Fluorescent tube disposal - forms block of stacked tubes for end cap cutting and tube rinsing for recovery of fluorescent and mercury@ and glass

摘要

The fluorescent tubes are assembled into a stacked block, and their metal end caps are removed mechanically with pressure. The material mixt. within the fluorescent tubes is rinsed out. Pref. the block of stacked tubes is fixed in place, and the ambient pressure of the tube block is reduced. The metal caps are removed by cutting blades with a drive which advances them at an adjustable speed of 6-12 cm/min. The rinsing fluid is passed through the tubes at their opened ends, using air pref. heated to 40-60 deg.C, and the rinsed-out material is cooled to 15-20 deg.C to give Hg vapour for condensation to be sepd. in water as a fluid Hg with fluorescent. Further fluid mercury from the rinsed-out material is sepd. by agitation together with fluorescent and inserted into water together with any dust. The mercury is sepd. from the water, and the fluorescent sediment is extd. by suction for the fluorescent material to be dried. The mercurcy concn. is reduced in the rinsed-out matter to a max. 0.01mg Hg/m3 through adsorption and pref. by active carbon. The tubes are further rinsed together with a mercurcy absorber, pref. calcium polysulphide. The sepd. tube end caps are washed in an acid salt soln. ADVANTAGE - The disposal operation can be automated, in a simple process which can handle 10000-80000 tubes/day without problems. The concn. of mercurcy in the exhaust air is reduced to less than one-tenth of the max. workplace concn. The components are broken down for the reuse of the fluorescent, mercucy and glass.