JPH07251069A - Refrigerant adsorbent regeneration method and regeneration device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] The refrigerant adsorbed by the refrigerant adsorbent in the adsorption tank is desorbed and the refrigerant adsorbent is regenerated, which is necessary to develop a system that can completely prevent CFC pollution. By improving the method and the apparatus, the elimination reaction is promoted and the work efficiency is improved. [Structure] The adsorption tank 34 is loaded into a furnace body 65 to be heated, and a vacuum pump 67 evacuates.
Then, the vacuum break valve 81 is opened to introduce air (or other non-refrigerant gas) into the adsorption tank 34, and then the vacuum break valve 81 is closed again and the vacuum pump 67 is operated to evacuate the vacuum. In this way, air is allowed to flow in and out of the adsorption tank, and along with this, the refrigerant gas is desorbed and discharged.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a refrigerating machine for refrigerating machines, or a refrigerating machine for refrigerating machines, or a refrigerating machine for refrigerating machines. When a refrigerant adsorbent removes the refrigerant gas that is emitted to the atmosphere along with the non-condensable gas, it adsorbs and saturates the refrigerant gas and loses its adsorption performance, and also adsorbs the refrigerant gas. The present invention relates to a regeneration technology for recovering the adsorption performance of a refrigerant adsorbent by desorbing the refrigerant gas from the refrigerant adsorbent whose adsorbent capacity has decreased. In particular, it is a portable tank containing the refrigerant adsorbent (named the adsorption tank. ) Can be reproduced almost completely in a short time,
And the device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In order to prevent CFC pollution, research on alternative CFCs is being carried out, while efforts are being made to improve the maintenance technology of existing equipment to prevent CFCs from being released into the atmosphere.

For example, a refrigerator used for air conditioning of a building generally has a refrigerant substance having a boiling point near room temperature (for example, CFC / R11) enclosed and hermetically sealed, and is subjected to evaporation → compression → condensation → decompression → (evaporation). Let the refrigeration cycle run. When disassembling (including partial disassembling) to inspect and maintain this refrigerator, the refrigerant is diffused into the atmosphere. To prevent this, the refrigerant is previously drawn from the refrigeration system of the refrigerator and collected in the refrigerant tank. After the temporary storage, the inspection and the maintenance are completed, the operation of returning the refrigerant in the refrigerant tank into the refrigerator (referred to as refrigerant recovery) is performed. In a refrigerator, a non-condensable gas such as leaked air and water vapor are generally mixed together with a refrigerant gas and a refrigerant liquid. Refrigerant liquid can be relatively easily recovered in a container such as a refrigerant tank, and the refrigerant liquid is extracted prior to the recovery of the refrigerant gas. Omit it. The refrigerant gas needs to be liquefied and recovered, and the non-condensable gas and water vapor need to be separated from the refrigerant. FIG. 4 is a system diagram showing a conventional refrigerant gas recovery device. The refrigerator 1 constitutes a refrigeration system by the condenser 1a, the evaporator 1b, and the compressor 1c, and seals and seals a refrigerant (for example, Freon R11). In order to recover the refrigerant gas from the refrigeration system to the refrigerant tank 5, the refrigerant gas in the refrigerator 1 is sucked and pumped by the compressor 2 and cooled in the condenser 3 to be liquefied. A non-condensable gas such as air is mixed in the refrigerant gas, and the air also contains some water vapor. Therefore, the refrigerant or the like liquefied in the condenser 3 is guided to the gas-liquid separator 4 so that only the refrigerant liquid is recovered from the float valve 4a to the refrigerant tank 5, and the non-condensing gas component is discharged into the atmosphere from the discharge valve 4b. . This gas component contains a refrigerant gas that has not condensed. W is a viewing window for observing the accumulation state of liquefied water, and v is a drain valve.

Refrigerants were expensive in the past (for example, before the high economic growth in the 1955's), and it was the economic and technological consciousness to collect them without dissipating them. For this reason, the refrigerant was recovered as in the conventional example shown in FIG. 4, but as far as this idea is concerned, an effort is made to thoroughly collect the refrigerant even at a higher cost than the refrigerant to be recovered. Was not done. Showa 40
Various pollution became a social problem in the 1960s,
In the 1980s, global environmental issues such as ozone layer destruction caused by refrigerants and solvents such as CFCs were discussed internationally, and CFCs were recovered to the limit even at a cost higher than the monetary value of CFCs recovered. , The time has come when we must not release CFCs into the atmosphere. From this point of view, when the prior art of FIG. 4 is viewed, even if the compressor 2 discharges the refrigerant gas in the refrigerator 1 to the utmost, the gas pressure inside the machine generally falls only to about -650 mmHg. This -650
The mmHg refrigerant gas is released into the atmosphere during disassembly and maintenance. The residual gas pressure inside this machine is -750 to about 760 mm
In order to reduce to Hg, as shown in FIG.
The technique of using is also known. However, in the conventional example of FIG. 5, the residual gas pressure in the machine can be lowered to about −760 mmHg, but the discharge pressure of the vacuum pump 19 is low, so that the non-condensable gas pressure in the upper space in the gas-liquid separator 4 is 0. .3 Kg
It only goes up to about f / cm ² g. In the non-condensable gas, a partial pressure of uncondensed refrigerant gas corresponding to the condensation temperature in the condenser 3 is mixed, and the refrigerant gas concentration is inversely proportional to the pressure in the gas-liquid separator 4, When the pressure is low, the partial pressure of the refrigerant gas is relatively high, and the uncondensed refrigerant gas concentration is high. Therefore, the high-concentration uncondensed refrigerant gas is emitted along with the non-condensable gas released from the release valve 4b into the atmosphere. In order to solve the problems of the conventional example described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5, a configuration in which the compressor 2 is connected in series on the downstream side of the vacuum pump 9 as shown in FIG. 6 is effective. This configuration is an invention relating to an unknown prior application that was created by the present inventors and is being separately applied by the present applicant (Japanese Patent Application No. 4-156912). According to the invention of the above-mentioned prior application, the residual refrigerant gas pressure in the refrigerator 1 is ideally reduced to (about -760 mmH
g) Moreover, the pressure of the non-condensable gas in the gas-liquid separator 4 can be increased (for example, 5 Kgf / cm ² g), and therefore,
Reduce the total amount of the refrigerant remaining in the refrigerator and diffused into the atmosphere and the amount of the refrigerant diffused along with the non-condensable gas from the discharge valve to the extent that it can be regarded as practically zero. be able to.

What has been described above with reference to FIGS. 4 to 6 is the prior art relating to the recovery of the refrigerant in the refrigerator, and the technical point is that the refrigerant enclosed in the refrigerator is exposed to the atmosphere. The non-condensable gas that leaked into the refrigerant gas was discharged into the atmosphere without being diffused into the atmosphere.

On the other hand, regarding the maintenance of the refrigerator,
There is an important bleeding operation as well as the aforementioned recovery. Regarding this extraction air, the refrigerant enclosed in the refrigerator becomes a negative pressure compared to the atmospheric pressure while repeating the refrigeration cycle of evaporation → compression → condensation → decompression → (evaporation) as described above. To pass. Therefore, there is a possibility that non-condensable gas (such as air) may be mixed in the refrigerant gas. If non-condensable gas is mixed in the refrigerant gas, it will reduce the capacity and efficiency of the refrigerator, or induce rusting in the refrigerator, so the mixed non-condensable gas is separated and released into the atmosphere. Operation (bleeding) is required. The technical point in this bleeding operation is also how to reduce the content rate of the refrigerant gas released into the atmosphere with the non-condensable gas released into the atmosphere. As described above, there are many technically common parts between the extraction operation and the collection operation. In the conventional recovery device shown in FIG. 4, instead of injecting the refrigerant liquid accumulated at the bottom of the gas-liquid separator 4 into the refrigerant tank 5, the refrigerant liquid is returned to the evaporator 1b of the refrigerator 1. If the piping is modified, it will look like Figure 7. In FIG. 7, since the non-condensable gas leaking into the refrigerator 1 is lighter than the refrigerant gas, it gathers in the condenser 1a and is mixed with the refrigerant gas to form a mixed gas. The mixed gas is sucked by the compressor 2 and sent under pressure, cooled by the condenser 3 and guided to the gas-liquid separator 4. At this time, the fluid flowing into the gas-liquid separator 4 is mainly a gas-liquid mixed flow of a refrigerant gas, a non-condensable gas, and a refrigerant liquid, which contains some water vapor and fine water droplets. There is. The gas-liquid mixed flow is separated by the gas-liquid separator 4, and the refrigerant liquid is returned to the evaporator 1b of the refrigerator 1 via the float valve 4a. The water is discharged from the drain valve v, and the non-condensed gas and the uncondensed refrigerant gas are discharged to the atmosphere from the discharge valve 4b.

