JPS592829Y2 - Continuous swelling treatment equipment for raw materials - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] The present invention relates to an apparatus suitable for expanding solid raw materials, particularly light raw materials such as rice husks and feathers.

More specifically, a screw feeder is attached to the raw material introduction side of a closed container filled with pressurized heated gas, a rotary feeder is attached to the raw material outlet side, and each feeder feeds the raw materials into the closed container while ensuring an airtight state. Continuous swelling treatment for raw materials that prevents lightweight raw materials from blowing up due to gas pressure on the inlet side, and ensures that the raw materials are expanded by rapid discharge to the outside air on the outlet side. Regarding equipment.

For example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 45-26695, Japanese Patent Publication No. 49-1549, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 11879-1973, and Japanese Patent Publication No. 1899-1977 are known as apparatuses for continuously expanding solid raw materials.

These devices are filled with pressurized heated gas through gas communication pipes, and include screw conveyors for moving the raw materials;
It consists of a high-pressure sealed container incorporating a transfer means such as a belt conveyor (rotating disc), and double-ended tally feeders for input and discharge, which are attached to the raw material introduction side and the raw material output side of this closed container, respectively.
The input rotary feeder feeds the raw material into a closed container, and the transfer means moves the raw material to the raw material outlet side while pressurizing and heating the raw material with gas.The discharge rotary feeder discharges the raw material to the outside air and causes it to expand.

Further, as another device, for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 46-34747 is known.

This device, like the above device, consists of a high-pressure sealed container and a double-end tally feeder for input and discharge attached to the raw material introduction side and outlet side, and the raw material is continuously fed in a fixed direction within the closed container. The flowing pressurized heated gas moves from the raw material introduction side to the raw material output side, and is rapidly discharged to the outside air by a discharge rotary feeder, where it is expanded.

As described above, in the conventional expansion processing equipment using rotary feeders on the raw material introduction side and the discharge side, when the solid raw material is fed into a high-pressure sealed container by the rotary feeder, this closed container is filled with high-pressure gas. Therefore, there is a tendency for the raw material at the raw material receiving part to be pushed up by the gas pressure and blown up, or to be pushed back by the leaking gas.

In particular, materials that are light in weight and small in mass, such as grain husks such as rice husks and buckwheat husks, straw such as wheat straw and rice straw, tree bark, cotton,
This tendency is particularly evident in the case of animal and plant fibrous materials such as feathers, animal hair, tobacco leaves, sawdust, pods, and paper scraps, and these materials are blown up or pushed back by the gas pressure, causing them to flow through the rotary feeder. It is difficult to fit it neatly into the cup.

Also, even if the raw material can be stored in the cup of this input rotary feeder, what is the flow direction in which the raw material in the cup is dropped into the sealed container and the direction of the gas pressure in the sealed container? Because they face each other, gas pressure prevents the raw material from falling from the rotary feeder into the closed container.
The rotary feeder rotates while a part of the raw material remains and adheres to the cup of the rotary feeder, and since the cup is not empty, the next raw material waiting in the raw material receiving part can be smoothly accommodated. The problem arises that it is not possible to

In view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, the present inventor developed the present invention in order to effectively solve the problems, and it is possible to reliably press high-pressure light materials such as rice husks and feathers, which are greatly affected by gas pressure. The present invention is applied so that it can be sent into a closed container and subjected to expansion treatment.

The purpose of the present invention is to install an input means for feeding the raw material into the sealed container and a discharge means for discharging the raw material from the sealed container on the raw material introduction side and the raw material outlet side of a high-pressure sealed container filled with pressurized heated gas. In the continuous expansion processing apparatus for raw materials, the input means is a high-pressure sealed screw feeder with screw blades around the shaft, and the discharge means is a high-pressure sealed rotary feeder equipped with a plurality of pockets opening in the outer radial direction. By using a screw feeder as a charging means, the raw material can be compressed and fed from the raw material receiving part to the closed container, and even if the raw material is light and has a small mass such as rice husks or feathers, the gas pressure can be reduced. The raw material is solidified and sent into a sealed container so that it is not affected by the gas pressure, thereby preventing the raw material from being blown up by the gas pressure or being pushed back by the leaking gas, and sealing the raw material tightly. To provide a continuous expansion treatment device for raw materials that can reliably perform pressure and heat treatment in a container and expand upon discharge.

