Powder and granular material processing equipment cleaning system

Abstract

To provide a particulate matter processing device cleaning system which can automatically clean the inside and outside of a device including an auxiliary facility thoroughly and efficiently.SOLUTION: A cleaning system 1 performs automatic cleaning processing of a device body of a pan coating device 2 and a liquid feed line 17 of coating liquid and an air supply and exhaust system members including an air supply duct 12 and the like. Spray nozzles 4 connected to the liquid feed line 17 and an in-pan cleaning nozzle 22 connected to a cleaning liquid supply line 30 are provided in a coating pan 3. Cleaning nozzles 21, 23-29 connected to the cleaning liquid supply line 30 are provided in a housing 5 or each air supply and exhaust system member. An ultra fine bubble generation device 31 is provided for the liquid feed line 17 and the cleaning liquid supply line 30. In cleaning processing, a cleaning liquid containing ultra fine bubbles with diameters less than 200 nm is supplied to the spray nozzles 4 and the respective cleaning nozzles 21-29.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a cleaning technology for powder and granular material processing equipment such as pan coating equipment, agitation granulators, and fluidized bed granulation coating equipment, and in particular to a cleaning system for powder and granular material processing equipment that can automatically clean the inside and outside of the equipment, including auxiliary equipment. [Background technology]

[0002] In powder and granular processing equipment, such as granulation and coating equipment, used in the production of pharmaceuticals, foods, etc., cleaning of the equipment is carried out after the granulation and coating processes of powder and granules to prevent contamination, etc. Conventional methods for this cleaning process include spraying city water (tap water), warm water, chemical solutions, purified water, etc. as a cleaning liquid from cleaning nozzles installed inside the equipment, or storing cleaning water inside the equipment and cleaning it in that state. There are various types of cleaning processes, such as in-place cleaning, which cleans the equipment without disassembling it, manual cleaning by workers, and automatic cleaning using nozzles installed inside the equipment. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2013-208537 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, conventional cleaning processes have focused mainly on cleaning the inside of the equipment, and have not necessarily been able to adequately clean the equipment ancillary to the equipment, such as the liquid tank, piping, and other liquid transfer lines.In addition, the cleaning action is limited to the effect of separating dirt using the impact force of the nozzle jet or dissolving the dirt with warm water or chemicals, which means that it takes a considerable amount of time to thoroughly clean the equipment, and there has been a problem in that the inside and outside of the equipment, including the ancillary equipment, cannot be efficiently and automatically cleaned.

[0005] In this case, for example, the liquid tank is only cleaned by installing a cleaning nozzle inside, and the liquid supply line is simply flushed with purified water, which is hardly sufficient cleaning. For this reason, conventional powder and granular material processing equipment, especially those handling pharmaceuticals and food, uses the same liquid supply line for the same product or replaces it with a new one for each processing batch, which creates issues in terms of cost and production efficiency. Furthermore, the concept of cleaning the drainage pipes is not even considered, so cleaning treatment itself is not performed, which is undesirable from a GMP perspective.

[0006] SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a cleaning system for a powder or granular material processing apparatus which can automatically and efficiently clean the inside and outside of the apparatus, including associated equipment, thoroughly. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The powder / granular processing equipment cleaning system of the present invention is a cleaning system for cleaning a powder / granular processing equipment having a processing vessel for accommodating powder / granular material and a spray nozzle for spraying a predetermined processing liquid onto the powder / granular material in the processing vessel, the system comprising: a liquid feed line for supplying the processing liquid to the spray nozzle; a cleaning nozzle disposed in the processing vessel and spraying the cleaning liquid for cleaning the inside of the processing vessel; and a cleaning liquid supply line for supplying the cleaning liquid to the cleaning nozzle. and an ultrafine bubble generator that is disposed in each of the liquid delivery line and the cleaning liquid supply line and that generates bubbles with a diameter of less than 200 nm, and during cleaning of the powder and granular material processing device, a cleaning liquid containing ultrafine bubbles with a diameter of less than 200 nm is supplied to the spray nozzle and the cleaning nozzle.

[0008] In this invention, an ultra-fine bubble generator is installed in the liquid transfer line and cleaning liquid supply line, and a cleaning liquid containing ultra-fine bubbles with a diameter of less than 200 nm is supplied to the spray nozzle and cleaning nozzle during cleaning of powder and granular material processing equipment. This allows the combined effect of the ultra-fine bubbles and the nozzle spray to automatically clean the inside and outside of the equipment, including any ancillary equipment. In this case, the ultra-fine bubble generator can be retrofitted to existing liquid transfer lines and cleaning liquid supply lines, making it possible to automatically clean powder and granular material processing equipment without changing the existing system configuration or cleaning process.

