JPH03288587A - Apparatus for vacuum evaporative concentration of waste photographic processing solution - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the generation of a malodor and to make the title apparatus compact by dividing the cooling means of a heat pump to use at least one of the divided ones as the cooling means of the steam generated from an evaporative concn. column. CONSTITUTION:A waste photographic processing solution is injected and stored in a vacuum evaporative concn. column 1 and a pressure reducing means 7 is connected to the upper steam condensing part of the column 1 to reduce the pressure in the column 1. The heating means 2 three-dimensionally arranged in the column 1 is immersed in the waste photographic processing solution storage part 4 of the column 1 to heat the waste photographic processing solution. The waste photographic processing solution is sprinkled over the upper part protruding into the open air of the heating means 2 to be efficiently and rapidly conc. Further, a cooling means 8 is provided to the upper part in the column 1 and traps the steam rising from the lower part to cool and condense the steam to recover the same as waterdrops. The radiation part of a heat pump is used in the heating part 2 and the endothermic part of the heat pump is used in a cooling means 8A and the cooling means 8B in a water recovery container 9.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a vacuum evaporation concentration processing apparatus for photographic processing waste liquid, and in particular, it relates to a vacuum evaporation and concentration processing apparatus for photographic processing waste liquid. The present invention relates to a vacuum evaporation and concentration processing apparatus for photographic processing waste liquid suitable for processing in or near an automatic processing machine without having to be collected by a vendor.

[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.
It is carried out by combining processes using a treatment liquid having one or more functions such as , water washing, and stabilization.

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 amount of replenishment fluid, including washing water, which is used as a replenishment fluid for washing, has been drastically reduced due to pollution and economic reasons.However, photographic processing waste fluid is removed from the processing tank of automatic processors. The liquid was led through a waste pipe, diluted with waste liquid from washing water, cooling water from automatic processing machines, 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 purpose, each type of photographic processing waste liquid is collected by a specialized waste liquid treatment company for a collection fee, or by installing 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, is extremely expensive, and the initial investment (initial cost) for pollution treatment equipment is high. It has the disadvantage of being extremely large and requiring a fairly large area to maintain.

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. 4958833, No. 53-63763, Japanese Patent Publication No. 57-37395, etc.), but these are still insufficient.

On the other hand, due to constraints from water quality sources, rising water supply and drainage costs, the simplicity of automatic processor equipment, and the work environment around automatic processors, the use of stabilizing treatments instead of washing with water has recently begun to be applied to automatic processors. Photographic processing using automatic developing machines (so-called waterless automatic developing machines) that do not require external 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 way, virtually no washing water or cooling water is used.
Compared to the case where there is photographic processing waste liquid from an automatic processor, 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.

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 in the process (processing without water washing) is small, for example, even in a relatively small-scale color processing laboratory, the amount is about 1OQ per day.

Therefore, in general, waste liquid is collected by a waste liquid collection company and rendered harmless through secondary and tertiary processing, or the price of waste liquid collection is increasing year by year due to rising collection costs. This has resulted in 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. 41 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, this method produces water vapor due to the large amount of water 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 the evaporation when evaporating photographic processing waste liquid, and further treated the condensed water generated by the condensation and also processed the non-condensable components. We have previously proposed a method and apparatus for treating photographic processing waste liquid, which 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. Furthermore, even if the condensed water condensed by the cooling condensing means is treated with activated carbon, it may have to be disposed of, or the pollution load may be so high that it may not be possible to directly discharge it to a sewage system or the like.

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 device are also important issues, so there is a need for a compact, inexpensive processing device that can process photographic processing waste liquid without emitting foul-smelling and harmful gases and has low running costs.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

In order to solve these problems, the applicant filed a patent application in 1983.
No. 1-300510 and the like were proposed to reduce the bad odor generated by photographic waste liquid and to relatively reliably concentrate the waste liquid so that it could be easily disposed of. In order to evaporate at a relatively low temperature, a vacuum method is used to lower the gas pressure inside the concentrating column, but the temperature of the exhaust steam is still relatively high. Therefore, there remains a risk that malodorous components may also be mixed into the exhaust steam. Therefore, if the exhaust steam is cooled, it will be condensed and the amount of foul-smelling gas will be reduced along with the exhaust steam, making the countermeasures against foul odors even more complete. However, if the heating device and the cooling device are arranged at the required locations, the device becomes large and the equipment cost tends to increase.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve these problems and provide a low-cost, compact, and efficient vacuum evaporation concentrator for photographic processing waste liquid that does not generate bad odors.

