JPH0411785B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] <Industrial Application Field> The present invention relates to a processing apparatus for heating, concentrating, dehydrating, drying, sterilizing, incinerating, reacting, etc. a material to be processed by microwave processing, and particularly While preventing leakage of microwaves at positions that partition the microwave irradiation area, that is, at positions forming the boundaries of the microwave irradiation area where microwave irradiation is performed,
The present invention relates to a processing apparatus for drying, etc., in which a microwave shielding part is formed to enable the movement of objects to be processed.

<Conventional technology> In recent years, microwaves have been used to perform treatments such as heating, concentration, dehydration, drying, sterilization, incineration, and reactions in the fields of waste treatment, chemical industry, pharmaceutical manufacturing industry, food industry, etc. It is becoming more and more common to do this. When performing the above-mentioned processing, depending on the object to be processed, it is desirable to perform microwave processing in several stages and to control individual conditions such as temperature in each stage.

There is a technique described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 73262/1983 that attempts to achieve such an objective. This has tunnel-type microwave drying units 42, 43, 44, and 45 arranged in series, and each microwave drying unit is equipped with a belt conveyor 48, 49, 50, and 51 for transfer. , 50, 51 are connected by transfer units 54, 55, 56, 58, 59, 60. These tunnel type microwave drying units 42, 43, 44, 45
In this method, microwaves from one microwave generating unit 18 are irradiated onto the timber placed on the belt conveyor which is arranged to penetrate through the inside of the cylindrical tunnel housing. It is equipped with a detection unit 22 and a microwave control unit 24, so that the microwave irradiation can be controlled for each microwave drying unit. Therefore, transfer units 54, 55, 56, 58, 5
The wood sequentially transported to each microwave drying unit at steps 9 and 60 is irradiated with appropriate microwaves at each stage.

<Problems to be Solved by the Invention> However, the entrance/exit of the tunnel housing 11 of each microwave drying unit is open, and no microwave shielding part that can prevent microwave leakage is formed. . In order to prevent microwaves leaking from each microwave drying unit from affecting adjacent microwave drying units, the cylindrical tunnel housings 11 are arranged in parallel with each other, and a transfer unit is used to connect each microwave drying unit to each other. I try to keep an interval between them.

As with the above-mentioned device, when drying or other processing is carried out while conveying the workpiece by a conveyor such as a belt conveyor or pipe transport device, the microwave irradiation area is divided into multiple areas, and each area has its own separate area. When introducing microwaves and trying to control microwaves in that area, simply connecting multiple microwave processing machines such as microwave dryers in series will create a gap between the devices. Another means for transporting the object to be processed is required, and the entire apparatus becomes large and cannot be made compact.

On the other hand, if a plurality of microwave generating means are provided in the same microwave irradiation chamber, the microwaves from adjacent microwave generating means will interfere with each other, making it impossible to achieve the initial objective. In this case, it would be sufficient to provide a microwave shielding wall (reflection wall), but the conveying means would be an obstacle, and the microwave shielding wall could not be provided across the conveying means.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and the leakage of microwaves occurs at positions that partition the microwave irradiation area, that is, at positions that form the boundaries of the microwave irradiation area where microwave irradiation is performed. The aim is to form a microwave shielding part that allows the movement of the processed material while preventing the damage caused by the microwave. This was done by focusing on the fact that the object itself is always in a predetermined position.

<Means for Solving the Problems> In other words, the present invention provides a processing apparatus for passing a workpiece through a cylindrical body and subjecting the workpiece to microwave treatment, in which the microwave irradiation region inside the cylinder is divided into a plurality of regions. A screw blade using a microwave reflecting material is rotatably provided at a position where the screw blade is rotatably aligned with the direction of the axis of the cylindrical body, thereby forming a microwave shielding part. This is a processing device for drying, etc.

The cylindrical body is made of a microwave reflective material,
The cylindrical body may have microwaves guided into it by a microwave generating means, or may be made of a microwave-transmitting material and placed in a microwave irradiation chamber.