In the recovery device shown in FIG. 6 and the extraction device shown in FIG. 7, when the non-condensable gas accumulated in the upper space of the gas-liquid separator 4 is released from the release valve 4b into the atmosphere,
Some refrigerant gas is entrained and emitted together. To reduce the content rate of the accompanying refrigerant gas, the gas-liquid separator 4 is used.
It is effective to strongly cool the mixed gas therein (mainly composed of non-condensable gas and refrigerant gas). FIG. 8 shows an example in which the mixed gas in the gas-liquid separator in the recovery device shown in FIG. 6 is improved so as to be strongly cooled, and the invention of the prior application (Japanese Patent Application No. 4-1569).
12) is a system diagram of a recovery device according to an unknown prior art proposed in No. 12). To briefly describe this configuration, the gas-liquid separator 4 in the conventional example of FIG. 6 is provided with a small refrigerator 22. In the present invention, the small refrigerator refers to a refrigerator having a smaller capacity and a smaller capacity than the refrigerator 1 which is the target of the refrigerant recovery operation. The gas-liquid separator 4'of this example is provided with a cooling pipe 4c therein. On the other hand, the small refrigerator 22 is the compressor 22
a, a condenser 22b and an expansion valve 22c are provided, and a cooling fluid 22d is supplied to the cooling pipe 4c for circulation. According to this example, the refrigerant gas is strongly cooled in the gas-liquid separator 4'and its vapor pressure is lowered, so that the concentration of the refrigerant gas accompanying the non-condensable gas released from the release valve 4c is further reduced. Since the refrigerant gas is strongly cooled as described above, if the cooling temperature is lower than the freezing point of water, if the refrigerant gas contains water vapor, frost is generated in the gas-liquid separator 4 ', and There is a risk of freezing and obstructing the operation of valves. Therefore, it is desirable to remove the water vapor by providing the dryer 23 on the inflow side of the gas-liquid separator 4'as shown by the phantom line. As can be easily understood from the conventional example of FIG.
The cooling fluid that circulates in the cooling pipe 4c in the gas-liquid separator 4'and strongly cools the refrigerant gas is independent of the small refrigerator 22 installed.
It is also possible to use cold fluid such as cold water or a refrigerant supplied from another cooling device.

FIG. 9 and FIG. 10 show an example of an bleeding device according to an unknown prior application (Japanese Patent Application No. 4-181035) which is configured to have a small refrigerator 22 to strongly cool the refrigerant gas. FIG. 3 is a schematic system diagram. The gas-liquid separator 4 shown in FIG. 10 includes a cooling jacket 8 and is supplied with a low-temperature refrigerant from the condenser 1 a of the refrigerator 1 via the orifice 21 to mix the mixed gas in the gas-liquid separator 4. The (refrigerant gas + non-condensable gas) is cooled, and the non-condensable gas and the refrigerant liquid are efficiently separated. However, the low temperature fluid supplied from the small refrigerator 22 is operated by operating the solenoid valves 14 and 15 to introduce the gas accumulated in the gas-liquid separator 4 into the atmosphere, and introducing it into the rectifier 9. Is circulated through the cooling pipe 9a for strong cooling. When the mixed gas introduced into the rectifier 9 is strongly cooled, the partial pressure of the refrigerant gas is remarkably reduced, and the refrigerant gas that exceeds saturation is condensed and is returned to the evaporator 1b of the refrigerator 1. . The pressure of the gas (almost pure non-condensable gas) accumulated in the upper space of the rectifier 9 is detected by the pressure sensor 9b, and when it reaches a predetermined value, it is discharged from the discharge unit 9c to the atmosphere.

If a large amount of water vapor is contained in the mixed gas introduced into the rectifier 9, frost is formed on the cooling pipe 9a and heat conduction is hindered. Therefore, the dryer 23 is provided for dehumidification. It has become so.

As described above, in order to prevent the CFC pollution, the non-condensable gas released into the atmosphere during the extraction operation and the recovery operation has been devised so as not to accompany the refrigerant gas. Including the above-mentioned unknown invention by the applicant,
Refrigerant gas emission prevention using "phase change of refrigerant by controlling temperature and pressure" was pursued to the utmost limit, and the effect was shown.
However, social demands call for even further improvements. In order to respond to this, in addition to the various prior arts (temperature and pressure control) described above, it is necessary to consider the combined use of chemical or molecular chemical methods. For example, in a factory where a large amount of Freon is used for cleaning, a plurality of adsorption towers containing an adsorbent for Freon are installed, and a part of them is used to adsorb and remove Freon in exhaust gas to remove Freon. The adsorption tower whose adsorption performance has deteriorated due to adsorption and saturation is stopped and used for desorption to be regenerated.
The opposite of adsorption, also called desorption or desorption. In the present invention, it is called detachment so as not to be confused with mechanical attachment / detachment). Conventionally, the idea of applying the adsorption method, which was mainly applied to the exhaust of CFC cleaning equipment, to the extraction device and recovery device of refrigerators has been proposed, but refrigerators for cooling are generally installed in a narrow space. Therefore, the installation of large-scale adsorption and desorption facilities is not popular because there is a problem in practical use. At present, almost all buildings in Japan are equipped with refrigerators for cooling, but those with high economic value are allocated to highly profitable uses (offices, sales floors, production facilities, housing, etc.), The refrigerator is located in the basement or a narrow space on the roof. Moreover, because the specifications of the refrigerator and the volume of the machine room were decided at the design stage of the building construction work, and because public opinion for the prevention of CFC pollution has increased, large-scale adsorption and desorption devices will be additionally installed. That is not really acceptable. Further, in a building to be constructed in the future, there are various difficulties and resistances to allocating a large space for the adsorption and desorption equipment which has no direct profitability. Further, it is uneconomically socially expensive to install a large-scale adsorption / desorption device in each machine room of a building in which a refrigerator is installed. The inventors of the present invention have conducted trials and practical tests for developing a small-sized adsorption / desorption device that can be installed in an existing refrigerator room. Although it was successful, practical use did not spread. That is, a. If the adsorption device is small, the adsorbent is saturated with adsorption relatively early and the adsorption performance is lost. On the other hand, the operation interval of the bleeding apparatus changes depending on various conditions, but it is not rare that the bleeding apparatus operates intermittently in a relatively short cycle. Therefore, before the desorption of the adsorbent that has adsorbed the refrigerant and the desorption has not been completed, the extraction operation of the next cycle starts. If such a thing is repeated, the exhaust gas that has always passed through the adsorbent in a state close to saturation is diffused into the atmosphere, and the entrainment of the refrigerant gas cannot be prevented. B. The operation of adsorbing the refrigerant and desorbing the refrigerant from the saturated adsorbent requires a high degree of technology, and even if it is performed by an automatic device, it must be strictly controlled. If the desorption pressure and temperature conditions are not appropriate, desorption will not proceed,
This is because the desorbed refrigerant decomposes and cannot be recovered and reused.

