JPH03262584A - Apparatus for evaporating and concentrating waste liquid of photographic processing - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To efficiently perform concn. without generating a malodor by providing an ultrasonic transmitting means and an ultrasonic receiving means with respect to a conc. solution and emitting a concn. stop order and a concentrate recovery order on the basis of the signal of the receiving means. CONSTITUTION:A waste photographic processing liquid is introduced into the system to be evaporated and conc. by a heater 30. The waste liquid replenishing means 20 to an evaporating and concentrating column 11 and the ultrasonic transmitting means 71 and ultrasonic receiving means 72 to the conc. solution in the column 11 or a piping circuit 27 are provided and, on the basis of the signal of the receiving means 72, a concn. stop order or a concentrate recovery order is emitted. As a result, the waste photographic processing liquid is evaporated and conc. at as low a heating temp. as possible and can be conc. while it is quantitatively supplied to the concentrating column 11 without generating a malodor.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to an evaporative concentration treatment device for photographic processing waste liquid, and in particular, the present invention relates to an evaporative concentration treatment device for photographic processing waste liquid, and in particular, it is used to collect photographic processing waste liquid generated from the development process of photographic light-sensitive materials using automatic processors. This invention relates to an apparatus for evaporating and concentrating photographic processing waste liquid, which is suitable for processing in or near an automatic processing machine without recovering it.

[Background of the invention]

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 and fixing) in the case of color materials.
A combination of processes using a treatment liquid having one or more functions such as , water washing, and stabilization is performed.

In photographic processing in which a large amount of light-sensitive material is processed, components consumed during processing are replenished, while components that are eluted into the processing solution or concentrated by evaporation during processing (for example, bromide ions in the developer, bromide ions in the fixer), etc. A method is adopted to maintain the performance of the processing solution at a constant level by removing substances such as silver complex salts (such as silver complex salts) and keeping the processing solution components constant. A portion of the processing solution is discarded to remove thickening components during photographic processing.

In recent years, the system has been changing to a system in which the amount of replenishment fluid, including the washing water used as a replenishment fluid for washing, has been significantly reduced due to pollution and economic reasons. Photographic processing waste fluid is stored in the processing tank of automatic processors. The liquid was led out through waste pipes, diluted with waste liquid from washing water, cooling water from automatic processors, etc., and disposed of in sewers, etc.

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), stabilizing 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 is
A considerable amount of space is required to store the waste liquid, and it is also extremely expensive.Furthermore, the initial investment (initial cost) for pollution treatment equipment is extremely large, and it requires a fairly large space to set up. It has disadvantages such as requiring

Furthermore, specifically, as a pollution treatment method for reducing the pollution load of photographic processing waste liquid, activated sludge method (for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 51-12943 and No. 51-7952, etc.);
Evaporation method (JP-A-49-89437 and JP-A-56-339)
No. 96, etc.), electrolytic oxidation method (JP-A-48-84462,
No. 49-119458, Special Publication No. 53-43478,
JP-A-49-119457, etc.), ion exchange method (JP-A-51-37704, JP-A-53-383, JP-A-53-43271, etc.), reverse osmosis method (JP-A-50-22)
No. 463, etc.) Chemical treatment methods (JP-A-49-64257, JP-A-57-37396, JP-A-53-12152)
No. 49-58833, No. 53-63763, Japanese Patent Publication No. 57-37395, etc.), but these are still insufficient.

On the other hand, due to constraints from water resources, rising water supply and drainage costs, the simplicity of automatic processor equipment, and the work environment around automatic processors, in recent years, stabilization treatments have been used instead of washing with water, and Photographic processing using automatic developing machines (so-called waterless automatic developing machines) that do not require piping for water supply and drainage is becoming popular. In such processing, it is desired that cooling water for controlling the temperature of the processing liquid can also be omitted. In this type of photographic processing, which does not substantially use rinsing water or cooling water, compared to the case where there is photographic processing waste liquid from automatic processors, the pollution load is extremely large because it is not diluted with water, and on the other hand, the amount of waste liquid is small. be.

