HK1119110B - Liquid separation apparatus - Google Patents

Description

Solution separation device

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for separating a high concentration solution having a high concentration of a target substance from a mixture containing two or more substances or separating a target substance contained in a solution, and particularly to an apparatus suitable for separating a higher concentration alcohol from an alcohol solution such as bioethanol (bio alcohol), wine, or wine base, or for separating a high concentration solution of a target substance from petroleum.

Background

In recent years, a technique for increasing the alcohol concentration has been desired because a fuel in which an alcohol is added to gasoline is used. Alcohol can be produced inexpensively by fermenting an organic substance such as corn. However, since the bioethanol produced by this method has a low concentration, it is necessary to separate water and treat it to a high concentration. In order to separate water from alcohol to a high concentration, a method of distillation is used. However, this method has a disadvantage that the energy consumption becomes large. If a large amount of energy is consumed in order to treat alcohol to a high concentration, gasoline consumption cannot be saved as a whole even if it is added to gasoline and burned.

The present inventors developed a separation apparatus for increasing the alcohol concentration with less energy consumption (see patent document 1)

Patent document 1: japanese unexamined patent application publication No. 2001-314724

The separation apparatus fills an alcohol solution into an atomization chamber having a closed structure, atomizes the alcohol solution in the atomization chamber into mist by ultrasonic vibration of an ultrasonic vibrator, and condenses and collects the atomized mist to separate the alcohol solution having a high concentration. The separation apparatus is capable of separating a high concentration of alcohol as a target substance by the following operation.

The alcohol is more likely to migrate to the surface of the solution than water, and the concentration of the alcohol in the solution at the surface becomes higher. If the alcohol is ultrasonically vibrated in this state, the alcohol at a high concentration becomes a mist by the energy of the ultrasonic vibration, and is released as fine particles into the air. The alcohol concentration of the mist released into the air becomes high. This is because the solution on the surface having a high alcohol concentration is likely to become a mist. Further, the alcohol is more easily vaporized than water, and the alcohol concentration of the mist becomes high. This is because the alcohol is vaporized more than the water from the mist of the alcohol aqueous solution, and the alcohol concentration contained in the carrier gas becomes high. Therefore, if the atomized mist contained in the carrier gas and the mist component that is a component vaporized from the mist are recovered from the carrier gas, the alcohol solution having a high concentration is separated. The method can separate high concentration alcohol solution without heating the solution. Therefore, the target substance can be separated at a high concentration with less energy consumption. Further, since the separation is not performed by heating, the separation can be performed without deteriorating the target substance.

However, the above-mentioned separation apparatus has a disadvantage that the concentration of the alcohol aqueous solution cannot be made high, for example, a high concentration of 90% or more. Therefore, in order to increase the alcohol concentration to a high concentration of 90% or more, for example, it is necessary to increase the concentration by repeatedly separating the alcohol aqueous solution with the separation device. However, if the separation is repeated a plurality of times, there is a disadvantage that the total energy consumption becomes large.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention has been developed with the aim of eliminating such drawbacks, and an important object of the present invention is to provide a solution separation apparatus capable of obtaining a solution of a very high concentration through 1 treatment.

The present invention atomizes a solution into a transport gas in the form of mist, transfers the transport gas containing the atomized mist into a recovery section 3, and separates and recovers a specific target substance from the atomized mist component in the recovery section 3. The separation of the solution is to separate the target substance from the transport gas by the following steps: an adsorption step of contacting the mist component with a molecular sieve adsorbent 4 having a molecular sieve action by means of a carrier gas to adsorb the adsorption component contained in the mist component to the molecular sieve adsorbent 4, thereby separating the adsorption component from the mist component; and a separation step of separating non-adsorbed components that are not adsorbed to the molecular sieve adsorbent 4 from mist components contained in the carrier gas from which the adsorbed components have been separated in the adsorption step.

The present invention enables the solution to be ultrasonically vibrated and atomized into the transport gas in the form of a mist. Further, the present invention enables the solution to be sprayed from the spray nozzle 15 to be atomized into the transport gas in the form of mist.

The present invention can use a molecular sieve of synthetic zeolite as the molecular sieve adsorbent 4.

The present invention can make the solution an alcohol aqueous solution, make the separated target substance an alcohol having a higher concentration than the solution, adsorb water contained in the mist component as an adsorbed component by the molecular sieve adsorbent 4, and make the non-adsorbed component not adsorbed in the molecular sieve adsorbent 4 as the alcohol of the target substance. In this separation, the water having the adsorbed component is adsorbed in the adsorption step to be separated from the mist component, and the alcohol as the target substance having the non-adsorbed component is separated from the mist component from which the water has been separated in the separation step.

The present invention can separate non-adsorbed components contained in mist components from which adsorbed components have been separated in the adsorption step from the carrier gas by adsorbing the non-adsorbed components to the 2 nd adsorbent 7 in the separation step.

In the present invention, the carrier gas may be cooled in the cooling unit 19 and then brought into contact with the molecular sieve adsorbent 4, thereby adsorbing the adsorbed component to the molecular sieve adsorbent 4.

The solution separation apparatus of the present invention includes an atomization chamber 1 for atomizing a solution into a transport gas, an atomization mechanism 2 for atomizing the solution into the transport gas in the atomization chamber 1 in the form of mist, and a recovery unit 3 for adsorbing a mist component, which is atomized by the atomization mechanism 2 and transferred by the transport gas, by a molecular sieve adsorbent 4 and separating the mist component from the transport gas. The recovery unit 3 includes an adsorption recovery unit 5 and a separation recovery unit 6. In the adsorption recovery section 5, the molecular sieve adsorbent 4 having a molecular sieve action is caused to adsorb adsorbed components contained in the mist components of the carrier gas, and the adsorbed components are desorbed from the molecular sieve adsorbent 4, thereby being separated from the mist components. In the separation and collection unit 6, non-adsorbed components contained in the mist components that are not adsorbed by the adsorption and collection unit 5 are separated from the carrier gas containing the mist components discharged from the adsorption and collection unit 5. In the separation apparatus, the adsorption component of the mist component is adsorbed by the adsorption and recovery unit 5 and separated from the carrier gas, and the non-adsorbed component of the mist component is adsorbed and separated by the separation and recovery unit 6.

In the solution separation apparatus of the present invention, the atomizing mechanism 2 may include an ultrasonic transducer 11 for atomizing the solution in the atomizing chamber 1 into mist by ultrasonic vibration and scattering the mist into the carrier gas, and an ultrasonic power source 12 connected to the ultrasonic transducer 11 for supplying high-frequency power to the ultrasonic transducer 11 to generate ultrasonic vibration.

In the solution separation apparatus of the present invention, the atomizing means 2 may include a spray nozzle 15 for atomizing the solution by spraying the solution as mist into the atomizing chamber 1, and a pressure pump 16 for supplying the solution under pressure to the spray nozzle 15.

In the solution separation apparatus of the present invention, the molecular sieve adsorbent 4 for adsorbing the adsorbed component may be a molecular sieve of synthetic zeolite.

In the solution separation apparatus of the present invention, the solution may be an alcohol aqueous solution, and the molecular sieve adsorbent 4 in the adsorption recovery unit 5 may be a molecular sieve that adsorbs water contained in the mist component as an adsorption component.

