JP2002079013A - Dpf blow-cleaning method and apparatus for the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a DPF blow-cleaning method capable of efficiently separating and removing broken and adhered fibers to a DPF when manufacturing the DPF made of inorganic fibers, and to provide an apparatus for the method. SOLUTION: In a manufacturing process of a DPF 10 composing a filter main body 10a using an inorganic filter material, air flow from the inlet 11 side to the outlet 12 side of the DPF 10 and air flow from the outlet 12 side to the inlet 11 side of the DPF 10 are reciprocally generated to blow out the dropping fibers generated during the manufacturing process of the DPF 10.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and a device for blow cleaning a DPF (Diesel Particulate Filter) for collecting particulate matter (PM) discharged from a diesel engine or the like.

[0002] More specifically, the present invention relates to the removal of dropped fibers generated in the process of manufacturing a DPF for forming a filter body with an inorganic fiber material.

[0003]

2. Description of the Related Art Exhaust gas emitted from a diesel engine of an automobile or the like contains particulates (PM: particulate matter) of several μm to several tens μm which are compounds of carbon and unburned HC. The removal of this PM is important from the viewpoint of pollution prevention.
PF (Diesel Particulate Filter: Diesel P
Articulate Filter) is used and is arranged in the exhaust passage of the engine.

The DPF is composed of cordierite, a porous metal body (Celmet), or an inorganic fiber material. When this inorganic fiber material is used, silicon carbide, alumina, zirconia, etc. Fiber diameter 1μm ~ 20μm
A nonwoven fabric is formed of ceramic fibers having a fiber length of about 10 μm to about 100 μm (particularly, 8.5 μm, 14 μm, or the like), and the nonwoven fabric forms a filter body.

[0005] The ceramic fiber laminated material of the non-woven fabric is sequentially bent into a corrugated shape to obtain a cylindrical shape, a flat shape, a corrugated shape, and the like.
The filter body is formed in a fold shape or the like, and the gap between the nonwoven fabrics is used as a mesh of the filter.

However, when this nonwoven fabric of inorganic fiber material is used, since the fiber itself is brittle and weak against vibration and impact, the process of forming ceramic fibers into a felt or the nonwoven fabric is folded in a bellows shape and assembled as a DPF. The fiber is broken in a process or the like, and the broken fiber adheres to the DPF as a dropped fiber and remains.

[0007] If the fallen fibers retained in the DPF are left unfolded, there is a danger that the fallen fibers will be separated and released into the atmosphere during the use of the DPF mounted on a vehicle. . Therefore, in the exhaust gas purifying apparatus described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-62551, it is proposed to provide a second filter for collecting dropped fibers that may be scattered while using the DPF. ing.

[0008] On the other hand, it is desirable to remove as much of the dropped fibers as possible before mounting the DPF in the automobile, so that when the sub-assembly of the DPF is completed, as shown in FIG. Using a DPF blow cleaning device 1X, efforts are being made to remove the dropped fibers.

This DPF blow cleaning device 1X
Then, the air A is sent into the DPF 10 by using the large-volume blower blower 3 to blow off the falling fibers remaining in the DPF 10, and the dropped fibers are sucked together with the air B by the suction blower 4 provided in the suction passage 26. The falling fibers are separated and collected by a dust collector 30 provided in the suction passage 26.

[0010]

However, in the separation and discharge of the dropped fibers by the conventional large-capacity blower, since the filter body of the DPF is cleaned by the air flow in only one direction, the fibers fall from the nonwoven fabric of the filter body. In some cases, the collected fibers are caught by the surrounding filter main body and cannot be collected, so that the separation process of the detached fibers remaining in the DPF is inefficient and takes a long time as long as 30 minutes. Therefore, it is a bottleneck step in the manufacturing process, so that improvement is strongly desired.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to remove fibers which are broken and adhered to the DPF when the DPF is manufactured using an inorganic fiber material. An object of the present invention is to provide a blow cleaning method and an apparatus therefor that can be separated and collected efficiently.

[0012]

A blow cleaning method and apparatus for a DPF (diesel particulate filter) for achieving the above object are configured as follows.

1) In a process of manufacturing a DPF in which a filter body is formed of an inorganic fiber material, an air flow from an inlet side to an outlet side of the DPF and an air flow from the outlet side to the inlet side of the DPF are determined. It is configured to alternately generate and blow off the falling fibers generated in the process of manufacturing the DPF.

2) In the above DPF blow cleaning method, the flow of air is generated by sending air on the upstream side and sucking air on the downstream side.

According to the DPF blow-cleaning method having the above-described structure, the direction and magnitude of the force acting on the falling fibers can be changed by changing the flow of air regularly or irregularly with respect to the filter body of the DPF. It can be fluctuated, and the falling off fibers are more easily dropped off from the filter body.

Particularly, when air is generated by feeding air on the upstream side and sucking air on the downstream side, a stronger air flow can be generated relatively easily, and the separated and collected fibers can be separated and recovered smoothly. Done.

