WO2008105004A1

WO2008105004A1 - Chemical reactors, or containers in general, with improved heating/cooling system, in particular for treatments of leather and fabrics

Info

Publication number: WO2008105004A1
Application number: PCT/IT2007/000142
Authority: WO
Inventors: Mario Serrini
Original assignee: Italprogetti Engineering S.P.A.
Priority date: 2007-02-27
Filing date: 2007-02-27
Publication date: 2008-09-04
Also published as: BRPI0721334A2; EP2121178A1

Abstract

A chemical reactor, or container in general, intended for treating leathers, fabrics or various products, by using chemical baths, is provided with conduits, comprised inside the surfaces of the container, for the circulation of heat exchanger fluid for heating and/or cooling the chemical bath and the products contained. The above conditioning system is especially effective in view of the relevant surface of thermal exchange which can be obtained, in view of the protection of the conditioning circuit from the chemical weapons and for the possibility of feeding the conditioning circuit with high temperature and pressure liquids. The conduits are obtained by proper container's manufacturing techniques, and in particular, they are directly extruded with the sheets of material used to form the surfaces of the container. This last, in specific embodiments, can be a drum for treating leathers and fabrics made of polymeric material.

Description

CHEMICAL REACTORS, OR CONTAINERS IN GENERAL, WITH IMPROVED HEATING/COOLING SYSTEM, IN PARTICULAR FOR TREATMENTS OF LEATHER AND FABRICS. o o o o o o

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention concerns chemical reactors, and containers in general, for treating leathers, fabrics or other products, Specifically, but not exclusively, the invention concerns static or revolving containers, made of- polymeric material provided with an optimized built-in heating and/or cooling system.

STATE OF THE ART

In processes for treating leathers, fabrics or various products, are used, as known, containers in which the above products are immersed in chemical baths, or solutions, suitable to perform the specific treatment.

Such chemical baths, or solutions, are acid, corrosive and highly attacking so that the relative containers, or chemical reactors, have to be made, or internally covered, in chemical-proof materials. Furthermore, to perform some specific treatments, the chemical baths and the leathers or products under treatment, have to be heated or cooled during their staying inside said containers.

In the tanning sector, for instance, are widely adopted, for said aim, special containers rotating around a central axis, called drums. This last will be referred to in the followings in order to describe the state of the art. The way they are heated/cooled represents, in fact, a quite complex matter for which have been proposed and developed various types of solutions.

One of the most widespread solutions consists of providing a heat exchanger, fed with water or steam, located inside the drum and made of materials resistant to chemical weapons. Since the heat exchanger reaches a temperature which may damage the leathers, proper means to protect them have to be provided to avoid a direct contact between leathers and heat exchanger. If the container is a revolving drum it has to be installed a revolving manifold in correspondence to the central axis to allow the circulation of the fluid from the exchanger to the external apparatus and vice-versa. Therefore, the solution appears quite expensive and involves remarkable managing problems. A second solution consists of taking away the bath from a peripheral section of the drum and letting it into the drum again after heating or cooling. That causes a certain complication because are required both controlling the flow of bath removed by means of a valve located at a peripheral section of the drum, and using means apt to pump the bath and to heat it using proper heat exchangers or steam injection. The system has a very bad efficiency and, moreover, the need of taking away the bath from the drum increasesihe risk of a bath oxidizing. A further solution consists of taking away the bath through the axis of the drum and heating it inside a tank installed close to the axis itself. This is a more efficient and effective system than the previous one, and 000142

it also allows filtering the bath; but- complex and expensive machineries are needed, which are moreover subjected to frequent maintenance. Even a direct injection of steam or hot water into the drum can be provided. Nevertheless it descends a watering down of the bath, the need of safety systems and it also causes risks of damaging to the leathers or the other products to be treated, and also to the machineries. Finally, a very effective solution provides manufacturing the drum with a double-surfaced structure, in which, between the internal surface and the external surface are obtained, usually by machining one of the surfaces, interspaces apt to the circulation of a liquid, hot or cold, which acts as a thermal conditioner. This last solution is usually adopted in drums, or containers in general, moade of polymeric material. Even this solution still has some limits. First of all the interspaces made between the two surfaces have to be watertight sealed so that many strong weld seams have to be provided which remarkably make more complex the manufacturing process, and then also increase the costs of the structure.

