Separation of products in granular form

An apparatus for processing a material in the form of granules or drops, comprising a fluidization container having closed sidewalls and at least one endwall and a bottom and containing a bed of pulverulent solid product used as a processing phase for applying a process which is one of the group consisting of heat and mass transfer, solidification of molten products, crystallization of solutions, liquid-phase evaporation of a liquid suspension of a pulverulent material, agglutination, briquetting, coating, the bottom of said container comprising a grid and means for feeding a fluidization agent upward through the grid, the surface of said bottom being constituted partly of the grid and partly of at least one continuous masking element, said masking element extending substantially the length of said sidewalls and parallel thereto so that only a vertical columnar zone above the grid is fluidized by the fluidization agent while above the remaining portion of the grid is a non-fluidized vertical zone which forms a channel not subjected to the action of the fluidization agent, said apparatus further comprising vibrating means for vibrating said container by means of vibrations applied to each said channel in a direction which is inclined and in a vertical plane substantially in the direction of said channel, separating and discharging means consisting of at least an inclined vibrating discharging screen located at least partly in one of the said channel zones to discharge at an exterior overflow point, and means for introducing the divided material into the vertical portion subjected to the action of the fluidization agent.

An apparatus for processing a material in the form of granules or drops, comprising a circular fluidization container having closed sidewalls and a bottom and containing a bed of pulverulent solid product used as a processing phase for applying a process which is one of the group consisting of heat and mass transfer, solidification of molten products, crystallization of solutions, liquidphase evaporation of a liquid suspension of a pulverulent material, agglutination, briquetting, coating, the bottom of said circular container comprising a grid and means for feeding a fluidization agent upward through the grid including a distributing means which feeds only a central portion of said container, the surface of said bottom being constituted partly of the grid and partly of at least one continuous masking element so that only a vertical columnar zone above the grid is fluidized by the fluidization agent while above the remaining portion of the grid is a non-fluidized vertical zone which forms a channel not subjected to the action of the fluidization agent, said apparatus further comprising vibrating means for vibrating said container by means of horizontal circular vibrations applied to each channel in a direction which is inclined and in a vertical plane substantially in the direction of said channel, separating and discharging means consisting of at least an inclined vibrating discharging screen located at least partly in one of the said channel zones to discharge at an exterior overflow point, and means for introducing the divided material into the vertical portion subjected to the action of the fluidization agent.

An apparatus for processing a material in the form of granules or drops, comprising a circular fluidization container having closed sidewalls and a bottom and containing a bed of pulverulent solid product used as a processing phase for applying a process which is one of the group consisting of heat and mass transfer, solidification of molten products, crystallization of solutions, liquidphase evaporation of a liquid suspension of a pulverulent material, agglutination, briquetting, coating, the bottom of said circular container comprising a grid and means for feeding a fluidization agent upward through the grid including a distributing means which feeds only an annular portion of said container, the surface of said bottom being constituted partly of the grid and partly of at least one continuous central masking element, the periphery of which acts as a channel, so that only a vertical columnar zone above the grid is fluidized by the fluidization agent while above the remaining portion of the grid is a non-fluidized vertical zone which forms a channel not subjected to the action of the fluidization agent, said apparatus further comprising vibrating means for vibrating said container by means of vibrations applied to each said channel in a direction which is inclined and in a vertical plane substantially in the direction of said channel, separating and discharging means consisting of at least an inclined vibrating discharging screen located at least partly in one of the said channel zones to discharge at an exterior overflow point, and means for introducing the divided material into the vertical portion subjected to the action of the fluidization agent.