US-20260125291-A1 - FLOATING OIL COLLECTING DEVICE

US20260125291A1US 20260125291 A1US20260125291 A1US 20260125291A1US-20260125291-A1

Abstract

A floating oil collecting device is provided for efficiently removing large amounts of oil from oil/water separation and adjustment tanks in food factories and similar facilities. The device maintains high collection efficiency even during long-term use. The device includes a swirl collection cup positioned beneath the water surface of the tank, tapering downward to an outlet at its base. A first pipe guides collected oil downward from the cup, a second pipe redirects flow horizontally, and a third pipe conveys the oil upward. The third pipe is mounted on a slider mechanism along the tank wall, enabling vertical movement. A buoyant element maintains a constant distance between the submerged swirl collection cup and the water surface, ensuring stable operation. This structure allows continuous, reliable collection of floating oil with minimal maintenance.

Inventors

Kunihiro Sahara

Assignees

TBM CO., LTD.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260507
Application Date: 20231114

Claims (9)

1 - 10 . (canceled)
11 . A floating oil collecting device for collecting floating oil that has accumulated in an oil/water separation tank, the floating oil collecting device comprising: a swirl collection cup that is disposed beneath the water surface side of the oil/water separation tank, and whose diameter tapers downward; a first pipe that is connected to the outlet, which is located at the bottom of the swirl collection cup, to guide the collected floating oil downward; a second pipe that is placed downstream of the first pipe and serves to guide the floating oil in the first pipe along a horizontal direction; a third pipe that is placed downstream of the second pipe and serves to guide the floating oil in the second pipe upward; a slider mechanism that is arranged along the inner wall of the oil/water separation tank and accommodates the third pipe so that the third pipe can slide vertically; and a buoyancy material that maintains a constant distance between the swirl collection cup, which is submerged in the oil/water separation tank, and the water surface, wherein the slider mechanism comprises: a pipe fixing duct that has a U-shape at the horizontal cross-section, and has an opening space extending along the vertical direction, and a plurality of rotating rollers that are arranged horizontally between the opposing surfaces of the pipe fixing duct and also arranged near the opening surface side of the pipe fixing duct, wherein the pipe fixing duct is fixed to the inner wall of the oil/water separation tank so that it extends vertically, and wherein the third pipe is disposed in the opening space inside the rotating rollers.
12 . The floating oil collecting device according to claim 11 , further comprising: a suction pump that efficiently sucks the floating oil from the swirl collection cup.
13 . The floating oil collecting device according to claim 12 , wherein the suction pump is a self-priming pump or an air-driven pump, and wherein the self-priming pump or the air-driven pump is placed between the first pipe and the second pipe.
14 . The floating oil collecting device according to claim 12 , wherein the suction pump is a self-priming pump or an air-driven pump, and wherein the self-priming pump or the air-driven pump is placed on the ground downstream from the third pipe.
15 . The floating oil collecting device according to claim 11 , further comprising: a U-shaped pipe that is connected to the upper end of the third pipe; and a duct oil-resistant hose that is made of a flexible material, wherein one end of the duct oil-resistant hose is connected to the U-shaped pipe and the other end of the duct oil-resistant hose is connected to a pipe that guides the floating oil from the third pipe downstream.
16 . The floating oil collecting device according to claim 11 , further comprising: a fastener for engaging the third pipe; and a plate-shaped or rod-shaped anti-rotation member that is fixed to the third pipe using the fastener, wherein the anti-rotation member is arranged along the side wall of the oil/water separation tank.
17 . The floating oil collecting device according to claim 11 , wherein the swirl collection cup comprises: a baffle plate that is erected at a predetermined height over a predetermined range of the upper edge of the swirl collection cup, which is circular in plane view; and a weight plate that is provided over a predetermined range of the upper edge opposite the baffle plate.
