Patent Description:
The plastic and rubber industry is nowadays developing rapidly and being depended on by consumers to an increasing extent, resulting in more and more plastic and rubber waste. Currently, the treatment of plastic and rubber waste generally entails incineration in an incinerator, but this treatment method inevitably produces a huge amount of harmful gases, which pollute the entire environment. The incineration of plastic and rubber waste, therefore, works against the objective of sustainable environmental development of the United Nations' <NUM> Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

<CIT> discloses an apparatus and a method for thermal treatment of polymeric and/or organic waste such as rubber waste and bamboo chips.

In view of the above, the applicant aimed to improve the prior art by providing an environmentally friendly thermal cracking (also known as pyrolysis) system for waste.

To solve the aforesaid problem of the prior art, the present invention provides a thermal cracking (also known as pyrolysis) system. The thermal cracking system includes a thermal cracking treatment unit whose technical features allow a regenerated oil or a regenerated auxiliary gas to be extracted for use as a combustible material in the combustion process of the thermal cracking treatment unit, thereby contributing substantially to recycling and reuse in order to achieve sustainable environmental development effectively.

To attain the foregoing objective, the present invention provides a thermal cracking system that includes: a driving unit with an automated overhead crane assembly, a material treatment unit, a preparation unit, and a thermal cracking treatment unit. The driving unit is connected to the material treatment unit, the preparation unit, and the thermal cracking treatment unit separately. The driving unit is configured to deliver or feed a material to the material treatment unit, the preparation unit, and the thermal cracking treatment unit. The material treatment unit includes a crushing device and a plurality of stock containers. The stock containers are adjacent to the output end of the crushing device. The preparation unit includes a plurality of combustion devices, a plurality of driving assemblies, and a plurality of bases. Each base is mounted with one of the driving assemblies so that each combustion device, when mounted on any of the driving assemblies, can be raised and lowered with respect to the base of the driving assembly. The thermal cracking treatment unit includes a thermal cracking module, a collection device, a condensation module, and an auxiliary fuel module. Each combustion device of the preparation unit can be mounted on the thermal cracking module in order to work under the control of the thermal cracking module and be adjacent to the collection device. The thermal cracking module is in communication with the condensation module and the auxiliary fuel module separately.

The thermal cracking system disclosed in the present invention is so designed that the thermal cracking module of the thermal cracking treatment unit is in communication with the condensation module and the auxiliary fuel module separately. This technical feature allows the thermal cracking module to obtain the required regenerated oil from the condensation module or the required regenerated auxiliary gas from the auxiliary fuel module, and use the regenerated oil or auxiliary gas as a combustible material in the combustion process of the thermal cracking module, thereby contributing substantially to recycling and reuse in order to achieve sustainable development of the environment effectively.

To start with, the applicant would like to point out that throughout this specification (including the following description of embodiments and the appended claims), all the direction-related terms make reference to the directions shown in the drawings listed in BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS. In addition, in the following description of embodiments and the drawings, identical or similar elements or structural features are indicated by the same reference numeral. Moreover, while the structural details, features, and methods of assembly, use, and manufacture of the present invention will be described in detail below, a person of ordinary skill in the art should be able to understand that the detailed description and the embodiments provided herein serve only to demonstrate that the invention can be implemented accordingly. The detailed description and the embodiments are not intended to be restrictive of the scope of the invention.

Referring to <FIG> and <FIG>, the thermal cracking (also known as pyrolysis) system <NUM> according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention is configured to perform thermal cracking of waste <NUM> (see <FIG>). The waste <NUM> includes but is not limited to plastic, rubber, synthetic resin, fiber, a combination of the above, and non-recyclable waste such as impurities. The thermal cracking system <NUM> includes a driving unit <NUM>, a material treatment unit <NUM>, a preparation unit <NUM>, and a thermal cracking treatment unit <NUM>. The driving unit <NUM> is connected to the material treatment unit <NUM>, the preparation unit <NUM>, and the thermal cracking treatment unit <NUM> separately. The driving unit <NUM> is composed essentially of an automated overhead crane assembly and serves mainly the purpose of delivery, or more particularly to deliver or feed a material to the material treatment unit <NUM>, the preparation unit <NUM>, and the thermal cracking treatment unit <NUM>.

With continued reference to <FIG>, the material treatment unit <NUM> includes two crushing devices <NUM> and a plurality of stock containers <NUM>. The stock containers <NUM> are adjacent to the output ends of the two crushing devices <NUM>. It is worth mentioning that one or a plurality of crushing devices <NUM> may be used, depending on the space of the operation site. Using a different number of crushing devices <NUM> is merely a simple change in quantity and therefore will not be dealt with any further.

