JPH0510640B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Application of the Invention] The present invention relates to a dry cleaning device that uses Freon 113 to wash clothes, and is particularly concerned with a dry cleaning device that is worn inside a nuclear power plant and has a lot of moisture attached to it, and is repeatedly worn by different workers. The present invention relates to a dry cleaning device suitable for efficiently washing work clothes and the like that require cleanliness.

[Background of the Invention] Dry cleaning equipment is used to wash clothes that are not suitable for washing with water or clothes that have oily and water stains that are difficult to remove with water. This dry cleaning equipment uses a solvent as the washing liquid, so if the solvent becomes dirty during washing, the equipment can easily separate the dirt in the solvent and regenerate the solvent. Since the solvent can be used repeatedly for washing, it has the great feature that it does not produce a large amount of washing waste liquid unlike washing with water.

Inside a nuclear power plant, there is a possibility of adhesion of radioactive substances. Even in the case of washing with water, the dirty water from washing, that is, the washing waste liquid containing dirt and detergent that has fallen from the items being washed, is treated and purified to make it clear enough to be used for the next washing. Although it is possible to recover water, its regeneration requires large-scale processing equipment, and it is difficult to combine the equipment with the equipment needed for laundry. On the other hand, dry cleaning equipment uses solvents that have physical properties that are significantly different from those of water, so solvents contaminated with laundry must be disposed of using extremely small equipment.
Since it is recyclable, these devices and the devices necessary for washing can be combined into one device.

Because there is a possibility of radioactive substances adhering to nuclear power plants, it is necessary to change into special work clothes when working inside a nuclear power plant, but once worn, the work clothes are washed to remove any adhesion. It can be used again after removing dirt containing radioactive materials. Conventionally, a water washing method has been adopted as a method for washing work clothes. This method generates a large amount of laundry waste, which contains a small amount of radioactive materials. For this reason, it is not possible to release it directly outside the power plant, and it is necessary to remove radioactive materials from the waste liquid. However, as mentioned above, there is a problem in that large-scale processing equipment is required to treat laundry waste liquid, and it has become possible to consider adopting a laundry method using dry cleaning equipment that does not generate laundry waste liquid. It's here.

Dry cleaning equipment for nuclear power plants is used to wash work clothes, etc. that are exclusively worn inside nuclear power plants, as mentioned above, but it is not commonly used for this purpose for the following reasons. It has become clear that it is difficult to apply the existing dry cleaning equipment as is.

In other words, (1) The solvent used for washing is Freon 113, which is the least toxic and poses no danger of explosion or fire, as it is used in a very special place such as inside a nuclear power plant.
(Chemical formula _CCl2F - _CClF2 , trichlorotrichloroethane) is used.

(2) Freon 113 has a low boiling point of 47.6°C and is a liquid that evaporates easily. Therefore, in general dry cleaning equipment, the maximum drying gas temperature for drying washed items is 60°C. The temperature of the items to be washed afterwards was about 35°C at maximum. General-purpose dry cleaning equipment washes only outerwear such as suits and suits, but these items have little moisture adhering to them, and after washing they are worn by the same person as before washing. Therefore, there is no need to particularly expect a sterilizing effect, so there is no problem with the above temperature setting. However, the clothes worn inside nuclear power plants have the following features.

It contains a considerable amount of moisture due to water and sweat during work.

It can dry out, be worn by another person, and come into direct contact with the skin, so it must be sterilized.

Therefore, it is not possible to sufficiently dry moisture or sterilize the water with the temperature setting in the general dry cleaning apparatus as described above.

(3) If the drying temperature is simply increased to dry moisture and sterilize, the inside of the equipment will become too hot at the end of drying, and when the solvent is injected during the next wash, the solvent will boil, causing the equipment to malfunction. Washing becomes impossible due to the sudden increase in internal pressure.

In order to apply dry cleaning equipment to nuclear power plants, it is necessary to solve the above drawbacks.

[Purpose of the invention]

An object of the present invention is to provide a dry cleaning device for protective gear for nuclear power plants, etc., which is capable of sufficiently drying moisture adhering to items to be washed, and rapidly cooling the inside of the washing drum after drying, thereby enabling highly efficient work. It's about doing.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a dry cleaning device for protective gear for nuclear power plants, etc., which can use Freon 113 as a washing liquid, which exhibits a sterilizing effect on the items to be washed during drying.