A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing the entire continuous expansion treatment apparatus.

Reference numeral 1 denotes a high-pressure sealed container formed into a hollow cylindrical shape, and a moving means for continuously moving the raw material from the introduction side to the output side is incorporated therein.

As this transfer means, any means such as a screw conveyor net conveyor, belt conveyor, or rotating disk can be selected depending on the shape and size of the closed container 1, but in the illustrated embodiment, a screw conveyor 2 is used. did.

The screw conveyor 2 consists of a rotating shaft 3 extending over the entire axial length of the cylindrical closed container 1, and screw blades 4 spirally formed on the outer peripheral surface of the shaft 3.
The raw material is moved by the feeding action of the screw blades 4 due to the rotation of the shaft 3.

The moving speed of the raw material is determined by the rotational speed of the shaft 3, and the operating speed of the screw conveyor 2 is adjusted so that the raw material in the closed container 1 is heated by the heating gas for a certain period of time.

A raw material inlet 5 and a raw material outlet 6 are provided on each side of the closed container 1, and gas communication pipes 7, 7 are connected to these portions to fill and supply pressurized heating gas into the closed container 1.

Examples of pressurized heating gas include saturated steam, superheated steam,
Examples include heated carbon dioxide gas, nitrogen gas, alcohol vapor, etc., but saturated steam is generally preferred.

A case 8 is connected to the raw material inlet 5.

A cylinder 9 is integrally protruded from the case 8, and a raw material input means is installed in the cylinder 9.

The feeding means is a high-pressure seal type screw feeder 10, and the screw feeder 10 is formed by inserting a shaft 11 into a cylinder 9 and providing a spiral screw blade 12 on the outer peripheral surface of the shaft 11.

The pitch of the screw blades 12 is not uniform, but gradually decreases from the left end to the right end in the figure, that is, from the feed direction of the raw material.

Further, the shaft 11 does not extend to the tip end surface 9a of the cylinder 9 facing the case 8, and a space S is secured between the shaft 11 and the tip end surface 9a.

The tip surface 9a is a drawing disk 13, and this drawing disk 13 is provided with a tapered aperture hole 14 whose diameter gradually decreases toward the case 8 side.
form.

A cylindrical crusher 15 having a rotary blade on its outer peripheral surface is installed inside the case 8 and is opposed to the throttle hole 14 which is the opening on the outlet side of the cylinder 9 .

This crusher 15 is not cylindrical, for example, the rotating shaft 15
A linear support rod may be provided at the lower end of the crusher, and a blade may be suspended from the end of the support rod, and the shape and structure of the crusher may be arbitrary.

Steam jackets 16 and 17 were attached to the high-pressure hermetic container 1 and the cylinder 9 as necessary, and in this example, both jackets 16 and 17 were connected through a connecting pipe 18.

As a result, the cylinder 9 and the closed container 1 are kept warm and heated, and if necessary, the steam temperature on the jacket 16 side is made higher than that on the closed container 1 side, thereby suppressing the generation of drain and the increase in raw material moisture inside the closed container 1. I'll do what I do.

Case 1 in which a raw material discharge means is incorporated in the raw material outlet 6
Connect 9.

This raw material discharge means is a high-pressure seal type rotary feeder 20.

Although not shown, a seal plate is interposed between the inner peripheral surface of the case 19 and the outer peripheral surface of the rotary feeder 20 to ensure airtightness, so that the rotary feeder 20 is configured to rotate while maintaining airtightness. ing.

The rotary feeder 20 is formed with two pockets 21 and 21 that open in the outer diameter direction, and each pocket 21.
．． Pistons 22 and 22 are slidably fitted into 21, and these are connected by a rod 23.

This rod 23 is connected to a liquid actuating means such as pneumatic pressure or hydraulic pressure, and when one pocket portion 21 faces the raw material outlet 6, the piston 22 of this pocket portion 21 moves backward to receive the raw material. , the piston 2 in the other pocket portion 22
2 is configured to move forward and scrape off the raw material while discharging it.

Next, we will discuss the effect.

