JP2744665B2 - Solvent recovery equipment for dry cleaning equipment - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a solvent recovery device of a dry cleaning device applied to a drying and deodorizing step of a dry cleaner.

(Prior Art) FIG. 3 shows a conventional solvent recovery device of a dry cleaning device. In FIG. 3, clothes are put into the treatment tank 1 and rotated, and treated with a solvent. Then, at the time of drying after the cleaning process, the dry air passes through the processing tank 1,
The dry air is sucked by the blower 2 through the intake pipe 3 and the lint filter 4 and pushed into the water cooler 5 and the refrigerant cooler 6. Further, this air is heated through the heater 7 when the switching valve 10 is closed as shown in FIG.

Next, a deodorizing step for evaporating a small amount of solvent adhering to the clothes with outside air is performed. In this case, outside air is taken in from the opening of the damper 11 which is open as indicated by a two-dot chain line,
The deodorant is brought into contact with the clothes in the processing tank 1 and deodorized, and passes through a lint filter 4, a blower 2, a water cooler 5, and a refrigerant cooler 6,
The air containing the solvent gas is sent out of the machine through the deodorizing port 20. At this time, the switching valve 10 is at the position indicated by the two-dot chain line. In addition,
Normally, the air containing the solvent gas is released to the atmosphere via an activated carbon recovery device (not shown) due to regulations on air pollution prevention.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) In the conventional apparatus shown in FIG. 3, after the solvent evaporates from the clothes in the processing tank, the solvent gas weighs two to three times as much as air, so Although the air tends to accumulate, the air suction port connected to the suction pipe 3 for sucking air from the processing tank is located above the processing tank. The efficiency of sucking out the gas is low, so that it takes a long time for the treatment, and there is a possibility that the solvent gas is sometimes taken out while adhering to the clothes.

The present invention has been proposed to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems.

(Means for Solving the Problems) For this reason, the present invention provides a dry cleaning apparatus having a circulation path that returns from a processing tank to the processing tank via a lint filter, a blower, a cooler, and a heater. Provide a bypass conduit in the air outlet conduit at the top of the treatment tank, and provide a throttle valve in the air outlet conduit.Open the throttle valve in the drying process to allow sufficient air to flow, and close the throttle valve in the deodorization process. This allows air to flow through the solvent conduit and the bypass conduit to the lint filter and the blower, which is a means for solving the problem.

(Action) Focusing on the fact that the solvent gas remains at the bottom of the processing tank,
A bypass pipe is provided from the lower part of the processing tank to the air suction pipe at the upper part of the processing tank, and a throttle valve is provided in the same pipe.At the time of drying, gas-mixed air is sucked from the upper part and the lower part of the processing tank and the air cooler is used. Most of the solvent gas is liquefied and recovered by liquefaction and heating and circulating the air to the treatment tank.
In the next deodorization step, while containing fresh air, the air containing the dilute gas is sent to the air cooler only from the suction port at the bottom of the processing tank, and then sent to the activated carbon adsorber to increase the solvent recovery rate. increase.

(Embodiments) The present invention will be described below with reference to the embodiments in the drawings.
FIGS. 2 and 3 show an embodiment of the present invention. Both figures show a treatment tank of a dry cleaner and an air passage through which solvent gas and air flow. FIG. 1 shows a drying process, and FIG. The flow of air in the process is shown.

First, in FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a processing tank, in which a rotating drum having a perforated outer periphery is provided, and laundry such as clothes is put in the drum. Reference numeral 2 denotes a blower for circulating air and a solvent gas through the processing tank 1 and the air passage. Reference numeral 3 denotes an air suction pipe (air suction pipe) for sucking air and solvent gas from the processing tank 1 and forms a part of an air passage.
4 is a lint filter for removing lint released from the laundry, 5 is a water cooler, 6 is a refrigerant cooler, 7 is a heater, 8 is a conduit forming an air passage on the inlet side of the processing tank 1, and 9 is intake air. Tube 3
Is a switching valve, and the switching of the valve 10 changes the flow of air from circulation to discharge from the discharge port 20.

Reference numeral 11 denotes an outside air intake damper, which is opened so that fresh air is sent from the air intake 21 to the conduit 8 and the processing tank 1. Reference numeral 12 denotes a solvent passage, which is filled with the solvent when the dry cleaner is washed, but the solvent passes through the button trap 14 and further through the pipe 17 during dehydration, and is pumped.
It is sent to a solvent filter and a solvent tank (both not shown) by 15 and the inside of the pipe becomes empty. Reference numeral 16 denotes a switching valve for a solvent. Reference numeral 13 denotes a bypass pipe that leads from the solvent passage 12 to the intake pipe 3. Numeral 18 denotes a water separator, in which the solvent and water liquefied by the coolers 5 and 6 and accumulated on the lower side of the air passage are sent through a pipe 19 to here. If the dry cleaner has an activated carbon adsorber, the outlet 20 is connected to the adsorber.

