Water-absorbing material treatment system and method of operation thereof

Abstract

The present application provides a water-absorbing material processing system and a method for operating the same. The water-absorbing material processing system is composed of a cutting module, a spreading module, a salt slurry processing module, and a water-absorbing material manufacturing module. The method for operating the water-absorbing material processing system is for processing absorbent articles such as diapers or sanitary napkins, and the water-absorbing material is purified and separated through the modules of the water-absorbing material processing system.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to a water-absorbing material processing system and its operation method, particularly a system and method for treating various absorbent waste materials, which enables the decomposition, purification and recycling of waste materials, achieving the effect of effective reuse of waste materials. Background Technology

[0002] Currently, personal absorbent items such as diapers and sanitary napkins are already widely used in daily life, and this demand is on the rise. For example, the demand for adult diapers will increase significantly with the arrival of an aging society. This means that a larger amount of absorbent waste will need to be properly disposed of to avoid secondary pollution of the natural environment.

[0003] As mentioned earlier, while equipment for recycling absorbent materials has emerged in previous technologies, its effectiveness has been less than ideal. This is because most of the materials in an absorbent material that can actually be recycled are difficult to separate easily. Take a diaper as an example: a diaper contains a non-woven fabric that comes into contact with the skin, a highly absorbent layer, a waterproof outer plastic layer, and waste encased within the absorbent material. In this situation, separating and recycling each fiber, absorbent salt (i.e., polyacrylate), or plastic undoubtedly increases the complexity and operating costs for businesses dealing with absorbent waste.

[0004] The processing of water-absorbing salts (i.e., polyacrylates) is the most difficult, because most stages of the process involve the use of water. When water-absorbing salts are in a gel-like and viscous state, they are very difficult to purify, separate, and recover. Summary of the Invention

[0005] To address the problems of prior art, the present invention aims to provide a water-absorbing material processing system and its application method. The system decomposes and recycles used absorbent sanitary products. The system utilizes special methods in each module to completely separate the water-absorbing material, allowing the raw material to be recycled into other usable new products, thus achieving the effect of effective reuse of waste.

[0006] Continuing on the above, the present invention provides a water-absorbing raw material processing system, which is sequentially assembled from a cutting module, a slurry dispersing module, a salt slurry processing module, and a water-absorbing raw material manufacturing module. The slurry dispersing module has at least one baffle, a rotor, and at least two cutters; the water-absorbing raw material manufacturing module has a centrifuge, a temporary storage tank, a vibrating device, and a sorting device connected in sequence. The vibrating device further includes a screen; the sorting device further includes a tank having a plurality of stirring blades, a feed inlet, a water inlet, and an outlet.

[0007] The present invention further provides an operation method of a water-absorbing material processing system, comprising the following steps: (A) providing a water-absorbing material processing system as described above; (B) placing an absorbent material into the cutting module for cutting; (C) conveying the cut absorbent material to the slurry dispersing module, using rotation to crush and separate the absorbent material, and retaining an absorbent recycled material; (D) conveying the absorbent recycled material to the brine processing module for separation and generating a primary water-absorbing material; (E) further separating the primary water-absorbing material into a secondary water-absorbing material and a first impurity through the centrifuge, and temporarily storing the secondary water-absorbing material in the temporary storage tank; (F) removing the secondary water-absorbing material from the temporary storage tank and conveying it to the vibrating device, and then using eccentric vibration to screen out a final water-absorbing material and a second impurity from the secondary water-absorbing material; and (G) conveying the final water-absorbing material to the sorting device for cleaning, and discharging a water-absorbing material at the outlet.

[0008] The above brief description of the present invention is intended to provide a basic explanation of several aspects and technical features of the invention. This brief description is not a detailed account of the invention, and therefore its purpose is not to specifically list the key or important components of the invention, nor to define the scope of the invention, but merely to present several concepts of the invention in a concise manner. Attached Figure Description

[0009] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the composition of an embodiment of the water-absorbing raw material processing system of the present invention; Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the slurry dispersing module of the water-absorbing raw material processing system of the present invention; Figure 3 This is a flowchart of the operation method of the water-absorbing material processing system of the present invention. Detailed Implementation

[0010] In order to understand the technical features and practical effects of the present invention, and to implement it in accordance with the contents of the specification, the preferred embodiments shown in the figures are described in detail below.