In the solution separation apparatus of the present invention, the separation and recovery unit 6 may include a 2 nd adsorbent 7 for adsorbing and separating non-adsorbed components contained in the mist components from which the adsorbed components are separated by the molecular sieve adsorbent 4 of the adsorption and recovery unit 5, and the 2 nd adsorbent 7 adsorbs the non-adsorbed components and separates them from the carrier gas.

In the solution separation apparatus of the present invention, the solution may be an alcohol aqueous solution, the molecular sieve adsorbent 4 of the adsorption and recovery unit 5 may be a molecular sieve that adsorbs water contained in the mist component as an adsorption component, and the 2 nd adsorbent 7 of the separation and recovery unit 6 may be an adsorbent that adsorbs an alcohol.

In the solution separation apparatus of the present invention, the adsorption recovery unit 5 may be configured such that the closed chamber 20 is filled with the molecular sieve adsorbent 4, the vacuum pump 22 is connected to the closed chamber 20, and the vacuum pump 22 exhausts the gas from the closed chamber 20 to desorb the adsorbed component from the molecular sieve adsorbent 4.

In the solution separation device of the present invention, the closed chamber 20 may be connected to the atomizing chamber 1 via the opening/closing valve 21, the opening/closing valve 21 may be opened to supply the carrier gas containing the mist component from the atomizing chamber 1 to the closed chamber 20, the adsorbed component may be adsorbed to the molecular sieve adsorbent 4, the closed chamber 20 may be depressurized by closing the opening/closing valve 21, and the mist component may be desorbed from the molecular sieve adsorbent 4.

In the solution separation apparatus of the present invention, the pair of closed chambers 20 may be filled with the molecular sieve adsorbent 4, and the pair of closed chambers 20 may be connected to the atomizing chamber 1 via the opening/closing valve 21. In this separation apparatus, one of the on-off valves 21 is opened to supply the transport gas containing the mist component into the closed chamber 20, the adsorbed component is adsorbed to the molecular sieve adsorbent 4, the other on-off valve 21 is closed to discharge the gas from the closed chamber 20, the adsorbed component is desorbed from the molecular sieve adsorbent 4, and the on-off valves 21 are alternately opened and closed to separate the adsorbed component from the transport gas.

In the solution separation apparatus of the present invention, the adsorption and recovery unit 5 may include a temperature control unit 26. The temperature control section 26 may control the temperature of the molecular sieve adsorbent 4 adsorbing the adsorbed component of the carrier gas to be lower than the temperature of the molecular sieve adsorbent 4 desorbing the adsorbed component.

The present invention has a feature that a very high concentration solution can be obtained by 1 treatment. FIG. 7 is a graph showing that the alcohol aqueous solution can be made to have a high concentration by 1 treatment in the present invention. The graph shows the concentration of the alcohol aqueous solution before the treatment on the horizontal axis and the concentration of the alcohol aqueous solution after the treatment on the vertical axis. As can be seen from the graph, the apparatus of the present invention can concentrate a 40 wt% alcohol aqueous solution to a high concentration of about 97 wt% by 1 treatment. Although not shown, in the method disclosed in patent document 1, which was previously developed by the present inventors, only 40 wt% alcohol-water solution was concentrated to about 60 wt% and 60 wt% alcohol-water solution was concentrated to about 80 wt% by 1 treatment, and furthermore, 80 wt% alcohol-water solution was hardly concentrated. Thus, it was found that the apparatus of the present invention can make the alcohol aqueous solution have a high concentration by 1 treatment. In addition, the present invention also realizes a feature capable of significantly reducing the consumption of energy as compared with the method of distillation. This is because the present invention atomizes the solution into the transportation gas in the form of mist, causes the adsorbed components contained in the atomized mist components to be adsorbed and separated into the molecular sieve adsorbent, and separates the non-adsorbed components not adsorbed into the molecular sieve adsorbent from the transportation gas from which the adsorbed components are adsorbed and separated by the molecular sieve adsorbent.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a solution separation apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a solution separation apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a solution separation apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a solution separation apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing an example of the atomizing chamber and the ultrasonic atomizer.

Fig. 6 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an example of the temperature control unit.

FIG. 7 is a graph showing that the alcohol aqueous solution is concentrated in a solution separator.

Description of the symbols

1 atomizing chamber

2 atomizing mechanism

3 recovery part

4 molecular sieve adsorbent

5 adsorption recovery part

6 separating and recovering part

7 nd 2 adsorbent

8 blower

9 transfer pipe

10 ultrasonic atomization machine

11 ultrasonic vibrator

12 ultrasonic power supply

13 Pump

14 stock solution tank

15 spray nozzle

16 pressure pump

17 compressor

18 cooling tube

19 cooling part

20 closed chamber

20A 1 st closed chamber

20B 2 nd closed chamber

21 opening and closing valve

22 vacuum pump

23 suction duct

24 suction valve

25 cooler

26 temperature control part

27 heat exchanger

28 heating mechanism

29 cooling mechanism

30 control valve

31 warm water tank

32 cold water tank

33 refrigeration cycle

34 radiator

35 Heat absorber

36 compressor

37 expansion valve

38 cooler

40 sealed chamber

40A 1 st closed chamber

40B 2 nd closed chamber

41 opening and closing valve

42 vacuum pump

43 suction duct

44 suction valve

45 cooler

46 temperature control part

47 Cooling part

W solution surface

P liquid column

Detailed Description

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described based on the drawings. However, the following embodiments are examples illustrating a solution separation method and a solution separation apparatus for embodying the technical idea of the present invention, and the present invention does not specify the solution separation apparatus as having the following configuration.

In the description, for the sake of easy understanding of the claims, reference numerals corresponding to the components shown in the embodiments are assigned to the components shown in the claims and the summary of the invention. However, the components shown in the claims are by no means intended to be determined as components of the embodiments.

The solution separation apparatus of the present invention separates a specific solution having a high concentration from a solution containing at least two substances. In the present invention, the solvent and solute of the solution are not particularly limited, and the solvent is mainly water, but an organic solvent such as alcohol may be used in addition to water. The solution is, for example, the following substance.

(1) Bioethanol

(2) Sake, beer, wine, vinegar, cooking wine, spirit, distilled spirit, brandy, whisky, liqueur

(3) Solution containing spice, aromatic component or aroma component such as pinene, linalool, limonene, and polyphenols

(4) A solution containing an organic compound belonging to any one of saturated hydrocarbon alkanes, unsaturated hydrocarbon alkenes, cyclic alkene, alkynes, or ethers, sulfides, or aromatic hydrocarbons, or a combination thereof

(5) A solution containing an organic compound which is any of an alkane, a cycloparaffin, an alkene, a cycloparaffin, an alkyne, an ether, a thioether, or an aromatic hydrocarbon as a saturated hydrocarbon, or a combination thereof, in which at least one hydrogen atom or functional group of the organic compound is substituted with a halogen

(6) A solution containing an organic compound selected from the group consisting of an alkane, a cycloparaffin, an alkene, a cycloparaffin, an alkyne, an ether, a thioether, and an aromatic hydrocarbon as a saturated hydrocarbon, and a combination thereof, wherein at least one hydrogen atom or functional group of the organic compound is substituted with a hydroxyl group

(7) A solution containing an organic compound selected from the group consisting of an alkane, a cycloparaffin, an alkene, a cycloparaffin, an alkyne, an ether, a thioether, and an aromatic hydrocarbon as a saturated hydrocarbon, and a combination thereof, wherein at least one hydrogen atom or functional group of the organic compound is substituted with an amino group