Referring to <FIG>, the preparation unit <NUM> includes three combustion devices <NUM>, three driving assemblies <NUM>, and three bases <NUM>. Each base <NUM> is mounted with one of the driving assemblies <NUM> so that each combustion device <NUM>, when mounted on any of the driving assemblies <NUM>, can be raised and lowered with respect to the corresponding base <NUM>. Preferably, each driving assembly <NUM> is composed essentially of a supporting plate <NUM> and a driving member <NUM>, wherein the driving member <NUM> has one end pivotally connected to the supporting plate <NUM> and the opposite end mounted on the corresponding base <NUM> so that each combustion device <NUM>, when mounted on the supporting plate <NUM> of any of the driving assemblies <NUM>, can be raised and lowered with respect to the corresponding base <NUM>. Each combustion device <NUM> has an elongated chamber and is provided with two lifting lugs <NUM> outside the chamber to facilitate hanging of the combustion device <NUM> from the automated overhead crane assembly of the driving unit <NUM>. Each combustion device <NUM> has a major-axis direction, and the two opposite ends of each combustion device <NUM> in the major-axis direction are provided with an input opening <NUM> and an output opening <NUM> respectively. The interior of the chamber of each combustion device <NUM> is inclined at a predetermined angle from the input opening <NUM> toward the output opening <NUM> of the combustion device <NUM>, making it easier for carbon black to be guided out of the output opening <NUM>. Preferably, the input opening <NUM> of each combustion device <NUM> is closer to the driving member <NUM> of the corresponding driving assembly <NUM> than is the output opening <NUM>, and the output opening <NUM> of each combustion device <NUM> is located at a bottom portion of the combustion device <NUM> and corresponds in position to the two lifting lugs <NUM> of the combustion device <NUM>. Preferably, the output opening <NUM> of each combustion device <NUM> is in communication with a dust collection device <NUM> for collecting dust or impurities.

Referring to <FIG>, the thermal cracking treatment unit <NUM> includes a thermal cracking module <NUM>, a collection device <NUM>, a condensation module <NUM>, and an auxiliary fuel module <NUM>. The thermal cracking module <NUM> is configured to carry out high-temperature combustion of the to-be-treated material <NUM> loaded in a combustion device <NUM> so that the to-be-treated material <NUM> is thermally cracked to sequentially produce a gaseous cracking product (such as a regenerated auxiliary gas, e.g., a regenerated fuel gas or other regenerated auxiliary gas having the same attribute, produced when the temperature of the combustion assembly of the thermal cracking module <NUM> is increased to about <NUM> to <NUM>), a regenerated cracked oil (e.g., produced when the temperature of the combustion assembly of the thermal cracking module <NUM> is increased to about <NUM> to <NUM>), regenerated carbon black (e.g., produced when the temperature of the combustion assembly of the thermal cracking module <NUM> is increased to about <NUM> to <NUM>), and regenerated steel cable wire (e.g., produced when the temperature of the combustion assembly of the thermal cracking module <NUM> is increased to about <NUM> to <NUM>). The collection device <NUM> is configured to collect and portion the solid cracking products (e.g., the regenerated carbon black and the regenerated steel cable wire obtained by thermal cracking) separately. The condensation module <NUM> is configured to cool and store the liquid cracking products (e.g., the regenerated cracked oil obtained by thermal cracking). The auxiliary fuel module <NUM> is configured to store the gaseous cracking products (e.g., the regenerated auxiliary gas obtained by thermal cracking). Preferably, the combustible material required for the thermal cracking module <NUM> can be supplied to the thermal cracking module <NUM> from the condensation module <NUM> through an element in communication with the thermal cracking module <NUM> and the condensation module <NUM>, or from the auxiliary fuel module <NUM> through an element in communication with the thermal cracking module <NUM> and the auxiliary fuel module <NUM>. In addition, the thermal cracking module <NUM> is provided with an elongated seat <NUM>, and the seat <NUM> is inclined at a predetermined angle from one end toward the opposite end in the major-axis direction of the seat <NUM>.

The thermal cracking system <NUM> disclosed in the foregoing preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described above along with the technical features of each component of the system. The following paragraphs will disclose the main steps and the intended effects of the thermal cracking operation to be performed on the waste <NUM> (which includes but is not limited to plastic, rubber, synthetic resin, fiber, a combination of the above, and non-recyclable waste such as impurities) by the thermal cracking system <NUM> disclosed in the preferred embodiment of the invention.