Therefore, due to the small amount of waste liquid, it is possible to omit the piping outside the machine for supplying and waste liquid, which is considered to be a disadvantage of conventional automatic processors, as it is difficult to move after installation. The disadvantages such as the small space required, the high cost of piping work during installation, and the high energy cost of hot water supply pressure have been eliminated, and the machine has been made compact and simple enough to be used as an office machine. Benefits are demonstrated.

However, on the other hand, the waste liquid has an extremely high pollution load, and in light of pollution regulations, it has become completely impossible to drain the waste liquid into rivers or even sewers. Furthermore, such photo processing (using a large amount of running water,
Although the amount of waste liquid from processes that do not involve water washing is small, for example, even in a relatively small-scale color processing laboratory, the amount is about 100 per day.

Therefore, waste liquid is generally collected by a waste liquid collection company and rendered harmless through secondary and tertiary processing.However, not only is the price of waste liquid collection increasing year by year due to rising collection costs, but collection efficiency is low in minilabs, etc., so it is difficult to do so. No one can come to collect the liquid, causing problems such as waste liquid filling the store.

On the other hand, in order to solve these problems, research has been conducted on heating 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. , Utsukai Showa 60-70841
It is shown in the number etc. According to research conducted by the inventors, when photographic processing waste liquid is evaporated, harmful or extremely malodorous gases such as sulfur dioxide gas, hydrogen sulfide, and ammonia gas are generated.

It has been found that this is caused by the decomposition of ammonium thiosulfate and sulfites (ammonium salt, sodium salt, or potassium salt), which are commonly used as fixing solutions and bleach-fixing solutions in photographic processing solutions, due to high temperatures. Further, during the evaporation process, moisture and the like in the photographic processing waste liquid becomes vapor and gasifies, thereby expanding the volume and increasing the pressure in the evaporation pot. Therefore, this pressure causes the harmful or malodorous gases to leak out of the evaporation treatment apparatus to the outside of the apparatus, resulting in an extremely unfavorable working environment.

Therefore, in order to solve these problems,
No. 1 discloses a method of providing an exhaust gas treatment section such as activated carbon in the exhaust pipe section of an evaporation treatment device. However, 5. this method is not effective due to the large amount of water vapor in the photographic processing waste liquid.
It has the serious drawback that dew condensation or condensation occurs in the exhaust gas treatment section, covering the gas absorption treatment agent with moisture, causing an instantaneous loss of gas absorption ability, and it has not yet been put to practical use.

In order to solve these problems, the present applicant et al. installed a cooling condensing means to condense the vapor generated by evaporation when evaporating photographic processing waste liquid, and further treated the condensed water generated by condensation and We have previously proposed a method and apparatus for treating photographic processing waste liquid that is also treated and discharged to the outside.

However, it has been discovered that the above proposal has the following problems. In other words, the vapor generated by the evaporation process is condensed by the cooling condensing means, but if the cooling condensation efficiency is poor, the proportion of vapor that is not condensed and is released to the outside of the device increases, resulting in a bad odor even if treated with activated carbon. The rate at which harmful gases are released to the outside of the device also increases. Further, even if the condensed water condensed by the cooling condensing means is treated with activated carbon, it may be difficult to dispose of it, or it may not be able to be discharged directly into the sewage system due to its high pollution load.

Furthermore, the space available in minilabs is extremely limited, and not only is the bad odor generated by processing photographic processing solutions a particular problem, but also the installation space for the waste solution processing equipment itself becomes a problem. Furthermore, the price and running cost of the equipment are also important issues, so there is a need for a compact, inexpensive processing equipment with low running costs that can process photographic processing waste without emitting foul-smelling and harmful gases. There is.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

In order to solve these problems, the applicant filed a patent application in 1983.
No. 2-69437, etc. were proposed, and it was possible to reduce the bad odor generated by the photographic waste liquid and to reliably supply the photographic processing waste liquid to be processed. For this purpose, the evaporator (separation evaporation column) I is equipped with a liquid level sensor that constantly detects the liquid level of the photographic processing waste liquid in the column, and only removes the liquid whose liquid level has decreased due to the evaporation concentration process. The supply was replenished.