The positions where the microwave irradiation area in the cylinder is divided into a plurality of sections form the boundaries between the microwave irradiation areas where microwave irradiation is performed, corresponding to the number (plurality) of microwave generation means in the cylinder. This is the position where That is, in a processing apparatus in which the cylindrical body is formed of a microwave reflecting material and a plurality of microwave generating means are provided in a direction along the axis of the cylindrical body, for example, two microwave generating means in the cylindrical body are A screw blade using the microwave reflecting material is placed at an appropriate position in the cylinder between the connecting parts (between the microwave introduction parts) so that the screw blade is rotatable and its central axis substantially coincides with the direction of the axis of the cylinder. Just set it up. In a processing device in which the cylindrical body is formed of a microwave-transmitting material and is provided in a microwave irradiation chamber, the cylindrical body may be placed at a position within the cylindrical body corresponding to a microwave reflecting wall that divides the microwave irradiation chamber into a plurality of parts. A screw blade using a microwave reflecting material may be rotatably provided so that its center axis substantially coincides with the direction of the axis of the cylindrical body.

The space inside the cylindrical body other than the one in which the microwave shielding part is formed by the screw blade using the microwave reflecting material becomes a divided microwave irradiation area, and the object to be processed is transferred to this space if necessary. Screw blades made of a microwave transparent material may also be provided. In this case, it is preferable to provide it integrally with the screw blade using the microwave reflecting material, with its axis aligned with that of the screw blade.

Further, the screw blade using the microwave reflecting material described above may be entirely composed of the microwave reflecting material, or the microwave reflecting material may be pasted on the surface of the wing portion formed of the microwave transparent material. It may be configured by

<Function> In the processing apparatus for drying, etc. having the above configuration, microwaves are irradiated to the object to be processed, such as particles, slurry, viscous material, liquid, etc. passing through the cylindrical body, and the object is heated,
Processes such as concentration, dehydration, drying, sterilization, incineration, and reaction are performed. A microwave shielding section is formed by a screw blade using a microwave reflecting material provided inside the cylinder at a position that divides the microwave irradiation area, and the microwave is blocked. As the blades rotate, they pass through with less resistance and are processed sequentially.

<Example> An example of the present invention will be described below based on FIG. 1.

In FIG. 1, the reference numeral 10 is a vertical cylindrical body whose upper opening is closed by an upper lid 11 and a cone portion 12 is formed at the lower part. This cylindrical body 10 is made of metal, and its upper lid 11 is provided with an input port 13 through which materials to be treated such as water-containing substances containing harmful substances are introduced into the cylindrical body 10. A gas discharge port 15 is provided at the upper part of the side wall 14, and the lower part of the cone portion 12 serves as a discharge port 16 for the material to be treated, and a discharge valve 17 is attached to this discharge port 16. The input port 13 is connected to the other end of a screw feeder 19, which is provided with a hopper 18 for receiving the material to be processed, and the gas discharge port 15 is connected to a condenser 20. In addition, the above-mentioned input port 13, discharge port 16, gas discharge port 1
5 is formed to have a size that is cut-off for microwaves from a microwave generating means to be described later.

Further, one ends of metal microwave waveguides 21a and 21b are provided at predetermined upper and lower positions of the side wall 14 of the cylindrical body 10, respectively.
The pipe line is connected to the through hole formed in the side wall 14, and a temperature controller 22 is connected to the other end of each microwave waveguide 21a, 21b.
Microwave oscillator 23 with attached a and 22b
a and 23b are provided, respectively. Further, in the through holes of the side wall 14 to which the microwave waveguides 21a and 21b are connected, partition plates 24a and 2 made of a dielectric material such as ceramic, glass, or Teflon are provided.
4b are respectively provided to close the through holes. Then, the microwave oscillator 23a, 2
3b, a microwave generating means 2 in which microwave waveguides 21a, 21b, etc. each guide microwaves into the cylindrical body 10 to form a microwave irradiation area;
5a and 25b.

