Solid raw material production method, shredding system, and solid raw material production apparatus

Abstract

A method for producing a solid raw material, said method involving: preparing a shredding system comprising a shredder that has a raw material reception port, a cutting blade, and a shredded matter discharge port, and a magnetic separator disposed on the downstream side of the shredder; introducing organic waste into the raw material reception port of the shredding system; shredding the organic waste with the cutting blade to generate shredded matter; separating the shredded matter discharged from the shredded matter discharge port into non-magnetic matter and magnetic matter that contains flammable matter by means of the magnetic separator; and immersing the magnetic matter in water.

Description

Method for manufacturing solid raw material, crushing system, and apparatus for manufacturing solid raw material

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a method for manufacturing a solid raw material, a crushing system, and an apparatus for manufacturing a solid raw material.

[0002] CO (carbon monoxide) and H generated by gasifying organic waste such as waste plastic, municipal waste, sewage sludge, waste FRP, biomass waste, automobile waste, waste oil, etc. ２ (hydrogen)-containing gas is attracting attention for chemical recycling of waste used as a raw material for chemical products. Organic waste is crushed as necessary, compression-molded or extruded-molded to be volume-reduced and solidified, and then subjected to gasification treatment.

[0003] Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-232634) describes a method for molding waste plastic granulates for chemical raw materials, characterized by compression-molding waste plastic having a total polyethylene content ratio of 10 to 60% by mass using a compression molding machine of a type that pushes into a hole type.

[0004] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-232634

[0005] Lithium-ion batteries or the like may be mixed into organic waste. If crushing is carried out with a lithium-ion battery mixed into the organic waste, a short circuit may occur in the crushed lithium-ion battery and cause ignition, and there is a risk of igniting combustibles in the presence of oxygen.

[0006] The present disclosure provides a method for manufacturing a solid raw material capable of suppressing or preventing ignition of crushed materials. [[ID=二十一]] [[ID=二十二]]

[0007] This disclosure encompasses the following embodiments: [Embodiment 1] A method for producing a solid raw material, comprising: preparing a crushing system comprising a crusher having a raw material receiving port, a cutting blade, and a crushed material discharge port, and a magnetic separator disposed downstream of the crusher; feeding organic waste into the raw material receiving port of the crushing system; crushing the organic waste with the cutting blade to produce crushed material; separating the crushed material discharged from the crushed material discharge port into magnetic material containing combustible material and non-magnetic material using the magnetic separator; and putting the magnetic material into water. [Embodiment 2] The method according to Embodiment 1, wherein the organic waste comprises at least one selected from the group consisting of waste plastics and paper. [Embodiment 3] The method according to Embodiment 2, wherein the content of waste plastics in the organic waste is 80% by mass or more. [Embodiment 4] The method according to any one of Embodiments 1 to 3, further comprising recovering at least a portion of the combustible material by specific gravity separation of the magnetic material put into water, and feeding the recovered combustible material into the raw material receiving port of the crusher. [Aspect 5] The method according to any one of aspects 1 to 4, further comprising forming the non-magnetic material. [Aspect 6] A crushing system comprising: a crusher having a raw material receiving port, a cutting blade, and a crushed material discharge port; a magnetic separator disposed downstream of the crusher; a container for receiving the magnetic material separated by the magnetic separator; and a water supply device for supplying water to the container. [Aspect 7] A solid raw material manufacturing apparatus comprising the crushing system according to aspect 6 and a molding apparatus for forming the crushed material produced by the crushing system.

[0008] According to this disclosure, a method for producing solid raw materials is provided that can suppress or prevent the ignition of crushed materials.

[0009] The foregoing description shall not be deemed to disclose all embodiments of the present invention and all advantages relating to the present invention.

[0010] This is a schematic diagram showing a crushing system according to one embodiment. This is a schematic diagram showing a solid raw material manufacturing apparatus according to one embodiment.

[0011] The embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings, but the present invention is not limited to these forms, and various applications are possible within its spirit and scope of implementation.

[0012] In this disclosure, when "~" is used for a numerical range, the numbers at both ends are the upper and lower limits, respectively, and are included in the numerical range. If multiple upper or lower limits are listed, a numerical range can be created from all combinations of upper and lower limits. Similarly, if multiple numerical ranges are listed, separate numerical ranges can be created by individually selecting and combining upper and lower limits from those numerical ranges. Regarding reference numbers in drawings, elements with the same or similar numbers in different drawings are indicated as being the same or similar elements.