[0009] In the powder / granular material processing apparatus cleaning system, the liquid supply line includes a liquid tank for storing the processing liquid, and a processing liquid in the liquid tank is spray nozzle a pump for supplying water to the liquid tank, a first pipe for supplying water to the liquid tank, and a second pipe for connecting the liquid tank to the pump and the pump to the spray nozzle, respectively, and the ultra-fine bubble generator may be disposed in the path of the first pipe.

[0010] The powder or granular material processing apparatus may further include a housing that houses the processing vessel and an air supply / exhaust system for supplying a processing gas into the processing vessel and exhausting the processing gas from the processing vessel, wherein the cleaning nozzles are disposed in the housing, the processing vessel, and the air supply / exhaust system, and a cleaning liquid containing the ultra-fine bubbles is sprayed from the cleaning nozzles into the housing, the processing vessel, and the air supply / exhaust system during cleaning of the powder or granular material processing apparatus. In this case, the powder or granular material processing apparatus may be a pan coating apparatus having, as the processing vessel, a coating pan that is rotatable about a rotation axis and that contains the powder or granular material to be processed.

[0011] Furthermore, the powder and granular material processing device may be an agitation granulation device having a bottomed, approximately cylindrical vessel as the processing container, or may be a fluidized bed device having a cylindrically shaped container arranged vertically as the processing container.

[0012] On the other hand, the cleaning nozzle may be a low-speed rotating nozzle whose nozzle tip rotates when water is passed through it, a three-dimensional nozzle capable of spraying the cleaning liquid in all directions, or a shower ball with a spherical head.

[0013] Additionally, the cleaning liquid may be city water, warm water, chemical solution, or purified water containing ultrafine bubbles with a diameter of less than 200 nm. [Effects of the Invention]

[0014] According to the powder and granular processing equipment cleaning system of the present invention, an ultra-fine bubble generator is installed in the liquid transfer line and cleaning liquid supply line of the powder and granular processing equipment, and a cleaning liquid containing ultra-fine bubbles with a diameter of less than 200 nm is supplied to the spray nozzle and cleaning nozzle during cleaning of the powder and granular processing equipment. The combined effect of the ultra-fine bubbles and the nozzle spray makes it possible to clean the inside and outside of the equipment, including ancillary equipment. As a result, automatic cleaning of the inside and outside of the equipment, including ancillary equipment, can be achieved, which was not possible with conventional microbubbles. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0015] [Figure 1] 1 is a cross-sectional view showing the configuration of a cleaning system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] 1 is a table showing the results of cleaning tests using microbubbles and ultrafine bubbles. [Figure 3] FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of a cleaning system according to a second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of a cleaning system according to a third embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0016] (Embodiment 1) Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described. Fig. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of a powder / granular material processing apparatus cleaning system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The cleaning system 1 in Fig. 1 performs cleaning processing on a pan coating apparatus 2, which is one type of powder / granular material processing apparatus, and is capable of automatically cleaning not only the apparatus itself, but also the coating liquid delivery line and intake / exhaust system components such as intake / exhaust ducts.

[0017] The pan coating device 2 is a device that performs coating processes such as sugar coating on powdered or granular objects to be processed, such as tablets, contained in a coating pan (rotating drum: processing container) 3. A spray nozzle 4 for spraying a coating liquid is contained and arranged inside the coating pan 3 (hereinafter abbreviated as pan 3), and the objects to be processed in the pan 3 are coated by spraying the coating liquid (processing liquid) from the spray nozzle 4 while rotating the pan 3.

[0018] As shown in FIG. 1, the pan coating device 2 has a pan 3 rotatably installed in a pan chamber 6 of a housing 5. The pan 3 rotates around a substantially horizontal rotation axis O while its front side (right side in the figure) is supported by a pan support roll 7, and treatment materials such as tablets are placed inside the pan. The central part of the pan 3 is a body 8 with a circular cross section, and multiple air vents 9 are provided around the entire circumference of the body 8. A front door 11, the internal space of which forms an air supply chamber 10, is provided on the front side of the housing 5. Hot air and cold air (treatment gas) are supplied to the air supply chamber 10 from an external air supply duct (not shown) via an air supply duct 12. The treatment gas supplied to the air supply chamber 10 is introduced into the pan 3, used to dry the treatment materials, and then discharged to the outside of the pan 3 through the air vents 9.

[0019] The housing 5 is further provided with an exhaust duct 13 for discharging the treatment gas outside the apparatus. The exhaust duct 13 is connected to an exhaust chamber 14 disposed at the bottom of the pan chamber 6. The exhaust chamber 14 is in contact with the bottom of the pan 3, and the treatment gas supplied into the pan 3 flows into the exhaust chamber 14 through the vent hole 9. The treatment gas discharged outside the pan 3 is introduced from the exhaust chamber 14 into the exhaust duct 13. An external exhaust duct (not shown) is connected to the exhaust duct 13, and the treatment gas in the exhaust duct 13 is sent to the external exhaust duct and discharged outside the apparatus. The housing 5 is also provided with a housing dry air duct 15 through which dry air is supplied to dry the inside of the housing.

