REACTOR, SYSTEM AND METHOD TO PROCESS POLYMERS

Abstract

The present invention consists in a reactor, a system and a method to process products such as polymers, where the reactor is formed by a vertical structure made up by a concentric ferrous inner tank and an external tank opened by the lower end, between which a jacket is arranged, where said reactor comprises: an upper lid; at least an inlet for material; an overhead valve in the at least inlet duct for material; at least one chimney; a stirring unit comprising a vertical axis connected to: a plurality of main blades fixed to it in a perpendicular way; a set of secondary blades perpendicularly joint to a sub-axis connected in angle to said vertical axis; a structure of lower blades; a discharge element comprising an opening and closing valve connected to a tray; and an air inlet located in one of the faces of the external tank.

Claims

1.-34. (canceled)

35. A reactor for the processing of such products inside of it as polymers, which consists of a vertical structure made up by a concentric ferrous inner tank and an external tank each having an upper cylindrical section and a lower conical section opened by the lower end, a jacket being arranged between said inner tank and said external tank, wherein said reactor comprises: an upper lid; at least one inlet for material; an overhead valve in the at least inlet duct for material; at least one chimney; a stirring unit comprising a vertical axis connected by its upper end to an upper support projecting outwards of the lid, said vertical axis being connected to: a plurality of main blades perpendicularly fixed to a first section of the vertical axis and aligned with at least the cylindrical upper section; a set of secondary blades perpendicularly joint to a sub-axis connected in angle to a second section of said vertical axis, said second section being at a lower position than the first section of the vertical axis and aligned with the conical lower section; a structure of lower blades connected to a lower support located at the lower end of the vertical axis and fixed to the walls of the inner tank in the conical lower section; a discharge element comprising an opening and closing valve connected to a tray; an air inlet located in one of the faces of the external tank.

36. The reactor according to claim 35, wherein the at least one inlet duct for material has a portion of external duct and a portion of inner duct, with the latter being located inside the reactor's inner tank.

37. The reactor according to claim 35, wherein it comprises two chimneys, with one of them located on one end of the lid and the other one is near the center thereof.

38. The reactor according to claim 35, wherein the at least one chimney comprises a system of zigzag funnels inside.

39. The reactor according to claim 35, wherein the at least one chimney has a cylindrical shape.

40. The reactor according to claim 35, wherein the lower support is fixed to the walls of the inner tank through a bearing.

41. The reactor according to claim 35, wherein the main blades are displaced in a certain angle each other and have different angles with respect to the reactor.

42. The reactor according to claim 35, wherein the upper support projects outwards of the lid through a gland seal.

43. The reactor according to claim 35, wherein the upper support is connected to a rotating motor.

44. The reactor according to claim 35, wherein the vertical axis is cylindrical and hollow.

45. The reactor according to claim 35, wherein the discharge element consists in a cylindrical portion joint to the reactor's lower end.

46. The reactor according to claim 35, wherein the opening and closing valve corresponds to a pneumatic valve.

47. The reactor according to claim 35, wherein the jacket has a structure of cells inside with the shape of a rhombus and arranged in zigzag along thereof.

48. The reactor according to claim 35, wherein the lid is made up by a plate joint to the upper edge of the external tank through fastening means.

49. The reactor according to claim 35, wherein the reactor or part thereof is coated by a thermal jacket.

50. The reactor according to claim 35, wherein it comprises an external support surrounding all the external diameter or part thereof.

51. A system for the processing of products inside of it such as polymers, comprising: a reactor as defined in claim 35; a supporting structure; a heating unit made up by a heating unit and an air-injecting unit, wherein the heating unit comprises at least one temperature sensor; a control unit in communication with the at least one temperature sensor; a regeneration unit connected to at least one air outlet of the reactor and to the heating unit.

52. The system according to claim 51, wherein at least one chimney of the reactor is communicated with the inlet of the regeneration unit.

53. The system according to claim 51, wherein the regeneration unit comprises a cylindrical lower section and an upper section. At its bottom it comprises a bearing isolated from a chamber and comprising at its bottom holes over which a plurality of cylindrical chimneys is formed of different diameters and located inside the chamber.

54. The system according to claim 51, wherein the air-injecting unit consists in a differential turbo-compressor blower driven by an electric motor.

55. The system according to claim 51, wherein the heating unit consists in a duplex concentric chamber where a plurality of electric heaters are inserted and comprising an air outlet where the temperature sensor is configured.

56. The system according to claim 21, wherein the concentric duplex chamber also comprises an inner chamber, an outer chamber, an air inlet and a lid.

