Hinged screen plate for drum pulp washer and method for cleaning the plate
AssigneeAndritz Inc.
InventorGrant Bechard
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A pulp washer including: a cylindrical assembly of trays to receive pulp, wherein the assembly rotates the trays through at least one wash stage; a housing having a header to direct pulp to the trays and the at least one wash stage, wherein the housing has at least one access port aligned with one or more of the trays; a screen plate in each tray of the assembly, wherein the screen plate has apertures sized to retain pulp fibers and allow liquid to pass through the plate, and a screen hinge attached to a side edge of the screen plate and to the tray, wherein the screen plate pivots about the hinge to allow a cleaning spray to be applied to an outer screen plate surface and a back screen plate surface.
Claims20
A pulp washer comprising:
- a cylindrical assembly of trays to receive pulp, wherein the assembly rotates the trays through at least one wash stage;
- a housing having a header to direct pulp to the trays and the at least one wash stage, wherein the housing has at least one access port aligned with one or more of the trays;
- a screen plate in each tray of the assembly, wherein the screen plate has apertures sized to retain pulp fibers and allow liquid to pass through the plate, and
- a screen hinge attached to the screen plate and a tray in which the plate is seated, wherein the screen plate pivots about the hinge to allow a cleaning spray to be applied to an upper screen plate surface and a back screen plate surface.
A screen plate assembly for a pulp washer having a rotating cylindrical assembly of pulp trays, a housing having a header to direct pulp to the trays and at least one pulp wash stage, wherein the housing has at least one access port aligned with one or more of the trays, wherein the screen plate assembly comprises:
- a screen plate adapted to seat in one of the pulp trays, wherein the screen plate has apertures sized to retain pulp fibers and allow liquid to pass through the plate, and
- a screen hinge attached to the screen plate and to the one of the trays, wherein the screen plate pivots about the hinge to allow a cleaning spray to be applied to an outer screen plate surface and a back screen plate surface while the screen plate remains attached to the one of the trays in the cylindrical assembly and in the housing.
A method to clean a screen plate in a tray of a cylindrical assembly of pulp receiving trays in a housing of a pulp washer, the method comprising:
- cleaning a first surface of the screen plate with a wash solution while the screen plate remains attached to the tray;
- pivoting the screen plate about a hinge between the plate and the tray to expose an opposite surface of the screen plate, and
- cleaning the opposite surface of the screen plate with the wash solution while the screen plate remains attached to the tray.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.