As a novel method for eliminating the problems shown in (a) and (b) and completely preventing the pollution of CFCs,
A large number of adsorption tanks containing a refrigerant adsorbent that are detachably connected to the gas discharge port of the turbo chiller extraction device (or refrigerant recovery device) are used. The adsorption tank having the adsorbing capacity of the refrigerant adsorbent is distributed to each of a large number of turbo chillers, connected to the extraction device (or the refrigerant recovery device), and discharged from the extraction device (or the refrigerant recovery device). Gas is circulated through the refrigerant adsorbent in the adsorption tank to adsorb and remove the refrigerant gas contained in the released gas, and the adsorbent that is stored in the adsorption tank is saturated with the refrigerant adsorbing the refrigerant. Remove from the extraction device (or refrigerant recovery device), carry it into the adsorption tank remanufacturing plant, put the adsorption tank in the desorption furnace of the reclaiming plant to heat and vacuum suction, and remove the refrigerant from the refrigerant adsorbent Tighten tied up playing the adsorption tank, subjected to the return and re-use the adsorption tank reproduced in refrigerator site, it is conceivable to accomplished circulated the above operation endlessly. The above-mentioned novel method was created by the present inventors (hereinafter referred to as an unknown prior art).

According to the above method, among a large number of adsorption tanks, one having adsorption performance (new regenerated adsorption tank) is connected to the extraction device (or refrigerant recovery device) of the refrigerator. Then, the released gas, which is a mixed gas of the non-condensable gas and the refrigerant gas, passes through the adsorption tank, and the refrigerant adsorbent contained therein selectively adsorbs and removes the refrigerant gas in the mixed gas. . When the stored refrigerant adsorbent adsorbs the refrigerant and becomes saturated, it can be easily replaced with a new adsorption tank, so that the gas discharged from the extraction device (refrigerant recovery device) is always processed by the adsorption tank having an adsorption function. Therefore, the refrigerant gas in the exhaust gas is completely removed to the extent that it can be regarded as zero practically.

Since only one portable adsorption tank has to be attached to the extraction device (refrigerant recovery device) of the refrigerator, it can be applied to all existing refrigerators. However, it is preferable that there is a space for storing the used adsorption tank and the unused adsorption tank near the refrigerator. Therefore, there is no fear that the spread will be hindered due to the lack of application space. The refrigerant adsorbent saturated with the refrigerant is removed while still stored in the adsorption tank, loaded into the desorption furnace of the adsorption tank recycling plant, and desorbed by evacuation with a vacuum pump. The desorbed refrigerant is liquefied by the liquefaction device. This operation can be carried out economically in a recycling plant under the control of professional engineers. FIG. 11 is a schematic system diagram showing an outline of an unknown freon pollution prevention system according to the prior art. A bleeder 31 is attached to the refrigerator 1, and the pressure of the discharged gas of the bleeder 31 (mainly non-condensable gas but containing a small amount of refrigerant gas) is adjusted to the atmosphere without being discharged. The pressure is reduced by the valve 32 and is guided to the adsorption tank 34 (arrow a). A refrigerant gas adsorbent (not shown) is filled in the adsorption tank 34, and the guided gas flows through the adsorbent to adsorb and remove the refrigerant component,
It is diffused into the atmosphere as shown by arrow b. When the adsorbent filled in the adsorption tank 34 adsorbs and saturates the refrigerant gas, the adsorbent is carried into the regeneration plant (arrow c), loaded into the desorption furnace 38 and heated, and vacuumed by the vacuum suction means 39. To be done. As a result, the refrigerant adsorbed by the refrigerant adsorbent is desorbed, and the refrigerant adsorbent recovers its adsorption function. The adsorption tank in which the refrigerant adsorbent has recovered its adsorption function and has been regenerated is returned to the refrigerator site (arrow d). Also,
The desorbed gaseous refrigerant is liquefied by the liquefying device 41 and stored in the recovery tank 42 for reuse.

[0014]

In order to make the Freon pollution complete prevention system according to the unknown prior art described with reference to FIG. 11 have practical value, it is easy to use, has a simple and inexpensive structure, and is associated with it. It has a function to adsorb and remove refrigerant gas,
A portable adsorption tank that can withstand repeated use is required, and a portable tank (adsorption tank) containing the above refrigerant adsorbent is used, and the internal refrigerant adsorbent adsorbs refrigerant gas and has adsorption capacity. When there is a loss in the product capacity or the adsorption capacity has decreased, it is necessary to have a technology that can be collected in a specialized factory and regenerated with high efficiency and with easy quality control. In order to economically regenerate the refrigerant adsorbent in response to the above-mentioned need, in order to economically regenerate the refrigerant adsorbent, the inlet and outlet that are attached to and detached from the discharge port of the extraction device (or the refrigerant recovery device) for the refrigerator are connected to the atmosphere. When a refrigerant adsorbent contained in a portable tank equipped with an outlet that adsorbs refrigerant gas,
In the method of desorbing the adsorbed refrigerant gas and recovering the adsorption performance of the refrigerant adsorbent, a vacuum pump is connected to at least one of the inlet and the outlet, and the inside of the portable tank is set to a negative pressure. It is effective to keep and desorb the refrigerant gas adsorbed by the refrigerant adsorbent. The above-mentioned technique is an unknown invention created by the present inventors and applied for separately (Japanese Patent Application No. 5-289344, hereinafter referred to as a reproduction technique according to the invention of the prior application). According to the invention of the prior application, when the refrigerant adsorbent contained in the portable tank (adsorption tank) adsorbs and saturates the refrigerant gas and loses its adsorption ability, or when the refrigerant gas is adsorbed and the adsorption capacity decreases. In this case, it is not necessary to take out the refrigerant adsorbent from the portable tank, and by connecting a pipe to each of the portable tanks and drawing a vacuum, the refrigerant can be desorbed from the refrigerant adsorbent, so that the handling is easy. Since it is easy and the desorbed refrigerant gas can be captured and collected for reuse without fear of being diffused into the atmosphere, it is effective in preventing CFC pollution.

Next, an embodiment of the invention of the prior application will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 12 is a portable tank (adsorption tank) containing a refrigerant adsorbent, which is an object of handling in the regeneration technology according to the invention of the earlier application, that is, a freon pollution prevention system according to an unknown prior art (FIG. 11). It is a sectional view showing one of a large number of adsorption tanks used for. Reference numeral 41 shown in FIG. 12 is a tank body. The shape and size are not particularly limited, but the handle 53 and the handle / leg 54 are configured to be carried by both hands.

As will be described later, gas is allowed to flow in the tank body, but the structure is such that the outlet is in communication with the atmosphere, and since a large internal pressure is not applied, a large wall thickness is not required. There is no particular difficulty in constructing a lightweight structure. The inner space of the tank body 41 is formed by the nets 42a and 42b, and the inlet side chamber F and the outlet side chamber D
And the central chamber E, and the refrigerant adsorbent 45 is housed in the central chamber E. In this embodiment, granular activated carbon is used as the refrigerant adsorbent. The nets 42a and 42b in the present embodiment are made of mesh wire mesh that does not allow the granular activated carbon to pass through, and are reinforced by stacking punching plates. In implementing the present invention, the structure of the net is not particularly limited,
In short, a plate member having air permeability or a structure that is mechanically equivalent to this may be used.