(8) A solution containing an organic compound selected from the group consisting of an alkane, a cycloparaffin, an alkene, a cycloparaffin, an alkyne, an ether, a thioether, and an aromatic hydrocarbon as a saturated hydrocarbon, and a combination thereof, wherein at least one hydrogen atom or functional group of the organic compound is substituted with a carbonyl group

(9) A solution containing an organic compound selected from the group consisting of an alkane, a cycloparaffin, an alkene, a cycloparaffin, an alkyne, an ether, a thioether, and an aromatic hydrocarbon as a saturated hydrocarbon, and a combination thereof, wherein at least one hydrogen atom or functional group of the organic compound is substituted with a carboxyl group

(10) A solution containing an organic compound selected from the group consisting of an alkane, a cycloparaffin, an alkene, a cycloparaffin, an alkyne, an ether, a thioether, and an aromatic hydrocarbon as a saturated hydrocarbon, and a combination thereof, wherein at least one hydrogen atom or functional group of the organic compound is substituted with a nitro group

(11) A solution containing an organic compound selected from the group consisting of an alkane, a cycloparaffin, an alkene, a cycloparaffin, an alkyne, an ether, a thioether, and an aromatic hydrocarbon as a saturated hydrocarbon, and a combination thereof, wherein at least one hydrogen atom or functional group of the organic compound is substituted with a cyano group

(12) A solution containing an organic compound selected from the group consisting of an alkane, a cycloparaffin, an alkene, a cycloparaffin, an alkyne, an ether, a thioether, and an aromatic hydrocarbon as a saturated hydrocarbon, and a combination thereof, wherein at least one hydrogen atom or functional group of the organic compound is substituted with a mercapto group

(13) A solution containing a substance obtained by substituting at least one atom contained in the solutions (4) to (12) with a metal ion

(14) A solution containing a substance obtained by substituting any of the hydrogen atoms, carbon atoms, or functional groups in the molecules contained in the solutions (4) to (12) with any of the molecules (4) to (12)

The present invention is to spray a solution containing two or more substances into a carrier gas in a mist state to obtain an atomized mist component. In order to atomize the solution into mist, the solution is ultrasonically vibrated and sprayed in a mist state into the transport gas, or the solution is sprayed in a fine particle state from a spray nozzle into the transport gas. The mist component sprayed into the transport gas is separated from the transport gas by adsorbing the specific adsorption component in the molecular sieve adsorbent. The molecular sieve adsorbent is an adsorbent having a molecular sieve action for adsorbing an adsorption component contained in the mist component. The mist component of the adsorbed component separated by the molecular sieve adsorbent is then separated from the non-adsorbed component in the transport gas.

The present invention, for example, separates alcohol from an alcohol aqueous solution at a high concentration. In this embodiment, the adsorbed component adsorbed on the molecular sieve adsorbent is water, and the non-adsorbed component that is not adsorbed is alcohol, whereby high-concentration alcohol can be efficiently separated. In this way, the aqueous alcohol solution is atomized into the transport gas in the form of a mist. In the atomized mist component, water of the adsorbed component is adsorbed into the molecular sieve adsorbent. In the mist component after the water of the adsorbed component is adsorbed and separated, the alcohol concentration as the non-adsorbed component becomes high. In this state, the alcohol of high concentration of the non-adsorbed component is separated from the carrier gas. The method of atomizing the solution into mist by ultrasonic vibration can obtain alcohol with high concentration more efficiently. This is because atomization by ultrasonic vibration enables the mist to have a higher alcohol concentration than the solution.

One reason why the concentration of the substance contained in the atomized mist and the substance contained in the solution remaining as no mist is different by the ultrasonic vibration is that the ratio of the substance contained in the solution that moves to the surface and becomes excessive is different. Since the solution having a strong physical property and having an excessive surface has a high surface concentration, if the solution on the surface is atomized by ultrasonic vibration, the concentration of the substance which tends to become an excessive surface in the mist increases. Therefore, if a substance having a strong physical property is excessively recovered from the mist, the concentration thereof becomes high. That is, a portion containing a substance at a high concentration can be separated from the solution.

Further, even if the solution is sprayed in a mist state into the carrier gas by the spray nozzle, the concentration of the component that is easily vaporized in the mist component becomes higher than that of the solution for the aforementioned reason. Therefore, if the alcohol aqueous solution is sprayed into the transport gas through the spray nozzle, the alcohol concentration of the mist component becomes higher than that of the solution. Further, in the present invention, the atomized mist component of the solution is separated into an adsorbed component and a non-adsorbed component by the molecular sieve adsorbent. Thus, the present invention does not specify the means for atomizing the solution into mist as ultrasonic vibration. For example, the solution may be atomized by spraying fine particles from a spray nozzle into the transport gas.

Hereinafter, an apparatus and a method for separating alcohol with a high concentration from alcohol by using alcohol as a solution will be described. However, the present invention does not specify the solution as an alcohol. This is because the mist component atomized into mist can be separated into an adsorbed component and a non-adsorbed component by the adsorbent.

The separation device shown in fig. 1 to 4 includes an atomization chamber 1 for atomizing a solution into a transport gas, an atomization mechanism 2 for atomizing the solution into the transport gas in the atomization chamber 1 as mist, a recovery unit 3 for recovering a mist component atomized from the solution in the mist form by the atomization mechanism 2, and a blower 8 for transferring the mist component atomized in the atomization chamber 1 to the recovery unit 3 together with the transport gas.

The atomizing mechanism 2 of fig. 1 and 2 ultrasonically vibrates the solution to atomize the solution into mist. The atomizing mechanism 2 of fig. 3 and 4 pressurizes the solution by the pressurizing pump 16 to supply the solution to the spray nozzle 15, and atomizes the solution into mist by spraying from the spray nozzle 15.

The atomizing mechanism 2 for atomizing the solution into mist by ultrasonic vibration is an ultrasonic atomizer 10 for ultrasonically vibrating the solution in the atomizing chamber 1 to atomize the solution into mist. The ultrasonic atomizer 10 includes 1 or more ultrasonic transducers 11 for ultrasonically vibrating the solution in the atomizing chamber 1 to atomize the solution into mist, and an ultrasonic power source 12 connected to the ultrasonic transducers 11 for supplying high-frequency power to the ultrasonic transducers 11 to generate ultrasonic vibration. The apparatuses shown in these figures transfer a mist component atomized from a solution into mist in the atomizing chamber 1 to the recovery unit 3 by the blower 8 together with the carrier gas. Although not shown, the separator may be configured to transfer the mist by an electrostatic field or ultrasonic waves.

As shown in the figure, the atomizing chamber 1 is connected to a raw solution tank 14 storing a solution via a pump 13, and the solution can be continuously supplied from the raw solution tank 14. The device supplies the solution from the stock solution tank 14 while discharging the solution in the atomizing chamber 1, thereby preventing the concentration of the target substance such as alcohol in the solution in the atomizing chamber 1 from decreasing. Further, as shown by an arrow a in the figure, the solution in the atomizing chamber 1 is discharged to the outside without circulating into the raw solution tank 14, and the concentration of the target substance contained in the raw solution tank 14 can be prevented from decreasing. Wherein the nebulization chamber can also be replaced with a new solution after the concentration of the target substance has decreased. The method is a method of replacing a solution with a new solution after a certain time, namely, replacing the solution in a batch mode.