57. The system according to claim 51, wherein the control unit is configured in such a way to control the operation and different parameters of the system at different times as defined by a sequencer.

58. The system according to claim 51, wherein the control unit is adapted to control the operation of the electric heaters of the heating unit.

59. The system according to claim 51, wherein the outlet of the heating unit is connected to an admission pipe communicated with an inlet of air of the reactor.

60. The system according to claim 51, wherein the supporting structure comprises a vertical structure made of steel.

61. A method to process such products as polymers through the system defined in claim 51, the method comprising the steps of: introducing the material to be processed to the inner tank of a reactor through at least one inlet duct for material. supplying air to the air inlet of a rector through an air injection unit and a heating unit of a heating unit. providing information to a control unit through at least one sensor located at an air outlet of the heating unit to control the temperature and the flow of air supplied by the heating unit. circulating the air supplied through a jacket inside the reactor. stirring the material inside the reactor through the circular upwards and downwards displacement of a number of blades from a stirring unit. regulating the pressure inside the reactor through the discharge of gases through the at least one chimney. directing the gases being discharged through the at least one chimney to a regeneration unit. directing the gases conditioned in the regeneration unit to the air-injecting unit. opening a closing and opening valve located at the bottom of the reactor and removing the product processed.

62. The method according to claim 61, wherein the material to be processed is previously pre-processed and sized.

63. The method according to claim 61, wherein the material enters the reactor pushing and opening the overhead valve.

64. The method according to claim 61, wherein the reactor is filled with material up to about of its capacity.

65. The method according to claim 61, wherein after the entry of all material inside the reactor, the overhead valve returns to its predefined position.

66. The method according to claim 61, wherein the temperature inside the reactor is automatically controlled by the turning on and off of the heaters of the heating unit.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES

[0037] In order that the present invention may be more readily understood, embodiments thereof will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:

[0038] FIG. 1 depicts a general diagram of the components making up the system of the present invention.

[0039] FIG. 2 depicts a cross-section longitudinal view of the reactor that is part of the system of the present invention.

[0040] FIG. 3 depicts a cross-section longitudinal view of the reactor that is part of the system of the present invention.

[0041] FIG. 4 depicts a cross-section longitudinal view of the heating unit that is part of the present invention's system.

[0042] FIG. 5 depicts a cross-section longitudinal view of the heating unit that is part of the present invention's system.

[0043] FIG. 6 depicts a cross-section longitudinal view of the regeneration unit that is part of the present invention's system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES

[0044] According to FIG. 1 there is a system composed of a reaction tank or reactor 100 formed by a vertical structure made up by an upper cylindrical section 101 and a lower conical section 102. Said reactor 100 can be supported by a supporting structure 200 preferably comprising a vertical structure manufactured of steel, which allows bearing both the reactor 100 and the discharge elements of products from the reactor and other elements as for example conveyor belts, among others.

[0045] The reactor 100 is preferably connected by the lower conical section 102 to a heating unit 300 through an admission pipe 350, where said heating equipment 300 is made up of a heating unit 310 and an air-injecting unit 320, with the latter preferably comprising a differential turbo-compressor blower of high power and flow rate driven by an electric motor (not shown).

[0046] In addition, the heating unit 310 comprises a duplex concentric chamber 311 of cylindrical shape where a plurality of electric heaters 312 is inserted as seen in FIG. 4.

[0047] The duplex concentric chamber 311 comprises and inner chamber 313, an external chamber 314, an inlet of air 351, an outlet of air 316 and a lid 317. The air inlet 315 is connected to the external chamber 314 and the latter is in turn in communication with the inner chamber 313 on the back, so that the air entering the heating unit 310 from the air injecting unit may flow through the external chamber 314 in a circular way, and then gradually entering by the rear to the inner chamber 313 to later flow to the air outlet 316.

[0048] Inside the inner chamber 313, there are electric heaters 312, which are preferably of the blade type and, as seen in FIG. 5, they are arranged under a star configuration joint to an axis of three-branch heaters 320 or in the form of Y, so that each branch supports a group of heaters arranged in parallel. According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the heating unit 310 is composed of 20 to 50 electric heaters, preferably of a group of 40 heaters distributed in three branches inside the chamber 313.

[0049] Going on with FIG. 1, there is a system that comprises a control unit 400 preferably consisting in a programmable logic controller (PLC) configured in such a way to control the operation and different parameters of the system in at different times as defined by a sequencer.

[0050] According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the control unit 400 is adapted to control for instance the operation of the electric heaters 312 of the heating unit 310, the flow of air supplied by the air-injecting unit 320, the outlet of air through the at least one chimney of the reactor and the stirring speed of the material inside the reactor.

