KR101397665B1 - Apparatus and Method for Separating of Copper from Insoluble Communication Cable - Google Patents

Abstract

In the technology of recycling resources by separating jelly-filled insecure communication cable into copper and polymer residual materials, we use environmentally friendly substances as intermediaries instead of aromatics such as toluene, It is a technology that secures productivity and economical efficiency by continuous process rather than batch type.

Jelly, filling, polyethylene, unused communication cable, dry cable, copper cable, copper

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD [0001] The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for separating copper from an unused communication cable,

The present invention relates to a method of separating copper from a communication cable, and more particularly, to an apparatus and method for separating copper from an insoluble communication cable filled with jelly.

Telecommunication companies are replacing cable-based telecommunication lines with optical cables and are removing existing copper cables.

These copper cables have various kinds of cables depending on the material, shape, structure, and the shim athlete. In order to prevent moisture penetration, a cable filled with jelly (hereinafter referred to as a "jelly cable") and a general dry cable Dry cable ').

Dry cable can separate copper and polyethylene (PE) coating by chopping method to recover copper from cable. In the case of jelly cable, it can be burned to recover copper or aromatic solvent (eg, Toluene) can be used to wash the jelly or melt the PE sheath.

However, it is known that existing incineration methods and toluene use cause environmental damage and damage the human body.

Therefore, more environmentally friendly resource recovery technology is required for the resource conversion process of the jelly cable.

Jelly filled in jelly cable is composed of mineral oil and organic compounds such as polybutylene, polyethylene, and additives such as polymers and additives, and is very difficult to handle because of its high viscosity and it is not easy to recycle.

Therefore, it is virtually impossible to separate the copper from the chipping method applied to the dry cable.

In the past, we have been using simple methods such as incineration but it is regulated by the authorities because of possibility of environmental pollution such as dioxin emission. When the jelly is removed by a solvent such as toluene, it is harmful to the human body and it is regulated by the Hazardous Chemical Substance Management Act and the Waste Management Act There is a problem to receive.

In order to solve such problems, the present invention provides an apparatus and a method for separating copper from an insoluble communication cable filled with jelly and separating copper into a residue of a polymer and an unused communication cable for recycling resources.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for separating copper from an unused communication cable, comprising: a cutter for cutting a cable cut into a predetermined length; A reactor for stirring the cable cut to a predetermined length with a solvent heated to a predetermined temperature to remove a cable insulator remaining on the surface of the copper; A copper drying apparatus for drying and compressing the copper from the reactor to a constant volume; And a solvent separator for cooling the solution from the reactor to a predetermined temperature through a cooling tank, and recovering the solvent by centrifugal force to reuse the cooled solution.

A method for separating copper from an unused communication cable for separating copper using a copper separating apparatus in a communication cable according to the present invention comprises the steps of: (a) cutting a cable having a sheath cut to a predetermined length; (b) stirring the cable cut to the predetermined length with a solvent heated to a predetermined temperature to remove the cable insulation remaining on the surface of the copper; (c) drying and compressing the copper from step (b) to a predetermined volume; And (d) cooling the solution from step (b) to a predetermined temperature through a cooling tank, and recovering and reusing the solvent by centrifugal force.

According to the above-described structure, since the present invention is environmentally friendly and continuous process than the conventional method, productivity and economical efficiency of the recycling process of the jelly cable can be expected to be improved.

The present invention can reduce the maintenance cost by automating the entire system since the solvent used for removing the insulator can be used repeatedly, thereby reducing labor costs.

The present invention can extract the copper and use the remainder as a raw material for producing fuel oil or making recycled plastics in the oiling process.

The present invention can be expected to have an effect of improving the recovery rate of copper compared with the conventional method.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings so that those skilled in the art can easily carry out the present invention. The present invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. In order to clearly illustrate the present invention, parts not related to the description are omitted, and similar parts are denoted by like reference characters throughout the specification.

Throughout the specification, when an element is referred to as "comprising ", it means that it can include other elements as well, without excluding other elements unless specifically stated otherwise.

1 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of an apparatus for separating copper from an unused communication cable according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The apparatus for separating copper from an insoluble communication cable according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a cutter 100, a first reactor 120, a second reactor 140, a third reactor 160, a copper drying apparatus 180, A cooling tank 190, a solvent separator 192, a residue dryer 196, and a scrubber 198.

The cutter 100 cuts a cable having a sheath cut to a predetermined length and continuously feeds the cut through the conveyor 110. [

The first reactor 120, the second reactor 140 and the third reactor 160 stir the cut cable with a solvent heated to about 120 degrees and perform swelling and melting processes, . Here, the solvent is an environmentally friendly solvent which is obtained by mixing several solvents in an isoparaffin-based solvent containing no aromatic component in the hydrocarbon solvent, thereby improving the working characteristics.