However, if the liquid level height is detected and only the waste liquid corresponding to the decrease is supplied, and the temperature of the concentrated liquid or evaporated steam is not controlled, the concentrated liquid itself may be heated to a high temperature. This will result in the generation of foul-smelling gas.

In addition, if the waste liquid is evaporated and boiled down endlessly without producing such a bad odor, the moisture will be removed and only solid matter will remain.Although it would be most efficient in terms of volume, it would require a lot of energy and time. is necessary and undesirable. In addition, it may become difficult to collect by clumping inside the evaporation concentration column.

Therefore, it is better to stop the concentration and recover the concentration at an appropriate concentration. However, there is no way to accurately detect the concentration.

The present applicant has disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 60-259006 a method of determining the method based on the processing time, the steam temperature of the photographic processing waste liquid, the liquid level of the waste liquid, the amount of steam discharged from the visiting waste liquid, the weight of the waste liquid, Although it has been suggested that this can be achieved by any one or some combination of methods such as detecting the electrical conductivity of the waste liquid, the optical density of the waste liquid, and the viscosity of the waste liquid, it is still not perfect.

The present invention solves these problems by evaporating and concentrating the photographic processing waste liquid at the lowest possible heating temperature and replenishing the waste liquid in quantitative quantities to the concentration column, thereby efficiently concentrating the photographic processing waste liquid without emitting any bad odor. The purpose of the project is to provide an evaporative concentration device.

[Means to solve the problem]

The purpose of this is to provide a means for replenishing waste liquid to the evaporative concentration column and a means for replenishing the concentrated liquid in the column or piping circuit in an evaporative concentration device for photographic processing waste liquid in which the waste liquid is placed in the system and the waste liquid is evaporated and concentrated. An apparatus for evaporating and concentrating photographic processing waste liquid, comprising an ultrasonic transmitting means and an ultrasonic receiving means, and is configured to issue a command to stop concentration or a command to recover concentrate based on a signal from the nuclear receiving means. achieved by.

〔Example〕

The embodiment of the present invention is shown in the piping diagram in Fig. 1 and in Fig. 2 (a) and (b).
), (c), and (d), a top view of FIG. 2(e), and a flowchart of FIG. 3.

The apparatus for evaporating and concentrating photographic processing waste liquid of the present invention is a separation column apparatus 10. Waste liquid supply device 20. Heating device 30, cooling device 4
0 and a control device 50, the separation column device 10 is provided with a retention section 12 for the supplied waste liquid that communicates with the evaporation concentration column (V-3) 11 at the same liquid level. The tip of the communication pipe 12^ of the retention section is narrowed and bent upward as shown in FIG. 1, and is submerged in the liquid in the concentration column 11, so that suspended matter generated near the liquid surface of the column 11 is collected in the retention part. This is to prevent it from flowing back into the room. In addition, the retention section 12
may be located inside or outside the column 11. Then, the evaporation concentration column is connected to the sludge collection container (V-
4) The container is connected to the container 15 by a connecting pipe 14, and the container is placed on the mounting table 16 via a spring-like spring. The sludge, which is the concentrated waste liquid, falls one after another into the container, and when the sludge accumulates and reaches a predetermined weight, it becomes detectable by the microswitch (MS-1) 19. If liquid leaks in the vessel (16a) on the mounting table, the liquid level sensor (LC-5) detects it.
) 18 are provided. Furthermore, an evaporation concentration column (V-
3) A liquid level sensor (LC-1) 13 for detecting the level of waste liquid is provided in the retention section 12 in the 11.