[0011] The present invention provides a preferred embodiment, first please refer to Figure 1 , Figure 1 A water-absorbing raw material processing system 1 is disclosed, comprising a cutting module 2, a slurry dispersing module 3, a salt slurry processing module 4, and a water-absorbing raw material manufacturing module 5. In this embodiment, the slurry dispersing module 3 includes a baffle 31, a rotor 32, and a cutter 33. The water-absorbing raw material manufacturing module 5 includes a centrifuge 51, a temporary storage tank 52, a vibrating device 53, and a sorting device 54. The vibrating device 53 has a screen 531; and the sorting device has a plurality of stirring blades 541, a feed port 542, a water supply port 543, and a discharge port 544.

[0012] This embodiment systematically and continuously processes used absorbent materials (such as diapers or sanitary napkins) to maximize their reusability and recycling capacity through efficient decomposition, separation, and recycling. By using multiple modules connected in series and employing a multi-stage separation technique, this embodiment extracts absorbent raw materials (such as polyacrylate) from the absorbent materials, thereby improving the overall efficiency of waste recycling.

[0013] First, the absorbent material processing system 1 in this embodiment will begin with the cutting module 2. In this embodiment, the cutting module 2 is connected to the slurry dispersing module 3. The cutting module 2 is mainly used to initially cut and separate the various material structures of the absorbent material, making it easier for these material structures to be uniformly separated in the slurry dispersing module 3, thereby increasing their dispersion efficiency during the subsequent slurry dispersing operation in the slurry dispersing module 3. Specifically, these material structures are hydraulically broken and separated by a high-torque cutter disc in the slurry dispersing module 3, causing the fluff fibers to be in a discrete and non-aggregated state.

[0014] For further information on the internal structure of the slurry dispersing module 3 in this embodiment, please refer to [the relevant documentation / reference]. Figure 2 .like Figure 2 As shown, in this embodiment, the slurry dispersing module 3 has a turbulence-inducing element 31, a rotor 32, and a cutter 33. The turbulence-inducing element 31 can be a single or multiple plate-like structures, which, as the number increases, generate corresponding vortices within the slurry dispersing module 3 during rotation. This allows the aforementioned absorbent material structure to be forced into the cutter 33 at the bottom of the slurry dispersing module 3 by the downward pressure of the water flow generated by the vortex, thereby achieving the effect of breaking and dispersing the absorbent material without it agglomerating into spherical shapes through collision with the cutter 33.

[0015] In this embodiment, the tool 33 can be a helical blade or a cutter head, and the number of tools 33 can be multiple. For example, such as Figure 2As shown, there are two blades 33, symmetrically arranged on the bottom of the slurry dispersing module 3. Furthermore, in this embodiment, when the turbulence-dispersing element 31 is a plurality of plate-like structures, these plate-like structures are spaced symmetrically about the center on the inner wall of the slurry dispersing module 3, so that the slurry dispersing module 3 can maintain balance when rotating.

[0016] Furthermore, in the prior art, although a shredder or crusher can be used to effectively break up absorbent materials to allow their contents to spill out, it is easy to break soft absorbent materials into too small pieces, leading to difficulties in subsequent separation. Therefore, in addition to the aforementioned structure, this embodiment further includes a rotor 32 and a variable frequency speed motor inside the slurry dispersing module 3. The rotor 32 can be a vertical rotor to use hydraulic power to disperse and stir the absorbent materials, causing the fluffy slurry inside to flow out. The slurry concentration can be monitored in real time or as needed during operation to achieve optimal separation and slurry dispersing effect control, for example, by using a gravity level gauge or an optical level controller for monitoring.

[0017] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the slurry module 3 is further equipped with a gravity-type liquid level controller to control whether the water volume reaches a predetermined value by converting the liquid weight into liquid level, thereby determining the amount of absorbent material to be fed. Specifically, when the water level in the slurry module 3 reaches the predetermined value, the system will automatically feed the material and allow the rotor 32 to rotate according to the set speed and time.

[0018] The system automatically adds water to the predetermined value after the rotor 32 stops rotating. At this time, the broken plastic sheets in the absorbent material will float on the water surface, while the other parts, including fluff pulp and primary absorbent material, will naturally sink to the bottom of the pulping module 3 due to gravity (hereinafter collectively referred to as "absorbent recycled material"). To prevent these plastic sheets from clumping together and obstructing the subsequent purification process, this embodiment also provides an opening in the pulping module 3 to discharge these plastic sheets from the pulping module 3.