[Means to solve the problem]

This purpose is to provide an evaporative concentration column in which photographic processing waste liquid is placed and heated to evaporate it, a vapor condensing section that communicates with the column and cools the vapor from the column, and a heat pump having the heating and cooling means. , a reduced pressure evaporation concentrator having a pressure reducing means in the evaporative concentration column and a vapor condensing section communicating therewith, wherein the cooling means of the heat pump is divided into two or more places, and at least one place is provided with a pressure reducing means in the vapor condensing section communicating with the evaporative concentration column. This is achieved by a vacuum evaporation and concentration apparatus for photographic processing waste liquid, which is characterized by using a means for cooling the vapor.

〔Example〕

One embodiment of the present invention will be described using the sectional view of FIG.

A photographic processing waste liquid was injected and stored in a reduced pressure evaporation concentration column (hereinafter simply referred to as column) (1) which can withstand reduced pressure, and a pressure reducing means 7 was connected to the upper vapor condensing section 5 of the column (1) to reduce the pressure. It is known that boiling occurs below the boiling point of the substance under reduced pressure lower than atmospheric pressure, so in the present invention, evaporation is performed at a low temperature where gas generation is unlikely to occur under this reduced pressure. Next, a heating means 2 arranged three-dimensionally is provided in the column 1, and the lower part of the heating means 2 is immersed in the storage section 4 of the photographic processing waste liquid, and the heating means 2 is heated so as to heat the photographic processing waste liquid. The upper part thereof protrudes from the storage part of the photographic processing waste liquid and is in the air, and the photographic processing waste liquid is sprayed onto this part from the storage part using the liquid supply means 3 using the suction pump 6, and thereby, In addition to heating evaporation under reduced pressure, heating evaporation during the spraying and dropping process is repeated to achieve efficient and rapid concentration.

By providing a cooling means 8A, a condensed water guide section, and a water receiver 8c in the upper part of the column 1, the water evaporated here 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 above evaporation concentration are collected in a container 12 connected to the lower part of this column 1. In this invention, the reason why the heating means 2 is arranged three-dimensionally in the liquid and in the air is that the submerged part is mainly used to preheat the photographic processing waste liquid, and the aerial part increases the contact area with the photographic processing waste liquid that is sprayed onto it. It has the effect of uniformly and efficiently performing low-temperature evaporation without gas generation. Further, a cooling means 8 was provided at the upper part of this column 1 to capture the water vapor rising from the lower part, cool it, condense it, and recover it as water droplets.

This has the effect of reducing the pressure reduction balance in this column 1 caused by the generated steam and reducing the heavy load placed on the pressure reduction device 7 (in this example, an ejector is used) to maintain a specified reduced pressure state. .

That is, when the pressure within the column 1 increases due to generated steam, it is immediately cooled and condensed to suppress the pressure increase.

In this configuration, if the part of the heating means 2 in the liquid is set to the optimal temperature for the reduced pressure evaporation, the part of the heating means 2 that is in the air is also managed at the same temperature, and due to the difference in the electrothermal effect, the part in the air is The actual surface temperature of the part in the air will be high, and if the photographic processing waste comes into contact with this, it will heat up rapidly and unpleasant gas will be generated. The temperature of the heating means may be kept below the gas generation temperature, or the heating means may be separately controlled within the liquid and outside the liquid to maintain appropriate temperatures.

Further, the heating means 2 and the cooling means 8A may be any known technology, but in the present invention, a heat pump is used. Water vapor then comes into contact with the surface of this cooling means and condenses.
The water becomes droplets and is collected in the water collection container 9 through the cooling means 8A. The surface temperature of the heating means is preferably 10
The temperature is most preferably 0°C or less, particularly 20°C to 60°C.