The heating temperature of the solvent depends on the length of time that the cable stays in the reactors 120, 140, and 160. If the residence time is long, the temperature may be lower than 120 degrees.

The first reactor 120, the second reactor 140, and the third reactor 160 have a steam boiler for applying heat and are inclined at an angle of 15 to 30 degrees for natural separation of the copper and the solution, And has a connection structure.

The first reactor 120, the second reactor 140 and the third reactor 160 are formed in a rotary manner for axially transferring copper as well as an axis and an impeller for stirring a cable with a solvent .

Although the number of reactors according to the embodiment of the present invention is three, the number of reactors can be increased or decreased based on the completeness of the process, the number of rotations of the impellers of the reactors 120, 140, and 160, Or more, or three or less), and when two are connected in series, effective operation is possible.

The shear reactor and the rear stage reactor are structured to prevent the solvent from leaking. As the reactors 120, 140, and 160 increase in cleanliness of the copper toward the downstream reactor and the concentration of the solution becomes lower, the solution can be returned to the shear reactor depending on the concentration of the solution in the downstream reactor.

The capacitor according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a first capacitor 130, a second capacitor 150 and a third capacitor 170. The first reactor 120, the second reactor 140, (160) collects and processes the solvent vapor, and functions to recover the evaporated solvent.

The copper drying apparatus 180 dries the copper from the reactor at the last stage (the third reactor 160), compresses it to a constant volume, and blows out high-temperature high-pressure air to the extracted copper to recover the residual solvent.

The cooling tank 190 recovers the solvent used for the swelling and the melting process of the cable from the reactors 120, 140 and 160, and therefore needs to be reused to cool the solution to an appropriate temperature.

The solvent separator 192 recovers the solvent by centrifugal force and stores the solution cooled to a suitable temperature in the storage tank 194.

The residue drying device 196 passes the residue from the solvent separator 192 to separate the polymer material and solvent such as PE coating and reclaim the solvent as much as possible.

The scrubber 198 passes the vapor of the solvent that has not been recovered in the entire process and further recovers or burns the solvent.

Next, with reference to FIG. 2, a method for separating copper from an unused communication cable will be described.

FIG. 2 is a view for explaining a method of separating copper from an unused communication cable according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The cutter 100 cuts a telecommunication cable (jelly cable) having a sheath off to a predetermined length and transmits the cable to the reactors 120, 140 and 160 using the conveyor 110 (S100).

The first reactor 120 may pre-clean the communication cable cut to a predetermined length with the solvent of the proper temperature and then cut the communication cable so that the communication cable is well dispersed in the reactors 120, 140, and 160 to be stirred with the high temperature solvent .

The first reactor 120 stirs the communication cable with a solvent heated to a specific temperature to remove the cable insulation remaining on the surface of the copper while performing the process of blowing and melting the cable insulation to the cable insulation (S102).

The first condenser 130 collects the vapor of the solvent from the first reactor 120 to recover the evaporated solvent (S104).

The second reactor 140 receives the copper, the solution, and the polymer material from the first reactor 120 and performs the same function in the first reactor 120 (S102).

The second condenser 150 collects the vapor of the solvent from the second reactor 140 to recover the evaporated solvent (S104).

The third reactor 160 receives the copper, the solution, and the polymer material from the second reactor 140 and performs the same function in the first reactor 120 (S102).

The third condenser 170 collects the vapor of the solvent from the third reactor 160 to recover the evaporated solvent (S104).

As the cleanliness of the copper increases and the concentration of the solution becomes lower as it goes to the downstream reactor, the solution can be used again by the shear reactor according to the concentration of the solution in the downstream reactor.

The first reactor 120, the second reactor 140, and the third reactor 160 are inclined at an angle to naturally separate the copper and the solution.

The copper drying apparatus 180 dries and compresses copper from the third reactor 160 to a predetermined volume, and blows hot air at a high temperature and pressure to the extracted copper to recover the residual solvent (S106).

The cooling tank 190 is required to recover and reuse the solvent used for the swelling and the melting process of the communication cable from the first reactor 120, the second reactor 140 and the third reactor 160, Lt; / RTI >

The solvent separator 192 recovers the solvent by centrifugal force and stores the solution cooled in the cooling tank 190 at an appropriate temperature in the storage tank 194 (S108). For example, the solvent separator 192 refers to a continuous centrifuge such as a decanter, a peeler, or the like for recovering a solvent from a solution in which an insulator is dissolved.

