JPH0667464B2 - Granular gel manufacturing equipment - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an apparatus for producing granular gel.

(Prior Art) An in-liquid dropping method is known as a conventional typical apparatus for producing granular gel. The in-liquid dropping method produces a granular gel by dropping a sol liquid, which is a raw material, into a coagulating liquid from a nozzle provided at an appropriate distance on the liquid surface and solidifying the liquid by a cooling action. Although this in-liquid dropping method has the advantage that a granular product can be obtained continuously with a relatively simple device,
On the other hand, the sol dropping rate from the nozzle is a natural drop, so that the production rate of the product particles is slow, or the particles have a spinning shape and tend to be indefinite. Further, when the product particles pass through the coagulating liquid layer, the coagulating liquid inevitably adheres to the product particles and remains.

An apparatus has also been proposed in which a hollow rotating body having a nozzle on the outer periphery is provided above the surface of the coagulating liquid, but there is a problem that the sol-like droplets are easily deformed when landing.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) The present invention has a slow granulation rate, which is a problem of the above-mentioned prior art, or a coagulating liquid remains on the granular gel of the product,
Another object of the present invention is to provide a novel apparatus for producing granular gel, which solves the problem that the sol-like droplets are easily deformed when landing on water.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The gist of the present invention is that, firstly, in an apparatus for producing a granular gel by discharging a sol-like undiluted solution into a solidification tank, it is provided below the surface of a coagulating liquid layer. The interface between the upper and lower liquid layers consists of the sol-like stock solution discharging means consisting of a rotating nozzle that dips and rotates horizontally, and delivers the sol-like stock solution in the direction opposite to the rotation direction, and the upper layer is the coagulating solution and the lower layer is the separating solution. And a solidification tank in which a separation zone is attached to a part thereof.
The separator has a cross section of a cross section, a honeycomb shape,
The apparatus for producing granular gel is characterized in that the channels are arranged in parallel or in a group of circular tubes and are parallel to each other in the vertical direction.

That is, as a result of intensive studies by the present inventors, the sol-like stock solution is released from the beginning into the coagulation liquid, eliminating deformation at the time of landing on the surface of the coagulation liquid, and granulating by the shearing action and surface tension of the coagulation liquid. At the same time, it was found that gelation was caused by the cooling action, and then in order to remove the coagulating liquid adhering to the product particles, it could be removed by contact with the separating liquid if it was introduced into the separating liquid consisting of water and dropped into the separating liquid. . However, it was also found that a considerable difference in specific gravity and non-affinity are required between the coagulation liquid and the separation liquid for this method to be applicable. Based on the above facts, it has been found that a separation zone may be attached to the interface between the coagulating liquid and the separating liquid in order to be applicable to a wide range of coagulating liquid. The most preferable shape of the separation band is a plate-shaped separation plate having a planar cross section and parallel to the vertical direction, and the size of the gap which is the passage of particles is preferably 1.5 to 4 times the particle diameter. If the gap is narrower than this, particles may be blocked in the passage, and if it is wider than this, the effect of removing the coagulating liquid becomes low. Most preferably, the separation zone is installed so that its upper end is located slightly higher than the interface between the coagulation liquid layer and the separation liquid layer. This is because introduction into the separation zone in the coagulation liquid layer can avoid problems such as particle aggregation. Further, it is also possible to use an inclined parallel plate as a separation band.

The method for granulating the sol-like undiluted solution of the present invention is a method of releasing the sol-like undiluted solution into the coagulating liquid by means of the releasing means below the liquid surface, and utilizing a shearing force based on the relative motion between the coagulating liquid and the sol-like undiluted solution. Which is completely different from the conventional method. Therefore, if a method for generating a shearing force is used, for example, the sol discharge nozzle may be fixed and a swirling flow may be given to the coagulating liquid. However, the most preferable means for discharging the undiluted solution sol for applying the shearing force is a rotating nozzle.

