WO2002033320A1

WO2002033320A1 - Incinerating apparatus using low and high frequency induction heating

Info

Publication number: WO2002033320A1
Application number: PCT/KR2001/001737
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ji Deak Cheon
Original assignee: Ji Deak Cheon
Priority date: 2000-10-18
Filing date: 2001-10-16
Publication date: 2002-04-25
Also published as: AU2001296073A1

Abstract

Disclosed is an incinerating apparatus using low and high frequency induction heating. The incinerating apparatus includes a thermal decomposition type heating device (C) for instantaneously heat waste to a high temperature using low and high frequency heat, in order to thermally decompose the waste, and a dioxin treating device (D). The incinerating apparatus has a configuration advantageous for automation thereof while being capable of optionally adjusting heating temperature and time in accordance with the kind of waste and thermal decomposition conditions. The incinerating apparatus can completely remove dioxin produced during the thermal decomposition of waste, using the dioxin treating device (D). Accordingly, it is possible to prevent air pollution. The incinerating apparatus is also configured to recover waste heat generated during the thermal decomposition of waste, and to supply the recovered waste heat to various industrial facilities. Accordingly, it is possible to achieve a maximum utilization of energy.

Description

INCINERATING APPARATUS USING LOW AND HIGH FREQUENCY INDUCTION HEATING

Technical Field

The present invention relates to an incinerating apparatus using a high frequency heating source for the incineration and thermal decomposition of waste or corpses, etc. More particularly, the present invention relates to an incinerating apparatus using low and high frequency induction heating, which can completely remove offensive odors and noxious gases such as dioxin produced during the incineration and thermal decomposition of waste, and reuse waste heat generated during the incineration and thermal decomposition of waste.

Recently, large amounts of wastes have been generated at home or in various industrial fields due to a rapid social evolution and diversification of society. Waste is mainly buried in landfills. As a result, the burial of waste is a major cause of environmental pollution, and the establishment of the new sites for landfills is difficult. Due to the above problems, an incinerator using a heat source is strongly demanded, and specifically, the present invention is created to provide an incinerating apparatus which instantaneously incinerates human corpses only using electric power without the usage of fossil fuel such as LPG, LNG, gasoline, etc.

Background Art

^■ In conventional waste incinerators, an incinerating method is widely used in such a manner that waste is charged into a combustion chamber into which heat of high temperature generated by burning oil is supplied, and burnt at a high temperature.

The conventional method has a serious problem in that diverse noxious gases such as dioxin produced during the combustion of waste are discharged to the atmosphere, thereby causing air pollution.

Meanwhile, dioxin is a tricyclic aromatic compound containing several chlorine atoms. Since both polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxin (PCDD) with two oxygen atoms at its central ring, and polychlorinated dibenzofuran (PCDF) with a single oxygen atom at its central ring commonly represent dioxin, the correct expression of dioxin will be dioxins . In accordance with the number and positions of substituted chlorines, there are 75 homologues of PCDDs, and 135 homologues of PCDFs . Therefore, dioxins include totally 200 isomers. There are 17 isomers of dioxins exhibiting strong biological toxicity. These dioxin isomers are called "2, 3, 7, 8-substituted isomers" because they have substituted chlorine atoms at the 2, 3, 7, and 8 positions. Among these dioxin isomers, 2, 3, 7, 8- TCDD is the most toxic.

Regarding dioxin, there is an established theory that dioxin is completely decomposed when it is maintained at a high temperature of 700 °C or more for a certain period of time ("Waste Incinerating Technology", pp. 84, Sungandang Publishing Company, Ltd., Korea (November 20, 1996)).

In conventional waste incinerators, it is required to use huge pre-treating and post-treating facilities in order to remove dioxins. A great deal of effort has been directed toward development of an economical and efficient facility, thereby to improve the outstanding problems related with incineration of waste and removal of dioxins harmful to the human body. Various dioxin removal technologies have been proposed in the art. For example, there are technologies relating to electric dust collectors for dust removal, collected dust treating devices, an intensity-controlled combustion method in fluidized bed incinerators, a cyclic incinerating method in a fluidized bed incinerators, and a plasma incinerating method.