[0020] A spray nozzle 4 for spraying the coating liquid is disposed within the pan 3. The spray nozzle 4 is attached to a gun holder 16 and inserted into the pan 3 through a front opening 3a thereof. The coating liquid and spray air are supplied to the spray nozzle 4 via a liquid supply hose (not shown) housed within the gun holder 16. The liquid supply hose within the gun holder 16 is connected to a liquid supply line 17 external to the apparatus, and the coating liquid is supplied to the spray nozzle 4 via this liquid supply line 17.

[0021] The liquid supply line 17 is provided with a liquid tank 18 that stores the coating liquid, and a pump 19 that supplies the coating liquid from the liquid tank 18 to the spray nozzle 4. Water is supplied to the liquid tank 18 from a water supply pipe (first pipe) 20a, where it is stirred and mixed with the coating agent to form a coating liquid. The coating liquid in the liquid tank 18 is supplied by the pump 19 from a connecting pipe (second pipe) 20b through a hose in the gun holder 16 to the spray nozzle 4, and is sprayed onto the powdered or granular material to be treated in the pan 3.

[0022] Meanwhile, the cleaning system 1 is provided with multiple nozzles for spraying cleaning fluid to clean various parts of the pan coating device 2. Specifically, for pan cleaning, an exterior pan cleaning nozzle 21 for cleaning the exterior of the pan 3 and an interior pan cleaning nozzle 22 for cleaning the interior of the pan 3 are provided within the housing 5. The exterior pan cleaning nozzle 21 is located at the top of the housing 5 and also serves to clean the interior of the housing 5. Both cleaning nozzles 21 and 22 are low-speed rotating cleaning nozzles, and the nozzle tip rotates when water is passed through them, cleaning a 360° periphery. The interior pan cleaning nozzle 22 is positioned outside the pan during the coating process to prevent dripping, but can also be inserted through the front opening 3a of the pan 3 during cleaning. A pan receiving roll cleaning nozzle 23 for cleaning the pan receiving roll 7 is also provided on the front side of the pan 3.

[0023] Next, for cleaning the air intake and exhaust system, nozzles for cleaning each duct and chamber are installed inside each of the air intake and exhaust system components, such as air intake duct 12, air intake chamber 10, exhaust chamber 14, and exhaust duct 13. That is, air intake duct cleaning nozzle 24 is installed in air intake duct 12, air intake chamber cleaning nozzle 25 is installed in air intake chamber 10, exhaust chamber cleaning nozzle 26 is installed in exhaust chamber 14, and exhaust duct cleaning nozzle 27 is installed in exhaust duct 13. In addition, an exhaust chamber outer cleaning nozzle 28 is installed outside exhaust chamber 14. Furthermore, a housing drying air duct cleaning nozzle 29 is also installed inside housing drying air duct 15. Each of nozzles 21 to 29 is a low-speed rotating cleaning nozzle, and cleaning liquid is supplied to them via cleaning liquid supply line 30.

[0024] In such a pan coating apparatus 2, after coating tablets or the like, the cleaning system 1 automatically cleans the apparatus body, the intake and exhaust ducts and chambers, and the associated equipment, such as the liquid supply line. In this case, the cleaning system 1 according to the present invention uses cleaning water containing ultrafine bubbles (hereinafter abbreviated as UFB), which are ultrafine bubbles with a diameter of less than 200 nm, as the cleaning liquid. Therefore, in the cleaning system 1, a UFB generator 31 is attached to the water supply pipe 20a of the liquid supply line 17 and the cleaning liquid supply line 30. This UFB generator 31 is installed inline (midway along the route) and can be retrofitted to a conventional, existing liquid supply line 17 or cleaning liquid supply line 30. Note that UFB are extremely minute, colorless, and transparent, making them invisible to the naked eye. The cleaning liquid containing UFB (hereinafter abbreviated as UFB-containing water) is not cloudy and appears identical to ordinary water.

[0025] In this case, during the coating process, water is supplied to the liquid tank 18 through the liquid supply line 17 without operating the UFB generator 31, and a predetermined coating liquid is supplied from the liquid tank 18 to the spray nozzle 4. In contrast, when performing a cleaning process, water (any of city water, hot water, chemical solution, and purified water) is supplied to the liquid tank 18 while operating the UFB generator 31. At this time, no coating agent is supplied to the liquid tank 18. Then, UFB-containing water is generated using the UFB generator 31 and supplied to the liquid tank 18, and the pump 19 is operated. As a result, the UFB-containing water is supplied to the spray nozzle 4 as a cleaning liquid and sprayed into the pan 3. As a result, the liquid supply line 17, such as the liquid tank 18 and the connecting pipe 20b, the liquid supply hose, and the spray nozzle 4 are cleaned with the UFB-containing water.

