JP3214699B2 - Radioactive substance, Pollutant treatment equipment - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for treating radioactive materials and pollutants that treat clothes and sludge containing radioactivity and pollutants that cannot be normally treated. is there.

[Prior Art] Radioactive particles are attached to clothes and sludge generated by workers used in nuclear power plants and the like.
For this reason, these must be completely treated. Conventionally, a method has been considered in which the outer periphery is solidified with concrete and dumped into the sea in order to prevent radioactive leakage by storing it in a container.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

However, according to the above-mentioned method, there is a problem that the dumping operation is troublesome and the volume of the dumped material is increased. Also, incineration of radioactive materials in the air may pollute the air. At ordinary incineration temperatures, the volume of the residue after incineration is large, making it difficult to select a disposal site.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned points, and prevents radioactive substances from dissipating, can be easily treated with a minimum volume, and can be transformed into a metal or a ceramic, and can contain radioactive substances. It is an object of the present invention to provide a material processing apparatus.

[Means for solving the problem]

The apparatus for treating radioactive substances and pollutants according to the present invention comprises:
A sealed container that can be mounted in a furnace filled with water and contains radioactive materials or pollutants, and each phase voltage of a polyphase alternating current power supply arranged in the furnace and having a number of electrodes. Is provided with a multi-phase multi-electrode arc generating means for generating an arc discharge between each electrode when each is applied, the radioactive content or pollutant by the arc discharge generated in the water in the furnace. It is designed to be burned or melted together with the above-mentioned container for processing.

[Action]

In the present invention, the radioactive substance or pollutant is burned or melted and treated by the arc generated from the multi-phase multi-electrode arc generating means together with the container, and the remaining ash becomes particulate and has a minimum volume. Moreover, since it is treated in water, fine particles containing radioactivity do not dissipate into the air, and metal or ceramic particles accumulate in the lower part of the water tank as amorphous fine particles due to rapid heating and cooling. It can be easily taken out of the water tank and processed as a small volume.

〔Example〕

 An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an apparatus for treating radioactive substances and pollutants according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, a lid 2 is attached to an upper portion of a water tank 1, and an opening 3 is formed in the center of the lower portion. A bottom plate 4 is fixed to the opening 3 with a plurality of screws 6 via a packing material 5.
A container 7 is provided on the upper surface in the water tank 1 of the bottom plate 4.
A partition plate 8 descending toward the center is attached to the upper part of the container 7 in the water tank 1, and a hole 9 is formed at a position facing the container 7.

At the center of the cover 2, a block 10 having an inner diameter screw formed in the center in the vertical direction is fixed, and a screw rod 11 is screwed to the inner diameter screw. Second
A clamp member 12 as shown in the figure is fixed. Also, a drum can is a container via a screw 13 to the clamp member 12.
A drum 14 contains the radioactively contaminated material to be treated, such as clothing or pollutants that cannot be normally treated. Further, the lower part of the drum 14 is immersed in water 15 contained in the water tank 1,
The outer periphery of this portion constitutes a multi-phase multi-electrode arc generating means proposed by the applicant and described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 2-7754.
A plurality of, for example, two, sets of a plurality of electrodes 16 each including one book are provided. Each of the electrodes 16 is composed of non-consumable electrodes 16a, 16b, 16c of carbon or the like, and is connected to each phase of a star-connected three-phase power supply 17 as shown in FIG. Then, a phase voltage is applied to each electrode 16, and an arc is generated between the respective tips.

On the other hand, a motor 18 is mounted on the lid 2,
A gear 19 is fixed to an output shaft of the motor 18. A rotating body 12 is rotatably provided on the block 10 via a bearing 20, and a hole formed at the center of the rotating body 21 is provided.
The screw rod 11 penetrates concentrically through the gap 21a. A guide groove 11a is formed in the outer periphery of the screw rod 11 in the axial direction, and a pin 22 is provided in the guide groove 11a so as to protrude from a center hole 21a of the rotating body 21 as shown in FIG. Are slidably engaged in the axial direction. Further, a gear 23 meshing with the gear 19 is fixed concentrically on the upper surface of the rotating body 21, and the rotating body 21 rotates by the rotation of the motor 18, and at the same time, the screw rod 11 rotates and is guided to the block 10. T screw rod 11
At the same time, the drum 14 moves up and down.