[Summary of the invention]

The concept of conventional dry cleaning equipment is that the items to be washed are suits, suits, etc., and there is almost no moisture attached to them, and there is no direct contact with the skin, so when drying after washing with a solvent, only the solvent is sufficiently dried. The drying temperature was determined based on this assumption.

However, the clothes worn inside nuclear power plants contain about 5%, and in some cases as much as 20%, of the total amount of water and sweat that adheres to them during work.
It has become clear that if the solvent is not dried as well as this moisture, mold and odor may occur during storage after washing. In addition, these items to be washed may be worn in direct contact with the skin, and may be worn repeatedly by different people, so if they do not have a sterilizing effect, there is a risk of infection such as skin diseases. .

The present invention is based on the above-mentioned study results on the characteristics of items to be washed worn inside nuclear power plants.
The drying temperature of a conventional dry cleaning device using Freon 113 is increased to the point where water can be dried without causing problems such as abnormal evaporation of the solvent and a sterilization effect can be exhibited.

The device of the present invention is characterized in that it is a dry cleaning device that uses a solvent to wash protective equipment such as shoes, helmets, and masks worn inside a nuclear power plant. means for uniformly spraying the solvent onto the protective equipment at high pressure; and recycling means for treating the solvent used for cleaning the protective equipment and reusing it for cleaning; A heater for heating the gas and a cooler for supplying cooling gas for rapidly cooling the interior of the laundry drum are disposed in a supply line that supplies gas for drying the remaining solvent into the laundry drum. .

[Embodiments of the invention]

The general equipment configuration of a dry cleaning apparatus will be explained with reference to FIG. In the figure, 1 is the outer drum of the washing drum, 2 is the inner drum of the washing drum, 3 is the motor for driving the inner drum, 4 is the solvent tank, 5 is the solvent pump, 6 is the solvent purification device, 7 is the drying fan, and 8 is the dryer. equipment, 9
is a solvent cooling device. A washing drum inner drum 2 is installed inside the washing drum outer drum 1 and is rotated by an inner drum driving motor 3. A door for loading and unloading laundry items attached to the outer body 1 of the washing drum (not shown)
After opening the washing drum and putting the items to be washed into the inner drum 2 and closing the door, the Freon 1 filled in the solvent tank 4 is
13 is injected into the washing drum outer shell 1 by a solvent pump 5, and is rotated by an inner drum driving motor 3. When brought into contact with the items to be washed in the inner drum 2 of the washing drum, various stains adhering to the items to be washed are cleaned by the fluorocarbon 113. After the cleaning with Freon 113 is completed, the solvent in the outer body 1 of the washing drum is returned to the solvent tank 4, but the items to be washed in the inner body 2 of the washing drum must be dried because Freon 113 or moisture remains. becomes. Therefore,
The washing drum outer shell 1 is dried by circulating the gas inside the washing drum outer shell 1 through a drying device 8 by a drying fan 7. After the drying is completed, the items to be washed in the inner drum 2 of the washing drum are taken out, and the items to be washed for the next wash are put back in, and the washing is repeated. When such washing is repeated, the solvent becomes dirty, but the dirt in the solvent is separated by a solvent purifying device 6 such as a filter or a distiller, and the solvent is used for washing while being purified. In addition, Freon 11 used as a solvent
No. 3 has a low boiling point of 47.6°C, and as the solvent temperature rises, the vapor pressure increases rapidly, so it is necessary to constantly cool the solvent to 25°C or less during washing using the solvent cooling device 9.

In a dry cleaning apparatus having the general equipment configuration as described above, the detailed equipment configuration of the drying device 8, which is the main focus of the present invention, is shown in FIG. In the figure, 10 is a drying condenser, 11 is a refrigerator, 1
2 is a drying heater, 13 is a heater, 14 is a drying heater outlet temperature detector, 15 is a washing drum outlet temperature detector, 16 and 17 are drying heater bypass valves, and 18 is a pipe for discharging condensed solvent. It is. In order to dry the items to be washed in the outer body 1 of the washing drum, first, the gas in the outer body 1 of the washing drum is recycled by the drying fan 7 through the drying condenser 10 and the drying heater 12. The temperature of the recycled gas is increased by the drying heater 12 heated by the heater 13, and the solvent and moisture remaining in the laundry in the outer drum 1 of the washing drum are vaporized. The vaporized solvent and moisture are reduced to -10 by the refrigerant from the refrigerator 11.
It condenses when it passes through the drying condenser 10, which has been cooled to below ℃, and is collected into the solvent tank 4 through the condensed solvent discharge pipe 18, thereby drying the solvent and moisture remaining in the items to be washed. I will do it.