First, referring to <FIG>, the waste <NUM> is delivered by the automated overhead crane assembly of the driving unit <NUM> to the two crushing devices <NUM> of the material treatment unit <NUM> in order to be roughly crushed. The roughly crushed waste <NUM> is then screened to yield the to-be-treated material <NUM>, i.e., the material to be thermally cracked. After loading the to-be-treated material <NUM> into the stock containers <NUM>, which are adjacent to the output ends of the two crushing devices <NUM>, the automated overhead crane assembly of the driving unit <NUM> delivers the stock containers <NUM> of the material treatment unit <NUM> sequentially to the preparation unit <NUM> to load the to-be-treated material <NUM> in the stock containers <NUM> of the material treatment unit <NUM> into the combustion devices <NUM> through the input openings <NUM> thereof. The foregoing technical features of the present invention, or more particularly of the automated overhead crane assembly of the driving unit <NUM> of the thermal cracking system <NUM>, involve the use of automated machine operations in place of such conventional advance operations as material preparation and chamber cleaning so that production capacity and operation availability can be greatly increased.

Second, referring to <FIG>, the automated overhead crane assembly of the driving unit <NUM> delivers one of the combustion devices <NUM> of the preparation unit <NUM> to the seat <NUM> of the thermal cracking module <NUM> of the thermal cracking treatment unit <NUM> and places the combustion device <NUM> on the seat <NUM> in such a way that the combustion device <NUM> matches the seat <NUM> and is inclined in the same direction as the seat <NUM>. The combustion device <NUM> is also brought into communication with the combustion assembly of the thermal cracking module <NUM> in order to operate under the control of the thermal cracking module <NUM> (e.g., being heated at a high temperature controlled by the thermal cracking module <NUM>). The foregoing technical features allow the output opening <NUM> of the combustion deice <NUM> to correspond in position to the collection device <NUM>, making it easier to collect and portion such solid cracking products as the regenerated carbon black and the regenerated steel cable wire obtained by thermal cracking.

Third, referring to <FIG>, the combustible material required for the thermal cracking module <NUM> can be supplied to the thermal cracking module <NUM> from the condensation module <NUM> through an element in communication with the thermal cracking module <NUM> and the condensation module <NUM>, or from the auxiliary fuel module <NUM> through an element in communication with the thermal cracking module <NUM> and the auxiliary fuel module <NUM>. This technical feature allows the thermal cracking module <NUM> to obtain the required regenerated oil from the condensation module <NUM> or the required regenerated auxiliary gas from the auxiliary fuel module <NUM>, and use the regenerated oil or auxiliary gas as a combustible material in the combustion process of the thermal cracking module <NUM>, thereby contributing substantially to recycling and reuse in order to achieve sustainable environmental development effectively.

Claim 1:
A thermal cracking system (<NUM>), characterized by comprising:
a driving unit (<NUM>) having an automated overhead crane assembly; a material treatment unit (<NUM>); a preparation unit (<NUM>); and a thermal cracking treatment unit (<NUM>), wherein:
the driving unit (<NUM>) is connected to the material treatment unit (<NUM>), the preparation unit (<NUM>), and the thermal cracking treatment unit (<NUM>) separately, and the driving unit (<NUM>) is configured to deliver or feed a material to the material treatment unit (<NUM>), the preparation unit (<NUM>), and the thermal cracking treatment unit (<NUM>);
the material treatment unit (<NUM>) comprises a crushing device (<NUM>) and a plurality of stock containers (<NUM>), and the stock containers (<NUM>) are adjacent to an output end of the crushing device (<NUM>);
the preparation unit (<NUM>) comprises a plurality of combustion devices (<NUM>), a plurality of driving assemblies (<NUM>), and a plurality of bases (<NUM>), and each said base (<NUM>) is mounted with a said driving assembly (<NUM>) so that each said combustion device (<NUM>), when mounted on any one of the driving assemblies (<NUM>), is able to be raised and lowered with respect to the base (<NUM>) of the any one of the driving assemblies (<NUM>); and
the thermal cracking treatment unit (<NUM>) comprises a thermal cracking module (<NUM>), a collection device (<NUM>), a condensation module (<NUM>), and an auxiliary fuel module (<NUM>), and each said combustion device (<NUM>) of the preparation unit (<NUM>) is configured to be mounted on the thermal cracking module (<NUM>) in order to operate under control of the thermal cracking module (<NUM>) and be adjacent to the collection device (<NUM>), and the thermal cracking module (<NUM>) is in communication with the condensation module (<NUM>) and the auxiliary fuel module (<NUM>) separately.