The waste liquid supply device 20 includes a waste liquid tank 21, its liquid level health sensor (LC-3) 28, and the waste liquid tank (V-5).
21 indicates a heat-resistant vinyl chloride pipe C for outflow supply (hereinafter referred to as heat-resistant PVC pipe); 22. indicates a waste liquid supply pump (P-1); a pipe for supplying waste liquid to the retention section 12 via 23; and an evaporation concentration column. and heat-resistant PVC pipes 22, 26. through a waste liquid supply pump (P-2) 25.
27 is a pipe for supplying waste liquid.

Heating device 30 for the concentrated liquid in the concentration column (V-3) 11
The concentrated liquid enters a circulation pipe of a heater 31 equipped with a heater 32 through a heat-resistant PVC pipe 34 piped from the concentration column 11 and is heated, and then returns to the concentration column (V-3) 11 through the heat-resistant PVC pipe 27. It is meant to be returned and circulated. The temperature of the heated concentrated liquid is determined by a temperature sensor (C-C) installed in the circulation pipe of the heater 31.
1) Detected by 33. Further, the circulation of the concentrated liquid is performed by an air pump (P-4) 37. Of course, the temperature sensor may be provided in the evaporative concentration column.

Further, the concentrated waste liquid flows through the heat-resistant PVC pipe 27 as the circulation pipe, and the flow rate thereof varies depending on the concentration of the concentrated waste liquid. That is, the flow velocity can be determined by the ultrasonic flow velocity measuring means 70. That is, an ultrasonic oscillator 71 and an ultrasonic receiver 72 are installed along the flow direction, and the flow rate of the waste liquid is measured by taking advantage of the fact that the time difference between transmission and reception varies depending on the flow rate, and the concentration is determined by the correlation between the flow rate and the concentration. The purpose is to identify the

As a result, the energy efficiency is good, the concentrated liquid is easy to recover, the concentrated column (V-3) 11 and the heat-resistant PVC pipe 27 which is the liquid circulation pipe are not clogged, and the volume is reduced as much as possible. I tried to finish it to a concentration suitable for state-2.

In this embodiment, the oscillator 71 and the receiver 72 are oriented obliquely in the opposite direction to the flow direction, but they may be arranged obliquely in the same direction as the flow direction.

In this way, heat-resistant PVC pipe 2 as a circulation pipe
It becomes possible to measure the flow rate from outside of 7. M:,
A transparent type can also be used for transmission and reception.

Next, the cooling device 40 will be explained. Tap water is in an aquarium (
V-1) 41 and is supplied through a pipe 42 to a cooling tower (V-2) 46 via a valve (SV-1) 48 to be showered with cold water. A liquid level gauge (LC-2) 45 is provided at the bottom of the cooling water tower to detect a predetermined difference in height of the supplied water. Furthermore, a water supply level sensor (LC-4) 43 and a cooling tower liquid leak sensor (LC-8) 44 are provided, and water can be drained from the bottom of the cooling tower through a drainage pipe 48 by a discharge pump (P-3) 47. It's Nishide.

On the other hand, cooling fFr (V-2) 46+: (c) The superheated steam from the vapor concentration column (V-3) 11 passes through a heat-resistant PVC pipe and enters the lower part of the cooling tower (V-2) 46 so that it is condensed. be. The uncondensed vapor passes through the heat-resistant PVC pipe 36, enters the air pump (P-4) 37, passes through the heat-resistant PVC pipe 38, 27, and enters the evaporation concentration column 11 again.

The liquid level information from each liquid level sensor and the information from the temperature sensor are sent to the control panel (DO5) 51 of the control device 50, as shown by the dotted line in Fig. 1, and the operation control of the entire photographic processing waste liquid evaporation concentration apparatus is carried out. It will be done. The main parts of the control panel 51 are air-cooled by a 7-amplifier 52.

The configuration of the apparatus of the present invention has been described above, and now the operation of the apparatus will be explained using chart 70 in FIG.