Conventional dry cleaning equipment that uses Freon 113 does not aim to dry moisture or sterilize water, so the temperature at the drying heater outlet temperature detector 14 is approximately 40°C, and the washing drum outlet temperature detector 15 is approximately 30°C. By then, the drying was finished.
However, in order to expect moisture drying or sterilization effects, the drying heater outlet temperature detector 14
60℃ or higher, preferably 80℃ or higher, and 35℃ or higher, preferably 40℃ at the washing drum outlet temperature detector 15.
It is necessary to do more than that. In order to raise the drying temperature in this manner, it is necessary to increase the capacity of the drying heater 12 or heater 13. Furthermore, if only the drying temperature was increased, the temperature of the outer body of the washing drum 1 would be around 40°C at the end of drying, and when washing the next batch, the solvent in the solvent tank 4 that had cooled to below 25°C would be washed. When injected into the drum outer shell 1, it is rapidly heated to near the boiling point, resulting in abnormal evaporation. Therefore, temperature control as shown in FIG. 3 is performed during the drying process. The horizontal axis of the graph in the figure is drying time, and the vertical axis is temperature.
The curve T ₁ shows the temperature at the outlet of the drying heater, and the curve T ₂ shows the temperature at the outlet of the washing drum. That is, both the temperatures T ₁ and T ₂ immediately after the end of washing and the start of drying are the temperature T _S of the solvent during washing (about 25° C. as an example). T ₁ increases rapidly due to heating by the drying heater 12 , and when it reaches the drying temperature T _H (100°C as an example), it is detected by the drying heater outlet temperature detector 14 . It is held constant by turning on and off. By recycling the gas at the temperature of T _H , the temperature of the items to be washed inside the outer body of the washing drum 1 also rises, but when the drying end temperature T _D (for example, 45°C) is reached, the washing Detected by drum outlet temperature detector 15, heater 13
turn off. However, if this continues, the outer drum 1 of the washing drum cannot be used for the next washing because the temperature is 45° C., which is close to the boiling point of the solvent. Moreover, if the temperature of the solvent is brought to the same level as the temperature of the solvent in the solvent tank 4 by natural cooling, the idle time will be large and the washing efficiency will be reduced. Therefore, when T ₂ reaches T _D (4°C), the heater 13 is turned off, the drying heater bypass valves 16 and 17 are switched, and the drying capacitor 1 is turned off.
The cold gas that passed through the washing drum outer body 1
Make sure to breathe into it. By performing such control, it is possible to perform high-temperature drying that enables drying of moisture and sterilization, and to quickly lower the temperature of the washing drum after drying.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, after sufficient drying during dry cleaning, the inside of the washing drum is quickly cooled so that the next work can be carried out immediately, so that protective equipment for nuclear power plants, etc., which can perform highly efficient work, can be used. Dry cleaning equipment is provided.

Furthermore, a dry cleaning device for protective equipment for nuclear power plants and the like is provided that can use Freon 113 as a washing liquid, which exhibits a sterilizing effect on items to be washed during drying.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a system diagram showing the equipment configuration of a dry cleaning device using Freon 113, Fig. 2 is a system diagram showing an embodiment of the device of the present invention, and Fig. 3 is a diagram showing temperature control of the device of the present invention. It is. 1...Washing drum outer body, 7...Drying fan, 8
... Drying device, 10 ... Drying capacitor, 12
...Drying heater, 14...Drying heater outlet temperature detector, 15...Washing drum outlet temperature detector.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A dry cleaning device that uses a solvent to wash protective equipment such as shoes, helmets, and masks worn inside a nuclear power plant, comprising: a washing drum that isolates the protective equipment from the outside air and houses it; means for uniformly spraying the solvent onto the protective equipment at high pressure; and recycling means for processing the solvent used for cleaning the protective equipment and reusing it for cleaning; A heater for heating the gas and a cooler for supplying cooling gas for rapidly cooling the interior of the laundry drum are disposed in a supply line that supplies gas for drying the remaining solvent into the laundry drum. Dry cleaning equipment for protective equipment used in nuclear power plants.