3) Then, in the method of manufacturing the DPF,
By including the blow cleaning method for the DPF, the working efficiency in the manufacture of the DPF can be significantly improved.

A blow cleaning apparatus for a DPF for realizing the above-described DPF blow cleaning method is configured as follows.

4) A blow cleaning apparatus for removing fibers falling off of the DPF forming the filter body with the inorganic fiber material, and a mounting section for arranging a DPF to be treated;
A blower for supplying air to the DPF disposed in the mounting unit, a suction unit for sucking air from the DPF, and a dust collecting unit for collecting dropped fibers; The inlet and the outlet of the disposed DPF are connected to each other via a first switching valve, and the inlet and the outlet are connected to the suction means via a second switching valve. (2) The dust collecting means is disposed downstream of the switching valve, and the air flow from the inlet to the outlet and the air flow from the outlet to the inlet in the DPF. A control device is provided to control the first switching valve and the second switching valve so as to generate the signals alternately.

5) In the DPF blow cleaning device, the first flow is prevented from being generated in the DPF when the air flow is switched.
Check valves are provided between the switching valve and the inlet and between the first switching valve and the outlet, respectively.

That is, on the upstream side, the air from the air blowing means such as a blower is switched by a first switching valve such as a three-way valve, and the
It is configured so that air can be alternately blown from the inlet of F and from the outlet of DPF.
A second switching valve is provided so as to be alternately provided from the outlet of the PF and the inlet of the DPF, and the first switching valve and the second switching valve are opened and closed in synchronization with each other, so that the air flow is increased. Can be alternately switched in the opposite direction from the inlet to the outlet of the DPF and from the outlet to the inlet of the DPF to blow air.

Also, by providing a check valve (check valve) in the pipeline, backflow of air at the time of switching can be prevented, so that dropped fibers can be reliably recovered.

[0023]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A blow cleaning method and an apparatus for a DPF (diesel particulate filter) according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, the DPF blow cleaning apparatus 1 includes a mounting section 2 on which a DPF 10 is disposed.
A blower 3 for supplying air A to the DPF 10 disposed in the mounting section 2; and a DPF disposed in the mounting section 2.
The apparatus includes suction means 4 for sucking air B from 10 and a dust collector 30 for collecting fibers dropped from the air B.

The blower 3 is formed by a blower or the like, and the blower 3 and a first three-way valve 5 (first switching valve).
Of the first three-way valve 5 and an inlet passage 23 connected to the inlet 11 of the DPF 10 by an inlet-side first passage 22A. Also,
The second outlet 5c of the first three-way valve 5 and the outlet 12 of the DPF 10
And an outlet passage 24 connected to the outlet side first passage 22B.

That is, the air A from the blower 3 passes through the inlet-side first passage 22A and the inlet passage 23, or the outlet-side first passage 22B and the outlet passage 24, and is supplied to the DPF.
10.

A second three-way valve (second switching valve) 6 is provided upstream of the suction means 4 formed by a suction blower or the like, and the suction blower 4 and the outlet 6a of the second three-way valve 6 are connected to each other. The first three-way valve 6 is connected to the first inlet 6b of the second three-way valve 6 and the inlet passage 23 by an inlet-side passage 25A. The second inlet 6c of the second three-way valve 6 and the outlet passage 24 are connected by an outlet-side second passage 25B.

That is, the air B containing the dropped fibers discharged from the DPF 10 flows into the outlet passage 24 and the outlet-side second passage 25.
B, or the suction passage 26 is configured to be sucked into the suction passage 26 via one of the entrance passage 23 and the entrance-side second passage 25A.

Then, the first three-way valve 5 and the second three-way valve 6 are
From the inlet 11 to the outlet 1 of the DPF 10 arranged in the mounting part 2
2 or from outlet 12 to inlet 11 of DPF 10
A control device 9 for synchronizing and controlling the first three-way valve 5 and the second three-way valve 6 so as to generate the flow of the air A and the air B alternately is provided.

That is, in the first air blowing state, as shown by the solid arrow in FIG.
Is changed from the ventilation passage 21 through the inlet-side first passage 22A and the inlet passage 23 by the switching operation of the first three-way valve 5, and
The air B containing the dropped fibers that enters the inlet 11 of the PF 10 and is discharged from the DPF 10 passes from the outlet 12 of the DPF 10 through the outlet passage 24, the outlet-side second passage 25B, the second three-way valve 6, and the suction passage 26. Clean air C that enters the dust collector 30
Is sucked by the suction blower 4 and discharged out of the apparatus 1.

In the second blowing state, the blowing air A from the blowing blower 3 is, as shown by the dotted arrow in FIG.
The switching operation of the first three-way valve 5 causes the outlet-side first passage 2
2B, the air B containing the falling fibers discharged from the DPF 10 through the outlet 12 of the DPF 10 through the outlet passage 24
Enters the dust collector 30 from the inlet 11 of the DPF 10 via the inlet passage 23, the inlet-side second passage 25A, the second three-way valve 6, and the suction passage 26, and becomes clean air C to become the suction blower 4.
And is discharged out of the apparatus 1.

