KR20230109835A - Apparatus for treating waste styrofoam - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a waste styrofoam processing apparatus including a volume reduction unit for volume reduction of waste styrofoam, a transfer unit for transporting the waste styrofoam reduced in volume in the volume reduction unit, a chamber for accommodating waste styrofoam that is sealed from the outside and communicated with the transfer unit, and a crusher installed inside the chamber for crushing the waste styrofoam.

Description

Waste Styrofoam processing device {APPARATUS FOR TREATING WASTE STYROFOAM}

The present invention relates to a waste styrofoam processing device, and more particularly, to a waste styrofoam processing device capable of simultaneously washing and shredding waste styrofoam to remove a volume reduction mixture.

Styrofoam is used for electronic product packaging, transport containers such as fruits and vegetables, fish farms, and building insulation materials, and its use is continuously increasing. After the use of Styrofoam, most of them are treated by methods such as incineration and landfill, and recyclable waste Styrofoam is treated by thermal reduction and mechanical reduction. These methods generate toxic gases (dioxin, etc.), dust, noise, and odor.

In addition, since Styrofoam is a thermoplastic product, it melts when heat is applied, so it has characteristics that can be recycled relatively easily.

Despite the recycling characteristics of Styrofoam, it was often buried in the ground due to problems with collection, etc., but recently, due to the increase in household waste, the number of landfills is gradually decreasing, and Styrofoam is being recycled.

Accordingly, in recent years, various methods for waste treatment of Styrofoam have been devised, and a treatment device for the waste treatment has been introduced. In a general Styrofoam processing device, waste Styrofoam is shredded with a shredder and then melted and compressed with heat. Such a general Styrofoam processing device has a problem of generating dust when crushing Styrofoam and generating harmful gases when melting with heat.

In particular, low-quality compression products that are used as recycled plastic through a melting process after volume reduction are difficult to sell, and additional facilities such as separation facilities are required, making it difficult to sell due to low economic feasibility.

In addition, in the case of a crusher for crushing waste styrofoam, a plurality of crushing blades are connected to a rotating shaft and rotated to crush the waste styrofoam.

However, in the conventional shredder, when the waste Styrofoam cut by a plurality of cutting blades reaches a predetermined size, the frequency of contact between the cutting blades is low, and it takes a long time to crush the foam to a predetermined size or less.

In addition, since a process for washing foreign substances and acetone attached to the waste styrofoam must be additionally performed, there is a problem in that the tact time is increased.

Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2021-0068784 (published on June 10, 2021) Korean Registered Patent No. 10-2144688 (2020.08.14. Notice) Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2020-0091579 (published on July 31, 2020)

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a waste Styrofoam processing device that can simultaneously perform washing for removing a volume reduction mixture and crushing of waste Styrofoam.

A waste styrofoam processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention may include a volume reduction unit for volume reduction of waste styrofoam, a transfer unit for transporting the waste styrofoam reduced in volume in the volume reduction unit, a chamber sealed from the outside and communicating with the transfer unit to accommodate the waste styrofoam supplied, and a crusher installed inside the chamber to shred the waste styrofoam.

Water may be filled in the chamber to submerge the crusher.

The volume reduction unit supplies a mixture to the waste Styrofoam, and the mixture may include acetone.

A dehydration device for removing moisture from the waste Styrofoam shredded by the crusher may be further included.

The drying device may further include a drying device for generating waste styrofoam powder dried at a high temperature by supplying warm air to the waste styrofoam from which moisture has been removed by the dehydration device.

A molding device for molding the waste styrofoam powder to form pellets may be further included.

In the waste Styrofoam processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention made as described above, the waste Styrofoam and acetone mixture obtained by reducing the waste Styrofoam to acetone are pulverized in the water of a tank equipped with a high-speed rotary screw crusher, and the acetone mixed in the mixture is dissolved in water, and at the same time, the waste Styrofoam is pulverized into fine powder by the crusher and can be completely separated.

In addition, since acetone is dissolved in water, ignition and vaporization of acetone in the atmosphere can be prevented.

In addition, during dry crushing of polystyrene dust, it is possible to prevent the dust from scattering into the surrounding environment.

In addition, compared to the conventional ingot manufacturing method, it is possible to drastically reduce the energy used.

In addition, the final product can be produced in the required form (powder or pellet) through pulverized high-quality polystyrene.

1 schematically shows a waste styrofoam processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Advantages and features of the present invention, and methods of achieving them, will become clear with reference to the detailed description of the following embodiments taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments disclosed below, but may be implemented in a variety of different forms, and only these embodiments are provided to complete the disclosure of the present invention and to fully inform those skilled in the art of the scope of the present invention to which the present invention belongs, and the present invention is only defined by the scope of the claims.