Normally, dioxin has a very stable molecular structure. Such dioxin is produced as a result of new synthesis occurring at about 300 °C during an incomplete combustion of waste. In order to break the rings in the molecular structure of dioxin, it is necessary to heat dioxin at a temperature of 850 °C or more for at least 2 seconds. Also, dioxin can be decomposed when it is instantaneously heated to a high temperature of 1,250 °C. However, it is difficult to provide such a heating condition in conventional incineration methods .

On the other hand, there is a device for thermally decomposing high molecular weight waste, in which high molecular weight waste is blended in a combustion chamber, heated and then carbonized by heat applied from the outside thereto. But, this device cannot control the temperature required for recycling of oil. For this reason, an incomplete carbonization may occur, thereby producing large amounts of noxious gases such as NOx, SOx, and dioxin. Therefore, the application of this device is limited to the processing of wastes involving a reduced production of noxious gas.

In order to remove noxious gases such as dioxin, etc., an adsorption tower made of activated carbon or activated coke has been proposed which serves to filter gas produced in the combustion of waste. However, this adsorption tower is inefficient in that the exhaust gas emerging from the 2/33320

adsorption tower still contains a large amount of noxious components such as dioxin. Furthermore, the absorption tower has a large size, thereby increasing the total size of the facility. In pace with the recent tendency of cremation to increase, incinerating methods using fossil fuel such as gasoline, LPG. or natural gas have been used for cremation. However, conventional incinerating methods have a technical limitation in that dioxin and other noxious gases are produced during the incineration. Furthermore, these conventional incinerating methods are uneconomical in that they use an incinerating furnace in which a time of 50 minutes or more is needed to incinerate an adult corpse.

Disclosure of the Invention Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a waste incinerating apparatus capable of removing noxious gases such as dioxin, thereby preventing air pollution while achieving a reduction in corpse incinerating time, a reduction in fuel costs, a reduction in the manufacturing costs, a reduction in the size of the apparatus, a complete corpse incineration, and a reduction in labor.

Another object of the invention is to provide a corpse incinerating apparatus capable of thermally decomposing offensive odors and noxious gases produced during the incineration of a corpse, thereby completely removing them, while generating a fluidized bed combustion reaction by use of an indirect induction heating -source for a short period of time, thereby reducing the incineration time . In accordance with the present invention, the above and other objects can be accomplished by an incinerating apparatus for using a low and high frequency induction heating in order to remove dioxin produced during the thermal decomposition of waste, comprising: a thermal decomposition type heating device including a heating casing, a heating drum rotatably mounted in a thermal decomposition chamber defined in the heating casing, the heating drum having a tapered shape so that its outer diameter increases gradually toward the outlet thereof, while being defined with a waste gas circulating chamber, a screw attached to an outer surface of the heating drum, a plurality of gas holes formed at a portion of the heating drum adjacent to an outlet port, an insulating layer formed around an outer surface of the heating casing, and a low and high frequency induction coil embedded in the insulating layer; and a dioxin treating device including a dioxin treating drum and defined with a diffusion chamber therein, an insulating layer formed around an outer surface of the dioxin treating drum, a low and high frequency induction coil embedded in the insulating layer, and a helical screw installed in the diffusion chamber .

Brief Description of the Drawings

The above and other objects, features and other advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal cross-section view showing an exploded incinerating apparatus in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a perspective cross-section view showing a thermal decomposition type heating device according to the embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 3 is a side view showing a heating drum according to the embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 4 is a longitudinal cross-section view totally showing an incinerating apparatus in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing the incinerating apparatus according to another embodiment of present invention, the incinerating apparatus is partially incised;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view showing an exploded dioxin treating device according to another embodiment of present invention; Fig. 7 is a cross-section view schematically showing an operational condition of Fig. 6; and

Fig. 8 is a cross-section view showing a thermal decomposition type heating device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

Reference will now be made in greater detail to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, an example of which is illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

Wherever possible, the same reference numeral will be used throughout the drawings and the description to refer to the same or like parts.