In addition, a suspended matter removing pipe 31, a suspended matter removing filter 30, and a suspended matter removing return pipe 32 are provided outside the side surface of the water tank 1 as suspended matter removing means. A pipe for sucking generated gas is provided outside the side surface of the water tank 1 as a means for recirculating generated gas in the furnace.
34, generated gas treatment device 33, treated gas return pipe 35
Further, on the bottom plate 4, a precipitate removing pipe 40, a plug 41, and a precipitate removing container 42 are provided as a precipitate removing means.

Furthermore, an electromagnet 50 is arranged so as to sandwich each of the plurality of electrodes 16 of each pair of left and right, and applies an electromagnetic force to the arc generated from each pair of electrodes 16 to oscillate the irradiation direction of the arc to the left and right. It is made to let.

Here, the multi-arc generated by the present multi-phase multi-electrode plasma arc generator has the following features.

An ultra-high-temperature arc carrying negative electron ions is generated in the air, various gas atmospheres, and liquids.

Since a heat source of 4000 ° C or higher can be obtained at the same time as the switch is turned on, even high melting point substances can be burned, melted and melted.

Since a rotating magnetic field is generated at the tip of the electrode, an electric stirring action on the irradiation target can be expected.

The number of phases and the number of electrodes can be increased by a multiple of 3 and the electrode diameter can be increased, and the load current can be increased to process a large-capacity substance in a short time.

A three-phase, six-phase, etc. polyphase alternating current is used, the total current of each phase is always 0, and the earth wire is not required, so the arc is a non-transitional type that does not require a counter electrode. Even non-refractory materials such as refractories can be directly irradiated, heated, sintered and melted.

By providing a neutral electrode at the center of the plurality of electrodes, a stronger plasma arc is generated.

Instead of providing the above-mentioned neutral electrode, a solvent, a gas, or the like can be released from the central portion.

 Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.

In FIG. 1, a substance contaminated with radioactivity, for example, clothes, is put in a drum 14 outside the water tank 1, the lid 2 is removed from the water tank 1, and the drum 14 is attached to the clamp member 12 by screws 13. Next, the drum 14 is placed in the water tank 1 and the lid 2 is fixed to the water tank 1, and the motor 18 is rotated to lower the drum 14, so that the bottom surface of the drum 14 substantially faces the electrode 16. And the three-phase power supply 17 shown in FIG.
Is turned on, an arc is generated between each of the three electrodes 16, and the drum 18 is lowered by rotating the motor 18 while irradiating the drum 14 with the arc. Heating and melting are performed as described above.

In this way, the contaminants put into the drum 14 together with the drum 14 are completely melted, become extremely small particles having radioactivity, sink in the water, and pass through the holes 9 formed in the partition plate 8. And is accumulated in the container 7.

Further, the particles accumulated in the container 7 can be discarded in the sediment removing container 42 by moving down the sediment removing pipe 40, opening the plug 41 and opening the stopper 41.

Further, suspended matter on the water surface in the water tank 1 is collected and removed through a suspended matter taking-out tube 31, a suspended matter removing filter 30, and a suspended matter taking-out return pipe 32 provided outside the side surface of the water tank 1. The gas generated inside is suctioned by a generated gas suction pipe 34 provided on the outside of the side surface of the water tank 1 located above the suspended matter removing means, processed by a generated gas processing device 33, and processed gas is processed. It is returned into the furnace again through the return pipe 35.

Here, when the heating and melting are performed while rotating the drum 14, the heating and melting are performed as described above.To heat and melt without rotating the drum 14, the arc is formed by the electromagnet 50 provided so as to sandwich the plural electrodes 16 on the left and right sets. , And the irradiation direction of the arc can be oscillated right and left. That is, as shown in FIG. 5 (a) or (b), the arc flame which generates a large amount of -electrons is swung toward the + side of the electromagnet 50, so that the magnetism of the electromagnet 50 is appropriately adjusted. By inverting, the irradiation direction of the arc can be changed left and right, and if this is performed for both of the opposing electrode torches, the arc is turned over substantially 360 ° of the drum 14, that is, over almost the entire circumference, and the drum 14 is burned. Can be done.

According to this embodiment, since the radioactive substance or the pollutant can be completely burned and melted in water to have a small volume, the treatment becomes easy. Also, radioactive substances or pollutants do not fly into the air.

In addition, the particles accumulated in the container 7 are filled with water 15 in the water tank 1.
Can be removed through the sediment removal pipe 40 and the plug 41, and then the screw 6 can be removed to remove the bottom plate 4 and be taken out of the water tank 1.

Further, the particles accumulated in the container 7 or the particles taken out may be melted and formed again by the multi-phase multi-electrode arc generating means. The condensed particles can be reused as, for example, enriched uranium.

