embodiment 1)
As shown in FIG. 1, the hydrothermal treatment apparatus 10 according to Embodiment 1 of the present disclosure includes a reaction vessel 11, a discharge path 12 connected to the reaction vessel 11, and an opening/closing mechanism 13 for opening and closing the discharge path 12. It is equipped with The pressure inside the reaction vessel 11 is adjusted to about 10 to 30 atmospheres, and a liquid phase 5 composed of hot water at 120°C to 240°C and a gaseous phase 6 are stored in advance in the reaction vessel 11. . Although the configuration of the opening/closing mechanism 13 is not limited, for example, the opening/closing mechanism 13 includes a first exhaust valve 14 provided in the exhaust path 12 and a second exhaust valve 14 provided in the exhaust path 12 downstream of the first exhaust valve 14. A configuration including a discharge valve 15 can be provided.

Preferably, the downstream end of the discharge path 12 is located within a storage container 16 for receiving the reactant 2, which is the content of the reaction container 11. Furthermore, a mesh member 17 that is a solid-liquid separation member may be provided in the discharge path 12 upstream of the opening/closing mechanism 13. The mesh member 17 preferably includes a rotating shaft 18 and may be provided to be reversible about the rotating shaft 18 within the discharge path 12 . Furthermore, a third discharge valve 19 may be provided in the discharge path 12 upstream of the mesh member 17.

The hydrothermal treatment apparatus 10 can further include a supply path 20 for supplying the waste 1 to the reaction vessel 11 so that the reaction vessel 11 can receive the waste 1 as the object to be treated. A hopper 21 may be provided at the upstream end of the supply path 20, and a first supply valve 22 may be provided in the supply path 20, and a second supply valve 23 may be provided downstream of the first supply valve 22. good.

When both the first supply valve 22 and the second supply valve 23 are fully closed in the supply path 20, a front chamber 24 is defined between them. On the other hand, when both the first exhaust valve 14 and the second exhaust valve 15 are fully closed in the exhaust path 12, a rear chamber 25 is defined between them. A pressure balance line 26 can be provided to communicate the front chamber 24 and the rear chamber 25, and the pressure balance line 26 is provided with an on-off valve 27 near the front chamber 24 and an on-off valve near the rear chamber 25. 28 can be provided. The on-off valves 27 and 28 constitute a communication blocking member for communicating or blocking the front chamber 24 and the rear chamber 25 through the pressure balance line 26. Note that the communication blocking member may be either one of the on-off valves 27 and 28.

Further, a first pressure release line 61 whose one end communicates with the front chamber 24 and whose other end is open to the atmosphere, and a first pressure release valve 62 which is an on-off valve for opening and closing the first pressure release line 61 are provided. It is provided. Here, the first pressure release line 61 and the first pressure release valve 62 constitute a first pressure release member that releases the pressure in the front chamber 24 to the atmosphere. Further, a second pressure release line 71 whose one end communicates with the rear chamber 25 and whose other end is open to the atmosphere, and a second pressure release valve 72 which is an on-off valve for opening and closing the second pressure release line 71 are provided. It is provided. Here, the second pressure release line 71 and the second pressure release valve 72 constitute a second pressure release member that releases the pressure in the rear chamber 25 to the atmosphere.

A first steam supply line 31 communicating with the front chamber 24 so as to supply steam to the front chamber 24 and a first opening/closing valve 32 for opening and closing the first steam supply line 31 may be provided. The first steam supply line 31 and the first on-off valve 32 constitute a first steam supply member for supplying steam to the front chamber 24 . As shown in FIG. 1, the first steam supply line 31 may be provided so as to merge with the pressure balance line 26, or may be provided separately from the pressure balance line 26 so as to communicate with the front chamber 24. good.

