Pumps – Motor driven – Fluid motor
Reexamination Certificate
1999-12-14
2001-03-27
Walberg, Teresa (Department: 3742)
Pumps
Motor driven
Fluid motor
C210S603000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06206658
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an organic substance processing system and an organic substance processing apparatus for heating fluid containing organic substances and oxidizing them, or changing then to oil or low molecular weight compounds, and especially relates to an organic substance processing system and an organic substance processing apparatus which continuously processes fluid containing organic substances.
A technique has recently been developed to oxidize sludge in sewage containing a lot of organic substances or drainage from factories, which also contains organic substances, by pressurizing and heating it to a pressure value and a temperature value beyond the critical levels (in the case of water, the pressure=22 Mpa, and the temperature=374° C.). A technique has also been developed to change sludge to oil below the critical conditions but under high pressure and high temperature conditions. Further, for recycling abandoned plastics, another technique is also known to decompose plastics with high molecular weight compounds in supercritical fluid and recover them as raw materials with low molecular weight compounds.
In every one of the above system, the processing of organic substances is performed by pressurizing fluid containing the organic substances to a high pressure level and heating it. A high-pressure slurry pump is generally used to pressurize fluid containing organic substances to a high pressure. However, a high-pressure slurry pump is a specialized pump and very expensive. Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Hei 5-111695 discloses a sludge pressing-in apparatus with a high-pressure water pump as a pressurizing apparatus in place of a slurry pump.
A method of reducing the power necessary to feed slurry at a high pressure is disclosed in “The Development of Continuous Pipeline System Autoclave” by Nakamich Yamasaki et al., A report of The Research Laboratory of Hydrothermal Chemistry, Faculty of Science Kochi University, Vol. 3, pp 1-4 (1979), which is referred to as a known literature.
Since processed fluid is pressurized to a high pressure level to oxidize organic substances in supercritical water, changes sludge to oil, or make plastics into low molecular weight compounds, a very large amount of power is necessary for the pump. In the method disclosed in the known literature, by using the pressure of the fluid in the reaction system for the back-pressure of the reaction system, the power driving the pump is reduced. However, according to this method, it is necessary to take new fluid to be processed into a cylinder, after the cylinder has been emptied by expelling the fluid to be processed in the reaction system from the cylinder. Therefore, fluid to be processed in the reaction system cannot be continuously fed from the cylinder to a reactor. Moreover, since a pressure regulation valve is located downstream from the cylinder, a great deal of auxiliary power is required to feed fluid into the cylinder while suppressing changes of pressure in the reaction system.
Further, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nei 5-111695, when oxidization processing is performed in supercritical water, it is necessary to mix high-pressure oxygen gas into high-pressure fluid containing organic substances. If the flow rate of the fluid containing organic substances varies in this mixing process, the ratio of the oxygen gas to the fluid containing organic substances also changes. Accordingly, oxidization processing of organic substances does not uniformly occur. Furthermore, if the feed flow rate of the fluid containing organic substances changes, the residence time of the fluid in a preheater or a reactor varies, and the processing other than the oxidization processing also does not uniformly proceed. Thus, when fluid containing organic substances is fed at a high pressure, changes in the feed flow rate of the fluid must be suppressed as much as possible. The most effective method of suppressing changes of the feed flow rate of the fluid is to use a pump of a large capacity, which requires a very large amount of power for the pump.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has been achieved in consideration of the above described problems, and is aimed at decreasing the energy necessary to pressurize and feed fluid containing organic substances into an organic substance processing system and to stably operate a pressurization and feeding apparatus in the organic substance processing system.
Further, the present invention is aimed at continuously and stably feeding substances to be processed to a reactor in the organic substance processing system.
To attain the above objects, the present invention provides the first organic substance processing system for processing organic substances in a reactor by pressurizing fluid which contains organic substances with a plurality of cylinders including pistons, respectively, and by feeding the pressurized fluid into the reactor, this organic substance processing system comprising: a first chamber formed on one side of each cylinder, into which the fluid containing the organic substances is introduced; and a second chamber formed on the other side of the cylinder, into which processed high-pressure fluid is introduced, the organic substances in the fluid having been processed; wherein, by alternately changing the timing of pressurizing the fluid which contains the organic substances in each cylinder, the pressurized fluid is continuously fed to the reactor.
In the first organic substance processing system, a pressure holding means for maintaining the pressure in the second chamber into which the processed fluid is introduced, the organic substances in the fluid having been processed, and while one of the plurality of the cylinders feeds the fluid which has not yet been processed into the reactor, at lease one of the rest cylinders is being filled up with the fluid which has not yet been processed, and this fluid is then pressurized in the at least one of the rest cylinder.
Also, the present invention provides the second organic substance processing system comprising: cylinders including pistons, into which processed high-pressure fluid is introduced, organic substances contained in the processed high-pressure fluid having been processed; a feed means for feeding the fluid which has not yet been processed into the cylinders; a main pressurization means for pressurizing the fluid with a piston, which has not yet been processed, in at least one of the cylinders by introducing the processed high-pressure fluid into the cylinder; an auxiliary pressurization means for pressurizing the fluid which has not yet been processed in the cylinder along with the main pressurization means; and a pressure holding means for keeping the pressure of the fluid which has been processed at a predetermined pressure.
In the second organic substance processing system, the pressure holding means includes a back-pressure valve, and the processed high-pressure fluid is introduced into the cylinder after at least one of the pressure and the flow rate of the processed high-pressure fluid is reduced by the back-pressure valve.
Further, the second organic substance processing system includes a processing apparatus into which the pressurized fluid before processing is fed and which generates the processed high-pressure; and at least one pair of the cylinders; wherein the timing of filling-up and feeding of the fluid before processing in the pair of the cylinders is alternately changed, and by introducing the processed high-pressure fluid into the cylinders with the main pressurization means, the fluid containing the organic substances is continuously fed into the processing apparatus.
Furthermore, in the second organic substance processing system, each cylinder is partitioned into two chambers on both sides of the piston in the cylinder, the main pressurization means is connected to one chamber, the feed means is connected to the other chamber, and a piston swept volume of the chamber to which the ma
Aso Shinji
Kaji Ryuichi
Kawajiri Hitoshi
Kikuchi Hiroshige
Kusumoto Hiroshi
Evenson, McKeown, Edwards & Lenahan P.L.L.C.
Fastovsky Leonid
Hitachi , Ltd.
Walberg Teresa
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