The solution in the atomizing chamber 1 is atomized into mist by the ultrasonic atomizer 10. The concentration of the target substance in the mist atomized by the ultrasonic atomizer 10 is higher than that of the solution. Therefore, the solution is atomized into mist by the ultrasonic atomizer 10, and the target substance is separated and recovered from the mist, whereby the solution having a high concentration can be efficiently separated.

The solution in the atomizing chamber 1 is ultrasonically vibrated by the ultrasonic atomizer 10 to be a mist having a concentration higher than that of the solution in the atomizing chamber 1, and the mist is scattered from the solution surface W. When the solution is ultrasonically vibrated, a liquid column P is formed on the solution surface W, and mist is generated from the surface of the liquid column P. The ultrasonic atomizer 10 shown in fig. 5 is provided with an ultrasonic transducer 11 of the ultrasonic atomizer 10 facing upward at the bottom of the atomizing chamber 1 filled with the solution. The ultrasonic transducer 11 emits ultrasonic waves upward from the bottom toward the solution surface W, and generates ultrasonic vibration on the solution surface W to generate a liquid column P. The ultrasonic transducer 11 radiates ultrasonic waves in the vertical direction.

The ultrasonic atomizer 10 in the figure includes a plurality of ultrasonic transducers 11 and an ultrasonic power source 12 for generating ultrasonic vibrations in the ultrasonic transducers 11. The ultrasonic vibrator 11 is fixed to the bottom of the atomizing chamber 1 in a water-tight configuration. The device in which the plurality of ultrasonic vibrators 11 ultrasonically vibrate the solution can atomize the solution into mist more efficiently.

The ultrasonic transducer 11 and the ultrasonic power source 12 have a problem of deterioration in quality if the solution in the atomizing chamber 1 is heated. The harmful effect of heat can be eliminated by forcibly cooling the ultrasonic transducer 11. Further, the ultrasonic power supply 12 is preferably also cooled. The ultrasonic power source 12 does not directly heat the solution, but indirectly heats the solution by heating the surroundings. As shown in fig. 5, the ultrasonic transducer 11 and the ultrasonic power source 12 may be cooled by disposing the cooling pipe 18 in a thermally coupled state, that is, by disposing the cooling pipe 18 in a contact state. The cooling pipe 18 is configured to flow a liquid or coolant cooled by a cooling machine, or cooling water such as ground water or tap water, thereby cooling the ultrasonic transducer 11 and the ultrasonic power source 12.

The atomizing mechanism 2 of fig. 3 includes a pressure pump 16 for sucking and pressurizing the solution, and a spray nozzle 15 for atomizing the pressurized solution supplied from the pressure pump 16 by spraying the solution in a mist state. The spray nozzle 15 sprays the solution in a mist state into the transport gas of the atomizing chamber 1 to atomize the solution.

The atomizing mechanism 2 shown in fig. 4 includes a spray nozzle 15 and a compressor 17 for supplying a pressurized carrier gas to the spray nozzle 15. The conveying gas is air or an inert gas. The device for making the transport gas air uses a compressor in the compressor 17. The spray nozzle 15 of the atomizing mechanism 2 is a two-fluid nozzle that supplies the solution and the pressurized gas to spray the solution as a fine mist. The spray nozzle 15 atomizes the solution by atomizing the solution into a fine mist with pressurized gas supplied from a compressor 17.

The mist of the solution atomized in the atomizing chamber 1 flows into the recovery portion 3 by the transport gas. The recovery unit 3 is connected to the atomizing chamber 1 by a transfer duct 9 so that the mist flows into the recovery unit 3. The separation apparatus shown in fig. 2 to 4 is configured to circulate the carrier gas into the recovery section 3 and the atomizing chamber 1 by the blower 8. In these separation devices, the transport gas, from which the mist component is separated, is transferred from the atomizing chamber 1 to the recovery unit 3 and is returned to the atomizing chamber 1. These separation means preferably fill the atomization chamber 1 and the recovery section 3 with an inert gas as a transport gas. The apparatus prevents the deterioration of the solution in the atomizing chamber 1 and the recovery part 3 by the inert gas. Therefore, a solution with a high concentration can be obtained in a higher quality state. Among them, air may be used as the transport gas. The separation device shown in fig. 1 releases the carrier gas transferred from the atomizing chamber 1 to the recovery unit 3 into the atmosphere without returning the carrier gas to the atomizing chamber 1 again. These separation devices use air as the transport gas.

The recovery unit 3 separates and recovers the mist component atomized by the atomizer 1 from the carrier gas. The recovery unit 3 includes an adsorption recovery unit 5 that recovers adsorbed components contained in the mist components from the carrier gas, and a separation recovery unit 6 that separates non-adsorbed components contained in the mist components that are not adsorbed by the adsorption recovery unit 5 from the mist components. The recovery unit 3 shown in fig. 1 and 3 further includes a cooling unit 19 that cools the carrier gas supplied to the adsorption recovery unit 5.

The cooling unit 19 cools the transport gas containing the mist component, thereby improving the adsorption efficiency of the adsorbent. The cooling unit 19 condenses the mist contained in the carrier gas, and collects an alcohol solution having a concentration higher than that of the solution. The alcohol solution recovered by the cooling unit 19 has a higher concentration than the solution, but has a lower concentration than the alcohol solution recovered by the separation and recovery unit 6. For example, when the alcohol concentration of the solution is 40 to 80 wt%, the alcohol solution recovered by the cooling unit 19 has a concentration of about 55 to 85 wt%. When the alcohol concentration of the solution is 40 to 80 wt%, the alcohol solution recovered by the separation and recovery unit 6, which will be described in detail below, has a high concentration of 97 wt% or more.

The cooling unit 19 shown in the figure includes a cooler 38 for cooling the carrier gas and mist in a chamber having a sealed structure. The cooler 38 in the figure is a heat exchanger in which fins (not shown) are fixed to heat exchange tubes. The cooler 38 circulates a coolant or cooling water for cooling to the heat exchange tubes for cooling. However, the cooler may be an electronic cooler provided with a peltier element or the like. A part of the mist component atomized in the atomizing chamber 1 is condensed and collected on the cooler 38. The transport gas containing the mist component cooled by the cooling unit 19 is transferred to the adsorption and recovery unit 5. Since the mist is not a gas, it is not necessarily cooled and condensed for recovery. However, the mist can be rapidly recovered by cooling.

The adsorption recovery unit 5 adsorbs and separates water containing adsorption components in the carrier gas and mist components cooled by the cooling unit 19 to the molecular sieve adsorbent 4. The adsorption recovery unit 5 separates water of the adsorbed component from the mist component of the carrier gas by: an adsorption step of bringing water of the adsorption component contained in the mist component into contact with the molecular sieve adsorbent 4 to adsorb the water, and a desorption step of desorbing the water of the adsorption component adsorbed in the molecular sieve adsorbent 4 in the adsorption step from the molecular sieve adsorbent 4.

In the adsorption and recovery unit 5, the pressure in the release step is set lower than the pressure in the adsorption step, and the water of the adsorbed component is separated from the mist component. That is, in the adsorption and recovery unit 5, the pressure at the time of releasing the adsorbed components is set lower than the pressure at the time of adsorbing the adsorbed components, and the water of the adsorbed components is separated from the mist components.