In addiction, and even more important, the exchanger liquid cannot circulate at high pressure since it may cause disjunction of the two surfaces, with relating loss of the above watertight sealing.

In view of the above reasons it seems to be very important to look for effective and safe solutions, and simple from a manufacturing point of view, for the heating and cooling of chemical baths inside containers, and, in particular but not exclusively, in drums for treating leathers, fabrics or various and different products. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Main object of the present invention is to propose a chemical reactor, or container in general, with an optimized conditioning system of the bath and products contained, with high efficiency and simplicity of manufacturing.

Further object of the invention is to provide a container, and in particular a drum, with a conditioning system able to overcome the above described problems affecting the solutions of the known art, and specifically the problems concerning the watertight sealing and the complex structures which come with the drums in which the heat conditioning is realised through a heat exchanger liquid circulating inside the surfaces of the drums.

The aforesaid objects are attained through a chemical reactor, or container in general, apt to contain baths comprising chemicals for treating leathers, fabrics or different products, characterized in that it comprises at least one surface in the thickness of which are provided conduits apt to convey a heat exchanger fluid under pressure. According to a first embodiment, said conduits are cavities made on one side of at least a first surface, said cavities being intended to house hoses in which circulates the heat exchanger fluid, at least a second surface being coupled to said first surface in a way that said hoses remain comprised between said first surface and said second surface. Said second surface can be arranged internally or externally with respect to said first surface. T2007/000142

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In particular, if said containers are drums said first surface is the cylindrical surface of the drum, or part of it, while said second surface, still cylindrical, is shrunk on or inside said first surface. Said cavities are advantageously cut by milling one side of said first surface. The section of said cavities provides, close to the external side of said first surface, an opening having same width as the external diameter of said hoses, so that they can be inserted into the cavity, while the internal part of the cavity itself has a greater width with respect to its opening, so that the hoses, once inserted, remain firmly housed inside said cavities.

In an alternative embodiment, said conduits are directly obtained in the thickness of longitudinally perforated sheets of material used to form the surfaces of the container, said sheets being made by extrusion, or different similar process. Said conduits are, in a planar development of the surface in which they are obtained, substantially linear and parallel each other and they are separately connected, through holes and pipes, to the heat exchanger fluid adduction and discharge system. Alternatively said conduits are properly connected each other through transversal holes made inside the thickness of the surface; such transversal holes may then be connected to the heat exchanger fluid adduction and discharge pipelines.

Weld points or seams are provided to interrupt said conduits in order to allow the circulation of the heat exchanger fluid according to the desired paths and directions. In case said containers are, in particular, drums for treating leathers, fabrics or similar products, the layout of said conduits is designed so that the conduits cover almost all the cylindrical surface of the drum but a zone close to the port for loading and unloading the treated products. Both in case the conduits are directly made in extruded sheets of material forming the surfaces of the container, and in case the conduits are obtained through hoses placed between adjacent surfaces, said surfaces of the container are made in polymeric material. The advantages relating to the container with optimized conditioning system above described are immediately clear in consideration of the perfect union between the conditioning system, and the extreme simplicity of manufacturing which, at the same time, provides high safety levels during the use. By making good use of the thickness of the surface of the container, for housing the conditioning system, furthermore descends the optimization of the structural strength of the container itself on the same weight of material employed. Further relevant advantage consists of the possibility of making chemical reactors, or containers in general, with the above conditioning system, both in metallic materials, and in polymeric materials, and of the two kinds of materials used together. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For better understanding, however, the characteristics of the present invention and the related advantages, will be described, in the following, embodiments of the same, by the help of the enclosed drawings, in which: - figure 1 shows a schematic side view of a cylindrical revolving container, or drum, for treating leathers, fabrics or different products, according to the present invention;

- figure 2 shows a schematic planar development of the cylindrical surface of the drum of fig.1 ;

- figure 3 shows a broken section view obtained by the section plane m-m of fig.l;

- figure 4 shows a broken section view obtained by the section plane IV-IV of fig.2; - figure 5 shows a schematic planar development of the cylindrical surface of a different embodiment of a container, in particular a drum, according to the invention;

- figure 6 shows a section view .obtained by the section plane VI-VI of fig-5; - figure 7 shows a detail of fig.6;