Each step (hereinafter referred to as St) will be outlined below.

When the fan P-5 is turned on in the initialized state, air cooling of the main parts of the control panel 51 starts. Then, the weight sensor (MS-1 (W)) is checked at SL, 1, and Ye
s (hereinafter referred to as Y), the sludge collection container is full but the sludge has not been collected, so the buzzer sounds and the container count ready lamp lights up. Once it has been taken out, or if it has already been taken out, it is N06 (hereinafter referred to as N), the buzzer does not sound, the lamp does not light up, and the next St., 2nd St.
Move to.

Here, if the level sensor (LC-3) 28 in the waste liquid tank (V-5) 21 is N, the buzzer sounds and the waste liquid tank empty indicator lamp lights up. However, if the waste liquid tank is not empty, the status is Y, and the valve of the cooling device 40 (SV-
1) Open 48 and let water from water tank 41 into the cooling tower. Move to St, 3 and level sensor (LC-4)
If 43 is N, the buzzer sounds and the tap water lamp continues to light. When LC-4 becomes Y, the tap water lamp goes out, the air pump (P-4) 37 starts operating, and the process moves to St.4.

In St, 4, if level sensor (LC-2) 45 is working and N, drain pump (P-3) 47 is 0FFSY
If so, the pump (P-3) 47 is turned on. Then, move to St, 5, level sensor (LC-3) If 28 is Y, move to St, 6, if N, move to S L as described later.
, jump to the ending stage of 13.

Now, in St. 6, if the level sensor (LC-4) is N, the buzzer will sound and the tap water lamp will turn on, as described later, and the heater 32, valve (SV-1) 48, air pump (P-4) 37, waste liquid Supply pump (P-1) 23,
Turn off both air pump (P-2) 25 and air pump (P-4) 37. However, if (LC-4) is Y, proceed to St, 7. Therefore, a liquid leak detection sensor (LC-5) 18 is installed on the sludge collection container mounting table 1.
The presence or absence of liquid leakage around 6 is detected, and if it is N, St.
Proceed to step 8, liquid leakage detection sensor (LC-6) 47A detects liquid leakage around each pump base, and if N, proceed to st, g and check the level sensor (LC-6) of pipe 38.
7) If the level of 39 is detected and is N, proceed to SL, IO, where the cooling tower liquid leak sensor (LC-8) 4
If a liquid leak is detected by 4 and N, then S t, ll
Proceed to. S t,7 , S t,8 , S t,9 ,
If each of S t and lO is Y, the buzzer sounds, the abnormality lamp lights up, and the heater valve (5V-1) of each function mentioned above and each pump p-4, p-1, P-2,
Both P-3 are turned OFF.

A level sensor (LC
-1) If 13 is N, waste liquid supply pump (P-2) 2
If 5 is activated, turn the pump (P-2) 25 to O.
Switch to FF and turn on the heater 32 to ON L S t, 12.

At S t, 12, the temperature sensor (TC-1) was 65℃.
If it is below, change to St, 4. and St, 4-11
Repeat again. If TC-1 exceeds 65°C, turn on the supply pump (P-1) 23 and
The waste liquid is supplied to the retention section 12 by moving for a second. Mo and S
Move to t, 13.

At S t, 13 the temperature sensor (TC-1)
33, if the temperature exceeds 85°C, the amount of waste liquid to be supplied will decrease, and the concentration of the liquid in the column (V-3) 11 and the heat-resistant PVC pipe 27 as a circulation pipe will increase and the flow rate will decrease. Then, the evaporation concentration column 11 is also heated, and the heater 32 and supply pump (P-1
) Turn off 23. If the temperature does not reach 85° C., the temperature is returned to St. 4, and steps 4 to 13 are repeated thereafter.