Light raw materials to be processed, such as rice husks, feathers, and medicines, are introduced through the raw material receiving port 9b provided in the cylinder 9.

The raw material is moved toward the tip of the cylinder 9 by the feeding action of the screw feeder 10.

In this case, the pitch of the screw blades 12 of the screw feeder 10 becomes smaller as it progresses toward the tip, so as the raw materials are fed by the screw blades 12, they are consolidated and their density increases, and the raw materials solidify each other and the screw feeder It becomes solid and accumulates in a space S provided between the tip of the material 10 and the tip surface 9a of the cylinder 9, and the space S becomes a holding space for the raw material.

The solidified raw material is pushed by the following raw materials and press-fitted into the throttle hole 14 of the squeeze plate 13, and is pushed out to the case 8 side in a lump while being compacted by the throttle hole 14.

At this point, the high-pressure sealed container 1 has already been filled with pressurized heated gas from the gas communication pipe 7, and the case 8, which communicates with the sealed container 1 via the raw material inlet 5, is also filled with high-pressure gas. However, as described above, the raw material is solidified in the holding space S, and the compaction is further promoted in the throttle hole 14 and extruded into the case 8! Therefore, the raw material will not act as a blockage plug and gas will not leak from the throttle hole 14, and even if the raw material is light and has a small mass, the gas pressure will prevent the raw material from flowing back toward the screw feeder 10 or being pushed back. This effectively prevents the boiling up of raw materials, etc., which is conventional.

In this case, in the example shown in FIG. 1, the screw feeder 10
The shaft 11 was formed with the same diameter in the axial direction, and the pitch of the screw blades 12 was gradually reduced toward the tip side, but as shown in FIG.
Even if it is formed as shown in FIG. 3, it is possible to distantly achieve consolidation and solidification of the raw material.

In the screw feeder 10-1 shown in FIG. 2, the pitch of the screw blades 12-1 is the same, and the diameter of the shaft 11-1 is gradually increased toward the tip side to form a thicker end.

According to this, the cylinder 9 and the screw blade 12-1
Since the volume of the space surrounded by and gradually decreases toward the raw material outlet side, the raw material can be sequentially compressed and consolidated in the same way as in the embodiment described above.

In the screw feeder 10-2 shown in FIG. 3, the pitch of the screw blades 12-2 and the diameter of the shaft 11-2 are the same, and the diameter of the screw blades 12-2 is gradually reduced toward the tip, and the cylinder 9 The inner diameter of the cylinder 9-2 was changed to match this, and the cylinder 9-2 was made tapered.

Also in this embodiment, since the volume of the space surrounded by the cylinder 9-2 and the screw blade 12-2 can be gradually reduced toward the raw material outlet side, the raw material can be compacted.

The raw material extruded from the throttle hole 14 into the case 8 in the form of a rod-shaped lump is transferred to the cylindrical crusher 15.
It is crushed by a rotating blade into a suitable granule.

This ensures that heat penetrates into the raw material when heat-treating the raw material with gas heat in the high-pressure sealed container 1, thereby eliminating unevenness in the pressure-heating treatment.

The compaction state of the raw material solidified and squeezed out from the throttle hole 14 varies depending on the type of raw material, water content, and shape, so by adjusting the rotation speed of the rotating shaft 15a of the crusher 15, The crusher 15 is rotated at an appropriate speed depending on the situation, etc., to crush and scrape the raw material.

The stripped raw material falls from the case 8 into the high-pressure sealed container 1 through the inlet 5, and is sent to the outlet 6 side by the screw conveyor 2.

During this time, the raw material is moved within the closed container 1 and is heated under pressure by the pressurized heating gas, so that the raw material is processed.

The raw material that has reached the raw material outlet 6 is transferred to the rotary feeder 20
It falls into the pocket part 21 and is stored therein.

The rotation of the rotary feeder maintains the airtightness of the pocket part 21 while the raw material reaches the discharge port 24 where the pressure is the same as the outside air, and the forward movement of the piston 22 causes the pocket part 21 to
will be paid out from

When raw materials are heated under pressurized conditions, the moisture in the raw materials that should naturally evaporate when heated under normal pressure conditions is suppressed from evaporating and becomes compressed water at high temperature and high pressure. For example, if it is suddenly released into the outside air, the compressed water in the raw material expands explosively, threatening to destroy the structure of the raw material, and the raw material becomes porous with spaces formed by the escape of steam.