In the above-described embodiment, the heating and melting of the drum 14 without rotating the drum 14 is performed by applying the electromagnetic force of the electromagnet 50 to the arc so that the irradiation direction of the arc is vibrated over the entire circumference of the drum. Was completely processed, but by moving the plurality of electrodes 16 so as to turn around the drum 14 in the horizontal direction, the arc was irradiated over the entire circumference of the drum and the drum 14 was completely processed. Is also good.

Further, in the above embodiment, the case where the content to be processed is lighter than water and the drum 14 is processed from the lower portion to the upper portion has been described. If the drum can is heavy, a structure for supporting the drum 14 from below and rotating it up may be provided so that the arc is irradiated from the upper part to the lower part of the drum.

Further, the structure of each part may be another structure without departing from the gist of the present invention.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the case of treating clothing contaminated with radioactivity has been described. However, the treatment of other radioactive materials or pollutants which cannot be normally treated, such as soil and sludge, is similarly easy. Can be done. What contains radioactive substances or pollutants is not limited to the drum 14.

In addition, although the above description has been given of processing in water, it can be processed in various gas atmosphere furnaces or air furnaces without the need for air or oxygen supply or chimneys, and the generated gas can be safely stored in a closed space. There is an effect that can be processed.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, in the case of the apparatus for treating radioactive substances and pollutants according to the present invention, the radioactive substances or pollutants in the container are burned or melted and treated by the arc discharge generated by the multi-phase multi-electrode arc generating means. With this configuration, it is possible to treat radioactive substances or pollutants that cannot be normally treated. Also, the remaining ash becomes particulate and has a minimum volume. In addition, since it is treated in water, particles containing radioactivity can be prevented from dissipating in the air, and even if gas such as hydrogen or oxygen is generated, it is safely treated in a closed space. can do.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line BB of FIG. 1, and FIG. Circuit diagram of phase multi-electrode arc generating means, fifth
The figure shows a state in which the irradiation direction of the arc is vibrated right and left by the electromagnetic vibration of the above embodiment. In the figure, 1 is a water tank, 2 is a lid, 3 is an opening, 4 is a bottom plate, 5 is a packing material, 6 is a screw, 7 is a container, 8 is a partition plate, 9 is a hole, and 10 is an inner diameter screw. Blocks, 11
Is a screw rod, 12 is a clamp member, 13 is a screw (for fixing the container), 14 is a container (drum), 15 is water, 16 is a multi-phase multi-electrode arc generating means (electrode), 17 is a three-phase power supply, 18 is Drive means (motor), 19 is a gear, 20 is a bearing, 21 is a rotating body,
22 is a pin, 23 is a gear, 24 is a multi-phase multi-electrode arc generating means (electrode), 30 is a suspended matter removal filter, 31 is a suspended take-out tube, 32 is a suspended matter return tube, and 33 is a generated gas treatment device. , 34 is a pipe for sucking generated gas, 35 is a return pipe for gas after treatment, 40 is a pipe for removing precipitate, 41 is a plug,
42 is a container for removing the precipitate, and 50 is means for generating electromagnetic vibration. In the drawings, the same reference numerals indicate the same or corresponding parts.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ identification code FI H05B 7/22 H05B 7/22 (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) F23G 5/10 F23G 7/00

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] 1. A sealed container mountable in a furnace filled with water and containing radioactive material or pollutants, and a polyphase alternating current disposed in said furnace and connected to a number of electrodes. A multi-phase multi-electrode arc generating means for generating an arc discharge between each electrode when each phase voltage of the power supply is applied, wherein the radioactivity is contained by the arc discharge generated in the water in the furnace. An apparatus for treating a radioactive substance or a pollutant, wherein the substance or the pollutant is burned or melted together with the container for treatment. 2. The apparatus for treating radioactive substances and pollutants according to claim 1, wherein means for removing the sediment in the furnace out of the furnace is provided below the furnace. 3. The apparatus for treating radioactive substances and pollutants according to claim 1, further comprising a driving means for gripping and rotating or raising and lowering the container in the furnace. 4. A treatment for radioactive substances and pollutants according to claim 1, further comprising means for applying an electromagnetic force to the arc to vibrate the irradiation direction of the arc to the left and right. apparatus. 5. A radioactive substance or a pollutant according to claim 1, further comprising means for moving an electrode of said multi-phase multi-electrode arc generating means around the outer periphery of said vessel. Processing equipment.