Apparatus for treating solution or slurry solution

Abstract: Apparatus for treating a solution or a slurry solution comprising a hollow rotating shaft (3) having a sealing mechanism (8') and a rotating mechanism (9) at upper portions thereof, the apparatus being characterized by comprising a stirring rod (1) attached to the lower end of the hollow rotating shaft (3) vertically downward extending into the solution (10) in a storage tank (6), and a plurality of gas jet pipes (2) fixedly attached to the stirring rod (1), the gas jet pipes extending vertically downward and being opened at the lower ends thereof, whereby the shaft (3) and the stirring rod (1) are rotated, while a gas is jetted from openings of the gas jet pipes through the sealing mechanism, the hollow rotating shaft and the branch pipes.

Description: The present invention relates to an apparatus for treating a solution or a slurry solution by jetting a gas thereinto, and for example to a treating apparatus applicable to a process in which air is fed to an absorbing liquid in a wet exhaust gas desulfurizing installation to oxidize sulfites in the liquid. Heretofore, as the apparatuses for oxidizing the produced sulfites in the wet exhaust gas desulfurizing installation, different systems have been employed. One system is known which comprises an air feed pipe having a number of jet holes disposed above the bottom of a storage tank for a solution to be treated, or in which a rotational stirring blade is additionally disposed above the lower portion of the pipe so as to accelerate a gas/solution contact, whereby the sulfites in the solution are oxidized; and another system in which a hollow rotational stirring blade having a number of gas jet holes is used to accelerate the jet of a gas and the formation of fine gas bubbles. In the former system, most of the gas is jetted through the jet holes in the form of relatively large gas bubbles and the formation of the fine gas bubbles by the rotational stirring blade is not expected, and thus when the fine gas bubbles are desired, it is necessary to provide a number of small gas jet holes. In particular, this technique has the drawback that the stirring effect of the stirring blade is lowered by the rise of the gas bubbles jetted through the gas jet holes so that solids are deposited on the bottom of the solution storage tank and the gas jet holes are locally clogged therewith, which fact leads to an inconvenient increase in the original pressure for gas feed. In the latter system, the gas jetting means are provided in the stirring blade in order to simultaneously carry out a gas jet stirring and a mechanical stirring and to thereby uniformly disperse the gas into the solution to be treated. In the case of this system, the apparatus structure is simpler and a gas/solution contact efficiency is also higher than in the fomer system. In the solution storage tank in this apparatus, the solution to be treated is received, and a stirring branch pipe having a number of gas jet holes is attached to the lower end of a hollow rotating shaft . The branch pipe is adapted to be rotated by a rotating mechanism , and the gas can be jetted from the gas jet holes through the hollow rotating shaft and the stirring branch pipe . This treating apparatus can feed the gas to a gaseous phase section formed behind the stirring branch pipe and can tear off the gaseous phase section along the edge portion thereof in order to produce sufficiently fine gas bubbles. However, when this apparatus is applied to the treatment of a slurry solution, it is inevitable that splashes of the slurry solution get into the stirring branch pipe through the gas jet holes . As a result, scales appear in the stirring branch pipe and around the gas jet holes with the result that the gas jet holes are clogged therewith disadvantageously. Further, when the feed of the gas is stopped, the slurry solution tends to stream into the branch pipe , so that solid constituents precipitate therein, thereby producing the scales. Owing to such an occurrence of the scales, flow rates of the gas jetted through the respective branches will not be uniform, and the brances will begin to vibrate and finally will not be able to rotate. CH-A-58 77 85 discloses an apparatus for jetting gas into liquid manure and waste water. Further attention is drawn to JP-U-61 150 047 showing a stirring rod with holes for jetting gas. In view of the above mentioned problems, the present invention has been achieved, and one object of the present invention is to provide a treating apparatus in which fine gas bubbles are jetted into a solution or a slurry solution in order to improve a gas/solution contact efficiency. Another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for treating a solution or a slurry solution which inhibits a scale from occurring in stirring branch pipes, in contrast to conventional techniques, in order to prevent gas jet holes from being clogged with the scale and to thereby enable a long-term operation. Constitutions to accomplish the above mentioned objects are as follows: An apparatus for treating a solution or a slurry solution which comprises a hollow rotating shaft having a sealing mechanism and a rotating mechanism