The shape of the rotary nozzle is, for example, a disk shape, as shown in FIG. 2, if the nozzle portion is provided in a protruding manner, or a pipe is bent into an L shape, or any other shape that can discharge liquid in a direction opposite to the rotation direction. There is no particular limitation. The optimum number of nozzle tubes is selected in consideration of the size of the solidification tank and the properties of the sol liquid to be treated. It is desirable that the number of revolutions of the rotary nozzle can be adjusted so as to be most suitable for the sol liquid to be treated. Therefore, it is desirable that the rotary nozzle be driven by a variable speed drive.

(Examples) The contents of the present invention will be further described based on Examples.
FIG. 1 is a systematic diagram of an apparatus for producing granular gel according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view of a rotary nozzle as seen from AA in FIG. 1,
FIG. 33 is a plan sectional view of the separation band as seen from BB in FIG.

In the figure, reference numeral 1 is a vertical cylindrical solidification tank, in which an upper half portion contains a coagulating liquid such as vegetable oil and a lower half portion contains a separation liquid W such as water. Reference numeral 2 is a rotary nozzle composed of a plurality of nozzle tubes horizontally attached to the lower end of a hollow rotary shaft vertically supported on the top of the solidification tank. It is slowly rotated by the driving means mounted on the top. Reference numeral 4 is a base-shaped separation plate which is mounted so that the upper end is located at a position slightly higher than the interface between the coagulating liquid and the separating liquid. The operation of the embodiment having the above configuration will be described. The sol-form undiluted solution adjusted by the undiluted solution supply device is supplied to the rotating nozzle 2 and passes through the hollow portion of the rotating shaft to form the rotating nozzle 2
The nozzle 2'is discharged in the direction opposite to the direction of rotation and is subjected to the shearing action of the coagulating liquid to form a spherical shape, which is cooled while falling in the coagulating liquid and gelated. Since the temperature of the coagulating liquid rises due to the cooling of the sol-like stock solution, the coagulating liquid is taken out of the tank through the coagulating liquid withdrawing section 5 and introduced into a coagulating liquid cooling device 11 composed of a refrigerator or the like to cool the coagulating liquid to the upper part of the solidification tank 1. Used for return circulation. The gelled spherical particles descend due to the difference in specific gravity. While descending the gap between the separating plates, the spherical particles come into contact with the separating plate to remove the oil content on the surface and exit the separating plate to accumulate in the bottom conical portion of the solidification tank 1. The water is taken out from the particle take-out port 6 and sent to the product particle separating device 30 under the action of the water S. The oil separated inside the separation plates rises between the separation plates due to the difference in specific gravity and returns to the upper coagulating liquid layer.

(Effects of the Invention) According to the present invention having the above-described configuration and operation, it is possible to produce a granular gel having a uniform particle size at a high speed, and at the same time, the amount of the coagulating liquid remaining on the surface of the product particles. The present invention is extremely useful industrially since it can produce a very small amount of good quality granular gel.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a systematic diagram of an apparatus for producing granular gel according to the present invention,
FIG. 2 is a plan view of the rotary nozzle as seen from AA in FIG.
The figure is a plan sectional view of the separation band as seen from BB in FIG. 1; solidification tank, 2; rotary nozzle, 3; drive means, 4; separation zone, 5; coagulation liquid extraction part, 6; product particle extraction port, L; coagulation liquid, W; separation liquid, S; extraction water.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An apparatus for producing a granular gel by discharging a sol-form undiluted solution into a solidification tank, immersing the sol-like undiluted solution under a liquid surface of a coagulating liquid layer, and horizontally rotating the sol-like undiluted solution in a direction opposite to a rotating direction. And a solidification tank having an upper layer composed of a coagulating liquid and a lower layer composed of a separation liquid, and a separation zone attached to the interface between the upper and lower liquid layers. Granular gel manufacturing equipment. 2. The production of granular gel according to claim 1, wherein the separator has a cross-section in a cross-section, a honeycomb shape, a parallel shape or a group of circular tubes, and is a passage parallel to the vertical direction. apparatus.