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US 7,562,465 B2Granted
Process and means for drying of sticky materials
AssigneeFjell Industrier AS
InventorsAsbjørn Strand, Jon Alsaker
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A process and means for drying sticky or gluey materials uses an arrangement of rotor arms that are adjusted so that feed materials are rapidly mixed into the bed material. The moisture content of the bed material is kept below the moisture limit of the glue zone.
Claims19
Process for drying sticky materials in a single rotating drying means characterized in that the process comprises the steps:
- a) establishing a ring shaped bed of material in the processing chamber of the single rotating drying means wherein said ring shaped bed comprises an amount of material M(t)=∫p dV with a moisture level of F(t)=1/M ∫pf dV where F(t)<fg with fg being the glue phase lower limit, and
- b) that to this amount M(t) is added an amount of wet material mi with a moisture content fl, where fi>fh, where fh is the glue phase upper limit, and
- c) that the relationship between mi*fi and M(t)*F(t) is regulated so that F(t)<fg, and
- d) that sufficient fast mixing is established to maintain the mixture of said ring shaped bed and said added wet material below the glue phase lower limit fg so that f(X,t)<fg.
1 more element
A process for drying sticky material comprising the steps of
- obtaining a mass of sticky material;
- establishing a rotating annular bed of the material from a portion of said mass of material with a moisture content below the glue phase lower limit of the material;
- adding untreated material with a moisture content above the glue phase fg upper limit of the material from said mass directly to said annular bed in an amount to maintain the total moisture content of said bed and said added material below the glue phase lower limit of said materials;
- rapidly mixing the added material with said bed of material to obtain a mixture thereof while supplying a larger amount of kinetic energy to an inner circumferential part of said bed of material than the average kinetic energy in the remainder of said bed of material for conversion to heat energy to evaporate moisture from said mixture;
- and
- delivering a flow of dried material from said mixture at a moisture content below the glue phase lower limit of the material and at a rate sufficient to maintain said annular bed of material.
3 more elements
An apparatus for dying a sticky material comprising
- a cylindrical processing chamber and a rotor rotatably mounted in said chamber for establishing within said chamber a rotating annular bed of material obtained from a predetermined mass of the material outside said chamber and with a moisture content below the glue phase lower limit of the material;
- at least one inlet to said chamber for adding material with a moisture content above the glue phase upper limit of the material from said mass to said annular bed in an amount to maintain the total moisture content of said bed and said added material below the glue phase lower limit of said materials;
- a plurality of rotor arms on said rotor for rapidly mixing the added material with said bed of material to obtain a mixture thereof while supplying a larger amount of kinetic energy to an inner circumferential part of said bed of material than the average kinetic energy in the remainder of said bed of material for conversion to heat energy to evaporate moisture from said mixture;
- and
- at least one outlet from said chamber for delivering a flow of dried material from said mixture at moisture content below the glue phase lower limit of the material and at a rate sufficient to maintain said annular bed of material.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.