JP3448531B2 - Compatible mixed solvent separation equipment - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a compatible mixed solvent separator for separating a mixed gas mixed with a compatible solvent into each component gas, and is particularly used as a foaming agent for a heat insulating material of a discarded refrigerator. The present invention relates to a compatible mixed solvent separator for separating CFC11, HCFC141b and cyclopentane from a mixed gas of Freon and cyclopentane.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art CFC11, which is a chlorofluorocarbon-based gas, is used as a foaming agent such as urethane in the heat insulating material of a discarded refrigerator.
It contains HCFC141b etc. or cyclopentane. In conventional refrigerators, CFC11 was mainly used, but in order to protect the ozone layer and prevent global warming, a heat insulating material using HCFC141b, which has a small ozone depletion effect, has been used in place of CFC11, which has a strong ozone depletion effect. It was Furthermore, heat insulating materials using cyclopentane, which has a low global warming potential, have become the mainstream. Cyclopentane is a hydrocarbon and highly flammable, so when treating only cyclopentane, it must be subjected to explosion-proof treatment and then recovered and disposed. In recent years, a refrigerator using a heat insulating material in which freon is replaced with cyclopentane is discarded, and it is mixed with a heat insulating material containing a large amount of CFC11 used as a foaming agent and collected. Has become. Although cyclopentane can be used as a fuel as described above, CFC11, HCFC141b and other CFCs are nonflammable.

Although the recovered mixture of CFC11, HCFC141b and cyclopentane can be treated by incineration, the treatment method by catalyst can treat CFC11 alone, but cyclopentane, CFC11 and HCFC.
It cannot be processed in a mixture with 141b. If cyclopentane, CFC11, and HCFC141b can be separated from each other, CFC11 and HCFC141b can be treated with various CFC detoxification equipment, and cyclopentane may be diluted and diffused under the present circumstances, or can be used as a fuel or the like. The process can proceed smoothly without leaving a problem later. HCFC141b, which has a small ozone depleting effect, should be separated and recovered in consideration of future tightening of regulations. The collection processing of such a waste refrigerator is performed by the refrigerator manufacturer. Currently, the waste refrigerator uses CFC11,
The one using HCFC141b and the one using cyclopentane coexist, but C in the treatment of these waste refrigerators
The separation and recovery of FC11, HCFC141b and cyclopentane are carried out by the following method. (A) A waste refrigerator in which the refrigerant and oil have been removed and the compressor has been removed in advance is crushed by crushing the refrigerator together with the crusher. (B) Iron, plastic, and urethane, which is a heat insulating material, are separated by air force selection. (C) Grind only urethane. (D) Both CFC11 and cyclopentane (and HCFC141b) released from urethane are adsorbed on activated carbon. This is because it is difficult to separate and collect in a state of being diluted with air so that the concentration is high. This adsorption process currently takes about 45 minutes per batch. This time is determined by the mixed gas concentration and the amount of activated carbon. (E) CF adsorbed by blowing hot steam at about 120 ° C. onto the activated carbon on which the freon and cyclopentane are adsorbed
C11 and cyclopentane (and HCFC141b) are desorbed from the activated carbon together with steam to regenerate the activated carbon. Regeneration of this activated carbon, that is, desorption of CFC11 and cyclopentane (and HCFC141b) by steam takes about 30 minutes per batch.

The mixed gas of CFC11 + cyclopentane + steam (+ HCFC141b) recovered as described above is CFC
When 11 and cyclopentane have a ratio within a certain range, they can be separated. As a result, only CFC11 is treated by various fluorocarbon detoxification equipment, and cyclopentane is appropriately used as atmospheric emission or fuel.