The reason why the pressure in the desorption step is made lower than the pressure in the adsorption step is that the adsorption amount of the molecular sieve adsorbent 4 varies depending on the pressure. The characteristics of water in which the molecular sieve adsorbent 4 adsorbs the adsorption component vary depending on the kind of the molecular sieve adsorbent 4 and the kind of the adsorption component, but generally, at the same temperature, the adsorption amount tends to increase if the pressure becomes high, and the adsorption amount tends to decrease if the pressure becomes low. Further, the adsorption amount of the molecular sieve adsorbent 4 tends to decrease if the temperature becomes higher and increase if the temperature becomes lower at the same pressure.

The separation apparatus according to the present invention utilizes this characteristic to separate adsorbed components contained in mist components and recover target substances such as alcohol at a higher concentration. That is, by making the pressure in the desorption step lower than the pressure in the adsorption step, a large amount of the adsorbed component is adsorbed by the molecular sieve adsorbent 4 in the adsorption step, and the amount of the adsorbed component that can be adsorbed by the molecular sieve adsorbent 4 is reduced in the desorption step, whereby the adsorbed component is desorbed from the molecular sieve adsorbent 4.

The adsorption recovery unit 5 includes a closed chamber 20 filled with the molecular sieve adsorbent 4, an on-off valve 21 that controls passage of the transport gas flowing into the closed chamber 20 or discharged from the closed chamber 20, and a vacuum pump 22 that is connected to the closed chamber 20 and exhausts the gas from the closed chamber 20.

The closed chamber 20 is a closed chamber filled with the molecular sieve adsorbent 4. The molecular sieve adsorbent 4 is a molecular sieve of synthetic zeolite. As the molecular sieve, a molecular sieve having an effective pore size capable of adsorbing water as an adsorbed component, for example, a molecular sieve having an effective pore size of 3 angstroms is used. The molecular sieve adsorbent 4 has different effective pore sizes depending on the adsorption components. For example, a molecular sieve having an effective pore size of 5 angstroms adsorbs normal paraffins having 3 or more carbon atoms, but does not adsorb isoparaffins, benzene, toluene, and the like. Therefore, the use of the molecular sieve having an effective pore size enables adsorption and separation of normal paraffins having 3 or more carbon atoms from isoparaffins, benzene, toluene, and the like.

The sealed chamber 20 is connected to the discharge side of the cooling unit 19 via the transfer duct 9. The transport gas containing the mist component flowing from the cooling unit 19 causes the adsorption component to be adsorbed by the molecular sieve adsorbent 4 when passing through the closed chamber 20. The sealed chamber 20 is connected to the separation and recovery unit 6 on the discharge side, and supplies the transport gas of the water having adsorbed the adsorbed component to the separation and recovery unit 6.

Further, the sealed chamber 20 shown in fig. 1 to 4 is connected to the separation and collection unit 6 at the discharge side via the transfer pipe 9. An opening/closing valve 21 is provided in the transfer pipe 9 connected to the inflow side and the discharge side of the sealed chamber 20. The adsorption recovery unit 5 supplies the carrier gas containing the mist component to the closed chamber 20 with the open/close valve 21 open, and allows the molecular sieve adsorbent 4 to adsorb the mist component contained in the carrier gas.

Further, the closed chamber 20 is connected to the suction side of a vacuum pump 22 via a suction duct 23. The suction pipe 23 is provided with a suction valve 24. The vacuum pump 22 forcibly exhausts the gas from the sealed chamber 20 to reduce the pressure in the sealed chamber 20. The molecular sieve adsorbent 4 releases the adsorbed component if depressurized. The vacuum pump 22 forcibly exhausts the adsorbed component desorbed from the molecular sieve adsorbent 4. The apparatus of fig. 1 and 3 is connected to a cooler 25 on the discharge side of the vacuum pump 22. The cooler 25 cools the adsorbed components desorbed from the molecular sieve adsorbent 4 to condense or collect water that condenses to become liquid. Thus, the cooler 25 discharges the water of the adsorbed component adsorbed by the molecular sieve adsorbent 4. However, as shown in fig. 2 and 4, the cooler is not necessarily required. This is because the means for making the adsorbed component water is capable of discarding the water of the adsorbed component desorbed from the molecular sieve adsorbent.

In the separation apparatus shown in fig. 3, the blower 8 is disposed between the cooling unit 19 and the adsorption recovery unit 5. The separation apparatus supplies the carrier gas circulated by the blower 8 to the adsorption and recovery unit 5 and the separation and recovery unit 6 in a pressurized state. The blower 8 may supply, for example, a transport gas pressurized to a pressure higher than atmospheric pressure to the adsorption and recovery section 5 and the separation and recovery section 6. The separation apparatus for bringing the carrier gas supplied to the adsorption and recovery unit 5 and the separation and recovery unit 6 into a pressurized state has a characteristic that the adsorption amount in the adsorption step can be increased. Therefore, the adsorbed component and the non-adsorbed component can be efficiently separated from the carrier gas. However, the adsorption recovery unit 5 may control the on-off valve 21 connected to the suction side of the closed chamber 20 and the on-off valve 21 connected to the discharge side of the closed chamber 20, respectively, to adjust the pressure of the transport gas supplied to the closed chamber 20. Further, the separator does not necessarily have to make the pressure of the supplied transport gas higher than the atmospheric pressure, and may be made to be the atmospheric pressure.

Further, the adsorption recovery unit 5 shown in the figure includes a pair of closed chambers 20 including a 1 st closed chamber 20A and a 2 nd closed chamber 20B. The adsorption and recovery unit 5 having this structure has a feature of being able to efficiently separate water of an adsorbed component in the pair of closed chambers 20 while switching the pair of closed chambers 20 between an adsorption step and a release step. The adsorption recovery unit 5 having this structure separates the adsorbed component from the carrier gas as follows.

(1) The opening/closing valve 21 of the 1 st sealed chamber 20A is opened, and the opening/closing valve 21 of the 2 nd sealed chamber 20B and the suction valve 24 of the 1 st sealed chamber 20A are closed. In this state, the carrier gas supplied from cooling unit 19 flows into first sealed chamber 20A, and molecular sieve adsorbent 4 filled in first sealed chamber 20A adsorbs water having adsorbed components.

(2) After a predetermined time has elapsed, opening/closing valve 21 of sealed chamber 1 a and suction valve 24 of sealed chamber 2B are closed, and opening/closing valve 21 of sealed chamber 2B is opened. In this state, the carrier gas supplied from cooling unit 19 flows into second sealed chamber 20B without flowing into first sealed chamber 20A, and molecular sieve adsorbent 4 filled in second sealed chamber 20B adsorbs water having adsorbed components.

(3) Suction valve 24 of sealed chamber 1 a is opened, and the gas is exhausted from sealed chamber 1 a by vacuum pump 22. The 1 st enclosed chamber 20A is depressurized, and the adsorbed component is separated from water by the molecular sieve adsorbent 4.

(4) The water of the adsorbed component separated from the molecular sieve adsorbent 4 in the 1 st closed chamber 20A is discharged from the 1 st closed chamber 20A, flows into the cooler 25, is cooled, condensed, and condensed by the cooler 25, and is recovered. The adsorbed component may be exhausted from the vacuum pump to the outside without being cooled by the cooler.