A second steam supply line 33 communicating with the rear chamber 25 to supply steam to the rear chamber 25 and a second opening/closing valve 34 for opening and closing the second steam supply line 33 may be provided. The second steam supply line 33 and the second on-off valve 34 constitute a second steam supply member for supplying steam to the rear chamber 25. As shown in FIG. 1, the second steam supply line 33 may be provided so as to merge with the pressure balance line 26, or may be provided separately from the pressure balance line 26 so as to communicate with the rear chamber 25. good.

Although the shape of the reaction container 11 is not particularly limited, it may have a cylindrical outer shape having a longitudinal axis L, as shown in FIG. 1, for example. When the reaction vessel 11 has such a shape, the reaction vessel 11 may be arranged so that the longitudinal axis L forms an acute angle θ with respect to the horizontal direction HR. When the reaction container 11 has such a configuration, in the reaction container 11, from the end 11a side of the reaction container 11 that is lower in the vertical direction toward the end 11b side of the reaction container 11 that is higher in the vertical direction. The depth of the liquid phase 5 can be made shallow. Furthermore, when the reaction vessel 11 has such a configuration, by connecting the discharge passage 12 to the end 11b side of the reaction vessel 11, the discharge passage 12 can be communicated with the gas phase 6, and the discharge passage 12 can be communicated with the gas phase 6. By connecting the supply path 20 to the end portion 11a side, the waste 1 can be supplied to a deep position in the liquid phase 5.

A conveying screw 40 serving as a conveying member is provided inside the reaction vessel 11 . A motor 41 for rotating the transport screw 40 is provided outside the reaction vessel 11. A heating member 42 is provided on the outer periphery of the reaction vessel 11 so as to correspond to the position where the liquid phase 5 is present. The configuration of the heating member 42 is not particularly limited, and any configuration may be used as long as it can heat the liquid phase 5 in the reaction vessel 11. The heating member 42 may be, for example, a jacket configured to allow pressurized steam or the like to flow therethrough. It may be a nichrome wire wound around the outer periphery of the reaction vessel 11, or it may be something that heats the inside of the reaction vessel 11 (for example, the conveying screw 40, its rotating shaft, etc.).

The reaction vessel 11 includes a gas outlet 43 for extracting a part of the gas phase 6 in the reaction vessel 11, and an exhaust control valve 44 (gas flow rate control member) that controls the flow rate of gas extracted from the gas outlet 43. It may also include. In FIG. 1, one set of the gas outlet port 43 and the exhaust control valve 44 is provided, but two or more sets may be provided. The reaction container 11 also includes a steam supply port 45 for supplying steam into the reaction container 11 and an on-off valve 46 provided in the steam supply port 45 so as to communicate with the gas phase 6 in the reaction container 11. may be provided. In FIG. 1, three combinations of the steam supply port 45 and the on-off valve 46 are provided, but one or two sets, or four or more sets may be provided. Furthermore, a drainage outlet 47 may be provided so as to be connected to the end portion 11a of the reaction vessel 11, and an opening/closing valve 48 may be provided in the drainage outlet 47.

The hydrothermal treatment apparatus 10 may further include a weight measuring member 49 for measuring the weight of the reaction vessel 11. The structure of the weight measuring member 49 is not particularly limited, and a load cell can be used as the weight measuring member 49, for example.

Next, the operation of the hydrothermal treatment apparatus 10 according to Embodiment 1 of the present disclosure will be described.
As shown in FIG. 1, the heating member 42 is operated with all valves closed to heat the liquid phase 5 in the reaction vessel 11, and the opening/closing valve 46 is opened as necessary to open the steam supply port. Steam is supplied into the reaction vessel 11 via 45. Further, the motor 41 is started to rotate the conveying screw 40. Once the temperature of the liquid phase 5 is at a suitable temperature in the range of 120° C. to 240° C., the feed of waste 1 is started. Note that the waste 1 is not particularly limited, and in the first embodiment, the waste 1 is assumed to be solid, such as municipal waste.

