JP7174653B2 - Equipment for recovering copper from copper-containing waste - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an apparatus for recovering copper from copper-containing waste such as piping of apparatuses having heat exchangers such as air conditioners (air conditioners) and refrigerators.

In recent years, various recycling activities have been carried out from the viewpoint of resource depletion. In particular, the recycling of metals has been actively carried out for some time. Methods for recovering valuables such as copper have been proposed.

On the other hand, many pipes filled with refrigerant (Freon, etc.) and refrigerating machine oil in equipment with heat exchangers are made of copper, and the inside contains refrigerating machine oil (mineral oil), has a resin portion such as rubber as a heat insulating material. For example, about 40m of copper piping is used for one household air conditioner. With the spread of energy-saving products, the amount of copper used is increasing as thermal efficiency improves, equipment becomes larger, and the installation distance between the main unit and the outdoor unit increases. may increase. Copper is the second most consumed metal after iron and aluminum. In recent years, copper foil has come to be widely used in lithium-ion batteries. is expected to become even more important.

JP 2018-031062 A

However, in the method described in Patent Document 1, after the copper-containing waste is roasted and then sieved, it is further sorted by specific gravity difference, eddy current, or the like, resulting in low work efficiency. In addition, oil is attached to the copper pipes of air conditioners, and if they are crushed as they are, they may catch fire, so it is necessary to recycle them after rendering them harmless. Furthermore, during roasting, harmful gases such as hydrogen fluoride and hydrogen chloride may be generated from the rubber and other resin parts that adhere to the copper piping, so it is necessary to treat the exhaust gas, and the treatment cost is high. could become

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems in the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to recover copper from copper-containing waste safely and efficiently.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an apparatus for recovering copper from copper-containing waste, comprising: an inner container for containing copper-containing waste and having a plurality of openings on the side; a heat-resistant container including an outer container; a heat treatment furnace for heating the heat-resistant container;

According to the present invention, the copper-containing waste is stored in the inner container of the heat-resistant container and heated, so that copper is recovered in the inner container, and the additive contained in the resin portion in the waste is powdered in the outer container. Since substances other than copper, such as solids, can be recovered, copper can be recovered safely and efficiently from copper-containing waste.

The above-mentioned copper recovery apparatus can be provided with an exhaust gas treatment apparatus for supplying the gas discharged from the heat treatment furnace to the cement manufacturing apparatus, thereby heating the copper-containing waste to produce harmful substances including hydrogen fluoride, hydrogen chloride, and the like. Even when gas is generated, it can be immobilized in cement raw materials in the cement manufacturing process to render it harmless.

As described above, according to the present invention, copper can be safely and efficiently recovered from copper-containing waste.

1 is an overall cross-sectional view showing an embodiment of a copper recovery device according to the present invention; FIG. 1 is an overall vertical sectional view showing an embodiment of a copper recovery device according to the present invention; FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing a heat-resistant container used in a copper recovery apparatus according to the present invention; FIG. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing the heat-resistant container just before it is put into the heat treatment furnace; It is a vertical cross-sectional view showing a heat-resistant container immediately before being put into a heat treatment furnace.

An embodiment of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the following description, a case of recovering copper from copper pipes of an air conditioner discarded as copper-containing waste will be exemplified.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, an apparatus 1 for recovering copper from copper-containing waste according to the present invention includes a plurality of heat-resistant containers 2 for storing copper pipes, a heat treatment furnace 3, and heat-resistant containers 2 in the heat treatment furnace 3. A container conveying device 4 and the like for charging and discharging are provided.

The heat treatment furnace 3 is a cylindrical vertical furnace and is heated by four gas burners 8 (8A to 8D). Nozzles 11 (11A to 11D) are provided near the gas burner 8, and air A for combustion and cooling is supplied into the furnace by a fan (not shown). A hearth 17 of the heat treatment furnace 3 is rotated about a vertical axis by a hearth rotating device 19 equipped with an electric motor (not shown) and positioned at a predetermined position by a positioning sensor (not shown). A secondary combustion chamber, an exhaust chimney, etc. are provided downstream of the exhaust pipe 28.