On the other hand, a metal rotating shaft 26 is disposed at the center of the cylindrical body 10 so that its axis coincides with the axis of the cylindrical body 10 . The rotating shaft 26 has an upper end passing through the upper lid 11 and a lower end extending to the support member 27 at the upper part of the cone part 12, and has a bearing 28.
It is rotatably supported by the upper lid 11 and the support member 27 by a and 28b, and a drive device 29 such as a drive motor is connected to the upper end thereof. Also,
This rotary shaft 26 is provided with screw blades 30 along the length of the rotary shaft 26 for transporting the object to be processed. The screw blade 30 has upper and lower parts fixed to shaft parts 31a and 31b made of a microwave transparent material fitted to the rotating shaft 26, and inner edges fixed to the outer peripheral surfaces of the shaft parts 31a and 31b, A wing portion 32a made of a microwave transparent material whose outer edge is located close to the inner circumferential surface of the side wall 14 of the cylindrical body 10 and is inclined so that the outer edge side is lower than the inner edge side;
32b, and its intermediate portion has an inner edge directly fixed to the rotating shaft 26, and the wing portion 32
The wing portions 32a, 32b have the same shape as the wing portions 32a, 32b.
It consists of a metal wing part 33 formed continuously in b, and the upper part and the lower part are microwave transmitting parts 34.
The intermediate portion serves as a microwave shielding portion 35.

The microwave shielding part 35 is located between the connecting parts of the microwave waveguides 21a and 21b to the cylindrical body 10, that is, between the microwave introduction parts, and the microwave shielding part 35 allows the cylindrical body to 10 is divided into an upper microwave irradiation area _A1 and a lower microwave irradiation area _A2 .

The microwave transmitting material is generally referred to as a dielectric material, has a small dielectric loss, and transmits microwaves, and includes Teflon, glass, ceramics, polypropylene, polyethylene, quartz, alumina, and the like. On the other hand, the microwave shielding section 35
The metal that is the material of the wing portion 33 that constitutes the is a microwave reflecting material that reflects microwaves.

Therefore, in the above processing apparatus, when drying a material to be processed such as a water-containing material containing harmful substances such as sludge, first, the drive device 29 is activated to rotate the rotating shaft 26 and the screw blade 30 is rotated. Rotate. Next, each microwave oscillation device 23a, 23
b is operated to oscillate microwaves, and these microwaves are transmitted to the microwave waveguides 21a and 21a.
Partition plates 24a, 24 made of dielectric material from 1b
b is passed through and guided into the cylindrical body 10. In this state, the screw feeder 19 is operated to continuously feed the material stored in the hopper 18 into the cylindrical body 10 from the input port 13, or the discharge valve 17 is activated at a predetermined timing. Open.

Then, the object to be processed falls onto the spiral surface of the upper surface of the screw blade 30, rotates while contacting the inner circumferential surface of the cylindrical body 10 due to the inclination and gravity, and is gradually transferred downward. Inside this cylindrical body 10, a microwave shielding section 35 formed of a metal wing section 33 is provided.
Upper and lower microwave irradiation areas A ₁ divided by ,
A ₂ exists, but this microwave irradiation area A ₁ ,
The temperature of the object to be processed at _A2 is optimally controlled by each temperature controller 22a, 22b. Therefore, while the object to be processed passes through each of the microwave irradiation areas A ₁ and A ₂ formed in the cylindrical body 10, the microwave is sequentially absorbed and the object is gradually and efficiently dried and heated.

That is, the material to be treated contains a large amount of water when it falls onto the screw blade 30 from the input port 13, but is transferred downward by the screw blade 30 and first reaches the upper microwave irradiation area _A1 . absorbs the microwaves and is heated to dry,
Next, it is sent to the microwave irradiation area _A2 below, absorbs the microwave, and is further dried and heated. Then, the dried material has a predetermined moisture content and is discharged from the discharge port 16. In addition, the water vapor generated by drying and heating the material to be treated is led to the condenser 20 from the gas outlet 15 together with the decomposed gas, and is cooled.
It is condensed and separated.