[0051] According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the control unit 400 controls the activation and deactivation of the electric heaters 312 of the heating unit 310, based on the information provided by at least a temperature sensor 318 arranged at the air outlet 316, which, according to a preferred embodiment, consists of a PT100 probe to measure the temperature at the outlet of the heating unit 310.

[0052] Going on with FIG. 1, the system of the present invention also comprises a regeneration unit 500 formed by an equipment made up by a chamber 501 connected to at least one air outlet 100C of the reactor 100. In said chamber, vapors concentrate and gases from the reactor are separated.

[0053] According to FIG. 6, chamber 501 of the regeneration unit has a cylindrical lower section 502 and a conical upper section 503 leading to an upper outlet 504. At the bottom, the regeneration unit comprises a bearing 505 isolated from the chamber 501 that comprises an opening 506 for the entering of air from the reactor. On its lower part, the bearing 505 also comprises holes (not shown) over which a plurality of cylindrical chimneys 507 of different diameters are arranged and located inside the chamber 501. Preferably, all components of the regeneration unit are manufactured of carbon steel.

[0054] Thus, the air from the reactor enters the regeneration unit 500 through the hole 506 and accrues in the bearing 505 to later flow towards chamber 501 through the cylindrical chimneys. This multi-chamber configuration with chimneys of different diameters allow the air to have a proper residence time inside the regeneration unit 500 to allow the air molecules to enrich with the carbon present in the materials of said unit, which will favor the chemical reactions inside the reactor.

[0055] Once the gases have remained inside the regeneration unit 500 for a definite time, they come out from it through the upper outlet 504 and they are led to the air-injecting unit 320 and later to the heating unit 310, so that to be recirculated again to the inside of the reactor 100.

[0056] According to FIG. 2, the reactor 100 is formed by a vertical structure made up by two concentric carbon steel tanks (100D, 100E), each of them with an upper cylindrical section 101 and a lower conical section 102 opened by its lower end. In this way, an air jacket 103 is formed between both tanks (100D, 100E); said jacket has a structure of cells inside (not shown) made of carbon steel with a honeycomb-type cross section and arranged in zigzag along the jacket 103.

[0057] Preferably, the reactor 100 or part thereof is coated by a thermal jacket (not shown) that is useful to improve the insulation conditions and to keep the best temperature inside thereof. The thermal jacket can be manufactured of mineral wool for instance or any other proper insulating material. Additionally, the thermal jacket can coat other components of the system, as for example the admission pipe 305.

[0058] The upper part of the reactor 100 comprises a lid 104 made up by a plate joint to the upper edge of the external tank 100E through proper fastening means. Said lid 104 at least comprises one inlet for material 110 preferably of cylindrical shape and made of aluminum, which has a portion of the external duct 111 with the form of inverted cone and a portion of the inner duct 112 located inside the inner tank 100D. On the lower edge of said duct 112 an overhead valve 113 made of stainless steel is configured with a pivotal point 114 in said lower edge of the duct allowing to regulating the opening or closing of the valve.

[0059] According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the reactor 100 comprises two chimneys 115, with one of them located near the lid and the other one near the center; the latter is also connected to the regeneration unit 500 to recirculate part of the gases coming from the inside of the reactor's inner chamber. In addition, the chimneys haveeach of thema perforated plate at their bottom to keep optimal pressure conditions inside the reactor. Preferably, the chimneys 115 comprise a system of funnels in zigzag inside (not shown) to increase the traveled distance of gases outside the reactor, in order to cool and condensate part of said gases and to recover the volatile components of the material inside the reactor.

[0060] The reactor 100 comprises inside the inner tank 100D a stirring unit 120 composed of a preferably cylindrical and hollow vertical axis 121 connected by its upper end to an upper support 122 that projects outwards the lid 104, preferably through a gland seal 123 to be operated by a rotating motor (not shown). In addition, the lower end of the vertical axis 121 is connected to a lower support 124 fixed to the walls of the inner tank 100D through a bearing 125.

[0061] The vertical axis 121 comprises a plurality of main blades 126 fixed to it in a perpendicular way and distributed throughout its extension. As seen in FIG. 3, the main blades 126 are vertically aligned each other and they also have different angles in relation to the tank in order to generate different turn radius and torque. Preferably, the main blades 126 are made up of a body with two portions, where the first portion 126a being the nearest to the vertical axis 121 forms an angle of 10 to 30 with respect to it. Additionally, a second portion 126b that is the nearest to the walls of the reactor forms an angle of 25 to 45 with the vertical axis.

