JPH02149391A - Apparatus for treating waste liquid of photographic processing - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To contrive the disposal of concentrate by replacement of a concentrate receiving container by making this container detachable and capable of storing the concentrate resulting from the concentration of the waste liquid of photographic processing by evaporation and a detecting means for detecting the degree of the concentrate accumulation. CONSTITUTION:The waste liquid of photographic processing is heated by a heating means 10 and concentrated by evaporation. A detachable container 22 for storing the concentrate resulting from the concentration of the waste liquid by evaporation is provided in a position separate from the heating means 10 and the degree of the concentrate accumulation is detected by a temperature sensor 21. Based on the signal sent from the temperature sensor 21, the heating means 10 is controlled. As a result, the accumulation of the concentrate can be detected easily and the container 2 can be replaced at the time of the concentrate disposal. Moreover, this disposal method can prevent the decomposition of the concentrate due to the overheating and diminish the production of bad odor.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Field of Application] This invention deals with the evaporation treatment of waste liquid (hereinafter referred to as photographic processing waste liquid or waste liquid) generated during the processing of photographic light-sensitive materials by an automatic photographic processor. The present invention relates to a processing device, and particularly to a processing device for photographic processing waste liquid suitable for processing by being disposed in or near an automatic processor.

[Prior Art] In general, photographic processing of silver halide photographic materials includes development, fixing, washing, etc. in the case of black and white materials, and color development, bleach-fixing (or bleaching, fixing) in the case of color photographic materials. ,
A combination of processes using a treatment liquid having one or more functions such as water washing and stabilization is carried out.

In photographic processing in which a large amount of light-sensitive material is processed, the components consumed during processing are replenished, while the components that are concentrated by elution or evaporation into the processing solution (
Measures are taken to maintain the performance of the processing solution at a constant level by removing bromide ions in the developing solution and silver complex salts in the fixing solution and keeping the processing solution components constant. The processing solution is replenished and a portion of the processing solution is discarded for removal of thickening components in photographic processing.

In recent years, systems have been changing to systems in which the amount of replenishment fluid, including washing water, which is used as a replenishment fluid for washing, has been significantly reduced due to pollution and economic reasons, but photographic processing waste fluid is removed from the processing tank of automatic processors. It is led through a waste liquid pipe, diluted with waste liquid from washing water, cooling water from automatic processors, etc., and then disposed of in a sewer or the like.

However, due to stricter pollution regulations in recent years, it is possible to dispose of washing water and cooling water into sewers or rivers, but other photographic processing solutions [e.g. developer, fixer, color developer, bleach-fixer] (or bleaching solution, fixing solution), stabilizer solution, etc.] has become virtually impossible to dispose of. For this reason, each photo processing company pays a collection fee to a specialized waste liquid processing company to collect the waste liquid, or installs pollution treatment equipment. However, the method of outsourcing to a waste liquid treatment company requires a considerable amount of space to store the waste liquid, and is also extremely expensive. Furthermore, pollution treatment equipment has drawbacks such as extremely large initial investment (initial cost) and the need for a fairly large space for maintenance. Therefore, waste liquid is generally collected by a waste liquid collection company and rendered harmless through secondary and tertiary processing, but not only is the price of waste liquid increasing year by year due to rising collection costs, but collection efficiency is low in minilabs, etc.
It is difficult to get people to come and collect the liquid, causing problems such as waste liquid filling the store.

In order to solve these problems, research has been conducted to heat the photographic processing waste liquid to evaporate the water to dryness or solidify it, with the aim of making it easier to process the photographic processing waste liquid even in minilabs. This is shown in Utility Model Application Publication No. 60-70841.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] By the way, when photographic processing waste liquid is evaporated in this manner, harmful or extremely malodorous gases such as sulfur dioxide gas, hydrogen sulfide, and ammonia gas are generated. This is due to the decomposition of specific sulfur compounds, such as thiosulfate and sulfite, which are often used in fixers and bleach-fixers contained in photographic processing waste solutions.

For this reason, various studies and experiments have been conducted to remove odor components, and it has been found that the photographic processing waste liquid is evaporated and concentrated by heating with a heating means, and when a predetermined amount has accumulated, it is taken out and disposed of. It has been found that continued heating causes the concentrate to overheat and decompose, causing hydrogen sulfide, ammonia gas, etc. to be generated.