[0013] [Method for Manufacturing Solid Raw Materials] A method for manufacturing solid raw materials according to one embodiment includes: preparing a crushing system comprising a crusher equipped with a raw material receiving port, a cutting blade, and a crushed material discharge port, and a magnetic separator positioned downstream of the crusher; feeding organic waste into the raw material receiving port of the crushing system; crushing the organic waste with the cutting blade to produce crushed material; separating the crushed material discharged from the crushed material discharge port into magnetically attached material containing combustible material and non-magnetic material using the magnetic separator; and immersing the magnetically attached material in water. When magnetically separating the crushed material, combustible material may be carried along with the metal and mixed into the magnetically attached material. According to this disclosure, by immersing the magnetically attached material in water, it is possible to prevent or suppress the ignition of crushed material such as crushed lithium-ion batteries, or the ignition of combustible material carried along with the metal, and crushed material that has already ignited or combustible material that has ignited can be extinguished in water.

[0014] [Crushing System] The crushing system comprises a crusher equipped with a raw material receiving port, a cutting blade, and a crushed material discharge port, and a magnetic separator located downstream of the crusher. The crushing system may further include a container for receiving the magnetically separated material and a water supply device for supplying water to the container.

[0015] Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the crushing system will be described with reference to Figure 1. Figure 1 is a schematic diagram showing a crushing system 1 of one embodiment. The crushing system 1 comprises a crusher 10 and a magnetic separator 40 located downstream of the crusher 10.

[0016] In Figure 1, the crusher 10 is depicted as a single-shaft shear, but the type of crusher is not limited to this. For example, crushers can be single-shaft shears, twin-shaft shears, pusher-type crushers, and screw-type crushers. The crushing system 1 may include multiple crushers 10. Multiple crushers 10 may be arranged in series and used for coarse crushing and secondary crushing, respectively.

[0017] The crusher 10 includes a hopper 11 having a raw material receiving port 12. As shown by the arrows in Figure 1, organic waste is fed into the hopper 11 from the raw material receiving port 12. The crusher 10 includes a cutting blade 13 fixed inside the crusher 10 and a cutting blade 14 that rotates and works in cooperation with the cutting blade 13 to shear the organic waste. The rotating cutting blade 14 is attached to a rotor 15 having a horizontally extending rotating shaft. The number, material, shape, and arrangement of the cutting blades 13 and 14 are not particularly limited and can be appropriately determined according to the type and amount of organic waste to be fed in. Below the rotor 15, a screen 16 is placed to allow crushed material smaller than a predetermined size to pass through. The organic waste is held on the screen 16 until it becomes smaller than the predetermined size and is then crushed by the cutting blades 13 and 14. The crusher 10 includes a pusher 18 that pushes the organic waste supplied from the hopper 11 toward the cutting blades 13 and 14. The hydraulic cylinder 19 drives the pusher 18 in a reciprocating direction, controlling the force with which the pusher 18 presses the organic waste against the cutting blades 13 and 14 to a predetermined range. The crushed material that has passed through the screen 16 is discharged to the outside of the crusher 10 from the crushed material discharge port 17 located below the crusher 10, as shown by the dotted arrow in Figure 1.

[0018] The cutting blade 14 is preferably a rotary cutting blade attached to a rotor 15 having a horizontally extending rotating shaft. Rotary cutting blades rotate at high speed to cut organic waste, allowing for high throughput of crushing of organic waste. However, when organic waste containing insulators such as waste plastics is crushed in a dry atmosphere, static electricity may be generated, which can lead to ignition or fire. According to this disclosure, it is possible to prevent the ignition of crushed lithium-ion batteries and other combustible materials contained in the magnetic material, or to extinguish combustible materials that have already ignited and are mixed into the magnetic material before magnetic separation, thus allowing for advantageous use of rotary cutting blades. Furthermore, in this embodiment, since the crushed material can be dropped using gravity, the mechanism for transporting the crushed material inside the crusher 10 can be reduced.

[0019] The crusher 10 is preferably at least one selected from the group consisting of a single-axis shearer and a double-axis shearer. A double-axis shearer is a device that crushes organic waste by shearing between the first cutting blade and the second cutting blade by facing a first rotor and a first cutting blade attached to the first rotor against a second rotor and a second cutting blade attached to the second rotor, and rotating the first rotor and the second rotor in opposite directions. Both single-axis and double-axis shearers can efficiently crush organic waste of various shapes and hardnesses by utilizing their high shearing force.