Here, in the above-mentioned processing apparatus, the processed material that has fallen onto the screw blade 30 is transferred downward without being relatively stirred, so that the dried processed material is not scattered as dust. few.

Further, two microwave generating means 25a, 25b are attached to the cylindrical body 10, and two microwave irradiation areas _A1 , A are provided in the cylindrical body 10 corresponding to these two microwave generating means 25a, 25b. ₂ is formed and these microwave irradiated areas
Since the temperatures of the objects to be processed in A ₁ and A ₂ are controlled by temperature controllers 22a and 22b, respectively, even if the physical properties of the objects to be processed change during the drying and heating process, they can easily be maintained at the optimum temperature for the physical properties. Dry heating is possible, increasing heating efficiency. Furthermore, since the screw blade 30 has a vertical shape,
The free surface area of the workpiece is much larger than in the case of horizontal screw blades.

Furthermore, in the processing apparatus described above, by changing the rotational speed of the screw blade 30, the residence time of the object to be processed within the cylindrical body 10 can be freely adjusted. Furthermore, each of the wing parts 32a, 32b, and 33 of the screw blade 30 is inclined so that its outer edge is lower than its inner edge, so a horizontal screw blade that is not inclined must have a large pitch to prevent it from falling. The objects to be processed can also be dropped in small pitches, and the device can be downsized. It is also easy to maintain the airtightness of the device.

By the way, in the above embodiment, the cylindrical body 10
Two microwave generating means 25a and 25b are attached to the cylindrical body 10 to create two microwave irradiation areas.
Although A ₁ and A ₂ are formed, it is advantageous to attach more microwave generating means to the cylindrical body 10, since it is possible to control the temperature of the object to be treated in smaller increments.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 2, a vertical cylindrical body made of a microwave transparent material such as ceramics, glass, or Teflon is placed inside a microwave irradiation chamber 37 having a plurality of metal oven chambers 36a and 36b. A microwave waveguide 21 is provided in each oven chamber 36a, 36b of this microwave irradiation chamber 37.
Microwave oscillator 23a, via a, 21b
23b may also be added.

In this case, the microwave waveguides 21a, 21b,
Microwave oscillation devices 23a, 23b, etc. constitute microwave generation means 25a, 25b, and the microwaves oscillated by each microwave oscillation device 23a, 23b are guided to each oven chamber 36a, 36b,
The light passes through the side wall 51 of the cylindrical body 50 from substantially the entire surface thereof and enters the inside of the cylindrical body 50 . For this reason,
The object to be processed, which is transported on the upper surface of the screw blade 30, can receive microwaves from the entire circumference.

In FIG. 2, the reference numeral 38 is an inert gas supply port, and the boundary portion (microwave reflecting wall) 3 between each oven chamber 36a, 36b is
9 is, of course, made of metal. This boundary 3
The position in the cylindrical body 50 corresponding to 9 is the outlet of the processed material for the oven chamber (microwave irradiation chamber) 36a;
36b is the entrance, and for the microwave irradiation chamber 37 it is the microwave irradiation area A ₁ ,
It is also the location where A ₂ is divided. At a position in the cylinder 50 that divides the microwave irradiation areas A ₁ and A ₂ , a screw blade using a microwave reflecting material is rotatably positioned so that its center axis is approximately aligned with the axis of the cylinder. A microwave shielding portion 35 is formed. That is, the screw blade 30 has a shaft portion that is connected to the metal rotating shaft 2 within the cylindrical body 50.
6 and a rotating shaft 52 made of a microwave transparent material such as ceramics connected by a flange connection.
It is formed by attaching a metal member (microwave reflecting material) 35a to the lower surface of a wing portion made of a microwave transmitting material. The rotating shaft 52 of the microwave shielding part 35 is preferably made of metal, but it may be made of a microwave-transmitting material as long as the shaft diameter is large enough to cut off microwaves. do not have.