[0019] Next, the absorbent recycled material from the slurry module 3 enters the brine treatment module 4 for the next stage of processing. In this embodiment, the brine treatment module 4 has a buffer tank 41 and a settling tank 42. The buffer tank 41 is connected to the slurry module 3 to receive the absorbent recycled material from the slurry module 3. The settling tank 42 is connected to the buffer tank 41 to separate the primary absorbent material (such as polyacrylate) with higher density and the fibrous material (long fiber material / short fiber material) with lower density from the absorbent recycled material based on gravity.

[0020] Specifically, the absorbent recycled material will naturally settle into primary absorbent material and fibrous material due to density stratification. More specifically, it can be assumed that the absorbent recycled material contains fibrous material formed from fluff pulp with a specific gravity of 0.98 and primary absorbent material with a specific gravity between 1.4 and 1.8. In this case, the primary absorbent material will be retained at the bottom of the settling tank 42, forming a stratification with the fibrous material floating with the water flow. In practical applications of this embodiment, the settling tank 42 can also be connected to a slurry storage tank as needed to collect the stratified fibrous material (long fiber material / short fiber material).

[0021] As mentioned above, when in use, the salt slurry treatment module 4 can also be configured to adjust the system's feed pressure parameters (e.g., 0.13-0.36 MPa) and slurry concentration parameters according to the actual feed slurry, so as to control the flow rate and distribution degree of the absorbent recycled material in the salt slurry treatment module 4.

[0022] Then, the primary absorbent material retained in the salt slurry treatment module 4 will be transported to the absorbent raw material manufacturing module 5 for purification treatment (the purification treatment at different levels will be described below using the first purification separation, the second purification separation, and the third purification separation). In this embodiment, the absorbent raw material manufacturing module 5 includes a centrifuge 51, a temporary storage tank 52, a vibration device 53, and a sorting device 54, wherein the first purification separation is performed in the centrifuge 51; the second purification separation is performed in the vibration device 53; and the third purification separation is performed in the sorting device 54.

[0023] First, in the initial purification and separation, the primary absorbent material is fed into centrifuge 51. Through a two-stage separation process, the primary absorbent material is purified and separated from a large amount of a first impurity, producing secondary absorbent material (i.e., the purified primary absorbent material). This secondary absorbent material is temporarily stored in a storage tank 52 to ensure its purity is not contaminated. The first impurity contains a certain degree (e.g., 80%) or more of fibrous material (long fiber / short fiber). Specifically, in this embodiment, the centrifuge 51 can be a series of cyclone separators, and the primary absorbent material can be purified into the secondary absorbent material using known centrifugal sorting methods. The present invention does not limit the total number of centrifuge units 51 connected in series; users can adjust them according to actual conditions.

[0024] After the initial purification and separation described above, these secondary absorbent materials are conveyed to a vibration device 53 for a second purification and separation. In this embodiment, the vibration device 53 has a screen 531, which is designed to allow the secondary absorbent materials to pass through the screen 531 under the eccentric vibration generated by the vibration device 53, effectively removing a second impurity and producing a final absorbent material. The second impurity includes long fibers from the fibrous material and secondary absorbent materials aggregated into clumps. In practical applications of this embodiment, the screen 531 can be composed of multiple meshes of the same or different sizes to achieve the aforementioned purpose; for example, a screen 531 with a mesh size of less than but not equal to 0.42 mm can be used for filtration.

[0025] Finally, in the third purification and separation, the sorting device 54 will receive the final absorbent material output from the vibrating device 53 and generate an absorbent raw material WR (such as polyacrylate) from the received final absorbent material.

[0026] In this embodiment, the sorting device 54 has a plurality of stirring blades 541, a feed port 542, a water supply port 543, and a discharge port 544. The final absorbent material is introduced in batches (e.g., 1-2 kg / batch) from the feed port 542. Water is supplied to the sorting device 54 from the water supply port 543 in a manner that creates a water vortex inside the sorting device 54. This water is used to float and carry away short fiber materials from the final absorbent material, and the stirring blades 541 remove these short fiber materials from the water. Therefore, a high-density absorbent material WR will settle to the bottom of the sorting device 54 and can be removed from the discharge port 544. Specifically, the sorting device 54 may, depending on the situation, have a guide pipe 545 connected to the discharge port 544 to facilitate the collection of the absorbent material WR.

[0027] In this embodiment, the sorting device 54 can also control the amount of water in the sorting device 54 through an overflow device. For example, the overflow device can be an overflow box with a siphon design.