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal cross-section view showing an exploded incinerating apparat-us in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 2 is a perspective cross-section' view showing a thermal decomposition type heating device according to the ^'embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 3 is a side view showing a heating drum according to the embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in Fig. 1, the incinerating apparatus of the present invention includes a thermal decomposition type heating device C, and a dioxin treating device D connected at an inlet 21a thereof to an outlet of the heating device

C.

As shown in Fig. 2, the thermal decomposition type heating device C includes a heating casing 1 having an inlet 2 arranged at an upper part of the heating casing 1, and an outlet 3 arranged opposite to the inlet 2. A heating drum 5 is axially mounted in a thermal decomposition chamber 6 defined in the heating casing 1. The heating drum 5 is configured to rotate at low speed by a motor 4.

A low and high frequency induction coil 8 is embedded in an insulating layer 7 formed around the outer surface of the heating casing 1. Input and output ends of the low and high frequency induction coil 8 extend outwardly from the composition heating casing 1.

The heating drum 5 has a tapered shape so that its outer diameter increases gradually toward the outlet thereof. A screw 13 is attached to the outer surface of the heating drum 5 so that it extends spirally around the heating drum 5. A waste gas circulating chamber 14 is defined in the interior of the heating drum 5. A plurality of gas holes 15 are formed at -a portion of the heating drum 5 adjacent to the outlet port 3, so as to allow the waste gas circulating chamber 14 to communicate with the thermal decomposition chamber 6. The waste gas circulating chamber 14 is connected to an exhaust pipe 17 at its outlet end_ arranged adjacent to the outlet port 3.

Meanwhile, as shown in Figs. 1 and 6, the dioxin treating device D includes a dioxin treating drum 22, and a casing 23 housing the dioxin treating drum 22. The dioxin treating drum 22 is defined with a diffusion chamber 21 therein, and provided at both ends thereof with an inlet 21a and an outlet 21b having a reduced diameter, respectively.

Low and high frequency induction coils 8a are embedded in an insulating layer 7a interposed between the dioxin treating drum 22 and casing 23 of the dioxin treating device D. A helical screw 26 extends longitudinally in the diffusion chamber 21.

The operation of the incinerating apparatus having the above described construction according to the present invention will now be described.

As shown in Fig. 1, waste is put into the thermal decomposition chamber 6 through the inlet 2, and then fed toward the outlet 3 by the screw 13 rotating in accordance with the rotation of the heating drum 5 carried out by the motor 4. At the same time, current is induced by the low and high induction coil 8, and applied to the heating casing 1 and heating drum 5 which are, in turn, instantaneously heated by the induced magnetic current. As a result, the heating drum 5 of the heating casing 1 is heated to an elevated temperature. Thus, the waste is thermally decomposed while being stirred as it is fed to the outlet 3.

A central control system (not shown) can control the temperature of the heating casing 1 and heating drum 5 within a range of 400 to 1,300 °C in accordance with the kind and amount of waste by the modulation of frequency. It can be readily understood that the heating casing 1 and heating drum 5 are preferably made of a specific steel plate capable of easily achieving an increase in temperature by induced magnetic current. That is, the waste in the thermal decomposition chamber 6 is decomposed and carbonized as it is fed along the thermal decomposition chamber 6. The ash of carbonized waste is outwardly discharged from the outlet 3. At the same time, gas produced from the waste is introduced into the waste gas circulating chamber 14 through the gas holes 15 formed at a portion of the heating drum 5 adjacent to the outlet port 3. The introduced gas is burnt again in the waste gas circulating chamber 14 which is maintained at a high temperature. The resultant gas is then outwardly discharged through the exhaust pipe 17.

The gas outwardly discharged from the waste gas circulating chamber 14 via the exhaust pipe 17 is introduced into the diffusion chamber 21 of the dioxin treating device D via the inlet 21a. The introduced gas is moved to the outlet 21b while being whirled by the screw 26 in the diffusion chamber 21. Meanwhile, the dioxin treating drum 22 and screw 26 of the dioxin treating device D are heated to a temperature of

850° C to 1,250° C by the induced magnetic current from the low and high induction coil 8.

As a result, during the movement of waste gas in a whirled state in the diffusion chamber 21, dioxin contained in the waste gas is heated to a high temperature, so that the rings of the molecular structure of dioxin are broken. Thus, gas free of dioxin is discharged from the outlet 21b of the diffusion chamber 21.