(5) After a predetermined time has elapsed, opening/closing valve 21 of sealed chamber 1 a is opened, and opening/closing valve 21 of sealed chamber 2B and suction valve 24 of sealed chamber 1 a are closed. In this state, the carrier gas supplied from cooling unit 19 flows into first sealed chamber 20A without flowing into second sealed chamber 20B, and molecular sieve adsorbent 4 filled in first sealed chamber 20A adsorbs water having adsorbed components.

(6) Suction valve 24 of sealed chamber 2B is opened, and the gas is discharged from sealed chamber 2B by vacuum pump 22. The 2 nd sealed chamber 20B is depressurized, and the adsorbed component is separated from water by the molecular sieve adsorbent 4.

(7) The adsorbed component separated from molecular sieve adsorbent 4 in sealed chamber 2B is discharged from sealed chamber 2B, flows into cooler 25, is cooled, condensed, and condensed by cooler 25, and is recovered. The adsorbed component may be exhausted from the vacuum pump to the outside.

(8) The steps (2) to (7) are repeated, that is, the opening/closing valve 21 is alternately opened and closed, and the adsorbed component is separated from the mist component by the pair of closed chambers 20.

Furthermore, the adsorption recovery unit 5 can recover the adsorbed component of the carrier gas more efficiently by lowering the temperature of the molecular sieve adsorbent 4 in the adsorption step to be lower than the temperature of the molecular sieve adsorbent 4 in the desorption step. This is because the adsorption amount of the molecular sieve adsorbent 4 also varies with temperature, as described above. The adsorption recovery unit 5 may increase the adsorption amount by cooling the molecular sieve adsorbent 4 in the adsorption step, for example.

The recovery unit 3 shown in fig. 1 and 3 cools the carrier gas and the mist component by the cooling unit 19, and supplies the cooled carrier gas and mist component to the adsorption recovery unit 5. The device can increase the adsorption amount of the adsorption component in the adsorption process, and adsorb a large amount of the adsorption component contained in the mist component. However, the recovery unit does not necessarily need to be provided with a cooling unit, and the transportation gas containing the mist component may be supplied to the adsorption recovery unit without being cooled by the cooling unit.

Further, the adsorption recovery unit 5 may heat the molecular sieve adsorbent 4 in the desorption step. The heated molecular sieve adsorbent 4 can efficiently separate the adsorbed components because the amount of the adsorbable components decreases. The adsorption recovery unit is not shown, but includes a temperature control unit for heating the molecular sieve adsorbent. The temperature control unit is, for example, a heater, and is disposed in the interior of the closed chamber to heat the molecular sieve adsorbent. As the warmer, a heating heat exchanger or a heater may be used.

Further, the adsorption recovery unit 5 of fig. 2 and 4 includes a temperature control unit 26 for controlling the temperature of the molecular sieve adsorbent 4 filled in the closed chamber 20. The temperature control unit 26 is configured to cool and warm the molecular sieve adsorbent 4 filled in the closed chamber 20.

Fig. 6 shows the temperature control unit 26. The temperature control unit 26 shown in the figure includes heat exchangers 27 disposed in the respective closed chambers 20, a heating mechanism 28 for circulating warm water to the heat exchanger 27 of one closed chamber 20, a cooling mechanism 29 for circulating cold water to the other closed chamber 20, a control valve 30 for switching between the warm water and the cold water circulating to the respective closed chambers 20, and a refrigeration cycle 33 for heating a warm water tank 31 of the heating mechanism 28 and cooling a cold water tank 32 of the cooling mechanism 29.

The heat exchanger 27 is disposed in the sealed chamber 20. The heat exchanger 27 heats the molecular sieve adsorbent 4 in a state in which warm water is circulated therein, and cools the molecular sieve adsorbent 4 in a state in which cold water is circulated therein. The heating means 28 is provided with a radiator 34 of the refrigeration cycle 33 in the hot water tank 31, and heats the closed chamber 20 by circulating the hot water heated by the radiator 34 to the circulation path. Cooling mechanism 29 includes a heat absorber 35 of refrigeration cycle 33 disposed inside cold water tank 32, and cools sealed chamber 20 by circulating cold water cooled by heat absorber 35 to the circulation path. However, the heating means and the cooling means may circulate a coolant other than water.

The refrigeration cycle 33 includes a compressor 36 that pressurizes the vaporized coolant, a radiator 34 that liquefies the coolant pressurized by the compressor 36, a heat absorber 35 that is forcibly cooled by the heat of vaporization of the liquefied coolant, and an expansion valve 37 connected between the radiator 34 and the heat absorber 35. The expansion valve 37 causes the pressurized and cooled and liquefied coolant to thermally expand in the heat absorption unit 35 at intervals, and forcibly cools the heat absorber 35 by the heat of vaporization of the coolant. The refrigeration cycle 33 adjusts the opening degree of the expansion valve 37 and the output of the compressor 36 so that the temperatures of the radiator 34 and the heat absorber 35 become set temperatures.

The temperature control unit 26 having the above structure switches the control valve 30, circulates warm water to the heat exchanger 27 of one sealed chamber 20 to heat the water, and circulates cold water to the heat exchanger 27 of the other sealed chamber 20 to cool the water. The temperature control unit 26 having this structure can heat and cool the pair of closed chambers 20 by one refrigeration cycle 33, and therefore can efficiently control the temperature of the molecular sieve adsorbent 4 filled in the pair of closed chambers 20. The adsorption recovery unit 5 including the pair of closed chambers 20 is in the adsorption step in one closed chamber 20, and in the release step in the other closed chamber 20. Therefore, the temperature control unit 26 can cool the closed chamber 20 in the adsorption step to efficiently adsorb the adsorption component by the molecular sieve adsorbent 4, and can heat the closed chamber 20 in the desorption step to efficiently separate the adsorption component adsorbed by the molecular sieve adsorbent 4.

The separation and recovery unit 6 recovers water from which the adsorbed component is separated by the adsorption and recovery unit 5 and a mist component in which the alcohol concentration of the non-adsorbed component is increased. The separation and recovery unit 6 allows the 2 nd adsorbent 7 to adsorb and separate the alcohol that is not adsorbed component. The separation and recovery unit 6 separates alcohol, which is a non-adsorbed component, from the mist component of the carrier gas by: an adsorption step of bringing alcohol, which is a non-adsorbed component contained in the mist component, into contact with the mist component and adsorbing the alcohol on the 2 nd adsorbent 7, and a release step of releasing the alcohol, which is a non-adsorbed component adsorbed on the 2 nd adsorbent 7 in the adsorption step, from the 2 nd adsorbent 7.

The separation and recovery unit 6 separates the alcohol, which is a non-adsorbed component, from the mist component by lowering the pressure in the release step to a lower pressure than that in the adsorption step, similarly to the adsorption and recovery unit 5.

The reason why the pressure in the desorption step is made lower than the pressure in the adsorption step is that the adsorption amount of the 2 nd adsorbent 7 varies depending on the pressure similarly to the molecular sieve adsorbent 4. The adsorption amount of the 2 nd adsorbent 7 tends to decrease at the same pressure if the temperature becomes higher and increase if the temperature becomes lower.

The 2 nd adsorbent 7 in the separation and collection unit 6 adsorbs non-adsorbed components contained in the mist components, and collects target substances such as alcohol at a higher concentration. That is, by making the pressure in the desorption step lower than the pressure in the adsorption step, a large amount of the non-adsorbed component is adsorbed by the 2 nd adsorbent 7 in the adsorption step, and the amount of the non-adsorbed component that can be adsorbed by the 2 nd adsorbent 7 is reduced in the desorption step, whereby the non-adsorbed component is desorbed from the 2 nd adsorbent 7.

