System for solid material charging into vertical reactors by electronic control of the exhaust gases

A method for solid material charging into reactors and preventing the escape of exhaust gases uncontrollably into the atmosphere by electronic control of the exhaust gases using a device assembly comprising:

• a reactor;
• a refractory-lined water-cooled-charge duct having a smaller diameter than the reactor;
• said charge duct located within and above the reactor;
• a plenum, the steel outer shell of which surrounds and supports the concentric inlet;
• said inlet connecting the reactor with the plenum;
• a settling chamber, located within the plenum for settling the coarse solid particulate that are fluidizied within the reactor by the exhaust gases and depositing the coarse particulate in a plurality of outside containers;
• a plenum-outlet-duct, provided downstream of the settling chamber;
• a gas-to-gas-heat-exchanger, located downstream of the plenum-outlet duct;
• said heat exchanger connected downstream by a duct to a servo-valve provided downstream of said servo-valve.
• a suction fan, modulated by the servo valve for supplying the necessary energy to force the exhaust gas to follow the gas route instead of exhausting through the charge duct;
• the servo valve and suction fan, are in series with the path of exhaust gases from said concentric inlet to the atmospheric discharge after the heat exchanger;
• an air pressure fan, connected by a duct at the air inlet of said gas-to-gas-heat-exchanger, wherein the heat of the hot gases is transferred to said air, thereby cooling the hot gases and heating said combustion air for the reactor which exits said heat exchanger through the hot-air-blast outlet duct and is delivered to the reactor;
• a pressure control point located in the charge duct just above the concentric inlet;
• a reference pressure control point at the atmosphere end of the charge duct;
• a means for connecting the pressure control points with tubing lines and an electronic differential pressure sensor transmitter;
• a means for connecting the electric output of said electronic-differential-pressure-sensor-transmitter to an electronic controller, said controller controlling the suction delivered by the suction fan and servo valve;
• a calibration set point is built into the electronic controller;
• wherein said method comprises:
• loading the solid materials into the charge duct;
• forming a concentric inlet with the charge duct;
• said inlet connecting the reactor with the plenum forming a bellow-charge-gas-off-take;
• settling the coarse solid particulate and depositing the coarse particulate in a plurality of outside containers;
• exhausting the gases with the plenum-outlet-duct after being cleaned of coarse particulate to the heat exchanger;
• delivering the hot air blast to the reactor for combustion through the hot air blast outlet;
• controlling the flow of the exhaust gas by the servo valve to prevent the escape of exhaust gases uncontrollably into the atmosphere;
• modulating the suction delivered from the suction fan and the servo valve for supplying the necessary energy to force the exhaust gas to follow the gas route instead of exhausting through the charge duct by the electronic controller;
• said method capable of being applied for charging into reactors selected from a group consisting of vertical reactors, ovens, chemical reactors, cupolas, ferrous and non-ferrous blast furnaces and shaft furnaces in the absence of locks, conventional flap valves, gates, pressure chambers, doors and bells.