Endothermic heat treatment of solids loaded on trolleys moving in a kiln

A process for the treatment of a solid material, the process including the process steps of:

• passing the solid material along the inside of a kiln comprising a horizontally extending tunnel having a hollow interior;
• supporting the solid material on a succession of supports as it passes along the kiln, the supports being moved successively along the interior of the kiln;
• and
• heating the solid material, by means of radiant heat radiated on to the solid material, as it passes along the kiln, to a temperature at which the solid material undergoes an endothermic chemical reduction reaction, the process including the step of consolidating particles of the solid material into shapes which are arranged in stacks on the supports, the process including the step, after the heating, of subjecting the solid material to further processing which destroys the shapes.

An installation for the treatment of solid material undergoing an endothermic chemical reaction, the installation including:

• a kiln in the form of a horizontally extending tunnel having a hollow interior with an inlet end and an outlet end, the tunnel having a roof, a floor and a pair of opposed side walls;
• a path for supports loaded with the solid material to pass along in the interior of the tunnel in succession, from the inlet end of the kiln to the outlet end thereof, the path extending along the floor at the bottom of the interior of the tunnel from the inlet end of the kiln to the outlet end thereof;
• at least one heating surface for radiating radiant heat towards solid material loaded on supports passing along the path from said inlet end to said outlet end;
• and
• a plurality of supports, movable in succession along the path from the inlet end of the kiln to the outlet end thereof, the kiln having a reaction chamber in the interior of the tunnel which is separated from a combustion chamber in the interior of the tunnel by at least one partition in the form of a panel,
• the floor of the tunnel providing a floor for the reaction chamber along which reaction chamber floor the path for the supports extends, each said heating surface being provided by a said partition in the form of a panel separating the kiln interior into a said combustion chamber and a said reaction chamber which extend together lengthwise along the interior of the kiln, the installation including a gas feed feeding into each combustion chamber, for feeding combustible gas produced in the reaction chamber from a position adjacent the outlet end of the reaction chamber into each combustion chamber.

A kiln for the treatment of solid material undergoing an endothermic chemical reaction, the kiln including:

• a horizontally extending tunnel having a hollow interior with an inlet end and an outlet end, the tunnel having a roof, a floor and a pair of opposed side walls;
• a path for supports loaded with solid material to pass along in the interior or the tunnel in succession, from the inlet end of the kiln to the outlet end thereof, the path extending along the floor at the bottom of the interior of the tunnel from the inlet end of the kiln to the outlet end thereof;
• and
• at least one heating surface for radiating radiant heat towards solid material loaded on supports passing along the path from said inlet end to said outlet end, the kiln having a reaction chamber in the interior of the tunnel which is separated from a combustion chamber in the interior of the tunnel by at least one partition in the form of a panel,
• the floor of the tunnel providing a floor for the reaction chamber along which reaction chamber floor the path for the supports extends, each said heating surface being provided by a said partition in the form of a panel separating the kiln interior into a said combustion chamber and a said reaction chamber which extend together lengthwise along the interior of the kiln, the kiln including a gas feed feeding into each combustion chamber, for feeding combustible gas produced in the reaction chamber from a position adjacent the outlet end of the reaction chamber into each combustion chamber.