In the device according to the present invention, the same phenomenon occurs when the pocket I/portion 21 faces the discharge port 24, and the swelling process of the raw material is performed.

By the way, when a high-pressure seal type screw feeder is used instead of the rotary feeder as described above as a means for discharging raw materials, the following problems occur.

In a screw feeder, the gas pressure in the closed container is consumed as frictional energy between the raw material and the screw feeder, and as the raw material is fed along the screw feeder, the gas pressure gradually decreases, and by the time it is discharged, the gas pressure is almost gone. Since the compressed water in the raw material is not rapidly released, it is difficult to expect the raw material to undergo swelling treatment.

Therefore, it is extremely important to use a rotary feeder as a discharge means as in the present invention.

FIG. 4 shows another embodiment of the continuous expansion treatment apparatus according to the present invention.

This device includes a high-pressure sealed container 21 incorporating a screw conveyor 20, a high-pressure sealed screw feeder 25 built into a cylinder 24 that communicates with the sealed container 21 through a raw material inlet 22 and a case 23, and a raw material outlet 2.
A high-pressure seal type rotary feeder 28 built into the case 27 communicates with the closed container 21 through the screw conveyor 20 and the screw feeder 25.
The same structure as the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 was adopted.

A holding space S1 is formed at the tip of the shaft 29 of the screw feeder 25 to accommodate and hold the raw material in a solid state with increased density, which is compressed while being fed by the screw blades 30.

At the tip of the screw feeder 25, on the raw material exit side, a conical crusher 31 with radial grooves formed from the top of the outer surface to the peripheral edge is formed so as to face the holding space S1, and on the raw material exit side. Insert the crusher 31 horizontally into the opening.

Even if the lasher 31 is adopted like this, the holding space S
The compressed raw material contained in 1 can be pulverized into granules and separated.

Dehydration holes 32 are formed in the peripheral wall of the cylinder 24, and excess moisture contained in the water-rich raw material that is fed and consolidated by the screw feeder 25 is removed from the dehydration holes 32. , take out the drain cover 33.

Raw materials containing a lot of water require a large amount of heat to raise the temperature to a certain level during the swelling process, and heating increases the viscosity, which tends to stick to the inner wall of the sealed container, making it difficult to maintain uniformity. Pressurization and heating are blocked, and post-processing becomes troublesome, such as having to dry the expanded raw material.

Therefore, by providing the dewatering hole 32, such a problem can be solved, and in particular, as in the present invention, the cylinder 2
If the dehydration hole 32 is formed in 4, there is no need to install a special dehydration device, and the structure can be simplified.

The rotary feeder 28 includes radially formed blades 34.
A pocket portion 35 that opens in the outer radial direction is formed between.

A pushing member 36 extends vertically through each blade 34, and a sealing member 37 is provided at the tip of the pushing member 36. The sealing member 37 comes into contact with the inner circumferential wall of the case 27 due to the pressing action of the pushing member 36, and the rotary feeder 28 maintains airtightness. As the raw material is rotated, the raw material contained in each pocket 35 is discharged to the discharge port 38 and is expanded.

In FIG. 4, numeral 39 is a gas communication pipe for filling and supplying pressurized heated gas to the closed container 21.

Next, the experimental results of the device according to the present invention will be described.

When unpretreated dense and hard rice husks were put into a high-pressure sealed screw feeder, the raw material could be fed smoothly and continuously into a high-pressure sealed container without being affected by gas pressure.

A blockage plug of compressed rice husks is reliably formed in the holding space inside the cylinder, and this blockage plug reliably seals the saturated steam gas of 6 kg/cm2 (gauge pressure) filling the airtight container. It could be confirmed.

This blockage plug was crushed by a crusher installed at the opening on the bottom side of the screw feeder, and was loosened to be suitable for pressurization and heating in a closed container.