[0062] According to a preferred embodiment, the vertical axis 121 comprises in its lower portion a set of secondary blades 127 perpendicularly joint to a sub-axis 128 connected in angle to the vertical axis 121. Through said configuration, the material located in the intermediate portion of the conical lower section 102 of the reactor is displaced.

[0063] The reactor 100 is connected by its lower conical part 102 to a discharge element 130. Said discharge element comprises an opening and closing valve 131, preferably driven in a pneumatic way and connected to a metallic tray 132, preferably made of aluminum, having a hole in such a way that when said tray is displaced by the opening and closing valve and the hole becomes aligned with the reactor's lower outlet, the material can be discharged by gravity from the inside of the reactor. Over the opening and closing valve 131, inside the reactor a structure of lower blades 129 is configured connected to the lower support 124, which allow stirring and displacing the material from the bottom of the reactor to the upper sections thereof.

[0064] In the lower part of the reactor 100, preferably on one of the faces of the external tank there is an air inlet 140 connected to the admission pipe 350 of the heating unit 300 allowing the entry of the air supplied by said unit to the external tank 100E of the reactor 100. According to FIG. 3, the air inlet 140 has a cross section, preferably square, which connects to the tank tangentially; this allows ordering the air molecules, so that they can circulate inside the reactor in a sweeping way, thus favoring the reactions involved.

[0065] On the outside, the reactor 100 comprises an external support 106 that can consist in a plate surrounding the whole external diameter of the reactor or part thereof, with said support being configured to be connected to the supporting structure 200.

[0066] According to the operation of the system of the present invention, initially the material recovered to be processed, as for example packages previously used, washed and sliced enters the inside of the reactor's inner tank 100 through the inlet duct for material 110. Thus, the material pushes and opens the overhead valve 113 totally to be accumulated at the bottom of the reactor until reaching about of its capacity. After the entry of all material the overhead valve 113 closes.

[0067] When the material to be processed is inside the reactor 100, the air-injecting unit 320 supplies air to the heating unit 310, which heats the air and injects it to the admission way 350 for its entering the reactor later through the air inlet 140 of the reactor. At the same time, the temperature sensor 318 provides information to the control unit 400 about the temperature to the outlet of the heating unit 310, which is automatically controlled by the turning on and off of the electric heaters 312 of the heating unit 310. The temperature supplied to the inlet of the reactor preferably ranges between 40 and 60 C.

[0068] The warm air supplied flows inside the jacket 103 of the reactor heating the walls of the inner tank 100D and, therefore, the material to be processed. In addition, the structure of cells arranged inside the jacket 103 allows generating different levels of temperature throughout the vertical extension of the reactor, wherein the warm air flow speed going through the jacket 103 is regulated by the amount and size of the honeycomb-type cells arranged inside of it, providing said cells a higher restriction to the flow as it ascends through the reactor's jacket. In this way, in the upper part of the reactor temperatures in the range of 200 to 250 C. are obtained, while in the intermediate part the temperatures range between 300 and 400 C. This difference of temperature is also achieved thanks to others factors such as the great pressure reached inside the reactor, the exothermic reactions produced by the material processing and to the presence of the thermal jacket wrapping up the reactor, wherein the use of more insulation at the lower part of the reactor, disregarding insulation at the upper part is preferred.

[0069] The means that get to generate this difference of temperature inside the reactor in combination with the stirring unit 120, make the material inside the reactor to become cold at the upper part by stirring and displacing said material longitudinally, also preventing said material to be reduced to ashes and to remain a long time at the lower part, which is at a greater temperature.

[0070] The stirring unit 120 in combination with the blades (126, 127, 138) acts by stirring the content inside the reactor by the circular upwards and downwards displacement. At the same time, the pressure inside the reactor is regulated through the perforated plates of the chimneys 115, which discharge the gases and vapors generated by the process. Part of said gases and vapors are directed to the regeneration unit 500 through one of the chimneys 115, being conditioned inside after a certain residence time determined for the provision of carbon atoms. After its passing through the regeneration unit 500, the gases are re-injected to the air-injecting unit 320 in order to be then recirculated inside the reactor 100.

[0071] After the product has been processed inside the reactor for a predetermined time or until the desired result is obtained and determined by the hand or automatic monitoring of the system, the material is withdrawn from the lower part of the reactor 100 through the opening of the opening and closing valve 131. Once said valve closes, the system is ready to start a new cycle of processing.

[0072] The foregoing description has been given by way of example only and it will be appreciated by a person skilled in the art that modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention as defined by the claims.