BRAGLIA, Gino (Via Braida N. 62, Fiorano Modenese, I-41042, IT)
CLAIMS
1. A process for drying products of variable particle size, characterized in that said product or material (2) of variable particle size is carried on at least one conveyor means (4) and a high speed drying/cooling air jet is caused to impinge upon said material (2) , said material (2) being enclosed during said drying step to limit product powder losses. 2. A process as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that said product (2) is retained between the two sides (4a, 4b) of two corresponding adjacent conveyor means (4) , placed one above the other to define multiple material (2) handling planes/ the side (4a) being the side on which the material (2) is conveyed.
3. A process as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the material (2) is retained between the conveyor means (4) and a moving or stationary plate (9) situated above said means (4) .
4. A process as claimed in claim 1 , characterized in that said high speed drying/cooling air jet is blown onto the product (2) substantially orthogonal thereto.
5. A process as claimed in claim 1 , characterized in that said high speed drying/cooling air jet is blown from above and below the product (2) .
6. A process as claimed in claims 1, 4 and 5, characterized in that said high speed drying/cooling air jet passes through holes (10) formed in the conveyor means (4) and/or the retaining plates (9) ; said holes (10) having diameters conforming the particle size and moisture content of the material . 7. A process as claimed in claims 1, 4 and 5, characterized in that the conveyor means (4) and/or the plates (9) have closed sides to prevent material losses caused by the motion of powder carried by the air flow. 8. A modular drying apparatus (1) for drying products having a variable particle size of the type comprising a parallelepiped chamber having a plurality of inlets for the product (2) to be dried and a plurality of planes defined by conveyor means (4) , such as a belt or a wire mesh for carrying the products (2) to be dried, said means (4) being driven by an appropriate known drive unit (5) , characterized in that a plurality of hollow manifolds (6) are provided above and/or below said conveyor means, substantially orthogonal to the direction of feed of the conveyor means (4) and having a plurality of holes or nozzles (7) facing towards the corresponding belt (4) , and characterized in that the distance between the two sides (4a, 4b) of two corresponding adjacent conveyor means (4) , placed one above the other, is selected in view of limiting the losses of material (2) contained therein .
9. A modular drying apparatus (1) for drying products having a variable particle size of the type comprising a parallelepiped chamber having a plurality of inlets for the product (2) to be dried and a plurality of planes defined by conveyor means (4) , such as a belt or a wire mesh for carrying the products (2) to be dried, said means (4) being driven by an appropriate known drive unit (5) , of the type characterized in that it comprises a plurality of hollow manifolds (6) above and/or below said conveyor means , substantially orthogonal to the direction of feed of the conveyor means (4) and having a plurality 1802of holes or nozzles (7) facing towards the corresponding belt (4) , and comprises one or more moving or stationary plates (9) located above said means (4) for retaining the product (2) being carried.
10. An apparatus as claimed in claim 9 or 10, characterized in that said conveyor means (4) has holes formed therein .
11. An apparatus as claimed in claim 9 or 10, characterized in that said conveyor means (4) carried liquid or semiliquid products and air is > only blown thereupon from the top . |
TITLE: PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR DRYING PRODUCTS OF VARIABLE PARTICLE SIZE, CHIPS AND GRANULES
SPECIFICATION
The present invention relates to a process and apparatus for drying fuel products or products in general having a variable particle size, such as chips and granules .
Particularly, an apparatus is disclosed herein for drying products in a range from agroindustrial products, such as cereals, to recovered-reused products and byproducts derived from industrial and agroindustrial processes.
By way of example, the drying processes concerned herein are designed for reclamation of waste, sludge in general (of food-processing or industrial origin) , waste oil, sawdust, pellets, fertilizers, wood flour and/or chips , humus , food scraps , low specific weight ground products .
The technology proposed herein provides a more convenient process for drying the above products and more generally relates to any product not in solid/pressed/extruded state, i.e. products having a poor degree of cohesion due to the amount of water therein . The process is also suitable for use with slurry or even liquid products, resulting in corresponding powders upon drying .
The object of the present invention is to provide a system and process for drying fuel products or products in general having a particle size, which affords considerable advantages, including: much shorter drying times as compared with
the large air-volume systems of the prior art, dramatically reduced amount of flue dust, i.e. reduced product pollution. These objects and advantages are fulfilled by the system and process for drying fuel products or products in general having a variable particle size according to this invention, which is characterized as defined in the annexed claims . This and other features will be more apparent from the following description of a few embodiments , which are shown by way of example and without limitation in the accompanying drawings , in which :
- Figure 1 is lateral sectional view of a first embodiment of a dryer of the invention,
- Figure 2 shows a second embodiment of the dryer of the invention,
- Figure 3 shows a detail of a plate used in the dryer , - Figure 4 shows a dryer with multiple modular drying units assembled together.
Referring to Figures 1, 2, 3 and 4, numeral 1 generally designates a modular unit for drying fuel products or products in general having a variable particle size, which are designated therein by numeral
2.
Such dryer 1 is substantially somewhat a parallelepiped chamber having a plurality of inlets for the product 2 and a plurality of planes defined by a conveyor means 4, such as a belt or a wire mesh for carrying the products 2 to be dried.
The means 4 are driven by an appropriate known
motor drive 5 .
A row of hollow manifolds 6 are provided above and below said conveyor means, substantially orthogonal to the direction of feed of the conveyor means 4 and having a plurality of holes or nozzles 7 facing towards the corresponding belt 4.
The purpose of the manifolds 6 and their holes 7 is to blow air onto the product 2 substantially perpendicular thereto in the direction of the arrows that designate blower holes 7.
Air comes from an appropriate generator and/or burner and a fan located outside the modular unit 1 and not shown herein .
In addition to receiving a high speed drying/cooling air jet impinging thereon, the layer of material 2 is conveniently sandwiched as it passes through the modular unit 1 , to limit product powder losses .
According to a first embodiment, the material 2 is passed between the lower conveyor belt 4 and the conveyor belt returned from the upper plane, for clarity the side designated as 4b in Figure 1 , the side 4a being the side upon which the material 2 is conveyed . According to a second embodiment, the material 2 is passed between the lower conveyor belt 4 (or mesh) and a stationary or moving plate 9 located above the lower belt or mesh 4.
The belts 4 and plates 9 may have holes 10 of various diameters according to the particle size of the material and its moisture content.
A drier material will tend to rise, wherefore the hole in the belt or plate will be smaller.
3
The belts and plates may have conveniently closed sides to prevent material losses caused by the motion of powder carried by the air flow.
Bed thickness may be adjusted by controlling the height of the conveyor belt or the distance between two adjacent (contiguous lower and upper) belts or meshes, or the height of the plate located above the corresponding lower belt or mesh.
When high water content products are carried, the lower belt or mesh might have no holes formed therein, for handling liquid or semiliquid products (such as whey or sludge: here, such products will be only dried from the top .
The material is dropped onto the belt 4 from a loading hopper 11 and may pass through various steps, freely falling from the upper to the lower belt planes or remain on the same conveyor belt until the end of the cycle .
One or more units may be combined together to reduce the number of required drying planes/belts.