Terminology used herein is for describing the embodiments and is not intended to limit the present invention. In this specification, singular forms also include plural forms unless specifically stated otherwise in a phrase. As used herein, "comprises" and/or "comprising" does not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other elements other than the recited elements. Like reference numerals throughout the specification refer to like elements, and “and/or” includes each and every combination of one or more of the recited elements. Although "first", "second", etc. are used to describe various components, these components are not limited by these terms, of course. These terms are only used to distinguish one component from another. Accordingly, it goes without saying that the first element mentioned below may also be the second element within the technical spirit of the present invention.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used in this specification may be used with meanings commonly understood by those skilled in the art to which the present invention belongs. In addition, terms defined in commonly used dictionaries are not interpreted ideally or excessively unless explicitly specifically defined.

The spatially relative terms "below", "beneath", "lower", "above", "upper", etc. may be used to easily describe the relationship between one component and other components as shown in the figures. Spatially relative terms should be understood as encompassing different orientations of elements in use or operation in addition to the orientations shown in the drawings. For example, when flipping components shown in the drawings, components described as “below” or “beneath” other components may be placed “above” the other components. Thus, the exemplary term “below” may include directions of both below and above. Components may also be oriented in other orientations, and thus spatially relative terms may be interpreted according to orientation.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 schematically shows a waste styrofoam processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1 , an apparatus for processing waste Styrofoam according to an embodiment of the present invention may include a volume reduction unit 110 , a transfer unit 111 , and a chamber 120 .

In the volume reduction unit 110, a solution volume reduction formula using toluene, acetone, methyl chloride, etc. is used for volume reduction in the stored waste styrofoam. In this embodiment, for example, a mixture containing acetone may be introduced into the volume reduction unit 110 .

The mixture contains a large amount of acetone and may contain some foreign substances.

The transfer unit 111 may include a screw conveyor that is screwed in one direction while rotating inside the sealed tube. The waste Styrofoam that has been reduced inside the screw conveyor rises in an inclined state at a predetermined angle.

That is, the transfer unit 111 is such as a hopper equipped with a bottom-up screw conveyor, through which the liquid acetone present in the mixture containing acetone is primarily separated, and mixed in the mixture through a fine stainless steel mesh and attached to the styrofoam. Foreign substances such as stickers, vinyl tapes, and shells can be filtered out. Here, the stainless steel net may mean a strainer having a predetermined mesh value.

During transport additionally acetone may be separated from the mixture. Here, the separated acetone may pass through the purified water 113 through a separate pump and pipe and be recovered to the solvent recovery device 112.

Water may be filled in the chamber 120 .

When the mixture containing acetone is supplied into the chamber 120, water and acetone react to separate acetone from the waste styrofoam.

In addition, a crusher (not shown) including a high-speed rotating screw-type cutting blade (not shown) that can be applied to a large-capacity mixer or the like may be provided inside the chamber 120, and the cutting blade rotates to crush the waste styrofoam into fine sizes.

That is, inside the chamber 120, the waste styrofoam is finely crushed, and at the same time, the acetone contained in the waste styrofoam can be rapidly reacted with water and decomposed due to the vortex formed by the rotational force of the screw-type cutting blade, so that foreign substances and acetone can be washed and crushed at the same time.

In chamber 120, pure polystyrene can be secured by removing acetone from the mixture.

In addition, since crushing is performed in water inside the chamber 120, impurities attached to the polystyrene can be removed, and impurities can be removed again through the cyclone suction device 142 in the drying process of the drying device 140 described later.

A certain amount of the "purer polystyrene mixture" transferred upward by the conveying unit 111 is introduced into the chamber 120 equipped with a high-speed rotating screw-type cutting blade by an electric valve, and a certain amount of water is always stored in the chamber 120. Due to the reaction of acetone and water on the surface of the polystyrene mixture, acetone is separated and hardened to form a film.

A certain amount of the mixture transferred by the transfer unit 111 is introduced into the chamber 120 through a control valve (not shown).

In the chamber 120 into which the mixture is introduced, a cutting device such as a high-speed rotary screw pulverizer is operated to finely cut the mixture, and through this process, the mixture is continuously pulverized and the acetone in the mixture is dissolved in water. As a result, it is separated into polystyrene (PS) and a water + acetone solution (hereinafter, a solution).

In addition, the water continuously reacts with the acetone distributed in the mixture so that the acetone is separated from the polystyrene.

When the cutting blade is operated for a certain period of time inside the chamber 120, the mixture is completely separated from acetone and floats on water in the form of pure polystyrene.