Of course, the central control system (not shown) controls the heating temperature of the dioxin treating drum 22, thereby enabling the processing time and temperature to be selected freely in accordance with the given working conditions. If a liquid thermal conductor is filled in the low and high frequency induction coils 8 embedded in the insulating layer 7 of the heating casing 1, the thermal conductor can be indirectly heated by hot air present in the interior of the thermal decomposition chamber 6. In this case, the heated thermal conductor can circulate through a separate device such as a boiler, an air conditioning device or a heat exchanger in accordance with a free convection or forced intake method. Thus, heat generated from the thermal decomposition chamber 6 can be recovered for reuse. Similarly, a thermal conductor may be filled in the low and high frequency induction coil 8a embedded in the insulating layer 7a of the dioxin treating device D, in order to recover heat present in the diffusion chamber 21 for reuse. For the current applied to the low and high induction coils 8a and 8b, low, intermediate, or high frequency current may be selectively used in accordance with the kind of waste and working conditions. That is, the present invention has no limitation on the frequency of the used current .

In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, as shown in Fig. 8, the waste gas circulating chamber 14 may be formed around the outer surface of the thermal decomposition type heating device C. In this case, the same effect as that in the above described embodiment can be achieved.

Further, the present invention provides a corpse incinerating apparatus for incinerating human corpses using a low and high frequency induction heating source.

The configuration and function of this corpse incinerating apparatus will be described in detail with reference to the annexed drawings.

As shown in Fig. 5, the corpse incinerating apparatus according to the present invention includes a furnace 9 including a heating casing 20 defined with a combustion space. A carriage 10 is movable with respect to the heating casing 20 so that it feeds a coffin 28 containing a human corpse into the furnace 9. An induction coil 8 extending from a low and high frequency generating device 27 is installed around the heating casing 20 so as to inductively heat the heating casing 20 along with a screw 13 arranged in the heating casing 20.

Particularly, the induction coil 8 is helically wound around the outer surface of the heating casing 20, and connected to the low and high frequency generating device 27. The induction coil 8 is surrounded by an insulating layer in order to prevent its damage due to high temperature applied thereto. To enhance a combustion reaction occurring during the incineration of the corpse and coffin according to an indirect induction heating process, oxygen, that is, air containing oxygen, is supplied into the furnace 9 through an oxygen supply pipe connected to a fan 19. Accordingly, the supplied air generates vortex flows around the upper and lateral parts of the corpse and coffin, thereby generating a fluidized bed combustion reaction allowing the corpse and coffin to be efficiently incinerated.

Offensive odors and noxious gases produced in the combustion process are discharged from the outlet of the furnace 9 into a dioxin treating device D. As shown in Fig. 7, the dioxin treating device D includes an induction coil 8a electrically connected to a low and high frequency generating device 27 and adapted to inductively heat a screw and an outer drum surrounding the screw to a temperature of 800 °C or more in accordance with generation of a low or high frequency. As the screw and outer drum are inductively heated to a temperature of at least 800 °C, the gas introduced in the dioxin treating device D is thermally decomposed. The resultant gas is then introduced into a cyclone dust collector 16 via an exhaust flue 24 so as to remove dust therefrom. The dust-free gas is then outwardly discharged through an exhaust pipe 29 in accordance with an operation of a fan 19. The operation of the incinerating apparatus having the above described construction according to the present invention will be described below. As illustrated in Fig. 4, the carriage 10, on which a coffin with a corpse is laid, is moved into the furnace 9 through an insulating door automatically opened by an automatic switch 18. Microwaves are primarily generated in the furnace 9, thereby evaporating the moisture contained in the corpse. Once the corpse is dried to a desired level, the induction coils 8 and 8a connected to the low and high frequency generating device 27 heat the heating casing 20 surrounded by the insulating layer 7 in an indirect induction heating fashion to a burning temperature of 600 °C or more. As a result, the coffin 28 and the corpse are incinerated by the indirect induction heat source. In order to enhance a combustion reaction occurring during the incineration of the corpse and coffin according to the indirect induction heating process, oxygen, that is, air containing oxygen, is supplied under pressure into the furnace 9 through a nozzle provided at an end of the oxygen supply pipe connected to a fan 19. As an appropriate amount of oxygen is supplied into the furnace 9, the corpse and coffin can be burnt in accordance with their indirect combustion and carbonization reaction.