Therefore, it is necessary to remove the concentrate before it overheats and decomposes and generates hydrogen sulfide, ammonia gas, etc. However, the concentrate produced by evaporation of photographic processing waste can be collected using a pressure sensor or optical sensor. It is difficult to detect such substances, and there is no means to accurately detect the amount.

For this reason, it is conceivable to take out the concentrate after processing a certain amount of photographic processing waste liquid for a certain period of time, but in this case, the amount of concentrate generated may vary depending on the concentration of the photographic processing waste liquid, etc. For example, if there is a large amount of concentrate, it will be directly heated by the heating means and hydrogen sulfate, ammonia gas, etc. will be generated, and if the concentrate is full, it will cause problems with the circulation system of the equipment and interfere with operation. There is a risk of causing

Further, even when the amount of concentrate generated is small, the operation is stopped after processing for a predetermined period of time, which is time consuming and has problems such as poor processing efficiency.

This invention was made in view of the above points, and enables efficient processing by detecting the degree of accumulation of concentrate and taking out the concentrate, as well as preventing the concentrate from being decomposed by overheating, thereby preventing the generation of bad odors. It is an object of the present invention to provide a processing device for photographic processing waste liquid that can reduce the amount of waste.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a processing apparatus for photographic processing waste liquid that heats photographic processing waste liquid with a heating means to evaporate and concentrate the photographic processing waste liquid. The present invention is characterized in that it includes a removable container for accumulating a concentrate generated from the concentrate generated by evaporation concentration of the photographic processing waste liquid, and a means for detecting the degree of accumulation of the concentrate.

Furthermore, the heating means can be controlled based on a signal from the means for detecting the degree of accumulation of the concentrate.

The heating means of the present invention may be a nichrome wire, or may be heated by a molded heater such as a cartridge heater, quartz heater, Teflon heater, rod heater, or panel heater, or microwave heating. Also,
A conductive material may be brought into direct contact with the photographic processing waste liquid, and the conductive material may cause an electric current to flow through the photographic processing waste liquid and heat the photographic processing waste liquid.

Additionally, you can use a heat pump, which is a device that extracts thermal energy from a low-temperature heat source and converts it into higher-temperature, more usable thermal energy. , the steam generated by this heating is cooled to obtain distilled water, which can be heated using the thermal energy obtained through heat exchange.
Efficient processing is possible.

The heat density of this heating means is preferably 1 to 20 W/c
m2, more preferably 5 W/cm
Set to 2.

The temperature of the concentrated liquid when operating the apparatus is preferably 100° C. or lower, and different temperatures are preferable when the photographic processing waste liquid is evaporated and concentrated under normal pressure and when it is evaporated and concentrated under reduced pressure. By setting the temperature to this temperature, overheating decomposition of the concentrated concentrate can be prevented, and generation of odors such as hydrogen sulfide and ammonia gas can be significantly suppressed.

This temperature is preferably 50 to 95°C, more preferably 6°C when the photographic processing waste liquid is evaporated and concentrated under normal pressure.
The temperature is 0 to 80°C.

In addition, when photographic processing waste liquid is evaporated and concentrated under reduced pressure, the temperature can be controlled by the reduced pressure level, and the
The temperature is preferably 0°C, more preferably 40 to 70°C.

In addition, heating under reduced pressure using a pressure reducing means not only requires less heating energy, but also generates less tar in the evaporated concentrate compared to normal pressure evaporation methods, and reduces deposits on the walls of the evaporator. can do.

This reduced pressure is preferably 610 mmHg or less, more preferably 520 mmHg or less, particularly preferably 230 mmHg or less. In addition, there is no particular lower limit to the reduced pressure, but it is preferably 1 mmHg or more in view of the cost of the equipment used to create the reduced pressure state.
It is preferable that the pressure is 10 mmHg or more because a simple device can be used.

Furthermore, a vacuum pump, an ejector, etc. are used as the pressure reducing means. When an ejector is used, the water sent into the ejector may be directly led from a tap, but it is preferable to circulate the water with a pump because piping can be omitted. Furthermore, as a preferred embodiment, there is a method in which the condensed water is circulated by a pump and sent into the ejector.