The waste 1 is put into the hopper 21. After putting a certain amount of waste 1 into the hopper, the first supply valve 22 is opened. Then, the waste 1 in the hopper 21 falls onto the second supply valve 23. After that, the first supply valve 22 is closed. Thereby, the waste 1 is moved from the hopper 21 to the front chamber 24. Therefore, it is preferable that the amount of waste 1 thrown into the hopper 21 be such that it can be accommodated in the front chamber 24.

The waste 1 in the antechamber 24 falls into the reaction vessel 11 by opening the second supply valve 23 . However, while the pressure in the front chamber 24 before opening the second supply valve 23 is approximately atmospheric pressure, the pressure in the reaction vessel 11 is approximately 10 to 30 atmospheres. If the second supply valve 23 is opened in a state where such a pressure difference exists, there is a possibility that the first supply valve 22 and the second supply valve 23 will malfunction.

Therefore, by opening the first on-off valve 32 and supplying steam into the front chamber 24 through the first steam supply line 31, the pressure inside the front chamber 24 is increased, and the pressure inside the front chamber 24 and the reaction vessel are increased. Reduce the difference between the pressure inside 11. Thereafter, by closing the first on-off valve 32 and opening the second supply valve 23, the waste 1 in the front chamber 24 is transferred to the reaction vessel 11 while preventing failure of the first supply valve 22 and the second supply valve 23. It can be dropped inside.

When the second supply valve 23 is closed after the waste 1 in the front chamber 24 is dropped into the reaction container 11, the pressure in the front chamber 24 becomes equal to the pressure in the reaction container 11. In this state, when the first supply valve 22 is opened again in order to drop the waste 1 put into the hopper 21 into the front chamber 24, the pressure inside the front chamber 24 is released to atmospheric pressure, and the waste is removed. 1 may be ejected from the hopper 21, or the first supply valve 22 and the second supply valve 23 may malfunction. Therefore, by opening the on-off valves 27 and 28, the pressure in the front chamber 24 is released into the rear chamber 25 via the pressure balance line 26. Even in this operation, if the pressure in the front chamber 24 is high, the pressure in the front chamber 24 is released to the atmosphere via the first pressure release line 61 by opening the first pressure release valve 62. As a result, the pressure inside the front chamber 24 is reduced, so the first supply valve 22 can be opened safely while suppressing the occurrence of such a fear.

The waste 1 is supplied so as to fall deep into the liquid phase 5 within the reaction vessel 11 . The waste 1 is hydrothermally treated and decomposed by hot water constituting the liquid phase 5, and eventually becomes a slurry. Although the liquid phase 5 is stirred by the conveying screw 40, by adjusting the rotation speed of the conveying screw 40, the liquid phase 5 can be separated into two phases, hot water and solid phase 3. can.

The solid phase 3 precipitated below the liquid phase 5 is transported within the reaction vessel 11 from the end 11a side toward the end 11b side by the rotation of the transport screw 40. Since the depth of the liquid phase 5 becomes shallower from the end 11a side to the end 11b side, the solid phase 3 transported by the rotation of the transport screw 40 moves into the gas phase 6. In the gas phase 6, the solid phase 3 is separated into solid and liquid. Since the temperature of the gas phase 6 is also an appropriate temperature in the range of 120° C. to 240° C., solid-liquid separation is possible in such a high temperature state. The solid phase 3 also contains components that can be dissolved in water at high temperatures, and such components can be transferred to the liquid phase 5 by solid-liquid separation at high temperatures. Note that if a conveyance screw with a compression function is used as the conveyance screw 40, it is possible to perform both conveyance and solid-liquid separation at the same time.