18 . A floating oil collecting device for collecting floating oil that has accumulated in an oil/water separation tank, the floating oil collecting device comprising: a swirl collection cup that is disposed beneath the water surface side of the oil/water separation tank, and whose diameter tapers downward; a first pipe that is connected to the outlet, which is located at the bottom of the swirl collection cup, to guide the collected floating oil downward; a second pipe that is placed downstream of the first pipe and serves to guide the floating oil in the first pipe along a horizontal direction; a third pipe that is placed downstream of the second pipe and serves to guide the floating oil in the second pipe upward; a coil tube that is interposed midway through the third pipe and is vertically extendable and contractible; and a buoyancy material that maintains a constant distance between the swirl collection cup, which is submerged in the oil/water separation tank, and the water surface, wherein the floating oil collecting device, further comprising: a joint box that connects the third pipe and the coil tube, wherein the diameter of the third tube is different from the diameter of the coil tube.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application is a national phase of International Application No. PCT/JP2023/040845 filed Nov. 14, 2023, the contents of which being incorporated by reference in its entirety herein. TECHNICAL FIELD This disclosure relates to a floating oil collecting device for efficiently collecting floating oil, which accumulates in an oil/water separation tank or an adjustment tank, wherein the tank is placed in a food factory or the like that discharges oil-containing wastewater. BACKGROUND Manufacturing wastewater from food factories and other sources contains various water pollutants (oil). If such wastewater is drained without any treatment, oil and other substances in the wastewater will stick to drain pipes and be solidified. This causes the drain pipes to become clogged. As a result, purifying water in combined treatment tanks and purifying water at sewage treatment plants become difficult. In addition, it may cause a negative impact on the environment, become subject to legal restrictions, and cause an inability to continue their business operations. Therefore, various methods and devices have been proposed for treating wastewater containing solids such as oil, sediment, and floating substances on a business facility basis. Methods for collecting floating oil contained in wastewater can be broadly divided into (1) suction type and (2) adsorption type. (1) In terms of the suction type, for example, oil-containing wastewater is pooled in large tanks such as an oil/water separation tank, raw water tank, and adjustment tank. Then the large amount of floating oil and fats around the surface is physically sucked up and pumped out through a suction nozzle equipped with a float that responds to fluctuations in the liquid level. In addition, (2) in terms of the adsorption type, sheet or mat-shaped oil absorbents are placed in an oil/water separation tank, and the floating oil on the water surface is directly absorbed using these oil absorbents. As for another floating oil collecting device, a floating oil collecting device that can improve the collecting efficiency of floating oil has been disclosed (for example, referring to Patent Document 1). Furthermore, an oil separation/management device that comprises a control device having an oil sensor and a data transmitting/receiving means, and efficiently recovers oil from oil-containing wastewater has also been disclosed (for example, referring to Patent Document 2). Furthermore, a simple device for efficiently purifying wastewater containing oil, solids, etc. has also been disclosed (for example, referring to Patent Document 3). CITATION LIST Patent Document [Patent document 1] Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2020-032348 [Patent document 2] Publication of Japanese Utility Model Registration No.3216173 [Patent document 3] Publication of Japanese Patent Registration No.4420750 BRIEF SUMMARY However, the above-mentioned (1) suction type and (2) adsorption type for collecting floating oil have a fundamental problem in that it takes time to collect the floating oil. In particular, at sites such as large food factories where large amounts of floating oil are generated, the above-mentioned floating oil collecting methods are unable to collect all the floating oil, and the floating oil ends up accumulating gradually. As a result, odors may come from the wastewater (pool), and separation and removal of oil tend to be incomplete. In conclusion, large systems and equipment may be required, which requires a lot of costs. In particular, since floating oil is made from animal and vegetable oils, the floating oil that accumulates in oil/water separation tank installed on-site at food factories is different from general cutting oil and other machine oils. This floating oil has a relatively high viscosity and tends to solidify. For this reason, when using conventional suction-type floating oil collecting methods, the oil that adheres to the area around the float and near the suction nozzle opening tends to harden and stick. Once this type of condition occurs, the adhering oil blocks the suction port, causing a problem that the efficiency of collecting the floating oil is further reduced. Recently, the problem of global warming has become more and more serious. Despite efforts to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane, the impact of accumulated emissions continues to pose a significant challenge. At the same time, renewable energy made from recycled waste is getting more attention. Waste oil, which can be biomass resources, wasted from food factories, and so on, weighs more than one million tons in a year in Japan. If it is expanded to a global scale, the amount will be extremely huge. Recently, to produce original biomass fuels from waste oil, which used only to be wasted as industrial sludge, an original biomass fuel generation technology has been developed. With this fuel used as fuel fo