[0026] On the other hand, the cleaning liquid supply line 30 is used only during the cleaning process. Cleaning liquid is supplied to the cleaning liquid supply line 30 by a pump (not shown), and UFB-containing water is generated by an in-line UFB generator 31. The generated UFB-containing water is supplied to each of the cleaning nozzles 21-29 as cleaning liquid. The UFB-containing water is then sprayed from each of the cleaning nozzles 21-29 to clean the inside and outside of the pan 3 and the air intake and exhaust system.

[0027] That is, the inside and outside of the pan 3 and the inside of the housing 5 are cleaned with UFB-containing water by the cleaning nozzles 21-23, and the ducts 12, 13, 15 and chambers 10, 14 are cleaned by the cleaning nozzles 24-29. At this time, the cleaning liquid sprayed into the bread chamber 6 is directly discharged outside the device through the drain pipe 32 provided at the bottom of the bread chamber 6 (in the case of washing with running water). Alternatively, UFB-containing water can be stored at the bottom of the bread chamber 6 and the pan 3 can be rotated in this state to perform pool washing, and the cleaning liquid after pool washing is discharged through the drain pipe 32.

[0028] In this way, in the cleaning system 1 according to the present invention, by installing the UFB generator 31 inline with the liquid supply line 17 and the cleaning liquid supply line 30, the inside and outside of the device, such as the liquid supply line 17, the inside and outside of the pan 3, the air intake and exhaust system, and the drainage pipe 32, are cleaned with UFB-containing water. In this case, the liquid tank 18 of the liquid supply line 17 and the connecting pipe 20b are cleaned by the micro-vibrations (Brownian motion) of the UFB in the cleaning liquid. Furthermore, the inside of the pan 3, the inside of the housing 5, the ducts 12, 13, 15, and the chambers 10, 14 are cleaned by the combined effect of the impact pressure action caused by the bursting bubbles of the UFB-containing water and the nozzle spray. Even when performing pool washing, the cleaning power is enhanced by the effect of the Brownian motion of the UFB. Furthermore, the cleaning effect of Brownian motion is also exerted on the drainage pipe 32.

[0029] Therefore, due to the action of UFB, the cleaning system 1 can achieve a higher cleaning effect than conventional systems that use bubbles with a diameter of 200 nm or more (microbubbles: hereinafter abbreviated as MB). Figure 2 is a table showing the results of cleaning tests using MB and UFB conducted by the inventors.

[0030] As shown in Figure 2, with MB-containing water, even after 15 minutes of running water (around 40-50°C), dirt remained in the corners and was incompletely cleaned. In contrast, with UFB-containing water, even after 15 minutes of running water (around 15°C), most of the dirt was removed from the areas where the spray hit, and an additional 15 minutes of washing completed the cleaning without any residue. Therefore, with the washing system 1, it is possible to automatically wash the inside and outside of the pan coating device, including the liquid delivery line 17 and the intake and exhaust system, without requiring manual work such as finishing washing.

[0031] As described above, the cleaning system of the present invention, with the UFB generator 31 installed inline, enables the combined effect of the UFB action and nozzle injection to efficiently and thoroughly clean the inside and outside of the device, including ancillary equipment. As a result, fully automatic cleaning of the inside and outside of the device, including ancillary equipment, can be achieved, something that was previously impossible with MB. Furthermore, the UFB generator 31 can be retrofitted to the existing liquid delivery line 17 and cleaning solution supply line 30, allowing the cleaning effect of UFB to be obtained as a synergistic effect with conventional equipment without changing the conventional cleaning process (cleaning flow). Therefore, cleaning processes can be automated without incurring significant cost increases, making it possible to achieve more efficient powder and granular processing such as tablet coating.

[0032] (Embodiment 2) Next, a cleaning system according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. Fig. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of a cleaning system 40 according to a second embodiment of the present invention, illustrating the configuration during cleaning processing. In the following embodiment, parts and members similar to those of the cleaning system 1 according to the first embodiment are given the same reference numerals, and descriptions thereof will be omitted.

[0033] A cleaning system 40 in Fig. 3 is an application of the present invention to an agitation granulation apparatus. The agitation granulation apparatus 41 in Fig. 3 is equipped with a bottomed, substantially cylindrical vessel (processing container) 42 into which powder or granules are introduced and processed, and agitates and granulates the powder or granules to be processed supplied into the vessel 42. An agitator blade 44 driven to rotate by a motor 43 is disposed in the center of the bottom of the vessel 42. A discharge section 45 from which the processed powder or granules are discharged and a chopper 46 for crushing the powder or granules are provided on a side wall 42a of the vessel 42. An upper lid 47 is attached to the upper end of the vessel 42 so as to be able to open and close freely, and a spray nozzle 48 is attached to the upper lid 47.