A heat radiating part of a heat pump is used as the heating means 2, and the cooling means 8B is provided in the cooling means 8A and the water recovery container 9.
This uses the heat absorption part of a heat pump.

A charge pipe 25 that charges the condenser of the heat pump that constitutes the heating means 2, a capillary tube 26 that serves as an expansion valve that is piped after the heating means 2, and a refrigerant pipe that is installed on the outside of the cooling means 8A. a compressor 21, an air-cooled condenser 22 that air-cools and condenses the refrigerant, and its 7-amp 24 and 7-amp motor 2.
3 is placed outside column 1.

Further, the capillary tube 26 passes through the condenser of the heating means 2 and is connected to the cooling means 8B in the water recovery container 9, and further extends from the capillary tube 26 to the cooling means 3. A is connected to the refrigerant evaporator of the upper vapor condensing section 5 in the column 1, and is returned to the compressor 21 outside the column 1.

The cold water in the water recovery container 9 is pumped through a water circulation pump (P-2).
) 33 to the pressure reducing device (ejector) 7, and the condensate recovery port 8C of the vapor condensing section 5 at the top of the column l.
The water drawn through the pipe 34 is put into the water recovery container 9, and at the same time, the pressure inside the column 1 is reduced.

Further, water overflowing from the water recovery container 9 is sent to a water tank 35 through a pipe 36. This is then drained into the sewer.

The treated waste liquid into the column 1 is sent from the container 31 by the pump (P-1) 6 at appropriate times. The pump 6 is connected to column l.
It is also used as a concentrated liquid circulation pump within the tank.

In this way, with a fairly simple heat pump, most of the evaporated vapor is liquefied and only a small amount is exhausted through the exhaust port 36, so that odors are completely prevented.

Next, a second embodiment as shown in FIG. 2 will be explained.

Cooling means 8A for the vapor condensing section 5 in the upper part of the evaporative concentration column 1
Exhaust nozzle 36A at the outlet 8F of the bottom of the evaporator as
is connected to an air pump (P-3) 37, and the evaporated steam is exhausted by the pump 37. After applying the cooling means 8D to the exhaust pipe 36A, the cooling means 8A
It is designed to connect to. Further, as a third embodiment, the cooling means 8D is connected to an exhaust pipe 36A as shown in FIG.
It may be applied inside. This serves as both a pressure reducing means and a steam exhaust means, and the exhaust steam is further condensed to reduce the amount of exhaust steam.

This completely prevents the emission of odors.

〔Effect of the invention〕

With the present invention configured in this way, the amount of water recovered as condensed water increases, and the amount of evaporated steam that is discharged as gas decreases, so that odor generation is further prevented. became. Furthermore, by effectively using a heat pump, it has become possible to create a simple, reliable and compact vacuum evaporation concentrator for photographic processing waste liquid.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a partial sectional view of a second embodiment of the invention. FIG. 3 is a partial sectional view of a third embodiment of the invention. ■...Evaporation concentration column 2...Heating means 3...Liquid feeding means 4...Liquid storage section 5...Part for cooling and condensing water 6...Suction pump (P-1) 7 ... Pressure reduction device (ejector) 8 A, 8 B, 8 D ... Cooling means 9 ... Water recovery container 12 ... Recovery container 21 ... Compressor 25 ... Charger 26 ... Capillary tube 33...Circulation pump (P-2) 36A...Exhaust pipe 37...Exhaust pump (P-2)
-3) Figure 1 525

Claims (1)

[Claims] an evaporative concentration column into which photographic processing waste liquid is placed and heated to evaporate it; a vapor condensing section that communicates with the column and cools vapor from the column; a heat pump having the heating and cooling means; A reduced pressure evaporation concentrator having a pressure reducing means in a column and a vapor condensing section communicating therewith, wherein the cooling means of the heat pump is divided into two or more parts, and at least one part is a cooling means for vapor generated from the evaporation condensation column. A vacuum evaporation concentrator for photographic processing waste liquid, characterized in that: