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US 2002/0117268 A1Published application
Continuous vacuum pan
AssigneeThe Tongaat-Hulett Group Limited
InventorsPaul Martin Schorn, Leon Smith
Life of this patent
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AssigneeThe Tongaat-Hulett Group Limited
InventorsPaul Martin Schorn, Leon Smith
Estimating the term…
A continuous vacuum pan includes a cylindrical housing having a vertical axis, at least one liquid heating pan within the housing, and a vertical tube, floating calandria within the liquid heating pan. The vertical tube floating calandria has a downcomer between its periphery and the periphery of the liquid heating pan, and a gap is provided between the bottom of the calandria and the bottom of the liquid heating pan. Radially extending baffles in the liquid heating pan define a plurality of compartments located in series with one another, the compartments ranging from a first upstream compartment to a downstream output compartment. Ports are provided in all of the baffles except in the baffle between the output compartment and the first compartment. The ports are spaced from the bottom of the liquid heating pan, permitting communication between the compartments.
A continuous vacuum pan comprising:
A method of crystallizing the solute of a solution by evaporating the solvent of the solution in a continuous operation in a vacuum pan having a plurality of compartments with a periphery and a bottom located in series with one another and divided from one another by radially extending baffles, the compartments ranging from a first upstream compartment to a downstream output compartment, the method including the steps of heating the solution within each compartment via a vertical tube floating calandria having a periphery, a top, and a bottom, so that the solution will flow upwardly through vertical tubes of the calandria, across the top of the calandria, downwardly through a downcomer between the periphery of the calandria and the periphery of the compartment, along a gap between the bottom of the calandria and the bottom of the compartment, and back into the vertical tubes of the calandria, and discharging excess solution from upstream compartments to downstream compartments through ports in the baffles onto the calandria towards the periphery of the calandria or directly into the downcomer.
A continuous vacuum pan comprising:
A method of crystallizing a solute of a solution in a vacuum pan, the method comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.