[0034] The binder liquid is supplied to the spray nozzle 48 via a liquid supply line 17. The liquid supply line 17 is provided with a liquid tank 18 that stores the binder liquid and a pump 19 that supplies the binder liquid from the liquid tank 18 to the spray nozzle 48. Water is supplied to the liquid tank 18 from a water supply pipe 20a, where it is stirred and mixed with the binder agent to form the binder liquid. The binder liquid in the liquid tank 18 is supplied by the pump 19 to the spray nozzle 48 via a connecting pipe 20b, and is sprayed onto the powdered or granular material to be treated in the vessel 42.

[0035] In the agitation granulation device 41, processes such as agitation and granulation of powder and granules are carried out as follows. First, the powder and granules to be processed are introduced into the upper end of the vessel 42. Next, the motor 43 is driven to rotate the agitator 44. At this time, a binder liquid is appropriately supplied into the vessel 42 through the spray nozzle 48, and the powder and granules in the vessel 42 are agitated and granulated by the agitator 44. Purge air may be supplied from the bottom of the vessel 42. After being agitated, mixed, granulated, and other processes in the vessel 42, the powder and granules are appropriately crushed by the chopper 46. In this way, the powder and granules are granulated in the agitation granulation device 41, and the desired granular product is produced. The product after being mixed, granulated, and other processes is discharged from the discharge section 45.

[0036] In the agitation granulation apparatus 41, after the granulation process of the powder and granules, the cleaning system 40 automatically cleans the liquid feed line 17 and the vessel 42. In this case, UFB-containing water is used as the cleaning liquid. For this reason, in the cleaning system 40, a UFB generator 31 is also attached to the water supply pipe 20a of the liquid feed line 17. As in the first embodiment, in the liquid feed line 17, water is supplied to the liquid tank 18 without operating the UFB generator 31 during the process of granulation, and a predetermined binder liquid is supplied from the liquid tank 18 to the spray nozzle 48.

[0037] On the other hand, when performing cleaning treatment, UFB generator 31 is operated while supplying water to liquid tank 18, and UFB-containing water is supplied to liquid tank 18. Pump 19 is then operated to supply UFB-containing water as a cleaning liquid to spray nozzle 48. As a result, UFB-containing water is sprayed from spray nozzle 48, and liquid tank 18, liquid transfer line 17 such as connecting pipe 20b, and spray nozzle 48 are cleaned with the UFB-containing water.

[0038] Furthermore, in the cleaning system 40, a cleaning nozzle 49 is attached to the top cover 47 during the cleaning process, and the inside of the vessel 42 is cleaned. A low-speed rotating cleaning nozzle is used as the cleaning nozzle 49, and cleaning liquid is supplied through a cleaning liquid supply line 30. In the cleaning liquid supply line 30, UFB-containing water is generated by an inline UFB generator 31 and supplied to the cleaning nozzle 49. The UFB-containing water supplied to the cleaning nozzle 49 is sprayed from the cleaning nozzle 49 into the vessel 42, cleaning the inside of the vessel 42.

[0039] The UFB-containing water sprayed from the cleaning nozzle 49 is stored in the vessel 42 together with the UFB-containing water sprayed from the spray nozzle 48. The vessel 42 is then filled with the UFB-containing water, and the inside of the vessel 42 is subjected to a water-washing process. At this time, the agitator 44 and chopper 46 are operated. This cleans the side wall 42a of the vessel 42, the inside of the top lid 47, the agitator 44, the chopper 46, and the like. While the agitator 44 and chopper 46 are operating, the water-washing process of the vessel 42 is carried out for a predetermined period of time, and after the water-washing process is completed, the cleaning liquid in the vessel 42 is discharged from the discharge port 45. Note that in this case, the inside of the vessel 42 may also be washed with running water by pouring the cleaning liquid from the spray nozzle 48 or the cleaning nozzle 49 over it.

[0040] In this way, in the cleaning system 40, by installing the UFB generator 31 inline with the liquid feed line 17 and the cleaning liquid supply line 30, the inside and outside of the device, such as the liquid feed line 17, the inside of the vessel 42, and the discharge part 45, are cleaned with UFB-containing water. In this case, as described above, the liquid feed line 17 is cleaned by the Brownian motion of the UFB, and the inside of the vessel 42 is cleaned by the combined effect of the impact pressure action caused by the bubble bursting of the UFB-containing water and the nozzle spray. The discharge part 45 is also cleaned by the Brownian motion of the UFB.

[0041] Therefore, with the cleaning system 40, by installing the UFB generator 31 inline, the combined effect of the UFB action and nozzle injection makes it possible to achieve fully automatic cleaning of the inside and outside of the device, including ancillary equipment, something that was not possible with MB. Moreover, the UFB generator 31 can be retrofitted to the existing liquid delivery line 17 and cleaning liquid supply line 30, and the cleaning effect of UFB can be obtained as a synergistic effect with the conventional device without changing the conventional cleaning process (cleaning flow). Therefore, cleaning processing can be automated without incurring significant cost increases, making it possible to achieve efficient powder and granule processing such as agitation granulation.