Now, if the temperature reaches 85℃, it will proceed further and the supply pump (P-
2) Connect 25 to ONL, waste liquid supply tank (V-5) 21
After pumping up the waste liquid remaining at the bottom of the pump and operating it for an arbitrary set time between 0 and 180 seconds to dilute the concentrated liquid, the concentration decreases and the flow velocity inside the heat-resistant PVC big 27 as a circulation pipe increases and reaches the set value. , the supply pump (P-2) 2
Turn 5 off and move on to S t, 14.

In this example, when the temperature of the concentrated liquid exceeds 65°C when a drop in the liquid level in the evaporative concentration column (V-3) 11 is detected, the treated waste liquid is supplied to the retention section. When the concentration exceeds the limit, it is determined that the evaporation concentration operation has ended, and the waste liquid and/or water is supplied into the heating circulation piping circuit for the concentrated liquid to dilute the concentrated liquid in the piping, and the flow rate in the heat-resistant PVC pipe 27 as a circulation pipe is increased. Pipe 27 and concentration column (V-3) 1
The evaporative concentrator is controlled by making the concentration in 1 reach the set value, or by continuing to prevent the concentrate from clumping in the piping circuit until the concentrate temperature drops to 40°C. ing.

However, the set temperature and the associated flow rate or concentration in the heat-resistant PVC pipe as a circulation pipe are not limited to these, and the maximum temperature can be set up to 95 degrees Celsius without generating a bad odor. . If the temperature exceeds this level, a bad odor will start to appear, albeit slightly.

If it is 95°C or lower, it can be said to be a range that can be sufficiently overcome in practical terms.

The flow rate, that is, the concentration associated with the flow rate may be set so as to obtain a concentration of waste liquid that is easy to recover and takes energy efficiency into consideration.

In S t, 14, depending on the setting values H and L of the level sensor (LC-2), if N, the drain pump (P-3)
47 is turned off, and in the case of Y, the pump is turned on to drain water.

Then proceed to S t, 15, temperature sensor (TC-1)
If 33 is above 40°C, the circulation will be controlled until it becomes below 40°C.

Temperature sensor (TC-1) at St. 15
When the detected temperature of 33 is detected to be below 40'C, the valve (SV-1) 48, air pump (P-4)
37. Turn off the drain pump (P-3) 47, turn on the waste liquid supply pump (P-2) 25, and set the timer to 0.
After operating for an arbitrary predetermined time period of ~240 seconds, the concentrated waste liquid in the pipes 27, 34 and 38 is diluted and the phenomenon of clogging in the pipes can be eliminated.
The pump (P-2) 25 is turned off. and,
At the same time, the air cooling fan (P-5) 52 of the control panel 51 is also turned off.
F, sound the end buzzer, and remove the sludge collection container (V-
4) Turn on the 15 removable lamps to complete the series of processes.

In addition, as the temperature detection means, a thermocouple, a thermal expansion type (gas, liquid) sensor, an optical sensor, etc. are used, and it is most preferable that the temperature of the concentrated liquid or steam is directly detected by the temperature detection means. However, the container in which the concentrated liquid or vapor is present,
It is also effective to detect the wall temperature of pipes, etc., and the present invention makes this possible.

Further, in the present invention, it is preferable to blow air into the heating circulation system and/or the evaporative concentration column of the concentrated liquid, and the approximate air flow rate is preferably in the range of 0.5 to 10012/kcaQ. The set temperature of the present invention varies depending on the air flow rate, but is generally set in the range of 50 to 95°C.

In the above embodiment, the correlation between the concentration of the waste liquid in the circulation pipe and the flow rate was performed using the ultrasonic flow rate measuring means 70. However, in other embodiments, the concentration of the waste liquid in the concentration column may be determined by the ultrasonic transmittance or reflection of the concentrate in the concentration column. Since it is known that there is a correlation with a change in the rate, it is possible to set the transmittance or reflectance to a predetermined value based on this correlation and control it so as to obtain a preferable final waste liquid concentration. Therefore, this means is also included in the present invention.