at upper portions thereof, a stirring rod horizontally attached to the lower end of the hollow rotating shaft, a plurality of branch pipes which extend from the hollow rotating shaft downwardly to the rod, and a plurality of gas jet pipes fixedly attached to the stirring rod, the gas jet pipes extending vertically downward from the respective branch pipes and their lower ends being positioned lower than the lower surface of the stirring rod and being opened at the lower ends of the branch pipes respectively, whereby the shaft, the rod and the stirring branch pipes can be rotated, while a gas is jetted through openings of the gas jet pipes after passing through the sealing mechanism, the hollow rotating shaft and the branch pipes so as to feed the gas to a gaseous phase section formed behind the stirring rod. According to the present invention, the fine gas bubbles can be formed by sucking the fed gas into the gaseous phase section formed behind the stirring rod and the gas jet pipes, and by tearing off the gaseous phase section along the edge portion thereof, with the result that a high gas/solution contact efficiency can be retained. In addition, this constitution enables splashes, which have gotten into the gas jet pipes, to downward flow, so that they can be discharged therefrom promptly. Fig. 1 is a schematic view showing a first embodiment of an apparatus for treating a solution or a slurry solution regarding the present invention; Fig. 2 is a perspective view illustrating the generation state of the fine gas bubble in the apparatus shown in Fig. 1 Fig. 3 is a schematic view of a second embodiment, Fig. 4 is a sectional view of Fig. 3, Fig.5 is a schematic view of a conventional apparatus Fig. 6 is a sectional view showing scales. First Embodiment : The first embodiment of the present invention will be described in reference to Fig. 1 Fig. 1 shows a schematic view of a first embodiment for treating a solution or a slurry solution regarding the present invention. A solution or a slurry solution 10 is guided to a storage tank 6 through a feed orifice 7. A horizontal stirring rod 1 is attached to the lower end of the hollow rotating shaft 3 downward extending in the solution 10, and a plurality of gas jet pipes 2, which extend vertically downward, are fixedly attached to the stirring rod 1 in the middle portions thereof. These gas jet pipes 2 are connected to the hollow rotating shaft 3 with the interposition of branch pipes 4. A gas 11 is jetted into the solution or the slurry solution 10 through a gas feed pipe 8 disposed above the hollow rotating shaft 3, the latter member 3, the branch pipes 4 and the gas jet pipes 2. On the other hand, the stirring rod 1 rotated by a rotating mechanism 9 forms a gaseous phase section behind the rod 1 itself, and the gas 11 is fed to this gaseous phase section through the gas jet pipes 2. Fig. 2 shows generation circumstances of gas bubbles in the apparatus shown in Fig. 1. When the stirring rod 1 is rotated in the direction of an arrow A at a rotational speed of 50 to 150 rpm, with the gas 11 jetted through the gas jet pipes 2, the gaseous phase section 16 is formed all over the back surface of the stirring rod 1. The gaseous phase section 16 is finely torn off along its edge portion 17, so that most of the gas in the section 16 is changed into fine gas bubbles 18. In this case, the gaseous phase section 16 in the vicinity of the rotating shaft 3 is narrow, and therefore the large gas bubbles are locally produced therein at times. The gas jet pipes 2 may be disposed at arbitrary positions on the stirring rod 1, in so far as these positions are not in the extent close to the rotating shaft 3 where the gaseous phase section is narrow. Further, openings of the gas jet pipes 2 are provided so as to be located under the lower surface of the stirring rod 1, and the gas jet pipes 2 can be extended downward within the range in which the gas 11 can be fed stably to the gaseous phase section. The gaseous phase section is also formed behind each gas jet pipe 2, which fact contributes to the formation of the fine gas bubbles. During the treating operation, the gas 11 is jetted as shown in Fig. 2, and so the solution or the slurry solution does not flow backward into the gas jet pipes 2. However, it is inevitable that splashes generated at the openings of the pipes 2 get into the pipes against the flow of the gas on occasion. Unless the splashes are early discharged from the pipes, scales will be developed therein. For this reason, the present invention contemplates that the gas jet pipes 2 are extended downward so as to early discharge the splashes in the pipes therefrom. Therefore, a length of each gas jet pipe 2 should be decided, taking the height of a splash jump into consideration. In addition, the gas jet pipes 2 may be inclined within the range where a downward natural stream of the splashes by the weight thereof is not prevented. Further, when the inside walls of the gas jet pipes 2 are wetted, the splashes which have gotten into the pipes 2 are prevented from obstinately adhering to the walls and they can early be discharged therefrom. In the apparatus in Fig.1 , a conduit for wash water 12 is connected to a conduit for feeding