[0005]

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a conventional separation device for separating CFC 11 from water. Up to now, most of the foaming agents used for the heat insulating materials of the refrigerators to be discarded are CFC11, so it suffices if the condensed water and CFC11 can be separated by this method. The concept of this conventional separation device is that the above mixed gas adsorbed on activated carbon is desorbed by hot steam, and then water and C
The mixed liquid obtained by condensing FC11 is allowed to stand and separated into respective component layers according to the difference in specific gravity. That is, although the heat exchange device (condenser) is used to condense the mixed gas, it is used only to obtain the condensed mixed liquid, and the CFC 11 and water are separated according to the difference in specific gravity. In FIG. 4, when the use of a refrigerator using HCFC141b and cyclopentane as a foaming agent gradually increases in the future, a mixed gas of hot steam, cyclopentane, and CFC11 is sent to the first-stage condenser 101. Become. Water of 32 ° C. is supplied as a refrigerant to the first-stage condenser 101 and heat-exchanges with the mixed gas to condense steam having a high boiling point and cyclopentane. The condensed water vapor and cyclopentane are sent to the second-stage condenser 102 together with the uncondensed mixed gas. The uncondensed gas sent to the second stage condenser, condensed water vapor (water), and cyclopentane exchange heat with the cold water of 7 to 10 ° C cooled by the chiller, and almost all the gas is condensed as a mixed liquid. Then, it is stored in the separation tank 105 and left standing. By this standing, CFC11 in the bottom layer and HCFC in the bottom layer depending on the specific gravity
It should separate into 141b, the top water and the top cyclopentane. However, since CFC11, HCFC141b, and cyclopentane are compatible with each other, the mixing ratio changes depending on the concentration of the foaming agent, and the specific gravity also changes accordingly, which makes separation and recovery difficult.

As a measure against cyclopentane separation, the separation / collection device of FIG. 5 which is an improvement of FIG. 4 can be considered.
In FIG. 5, the operation principle is shown for the case where the HCFC 141b is included. 32 ° C. water as a refrigerant is supplied to the first-stage condenser 101 into which the above mixed gas is fed,
By exchanging heat with the mixed gas, steam having a high boiling point and cyclopentane are condensed, and condensed water and cyclopentane are stored in the first separation tank 105. When this mixed liquid is left to stand, it separates into water in the lower layer and cyclopentane in the upper layer.
Next, the mixed gas sent to the second-stage condenser 102 via the first-stage condenser 101 exchanges heat with water at 7 to 10 ° C. cooled by a chiller, and almost all of the gas is used as a mixed liquid. The second separation tank 106 is condensed.
Store the mixed liquid in. This mixed liquid is used in the second separation tank 10
When stored in 6 and left standing, CFC11 and HC in the lower layer
Separate into FC141b mixed liquid and upper water. CFC1
1 is compatible with HCFC141b and cyclopentane, but is insoluble in water. The lower CFC 11 and
The HCFC141b mixed liquid is drained from the second separation tank 106.
It is collected in the (CFC11 + HCFC141b) tank. The amount of non-condensable gas is extremely small, but it is not released to the atmosphere and is sent to the adsorption device again. CHC11 and
Since HCFC141b and cyclopentane are compatible with each other, the separated and recovered mixed liquid of CFC11 and HCFC141b contains a small amount of cyclopentane, and the cyclopentane contains a small amount of HCFC141b and CFC11. There is. Therefore, the separation may not be at a level sufficient for catalytic treatment. However, even with this separation level, it can be disposed of without any problem when incineration is performed.

The separation device is a CFC of cyclopentane.
If the ratio to 11 is as large as 0.8 or more, CF
The mixed liquid of C11 and cyclopentane becomes lighter than water and can be separated from water. Also, CF of cyclopentane
When the ratio with respect to C11 is less than 0.5, it becomes heavier than water and can be separated from water. However, the ratio of cyclopentane to CFC11 is less than 0.8 or 0.5.
In the above case, cyclopentane and CFC11 cannot be separated. That is, depending on the mixing ratio of CFC11 and cyclopentane, cyclopentane and CFC11 form a mixed liquid and separate from water, but the position of the layer of this mixed liquid is
Depending on the position of the water layer, it may be upper or lower layer,
It depends on the mixing ratio. The reason for this is that the specific gravities of the CFC11-based mixed liquid and the cyclopentane-based mixed liquid also change depending on the mixing ratio. For this reason, it becomes difficult to perform separation using the specific gravity. Further, even if the boundary surface can be optically detected, it is impossible to determine which is the upper layer, and therefore it is impossible to automatically continuously separate and collect.