In the above example, two microwave irradiation areas
Although the microwave shielding part 35 is provided only at the boundary between A ₁ and A ₂ , the cylindrical body 50 has a bottom plate below the microwave irradiation area A ₂ , as in the relationship between the boundary part 39 and the microwave irradiation area A ₁ . In the case where it is continuously provided so as to pass through and exit to the outside, a screw blade using a microwave reflecting material is placed at a position within the cylindrical body 50 corresponding to the bottom plate, and its central axis is rotatably mounted. The microwave shielding portion may be provided to substantially coincide with the direction of the axis of the cylindrical body to form a microwave shielding portion to prevent microwaves from leaking downward. This is a cylindrical body 5 above the microwave irradiation area _A1 .
The same applies to the case where 0 extends through the upper lid 11.

Furthermore, in the above description, the screw blades 30 are uniformly pitched and single. However, the physical properties of the object to be processed vary depending on what is handled, and
Even during the process of drying and heating, the moisture content changes as it decreases. Therefore, to accommodate this, the shape, pitch, etc. of the screw blades 30 may be changed appropriately.

Figure 3 shows the lower pitch of the screw wing 30.
P ₁ is made smaller than the upper pitch P ₂ .
This is because the material to be treated has a high water content on the upper side of the screw blade 30 and has a poor flow, but on the lower side of the screw blade 30, the water content decreases and the flow speed increases, which may generate dust. This is to prevent this from happening. In addition, when the screw blade 30 is an inclined type as in this example, the radial inclination θ of the screw blade 30 is preferably 5° to 40° with respect to the horizontal. For the same purpose, as shown in FIG.
may be of an inclined type, and the lower part 30b may be of a horizontal type.

FIG. 5 shows a plurality of screw blades 30 attached to the rotating shaft 26 with spacers 40 interposed therebetween. In this case, depending on the physical properties of the workpiece and changes in its physical properties during the drying and heating process, the workpiece can be combined with horizontal screw blades as described above, or the pitch and length can be appropriately selected. On the blades 30, the dust is transferred downward without being stirred relatively, but in the discontinuous portion where the spacer 40 is interposed, the dust falls and is stirred to such an extent that no dust scattering occurs, thereby increasing the drying efficiency.

In FIG. 6, a plurality of pieces 41 are provided on the outer edge of the screw wing 30. Each piece 41
The screw blade 30 has a plurality of long holes 41a extending in the radial direction, and a plurality of bolts 42a screwed through the outer edge of the screw blade 30 are passed through the long holes 41a. Natsuto 42
By screwing b together, the screw wing 30
The screw blades 30 can be freely moved in the radial direction. Therefore, the piece 41 comes into contact with the inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical bodies 10 and 50 and rotates due to its own weight. Therefore, the object to be processed does not fall from between the screw blade 30 and the inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical bodies 10, 50, and short passes of the object to be processed in the cylindrical bodies 10, 50 are prevented. In addition, by attaching this piece 41, the outer diameter of the entire screw blade 30 is automatically adjusted to the cylindrical body 1.
Since the inner diameter substantially matches the inner diameter of 0.50 mm, there is no need to precisely process the outer periphery of the screw blade 30, and its manufacture becomes extremely easy. Note that the distance between the circumferential surfaces of the cylindrical bodies 10 and 50 and the screw blade 30 may be adjusted by fixing the piece 41 at an appropriate position with the bolt 42a and nut 42b.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG.
It is also possible to configure the device by arranging them horizontally.
In this figure, what is indicated by the reference numeral 43 is a duct provided to cover the plurality of gas discharge ports 15.
A gas exhaust pipe 44 is provided in this duct 43. Furthermore, in this embodiment, in order to shorten the cylindrical body 10 and the rotating shaft 26 using microwaves,
At the center and at the outer edges of the screw blades 30, yoke members 45 and 46 made of a microwave transparent material such as ceramics are provided, respectively.