Further, the first three-way valve 5 and the DPF 10
First side passage 22A between the inlet 11 and the first side passage 2 between the first three-way valve 5 and the outlet 12 of the DPF 10
2B is provided with a first check valve 7 and a second check valve 8, respectively.

According to the blow cleaning apparatus 1 having the above configuration, the blow cleaning method of the DPF 10 is performed as follows.

First, a DPF assembled from a nonwoven fabric
10, the inlet 11 of the DPF 10 is connected to the inlet passage 23, the outlet 12 of the DPF 10 is connected to the outlet passage 24, and then the inlet 5a of the first three-way valve 5 is connected to the first outlet 5b. At the same time, the outlet 6a of the second three-way valve 6 is communicated with the second inlet 6c.

Then, the air blower 3 and the suction blower 4 are started to blow air A and suck air B and air C.

With this operation, the air A, B, and C are brought into the above-described first air blowing state,
1 to the outlet 12 as indicated by solid arrows in FIG.

Next, after a lapse of a predetermined time, the first three-way valve 5 is switched so that the inlet 5a communicates with the second outlet 5c, and the second three-way valve 6 is also switched in synchronization with the outlet 6a.
To the first inlet 6b.

By this operation, the air A, B, and C are brought into the above-described second air blowing state, and the outlet 12
As shown by a dotted arrow in FIG.

Further, after a lapse of a predetermined time, the first three-way valve 5 is switched so that the inlet 5a is communicated with the first outlet 5b, and the second three-way valve 6 is also switched synchronously to the outlet 6a.
To the second inlet 6c to return to the first air blowing state.

By repeating the first air blowing state and the second air blowing state an appropriate number of times, an air flow in two directions from the inlet to the outlet and from the outlet to the inlet can be formed in the DPF 10, so that the dropped fibers can be efficiently removed. The separated fibers can be sucked together with the air B into the suction passage 26, collected by the dust collector 30 provided in the suction passage 26, and the clean air C can be discharged out of the apparatus 1.

At this time, the dropped fibers inside the DPF 10 include:
Since a force (load) in the reciprocating direction is applied, the fiber is easily peeled from the filter body of the DPF 10, and the dropped fibers are efficiently removed by the DP
F10 can be separated and collected by the dust collector 30.

Therefore, the blowing time required for blow cleaning can be reduced to about 5 minutes, and the working efficiency can be improved.

[0043]

As described above, the DP according to the present invention is
According to the blow cleaning method and apparatus for F, the following effects can be obtained.

While switching the first and second switching valves, the air flow in the DPF alternates between a first airflow state in which the air flows from the inlet side to the outlet side and a second airflow state in which the air flows from the outlet side to the inlet side. , And a fluctuating force can be applied to the dropped fibers attached to the filter body of the DPF by applying air in a reciprocating direction, so that the separation from the filter body can be remarkably promoted, and the dropped fibers can be efficiently collected. .

Therefore, since the dropped fibers remaining in the DPF manufacturing process can be collected before being mounted on the vehicle, air pollution by the dropped fibers can be prevented.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a blow cleaning device for a DPF according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a conventional DPF blow cleaning device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 blow cleaning device for DPF 2 mounting part 3 blower blower (blower means) 4 suction blower (suction means) 5 first three-way valve (first switching valve) 6 second three-way valve (second switching valve) 7 first check valve Valve 8 Second check valve 9 Control device 10 DPF 10a Filter body 30 Dust collector (dust collecting means)

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A filter for forming a filter body with an inorganic fiber material.
In the manufacturing process of the PF, an air flow from the inlet side to the outlet side of the DPF and an air flow from the outlet side to the inlet side of the DPF are generated alternately, and are generated in the process of manufacturing the DPF. A blow cleaning method for a DPF, comprising blowing off dropped fibers. 2. The blow cleaning method for a DPF according to claim 1, wherein the flow of air is generated by sending air on an upstream side and sucking air on a downstream side. 3. A method for producing a DPF, comprising the blow cleaning method for a DPF according to claim 1. 4. A filter body comprising a filter body made of an inorganic fiber material.
A blow cleaning device for removing fibers falling off from the PF, comprising a mounting section for arranging a DPF to be treated, a blowing means for supplying air to the DPF disposed in the mounting section, and suctioning air from the DPF. Suction means, and dust collecting means for collecting the dropped fibers, the blower means and each of the inlet and outlet of the DPF disposed in the mounting portion is connected via a first switching valve,
In addition, each of the inlet and the outlet and the suction means are connected via a second switching valve, and the dust collecting means is arranged downstream of the second switching valve. A control device that controls the first switching valve and the second switching valve so as to alternately generate the air flow from the inlet to the outlet and the air flow from the outlet to the inlet. A blow cleaning device for a DPF, comprising: 5. When the air flow is switched, the D
Non-return valves are provided between the first switching valve and the inlet and between the first switching valve and the outlet, respectively, so that no backflow occurs in the PF. Item 6. A blow cleaning device for a DPF according to Item 4.