[0020] In one embodiment, as shown in Figure 1, the crushing system 1 further includes a belt conveyor 50 positioned below the crushed material discharge port 17, and the crushed material discharge port 17 is open toward the downward direction of the crusher 10.

[0021] The magnetic separator 40 is positioned downstream of the crusher 10. As shown by the arrows in Figure 1, the crushed material from the crusher 10 is transported by the belt conveyor 50, and the magnetic separator 40, positioned above the belt conveyor 50, collects the metal contained in the crushed material. The magnetic separator 40 puts the magnetically separated material into a container 41 and performs magnetic separation of the crushed material again. Non-magnetic material that is not collected by the magnetic separator 40 falls onto the belt conveyor 51 and is transported to the next process by the belt conveyor 51.

[0022] In one embodiment, as shown in Figure 1, the crushing system 1 includes a container 41 for receiving magnetically attached materials separated by a magnetic separator 40, and a water supply device 43 for supplying water to the container 41. The container 41 and the water supply device 43 are connected via piping 42. The type, material, dimensions, shape, and arrangement of the container 41 are not particularly limited. Examples of containers 41 include metal containers, plastic containers, and flexible container bags with a waterproof inner surface. The water supply device 43 is not particularly limited, but may be an independent device equipped with a water storage tank and a pump, or it may be an industrial water line within a factory. By supplying water from the water supply device 43 to the container 41 and introducing magnetically attached materials into the container 41 filled with water, it is possible to prevent or suppress the ignition of crushed materials such as crushed lithium-ion batteries, or the ignition of combustible materials accompanying the metal, and to extinguish already ignited crushed materials or ignited combustible materials in water.

[0023] Organic waste is not particularly limited, but examples include waste plastics, paper, waste clothing, municipal solid waste, sewage sludge, biomass waste, waste fiber-reinforced plastics (FRP), automobile waste, waste tires, household appliance waste, construction waste, medical waste, and various industrial wastes. From the viewpoint of low compositional variability, high calorific value, and low moisture content, it is preferable that the organic waste includes at least one selected from the group consisting of waste plastics and paper. Multiple types of organic waste may be combined.

[0024] The content of waste plastics in organic waste is preferably 80% by mass or more, more preferably 90% by mass or more, and even more preferably 95% by mass or more. When organic waste containing a high content of waste plastics is crushed, the crushed material is prone to ignition. According to this disclosure, such ignition can be effectively suppressed or prevented. From organic waste containing a high content of waste plastics, a solid raw material with a high calorific value, suitable for chemical recycling by gasification, can be produced.

[0025] Organic waste can be fed into the raw material receiving port 12 of the crushing system 1 using a belt conveyor (not shown) or the like.

[0026] The organic waste is crushed using cutting blades 13 and 14 to produce crushed material. It is preferable to crush the organic waste into pieces of, for example, 5 mm to 100 mm in size.

[0027] The crushed material discharged from the crushed material discharge port 17 is separated by a magnetic separator 40 into magnetic material containing combustible material and non-magnetic material. The crushed material is transported to the vicinity of the magnetic separator 40 by, for example, a belt conveyor 50. The non-magnetic material is transported to the next process by, for example, a belt conveyor 51. The magnetic material is immersed in water to prevent or suppress ignition of the crushed material or combustible material, and in some cases, already ignited crushed material or combustible material is extinguished in the water. In the embodiment shown in Figure 1, the magnetic material is immersed in a container 41 filled with water, but the invention is not limited thereto. The water temperature is not particularly limited and can be, for example, 0°C to 50°C.

[0028] It is preferable to separate the magnetic material placed in water by specific gravity to recover at least a portion of the combustible material, and then feed the recovered combustible material into the raw material inlet 12 of the crusher 10. This allows for effective utilization of the combustible components in the organic waste and increases the yield of solid raw materials. In order to reduce the water content in the solid raw materials and increase their calorific value, the recovered combustible material may be dehydrated or dried before being fed into the raw material inlet 12 of the crusher 10.