The separation and recovery unit 9 includes a closed chamber 40 filled with the adsorbent 7 of the 2 nd stage, an on-off valve 41 for controlling the passage of the transport gas flowing into the closed chamber 40 or discharged from the closed chamber 40, and a vacuum pump 42 connected to the closed chamber 40 and discharging the transport gas from the closed chamber 40, similarly to the adsorption and recovery unit 5.

The closed chamber 40 is a closed chamber filled with the 2 nd adsorbent 7. The 2 nd adsorbent 7 is a molecular sieve of synthetic zeolite adsorbing the alcohol of the non-adsorbed component not adsorbed by the molecular sieve adsorbent 4. As the molecular sieve, a molecular sieve having an effective pore size capable of adsorbing the alcohol as the non-adsorbed component, for example, a molecular sieve having an effective pore size of 5 angstroms is used. The 2 nd adsorbent 7 may be any adsorbent capable of adsorbing the mist component from which the adsorbed component is separated by the molecular sieve adsorbent 4, and may be any of zeolite, activated carbon, lithium oxide, silica gel, or a mixture thereof.

The sealed chamber 40 is connected to the discharge side of the adsorption and recovery unit 5 via the transfer pipe 9. Further, in the apparatus of fig. 1 and 3, the sealed chamber 40 of the separation and collection unit 6 is connected to the adsorption and collection unit 5 via the cooling unit 47. The separation and recovery unit 6 separates the 2 nd adsorbent 7 from the alcohol having the non-adsorbed component adsorbed in the transport gas cooled by the cooling unit 47.

Further, the sealed chamber 40 shown in fig. 2 to 4 has a discharge side connected to the atomizing chamber 1 via the transfer duct 9, and the sealed chamber 40 shown in fig. 1 has a discharge side of the transport gas opened to the atmosphere. An opening/closing valve 41 is provided in the transfer pipe 9 connected to the inflow side and the discharge side of the sealed chamber 40. The separation and collection unit 6 supplies the transport gas containing the mist component to the closed chamber 40 with the opening/closing valve 41 open, and causes the 2 nd adsorbent 7 to adsorb the non-adsorbed component of the mist component contained in the transport gas.

Further, the closed chamber 40 is connected to the suction side of a vacuum pump 42 via a suction pipe 43. The suction pipe 43 is provided with a suction valve 44. The vacuum pump 42 forcibly exhausts the gas from the sealed chamber 40 to reduce the pressure of the sealed chamber 40. The 2 nd adsorbent 7 releases the adsorbed non-adsorbed component if depressurized. The vacuum pump 42 forcibly exhausts the non-adsorbed components released from the 2 nd adsorbent 7. The apparatus shown in the figure is connected to a cooler 45 on the discharge side of the vacuum pump 42.

The cooler 45 cools the non-adsorbed components released from the 2 nd adsorbent 7 to condense or condense the components, thereby recovering the alcohol having a high concentration. Thus, the alcohol of high concentration of the non-adsorbed component adsorbed by the 2 nd adsorbent 7 is discharged from the cooler 45.

As shown by the chain line in fig. 3, the separation device may have a blower 8 connected between the adsorption and recovery unit 5 and the separation and recovery unit 6. The blower 8 supplies the carrier gas discharged from the adsorption and recovery unit 5 to the separation and recovery unit 6 in a pressurized state. The blower 8 can supply, for example, a transport gas pressurized to a high pressure to the separation and recovery unit 6 to increase the amount of non-adsorbed components adsorbed in the adsorption step. However, the separation device does not necessarily require a blower to be connected between the adsorption and recovery unit and the separation and recovery unit.

Further, the separation and collection unit 6 shown in the figure includes a pair of closed chambers 40 including a 1 st closed chamber 40A and a 2 nd closed chamber 40B, similarly to the adsorption and collection unit 5. The separation and collection unit 6 having this structure has a characteristic that it is possible to efficiently separate alcohol, which is a non-adsorbed component, in the pair of closed chambers 40 while switching the pair of closed chambers 40 between the adsorption step and the desorption step.

The separation and collection unit 6 having this structure separates non-adsorbed components from the carrier gas as follows.

(1) The opening/closing valve 41 of the 1 st sealed chamber 40A is opened, and the opening/closing valve 41 of the 2 nd sealed chamber 40B and the suction valve 40 of the 1 st sealed chamber 40A are closed. In this state, the transport gas supplied from the adsorption recovery unit 5 flows into the 1 st closed chamber 40A, and the 2 nd adsorbent 7 filled in the 1 st closed chamber 40A adsorbs the alcohol that is not an adsorbed component.

(2) After a predetermined time has elapsed, opening/closing valve 41 of sealed chamber 1 a and suction valve 40 of sealed chamber 2B are closed, and opening/closing valve 41 of sealed chamber 2B is opened. In this state, the transport gas supplied from cooling unit 19 flows into second sealed chamber 40B without flowing into first sealed chamber 40A, and second sealed chamber 40B is filled with second adsorbent 7 to adsorb alcohol as a non-adsorbed component.

(3) The suction valve 40 of the 1 st closed chamber 40A is opened, and the air is discharged from the 1 st closed chamber 40A by the vacuum pump 42. The 1 st closed chamber 40A is depressurized, and alcohol that is not adsorbed component is separated from the 2 nd adsorbent 7.

(4) The alcohol of the non-adsorbed component separated from the 2 nd adsorbent 7 in the 1 st closed chamber 40A is discharged from the 1 st closed chamber 40A, flows into the cooler 45, is cooled, condensed, and condensed by the cooler 45, and is recovered as a high-concentration alcohol.

(5) After a predetermined time has elapsed, opening/closing valve 41 of sealed chamber 1 a is opened, and opening/closing valve 41 of sealed chamber 2B and suction valve 40 of sealed chamber 1 a are closed. In this state, the transport gas supplied from cooling unit 19 flows into 1 st sealed chamber 40A without flowing into 2 nd sealed chamber 40B, and 2 nd adsorbent 7 filled in 1 st sealed chamber 40A adsorbs alcohol that is not adsorbed.

(6) The suction valve 40 of the 2 nd sealed chamber 40B is opened, and the gas is discharged from the 2 nd sealed chamber 40B by the vacuum pump 42. The 2 nd sealed chamber 40B is depressurized, and the alcohol that is not adsorbed in the component is separated from the 2 nd adsorbent 7 in a high concentration state.

(7) The non-adsorbed component separated from 2 nd adsorbent 7 in 2 nd sealed chamber 40B is discharged from 2 nd sealed chamber 40B, flows into cooler 45, and is cooled, condensed, and recovered by cooler 45.

(8) The steps (2) to (7) are repeated, that is, the opening/closing valve 41 is alternately opened and closed, and the high concentration alcohol as the non-adsorbed component is separated from the mist component by the pair of closed chambers 40.

Further, the separation and recovery unit 6, similarly to the adsorption and recovery unit 5, can recover the non-adsorbed components of the carrier gas more efficiently by lowering the temperature of the 2 nd adsorbent 7 in the adsorption step than the temperature of the 2 nd adsorbent 7 in the desorption step.