- figure 8 shows a section view obtained by the section plane VTH- Vm of fig.6;

- figure 9 shows a detail of fig.8;

- figure 10 shows a very schematic perspective view of a different embodiment of the container according to the invention;

- figure 11 shows a very schematic view of a further embodiment of a container according to the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

With reference to fig.l, it is pointed at, as a whole, with 10 a container, in particular a cylindrical drum for treating leathers, fabrics or different products, showed in a side view in which can be recognized one of the two planar surfaces, 11, the cylindrical surface, 12, and a support structure, 13. The drum rotates around the axis of the hollow shaft, 14. In figure 2, showing a planar development of the cylindrical surface 12, is pointed out with 15 a series of conduits obtained inside the thickness of the cylindrical surface 12 itself.

As shown in figs. 3 and 4, enlarged sections of specific zones of figs. 1 and 2, the cylindrical surface 12 is composed of an internal cylindrical surface, 16, and an external cylindrical surface, 18, overlapping in such a way that their contact sides are perfectly mating each other. The internal cylindrical surface, 16, provides cavities, 19, whose upper zone, 20, has same width as the external diameter of the hose, 22, in which circulates the heat exchanger fluid and which is housed inside said cavity 19, while the bottom zone, 21, has a bit greater width, so that the hose 22, once inserted into the cavity 19, is firmly housed in it; that moreover facilitates the shrinking of the external surface 18 on the internal surface 16. The manufacturing process of the cylindrical surface, 12, is extremely simple. The internal surface 16 is obtained from a planar sheet of metallic or polymeric material, which is shaped in the size of the planar development of the cylindrical surface of the drum, or eventually in parts of it which are then welded together. The cavities 19 are obtained by milling the planar sheet which is then calendered to give it the final cylinder shape. The hoses, 22, are also properly calendered and inserted 0142

in the cavities, 19. Finally, the external surface, 18, also obtained by calendering, is shrunk on the internal surface 16, so that, when it cools down, it is firmly coupled without clearance to the internal surface 16. The hoses, 22, proceed inside the surface 12 according to the path defined by the conduits 15 and clearly shown in fig.2. In particular it can be seen that, in this embodiment, there are two separate paths: a first path starts from the aperture 23, runs in the upper half, 27, of the cylindrical surface 12 and then comes back close to the start point coming out at the aperture 24; a second path starts from the aperture 25, runs in the bottom half, 28, of the surface 12 and comes out at the aperture 26. To the apertures 23, 24, 25 and 26 are connected relating linking pipes, shown in figs. 1 and 3, which, grouping in an adduction pipe 29, and a discharge pipe, 30,. provided with valves, 31 and 32, convey the pipeline towards the hollow shaft, 14, of the drum, 10, through which they are connected to an outer system.

Through the above disclosed system the container is conditioned in a simple and effective way. The subdivision in at least two different paths allow sharing the flow of the exchanger fluid among different parallel circuits which, therefore, can be sized with small sections, so reducing the thickness of the surfaces of the container needed to house the circuits themselves.

A heat exchanger fluid is run into the drum, at the desired temperature and pressure, through the hollow shaft 14 and from this it flows in the adduction pipe 29 which leads it towards the apertures 23 and 25. From this point, the fluid runs the hoses, 22, of the conduits, 15, whose layout is designed to effectively cover all the cylindrical surface, 12, but the zone close to the port, 33, for loading and unloading the leathers or other products.

After running the conduits 15 the fluid exits through the apertures 24 and 26 and flowing through the discharge pipe, 30, it runs back to the shaft, 14, of the drum through which it is conveyed outside by a revolving manifold of known art.

The surface, 12, is so uniformly conditioned at the desired temperature, so assuring also an uniform conditioning of the substances inside the container, 10.

