Two-Sided Vacuum Oven for Hazardous Solvent Safety
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Solution Overview
Problem
Extraction companies face challenges in maintaining the quality of extracted plant material when treating it with hazardous solvents in electrically classified locations, as they struggle to ensure the solvent concentration is below the explosive limit before transferring the material to a vacuum oven, adhering to safety protocols.
Innovation Solution
A vacuum oven system is designed with a manufacturing room for hazardous material treatment and a holding room for safe vaporization and removal of hazardous solvents, featuring an embedded vacuum oven with controlled heating and pressure systems, gas sensors, and interlocks to manage solvent vapor concentration, ensuring safe transfer of treated materials.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the vacuum oven is placed entirely in the manufacturing room to simplify operation, then ease of operation is improved, but safety is worsened due to electrical components in hazardous environment
Solution Approach 1:
The vacuum oven is divided into two portions: a rear portion placed in the manufacturing room and a front portion placed in the holding room. This segmentation allows electrical components to be located in the safe holding room while still enabling operation on material in the manufacturing room, thus resolving the contradiction between ease of operation and safety.
2Ease of operation
If electrical components are extended into the manufacturing room to control the process, then ease of operation is improved, but safety is worsened due to risk of ignition
Solution Approach 1:
All electrical components including the control panel, vacuum pump, and heating element are extracted from the manufacturing room and placed in the holding room. This eliminates the ignition risk while maintaining full operational control through the control panel accessible from the holding room.
3Reliability
If the vacuum oven is separated into two rooms to improve safety, then safety is improved, but device complexity is worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The vacuum oven merges the manufacturing room interface (rear door for material insertion) with the holding room control system. The single integrated device spans both rooms, combining the benefits of safety isolation with operational accessibility without requiring separate independent systems.
4Reliability
If material is transferred manually between rooms to maintain safety, then safety is improved, but productivity is worsened due to additional handling steps
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary vaporization and solvent removal in the holding room before the material is transferred to the manufacturing room. This preliminary action ensures safety requirements are met before manual handling is needed, reducing the frequency and risk of transfers while maintaining productivity.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system effectively vaporizes and removes hazardous solvents from the material, reducing concentrations below ignitable levels, allowing safe transfer of the treated material without electrical components entering the hazardous environment, thus maintaining product quality and adhering to safety standards.
Implementation Method 1
the heating element is configured to be controlled by the user via the control panel to raise a temperature of the inner cavity
Implementation Method 2
thereby vaporizing the hazardous material
Implementation Method 3
The vacuum pump is configured to lower the pressure within the inner cavity
Implementation Method 4
The vacuum pump is further configured to lead a vapor of the hazardous material out of the inner cavity
Data Source
AI summary
A system for treatment of a first material with at least one hazardous material, the system comprising a manufacturing room configured according to safety standards to hold at least one hazardous material. The manufacturing room is configured for the treatment of the first material using the at least one hazardous material as a solvent. A holding room is not configured according to the safety standards and is separated from the manufacturing room by a wall common to the manufacturing room and the holding room. A vacuum oven is embedded in the wall, and has a rear portion in the manufacturing room and a front portion in the holding room. The front door of the oven is configured to be opened from the holding room for removing the first material from the inner cavity following removal of the at least one hazardous material from the first material and from the inner cavity and no electrical components of the vacuum oven extend into the manufacturing room.