A part of the furnace wall 7 of the heat treatment furnace 3 is formed with an opening 7a separated from the outside by a vertically openable furnace body door 7b. At a position facing the opening 7a, there is provided a container transfer device 4 for loading the heat-resistant container 2 into the heat treatment furnace 3 from the opening 7a and discharging the heat-resistant container 2 from the heat treatment furnace 3. As shown in FIG.

As shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 5, the container conveying device 4 extends in the direction of the line connecting the opening 7a of the heat treatment furnace 3 and the center of the heat treatment furnace 3 (horizontal direction in FIG. 1), and the motor 18 forward rotation of the heat-resistant container 2 to push the heat-resistant container 2 into the heat treatment furnace 3, and a claw 4c for locking the hanger 2c provided on the outer periphery of the inner container 2A of the heat-resistant container 2. , and has a pull-out portion 4 b for pulling out the heat-resistant container 2 from the heat treatment furnace 3 by negative rotation of the motor 18 . The pusher portion 4a is located directly above the pullout portion 4b.

In addition, a slide base 21 is provided which is movable in the tangential direction of the heat treatment furnace 3 (vertical direction in FIG. 1). It is movable between a furnace front chamber 23 (position shown in FIG. 1) provided at a position and a stand 25 positioned outside across an opening/closing type furnace front chamber door 24 . The base moving device 22 moves the slide base 21 connected to the tip of the shaft 22b by moving the shaft 22b back and forth by driving the motor 22a.

The furnace front chamber 23 is separated from the outside by a furnace front chamber door 24 and is separated from the heat treatment furnace 3 by a furnace door 7b so as to suppress a temperature change when the furnace door 7b is opened. I have to.

The heat-resistant container 2 is composed of an inner container 2A and an outer container 2B, as shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, and has a heat-resistant temperature of at least 650.degree. The heat-resistant container 2 is preferably made of general structural rolled steel (SS), stainless steel (SUS304), or a metal alloy such as a copper alloy, which has high thermal conductivity. is more preferably made of a material that can withstand a temperature of at least 650° C., such as stainless steel (SUS304).

The inner container 2A is formed in a cylindrical shape having a bottom surface with an upward opening, and has a large number of rectangular openings 2a on the side surface. The shape of the opening 2a is not limited to a rectangular shape. The size of the opening 2a is preferably 5-50 mm, more preferably 10-30 mm.

The outer container 2B is formed in a cylindrical shape having a bottom surface with an upward opening, and accommodates the inner container 2A. A hanger 2c protrudes from the peripheral surface 2b of the outer container 2B, and a plurality of wheels 2d are provided on the bottom surface.

Next, a method for recovering copper from copper-containing waste using the copper recovery apparatus 1 having the above configuration will be described.

The inside of the heat treatment furnace 3 is heated to 650° C., the furnace front chamber door 24 is opened, and the slide base 21 is advanced to the position of the stand 25 provided outside the furnace front chamber 23 via the base moving device 22. . Then, using a crane (not shown), as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the heat-resistant container 2 containing the discarded copper piping (hereinafter referred to as "waste copper piping") is placed at the position of the stand 25. It is placed on the moved slide base 21 .

The slide base 21 is retracted from the position of the stand 25 into the furnace front chamber 23 via the base moving device 22, the furnace front chamber door 24 is closed, the furnace body door 7b is opened, and the pusher portion 4a ( 5) is advanced to put the heat-resistant container 2 into the heat treatment furnace 3. As shown in FIG. As a result, the heat-resistant container 2 is placed on the hearth 17 of the heat treatment furnace 3, at the 9 o'clock position in FIG.