[0042] (Embodiment 3) Next, a cleaning system according to a third embodiment of the present invention will be described. Fig. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of a cleaning system 50 according to the third embodiment of the present invention. The cleaning system 50 in Fig. 4 is an application of the present invention to a fluidized bed apparatus. As shown in Fig. 4, the fluidized bed apparatus 51 has a processing vessel 52 in which powdered or granular material to be processed is accommodated and subjected to granulation coating processing, drying processing, etc., and the powdered or granular material to be processed is subjected to granulation coating processing within the processing vessel 52.

[0043] The processing vessel 52 is cylindrical and is configured by stacking, from top to bottom, a filter casing 53, a spray casing 54, a raw material container 55, and an air supply unit 56 vertically. An exhaust port 57 is formed at the upper end of the filter casing 53, and the exhaust port 57 is connected to an exhaust facility (not shown). A filter 58 is attached between the lower end of the filter casing 53 and the spray casing 54. A shower ball (cleaning nozzle) 59 for cleaning is installed inside the filter casing 53. The shower ball 59 has a spherical head and is capable of spraying cleaning liquid in a 360° angle. Cleaning liquid is supplied to the shower ball 59 via a cleaning liquid supply line 30.

[0044] The spray casing 54 contains a fluidization chamber 60. Attached to the fluidization chamber 60 is a spray nozzle 61 for spraying a binder liquid or coating liquid (hereinafter abbreviated as binder liquid, etc.) onto the powder or granular material. The binder liquid, etc. is supplied to the spray nozzle 61 via a liquid supply line 17. The liquid supply line 17 is provided with a liquid tank 18 for storing the binder liquid, etc., and a pump 19 for supplying the binder liquid, etc. from the liquid tank 18 to the spray nozzle 61. Water is supplied to the liquid tank 18 from a water supply pipe 20a, where it is stirred and mixed with the binder agent or coating agent to form the binder liquid, etc. The binder liquid, etc. in the liquid tank 18 is supplied to the spray nozzle 61 by the pump 19 via a connecting pipe 20b and sprayed onto the powder or granular material to be treated inside the spray casing 54.

[0045] Furthermore, in the cleaning system 50, a three-dimensional nozzle (cleaning nozzle) 62 for spraying cleaning liquid is provided inside the spray casing 54 in order to clean the spray casing 54 and the raw material container 55. The three-dimensional nozzle 62 is capable of spraying cleaning liquid in all directions, up and down, left and right, and is inserted into the spray casing 54 during the cleaning process. The cleaning liquid is supplied to the three-dimensional nozzle 62 via a cleaning liquid supply line 30.

[0046] A raw material container 55 is disposed below the spray casing 54, and powder or granular material to be treated is placed into the raw material container 55. An air supply unit 56 is installed below the raw material container 55. The interior of the air supply unit 56 forms an air supply chamber 63. An air supply duct 64 communicating with the air supply chamber 63 is attached to the air supply unit 56. The air supply duct 64 is connected to an air supply source (not shown) provided outside the apparatus. A treatment gas (fluidizing air) for fluidizing the powder or granular material is supplied into the air supply chamber 63 via the air supply duct 64.

[0047] In this fluidized bed apparatus 51, fluidizing air is supplied from an air supply duct 64 to an air supply chamber 63. The fluidizing air forms a swirling air current in the treatment vessel 52, blowing up the powder and granular material in the treatment vessel 52. The blown-up powder and granular material is fluidized in the fluidization chamber 60 and stirred and mixed. Then, an appropriate binder liquid or the like is sprayed in a spray form from a spray nozzle 61 onto the fluidized powder and granular material. In this way, the fluidized bed apparatus 51 performs a granulation process or a coating process on the powder and granular material. Meanwhile, the treatment gas that fluidized the powder and granular material is purified by a filter 58 to remove fine solid particles, and then is discharged to the outside of the apparatus from an exhaust port 57.

[0048] In the fluidized bed device 51, after the granulation process of the powder or granules, the liquid supply line 17 and the processing vessel 52 are automatically cleaned by the cleaning system 50. In this case, UFB-containing water is used as the cleaning liquid. For this reason, the cleaning system 50 also has a UFB generator 31 attached to the water supply pipe 20a of the liquid supply line 17 and the cleaning liquid supply line 30.

[0049] In the liquid supply line 17, as in the first and second embodiments, during processes such as granulation, water is supplied to the liquid tank 18 without operating the UFB generator 31, and a predetermined binder liquid or the like is supplied from the liquid tank 18 to the spray nozzle 61. On the other hand, when performing a cleaning process, water is supplied to the liquid tank 18 while operating the UFB generator 31. At this time, no binder or the like is supplied to the liquid tank 18. Then, UFB-containing water is generated using the UFB generator 31 and supplied to the liquid tank 18, and the pump 19 is operated. As a result, the UFB-containing water is supplied to the spray nozzle 61 as a cleaning liquid and sprayed into the fluidization chamber 60. As a result, the liquid supply line 17, such as the liquid tank 18 and the connecting pipe 20b, and the spray nozzle 61 are cleaned with the UFB-containing water.