Although the pressure reduction means and the evaporator may be directly connected to directly reduce the pressure in the evaporator, it is preferable that the pressure reducing means be provided in a steam exhaust pipe for guiding the steam generated by evaporation. Further, the steam produced by evaporation is guided to a heat exchange means for condensing through a steam discharge pipe, and the condensed water produced by condensation is guided to a condensed water storage tank by a condensed water discharge pipe, and the pressure reduction means is connected to a condensed water discharge pipe or a condensed water storage tank. The pressure may be reduced by providing it in a storage tank. Furthermore, in the case of a method in which the condensed water is circulated by a pump and sent into the ejector, one preferred embodiment is a method in which the steam discharge pipe and the ejector are directly connected, and the steam is cooled by introducing the steam into the condensed water.

Further, as the pressure reducing means, vacuum pumps other than steam, etc., may be those described on pages 537 to 610 of 86787 Scientific Instruments Directory (AI Shuko Publishing, Tokyo Scientific Instruments Association).

In addition, the heating means can be controlled to keep the temperature of the evaporative concentrate to below io0°C during operation, but in the photographic processing waste liquid processing apparatus of the present invention, a method of mixing air into the circulation system is possible. Preferably, the amount of air is 0.1 to 100 J2/kcait relative to the amount of heating. By mixing this air, the bumping state of the photographic processing waste liquid is eliminated and the evaporation temperature is lowered, thereby suppressing the generation of odors such as hydrogen sulfide and ammonia gas.

In this invention, a removable container is provided in a part separate from the heating means to accumulate the concentrate generated from the concentrated liquid by evaporation concentration of the photographic processing waste liquid, and the concentrated liquid is stored in this container. The concentrate generated in the concentrate may be allowed to settle and accumulate. Moreover, this container is removable from the device.

Additionally, a bag is installed inside the evaporator to take out the concentrate.
The concentrate can be taken out and disposed of along with the bag, or a bag or a screw-on or one-touch polyethylene bottle can be placed at the bottom of the evaporation chamber, and the concentrate can be taken out and disposed of.

As means for detecting the degree of accumulation of the concentrate, it is possible to detect the degree of accumulation by detecting the temperature change of the concentrate or the concentrate. For example, the degree of accumulation of concentrate can be detected by detecting that the temperature of the concentrate has risen to a set temperature, and the degree of accumulation of concentrate can be determined by detecting that the temperature of the concentrate and its surroundings has fallen below the set temperature. can be detected. As means for detecting this temperature change, there are temperature sensors such as thermistors, thermocouples, and semiconductor temperature sensors.This temperature sensor is not particularly limited as long as it is a place where photographic processing waste liquid is evaporated and concentrated; It may be the circulatory system.

Further, as a means for detecting the degree of accumulation of concentrate, a weight detection means may be used to detect the weight of a bag or the like in which concentrate is accumulated to obtain the degree of accumulation of concentrate, and a flow rate detection means may be used to detect the degree of accumulation of concentrate, for example. The degree of accumulation is obtained by detecting the flow rate at which the photographic processing waste liquid circulates, and even if the photographic processing waste liquid is evaporated and concentrated, the degree of accumulation is determined by detecting the liquid level for a certain period of time or more with the liquid level detection means. There are methods that obtain the degree of accumulation by detecting the concentrate using infrared rays.

The operation of the processing device is controlled based on the signal from the means for detecting the degree of accumulation of the concentrate, and in this case, it is preferable to control the heating means to prevent overheating of the concentrate.

Typical examples of photographic processing waste liquids that can be processed according to the present invention include those described in Japanese Patent Application No. 1982-194615 previously filed by this applicant. In processing equipment, it is effective for photographic processing waste liquids containing large amounts of thiosulfates, sulfites, and ammonium salts, and is particularly effective when containing organic acid ferric complex salts and thiosulfates.

A preferred application of the present invention is to treat photographic processing waste liquid generated during the development of photographic light-sensitive materials using an automatic processor in or near the automatic processor.

[Operation] In this invention, a removable container is used to accumulate a concentrate produced by evaporative concentration of photographic processing waste liquid in a removable container, and to detect the degree of accumulation of the concentrate accumulated in this container. can be replaced and the concentrate discarded.