When carbon dioxide and the like are generated and accumulated during the hydrothermal treatment, the pressure inside the reaction vessel 11 increases. Therefore, by adjusting the opening of the exhaust control valve 44 (gas flow rate control member), the gas in the gas phase 6 is released through the gas outlet 43. The pressure inside the pressure vessel 11 can be reduced by discharging a portion of the pressure. Furthermore, since the discharged gas also contains steam, it is possible to adjust the amount of water contained in the solid phase 3. By adjusting the moisture content of the solid phase 3, a reactant 2 is generated by the hydrothermal treatment.

Reactant 2 flows from reaction vessel 11 into discharge path 12 . When the third discharge valve 19 is opened, when the reactant 2 passes through the mesh member 17, lumps 4 larger than the mesh size of the mesh member 17 are captured by the mesh member 17. The lump 4 is a substance that has not been decomposed by the hydrothermal treatment, and includes, for example, empty cans and plastic garbage contained in municipal waste. After closing the third discharge valve 19, by opening the first discharge valve 14, the reactant 2 from which the large lumps 4 have been removed falls into the rear chamber 25. Here, as mentioned above, since the pressure in the front chamber 24 is released into the rear chamber 25 in advance, the pressure difference on both sides of the first discharge valve 14 is between the atmospheric pressure and the pressure in the reaction vessel 11. It is smaller than the difference. However, if the pressure difference on both sides of the first exhaust valve 14 is not small enough to safely open the first exhaust valve 14, the second opening/closing valve 34 is opened to provide steam to the rear chamber via the second steam supply line. Since steam can be supplied into the first exhaust valve 25, the pressure difference between the two sides of the first exhaust valve 14 can be further reduced, and the first exhaust valve 14 can be opened safely.

After opening the first discharge valve 14 to receive the reactant 2 into the rear chamber 25, the first discharge valve 14 is closed and the second discharge valve 15 is opened, thereby transferring the reactant 2 in the rear chamber 25 to the storage container. 16. However, since the pressure difference between the two sides of the second discharge valve 15 before opening the second discharge valve 15 is large, the reactant 2 may be forcefully ejected into the storage container 16, or the first discharge valve 14 and the second discharge valve may There is a possibility that the valve 15 may malfunction. Therefore, before opening the second discharge valve 15, the pressure in the rear chamber 25 is released into the front chamber 24 via the pressure balance line 26 by opening the on-off valves 27 and 28. Even in this operation, if the pressure in the rear chamber 25 is high, the pressure in the rear chamber 25 is released to the atmosphere via the second pressure release line 71 by opening the second pressure release valve 72. This reduces the pressure difference on both sides of the second exhaust valve 15, so the second exhaust valve 15 can be opened safely while suppressing the occurrence of such a fear. The reactant 2 in the storage container 16 can be processed into fuel or the like through processes such as drying and molding.

The mass 4 deposited on the mesh member 17 can be dropped onto the first discharge valve 14 by inverting the mesh member 17 around the rotating shaft 18 within the discharge path 12. Thereafter, the lump 4 can be discharged by opening and closing the first discharge valve 14 and the second discharge valve 15. The lump 4 can be discharged without the reactant 2 in the storage container 16, or the downstream end of the discharge path 12 can be located in another container for storing the lump 4 instead of the storage container 16. It can be done by In this way, the mass 4 removed by the mesh member 17 can be easily recovered.

During this operation, the weight measuring member 49 measures the weight of the reaction vessel 11. If the supply of waste 1 to reaction vessel 11 and the discharge of reactant 2 by hydrothermal treatment are balanced, the weight of reaction vessel 11 will be maintained within a certain range. On the other hand, if the reactant 2 remains without being discharged from the reaction container 11, the weight of the reaction container 11 will continue to increase. Therefore, by observing the measured value of the weight measuring member 49, if the weight of the reaction container 11 continues to increase, it can be accurately determined that the reactant 2 is not being properly discharged.

In this way, the waste 1 can be supplied to the hot water (liquid phase 5) in the reaction vessel 11, so there is no need to raise the temperature after the waste 1 is supplied into the reaction vessel 11, improving energy efficiency. do. Further, since hot water is already present in the reaction vessel 11, there is no need to supply the waste 1 to the reaction vessel 11 together with water. Therefore, it is possible to realize a hydrothermal treatment apparatus 10 that has the advantages of both a batch type and a continuous type.