[0028] In this embodiment, the sorting device 54 can also aerate and agitate the water and the final absorbent material therein through a plurality of air holes or a plurality of down-blowing nozzles additionally provided on the side of the feed port 542, thereby increasing the washing rate of the short fiber material (i.e., the probability of it being carried out from the final absorbent material). Furthermore, these air holes and down-blowing nozzles can also be configured to control the aeration size and / or interval time according to the actual flow rate, in order to obtain a more purified absorbent raw material WR.

[0029] The present invention further provides an operation method for implementing the above-described water-absorbing material processing system 1, wherein a preferred embodiment is provided. Please refer to... Figure 3 The operation method of the absorbent material processing system 1 includes the following steps: (A) providing an absorbent material processing system 1 as described above; (B) placing an absorbent article into the cutting module 2 and cutting it; (C) conveying the cut absorbent article to the slurry module 3 and using rotation to crush and separate the absorbent article to retain an absorbent recycled material; (D) conveying the absorbent recycled material to the brine processing module 4 for separation and generating a primary absorbent material; (E) further separating the primary absorbent material into a secondary absorbent material and a first impurity through a centrifuge 51, and temporarily storing the secondary absorbent material in a temporary storage tank 52; (F) removing the secondary absorbent material from the temporary storage tank 52 and conveying it to a vibrating device 53, and then using eccentric vibration to screen out a final absorbent material and a second impurity from the secondary absorbent material; and (G) conveying the final absorbent material to the sorting device for cleaning, and discharging an absorbent material WR (such as polyacrylate) at the outlet 544. In simple terms, the water-absorbing material processing system 1 provided by the present invention can further purify and separate the aforementioned primary water-absorbing material into water-absorbing raw materials such as polyacrylate, thereby increasing the reuse rate of the water-absorbing material, for example, as a metal settling agent for industrial wastewater.

[0030] In this embodiment, please refer to Figure 3 First, in step (A), prepare as follows Figure 1 The absorbent material processing system 1 is used in the process. Next, as in step (B), the absorbent article is placed into the absorbent material processing system 1. The absorbent article can be, but is not limited to, personal hygiene products such as diapers, disposable diapers, pads, and sanitary napkins, primarily composed of fluffy fibers, absorbent materials, and plastic fragments. Specifically, the cutting module 2 of the present invention can preliminarily cut the absorbent article (such as diapers or sanitary napkins) to be processed, making it easier for the different contents (such as fluffy fibers, primary absorbent materials, or plastic fragments) in the absorbent article to be further dispersed in subsequent steps (C) to (G).

[0031] Please continue to refer to Figure 3In step (C), the cut absorbent material is first conveyed to the slurry module 3, then hydraulically crushed and separated using rotation. Finally, the absorbent recycled material is retained for further processing in step (D) in the subsequent brine treatment module 4. Specifically, after step (B), the cut absorbent material is conveyed to the slurry module 3 by an overhead crane or similar transport vehicle for hydraulic crushing and cutting. More specifically, under the high torque output of the slurry module 3, the cut absorbent material is agitated by the water flow and cut into smaller and less agglomerated absorbent recycled material by the cutter 33, so that it can be further separated in the brine treatment module 4 in step (D).

[0032] In step (C), the slurry dispersing module 3 is configured to remove a large amount of plastic fragments (e.g., through a row of plastic outlets at the bottom of the slurry dispersing module 3) and generate absorbent recycled material. Further, the plastic fragments may be a waterproof material relative to the absorbent article (e.g., a waterproof layer in a diaper shell), and the absorbent recycled material may be a collection of fluff fiber material and primary absorbent material; simply put, it is the removal of other parts of the absorbent article that are composed of the plastic fragments.

[0033] In addition, in step (C), the rotation speed, rotation time, and water level of the slurry module 3 during hydraulic crushing and separation can also be set to be automatically controlled by the system. For example, in the method proposed in this invention, step (C) can be performed using an "intermittent" slurry discharge method to avoid clogging of the slurry discharge port, which serves as the inlet for the absorbent material, due to continuous slurry discharge.

[0034] Furthermore, in step (D), the absorbent recycled material generated in step (C) is first fed into the buffer tank 41 of the slurry treatment module 4 by an overhead crane or similar tool, so that a "small portion" of the mixture containing the primary absorbent material in the absorbent recycled material is temporarily stopped and retained at the bottom of the buffer tank 41; the other mixture enters the settling tank 42 for the next stage of separation. In the settling tank 42, the fluff fiber material and the primary absorbent material of different specific gravities are separated by gravity settling, and the primary absorbent material that has settled and retained is further transported to the absorbent raw material manufacturing module 5.

