Patent ID: 7850904

Claim:
A method for operating a high-pressure treatment apparatus to treat a material to be treated, wherein the high-pressure treatment apparatus comprises: a screw feeder having an interior passage extending from a first end to an opposing second end, a feed port provided with a feed unit for accepting input of the material into the interior passage proximate said first end, a discharge port communicating with said interior passage provided at said second end, a pressure detecting device communicating with said interior passage at said second end, and at least one screw shaft extending axially in said interior passage between said first end and said second end; a treatment chamber connected to said discharge port configured to receive the material from the discharge port after transport by the screw feeder and treat the material in a treatment chamber interior under a pressure of 2 MPa or higher; a first valve that opens and closes said discharge port; an air escape hole provided at said second end of said interior passage; and a second valve that opens and closes said air escape hole; the method of operating comprising; feeding the material from said feed unit to the screw feeder while said second valve is open to allow air to escape through said escape hole provided at said second end and said rust valve is closed; gradually closing said air escape hole using the second valve in order to build up pressure at said second end of the interior passage so as to compress the material while said first valve is closed; forming an accumulation of the material at said second end of the interior passage to produce a sealing effect in said interior passage such that air-tightness is maintained between an atmosphere of the interior passage at said first end and an atmosphere of said interior passage at said discharge port said second end; detecting pressure at said second end of said interior passage; opening said first valve after closing said second valve, when the pressure of said interior passage at said discharge port at said second end becomes equal to or higher than the pressure in said treatment chamber interior, to communicate the treatment chamber interior with said interior passage, via said discharge port, with the treatment chamber interior under the pressure of 2 MPa or higher and to permit the material to enter said treatment chamber interior; continuously feeding the material from the screw feeder to the treatment chamber after said opening of said first valve such that a portion of said accumulation is discharged from said discharge port into the treatment chamber, while the material that is fed from the feed unit continues to successively augment the accumulation such that the air tightness of the sealing between the atmosphere at said first end of the interior passage and the atmosphere of said interior passage at said second end is maintained by said accumulation; and treating the material fed from the screw feeder into the treatment chamber under a pressure of 2 MPa or higher.