After retracting the pusher portion 4a of the container transfer device 4, the furnace door 7b is closed, and the hearth 17 is rotated counterclockwise by 45° via the hearth rotating device 19. As shown in FIG.

By repeating the above operation seven more times, as shown in FIG. are placed in a ring.

During the above operation, the waste copper pipe 40 in the heat-resistant container 2 is roasted while the heat-resistant container 2 rotates once in the heat treatment furnace 3, and high-grade copper remains in the inner container 2A. Powdered additives contained in the resin portion inside flow out from the opening 2a of the inner container 2A into the outer container 2B, so that these substances other than copper can be collected in the outer container 2B. .

When the heat-resistant container 2 makes one turn in the heat treatment furnace 3, the furnace door 7b is opened and the pull-out portion 4b of the container transfer device 4 is advanced to the position of the heat-resistant container 2, and as shown in FIG. A hook 4c provided on the heat-resistant container 2 is engaged with a hanger 2c provided on the heat-resistant container 2.例文帳に追加Then, the heat-resistant container 2 is pulled out from the heat treatment furnace 3 by retracting the pull-out portion 4b, placed on the slide base 21, and the furnace body door 7b is closed.

Next, after opening the furnace front chamber door 24 , the slide base 21 on which the heat-treated heat-resistant container 2 is mounted is advanced to the position of the stand 25 via the base moving device 22 . After that, the heat-treated heat-resistant container 2 on the slide base 21 moved to the position of the stand 25 is moved to a transfer conveyor (not shown) by a dedicated lift and carried to the next process.

After that, the slide base 21 is moved back to the original position by the base moving device 22, and the furnace front chamber door 24 is fully closed.

In the treatment method described above, the gas discharged through the exhaust pipe 28 of the heat treatment furnace 3 can be introduced into the 350° C. or higher region of the preheater of the cement manufacturing apparatus. As a result, there is no need to install a secondary combustion chamber, etc., and harmful gases such as hydrogen fluoride and hydrogen chloride in the combustion gas generated by roasting waste copper pipes can be captured in the raw material for cement preparation, and VOCs ( Volatile organic compounds) can also be burned, and the unburned gas can be rendered harmless.

In this embodiment, uniform heat treatment is performed by using the heat treatment furnace 3 in which the hearth 17 rotates. The hearth 17 does not necessarily have to rotate as long as it is a heat treatment furnace capable of recovering. In addition, although a plurality of heat-resistant containers 2 are continuously introduced into and discharged from the heat treatment furnace 3, a batch system is also applicable. Moreover, the heat-resistant container 2 does not have to go around in the heat treatment furnace 3, and the heat-resistant container 2 may be discharged from the heat treatment furnace 3 after a predetermined time has passed.

Also, the heat-resistant container 2 containing the waste copper pipe 40 is put into the heat treatment furnace 3 under an oxidizing atmosphere for heat treatment. For example, the heating may be performed in a reducing atmosphere, or in an inert atmosphere.

1 Copper recovery device from copper-containing waste 2 Heat-resistant container 3 Heat treatment furnace 4 Container transport device 7 Furnace wall 8 (8A to 8D) Gas burner 11 (11A to 11D) Nozzle 17 Hearth 18 Motor 19 Hearth rotating device 21 Slide Base 22 Base moving device 23 Furnace front chamber 24 Furnace front chamber door 25 Stand 28 Exhaust pipe 40 Waste copper pipe

Claims (2)

A heat-resistant container comprising an inner container containing copper-containing waste and having a plurality of openings on the side surface, and an outer container containing the inner container;
a heat treatment furnace for heating the heat-resistant container;
An apparatus for recovering copper from copper-containing waste, comprising a container transfer device for charging and discharging the heat-resistant container into and from the heat treatment furnace. 2. The apparatus for recovering copper from copper-containing waste according to claim 1, further comprising an exhaust gas treatment apparatus for supplying gas discharged from said heat treatment furnace to a cement manufacturing apparatus.

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