[0035] Finally, steps (E) and (G) performed in the absorbent raw material manufacturing module 5 are primarily aimed at obtaining an absorbent raw material (such as polyacrylate) by purifying the aforementioned primary absorbent material. First, these primary absorbent materials are fed into a centrifuge 51 for a first purification separation, forming and retaining secondary absorbent material in a temporary storage tank 52. Second, these secondary absorbent materials are fed into a vibrating device 53 for a second purification separation, thereby producing a final absorbent material. Furthermore, a third purification separation is performed in a sorting device 54 to generate the absorbent raw material WR from the received final absorbent material.

[0036] In summary, the purpose of this invention is to provide a system for processing absorbent raw materials and its application method. This system decomposes and recycles used absorbent sanitary products. The system utilizes specialized methods in each module to completely separate the absorbent raw materials, allowing the raw materials to be recycled into other usable new products, thus achieving effective waste reuse. Considering the complexity of absorbent sanitary product materials, multiple modules are set up to sequentially separate and purify the materials according to their gravity, density, and size.

[0037] However, the above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention and should not be construed as limiting the scope of the present invention. Any simple changes and modifications made in accordance with the scope of the patent application and the description of the present invention shall still fall within the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A water-absorbing material processing system, characterized in that, Include: One cutting module; A slurry dispersing module is connected to the cutting module, the slurry dispersing module having at least one baffle, a rotor and at least two cutters; A salt slurry treatment module, connected to the slurry dispersing module; and A water-absorbing raw material manufacturing module, connected to the salt slurry treatment module, includes: A centrifuge; A temporary storage tank is connected to the centrifuge. A vibrating device, connected to the temporary storage tank, the vibrating device comprising a screen; and A sorting device includes a tank having a plurality of stirring blades, a feed inlet, a water inlet, and an outlet. The rotor is an upright rotor; The at least one of the baffles is a baffle plate, which is disposed inside the slurry dispersing module; At least two cutters are located at the bottom of the slurry module.

2. The water-absorbing raw material processing system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The brine treatment module further includes a buffer tank, a settling tank, or a combination thereof.

3. The water-absorbing raw material processing system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The rotor is a cylindrical rotor.

4. The water-absorbing material processing system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The sorting equipment also has a guide tube connected to the outlet.

5. A method for operating a water-absorbing material processing system, characterized in that, Include: (A) Provides a water-absorbing material processing system as claimed in claim 1; (B) Place an absorbent material into the cutting module for cutting; (C) The segmented absorbent material is conveyed to the slurry module, and the absorbent material is crushed and separated by rotation, while retaining a portion of the absorbent material for recycling. (D) The absorbent recycled material is fed to the brine treatment module for separation and to produce a primary absorbent material; (E) The primary absorbent material is further separated into a secondary absorbent material and a first impurity by passing it through the centrifuge, and the secondary absorbent material is temporarily stored in the storage tank. (F) The secondary absorbent material is removed from the temporary storage tank and transported to the vibrating device, where it is then subjected to eccentric vibration. A final absorbent material and a second impurity were screened out from the primary absorbent material; and (G) The final absorbent material is conveyed to the sorting equipment for cleaning and a water-absorbing material is discharged from the outlet.

6. The operation method of the water-absorbing raw material processing system according to claim 5, characterized in that, Step (C) After the slurry module performs hydraulic crushing and separation, a plastic fragment is removed.

7. The operation method of the water-absorbing raw material treatment system according to claim 5, characterized in that, Step (C) The slurry module further includes a rotor to prevent the absorbent material from agglomerating into a spherical shape after hydraulic crushing and separation.

8. The method of operating the water-absorbing raw material processing system according to claim 5, characterized in that, Step (C) The slurry module further includes at least one turbulence element that generates at least one vortex when the slurry module rotates, thereby creating a water flow downpressure phenomenon.

9. The operation method of the water-absorbing raw material treatment system according to claim 5, characterized in that, Step (C) The slurry module further includes at least two blades to accelerate the hydraulic breaking and separation of the absorbent material.

10. The method of operating the water-absorbing raw material processing system according to claim 5, characterized in that, Step (D) The slurry treatment module further includes a settling tank to gravity-settle the primary absorbent material from the absorbent recycled material.

Images