Fuel pelletizing apparatus and method
AssigneeHydraulic Services Inc.
InventorEd Endebrock
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Fuel pellets are produced by reciprocating punches and complementary stationary dies across which waste solid or particulate organic materials are continuously passed. The reciprocating punches force the material into a reduced cross-sectional bore within each die, causing the formation of a pellet under controlled temperature conditions. The compresses material is permitted to gradually expand radially prior to leaving the die exit.
Claims26
A pelletizing apparatus for producing small fuel pellets from a mass of flowable solid organic material comprising:
- a reciprocating punch press having a movable punch plate and a stationary die holder;
- stationary guide means interposed between the punch plate and the die holder, the guide means and die holder being spaced apart from one another to present a feed chamber for advancing flowable solid organic material;
- an array of elongated punches extending from the punch plate along parallel axes, the individual punches being slidably received through complementary openings formed through the guide means;
- a complementary array of dies in the die holder, the individual dies being axially aligned with individual punches in the array of punches for receiving the punches after their passage through the feed chamber;
- each die having a first bore section leading to a die entrance that faces toward the guide means for receiving the punch axially aligned with it, the first bore section being followed by a downstream second coaxial bore section that leads to a die exit that faced oppositely from the guide means, the second bore section being of reduced cross-sectional size in comparison to the cross-sectional size of the first bore section for radially and axially compressing material forced through the die by operation of the punch press;
- and
- feed means for continuously directing a stream of compressed solid flowable organic material into the feed chamber.
A punch and die assembly for producing small fuel pellets from a mass of flowable solid organic material, comprising:
- an array of elongated punches;
- a complementary array of dies, the individual dies being axially aligned with individual punches in the array of punches;
- each die having a first bore section leading to a die entrance for receiving the punch axially aligned with it and a downstream second coaxial die section leading to die exit, the second die section being of reduced size for radially and axially compressing material forced through the die by operation of the punch;
- and
- wherein the second bore sections of each die are exteriorly vented to permit release of steam from within compressed material located within them prior to release of the material through the die exit.
A punch and die assembly for producing small fuel pellets from a mass of flowable solid organic material, comprising:
- an array of elongated punches;
- a complementary array of dies, the individual dies being axially aligned with individual punches in the array of punches;
- each die having a first bore section leading to a die entrance for receiving the punch axially aligned with it and a downstream second coaxial die section leading to die exit, the second die section being of reduced size for radially and axially compressing material forced through the die by operation of the punch;
- and
- wherein the second bore section of each die includes a tapered bore configuration of gradually increasing interior diameter leading to the die exit.
A method for producing small fuel pellets from a mass of flowable solid organic material comprising the following steps:
- intermittently forcing an array of reciprocating parallel punches simultaneously through a mass of flowable solid organic material and into a complementary array of dies as the organic material is continuously directed across the punches in a compressed stream, each die having a first bore section leading to a die entrance for receiving the punch axially aligned with it and a downstream second coaxial bore section leading to die exit, the second bore section being of reduced cross-sectional size for radially and axially compressing material forced through the die by operation of the punch;
- and
- successively operating the punches to cause pelletized material to be released from the exit ends of the array of dies.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.