Further, in recent years, it may be necessary to separate and collect a mixed gas containing HCFC141b, but as described above, HCFC141b may be collected in a mixed state with cyclopentane or mixed with CFC11. May be collected at.

Further, a large number of waste refrigerators are planned to be generated, and a highly efficient operation is also required for separation and recovery of CFC gas in waste treatment. A high-efficiency separation apparatus uses a large amount of hot steam in a short time when the mixed gas is desorbed from the adsorption apparatus. For this reason, it is necessary for the condenser to use a large amount of cooling water per unit time, which corresponds to the large amount of hot steam. If a large chiller that supplies a large amount of cooling water per unit time is used, the separation device becomes expensive, and the operating cost such as electricity cost also increases.

Therefore, according to the present invention, cyclopentane and CFC are used.
Cyclopentane and CFC11 regardless of the ratio with 11
It is an object of the present invention to provide a compatible mixed solvent separator capable of reliably separating HCFC141b and HCFC141b. In particular, it is an object of the present invention to provide a highly efficient compatible mixed solvent separation device that does not require a large chiller or the like.

[0011]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a compatible mixed-solvent separating apparatus, which comprises: steam, a first foaming component gas having a lower boiling point than steam, and a second foaming component gas having a lower boiling point than the first foaming component gas. The mixed gas containing the third foaming component gas having a lower boiling point than the foaming component gas and the second foaming component gas is adsorbed, and hot water is absorbed.
Separate the gas mixture with hot steam by steam
It is provided with an adsorption regeneration device and a blowing means for sending the hot steam and the mixed gas to the condensing device. Further, the compatible mixed solvent separation device includes a first heat exchange device for exchanging heat with the hot steam and the mixed gas at a first temperature to condense the steam and the first foaming component gas, and a first heat exchange device. Cold sending cooling medium
A second heat exchanging device for condensing the second foaming component gas by exchanging heat with the gas discharged from the first heat exchanging device at a second temperature lower than the first temperature; A third heat exchanging device for condensing the third foaming component gas by exchanging heat with the gas sent out from the exchanging device at a third temperature lower than the second temperature, and second and third heat exchanging devices. Send cooling medium
With a chiller .

With the above structure, the first heat exchange device is used for steaming.
From the chiller when condensing the air and the first foaming component gas
It is possible to use the water of the cooling tower without using the water of
Wear. This results in the condensation of large amounts of hot steam from the chiller.
Eliminates the need for water and maximizes chiller capacity
It can be miniaturized. As a result, equipment investment such as chillers
To curb resources and reduce operating costs such as electricity costs
It will be possible. The compatible mixed solvent separation device of the present invention mainly targets a mixed gas containing water vapor, cyclopentane, and CFC11. In addition to the above components, HCFC141b which is a chlorofluorocarbon-based gas and has a higher boiling point than water. It may contain a foaming component. However, in the following description, unless otherwise specified, the mixed gas is water vapor, cyclopentane, and CFC1.
1 refers to a mixed gas containing HCFC141b. In addition, a gas containing the fourth foaming component gas can of course be used. Table 1 shows physical property values of CFC11, cyclopentane, and HCFC141b which are assumed as components other than water vapor.