[0050] In addition, in the fluidized bed apparatus 51, a UFB generator 31 is attached to the cleaning liquid supply line 30. In the cleaning liquid supply line 30, UFB-containing water is generated by the in-line UFB generator 31 and supplied to the shower ball 59 and three-dimensional nozzle 62. As a result, UFB-containing water is sprayed from the shower ball 59 to clean the inside of the filter casing 53 and the upper surface of the filter 58. The three-dimensional nozzle 62 also sprays cleaning liquid in all directions, cleaning not only the inside of the spray casing 54 but also the lower surface of the filter 58 and the raw material container 55 with the UFB-containing water. Note that cleaning nozzles may also be provided in the exhaust port 57 and the air intake duct 64, and cleaning liquid may be supplied from the cleaning liquid supply line 30.

[0051] In this manner, in the cleaning system 50, a cleaning solution of UFB-containing water is sprayed from the three-dimensional nozzle 62 and shower ball 59 disposed within the processing vessel 52, and the filter casing 53, spray casing 54, and raw material container 55 are cleaned with the UFB-containing water. The UFB-containing water sprayed from the three-dimensional nozzle 62 and shower ball 59 flows into the air supply unit 56 together with the UFB-containing water sprayed from the spray nozzle 61. The interior of the air supply unit 56 is also cleaned with the UFB-containing water, and the cleaning solution that has cleaned the interior of the air supply unit 56 is discharged through the drain pipe 65. Note that during the cleaning process, the drain pipe 65 may be closed and the processing vessel 52, such as the air supply unit 56, the raw material container 55 above it, and the spray casing 54, may be appropriately filled and cleaned. The air supply duct 64 may also be cleaned at the same time.

[0052] In the cleaning system 50, as in the first and second embodiments, a UFB generator 31 is installed inline with the liquid feed line 17 and the cleaning liquid supply line 30, so that the inside and outside of the device, including the liquid feed line 17 and the treatment vessel 52, are cleaned with UFB-containing water. In this case, as described above, the liquid feed line 17 is cleaned by the Brownian motion of UFB, and the inside of the treatment vessel 52 is cleaned by the combined effect of the impact pressure action caused by the bursting of bubbles in the UFB-containing water and the nozzle spray. The air supply unit 56 is also cleaned by the Brownian motion of UFB.

[0053] Therefore, with the cleaning system 50, by installing the UFB generator 31 inline, the combined effect of the UFB action and nozzle injection makes it possible to achieve fully automatic cleaning of the inside and outside of the device, including ancillary equipment, something that was not possible with MB. Moreover, the UFB generator 31 can be retrofitted to the existing liquid delivery line 17 and cleaning liquid supply line 30, and the cleaning effect of UFB can be obtained as a synergistic effect with the conventional device without changing the conventional cleaning process (cleaning flow). Therefore, cleaning processing can be automated without incurring significant cost increases, making it possible to achieve efficient powder and granule processing such as agitation granulation.

[0054] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and it goes without saying that various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. For example, while the above-described embodiments illustrate examples in which the cleaning system according to the present invention is applied to a pan coating apparatus, an agitation granulation apparatus, and a fluidized bed apparatus, the cleaning system of the present invention can also be applied to other powder processing apparatuses, such as pan coating apparatuses, agitation granulation apparatuses, and fluidized bed apparatuses with configurations other than those described above, as well as centrifugal tumbling granulation apparatuses and pulverizers. Furthermore, the nozzles used in each embodiment are merely examples, and the cleaning nozzles are not limited to low-speed rotation cleaning nozzles, shower balls, or three-dimensional nozzles. For example, shower balls or three-dimensional nozzles can be used for the above-described cleaning nozzles 21-29 and 49, or low-speed rotation cleaning nozzles can be used instead of shower ball 59 and three-dimensional nozzle 62. Furthermore, other types of nozzles, such as general-purpose spray nozzles, can also be used. Additionally, the various numerical values ​​shown in the above-described embodiments are merely examples, and the present invention is not limited to these numerical values. [Industrial Applicability]

[0055] The present invention can be applied to systems other than cleaning systems for powder and granular material processing apparatuses, and can also be used in cleaning lines for semiconductor manufacturing equipment, for example. [Explanation of symbols]

