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AssigneeWilliam J. Rigby
InventorsWilliam J. Rigby, Keith D. Cochran, Timothy G. Holt
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A process for producing potassium nitrate and other metal nitrates from the chlorides, sulfates, oxides of these metals. The process uses nitrogen dioxide as a true fluidizing medium in shallow beds of the aforementioned solids at moderately elevated temperatures in a continuous counter current process to convert the metal chlorides, sulfates, and oxides, into metal nitrates and effluent gas and water vapor. The process may be carried out in a series of true fluidized beds arranged in a vertical configuration so that the solids flow downward due to the fluidized process and the nitrogen dioxide gas flows counter currently in an upward direction producing pure metal nitrates at the bottom and nitrosyl chloride gas and/or water vapor at the top.
A process for converting particulates of at least one selected from the group consisting of chlorides, sulfates, and oxides of a metal to corresponding nitrates, which is effective in dry conditions, comprising contacting the particulates with a fluidizing nitrogen-containing gas at a velocity sufficient to form a true fluidized bed of the particulates, maintaining the true fluidized bed at a temperature in a range of from about 80° F. to about 800° F. for a time sufficient to permit the particulates to be converted to the corresponding nitrates while producing an effluent gas.
A process for converting particulates of at least one selected from the group consisting of chlorides, sulfates, and oxides of a metal selected from members of the group consisting of alkali metals, alkaline metal earths, transition metals and mixtures thereof to corresponding nitrates, comprising establishing a series of fluidized beds of the particulates by passing a fluidizing gas containing a nitrogen oxide gas and dry air through the particulates at a velocity sufficient to establish and maintain the particulates in a fluidized state, the fluidizing gas leaving one fluidized bed and flowing through another fluidized bed in the series of fluidized beds until the fluidizing gas leaving the last fluidized bed in the series of fluidized beds is substantially free of nitrogen dioxide and the particulates leaving the first fluidized bed in the series of fluidized beds being substantially free of chlorides, sulfates, and oxygen.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.