US 4,029,220 AGranted

Distributor means for charging particulate material into receptacles

OwnerMelvin J. Greavesinventor

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Abstract

Disclosed are receptacles, such as shaft furnaces illustrated by a blast furnace and an upright oil shale retort, embodying rotatable charge distributor means for distributing particulate charge material in the furnace, which charge distributor means can provide a high uniformity of distribution of various sizes of particles and also can provide and maintain a stock line of desired contour and heighth in the receptacle. The distributor means includes a hopper having rigidly fixed to it a plurality of downwardly extending chutes with lower discharge portions that discharge in concentric circular zones at the stock line. The distributor means includes a segmented portion at the juncture of the hopper and the chutes that divides the charge material discharged into the hopper in proportion to the area of the circular zone at the stock line that is fed by the chute. The distributor means embodies means for providing mass flow of the particulate charge material through the chutes to the stock line and for avoiding segregation between larger and smaller particles of charge material deposited at the stock line.

Claims20

Dependent claims

Apparatus for charging particulate charge material into a receptacle, comprising a receptacle adapted to have particulate charge material deposited therein in a body having an upwardly facing stock line;

and charge distributing means for distributing charge material in said receptacle, said charge distributing means being rotatable about an upright axis and comprising hopper means rotatable about said axis and having an upper portion adapted to have charge material discharged therein and having at its lower portion a plurality of discharge chutes rigidly fixed to said hopper means, and being adapted to have charge material flow from said hopper means through said chutes, each of said chutes having an upper entrance opening and a lower discharge portion that moves in a circular path concentric with and transverse to said axis of rotation as said charge distributor means rotates, the discharge portions of said plurality of chutes being located so they discharge material in concentric generally circular zones that have predetermined areas of essentially the same cross-sectional areas and that are radially offset in the receptacle so that the material discharged from said discharge portions is discharged over at least a major portion of cross section to said stock line, and means between said hopper means and the entrance openings of said chutes for dividing charge material discharged into said chutes into portions that pass into said chutes and are proper to fill said areas of said circular zones as said hopper means rotates.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.