There is provided an activated carbon sealing port 43 which penetrates the outlet side chamber D and communicates with the central chamber E, and is sealed by attaching a lid. An activated carbon outlet 44 is provided which penetrates the inlet side chamber F and communicates with the central chamber E, and is sealed by attaching a lid. When activated carbon adsorbs a refrigerant gas (for example, CFC / R11), the adsorbed gas can be desorbed by heating and depressurization and can be used repeatedly, but the performance gradually deteriorates. The activated carbon inlet 43 as described above,
Providing the activated carbon outlet 44 facilitates replacement when the adsorption performance of the activated carbon deteriorates. As can be easily inferred from the above-mentioned structural functions, when the present invention is carried out, it is not always necessary to separately provide the enclosing port and the outlet, but the enclosing port and the outlet can be provided. The phenomenon that activated carbon adsorbs / desorbs a refrigerant gas is reversible, and heat is generated during the adsorption action and endothermic during the desorption action. In order to smooth the transfer of heat generated and absorbed, as shown in FIG. 12, in this embodiment, a heat radiating plate 47 is provided in contact with a refrigerant adsorbent (granular activated carbon). The heat dissipation plate 47 of this embodiment is thermally connected to the tank body 41 and is in contact with the atmosphere through the tank body 41. Although not shown, the heat sink may be brought into direct contact with the atmosphere. Further, as shown by a phantom line in FIG. 12, the heat dissipation pipe 55 may be disposed in contact with the refrigerant adsorbent 45, and the lumen of the heat dissipation pipe may be communicated with the atmosphere. Since the activated carbon generates latent heat of adsorption when adsorbing the refrigerant gas, the activated carbon absorbs the latent heat of adsorption when desorbing the refrigerant gas. Therefore, when adsorbing a refrigerant gas (for example, Freon R11) and heating and decompressing saturated activated carbon to desorb the refrigerant gas and recover the adsorption function (regenerate the adsorption tank), adsorption latent heat must be applied. During the adsorption function recovery operation, the heat radiating plate 47 or the heat radiating pipe 55 serves to apply heat to the activated carbon to raise its temperature and also to give latent heat of adsorption. Focusing on such an action, the heat dissipation plate 47 and the heat dissipation pipe 55 are a heat transfer plate and a heat transfer pipe. In the tank body 41, the inlet side chamber F
An inflow port for mixed gas is provided so as to be communicated with each other, and a rapid joint / instep 40a is connected and fixed to this inflow port.
The above quick joint / instep 40a is the illustrated quick joint / Otsu 40
Paired with b, a quick joint 40 with a backflow prevention mechanism is formed.

Reference numeral 48 shown in FIG. 12 is an adsorption sensor for detecting whether the refrigerant adsorbent in the tank main body retains or loses the adsorption performance. The activated carbon is stored in. One end of the tubular hollow member is connected and fixed to the outlet side chamber D of the tank body 41, and a check valve 49 is attached to the other end. The direction of the check valve 49 is such that it allows outflow into the atmosphere and blocks inflow of the atmosphere. As a result, there is no risk that water vapor in the atmosphere will flow in and weaken the adsorption force of the activated carbon.

The mixed gas introduced into the tank body 41 is
The refrigerant gas flows while being in contact with the refrigerant adsorbent (activated carbon) in the tank body, the refrigerant gas is adsorbed and removed, and only the non-condensable gas flows through the adsorption sensor 48 and is released into the atmosphere through the check valve 49. As described above, the refrigerant gas is adsorbed by the refrigerant adsorbent (activated carbon) 45 loaded in the tank body, and the generated heat of adsorption is dissipated by the heat dissipation plate 47. Since the refrigerant adsorbent (activated carbon) housed in the adsorption sensor 48 does not perform the adsorption action while the gas flowing is only the non-condensable gas, it does not generate heat of adsorption. In such a state, the fact that the refrigerant adsorbent contained in the adsorption sensor does not perform the adsorption action and thus does not generate the heat of adsorption means that the adsorption action is not performed in the adsorption sensor, that is, in the tank body. It means that the refrigerant gas is adsorbed and removed by the refrigerant adsorbent.

When the refrigerant adsorbent 45 in the tank body adsorbs and saturates the refrigerant gas, the refrigerant gas adsorption performance is lost. In such a state, the refrigerant gas in the mixed gas passes through the tank body and flows into the adsorption sensor, and the adsorption sensor 48
It will be adsorbed and removed by the refrigerant adsorbent (activated carbon) inside. In this state, the refrigerant adsorbent in the adsorption sensor 48 generates heat of adsorption. When this action is observed from the outside, the fact that the adsorption sensor 48 begins to generate heat means that the refrigerant adsorbent 45 in the tank body has lost its adsorption performance. In this way, the adsorption sensor 48
Indicates that the adsorption tank has reached the time of replacement due to heat generation, but another important effect is that the refrigerant adsorbent 45 in the adsorption tank is adsorbed and saturated to allow the refrigerant gas to pass through. However, for a while, the adsorption sensor adsorbs and captures the refrigerant gas to prevent the refrigerant gas from being diffused into the atmosphere, thus supporting the complete prevention of CFC pollution.

The fact that the refrigerant adsorbent in the adsorption sensor 48 has started to generate heat can be detected by detecting the temperature rise of the tubular hollow member forming the adsorption sensor 48. In this embodiment, the tubular hollow member is wrapped with a heat insulating material 50, and a heat insulating layer is formed around the adsorption sensor 48 to promote the temperature rise of the tubular hollow member and improve the detection sensitivity.

In order to detect the temperature rise of the tubular hollow member, a known technique can be arbitrarily applied, and a thermistor or the like that changes electric resistance with temperature change can be used. In this example, a chemical agent whose color tone changes with temperature change (for example, thermo label, thermo paint, etc.) was used. According to this embodiment, the holding state of the adsorption performance can be determined at a glance, which is convenient.

The heat retaining agent 50 shown in FIG. 12 is provided with a viewing window (opening or through hole) 52 so that a part of the adsorption sensor 48 appears in the appearance, and the thermo label 52 is attached to this part. Thermolabels include those that cause reversible color tone changes and those that cause irreversible color tone changes, each having advantages and disadvantages. Thermolabel, which exhibits a reversible color change, changes color once the temperature rises,
It can be used repeatedly because the primary color tone is restored when the temperature decreases and returns to room temperature, which is economical, but it is safer to use a thermo label that exhibits an irreversible color tone change. Even if you lose the, the color tone is still changing, so don't miss it).

As described above, if it is determined that the refrigerant adsorbent in the adsorption tank has reached the time of replacement or has passed the time of replacement, the quick coupling 40 is disconnected, and the adsorption tank having lost the adsorption performance is removed. Replace it with the adsorption tank prepared in advance. In the case of the above-mentioned desorption / replacement, since the quick joint 40 is provided, it can be replaced quickly and easily. Further, since the quick joint 40 is provided with the backflow prevention mechanism, the replacement work requires skill. Do not leak refrigerant gas. Denoted at 53 and 54 are handles to which the adsorption tank of this embodiment is attached so that it can be easily carried by both hands. Of the pair of handles, the handle 54 located on the opposite side of the adsorption sensor 48 is configured to also function as a leg when the adsorption tank is placed on the floor.

The adsorption tank in which the stored refrigerant absorbent 45 has absorbed and saturated the refrigerant gas and lost its adsorption capacity is regenerated as follows, but even if the adsorption tank is not yet saturated, It can be reproduced in the same manner.
The adsorption tank is subjected to a desorbing operation for the refrigerant adsorbent as described later with reference to FIG. 14, but prior to this desorbing operation, a preparatory operation for piping is performed in advance. Figure 13
FIG. 13 is a partial cross-sectional view showing a state in which a preparatory operation has been completed for the adsorption tank of the embodiment shown in FIG. 12. The quick joint described above
The instep 40a is removed and a straight tubular adapter pipe 63 is connected. 64 is a pipe joint. Further, the check valve 49 is removed and the vacuum hose 61 is connected. 62 is a pipe joint. Although the adapter pipe 63 of this embodiment is a rigid member and the vacuum hose is a flexible member, their roles are the same, and the internal space of the tank body 41 is connected to a vacuum pump, It is for vacuuming the space. FIG. 14 shows an embodiment of a refrigerant adsorbent regeneration device according to the invention of the prior application. A piping system is symbolized in a front view in which a furnace body in a state in which an adsorption tank is loaded is partially cut away. It is explanatory drawing added with. By the preparatory work as described with reference to FIG. 13, the adapter pipe 63 connected to the inlet of the tank body of the adsorption tank 34,
And a vacuum hose 61 that is also connected to the outlet side
Is connected to the suction side of the vacuum pump 67 to reduce the pressure in the adsorption tank. Reference numeral 66 is a connecting pipe arranged so as to penetrate the furnace wall of the furnace body 65. The hole 65d is for inserting the adapter pipe 63.