Furthermore, the above-mentioned devices can also be used as combustion devices for carbonization, incineration, catalyst regeneration, etc. by forming them from heat-resistant steel or the like, and can also be used as combustion devices for carbonization, incineration, catalyst regeneration, etc. body 10,5
It can also be used as a moving bed catalytic reaction device by allowing a fluid to be reacted to flow through the reactor. In this case, it goes without saying that it is necessary to select an appropriate dielectric material as the microwave transmitting material depending on the processing temperature. Therefore, the above-mentioned device is used in various fields such as waste treatment, chemical industry, pharmaceutical manufacturing industry, food industry, etc. to heat granules, slurries, viscous substances, liquids, etc. using microwaves. It goes without saying that treatments such as concentration, dehydration, drying, sterilization, incineration, and reaction can be performed.

<Effects of the Invention> As explained above, the present invention is for passing a workpiece through a cylindrical body and subjecting the workpiece to microwave treatment, and for dividing the microwave irradiation area inside the cylinder into a plurality of sections. A screw blade using a microwave reflecting material is rotatably provided at a position where the microwave shielding part is formed so that its central axis substantially coincides with the direction of the axis of the cylindrical body. , it is possible to move the object to be processed while preventing the passage or leakage of microwaves.
Irradiation efficiency can be improved.

In addition, when forming multiple stages of microwave irradiation areas, it can be formed extremely easily, and the microwave processing in each microwave irradiation area can be adjusted independently, and the By simplifying the transfer mechanism such as the transfer unit, it becomes possible to make the entire apparatus compact, and the operation can also be greatly simplified.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view showing one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional view showing another embodiment, and FIGS. 3 to 6 show other configurations of the screw blade.
Fig. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view when the lower pitch is smaller than the upper pitch, Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view when an inclined wing and a horizontal wing are combined, and Fig. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional diagram when a plurality of screw wings are connected with a spacer. FIG. 6a is a schematic cross-sectional view of the case where the screw blades are combined with each other, FIG. 6a is a schematic cross-sectional view of the case where a piece is provided on the outer edge of the screw blade, and FIG. Further, FIGS. 7 and 8 show an embodiment in which the cylindrical body is arranged horizontally, and FIG. 7 is a schematic cross-sectional view, and FIG. 8 is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along the - arrow in FIG. 7. 10... Cylindrical body (cylindrical body made of microwave reflecting material), 25a, 25b... Microwave generating means, 32a, 32b... Wing part (screw wing made of microwave transparent material), 33... ...wing part (screw wing using microwave reflective material), 3
4...Microwave transmitting part, 35...Microwave shielding part, 35a...Metal member (microwave reflecting material),
37...Microwave irradiation chamber, 39...Boundary part (microwave reflecting wall), 50...Cylindrical body (cylindrical body formed of microwave transparent material), _A1 , _A2 ...Microwave irradiation area.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. In a processing apparatus that passes a workpiece through a cylindrical body and processes the workpiece with microwaves, a microwave reflecting material is provided at a position dividing a microwave irradiation area into a plurality of parts within the cylinder. A processing device for drying, etc., characterized in that a screw blade using a screw blade is rotatably provided with its central axis substantially aligned with the axis of the cylindrical body. 2. The drying method according to claim 1, wherein the cylindrical body is made of a microwave reflecting material, and microwaves are guided into the cylindrical body by a microwave generating means. processing equipment. 3 The cylindrical body is formed of a microwave transmitting material and is provided in the microwave irradiation chamber, and the position where the microwave irradiation area is divided into a plurality of regions corresponds to the microwave reflection wall of the microwave irradiation chamber. A processing apparatus for drying, etc., according to claim 1, which is in a position where 4 Inside the cylindrical body, there is a screw blade made of a microwave-transmitting material that is aligned with the screw blade using the microwave-reflecting material and transports the object to be treated to the divided microwave irradiation area. A processing device for drying, etc. according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that it is provided with: