METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DECREASING VOLUME OF HEAT INSULATING AND COLD RESERVING MATERIAL WASTE

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To efficiently decrease the volume of heat insulating and cold reserving material wastes such as calcium silicate type heat insulating material, rock wool, rock wool boards mixed with foreign substances such as water, mud, metal net laths, exterior materials, etc., to make the wastes easy to transport by pressurizing the wastes by a hydraulic volume decreasing apparatus by a prescribed compacting force and compacting the wastes into a rectangular parallelepiped body at a prescribed volume decrease ratio. SOLUTION: In the case of treating heat insulating and cold reserving material wastes 10 such as a calcium silicate type heat insulating material, rock wool, rock wool boards discarded from the facility such as boilers of a power plant, the wastes 10 are pressurized with compacting force of 70-140 kg/cm by a hydraulic volume decreasing apparatus to compact the wastes at a prescribed volume decrease ratio. In other words, in the case of volume decreasing treatment, the heat insulating and cold reserving material wastes 10 are at first supplied to a compacting chamber 17 by a belt conveyer 24 and compacting the wastes 10 into an approximately rectangular parallelepiped shape by moving a pushing cover 5 in clockwise direction on a journalling axis 15 by an hydraulic operational apparatus 6 while journalling the cover to the axis 15. Then, a main hydraulic operational apparatus 4 is driven to further compact the heat insulating and cold reserving material wastes 10 to a prescribed size and the resultant wastes are dropped on a belt conveyer 25 out of a discharge outlet 11 through a chute 19.