The minimum necessary condition for desorbing the adsorbed refrigerant gas (CFC / R11 in this example) from the refrigerant adsorbent (activated carbon in this example) stored in the adsorption tank 34 is decompression. Is. In carrying out the present invention, -7
It is also possible to desorb the refrigerant gas only by drawing a vacuum of about 50 mmHg. However, since the desorption is an endothermic reaction, it is more efficient to desorb the refrigerant gas, that is, regenerate the adsorbent, by drawing a vacuum while heating. Therefore, in this embodiment, the furnace body 65 including the electric heater 65e is provided.
The adsorption tank 34 is charged therein and heated. 65f is a guide bar supporting the adsorption tank 34, 65b is a furnace lid, and 65c is its handle. In this example,
It is convenient to load and unload the adsorption tank 34 into and from the furnace body 65.
A furnace body 65 is installed on a. In FIG. 14, although only one is shown in an overlapping manner, a plurality of adsorption tanks 34 are loaded in the furnace body 65. In this embodiment, the adsorption tanks are held in a horizontal position as shown in the drawing, and are arranged in parallel with each other and in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the drawing.
Therefore, so that these adsorption tanks can be loaded,
The furnace body 65 has a horizontally long shape when viewed from the furnace front side (right side in the drawing).

69a and 69b shown in the figure are service holes. Although the inside of the furnace body 65 in this embodiment can be heated by a heating element (electric heater 65e), the service holes 69a and 69b are used in combination with the heating element or in place of the heating element. After that, hot air can be circulated. Whatever heating means is used, temperature control means (not shown) is used so that the temperature inside the furnace is maintained at a predetermined temperature between 100 ° C and 180 ° C.
Is provided. When the temperature is lower than 100 ° C, the reaction rate of desorbing the refrigerant gas from the refrigerant adsorbent is low and the practical value is low, and when the temperature is higher than 180 ° C, the refrigerant substance is decomposed and cannot be reused.

From the vacuum pump 67, a gas containing the desorbed refrigerant gas as a main component is discharged. This gas is guided to the liquefaction device 68, brought into contact with the cooling pipe 69 to be cooled, condensed, and fed into the recovery tank 71 by the liquid pump 70, temporarily stored, and prepared for reuse. The vacuum pump 6
7, the continuous rated suction pressure is −75 in this embodiment.
A rotary vacuum pump of 0 mmHg was used. In implementing the present invention, a vacuum pump of any type can be selected and applied. Generally, the discharge pressure of the vacuum pump is not so high as compared with the atmospheric pressure. Therefore, the liquefaction device 68
It is convenient that the pressurizing means is provided to compress the refrigerant gas so that it can be easily liquefied. An on-off valve 72 for delivery is provided in the recovery tank 71, and the refrigerant liquid stored in the recovery tank 71 is used as a replenishing refrigerant for a refrigerator. When the origin of the refrigerant liquid sent to the recovery tank 71 is traced, it was found to have been enclosed in the refrigerator, so by returning it, it is possible to prevent CFC pollution and to eliminate the need to purchase CFCs for replenishment. be able to. If the invention of the previous application is applied and one drop of CFC is not diffused into the atmosphere, there is no risk of adversely affecting the global environment even when operating a refrigerator that uses CFC as a refrigerant, and CFC replenishment is possible. The refrigerator can continue to operate even if there is a break. In this embodiment, a pipe 73 for balancing the pressure is provided between the upper space of the recovery tank 71 and the liquefying device 68 so that the refrigerant fluid can smoothly flow.

After the adapter pipe 63 and the vacuum hose 61 are attached as shown in FIG. 13, the refrigerant adsorbent is regenerated as shown in FIG. 14, and the desorbed refrigerant gas is liquefied and recovered. The adapter pipe 63 is removed to attach the quick joint / instep 40a shown in FIG. 12, and the vacuum hose 61 is removed to check the check valve 49.
To restore the condition shown in FIG. Then, the discolored thermo label 52 is peeled off and a new thermo label is attached. Alternatively, repaint the discolored Thermo Paint. After applying the invention of the prior application, the present inventors proceed with the practical application test and study, and when the invention of the prior application is applied, the refrigerant adsorbent contained in the portable tank (adsorption tank) is a refrigerant. If the adsorbing capacity is lost by adsorbing and saturating the gas, or if the adsorbing capacity is reduced by adsorbing the refrigerant gas, it is not necessary to take out the refrigerant adsorbent from the inside of the portable tank, and pipes are attached to the individual portable tanks. By connecting and drawing a vacuum, the refrigerant can be desorbed from the refrigerant adsorbent, so it is easy to handle, and the desorbed refrigerant gas can be captured and collected without the risk of being released into the atmosphere. It was confirmed that it is effective for the prevention of CFCs pollution because it can be reused as it is. However, the problem that the following improvement is desired was discovered and confirmed. That is, in order to spread the refrigerant adsorbent regeneration technology according to the previously unknown prior art and invention of the prior application created for the prevention of CFC pollution, the efficiency of the work should be further improved, and the CFC pollution reduction cost should be reduced. Must be planned. The cost reduction in this case does not increase the corporate profit, but it comes from the technical conscience that is consistent with the social demand to reduce the amount of money required for the owner of the heating and cooling equipment and prevent freon pollution. is there.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and the adsorption tank according to the previously unknown prior application shown in FIGS. 12 and 13 described above is used as it is, and shown in FIG. 14 described above. Refrigerant adsorbent regeneration technology (method and device) has been further improved to allow more complete and closer refrigerant adsorbent regeneration operations, reducing CFC pollution control costs and CFC pollution prevention. The purpose is to contribute to.

[0031]

The basic principle of the present invention created to achieve the above-mentioned object (promotion of desorption / regeneration) will be summarized as follows. Desorbing the refrigerant adsorbed by the refrigerant adsorbent has conventionally been generally considered to be temperature increase and pressure reduction (vacuum drawing). Although there is no mistake in this way of thinking itself, in the prior art, the concept of chronological operation was excluded, and the pursuit of merely maintaining high temperature and vacuum. That is, within the limits of the heat resistance of the refrigerant adsorbent, it was only kept as high vacuum as possible within a range that could be economically realized. By these operations,
The equilibrium of the adsorption state changes and the desorption reaction proceeds. However, the rate of progress of the elimination reaction to approach the equilibrium state is extremely slow. Therefore, the present invention involves a gas other than the refrigerant gas and introduces or withdraws a gas other than the refrigerant gas into an adsorption tank containing a refrigerant adsorbent, and the above extraction step (extraction of non-refrigerant gas) At this time, the refrigerant gas is caused to accompany the non-refrigerant gas and is extracted together.

FIG. 15 is a table showing the amount (adsorption rate / weight percentage) of the activated carbon adsorbing the refrigerant in the mixed gas of the refrigerant gas and the air. In FIG. 15, the horizontal axis shows the refrigerant gas. The mixing ratio with respect to air (weight percentage is taken, and the horizontal axis in the figure (B) shows the pressure of the mixed gas. (A) and (B) are diagrams showing the equilibrium state, with temperature as a parameter. As can be understood from these charts, if the content ratio of the refrigerant gas in the air decreases, the adsorption rate of the refrigerant decreases, and if the pressure of the mixed gas of air and the refrigerant gas decreases, the adsorption rate of the refrigerant decreases. Furthermore, the increase in temperature acts to decrease the adsorption rate of the refrigerant under any pressure condition.
The refrigerant gas adsorbed by the refrigerant adsorbent (activated carbon) is desorbed by utilizing the above-mentioned adsorption characteristic.

As a concrete means based on the above principle,
A method for regenerating a refrigerant adsorbent according to the present invention is a portable type including an inflow port that is attached to and detached from an emission port of a bleeder or a refrigerant recovery device for a refrigerator, and an outflow port that communicates with the atmosphere. A method of recovering the adsorption performance of a refrigerant adsorbent by desorbing the adsorbed refrigerant gas when the refrigerant adsorbent contained in the tank adsorbs the refrigerant gas, comprising: After the space is evacuated to reduce the pressure, the internal space is once ruptured in vacuum and evacuated again.