Another embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the sectional view of FIG.

A photographic processing waste liquid is injected and stored in a reduced pressure evaporation concentration column (hereinafter simply referred to as column) 101 that can withstand reduced pressure.
I connected it to reduce the pressure. It is known that boiling occurs below the boiling point of the substance under reduced pressure lower than atmospheric pressure, and in the present invention, boiling is carried out under reduced pressure. Next, in the column 101, heating means 1 arranged three-dimensionally are provided.
02, the heating means 102 has its lower part immersed in the storage part 104 of the photographic processing waste liquid to heat the photographic processing waste liquid, and its upper part protrudes from the storage part 104 of the photographic processing waste liquid and is immersed in the storage part 104 of the photographic processing waste liquid. In this part, the photographic processing waste liquid is transferred from the storage part to the liquid supply means 1 by the suction pump 106.
03, as if spraying, and in addition to heating evaporation under reduced pressure, heating evaporation during the spraying and dropping process was repeated,
It performs efficient and rapid concentration.

By providing a cooling means 108A, a condensed water guide, and a water receiver 108C in the upper part of the column 101, the evaporated water contributes to compactness and stabilization of the reduced pressure inside the column.

On the other hand, the components solidified to a high concentration by repeating the evaporation concentration described above are stored in a container 111 connected to the lower part of this column 101.
The receiver will be picked up and collected. In this invention, the heating means 102
The reason for the three-dimensional arrangement of the parts in the liquid and in the air is that the part in the liquid is mainly used for preheating the photographic processing waste liquid, and the part in the air has the effect of increasing the contact area with the photographic processing waste liquid that is sprayed onto it. It is effective in uniformly and efficiently performing low-temperature evaporation without generation. Further, a cooling means 108 was provided at the upper part of this column 101 to capture water vapor rising from the lower part, cool and condense it, and recover it as water droplets. This column 10 is
This has the effect of reducing the burden on the pressure reduction device 107 (an ejector is used in this embodiment) to maintain a specified pressure reduction state due to the imbalance of pressure reduction in the pressure reduction device 107. That is, when the pressure within the column 101 increases due to generated steam, it is immediately cooled and condensed to suppress the pressure increase.

In this configuration, if the temperature of the submerged portion of the heating means 102 is set to the optimum temperature for the reduced pressure evaporation, this heating means 102
The parts in the air are kept at the same temperature, and due to the difference in the electric heating effect, the actual surface temperature of the parts in the air is higher, and when photographic processing waste comes in contact with it, it suddenly heats up and generates unpleasant gases. Therefore, the amount of photographic processing waste liquid to be sprayed may be adjusted to keep the above-mentioned part of the heating means in the air below the gas generation temperature, or the heating means may be heated separately inside and outside the liquid to maintain the appropriate temperature. may be controlled.

Further, the heating means 102 and the cooling means 108A may be any known technology, but in this example, a heat pump was used. The water vapor comes into contact with the surface of this cooling means, condenses, becomes water droplets, passes through this cooling means 108A, and is collected in a water recovery container 109. The surface temperature of the heating means is preferably below 10,000, particularly between 20°C and 6°C.
0°C is most preferred.

The heat radiation section of a heat pump is used as the heating means 102, and the heat absorption section of a heat pump is used as the cooling means 108A and the cooling means 108B provided in the water recovery container 109.

A charge pipe 1258 that charges the condenser of the heat pump that constitutes the heating means 102, a capillary tube 126 that serves as an expansion valve that is piped after the heating means 102, and a refrigerant pipe that is installed on the outside of the cooling means 108A. The compressor 121 and the air-cooled condenser 1.22 for air-cooling and condensing its refrigerant, as well as its fan 124 and fan motor 123, are placed outside the column 101.

Also, water passes through the condenser of the heating means 102 from the capillary tube 126 to the cooling means 108 in the water recovery container 109.
Further, its extension is connected to the refrigerant evaporator of the upper vapor condensing section 105 in the column 101 as a cooling means 108A, and is returned to the compressor 121 outside the column 101.

