Back to results
US 4,543,129 AGranted
Apparatus for reducing the liquid content of sugar cane bagasse
OwnerWilly Kaetherinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Loading patent…
Loading patent…
OwnerWilly Kaetherinventor
Estimating the term…
The liquid content of sugar cane bagasse is reduced by a low pressure process having a substantially longer duration than the duration of prior art high pressure liquid removal processes. For this purpose the liquid containing bagasse, as it emerges from a diffuser, is exposed to a relatively slowly increasing yet low pressure as compared to prior art high pressures, whereby the bagasse travels with a substantially constant speed sequentially through a dewatering zone, wherein a further compaction takes place, a preliminary squeeze-out zone and a final squeeze-out zone. During the preliminary squeeze-out the pressure above an open surface area or section without a sieve or screen is about 0.2 kg/cm.sup.2. During the final squeeze-out the pressure (p) is about p/0.6D>0.003, wherein D is the diameter, in mm, of a squeeze-out roller. The pressing duration t in seconds is also related to the squeeze-out roller diameter D such that D:t is smaller than a constant value K. The preliminary or initial squeeze-out may comprise two portions of which the first portion is initiated by a compacting roller. The preferred constant value is K=46.8.
An apparatus for reducing the liquid content of sugar cane bagasse, comprising conveyor means for moving said bagasse in a travel direction defined by said conveyor means with a given travelling speed, support means including screen means and support end means having a downstream edge, said support means being means for supporting said conveyor means, compacting means for compacting said bagasse, the compacting means being located above said support end means and arranged to contact the bagasse for subjecting said bagasse to a preliminary compacting pressure, said support end means and said compacting means defining a first liquid removal zone, roller means comprising an upper roller arranged to contact an upper surface of said conveyed bagasse downstream of said compacting means and a lower roller arranged to support said bagasse downstream of said support end means, said upper and lower rollers facing each other with a spacing between the surfaces of said upper and lower rollers, wherein said lower roller is located below said bagasse with a first horizontal spacing between said downstream edge of said support end means and the rotational axis of said lower roller for defining a screenless section between said downstream edge and the bagasse supporting surface of said lower roller, said bagasse passing along said screenless section until it is supported again by said lower roller, said upper roller being horizontally displaced with a second horizontal spacing between its rotational axis and the rotational axis of said lower roller, said upper and lower rollers and said compacting means defining a second liquid removal zone located above said screenless section for subjecting said bagasse to a compression in said second liquid removal zone, said spacing between the surfaces of said upper and lower rollers defining a third liquid removal zone downstream of said second liquid removal zone for subjecting said bagasse body to a further compression in said third liquid removal zone;
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.