Furthermore, in the hydrothermal treatment apparatus 10, the reactant 2 in the reaction vessel 11 can be discharged in a batch manner by opening and closing the first discharge valve 14 and the second discharge valve 15, so that the residence time of the hydrothermal treatment can be adjusted. It can be done easily.

Furthermore, in the hydrothermal treatment apparatus 10, the waste 1 can be supplied into the reaction vessel 11 in a batch manner by opening and closing the first supply valve 22 and the second supply valve 23. Therefore, the amount of waste 1 supplied into the reaction vessel 11 can be easily adjusted.

(Embodiment 2)
Next, a hydrothermal treatment apparatus according to Embodiment 2 will be described. In contrast to Embodiment 1, the hydrothermal treatment apparatus according to Embodiment 2 uses sludge as the treatment object that can be generated in biological treatment when treating wastewater generated in any process of manufacturing products from raw materials. be. The sludge generated in biological treatment contains water in its cell membranes, making it difficult to dehydrate and increasing treatment costs. However, the hydrothermal treatment device according to Embodiment 2 solves this problem. This is to solve the problem.

In the plant 50 shown in FIG. 2, wastewater is generated in the process of manufacturing products from raw materials in the manufacturing device 51, and this wastewater is treated in the wastewater treatment device 52. An example of such a plant 50 is a plant that manufactures paper products using waste paper as a raw material, but is not limited thereto. The wastewater treated by the wastewater treatment device 52 can be reused by the manufacturing device 51 or discharged into a river (not shown) or the like. In the treatment of wastewater in the wastewater treatment device 52, sludge is also generally produced. A hydrothermal treatment apparatus 100 according to Embodiment 2 of the present disclosure will be described below, assuming that such sludge is used as a treatment object.

As shown in FIG. 3, the hydrothermal treatment apparatus 100 according to the second embodiment of the present disclosure includes a reaction vessel 111, a discharge path 112 connected to the reaction vessel 111, and an opening/closing mechanism 113 for opening and closing the discharge path 112. It is equipped with The pressure inside the reaction vessel 111 is adjusted to about 10 to 30 atmospheres, and a liquid phase 105 composed of hot water of 120° C. to 240° C. and a gas phase 106 are stored in advance in the reaction container 111. . Although the configuration of the opening/closing mechanism 113 is not limited, for example, the opening/closing mechanism 113 includes a first exhaust valve 114 provided in the exhaust path 112 and a second exhaust valve 114 provided in the exhaust path 112 downstream of the first exhaust valve 114. The configuration may include a discharge valve 115. The discharge path 112 includes a pressure release line 170 that communicates with the inside of the discharge path 112 at one end and opens to the atmosphere at the other end, and a pressure release valve 171 that is an on-off valve for opening and closing the pressure release line 170. It may be provided.

The reaction vessel 111 has a lower portion 111a having a conical outer shape, and an upper portion 111b provided on the lower portion 111a and having a cylindrical outer shape. A discharge path 112 is connected to the lowest end of the lower portion 111a. A supply route 120 for supplying sludge generated in the wastewater treatment device 52 (see FIG. 2) into the reaction vessel 111 is connected to the top of the upper portion 111b, and a supply route 120 for supplying the sludge under pressure is connected to the top of the upper portion 111b. A pump 121 is provided. Further, at the top of the upper portion 111b, a gas extraction port 143 for extracting a part of the gas phase 106 in the reaction vessel 111, and an exhaust control valve 144 for controlling the flow rate of gas extracted from the gas extraction port 143 are provided. is provided.