The structure of the refrigerant adsorbent regenerating apparatus according to the present invention, which is created so that the above-mentioned method of the invention can be easily carried out, comprises:
Refrigerant adsorbent contained in a portable tank equipped with an inlet and outlet that is attached to and detached from the discharge port of a bleeder for a refrigerator and an outlet that communicates with the atmosphere adsorbs refrigerant gas. When it is, a device for desorbing the adsorbed refrigerant gas to recover the adsorption performance of the refrigerant adsorbent, a vacuum pump connected to at least one of the inlet and the outlet of the portable tank and And an opening / closing valve for breaking the vacuum, which is connected to a suction side pipe line of the vacuum pump.

[0035]

According to the above means, a part of the molecules of the refrigerant gas adsorbed by the refrigerant adsorbent is desorbed by the first evacuation, and the remaining part remains on the adsorbed metal.

Then, by vacuum breaking, the molecules of the non-refrigerant gas wrap the refrigerant adsorbent. Refrigerant adsorbent is generally microscopic porous, non-refrigerant gas molecules penetrate into every corner of the complex-shaped cavity, with the remaining refrigerant gas molecules,
It binds weakly due to some intermolecular affinity. When vacuumed again in such a state, the molecules of the non-refrigerant gas are easily discharged, but at this time, since the refrigerant gas molecule is weakly bonded to the non-refrigerant gas molecule, It is easily discharged from the refrigerant adsorbent due to the discharge. The residual refrigerant gas (refrigerant gas molecules in the state of being adsorbed and captured by the refrigerant adsorbent) does not become zero in one re-evacuation, but by repeating this operation several times,
Practically complete desorption of the refrigerant gas is performed, and the used adsorption tank is almost completely regenerated in a relatively short time.
The cost of freon pollution prevention is reduced, and it contributes to the spread of freon pollution prevention according to an unknown prior art and an unknown prior application.

[0037]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, the method and apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of a refrigerant adsorbent regenerating apparatus according to the present invention, and is a view in which a piping system and a control system are added to a cross-sectional view, and corresponds to FIG. 14 showing an invention apparatus according to a prior application. It is a figure. The members designated by the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 14 are the same or similar constituent members as in the invention of the above-mentioned prior application. The points different from FIG. 14 (prior invention), that is, the matters improved by applying the present invention are as follows. An opening / closing valve (abbreviation: vacuum breaking valve) 81 for vacuum breaking is connected to an upstream side conduit of the vacuum pump 67, that is, a connecting conduit to the adsorption tank 34. The port on the opposite side of the vacuum break valve 81 is open to the atmosphere via the breather 82 as drawn by the solid line, but it may be connected to the gas cylinder 83 as shown by the phantom line. Reference numeral 84 is a pressure sensor for detecting the pressure in the adsorption tank 34, and the output signal thereof is input to the automatic controller 85. The reference numeral 86 indicates the influence of the vacuum pump 6 when the upstream side of the vacuum pump 67 is broken.
It is an on-off valve that does not reach the downstream side of 7. The automatic controller 85 controls the vacuum break valve 8 as described later.
1, controlling the vacuum pump 67 and the opening / closing valve 86. However, when implementing the present invention, the central processing unit (CPU) that controls the entire refrigerator does not necessarily have to be provided with an independent automatic controller 85, but has a function equivalent to the automatic controller 85. May be. Reference numeral 90 denotes a temperature sensor for detecting the temperature inside the furnace, and the output signal thereof is input to the automatic controller 85.

A method of using the refrigerant adsorbent regenerator having the structure shown in FIG. 2 will be described. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of carrying out a method for regenerating a refrigerant adsorbent according to the present invention, in which the horizontal axis indicates time and the vertical axis indicates the atmospheric pressure of the refrigerant adsorbent to be regenerated. Is. The automatic controller 85 shown in FIG. 2 has a timer circuit, and performs the following sequence control according to a given program. Time t ₀ shown on the time axis of FIG. 1 represents the time when the adsorption tank 34 is loaded into the desorption path shown in FIG. 2, and the detection value of the pressure sensor 84 is zero relative pressure (absolute pressure 1
Atmospheric pressure). The vacuum break valve 81 and the open / close valve 86 are closed, and the heater 65e is energized for heating. The above temperature control related to heating is performed so that the temperature of the refrigerant adsorbent stored in the adsorption tank 34 is 100 ° C to 120 ° C. The reason is that if the temperature is lower than 100 ° C., the promotion of the elimination reaction is insufficient, and if the temperature exceeds 120 ° C., the refrigerant substance is thermally decomposed and cannot be recovered and reused. In this embodiment,
The temperature inside the furnace was maintained at 150 ° C, and the internal temperature of the adsorption tank 34 was raised to 120 ° C. The temperature inside the furnace is detected by the temperature sensor 90. When the apparatus of the present invention is carried out, if the temperature inside the furnace can be set to any desired temperature between 100 ° C. and 180 ° C., it is convenient because proper furnace operation can be performed under various working conditions. .

In the embodiment of FIG. 1, the temperature in the adsorption tank reached 120 ° C. at time t ₁ , and the value detected by the pressure sensor 84 was +0.43 atm (326 mmHg). In this state, when operating the vacuum pump 67 with opening the on-off valve 86, the detected pressure value of the pressure sensor 84 is exponential manner descends, passes through the state of the relative pressure zero at time t _2, the time t ₃
Reaches -0.99 atm (-750 mmHg). In this state, the rated operation of the vacuum pump 67 is continued. At time t ₄ , the opening / closing valve 86 is closed, the vacuum pump 67 is stopped, the vacuum break valve 81 is opened, and air is allowed to flow into the adsorption tank 34. This operation (vacuum breaking) is completed in a short time, and at time t
_{At 5} the pressure inside the adsorption tank 34 is zero relative pressure (absolute pressure 1
Atmospheric pressure). Next, the vacuum break valve 81 is closed and the opening / closing valve 86 is opened, the operation of the vacuum pump 67 is restarted at time t ₆ , reaches -0.99 atm at time t ₇ , and is maintained until time t _{8 and} then vacuum break is resumed. And repeat this operation.
In this example, the desorption of the refrigerant gas was completed to a practically complete degree by repeating the procedure four times.

When the adsorption tank is simply kept at 120 ° C. and the inside thereof is kept at −750 mmHg, when activated carbon is used as the refrigerant adsorbent and the refrigerant gas is CFC / R11, almost complete desorption / regeneration is achieved. Although it took about 30 hours, the time required for this example was about 8 hours. This effect is not only the work efficiency is increased 30/8 times, the regeneration work that had to be continuously operated day and night in the invention of the earlier application can now be completed only in the daytime, labor management However, there were significant improvements in various aspects such as factory security.

The requirements indispensable in the method of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 1. For example, from time t ₃ to time t _4.
Not only is the vacuum maintained up to, but the vacuum is once broken at times t ₄ and t ₅ , and then the vacuum is pulled again at times t ₆ → t ₇ → t ₈ . It is very effective, though not an absolute requirement, to perform heating and pressurization at time t ₀ → t ₁ before the above operation. Further, it is desirable to repeat the above vacuum breaking and re-evacuating.