[0013]

[Table 1]

Among the components shown in Table 1, CFC11 has a large effect on the ozone layer. When CFC11 is 1, HCFC141b is 0.11. According to Table 1, CFC11 has the lowest boiling point of 23.8 ° C, followed by HCFC141b at 32 ° C and cyclopentane at 49.5 ° C. In the compatible mixed solvent separator of the present invention, CFC11 and cyclopentane must be reliably separated from the mixed gas. With the above configuration, the main component of the gas component that goes toward the third heat exchange device via the second heat exchange device is CFC.
11 or CFC11 and some HCFC141b as a liquid of CFC11 or CFC11 and HCFC14 in the third heat exchange device.
The liquid mixture with 1b can be condensed. It is assumed that the mixed gas targeted by the compatible mixed solvent separation device of the present invention includes a gas such as oil having a boiling point higher than that of water. In this case, a gas such as oil or a gas such as oil, cyclopentane and steam are condensed in the first heat exchange device, and steam or steam and the HCFC141b are condensed in the second heat exchange device.
Condenses with and as the main components. In the above description, HCFC141b
Is assumed to be small. Further, the reason why water is condensed in both the first and second heat exchange devices is that even if the boiling point is lower than the boiling point, a large amount of moisture is condensed to correspond to the temperature difference between the two heat exchange devices.

When the above-mentioned gas such as oil is not contained and water vapor and the components shown in Table 1 are contained, HCFC141b and some cyclopentane can be condensed in the second heat exchange device. A large amount of hot steam occupying a large proportion of the mixed gas can be condensed with high efficiency in the first heat exchange device in which the exchange temperature is set to be high in consideration of economy. Moisture that condenses when transferred to each heat exchange device is condensed in the next heat exchange device.

By using the above-mentioned three heat exchangers, CHC11 and cyclopentane can be reliably separated, and a large amount of steam used in a short time can be increased in consideration of economy. It can be processed efficiently. For this reason, although it is a high-efficiency separation processing apparatus, for example, equipment such as a chiller that supplies the refrigerant to be fed to the second and third heat exchange apparatuses can be downsized, and the amount of equipment investment can be suppressed and energy can be saved. Can be achieved. Further, the CFC 11 that has been reliably separated can be disposed of by any method such as incineration and catalyst disposal, and a disposal method according to the situation becomes possible. Also, depending on the refrigerator, there are many refrigerators that use HCFC141b as a foaming agent, and in some cases, those containing CFC11, cyclopentane, and HCFC141b in a considerable ratio may be separated and recovered. Even in this case, economical separation and recovery can be carried out using the above three heat exchange devices. Furthermore, it becomes possible to separate CFC11 and cyclopentane from a mixed gas that further contains a component having a boiling point higher than that of water, such as oil, while forming a mixed liquid that is easy to dispose later. That is, by adopting the configuration of the three-stage heat exchange device, it is possible to flexibly adopt a totally inexpensive treatment method for the disposal of the waste refrigerator according to the type of the target mixed gas.

In the compatible mixed solvent separator of claim 2,
The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first temperature is lower than the boiling point temperature of the steam and the boiling point temperature of the first foaming component gas,
Is lower than the boiling temperature of the second foaming component gas, and the third temperature is lower than the boiling temperature of the third foaming component gas.

With the above structure, the liquid produced by each heat exchange device is roughly divided into three types of liquids, and the liquid produced by heat exchange at the second temperature contains the second foaming component as the main component. , The liquid produced by heat exchange at the third temperature is the third
The foaming component is the main component.

[0019]

[0020]

In the compatible mixed solvent separator of claim 3 ,
In the device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, the first foaming component gas is cyclopentane, the second foaming component gas is a CFC-based gas HCFC141b, and the third foaming component gas is a CFC-based gas CFC11.

In the case of the above mixed gas, cyclopentane can be economically separated from CFC11 of the fluorocarbon gas. As a result, the CFC 11 has a variety of disposal methods, whether incineration or catalytic treatment, and can be disposed depending on the situation.

In the compatible mixed solvent separator according to claim 4 ,
5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a mixed gas containing a first foaming component gas, a second foaming component gas and a third foaming component gas is adsorbed, and the mixed gas is separated together with the hot steam by hot steam. It is equipped with a device.

With this structure, adsorption of the mixed gas and release (regeneration) of the mixed gas can be alternately performed by one adsorption / regeneration device. Further, by using two adsorption regeneration devices, one adsorption device is used for adsorption treatment of gas generated by grinding urethane, and the other adsorption device has already performed adsorption treatment to adsorb mixed gas. Hot steam can be sent to the apparatus and used for regeneration treatment. As a result, it becomes possible to dispose of the heat insulating material of the waste refrigerator with high efficiency.