The cold water in the water recovery container 109 is pumped through a water circulation pump (P
-2) Decompression device R (ejector) 10 by 133
7 and is connected to the vapor condensing section 105 at the top of the column 101.
The water drawn through the pipe 134 from the condensate recovery port 1osc of the column 101 is introduced into the water recovery container 109.
Make sure to reduce the pressure inside.

Further, water overflowing from the water recovery container 109 is sent to a water tank 135 through a pipe 136. This is then drained into the sewer.

Then, the treated waste liquid into the column 101 is sent from the container 131 by the pump CP-1) 106 at appropriate times. The pump 1
06 is also used as a concentrate circulation pump within the column 101.

In the second manner, most of the evaporated vapor is liquefied by a fairly simple heat pump, and only a small amount is exhausted from the exhaust port 136, so that odor is completely prevented.

The concentration of the concentrated liquid in the column 101 is v
Setting while detecting the flow velocity in the circulation pipe by the ultrasonic transmitting/receiving means 71 and 72 as in the embodiment of gl @+,:
You can decide as soon as you enter, and that decision J
Based on this, the concentration can be stopped and the concentrate can be recovered.

In addition, another type of ultrasonic transmitter 73 and an ultrasonic receiver 74 are installed outside the column 101, and the behavior of the waste liquid concentration in the column is observed, and the concentration is detected by the phase change of the received wave with respect to the oscillated wave. can do.

It is preferable that the transmission be performed using a pulse wave because noise can be prevented.

In this embodiment, the ultrasonic transmitter 73 or the ultrasonic receiver 74
Although the transmitter 738 and the receiver 74 are attached to the outer surface of the column 101 by adhesive, it is of course possible to put the transmitter 738 and receiver 74 as a set directly into the waste liquid. However, from the standpoint of maintenance and durability, the former is more desirable.

Further, the oscillation and reception frequency of the ultrasonic waves used in these examples was 512KH2. However, it is not limited to this.

〔Effect of the invention〕

Photograph of the present invention, which controls the temperature of the concentrated waste liquid in the evaporative concentration column to a set temperature that does not generate bad odors, and further condenses it to a concentration that is economical in energy costs and easy to recover, reducing the volume as much as possible. Processing waste liquid can now be concentrated using a compact evaporation concentration device, making it possible to dispose of photographic processing waste liquid, which has been a problem in the past, stably, reliably and efficiently, and to eliminate pollution problems in both large and mini-labs. It can now be handled easily and safely without causing any problems or requiring any skill.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a piping diagram of one embodiment of the present invention. FIGS. 2(a), (b), (c), and (d) are side sectional views of one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2(e) is an embodiment of the present invention.
The top view of an example. No. 31!7 is a 70-chart of one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a sectional view of another embodiment of the invention. l... Evaporative concentration device 10... Separation column device 11... Evaporative concentration column 12... Retention section 13.
... Level sensor (LC-1) 14 ... Connection pipe 15 ... Sludge collection container 16 ... Mounting table 20 ... Waste liquid supply device 21 ... Waste liquid tank (V-5) 23.25. ...Waste liquid supply pump 3
0... Heating device 31... Heater 33...
・Temperature sensor (TC-1) 37...Air pump (P-4) 40...Cooling device 50...Control device 70...Ultrasonic flow rate measuring means

Claims (1)

[Claims] In an evaporative concentrator for photographic processing waste liquid that puts photographic processing waste liquid into the system and evaporates and concentrates the waste liquid, there is a means for replenishing the waste liquid to the evaporative concentration column, and a means for supplying the waste liquid to the column or the piping circuit. 1. An evaporative concentration device for photographic processing waste liquid, comprising a sonic wave transmitting means and an ultrasonic receiving means, and is configured to issue a concentration stop command or a concentrate recovery command based on a signal from the receiving means.