In addition, when the degree of accumulation of this concentrate reaches a predetermined value, the heating means can be controlled to stop the evaporative concentration of the photographic processing waste liquid, preventing overheated decomposition of the concentrate and reducing the occurrence of bad odors. can.

[Example 1] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a processing apparatus for photographic processing waste liquid according to the present invention.

In the figure, reference numeral 1 is an evaporation pot in which photographic processing waste liquid is stored, and 2
is a removable discharge container for taking out the concentrate, and both are connected by a connecting vibrator 3. The lower part of the evaporator 1 is connected via a pipe 4 to a separation means 5 disposed above the discharge container 2, and these constitute a circulation system for photographic processing waste liquid.

The evaporation pot 1 is provided with a liquid level detection sensor 6, and the liquid level detection sensor 6 monitors the amount of photographic processing waste liquid in the circulation system.

The discharge container 2 is for taking out the concentrate, and during processing, photographic processing waste liquid is supplied from the waste liquid tank 7 to the pipe 4 via the pipe 9 by the operation of the waste liquid supply pump 8 . Then, the overflowing photographic processing waste liquid is led to the discharge container 2 via the separation means 5 and stored in the evaporator 1, and the concentrate is accumulated in the discharge container 2. When the concentrate accumulates in the discharge container 2, the photographic processing waste overflows into the evaporator 1.
The photographic processing waste liquid is automatically circulated through the circulation system.
Concentrate accumulates in the drain container 2, and when the concentrate is full, the drain container 2 can be removed and replaced with a new drain container.

A heater 10 is provided on the outer periphery of the pipe 4.
0 heats the photographic processing waste liquid circulating through the pipe 4, and this heated photographic processing waste liquid is sent to the separation means 5. The heater 10 is arranged inside the pipe 4,
The photographic processing waste liquid may be directly heated. In addition,
The heater 10 can also be placed at a higher position than the separation means 5, in which case a circulation pump is placed in the circulation system to force the circulation. Furthermore, by providing the heater 10 in the circulation system, the evaporation area of the photographic processing waste liquid can be reduced, and since the concentrate is not overheated, the odor gas caused by overheated decomposition of the concentrate can be significantly reduced. A baffle plate 5a is arranged inside the separation means 5, which reduces the generation of hydrogen sulfide and sulfur-based odors even as the concentration progresses. Once separated, the vapor is removed via the vapor discharge pipe 11 and the concentrate falls and is accumulated in the discharge container 2. Since the separation means 5 has the function of separating gas-containing steam and photographic processing waste liquid, its capacity can be reduced to the extent that it has this function, and it should also be made of a material that does not have a high degree of heat resistance. This makes it possible to reduce manufacturing costs.

The steam taken out via the steam exhaust pipe 11 is transferred to the evaporator pot 1.
It joins with the steam taken out from the steam exhaust pipe 12 and is sent to the condenser 13. Water from the tap is sent to this condenser 13 via a pipe 15 driven by a water pump 14, and the steam is cooled and condensed with this cooling water, and the resulting distilled water is stored in a distillation tank 16. Ru. This distilled water is discharged through the water pump 17, and the odor-laden air in the distillation tank 16 is mixed with photographic processing waste liquid through the piping 19 by the operation of the air pump 18, and is supplied to the piping 4 and enters the circulation system. be returned.

The amount of air mixed in is 0.1 to 100Q relative to the amount of heating.
/kcaIL is preferable, and the mixture of air lowers the evaporation temperature of the photographic processing waste liquid and suppresses the generation of odors such as hydrogen sulfide and ammonia gas. The waste liquid tank 7 is equipped with a liquid level detection sensor 20 to detect the remaining amount of waste liquid.

Detection information from the liquid level detection sensor 6 of the evaporation pot 1, the liquid level detection sensor 20 of the waste liquid tank 7, and the temperature sensor 21 provided in the piping 4 is input to the control unit 22, and based on this information, the water pump 14, 17, an air pump 18, a waste liquid supply pump 8, a heater 10, etc.

This temperature sensor 21 detects the temperature of the concentrate accumulated in the pipe 4 and inputs the temperature information to the control section 22. When the temperature of the concentrate rises to the set temperature, the control section 22
The operation of the heater 10 is stopped via the.