While moving the loosened rice husks in a closed container for about 2 minutes using a screw conveyor, the amount of rice husks is 6kg/cm2 (gauge pressure).
After heating under pressure with saturated steam gas, the rice husks were rapidly released to atmospheric pressure using a high-pressure sealed rotary feeder, and very soft and high-quality rice husks could be obtained.

When we investigated the maximum water capacity of the rice husks obtained in this way after the swelling treatment, we found that it was 17.6% of the untreated rice husks.
The average value was 185%, which is more than 10 times the measured value.

This measurement method is published by Shokusho Shoten, Experimental Agricultural Chemistry, Volume 1 (
The method described in ``Department of Agricultural Chemistry, University of Tokyo'', page 16 was followed.

Next, using a conical crusher as in the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, dehydration holes with a diameter of 6 mm were provided at even intervals on the circumferential wall of the cylinder in the approximate center in which the screw feeder was installed, and the feathers with a moisture content of 70% were prepared. When 900 kg was put into a high-pressure sealed screw feeder and consolidated, a displacement of 560 kg was obtained from the dehydration hole, confirming the reliable dewatering effect of the dehydration hole.

In addition, the feathers compacted by the screw feeder and accumulated in the holding space of the cylinder become a plug, and this plug is
kg/Cm2 (gauge pressure) of saturated steam gas was reliably sealed.

The feathers, which have become solidified and compacted, are crushed by a conical crusher and smoothly fed into a sealed container, where they are transported for 6 minutes on a screw conveyor and crushed to 7 kg.
/Cm2 (gauge pressure) of saturated steam gas and then rapidly discharged from a high-pressure sealed rotary feeder, it was possible to obtain feathers with a soft texture.

This feather could be dried very easily using a drying device, resulting in a feather with a moisture content of 7%.

This is highly preferred as a feather meal.

As is clear from the above explanation, according to the present invention, the raw material input means attached to the raw material introduction side of the high-pressure sealed container is a screw feeder, so the raw material can be consolidated, and the problems of conventional devices, especially the light weight, can be avoided. By compressing the raw material and making it into a plug, we can effectively solve the problems of blowing up the raw material due to the gas pressure and pushing it back due to the leaking gas, which were problems when expanding the raw material. Demonstrates power in processing raw materials.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a sectional view showing the entire device, Figs. 2 and 3 are sectional views showing another embodiment of the high pressure sealed screw feeder, and Fig. 4 is the same as Fig. 1 showing another embodiment of the device. This is a diagram. In the drawing, 1 and 21 are high-pressure closed containers, 9 and 24 are cylinders, 10.25 are high-pressure sealed screw feeders, 11.29 are shafts, 12.30 are screw blades, and 14.
15 and 31 are throttle holes, 15 and 31 are crushers, 20 and 28 are high-pressure sealed rotary feeders, 21 and 35 are pockets, 32 is a dewatering hole, and S and S are holding spaces.

Claims (5)

[Scope of utility model registration request] (1) A raw material introduction cylinder whose tip opening faces the raw material introduction side of the sealed container, and a space that is arranged inside this cylinder and defined by the inner surface of the cylinder, the outer peripheral surface of the shaft, and the blade gradually becomes smaller toward the tip. a screw feeder, a crusher for crushing the raw material disposed near the tip opening of the cylinder for introducing the raw material, and a rotary feeder attached to the raw material outlet side of the sealed container to expand and discharge the raw material. Continuous expansion processing equipment for raw materials. (2) The rotary feeder includes a plurality of platelets that extend toward the inner surface of the case and form pockets between them, a pushing member that runs vertically inside these blades, and a pushing member that is provided at the tip of the blade and that pushes the pushing member into the case. The continuous expansion processing device for raw materials according to claim 1, characterized in that the device comprises a sealing member that is brought into sliding contact with the inner surface. (3) The continuous expansion treatment apparatus for raw materials according to claim 1, wherein the outer periphery of the closed container is covered with a steam jacket. (4) a dehydration hole is formed in the raw material introduction cylinder;
The continuous swelling treatment device for raw materials according to item 1 of the application for utility model registration, characterized in that the portion in which the dehydration holes are formed is covered with a drainage cover. (5) The continuous swelling treatment apparatus for raw materials according to claim 1, wherein the opening formed at the tip of the raw material introduction cylinder is shaped like a throttle hole.