A stirrer 140 for stirring the contents of the reaction container 111 is provided inside the reaction container 111, and a motor 141 for driving the stirrer 140 is provided outside the reaction container 111. A heating member 142 is provided on the outer periphery of the reaction vessel 111 so as to correspond to a position where the liquid phase 105 is present. The configuration of the heating member 142 is not particularly limited, and any configuration may be used as long as it can heat the liquid phase 105 in the reaction vessel 111. The heating member 142 may be, for example, a jacket configured to allow pressurized steam or the like to flow therethrough. It may be a nichrome wire wound around the outer periphery of the reaction vessel 111.

A drying device 150 can be provided below the downstream end of the discharge path 112. Although the configuration of the drying device 150 is not particularly limited, the drying device 150 may have the form of a belt conveyor, for example, and may be configured such that warm air passes through the belt of the belt conveyor.

Next, the operation of the hydrothermal treatment apparatus 100 according to Embodiment 2 of the present disclosure will be described.
As shown in FIG. 3, the heating member 142 is operated with the first discharge valve 114, the second discharge valve 115, and the exhaust control valve 144 closed to heat the liquid phase 105 in the reaction vessel 111. Further, the motor 141 is started to rotate the stirrer 140. When the temperature of the liquid phase 105 reaches a suitable temperature in the range of 120° C. to 240° C., the pump 121 is activated to begin supplying sludge.

When the sludge flowing through the supply path 120 flows into the reaction vessel 111, it is supplied so as to fall into the liquid phase 105. The sludge is hydrothermally treated and decomposed by hot water constituting the liquid phase 105, and eventually becomes a slurry. Although the liquid phase 105 is stirred by the stirrer 140, by adjusting the rotation speed of the stirrer 140, the liquid phase 105 can be separated into two phases, hot water and the solid phase 103. Furthermore, the viscosity of the sludge can be adjusted. Note that since the solid phase 103 is also stirred by the stirrer 140, burning due to heat from the heating member 142 can be suppressed.

When carbon dioxide and the like are generated and accumulated during the hydrothermal treatment, the pressure inside the reaction vessel 111 increases, so a part of the gas in the gas phase 106 is discharged through the gas outlet 143 by adjusting the opening of the exhaust control valve 144. As a result, the pressure inside the pressure vessel 111 can be reduced. Furthermore, since the discharged gas also contains steam, the level of the liquid phase 105 can also be adjusted.

When the first discharge valve 114 is opened, a portion of the solid phase 103 is extracted into the discharge path 112 as the reactant 102 of the hydrothermal treatment. Thereafter, the first discharge valve 114 is closed, and the pressure release valve 171 is opened and closed to release the pressure in the discharge path 112 to the atmosphere via the pressure release line 170. Subsequently, when the second discharge valve 115 is opened, the reactant 102 in the supply path 120 falls onto the belt of the drying device 150. While the reactant 102 is conveyed by the belt, it is dried by hot air. After the reactant 102 is dried in the drying device 150, it can be processed into a fuel or the like through a process such as molding. Although it is not an essential configuration, by providing a recycle line 161 that connects the drying device 150 and the inlet side of the pump 121, if liquid moisture 160 is generated during drying in the drying device 150, the recycle line 161 can be connected. It is also possible to supply the water 160 to the reaction vessel 111 again by mixing the water 160 into the sludge through the sludge.

In this way, the sludge can be supplied to the hot water (liquid phase 105) in the reaction vessel 111, so there is no need to raise the temperature of the sludge after it is supplied into the reaction vessel 111, and energy efficiency is improved. Moreover, since hot water is already present in the reaction vessel 111, there is no need to supply the sludge to the reaction vessel 111 together with water. Therefore, it is possible to realize a hydrothermal treatment apparatus 100 that has the advantages of both a batch type and a continuous type.

Furthermore, in the hydrothermal treatment apparatus 100, the reactant 102 can be discharged from the reaction vessel 111 in a batch manner by opening and closing the first discharge valve 114 and the second discharge valve 115, so that the residence time of the hydrothermal treatment can be easily adjusted. can be done.