The temperature sensor 21 may be provided above or below the heater 10, or may be provided between both heaters 100.

The operation of this processing device starts when the start switch is operated.
The waste liquid supply pump 8 is driven to supply the photographic processing waste liquid to the piping vibe 4 through the piping 9, and then to the discharge container 2 and the evaporation pot 1.
A predetermined amount is stored in the circulatory system.

Then, the heater 10 is driven to evaporate and concentrate the photographic processing waste liquid, and the concentrate is accumulated in the discharge container 2. When the discharge container 2 is full, the concentrate overflows into the evaporation pot. 1 will enter pipe 4. The temperature of this concentrate is detected by a temperature sensor 21, and when the temperature rises due to heating by the heater 10 and reaches the set temperature, the operation of the heater 10 is stopped via the control unit 22.

At this time, if the waste liquid supply pump 8 and the air pump 18 are driven for a predetermined period of time and then stopped, the concentrate in the pipe 4 can be dissolved.

Thereby, it can be reliably known that the discharge container 2 is full of concentrate, and the discharge container 2 can be removed and replaced with a new discharge container, improving work efficiency. Further, the accumulated concentrate is not heated continuously, and the concentrate is prevented from being overheated and decomposed to generate hydrogen sulfide, ammonia gas, etc.

FIG. 2 shows another embodiment, in which the lower part of the evaporator 1 and the upper part of the discharge container 2 are connected by a pipe 4, and the upper part of the evaporator 1 is integrally provided with a separating means 5.

The concentrate separated by this separation means 5 is led to a discharge container 2 through a pipe 4, and when the concentrate accumulates in the discharge container 2, the photographic processing waste overflows and is introduced into the evaporator 1. It is concentrated.

FIG. 3 shows yet another embodiment, in which a discharge container 23 is disposed inside the evaporation pot 1, and this discharge container 23 is constituted by a sludge filter. This discharge container 23 is removably supported via a mounting member 24. The heated photographic processing waste liquid discharged from the circulation system piping 4 is stored in a discharge container 2.
3, the photoprocessing waste liquid is separated into a gas-containing vapor and a concentrated photographic processing waste liquid, and this photographic processing waste liquid is filtered through a discharge container 23 to take out a concentrate from which water has been removed.

FIG. 4 shows an example in which a heat pump 25 is used as the heating means. The evaporating section 25a of the heat pump 25 heats the photographic processing waste liquid stored in the evaporating pot 1, and the condensing section 25b cools the steam to obtain distilled water. This heat pump 25 is efficient because it heats the photographic processing waste liquid with the thermal energy obtained by heat exchange through cooling, and the inside of this evaporation pot 1 is depressurized by the drive of the decompression pump 26, and is heated under a predetermined reduced pressure. Evaporative concentration is performed.

The photographic processing waste liquid is heated in the evaporator 1 and the resulting concentrate is deposited into the discharge container 2 via the opened valve 29. When the concentrate settles to a predetermined position, a temperature sensor 21 detects the temperature of the concentrate accumulated in the discharge container 2, and when the temperature reaches a predetermined set temperature, the operation is stopped. In this case, since the inside of the evaporator 1 is in a reduced pressure state, the set temperature is set lower than that in the case of normal pressure.

Then, the concentrate in the discharge container 2 can be taken out by manually closing the valve 29 provided below, and then removing the concentrate from the discharge container 2.
This is done by removing and replacing.

5 to 9 show other embodiments of the means for detecting the degree of accumulation of concentrate.

FIG. 5 shows that a take-out portion 5a formed at the bottom of the separating means
The mounting part 2a of the discharge container 2 is inserted through the mounting part 2a, and the mounting part 2a is tightened and fixed with a screw connector 31 via a gasket 3o, so that it can be attached or detached using the screw connector 31. A temperature sensor 2 is installed at the bottom or top of the side wall of this discharge container 2.
1 is provided, and this temperature sensor 21 can detect the temperature change of the concentrate or the concentrate to detect the degree of accumulation.

Therefore, when the apparatus is started, the photographic processing waste liquid is supplied to the separation means 5, and then to the discharge container 2 and the evaporator 1 until the liquid level detection sensor 6 of the evaporator 1 is activated.