the gas 11 to the hollow rotating shaft 3, so as to feed the wash water 12 to the gas jet pipes 2 intermittently or continuously, with the result that the inside walls of the gas jet pipes 2 can be wetted. When the treating operation is stopped, the solution or the slurry solution 10 flows into the gas jet pipes 2, the branch pipes 4 and the hollow rotating shaft 3, but the development of the scales can be avoided by washing them with the wash water 12. Usually, when the slurry solution flows thereinto, most of the solids having large specific gravities precipitated on the bottom of the storage tank 6 and therefore they scarcely come into the pipes. However, for the purposes of avoiding the precipitation of the solids on the pipes perfectly and facilitating the washing operation of the pipes at the resumption of the treating operation, the pipes into which the slurry solution will flow are constituted vertically or inclinatorily. Second Embodiment: Fig. 3 shows a second embodiment for treating a solution or a slurry solution regarding the present invention. Different points than in Fig. 1 are that two gas jet pipes 2 are mounted on one stirring rod 1 and that a wash water feed pipe 14 is placed in the hollow rotating shaft 3 and wash water nozzles 19 of the feed pipe 14 are opened in the vicinity of inlets of branch pipes 4. Fig. 4 is an enlarged view illustrating the wash water nozzles 19. The employment of such a constitution permits ensuring the feed of a gas 11 and uniformly jetting the wash water 12 into the branch pipes 4 and the gas jet pipes 2, so that a wet state can always be maintained all over the inside walls of the pipes 2 and 4. Application Embodiment 1: By the use of the apparatus in Fig. 1, air was jetted into an absorbing solution containing calcium sulfite which had been prepared in a wet exhaust gas desulfurizing installation, in order to carry out an oxidation treatment of calcium sulfite. The treating construction was as follows: The absorbing solution was first poured into a 6-m-wide and 4-m-long storage tank, until the depth of the absorbing solution had reached a level of 4 m. Four stirring rods were horizontally attached to the lower end of a hollow rotating shaft having a diameter of 114.3 mm, the size of each stirring rod being 60.5 mm in diameter and 1,150 mm in length (from the center of the rotating shaft). Each gas jet pipe had an inside diameter of 22.7 mm and an outside diameter of 27.2 mm, and the length of its vertical portion was 250 mm. Further, each gas jet pipe was disposed at a position on the stirring rod, projecting 100 mm downward from the lower surface of the stirring rod, this position of the gas jet pipe thereon being a point which was 300 mm close to the center of the rod from its end portion. Furthermore, a branch pipe for connecting the gas jet pipe to the rotating shaft was inclined at an angle of 15° to a horizontal plane. The attachment position of the stirring rod was 500 mm above the bottom of the storage tank. Conditions for treatment were as follows: A concentration of the absorbing slurry solution was 17 wt% (as gypsum), a temperature of the slurry solution was within the range of 48 to 52°C, a throughput of the solution was 3.7 kgmol/h in term of sulfites, a rotational speed of the stirring rod was 60 rpm, a feed rate of air was 400 m³N/h, a jet speed of air was 61 m/sec (at 50°C), and the operation of the apparatus was carried out continuously for 700 hours (about 1 month). In the case of this operation, an oxidation ratio of the sulfites was 100%. For the purpose of inspecting the inside walls of the gas jet pipes, the slurry solution was drawn out from the storage tank, while the aeration was kept up. The inside walls of the four gas jet pipes all had a similar thin gypsum scale over a length of about 40 mm from ends of the openings. In another case, the operation was continued under similar conditions for 1,500 hours (about 2 months), but the developing state of the scale was similar to that of the above case, and any particular development of the scale was not observed. Application Embodiment 2: An oxidation treatment of sulfites was carried out by the us of the same apparatus and under the same conditions as in Application Embodiment 1 except that wash water was fed thereto at a flow rate of 30 l/h for 10 seconds everey minute. In the case of the operation for 700 hours (about 1 month), an oxidation ration of the sulfites was 100 %. Further, for the inspection of the inside walls of gas jet pipes, a slurry solution was drawn out from a storage tank, while aeration and the feed of wash water were retained. On the inside walls of the gas jet pipes, the generation of a scale was not found anywhere. Comparative Embodiment 1: A treatment was carried out by the use of the same apparatus as in fig. 5 and under the same conditions as in Application Embodiment 1. This fig. 5 as well as fig. 6 are schematic view of conventional apparatusses. The solution in the storage tank has the reference number 10'. The stirring branch pipe 21 is provided with gas jet holes 20. Said stirring branch pipe 21 is also shown in fig. 5 with an enlarged sectional view. When said apparatus is applied to the treatment of a slurry