The internal cylindrical surface, 16 and the external cylindrical surface, 18, can be completely made of polymeric material, especially suitable in case that inside the container there are chemical weapons. The hoses and pipes 22, 29, 30 and the all pipeline in which run the heat exchanger fluid can be realized by means of standard hydraulic hoses, preferably for high pressure. By adopting the above disclosed conditioning system, in fact, the hoses, 22, and the entire pipeline do not ever get in contact with the chemical weapons inside the container and, therefore, they have not to be designed to resist them, while, the cylindrical surface, 12, have not to be designed to resist the high pressures of the exchanger fluid since such pressure is completely sustained by the hoses 22 so that it does not stress the elements. 16, 18 of said surface. In figures from 5 to 9 is shown a different embodiment of a container, 10', in particular a drum, with optimized conditioning system according to the invention. In this embodiment the conduits 15' are directly obtained in the extruded sheet forming the cylindrical surface 12', which, therefore, in this case, is made in a single layer. Due to their manufacturing process, the conduits 15' do not run curved paths as, on the contrary, the conduits 15 of fig.2 do, but they are, in a planar development of the surface 12', perfectly linear and parallel each other. In every conduits, 15', are provided, close to the port, 33', interruption points made by means of weld points, 34. In each conduit 15' are made two holes, near the weld points, 34, holes which are apt to put into communication each conduit with two manifolds, 36 and 37, respectively intended to adduction and discharge of the heat exchanger fluid.

The manifolds 36 and 37 are then connected to the adduction and discharge pipelines 29 and 30, not shown in figs, from 5 to 9, and from this pipes conveyed, through the hollow shaft of the drum, to the external part of the system.

As you can see in fig.9 the conduits 15', can have whatever shape in section, as, for instance, the rectangular shape with rounded edges shown in figure. The present embodiment works in a way similar to what previously disclosed. In particular it can be noted that the exchanger fluid contemporaneously enters, from the manifold 36, into all the conduits 15' and, referring to fig.6, it anticlockwise runs the cylindrical surface, 12', and reaches the manifold 37 through which it is conveyed outside. The fluid is forced to anticlockwise run the surface 12' thanks to the presence of the weld points, 34, without which it could clockwise flow 0142

12 from the manifold 36 to the manifold 37, running the shortest path, but not assuring the uniform conditioning of the whole cylindrical surface

12'.

The presence of the conduits 15% directly obtained by extrusion in the thickness of the surface 12', makes possible to avoid the use of the hoses 22, since, simply properly choosing the ratio between the thickness of the surface 12' and the diameter of the conduits 15', the mechanical resistance of the surface against the stress exerted by the pressure of the exchanger fluid can be assured. Certainly the hoses 22, eventually flexible, may be still used inside the conduits 15' according to special applications.

Obviously the layout of the conduits.15', of the weld points 34 and then also the arrangement of the manifolds 36 and 37 may vary as a function of specific needs. Further modifications and changes to the container with optimized conditioning system according to the invention can obviously be carried out.

For instance the manifolds 36 and 37 could be replaced by simple transversal holes made in the cylindrical surface 12' and apt to link together the conduits 15', holes that can be connected to conveyor pipes

29 and 30 similar to the ones shown in the first embodiment, apt to convey the fluid to the axis of the drum.

The heat exchanger fluid has to be conveyed towards the axis 14, of the drum 10, 10', only in case of revolving containers, while, in case of static machineries, the fluid can be conveyed outside the machine directly from the apertures of the conduits 15, 15', running whatever desired path and with any desired means.

The embodiments disclosed so far substantially concern drums for treating leathers, fabrics or different products, which the use of the conditioning system of the invention is particularly suited to. Nevertheless it can be advantageously applied to every kinds of chemical containers which need an especially reliable and safe conditioning system. In fig.10 is shown a general container, 10", with a box shape, in whose surfaces 12" are obtained, by extrusion, conduits, 15", in which can circulate the heat exchanger fluiςl. To let the fluid run a closed circuit it is only needed to make weld seams, 34", apt to close at the peripheral zones of the surfaces 12" the conduits 15", which can then be properly linked together through transversal holes made in the thickness of the surfaces 12". For instance, still referring to fig.lO, the holes 38, arranged in the upper part of the container can be connected to fluid adduction pipes, while the holes 39. still in the upper part of the container are connected to discharge pipes. So the fluid enters the surfaces 12" from the holes 38, runs down the conduits 15" and, thanks to the further transversal hole 40, runs up the conduits leading to the holes 39. The surfaces of the container in this way are effectively conditioned according to the specific requirements thanks to the circulation, inside them, of the heat exchanger fluid at defined temperature and pressure. Obviously also the base of the container can be provided with the conduits 15", as shown in figure. -"

According to specific applications, the conduits can be arranged with the desired gap one from the other or covering only some parts of the container, for instance just the bottom part when the container is usually filled under a certain height.