Next, the operation will be described. First, the drying step in FIG. 1 will be described. In the previous step of dewatering, the solvent stored in the solvent passage 12 and the solvent shaken off from the clothes by the high-speed rotation of the processing drum pass through the button trap 14 through the pipe 17.
Through the solvent pump 15, and the passage 12 is in a state without solvent. Then, in the drying step, the processing drum slowly rotates to loosen the clothes appropriately, and blows the air circulated by the blower 2 onto the clothes. The throttle valve 9 is open, the switching valve 10 is closed, and the conduit 8 is open. The outside air intake damper 11 is closed.

The flow of air sent by the blower 2 circulates through the processing tank 1, the intake pipe 3, the lint filter 4, the blower 2, the water cooler 5, the refrigerant cooler 6, the heater 7 and the conduit 8, as indicated by arrows. The solvent remaining in the clothes evaporates by the air blown, and when the air containing the solvent gas reaches the water cooler 5 and the refrigerant cooler 6, the solvent liquefies and accumulates in the lower part of the conduit, and the pipe is removed. It is sent through 19 to a water separator 18. The dry air from which moisture has been removed at the same time as the gas is turned into warm air by the heater 7 to vaporize and take away the solvent from the clothes in the processing tank again. At the time of this air circulation, a part of the air mixed with the solvent flows from the lower part of the processing tank 1 through the solvent passage 12 and the bypass pipe 13 into the air flow passing through the suction pipe 3 in front of the lint filter 4. . Since the vaporized gas of the solvent is two to three times heavier than air, the suction from the lower part of the processing tank 1 is effective. In order to increase the amount of air passing through the solvent passage 12 and the bypass pipe 13, the opening of the throttle valve 9 is adjusted,
It is sufficient to make the air passage narrow. This process is continued until the clothes are dry.

Next, FIG. 2 shows the function of the air valve and the flow of air in the deodorizing step. The position of each air valve at the time of deodorization is as follows: the outside air intake damper 11 of the air intake 21 is in the open position, the throttle valve 9 in the intake pipe 3 is almost in the position to close the intake pipe 3, the switching valve 10 Is located in such a state that the air path is closed in the heater direction and the outlet 20 is open. Therefore, fresh air is sucked into the processing tank 1 from the inlet 21 as shown by the arrow. Then, the drum in the processing tank 1 rotates slowly to loosen the clothes appropriately, and the solvent gas remaining on the clothes is exposed to the flow of air and is taken away by the air. 13 and behind the throttle valve 9 of the intake pipe 3, the lint filter 4,
After passing through the blast air 2 and liquefying a small amount of the solvent in the water cooler 5 and the refrigerant cooler 6, the air having a reduced solvent gas concentration flows from the outlet 20 to the outside air (or to the activated carbon adsorber) as shown by the arrow. Will be sent out. Note that a heater is not used in this step. The solvent liquefied by the water cooler 5 and the refrigerant cooler 6 is sent to the water separator 18 by a pipe 19 and collected.

(Effect of the Invention) Since the present invention is configured as described in detail above, in the conventional apparatus, the air passage circulating in the processing tank during drying is large in area, short in length, small in air resistance, and large in air volume. Could be sent. However, at the time of deodorization, when connected to the activated carbon adsorption device from the outlet of the device, the area of the air passage was small and the length was long, so it was not possible to send a large air volume, but in the present invention, the air is sucked out from the lower part of the treatment tank Therefore, the stagnation of heavy gas is eliminated, the efficiency of deodorization and the recovery of solvent gas is improved, the processing time is shortened, and the disadvantage that gas odor remains in clothes can be eliminated. By the way, when deodorizing by the conventional method, as a result of measuring the gas concentration at the position of the discharge port, it took 10 minutes or more to become 200 ppm or less.
Deodorization was completed in about a minute. This is because the short path in which the air flow in the conventional processing tank was upward was remarkable.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIGS. 1 and 2 are system diagrams showing the flow of gas and air during a drying step and a deodorizing step of a solvent recovery apparatus in a dry cleaning apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, respectively.
FIG. 1 is a system diagram showing a conventional solvent recovery device. Description of main parts in the drawing 1 ... treatment tank 2 ... blower 3 ... intake pipe 4 ... lint filter 5 ... water cooler 6 ... refrigerant cooler 7 ... heater 8 ... conduit 9 ... throttle Valve 12: Solvent passage 13: Bypass pipe 20: Outlet 21: Air inlet

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] In a dry cleaning apparatus having a circulation path returning from a processing tank to a processing tank via a lint filter, a blower, a cooler, and a heater, a bypass is provided from a lower part of the processing tank to an air blowing conduit at an upper part of the processing tank. In addition to providing a conduit, a throttle valve is provided in the air blowing conduit, and in the drying step, the throttle valve is opened to allow sufficient air to pass therethrough, and in the deodorization step, the throttle valve is closed. A solvent recovery device for a dry cleaning device, characterized in that it flows to the lint filter and the blower through a bypass conduit.