The fact that the desorption reaction of the refrigerant gas is remarkably promoted by the above-described vacuum breaking / re-evacuating operation is an empirical fact confirmed by the inventors by repeating experiments. FIG. 3 is an explanatory view schematically showing the estimation of the state in which the desorption of the refrigerant gas is promoted by the method of the present invention, and (A) shows the adsorption state at the time t ₀ shown in FIG. , (B) also shows the state at time t ₁ ,
(C) similarly depicts the state at time t ₃ ,
In the following, the progress of time is shown in sequence, and (H) shows the state at time t ₁₀ . FIG. 3A corresponds to time t ₀ in FIG.
At normal temperature and pressure, the refrigerant adsorbent 45 has 8 refrigerant gas molecules.
8 (represented by a black circle) is adsorbed. Reference numeral 45a denotes a surface of the refrigerant adsorbent when viewed macroscopically. Microscopically, a cavity 45b having a complicated shape is formed and has a large surface area, and the refrigerant gas molecules 88 are adsorbed by being distributed over the entire surface. ing. Reference numeral 87 is a void (gas phase space) in which the refrigerant adsorbent does not exist, but the air molecules (non-refrigerant gas molecules) distributed in this space are not shown. FIG. 3B shows the state at time t ₁ in FIG. Since the temperature has risen to 120 ° C,
Due to the principle described in FIG. 15 (which tends to be desorbed at high temperatures), some of the refrigerant gas molecules (two in the figure) schematically represented by black circles are desorbed. FIG. 3C shows time t _{3 in} FIG.
Is the state of. The refrigerant gas molecules desorbed in the above-mentioned (B) diagram are evacuated and discharged. FIG. 3D shows the state at time t ₄ in FIG. As described with reference to FIG. 15B, the equilibrium tends to be desorbed by depressurization, so that the refrigerant gas molecules (black circles) are desorbed, vacuumed, and discharged. FIG. 3E shows the state at time t ₆ in FIG. Due to the vacuum break, the refrigerant gas / air ratio decreases, the equilibrium shifts to the desorption direction, and the refrigerant gas molecules (black circles) desorb as described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3F is time t ₇ in FIG.
The state is the same as that at time t ₃ , and the desorption / discharge proceeds in the same manner as in FIG. 3 (C). FIG. 3 (G) shows time t in FIG.
₈ , which is the same state as at time t ₄ in FIG.
Desorption and discharge proceed in the same manner as in (D). FIG. 3 (H) is time t ₁₀ in FIG. 1 and is in a state similar to time t _{6 in} FIG. 1, and the refrigerant gas molecules (black circles) are desorbed similarly to 3 (E).

By repeating vacuum breaking and re-vacuum suction from this state (FIG. 3 (H)), the residual refrigerant gas amount is further reduced, and the refrigerant adsorbent is adsorbed to the extent that it can be regarded as perfect in practical use. Restores ability. That is, the used adsorption tank 34 (see FIG. 2) is regenerated. As can be easily understood from the above-described action, the non-refrigerant gas used for vacuum breaking does not necessarily need to be air, but air does not require extra cost to obtain, is non-toxic, and is limited to disposal. It is convenient because there is no. However, when a gas having a large molecular affinity for the refrigerant gas and chemically inert to the refrigerant adsorbent and the refrigerant gas is stored in the gas cylinder 83 shown in FIG. The desorption of gas can be further promoted.

The refrigerant gas desorbed by the regenerator shown in FIG. 2 is guided to the liquefying device 68, brought into contact with the cooling pipe 69 to be liquefied, and stored in the recovery tank 71 for reuse. Although illustration is omitted, the cooling pipe 6 is provided in the liquefaction device 68.
It is also effective to provide not only 9 but also pump means for pressurizing the desorbed refrigerant gas. The fluid delivered from the liquefying device 68 is not necessarily a pure refrigerant liquid and may contain water. Considering these circumstances, although not shown, the liquefier 68 and the recovery tank 71 are omitted.
It is also possible to install a dryer in the middle of the pipeline connecting to and.

When the present invention is carried out, there is a problem that the degree of vacuum in the vacuuming operation is set beyond the mere design consideration in the prior art. That is, when the refrigerant adsorbent that has adsorbed and saturated the refrigerant gas and lost its adsorption capacity is simply depressurized and heated to be desorbed, the higher the degree of vacuum of the depressurization operation, the faster the desorption reaction proceeds. When trying to obtain a high vacuum, the equipment cost increases and maintenance is difficult. Therefore, the setting of the degree of vacuum in the prior art is
It was set appropriately depending on the balance between the efficiency and cost of desorption work. However, in the present invention, by introducing a non-refrigerant gas by vacuum break, induce the desorption of the refrigerant gas,
In addition, since this can be reversed and the desorption progress can be further promoted, as compared with the case where the "equilibrium under a constant high vacuum" is obtained and statically held for a long time as in the conventional technique, The technical significance of "vacuum degree" is fundamentally different, and it is necessary to seek an industrial economic balance between the effect of "high vacuum retention" and the effect of "short cycle repetition". Therefore, the type of refrigerant, the type of refrigerant adsorbent, and the type of introduced gas for vacuum breakage are factors to be considered in setting the degree of vacuum in the present invention. At this stage,
Since the proper degree of vacuum cannot be calculated by the mathematical solution of theoretical formulas, the best one should be selected by analyzing many experimental data. The present inventors
When R11 is adsorbed and saturated with activated carbon, furnace temperature is 150 ° C
(Refrigerant adsorbent temperature, maximum 120 ° C), and vacuum degree of -750 mm, using air or nitrogen as the introduced non-refrigerant gas
It was confirmed that Hg was optimum.

[0046]

The equilibrium state in the phenomenon that the refrigerant is adsorbed on or desorbed from the refrigerant adsorbent (for example, activated carbon) is (a) temperature, (b) pressure, and (c) refrigerant in the gas phase portion. It changes depending on three conditions of gas / non-refrigerant gas mixture ratio.

When the present invention is applied, the adsorbed refrigerant gas can be rapidly desorbed by intentionally changing the above three conditions, and in particular, by repeating the operation of evacuation and vacuum breaking. The residual refrigerant gas (refrigerant gas molecules in the state of being adsorbed and captured by the refrigerant adsorbent) does not become zero in one re-evacuation, but by repeating this operation several times, practically complete desorption of the refrigerant gas is achieved. Since the used adsorption tank is almost completely regenerated in a relatively short time, the cost of preventing freon pollution is reduced, and it is possible to prevent freon pollution related to unknown prior art and unknown prior application. It has an excellent practical effect of contributing to the spread.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows an example of carrying out a method for regenerating a refrigerant adsorbent according to the present invention, in which the horizontal axis represents time and the vertical axis represents the atmospheric pressure of the refrigerant adsorbent to be regenerated. It is a chart.

FIG. 2 is a view showing an embodiment of a refrigerant adsorbent regeneration device according to the present invention, in which a cross-sectional view is additionally shown with a piping system and a control system, and corresponds to FIG. 14 showing an invention device according to a prior application. FIG.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view schematically showing a state in which desorption of refrigerant gas is promoted by the method of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a system diagram showing a conventional refrigerant gas recovery device.

FIG. 5 is a system diagram showing a conventional refrigerant gas recovery device different from the above.

FIG. 6 is a system diagram showing a refrigerant recovery device according to the invention of the prior application (Japanese Patent Application No. 4-156912).

FIG. 7 is a system diagram showing a conventional example of an extraction device.

8 is an example in which the mixed gas in the gas-liquid separator in the recovery apparatus shown in FIG. 6 is improved to be strongly cooled, and is proposed in the invention of the prior application (Japanese Patent Application No. 4-156912). It is a system diagram of an unknown public recovery device.

FIG. 9 is an unknown prior application (Japanese Patent Application No. 4-18103) that is provided with a small refrigerator 22 to strongly cool the refrigerant gas.
5 is a schematic system diagram showing an example of an extraction device according to No. 5).

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing an extraction device according to the previously unknown prior application,
FIG. 10 is a schematic system diagram showing an example different from FIG. 9.

FIG. 11 is a system diagram showing an example of a freon pollution complete prevention system according to an unknown prior art.

FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view of an adsorption tank used in the regeneration technology according to the invention of the prior application and also applied to the invention of the present application.

FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which a preparatory operation for regenerating the adsorption tank is performed when the adsorption tank is used and the adsorption capacity is lost.

FIG. 14: The adsorption tank, which has been subjected to the preparatory operation as shown in FIG. 13 above, is loaded into a desorption furnace configured by applying the regeneration technology according to the invention of the prior application, and a refrigerant adsorbent It is a figure showing a state in which the adsorption capacity is recovered and the adsorption tank is being regenerated, and a piping system is added to the cross-sectional view of the desorption furnace.