The residue drying device 196 passes the residue from the solvent separator 192 to separate the residual polymer and solvent such as PE coating and recover the solvent as much as possible (S110). Here, the residue drier 196 is a device for heating and drying the residue to further recover the solvent.

The scrubber 198 passes the vapor of the solvent not recovered in the entire process to further recover or burn the solvent (S112).

The above-described step S102 is a step of extracting copper, and the step S108 to step S112 are steps of recovering the solvent. Two steps may be performed sequentially or simultaneously.

The embodiments of the present invention described above are not implemented only by the apparatus and / or method, but may be implemented through a program for realizing functions corresponding to the configuration of the embodiment of the present invention, a recording medium on which the program is recorded And such an embodiment can be easily implemented by those skilled in the art from the description of the embodiments described above.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments, It belongs to the scope of right.

1 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of an apparatus for separating copper from an unused communication cable according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view for explaining a method of separating copper from an unused communication cable according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Claims (11)

A cutter for cutting a cable having a sheath cut to a predetermined length; A shear reactor that stirs the cable cut to a predetermined length with a solvent heated to a specific temperature to remove a cable insulator remaining on the surface of the copper; At least one rear stage reactor connected to the front stage reactor in a closed connection manner and stirring the cable delivered from the front stage reactor with a solvent heated to a specific temperature to remove the cable insulation remaining on the surface of the copper; A copper drying apparatus for drying and compressing the copper from the rear stage reactor to a constant volume; And And a solvent separation device for cooling the solution from the shearing reactor and the rear stage reactor through a cooling tank to a predetermined temperature and recovering the solvent by centrifugal force to reuse the cooled solution, The downstream reactor is fed back into the shear reactor according to the concentration of the solution Wherein the copper wire is a copper wire. The method according to claim 1, A condenser for collecting and treating the solvent vapor in the front stage reactor and the rear stage reactor and recovering the evaporated solvent, Further comprising: a copper wire; 3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, A residue drying device for passing the residue from the solvent separation device to separate the polymer residue material and the solvent and to recover the separated solvent; And A scrubber for passing the vapor of the solvent that has not been recovered in the entire process to recover or recover the unrecovered solvent, Further comprising: a copper wire; 3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, Wherein the rear stage reactor is a device for separating copper from an unused communication cable that adds or subtracts the number of rear stage reactors based on at least one of the completeness of the process, the impeller rotation speed of the rear stage reactor, and the axial length of the rear stage reactor . 3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, Wherein the shear reactor and the rear stage reactor are inclined at an angle to separate the copper and the solution and, when the reactor is composed of one or more reactors, separate the copper from the insoluble communication cable having a closed connection system between the reactors. 3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, Wherein the shearing reactor and the rear stage reactor comprise an impeller for stirring the cable cut with the predetermined length with the solvent and a rotary type device for axially transferring the copper, . CLAIMS 1. A method for separating copper from a disabling communication cable, the method comprising: (a) cutting a cable having a sheath cut to a predetermined length; (b) cutting the cable cut to the predetermined length into a single shear reactor, wherein the shear reactor stirs the cable with a solvent heated to a specific temperature to remove the cable insulation remaining on the surface of the copper, and at least one rear- Wherein the rear stage reactor is connected to the front stage reactor in a closed connection manner and the cable delivered from the front stage reactor is stirred with a solvent heated to a specific temperature to remove the cable insulation remaining on the surface of the copper, Removing the cable insulation remaining on the surface of the copper while transferring the copper insulation to the copper surface; (c) drying and compressing the copper from step (b) to a predetermined volume; And (d) cooling the solution from step (b) to a predetermined temperature through a cooling tank, and recovering and reusing the solvent by centrifugal force, The downstream reactor is fed back into the shear reactor according to the concentration of the solution Wherein the copper wire is a copper wire. 8. The method of claim 7, In the step (b) Wherein said rear stage reactor can be added or subtracted according to completion of the process. 8. The method of claim 7, After the step (d) Separating the residual polymer material from the solvent by passing the residue from the step (d), evaporating the separated solvent to further recover ≪ / RTI > further comprising the steps < RTI ID = 0.0 > of: < / RTI > 8. The method of claim 7, In the step (b) Collecting and treating the solvent vapor in the front stage reactor and the rear stage reactor performing the function of step (b) and recovering the evaporated solvent ≪ / RTI > further comprising the steps < RTI ID = 0.0 > of: < / RTI > 11. The method according to any one of claims 7 to 10, Wherein the solvent is an isoparaffin-based solvent containing no aromatic component in a solvent of a hydrocarbon.

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