The recovery unit 3 shown in fig. 1 and 3 cools the carrier gas and the mist component by the cooling unit 47, and supplies the cooled carrier gas and mist component to the separation and recovery unit 6. The device can increase the adsorption amount of non-adsorption components in the separation process, and adsorb a large amount of non-adsorption components contained in the mist components. However, the recovery unit does not necessarily need to be provided with the cooling unit, and the transport gas containing the mist component may be supplied to the separation and recovery unit without being cooled.

Further, the separation and recovery unit can efficiently separate the adsorbed non-adsorbed component by heating the 2 nd adsorbent in the desorption step, as in the adsorption and recovery unit. The separation and recovery unit heats the 2 nd adsorbent by the temperature control unit. The temperature control unit is, for example, a heater, and is disposed inside the closed chamber to heat the 2 nd adsorbent. A heating heat exchanger or a heater may be used as the warmer.

Further, the separation and recovery unit 6 of fig. 2 and 4 includes a temperature control unit 46 for controlling the temperature of the 2 nd adsorbent 7 filled in the closed chamber 40, similarly to the adsorption and recovery unit 5. The temperature control unit 46 has the same structure as the temperature control unit 26 of the adsorption and recovery unit 5 shown in fig. 6, and can cool and warm the 2 nd adsorbent 7 filled in the closed chamber 40.

Further, the separation and collection unit 6 in which the temperature control unit 46 heats the 2 nd adsorbent 7 has a characteristic that the carrier gas circulated from the separation and collection unit 6 into the atomizing chamber 1 can be heated to efficiently generate mist in the atomizing chamber 1. This is because the degree to which the solution is atomized into mist in the atomizing chamber 1 varies with the temperature of the solution and the carrier gas, and the amount of generation of mist increases if the temperature of the carrier gas and the solution becomes higher. The temperature control unit 46 heats the transport gas to 25 to 30 ℃. However, the temperature controller 46 may supply the transport gas to the atomizing chamber 1 by heating the transport gas to 15 to 40 ℃. If the temperature of the carrier gas supplied into the atomizing chamber 1 becomes high, the amount of mist generation becomes large, but if the temperature becomes too high, the target substance such as alcohol is deteriorated. Conversely, if the temperature is low, the efficiency of making the target substance into mist tends to decrease.

The solution separation apparatus of the present invention can be suitably used for applications such as separation of high-concentration alcohol from an alcohol solution such as bioethanol, wine, and wine materials.

Claims (11)

1. A solution separation device is provided with an atomization chamber (1) for atomizing a solution into a transport gas, an atomization mechanism (2) for atomizing the solution into the transport gas in the atomization chamber (1) in the form of mist, and a recovery unit (3) for adsorbing a mist component, which is atomized by the atomization mechanism (2) and transferred by the transport gas, with a molecular sieve adsorbent (4) and separating the mist component from the transport gas;

the recovery unit (3) is provided with an adsorption recovery unit (5) for adsorbing the adsorption component contained in the mist component of the carrier gas by the molecular sieve adsorbent (4) having a molecular sieve action and for releasing the adsorbed adsorption component from the molecular sieve adsorbent (4) to separate the adsorbed adsorption component from the mist component, and a separation recovery unit (6) for separating the non-adsorption component contained in the mist component not adsorbed by the adsorption recovery unit (5) from the carrier gas containing the mist component discharged from the adsorption recovery unit (5);

the adsorbed component of the mist component is adsorbed by the adsorption and recovery unit (5) and separated from the carrier gas, and the non-adsorbed component of the mist component is adsorbed and separated by the separation and recovery unit (6).

2. The solution separation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the atomizing mechanism (2) includes an ultrasonic transducer (11) for atomizing the solution in the atomizing chamber (1) into mist by ultrasonic vibration and scattering the mist into the carrier gas, and an ultrasonic power source (12) connected to the ultrasonic transducer (11) for supplying high-frequency power to the ultrasonic transducer (11) to generate ultrasonic vibration.

3. The solution separation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the atomizing means (2) comprises a spray nozzle (15) for atomizing the solution by spraying the solution as mist into the atomizing chamber (1), and a pressure pump (16) for supplying the solution under pressure to the spray nozzle (15).

4. The solution separation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the molecular sieve adsorbent (4) adsorbing the adsorbed component is a molecular sieve of synthetic zeolite.

5. The solution separation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the solution is an aqueous alcohol solution, and the molecular sieve adsorbent (4) in the adsorption recovery section (5) is a molecular sieve that adsorbs water contained in the mist component as an adsorption component.

6. The solution separation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the separation and recovery unit (6) includes a 2 nd adsorbent (7) for adsorbing and separating a non-adsorbed component contained in the mist component from which the adsorbed component is separated by the molecular sieve adsorbent (4) of the adsorption and recovery unit (5), and the 2 nd adsorbent (7) adsorbs the non-adsorbed component and separates it from the carrier gas.

7. The solution separation apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the solution is an aqueous alcohol solution, the molecular sieve adsorbent (4) of the adsorption recovery section (5) is a molecular sieve that adsorbs water contained in the mist component as an adsorption component, and the 2 nd adsorbent (7) of the separation recovery section (6) is an adsorbent that adsorbs alcohol.

8. The solution separation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the adsorption recovery unit (5) fills the closed chamber (20) with the molecular sieve adsorbent (4), and the closed chamber (20) is connected to a vacuum pump (22), and the vacuum pump (22) exhausts the air from the closed chamber (20) to desorb the adsorbed component from the molecular sieve adsorbent (4).

9. The solution separation apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the closed chamber (20) is connected to the atomizing chamber (1) via an opening/closing valve (21), the opening/closing valve (21) is opened to supply the carrier gas containing the mist component from the atomizing chamber (1) into the closed chamber (20), the adsorbed component is adsorbed to the molecular sieve adsorbent (4), the opening/closing valve (21) is closed to reduce the pressure in the closed chamber (20), and the mist component is desorbed from the molecular sieve adsorbent (4).

10. The solution separator according to claim 9, wherein the adsorption recovery unit (5) comprises a pair of closed chambers (20) consisting of a 1 st closed chamber (20A) and a 2 nd closed chamber (20B),

the 1 st sealed chamber (20A) is connected with the atomizing chamber (1) through an opening and closing valve (21) at the inflow side of the 1 st sealed chamber (20A), and is connected with a vacuum pump (22) through a suction valve (24) of the 1 st sealed chamber (20A),

the 2 nd sealed chamber (20B) is connected with the atomizing chamber (1) through an opening and closing valve (21) at the inflow side of the 2 nd sealed chamber (20B), and is connected with a vacuum pump (22) through a suction valve (24) of the 2 nd sealed chamber (20B),

in the adsorption recovery unit (5), in a state where the open/close valve (21) of one sealed chamber (20) is opened and the suction valve (24) of the sealed chamber (20) is closed to cause the sealed chamber (20) to adsorb the adsorbed component, the open/close valve (21) of the other sealed chamber (20) is closed and the suction valve (24) of the other sealed chamber (20) is opened to cause the other sealed chamber (20) to release the adsorbed component, thereby separating the adsorbed component from the transport gas.

11. The solution separation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the adsorption recovery unit (5) includes a temperature control unit (26), and the temperature control unit (26) controls the temperature of the molecular sieve adsorbent (4) adsorbing the adsorption component of the carrier gas to be lower than the temperature of the molecular sieve adsorbent (4) desorbing the adsorption component.