[0029] Non-magnetic material can also be used as a solid raw material as is. To improve the handling of the solid raw material, it is preferable to mold the non-magnetic material. Compression molding or extrusion molding is preferable because it reduces the volume of the non-magnetic material, improves its quantitative accuracy, and allows for stable supply to the gasification process. The shape of the molded product is not particularly limited, but pellets are preferred. The molding temperature can be, for example, 100°C to 300°C, preferably 110°C to 250°C, and more preferably 120°C to 230°C.

[0030] The bulk density of the molded product is, for example, 0.05 g / cm³. ３ ~2.0 g / cm ３ This can be done, preferably 0.05 g / cm³. ３ ~0.6 g / cm ３ More preferably 0.1 g / cm³ ３ ~0.5 g / cm３ The length of the molded product is preferably 1 cm or more on its shorter side.

[0031] Examples of solid raw materials produced by the above method include solid fuel. From the viewpoint of transportation efficiency, the solid fuel is more preferably Refuse Derived Fuel (hereinafter also referred to as "RDF") made from solidified municipal waste or Refuse Derived Paper and Plastics Densified Fuel (hereinafter also referred to as "RPF") made from solidified waste plastics, and is even more preferably RPF from the viewpoint of low variation in composition, high calorific value and low moisture content. The solid raw materials can be used, for example, as raw materials in the production of synthesis gas (a mixture of hydrogen gas and carbon monoxide gas) using a two-stage gasification apparatus equipped with a low-temperature gasification furnace and a high-temperature gasification furnace.

[0032] [Apparatus for manufacturing solid raw materials] An apparatus for manufacturing solid raw materials according to one embodiment includes the crushing system described above and a molding apparatus for molding the crushed material produced by the crushing system.

[0033] Figure 2 schematically shows a solid raw material manufacturing apparatus according to one embodiment. The solid raw material manufacturing apparatus 100 includes the crushing system described above (only the crusher 10, magnetic separator 40, container 41, and belt conveyor 50 are shown for simplification) and a molding apparatus 56. As shown by the arrows and dotted arrows in Figure 2, the crushed material generated by crushing organic waste in the crusher 10 is magnetically separated by the magnetic separator 40 on the belt conveyor 50, transported by the flight conveyor 54 and belt conveyor 52, and then fed into the quantitative feeder 55. A predetermined amount of crushed material is supplied from the quantitative feeder 55 to the molding apparatus 56, and solid raw materials are manufactured by molding the crushed material in the molding apparatus 56. The manufactured solid raw materials are transported by the belt conveyor 53 to the next process, such as drying, gasification, inspection, and packaging.

[0034] The molding apparatus 56 is not particularly limited, and a compression molding apparatus or an extrusion molding apparatus can be used. Examples of molding apparatuses include a flat die type, a ring die type, and a screw type.

[0035] It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and that various improvements and modifications of the present invention are possible without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.

[0036] 1 Crushing system 10 Crusher 11 Hopper 12 Raw material receiving port 13, 14 Cutting blade 15 Rotor 16 Screen 17 Crushed material discharge port 18 Pusher 19 Hydraulic cylinder 40 Magnetic separator 41 Container 42 Piping 43 Water supply equipment 50, 51, 52, 53 Belt conveyor 54 Flight conveyor 55 Quantitative feeder 56 Molding equipment 100 Solid raw material manufacturing equipment

Claims

1. A method for producing a solid raw material, comprising: preparing a crushing system comprising a crusher equipped with a raw material receiving port, a cutting blade, and a crushed material discharge port, and a magnetic separator positioned downstream of the crusher; feeding organic waste into the raw material receiving port of the crushing system; crushing the organic waste with the cutting blade to produce crushed material; separating the crushed material discharged from the crushed material discharge port into magnetic material containing combustible material and non-magnetic material using the magnetic separator; and adding the magnetic material to water.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the organic waste includes at least one selected from the group consisting of waste plastics and paper.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the content of the waste plastic in the organic waste is 80% by mass or more.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising separating the magnetic material that has been placed in water by specific gravity to recover at least a portion of the combustible material, and feeding the recovered combustible material into the raw material receiving port of the crusher.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising forming the non-magnetic material.

6. A crushing system comprising: a crusher equipped with a raw material receiving port, a cutting blade, and a crushed material discharge port; a magnetic separator positioned downstream of the crusher; a container for receiving the magnetically attached material separated by the magnetic separator; and a water supply device for supplying water to the container.

7. A solid raw material manufacturing apparatus comprising a crushing system according to claim 6 and a molding apparatus for molding the crushed material produced by the crushing system.

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