Then, the heater 1o is driven to evaporate and concentrate the photographic processing waste liquid, and the concentrate is accumulated at the bottom of the discharge container 2. When the concentrate is accumulated to the top of the discharge container 2, the temperature sensor 21 detects the concentration. It is possible to detect that the temperature of the object and its surroundings has fallen below the set temperature, thereby detecting the degree of accumulation of the concentrate.

This temperature sensor 21 can also be provided at the bottom of the separation means 5, as shown by the dashed line.

In FIG. 6, the weight of the discharge container 2 in which the concentrate is accumulated is detected by the weight detecting means 32 to obtain the degree of accumulation of the concentrate. This discharge container 2 is detachably attached to the take-out portion 5a of the separation means 5 by a connector 33.

In this embodiment, when concentrate accumulates in the discharge container 2, the discharge container 2 and the separation means 5 are lowered, the weight is detected by the weight detection means 32, and the amount of concentrate is determined from the amount of change from when there is no concentrate. It is designed to detect the degree of absence.

Therefore, this connecting vibe 3, piping 4 and steam exhaust pipe 11
are both formed of flexible vibrators, and the separation means 5
and movement of the discharge container 2 is permitted.

Further, it is also possible to connect the discharge container 2 and the separation means 5 with a bellows-shaped pipe, and detect the weight of the discharge container 2 to detect the degree of accumulation of concentrate.

In FIG. 7, an infrared sensor 34 is disposed at the take-out portion 5a of the separation means 5, and the degree of accumulation of the concentrate can be obtained by blocking infrared rays by silver contained in the concentrate.

FIG. 8 shows a liquid level detection means 35, which obtains the degree of accumulation by detecting the liquid level for a certain period of time or more. That is, the mesh electrode portion 35a provided in the liquid level detection means 35,
It is arranged inside the evaporation pot 1 at approximately the same position as the liquid level during processing, and when the concentrate accumulates to this position, the mesh electrode part 35a is energized by the concentrate to detect the degree of accumulation of the concentrate. be able to.

In FIG. 9, a flow rate detection means 36 is arranged in the piping 4,
The flow rate of the photographic processing waste liquid flowing through the pipe 4 is detected to obtain the degree of accumulation. When the flow rate of the photographic processing waste liquid decreases, this means that the concentrate has accumulated up to the pipe 4, and the degree of accumulation can be determined by this flow rate.

[Effects of the Invention] As mentioned above, the photographic processing waste liquid processing apparatus of the present invention has the following effects:
Concentrates generated by evaporative concentration of photographic processing waste liquid are accumulated in a removable container, and the degree of accumulation of the concentrates accumulated in this container is detected. Therefore, the accumulation of concentrates can be easily detected. This container can be replaced and the concentrate can be disposed of.

Furthermore, when the degree of accumulation of this concentrate reaches a predetermined value, the heating means is controlled to stop the evaporation and concentration of the photographic processing waste liquid.
It is possible to prevent overheated decomposition of concentrates and reduce the occurrence of bad odors.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a schematic block diagram showing a processing apparatus for photographic processing waste liquid according to the present invention, Figs. 2 to 4 are schematic block diagrams showing other embodiments, and Figs. 5 to 9 show the degree of accumulation of concentrate. It is a figure which shows another Example of a means to detect. In the drawing, reference numeral 1 is an evaporation pot, 2.23 is a discharge container, 5 is a separation means, 3 is a connecting pipe, 10 is a heater, 21 is a temperature sensor, 25 is a heat pump, 32 is a weight detection means, 34 is an infrared sensor, 35 3 is a liquid level detection means, and 36 is a flow rate detection means.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. In a processing device for photographic processing waste liquid, which heats the photographic processing waste liquid with a heating means to evaporate and concentrate the photographic processing waste liquid, a concentrated liquid is placed in a part different from the heating means by evaporating and concentrating the photographic processing waste liquid. 1. A processing apparatus for photographic processing waste liquid, comprising: a removable container for accumulating a concentrate generated from the liquid; and means for detecting the degree of accumulation of the concentrate. 2. A photographic processing waste liquid processing apparatus, characterized in that the heating means is controlled based on a signal from the means for detecting the degree of accumulation of the concentrate according to claim 1.