1 Waste (material to be treated)
2 Reactant 3 Solid phase 4 Mass 5 Liquid phase 6 Gas phase 10 Hydrothermal treatment device 11 Reaction container 11a End portion 11b (of the reaction container) End portion 12 Discharge path 13 Opening/closing mechanism 14 First discharge valve 15 First 2 discharge valve 16 storage container 17 mesh member (solid-liquid separation member)
18 Rotating shaft 19 Third discharge valve 20 Supply route 21 Hopper 22 First supply valve 23 Second supply valve 24 Front chamber 25 Rear chamber 26 Pressure balance line 27 Opening/closing valve (communication blocking member)
28 Opening/closing valve (communication cutoff member)
31 First steam supply line 32 First on-off valve 33 Second steam supply line 34 Second on-off valve 40 Conveying screw (conveying member)
41 Motor 42 Heating member 43 Gas outlet 44 Exhaust control valve (gas flow rate control member)
45 Steam supply port 46 Opening/closing valve 47 Drainage outlet 48 Opening/closing valve 49 Weight measurement member 50 Plant 51 Manufacturing equipment 52 Wastewater treatment equipment 61 First pressure release line (first pressure release member)
62 First pressure release valve (first pressure release member)
71 Second pressure release line (second pressure release member)
72 Second pressure release valve (second pressure release member)
100 Hydrothermal treatment apparatus 102 Reactant 103 Solid phase 105 Liquid phase 106 Gas phase 111 Reaction vessel 111a Lower part (of reaction vessel) 111b Upper part (of reaction vessel) 112 Discharge path 113 Opening/closing mechanism 114 First discharge valve 115 Second discharge Valve 120 Supply route 121 Pump 140 Stirrer 141 Motor 142 Heating member 143 Gas outlet 144 Exhaust control valve 150 Drying device 160 Moisture 161 Recycling line HR Horizontal direction L Longitudinal axis θ Angle

Claims (3)

A hydrothermal treatment device for hydrothermally treating a material to be treated,
a reaction vessel configured to be able to receive the object to be processed;
a discharge route for discharging reactants after the hydrothermal treatment of the object to be treated;
An opening/closing mechanism for opening and closing the discharge path, the opening and closing mechanism comprising a first discharge valve provided in the discharge path and a second discharge valve provided in the discharge path downstream of the first discharge valve. mechanism and
a supply route for supplying the object to be processed into the reaction container;
a first supply valve provided in the supply path;
a second supply valve provided in the supply path downstream of the first supply valve;
A front chamber defined between the first supply valve and the second supply valve in the supply path, and a rear chamber defined between the first discharge valve and the second discharge valve in the discharge path. A pressure balance line that communicates with
a communication blocking member that communicates or blocks communication between the front chamber and the rear chamber via the pressure balance line;
a first steam supply member for supplying steam to the front chamber;
a first pressure release member that releases the pressure in the front chamber to the atmosphere;
a second steam supply member for supplying steam to the rear chamber;
a second pressure release member that releases the pressure in the rear chamber to the atmosphere;
A liquid phase composed of water at a temperature of 120° C. to 240° C. and a gas phase are contained in the reaction container before receiving the object to be treated, and the object to be treated received in the reaction container A hydrothermal treatment apparatus configured such that a substance is fed into the liquid phase. The reaction vessel has a shape with a longitudinal axis,
The reaction vessel is arranged such that the longitudinal axis makes an acute angle with respect to a horizontal direction,
A transport member is provided in the reaction container,
2. The discharge path is connected to an end of the reaction container that is higher in the vertical direction, and the supply path is connected to an end of the reaction container that is lower in the vertical direction. hydrothermal treatment equipment. The hydrothermal treatment apparatus according to claim 2 , further comprising a weight measuring member for measuring the weight of the reaction vessel.

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