FIG. 15 is an equilibrium chart in a state where activated carbon adsorbs a refrigerant.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Refrigerator, 1a ... Condenser, 1b ... Evaporator, 1c ... Compressor, 2, 2 '... Compressor, 3 ... Condenser, 4, 4' ... Gas-liquid separator, 4a ... Float valve, 4b ... Release valve, 4c ... Cooling pipe, 5 ... Refrigerant tank, 6 ... Pressure sensor, 8 ... Cooling jacket, 9 ... Rectifier, 9a ... Cooling pipe, 9b ... Pressure sensor,
9c ... Release unit, 14, 15 ... Solenoid valve, 19 ... Vacuum pump, 21 ... Orifice, 22 ... Small refrigerator, 22a
... compressor, 22b ... condenser, 22d ... cooling fluid, 23,
23 '... dryer, 31 ... bleeding device, 40 ... quick coupling,
40a ... quick joint / instep 40b ... quick joint / outlet 41, ...
Tank body, 42a, 42b ... Net, 43 ... Activated carbon filling port, 44 ... Activated carbon outlet, 45 ... Refrigerant adsorbent, 45a
… Macro adsorbent surface, 45b… Cavity, 47… Heat sink,
48 ... Adsorption sensor, 49 ... Check valve, 50 ... Heat insulating material, 51
… View window, 52… Thermo label, 53… Handle, 54
... handle and legs, 55 ... radiating tube, 61 ... vacuum hose, 6
2 ... Pipe joint, 63 ... Adapter pipe, 64 ... Pipe joint, 6
5 ... Furnace body, 65a ... Base, 65b ... Furnace lid, 65c ... Handle, 65d ... Hole, 65e ... Electric heater, 65f ...
Guide bar, 66 ... Connection pipe, 67 ... Vacuum pump, 68 ...
Liquefaction device, 69 ... Cooling pipe, 70 ... Liquid pump, 71 ... Recovery tank, 72 ... Refrigerant liquid outflow opening / closing valve, 73 ... Pressure balance line, 81 ... Vacuum breaking opening / closing valve, 82 ... Breather, 83 ... Gas cylinder, 84 ... Pressure sensor, 85 ... Automatic controller, 86 ... Open / close valve, 87 ... Gas phase space, 88 ... Molecule of refrigerant gas schematically represented, 90 ... Temperature sensor.

Front page continued (72) Inventor Akira Makida 2-2036 Takanawa, Minato-ku, Tokyo 2-2036 Takanawa, Hitachi Building Facilities Engineering Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Takeshi Otomo 2-2036 Takanawa, Minato-ku, Tokyo No. Hitachi Building Facility Engineering Co., Ltd. CFC Reduction Headquarters (72) Inventor Masaji Tokunaga 2-2036 Takanawa, Minato-ku, Tokyo Hitachi Building Facility Engineering Co., Ltd. CFC Reduction Headquarters

Claims (21)

[Claims] 1. A portable tank provided with an inflow port that is attached to and detached from a discharge port of a bleeder for a refrigerator or a refrigerant recovery device, and an outflow port that communicates with the atmosphere. When the refrigerant adsorbent present adsorbs the refrigerant gas, it is a method of desorbing the adsorbed refrigerant gas to recover the adsorbing performance of the refrigerant adsorbent, wherein the internal space of the portable tank is evacuated to reduce the pressure. After that, the method for regenerating a refrigerant adsorbent is characterized in that the internal space is once broken and then evacuated again. 2. The method for regenerating a refrigerant adsorbent according to claim 1, wherein the step of vacuum breaking and re-evacuating is defined as one cycle and is repeated a plurality of times. 3. Immediately before performing the evacuation, the portable tank is externally heated while the internal space of the portable tank is shut off from the external space to pressurize the internal space. The method for regenerating the refrigerant adsorbent according to claim 1 or 2. 4. The control target in the heating operation is 10
4. The refrigerant adsorbent according to claim 3, wherein the temperature is controlled to 0 ° C. to 180 ° C., and preferably the temperature of the refrigerant adsorbent contained in the portable tank is about 120 ° C. How to play. 5. The vacuum pumping operation according to claim 1, wherein the vacuuming operation is performed by a vacuum pump with a control target of a vacuum degree of about −750 mmHg. Refrigerant adsorbent regeneration method. 6. The gas sucked from the portable tank by the evacuation operation is cooled and pressurized to liquefy and recover the refrigerant gas component contained in the gas, but does not liquefy it. The method for regenerating the refrigerant adsorbent according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the non-condensable gas component is released into the atmosphere. 7. The vacuum breaking is performed by introducing air into the portable tank.
7. The method for regenerating the refrigerant adsorbent according to claim 6. 8. The vacuum breaking is performed by introducing "a gas having a greater affinity for a refrigerant gas than air" into the portable tank. Of regenerating the refrigerant adsorbent. 9. The method for regenerating a refrigerant adsorbent according to claim 1, wherein activated carbon is used as the refrigerant adsorbent. 10. A refrigerant adsorbent housed in a portable tank having an inflow port that is attached to and detached from an emission port of a bleeder for a refrigerator and an outflow port that communicates with the atmosphere. Is a device for recovering the adsorption performance of the refrigerant adsorbent by desorbing the adsorbed refrigerant gas when adsorbing the refrigerant gas, the device being connected to at least one of the inlet and the outlet of the portable tank. And a vacuum-breaking on-off valve connected to the suction side pipe line of the vacuum pump. 11. A furnace body for housing the portable tank, and a heating element for heating the portable tank housed in the furnace body.
The refrigerant adsorbent regeneration device described in 0. 12. The heating element has a furnace temperature of 100 ° C.
12. The refrigerant adsorbent regeneration device according to claim 11, wherein the regeneration device is controlled so as to have an arbitrary desired temperature between ˜180 ° C. 13. The vacuum pump has a suction pressure of about −
The regeneration device for a refrigerant adsorbent according to any one of claims 10 to 12, which is adjusted to 750 mmHg. 14. The liquefaction device for cooling the discharge gas of the vacuum pump is provided in the discharge side pipe line of the vacuum pump, according to any one of claims 10 to 13. Refrigerant adsorbent regeneration device. 15. The refrigerant according to claim 14, wherein the liquefaction device is provided with a unit for cooling the discharge gas of the vacuum pump and a unit for pressurizing the discharge gas. Adsorbent regeneration device. 16. A refrigerant liquid recovery device is connected to a downstream side of the liquefaction device via a dryer to remove water vapor mixed in the gas desorbed from the refrigerant adsorbent. 16. The refrigerant adsorbent regenerating apparatus according to claim 14 or 15, characterized in that. 17. The on-off valve for vacuum breaking, wherein the port on the opposite side of the port connected to the vacuum pump suction side pipe line is open to the atmosphere. 2. The refrigerant adsorbent regeneration device according to any one of 1. 18. The on-off valve of the vacuum breaking on-off valve, which is on the opposite side of the port connected to the vacuum pump suction side pipe line, is connected to a gas cylinder.
The refrigerant adsorbent regeneration device according to any one of claims 0 to 16. 19. A pressure sensor connected to a suction side pipe line of the vacuum pump, and an automatic control for inputting an output signal of the pressure sensor to control the operation / stop of the vacuum pump and the opening / closing valve for vacuum breaking. 11. The container according to claim 10, further comprising:
A regeneration device for a refrigerant adsorbent according to any one of claims 18 to 18. 20. The automatic controller includes a timer circuit, and has a function of sequentially controlling the operations of the vacuum breaking opening / closing valve and the vacuum pump according to a given program. 20. The refrigerant adsorbent regeneration device according to claim 19. 21. The automatic controller (1) operates a vacuum pump with an opening / closing valve for vacuum breaking closed.
(2) After the vacuum degree on the suction side of the vacuum pump reaches about -750 mmHg and the temperature in the furnace reaches a predetermined temperature, hold the vacuum degree and the temperature for a predetermined time, and (3) keep the above predetermined time. After the lapse of time, the vacuum pump is stopped and the opening / closing valve for vacuum breaking is opened. (4) After the pressure on the suction side of the vacuum pump becomes normal pressure, the opening / closing valve for vacuum breaking is closed and the vacuum pump is activated. 21. It has a function of resuming and returning to the step (1) and repeating the steps (1) to (4) as one cycle a plurality of times. 20. A regeneration device for the refrigerant adsorbent according to claim 21.