solution, it is inevitable that splashes of the slurry solution get into the stirring branch pipe 21 through the gas jet holes 20. As a result, scales appear in the stirring branch pipe 21. This is a hard scale 25 which is too hard to be removed by washing water and a mixture 26 of soft and hard scale sticks to the inside wall of the branch pipe 21 as shown in fig. 6. Some of the gas jet holes 20 are clogged with said hard scale 25. The apparatus used in this comparative embodiment was different from the one shown in fig. 1 in that the stirring rods (corresponding to stirring branch pipes) were hollow and that 8 gas jet holes each having a diameter of 8 mm were provided under each stirring rod. Conditions for operation were the same as in Application Embodiment 1 except that a jet rate of air through the gas jet holes was 60 m/s. After 50 hours had elapsed, the operation was stopped owing to the vibration of the apparatus itself. At this time an oxidation ratio of sulfites was 100 %. The inside walls of the hollow stirring rods (the stirring branch pipes) were inspected, and it was found that a hard scale adhered to portions of the upper wall in each rod corresponding to the gas jet holes and that 2 to 4 of the jet holes in each stirring rod were clogged with the hard scale. In addition, a mixture of the hard scale and a soft scale adhered to other portions in each rod, as shown in fig. 6. The occurence of the hard scale on the upper walls of the rods indicates that splashes of the solution have clung to the walls. With regard to a jump height of the splashes, there is a difference between the gas jet pipes of Application Embodiment 1 and the gas jet holes of the above stirring rods, and this difference is considered to be attributable to a structural distinction between these pipes and holes. Comparative Embodiment 2: An oxidation treatment of sulfites was carried out by the use of the same apparatus and under the same operating conditions as in Comparative Embodiment 1, and under the same washing conditions as in Application Embodiment 2. For comparison, after 50 hours had elapsed, the operation was stopped as in Comparative Embodiment 1, though such a vibration as in Comparative Embodiment 1 did not take place. At this time, an oxidation ratio of the sulfites was 100 %. The inside walls of hollow stirring rods (stirring branch rods) were inspected, and it was found that two gas jet holes in the vicinity of a rotating shaft and inside wall portions around these holes had no scale and thus they remained clear, but the two jet holes of each stirring rod which were further away from the rotating shaft were clogged with the scale, and the other adhering state of the scale was substantially similar to that of Comparative Embodiment 1. Therefore, it can be presumed that the apparatus will begin to vibrate soon.

Claims: An apparatus for treating a solution or a slurry solution (10) which comprises a hollow rotating shaft (3) having a sealing mechanism and a rotating mechanism (9) at upper portions thereof, a stirring rod (1) horizontally attached to the lower end of said hollow rotating shaft (3), a plurality of branch pipes (4) which extend from said hollow rotating shaft (3) downwardly to said rod (1), and a plurality of gas jet pipes (2) fixedly attached to said stirring rod (1), said gas jet pipes (2) extending vertically downward from said respective branch pipes (4) and their lower ends being positioned lower than the lower surface of said stirring rod (1) and being opened at the lower ends of said branch pipes (4) respectively, whereby said shaft (3), said rod (1) and said stirring branch pipes (4) can be rotated, while a gas is jetted through openings of said gas jet pipes after passing through said sealing mechanism, said hollow rotating shaft (3) and said branch pipes (4) so as to feed said gas to a gaseous phase section formed behind said stirring rod (1). An apparatus for treating a solution or a slurry solution according to claim 1 wherein with regard to said gas jet pipes (2), their front surfaces and their back surfaces are convexly curved and flat, respectively, in a horizontal cross-sectional view. An apparatus for treating a solution or a slurry solution according to claim 1 wherein said respective branch pipes (4) are inclined to a horizontal plane. An apparatus for treating a solution or a slurry solution according to claim 1, wherein a wash water feed pipe (14) is provided in said hollow rotating shaft (3), branched tip portions (19) of said wash water feed pipe being each placed in each branch pipe (4).

Inventors: ARAI TOKUMA C O MITSUBISHI JUK, HINO MASAO C O HIROSHIMA TECHN, MAEDA NOBUTAKA C O HIROSHIMA T, ONIZUKA MASAKAZU C O HIROSHIMA, TATANI ATSUSHI C O HIROSHIMA T, YAMADA KATSUHIKO C O HIROSHIMA, ARAI, TOKUMA, C/O MITSUBISHI JUKOGYO K.K., HINO, MASAO, C/O HIROSHIMA TECHNICAL INST., MAEDA, NOBUTAKA, C/O HIROSHIMA TECHNICAL INST., ONIZUKA, MASAKAZU, C/O HIROSHIMA TECHNICAL INST., TATANI, ATSUSHI, C/O HIROSHIMA TECHNICAL INST., YAMADA, KATSUHIKO, C/O HIROSHIMA TECHNICAL INST.
Applicants: MITSUBISHI HEAVY IND LTD, MITSUBISHI JUKOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
Application year: 1987
Main classification: B01F3
IPC codes: B01F7, B01F3