[0025]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a compatible mixed solvent separator according to the present invention. In Figure 1, cyclopentane and HCFC are used for hot steam at 120 ° C.
141b and CFC11 are included. For the first condenser 1, 32 ° C. water supplied from a cooling tower is used as a refrigerant. The mixed gas exchanges heat with water at 32 ° C. in the first condenser to store condensed water at about 42 ° C. and cyclopentane in the separation tank 5. The water and cyclopentane still standing in the separation tank 5 are separated into lower layer water and upper layer cyclopentane. Next, the mixed gas that has passed through the first condenser 1 is heat-exchanged with the chiller water at 25 ° C. in the second condenser 2 to condense some liquid mixture of cyclopentane and HCFC141b and water. The water and the mixed liquid left still in the separation tank 6 are separated into an upper layer of water and a lower layer of a mixed liquid of HCFC141b and cyclopentane. Most of the gas remaining via the second condenser 2 is CFC1.
1, and the third condenser 3 exchanges heat with chiller water at 7 ° C. to condense the liquid of CFC 11 and store it in the CFC recovery tank 7. The non-condensable gas remaining via the third condenser 3 is sent to the adsorption device again, though the amount is very small.

According to the above separating apparatus, since cyclopentane and CFC11 are separated by the difference in boiling points,
Even if they are compatible with each other, separation can be performed without any problem. In addition, since HCFC141b and cyclopentane are in a mixed state but both have ozone depletion properties close to zero, they may be released into the atmosphere or incinerated, and there is no limitation on the disposal method. Also, the first
Although a large amount of cooling water is used in the condenser, since 32 ° C. water from the cooling tower is used, it is not necessary to increase the capacity of the chiller. Therefore, the facility cost is suppressed, and the power cost of the operation for separation is also reduced. In addition, even if other types of gas are included, there is a possibility that an inexpensive and efficient disposal method will be adopted considering the disposal of the waste refrigerator as a whole.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a compatible mixed solvent separator which embodies the schematic structure shown in FIG. In FIG. 2, members given the same numbers as in FIG. 1 are the same members as in FIG. In FIG. 2, 3 cooled in the cooling tower 10
The water at 2 ° C. is sent out by the pump 11 and sent into the first condenser 1. Although this cooling tower is not expensive like a large chiller, it can supply a large amount of water at about 32 ° C. in a short time. Therefore, in the compatible mixed solvent separation device of the present invention, since the condensers are connected in series in three stages and the cooling water in the first stage is set to about 32 ° C, it is not necessary to install a large chiller and the condensation is performed with high efficiency. It becomes possible to do. Therefore, operating costs such as equipment costs and electricity costs can be significantly reduced.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an adsorption device for adsorbing a mixed gas of CFC11 + cyclopentane + HCFC141b which is released by grinding urethane as a heat insulating material. When adsorbing the above mixed gas in the adsorption device 21, the valves 24, 27 and 29 are closed and the valves 23 and 25 are closed.
Open the box and blower 31 to adsorb the mixed gas.
It is sent to and made to adsorb. Activated carbon can be used as the adsorbent. The remaining adsorbed air is exhausted from the valve 25 in the open state. When separating and collecting the adsorbed mixed gas while advancing the processing of the waste refrigerator, while adsorbing the adsorber 22 in the above-described manner, hot steam of about 120 ° C. is sent to the adsorber 21. . Therefore, the valves 25 and 23 are closed, the valves 27 and 29 are opened, and hot steam is sent to the adsorption device 21. The above components that have come into contact with the hot steam are desorbed from the adsorption device and sent to the first condenser 1 as a mixed gas mixed with the steam.