A further embodiment is shown in fig.11, in which a cylindrical container, 10'", made of plastic or polymeric material is supported by a frame, 41. From the broken view you can note that in the thickness of the surface, 12'", of the container are provided conduits, 15'", with a rectangular section, which can be easily obtained by extruding the surface. Also in this case, even if they are not shown in figure for simplicity of representation, weld point or seams and transversal holes can be easily realized to obtain closed circuits apt to let the fluid circulate inside the surface, from an adduction pipeline, to a discharge pipeline.

Further changes and modifications <:ould certainly concern the adduction and discharge pipelines and the fluid feeding system towards the conduits 15, 15', 15", 15'". These and other changes or modifications can be brought to the container for chemical treatments as disclosed in the above still remaining in the field of protection defined by the following claims.

Claims

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CLAIMS - Chemical reactor, or container in general, apt to contain baths comprising chemicals for treating leathers, fabrics or different products, characterized in that it comprises at least one surface in the thickness of which are provided conduits apt to convey a heat exchanger fluid under pressure. - Chemical reactor, or container in general, according to claim 1 characterized in that said conduits (15) are cavities (19), made in one side of at least a first surface (16), housing hoses (22) in which circulates the heat exchanger fluid, at least a second surface (18) being internally or externally coupled to said first surface (18) in a way that said hoses (22) remain comprised between said first surface (16) and said second surface (18). - Chemical reactor, or container in general, according to the previous claim characterized in that said container (10) is cylindrical, said first surface (16) being the cylindrical surface, or part of it, of the container (10), while said second surface (18), still cylindrical, being shrunk on or inside said first surface (16). - Chemical reactor, or container in general, according to claim 2 or 3 characterized in that said hoses (22) are hydraulic hoses apt to resist high fluid pressures. - Chemical reactor, or container in general, according to claim 2, 3 or 4 characterized in that said cavities (19) are cut by roilhng one side of said first surface (16). - Chemical reactor, or container in general, according to one of the claims from 2 to 5 characterized in that the section of said cavities (19) provides, close to the external side of said first surface (16), an opening (20) having same width as the external diameter of said hoses (22), so that they can be inserted into the cavity (19), while the internal part (21) of the cavity (19) has a greater width with respect to its opening (20), so that the hoses (22), once inserted, remain firmly housed inside said cavities (19). - Chemical reactor, or container in general, according to claim 1 characterized in that said conduits (15') are obtained in the thickness of longitudinally perforated sheets of material (12') used to realize said container (10'), said sheets (12') being made by extrusion, or different similar process. - Chemical reactor, or container in general, according to the previous claim characterized in that said conduits (15') are, in a planar development of the surface (12') in which they are obtained, substantially linear and parallel each other. - Chemical reactor, or container in general, according to claim 7 or 8 characterized in that said conduits (15') are separately connected, through holes (35) and pipes (36), to the heat exchanger fluid adduction and discharge system. 0- Chemical reactor, or container in general, according to claim 7 or 8 characterized in that said conduits (15') are connected each other through transversal holes made inside the thickness of the surface (12'), said transversal holes being connected to the heat exchanger fluid adduction and discharge pipeline. -Chemical reactor, or container in general, according to claim 7 or followings characterized in that weld points (34) or seams (39, 40) are provided in specific zones of said surface (12', 12") to interrupt said conduits (15', 15") in order to allow the circulation of the heat exchanger fluid according to the desired paths and directions. - Chemical reactor, or container in general, according to one of the previous claims characterized in that said container is a drum (10, 10') for treating leathers, fabrics or other products. - Chemical reactor, or container in general, according to the previous claim characterized in that the layout of said conduits (15, 15') is designed so that said conduits cover almost all the cylindrical surface

(12, 12') of the drum (10, 10') but a zone close to the port (33, 33') for loading and unloading the treated products. - Chemical reactor, or container in general, according to one of the previous claims characterized in that said conduits (15, 15', 15",

15'") form in the surfaces (12, 12', 12", 12'") of said container two or more different circuits, separately fed by external pipelines (29, 36) of the heat exchanger fluid adduction system. - Chemical reactor, or container in general, according to one of the previous claims characterized in that said surfaces (12, 12', 12", 12'") are made of polymeric material.