[0056] 1 Cleaning System 2 Pan Coating Machine 3 coating pans 3a Front opening 4 spray nozzles 5. Cabinet 6 Bread Room 7 Bread receiving roll 8. Torso 9. Ventilation holes 10. Air supply chamber 11 Front door 12 Air supply duct 13 Exhaust duct 14 Exhaust chamber 15. Enclosure drying air duct 16 Gun Holder 17 Liquid delivery line 18 Liquid tank 19 Pump 20a Water supply pipe (first pipe) 20b Connecting pipe (second pipe) 21 Pan outer cleaning nozzle 22 Pan cleaning nozzle 23 Pan receiving roll cleaning nozzle 24 Air intake duct cleaning nozzle 25 Air supply chamber cleaning nozzle 26 Exhaust chamber cleaning nozzle 27 Exhaust duct cleaning nozzle 28 Exhaust chamber outer cleaning nozzle 29. Enclosure Drying Air Duct Cleaning Nozzle 30 Cleaning solution supply line 31 UFB generator 32 Drainage piping 40 Cleaning System 41 Stirring granulation equipment 42 Vessel 42a side wall 43 Motor 44 Mixing blade 45 Discharge section 46 Chopper 47 Top lid 48 spray nozzle 49 Cleaning nozzle 50 Cleaning System 51 Fluidized bed equipment 52 Processing vessel 53 Filter casing 54 Spray Casing 55 Raw material container 56 Air supply unit 57 Exhaust port 58 filters 59 Shower Ball 60 Fluid Chamber 61 Spray nozzle 62 Three-dimensional nozzle 63 Air Supply Room 64 Air supply duct 65 Drainage piping O Rotation axis

Claims

1. A cleaning system for cleaning a powder or granular material processing apparatus having a processing vessel for accommodating powder or granular material and a spray nozzle for spraying a predetermined processing liquid onto the powder or granular material in the processing vessel, a liquid supply line for supplying the treatment liquid to the spray nozzle; a cleaning nozzle disposed in the processing vessel and spraying a cleaning liquid for cleaning the inside of the processing vessel; a cleaning liquid supply line for supplying the cleaning liquid to the cleaning nozzle; an ultra-fine bubble generator disposed in each of the liquid delivery line and the cleaning liquid supply line, for generating bubbles having a diameter of less than 200 nm; A powder / granular material processing apparatus cleaning system characterized in that, when cleaning the powder / granular material processing apparatus, a cleaning liquid containing ultrafine bubbles having a diameter of less than 200 nm is supplied to the spray nozzle and the cleaning nozzle.

2. 2. The powder / granular material processing apparatus cleaning system according to claim 1, the liquid supply line includes a liquid tank in which the treatment liquid is stored, a pump that supplies the treatment liquid in the liquid tank to the spray nozzle, a first pipe that supplies water to the liquid tank, and a second pipe that connects the liquid tank to the pump and the pump to the spray nozzle, The cleaning system for a powder or granular material processing apparatus is characterized in that the ultra-fine bubble generator is disposed in the path of the first piping.

3. 3. The powder / granular material processing apparatus cleaning system according to claim 1, The powder and granular material processing apparatus comprises: a housing that houses the processing vessel; an intake and exhaust system member for supplying a processing gas into the processing vessel and exhausting the processing gas from the processing vessel; the cleaning nozzle is disposed in the housing, the processing vessel, and the air supply / exhaust system member; A powder / granular material processing apparatus cleaning system characterized in that, during cleaning of the powder / granular material processing apparatus, a cleaning liquid containing the ultra-fine bubbles is sprayed from the cleaning nozzle into the inside of the housing, the inside of the processing container, and the inside of the air intake / exhaust system components.

4. 4. The powder / granular material processing apparatus cleaning system according to claim 3, The powder / granular material processing apparatus cleaning system is characterized in that the powder / granular material processing apparatus is a pan coating apparatus having a coating pan as a processing container that is rotatable around a rotation axis and contains the powder / granular material to be processed.

5. 3. The powder / granular material processing apparatus cleaning system according to claim 1, The powder / granular material processing apparatus cleaning system is characterized in that the powder / granular material processing apparatus is an agitation granulation apparatus having a substantially cylindrical vessel with a bottom as a processing container.

6. 3. The powder / granular material processing apparatus cleaning system according to claim 1, The powder / granular material processing apparatus cleaning system is characterized in that the powder / granular material processing apparatus is a fluidized bed apparatus in which a cylindrical container is arranged vertically as a processing vessel.

7. The powder / granular material processing apparatus cleaning system according to any one of claims 1 to 6, The cleaning system for powder and granular material processing equipment is characterized in that the cleaning nozzle is a low-speed rotating nozzle whose tip rotates when water is passed through it.

8. The powder / granular material processing apparatus cleaning system according to any one of claims 1 to 6, The cleaning system for a powder or granular material processing apparatus is characterized in that the cleaning nozzle is a three-dimensional nozzle capable of spraying the cleaning liquid in all directions.

9. The powder / granular material processing apparatus cleaning system according to any one of claims 1 to 6, The cleaning system for powder and granular material processing equipment is characterized in that the cleaning nozzle is a shower ball having a spherical head portion.

10. The powder / granular material processing apparatus cleaning system according to any one of claims 1 to 9, The cleaning system for powder and granular material processing equipment is characterized in that the cleaning liquid is made of city water, warm water, chemical solution, or purified water, and contains ultrafine bubbles with a diameter of less than 200 nm.

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