With the above-described structure of the adsorption / regeneration device, one adsorption device can adsorb the mixed gas containing CFC11 and cyclopentane, while the other adsorption device can be regenerated by hot steam. At the time of regeneration, naturally, the above mixed gas is desorbed and sent to the separation device described in FIGS. 1 and 2.

By using the separation apparatus of this embodiment, the compatible mixed solvent can be reliably separated with high efficiency by utilizing the difference in boiling points. Further, since three-stage condenser is used and the water cooled in the cooling tower is used as the refrigerant in the first-stage condenser, it is not necessary to provide an expensive large chiller even though it is a highly efficient device capable of large-scale separation. . As a result, it has become possible to significantly reduce operating costs such as equipment costs and electricity costs.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the embodiments of the present invention disclosed above are merely examples, and the scope of the present invention is not limited to these embodiments. Not limited. The scope of the present invention is shown by the description of the claims, and further includes meanings equivalent to the description of the claims and all modifications within the scope.

[0033]

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION The compatible mixed solvent separator of the present invention separates CFC11 and cyclopentane due to the difference in boiling point unlike the prior art. Therefore, regardless of the ratio of cyclopentane and CFC11, cyclopentane and CFC11 are separated. And can be reliably separated. Also, the configuration of the capacitor is 3
Since the stage is used, it is not necessary to provide a large chiller or the like, and a highly efficient compatible solvent mixture separation device can be provided by using the water in the cooling tower for the first stage condenser. Furthermore, even when other components are included, it is possible to adopt a method of making the disposal in the waste refrigerator to be inexpensive as a whole.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a structural conceptual diagram of a compatible mixed solvent separator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a compatible mixed solvent separation device that embodies the schematic configuration shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration of an adsorption regeneration device of the compatible mixed solvent separation device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a structural conceptual diagram of an example of a conventional separation device.

FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram showing the configuration of another example of a conventional separation device.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 1st condenser, 2nd condenser, 3rd condenser, 5, 6 separation tank, 7 CFC11 storage tank, 1
0 cooling tower, 11 pumps, 21,22 adsorption device, 2
3,24,25,26,27,28,29,30 valve, 31 blower.

Continuation of front page (58) Fields surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B01D 5/00 B01D 53/34 117

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. Water vapor, a first foaming component gas having a lower boiling point than steam, a second foaming component gas having a lower boiling point than the first foaming component gas, and a third foaming component having a lower boiling point than the second foaming component gas. Adsorbs mixed gas containing component gas , hot water
Separate the gas mixture with hot steam by steam
An adsorption regenerator, a blowing means for sending the hot steam and the mixed gas to a condenser, and heat exchange with the hot steam and the mixed gas at a first temperature to condense the steam and the first foaming component gas. First
A heat exchange device, a cooling tower for sending water to the first heat exchange device, heat exchange with the gas sent out from the first heat exchange device at a second temperature lower than the first temperature, and A second heat exchanging device for condensing the second foaming component gas, and heat exchange with the gas sent from the second heat exchanging device at a third temperature lower than the second temperature to obtain the third foaming component. chiller sending third heat exchange apparatus for condensing a gas, a cooling water to the second and third heat exchanger
And a compatible mixed solvent separation device comprising: 2. The first temperature is lower than the boiling point temperature of steam and the boiling point temperature of the first foaming component gas, the second temperature is lower than the boiling point temperature of the second foaming component gas, The compatible mixed solvent separation device according to claim 1, wherein the third temperature is a temperature lower than a boiling point temperature of the third foaming component gas. 3. The first foaming component gas is cyclopentane, and the second foaming component gas is a CFC-based gas HCFC141b.
And the third foaming component gas is a CFC-based gas CFC1.
The compatible mixed solvent separation device according to claim 1 or 2 , which is 1. 4. The compatible mixed solvent separation device comprises: the first foaming component gas, the second foaming component gas, and the third foaming component gas.
Adsorb a mixed gas containing foam component gas, the mixed gas by hot steam comprising a suction reproducing apparatus to disengage with hot steam, compatibility mixed solvent separation device according to any one of claims 1-3.