In particular, the supplied air generates vortex flows around the upper and lateral parts of the corpse and coffin, thereby generating a fluidized bed combustion reaction allowing the corpse and coffin to be efficiently incinerated. Offensive odors and noxious gases produced in the incineration process are discharged from the outlet of the furnace 9 into the dioxin treating device D which is a secondary combustion device. The induction coil 8a electrically connected to the low and high frequency generating device 27 inductively heats the screw 13 and the outer drum surrounding the screw 13 to a temperature of 800 to 1,200 °C. As the screw 13 rotates in a heated state, the gas introduced in the dioxin treating device D is thermally decomposed while forming vortex flows. The resultant gas is then introduced into the cyclone dust collector 16 via the exhaust flue 24, so that it removes dust therefrom. The dust-free innoxious gases are then discharged into the atmosphere through the exhaust pipe 29 in accordance with the operation of the fan 19.

Industrial Applicability

As apparent from the above description, the present invention provides an incinerating apparatus using low and high frequency induction heating. The incinerating apparatus includes a thermal decomposition type heating device for instantaneously heating waste to a high temperature using low and high frequency heat, in order to thermally decompose the waste, and a dioxin treating device. The incinerating apparatus has a configuration advantageous for automation thereof while being capable of optionally adjusting heating temperature and time in accordance with the kind of waste and thermal decomposition conditions. The incinerating apparatus can completely remove dioxin produced during the thermal decomposition of waste, using the dioxin treating device. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent air pollution. The incinerating apparatus is also configured to recover waste heat generated during the thermal decomposition of waste, and to supply the recovered waste heat to various industrial facilities. Accordingly, it is possible to achieve a maximum utilization of energy. The present invention not only effectively removes dioxin recently found to be a cause of environmental problems, but also provides a simple configuration capable of being easily applied to various waste treating devices so that it is practically implemented. The present invention is adapted to achieve effective cremation of human or animal corpses without any air pollution, thereby effectively coping with the recent tendency of cremation to increase. The present invention relates to an incinerating apparatus capable of treating corpses by use of a low and high frequency induction heating source simply using electric power, without using any fossil fuel. In accordance with this incinerating apparatus, it is possible to reduce pre-heating time^', compared to conventional cremation furnaces, while effectively removing noxious gases such as dioxin, and achieving a reduction in corpse incinerating time, a reduction in fuel cost, a reduction in labor, a complete corpse incineration, a reduction in the manufacturing costs, and a reduction in the size of the apparatus. The incinerating apparatus of the present invention can also be installed on a vehicle so that it is movable . Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims.

Claims

Claims :

1. An incinerating apparatus for using a low and high frequency induction heating in order to remove dioxin produced during the thermal decomposition of waste, comprising: a thermal decomposition type heating device including a heating casing, a heating drum rotatably mounted in a thermal decomposition chamber defined in the heating casing, the heating drum having a tapered shape so that its outer diameter increases gradually toward the outlet thereof, while being defined with a waste gas circulating chamber, a screw attached to an outer surface of the heating drum, a plurality of gas holes formed at a portion of the heating drum adjacent to an outlet port, an insulating layer formed around an outer surface of the heating casing, and a low and high frequency induction coil embedded in the insulating layer; and a dioxin treating device including a dioxin treating drum and defined with a diffusion chamber therein, an insulating layer formed around an outer surface of the dioxin treating drum, a low and high frequency induction coil embedded in the insulating layer, and a helical screw installed in the diffusion chamber .

2. The incinerating apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein the thermal decomposition type heating device comprises a furnace, a carriage, a heating casing, and a fan for supplying oxygen into the furnace; and the dioxin treating device comprises a secondary combustion furnace communicated with the thermal decomposition type heating device via an exhaust flue, and a cyclone dust collector installed between the exhaust flue and an exhaust pipe.