The powder floating in the water is separated into water, acetone solution, and polystyrene through an opening installed at the top, and the mixed solution falls into the storage tank, and the polystyrene moves to the drying device 140 while being dehydrated in the dehydration device 130.

That is, when the separation operation into the polystyrene and the solution in the chamber 120 is completed, the polystyrene floats on top of the solution. Polystyrene suspended in this way may be supplied to the dewatering device 130 . The polystyrene passing through the dehydration device 130 may be supplied to the drying device in a state in which water is substantially removed.

The polystyrene introduced into the drying device 140 is dried at a high temperature by the heater blower 141 to become a polystyrene powder.

In the drying device 140, the polystyrene containing moisture is dried, and the polystyrene that has been dried is separated and discharged by a device such as a cyclone dust collector, and can be accommodated in a separate storage bin or bag.

The mixture is transferred to the solvent recovery device 112 through the communicating pipe and separated into acetone vapor and water through the solvent recovery device 112. The acetone recovered in this way is stored in the recycled acetone storage unit 114 and may be put back into the Styrofoam volume reduction operation.

In addition, the dissolved solution used more than a certain number of times in the chamber 120 is moved to the solvent recovery device 112, and may be separated into water and acetone through the solvent recovery device 112. The separated acetone may be put into the Styrofoam volume reduction operation again. At this time, the recovered water may be purified through a filter and introduced into the chamber 120 again.

The acetone vapor is condensed by passing through a cooling device (not shown) and recovered as liquid acetone. This regenerated acetone can be put into the Styrofoam volume reduction operation again, and the separated water is again filtered through a filter and this water can be put into the chamber 120 again.

In addition, thermal energy generated during operation of the polystyrene dryer can be used to generate acetone vapor in the solvent recovery unit through a heat exchanger.

Therefore, the recovered Styrofoam mixture can be recycled into pure polystyrene powder through a series of processes.

The dissolved solution separated from the transfer unit 111 moves to the solvent recovery device 112 through a pump and a pipe and is separated into water and acetone. The separated acetone may be put into the Styrofoam volume reduction operation again, and the recovered water may be purified through a filter and put into the chamber 120 again.

The pure polystyrene powder obtained as described above may be temporarily stored in the molding unit 150, molded into a predetermined shape in the pellet production unit 151, or delivered to the packaging unit 152 where it is packaged in a predetermined standard.

That is, it is possible to secure a cleaner and higher quality recycled polystyrene raw material compared to conventional Styrofoam compressed volume reduction, and the energy required for the process can be drastically reduced compared to the conventional manufacturing method in which compression volume reduction, ingot, and recycled polystyrene are performed in order.

Therefore, in the waste Styrofoam processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention, the waste Styrofoam and acetone mixture, which is reduced to acetone, is pulverized in the water of a tank equipped with a high-speed rotary screw crusher, and the acetone mixed in the mixture is dissolved in water. At the same time, the waste Styrofoam is pulverized into fine powder by the crusher and can be completely separated.

In addition, since acetone is dissolved in water, ignition and vaporization of acetone in the atmosphere can be prevented.

In addition, during dry crushing of polystyrene dust, it is possible to prevent the dust from scattering into the surrounding environment.

In addition, compared to the conventional ingot manufacturing method, it is possible to drastically reduce the energy used.

In addition, the final product can be produced in the required form (powder or pellet) through pulverized high-quality polystyrene.

As described above, the waste styrofoam processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention has been described with reference to the illustrated drawings, but the present invention is not limited by the embodiments and drawings described above, and within the scope of the claims, various implementations are possible by those skilled in the art.

100: waste styrofoam processing device
110: reduction unit
111: transfer unit
120: chamber
130: dehydration device
140: drying device
150: molding device

Claims (6)

a volume reduction unit for volume reduction processing of waste styrofoam;
a transfer unit for transporting the waste styrofoam reduced in volume in the volume reduction unit;
a chamber sealed from the outside and accommodating waste styrofoam supplied in communication with the transfer unit; and
A waste styrofoam processing device comprising a crusher installed inside the chamber and shredding the waste styrofoam. According to claim 1,
Waste styrofoam processing apparatus wherein water is filled in the chamber so that the crusher is submerged. According to claim 1,
The volume reducing unit supplies a mixture to the waste styrofoam, and the mixture includes acetone. According to claim 1,
The waste styrofoam processing apparatus further comprising a dehydration device for removing moisture from the waste styrofoam shredded by the crusher. According to claim 4,
The waste styrofoam processing apparatus further comprises a drying device for supplying warm air to the waste styrofoam from which moisture has been removed by the dehydration device to generate waste styrofoam powder dried at a high temperature. According to claim 5,
Waste styrofoam processing apparatus further comprising a molding device for molding the waste styrofoam powder to form pellets.

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