Drying and gas or vapor contact with solids – Apparatus – Gravity flow type
Patent
1985-05-24
1986-03-04
Makay, Albert J.
Drying and gas or vapor contact with solids
Apparatus
Gravity flow type
34171, F26B 1712
Patent
active
045732787
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to apparatus for the dehydration of organic material, of the type in which such material is passed from an agitating chamber and through inlet and outlet paths of a dehydrating tower by means of a stream of heated air. Such apparatus is used in the production, for example, of fish meal, and the production of dehydrated meal from varioius organic raw materials such as meat products, waste materials from poultry and fish processing.
BACKGROUND ART
Apparatus of the type referred to is well known in the art, and generally comprises means for the supply of raw material and heated air to an agitator in which the material is partially comminuted and dried until its density is such that it is carried upwardly into a dehydrating tower where final dehydration takes place, the fully treated material being recovered from the air stream beyond the tower by suitable means such as a cyclone.
DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION
Equipment of this type known in the prior art suffers from the disadvantage of being incapable of ready adaptation to different types of feed material, and to feed material of different quality. The object of the present invention is to provide dehydrating apparatus which offers greater flexibility in this regard, by providing apparatus in which the residence time of material within the dehydrator may readily be altered, even during continuous operation.
The invention broadly comprises apparatus for the dehydration of organic material in which such material is passed from an agitating chamber, which may also provided for comminution of the material, and through inlet and outlet paths of a dehydrating tower by means of a stream of heated air, characterized in that the tower comprises means for varying the length of the path of the material therein, thereby to vary the residence time of the material in the tower.
In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the material passes upwardly in the tower and then downwardly on either side of a series of baffles, which may be selectively rotated to vary the height of the path through the tower.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
In the accompanying drawings;
FIG. 1 is a rear elevation of a dehydrator embodying the present invention, from the direction 1--1 of FIG. 5;
FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the dehydrator in the direction 2--2 of FIG. 5;
FIG. 3 is a front elevation of the dehydrator in the direction 3--3 of FIG. 5;
FIG. 4 is a side elevation of the dehydrator in the direction 4--4 of FIG. 5;
FIG. 5 is a plan view of the dehydrator;
FIG. 6 is an end elevation of agitator blades employed in the dehydrator of FIGS. 1 to 5;
FIG. 7 is a plan view of the agitator blades of FIG. 6;
FIG. 8 is an end view of an agitator blade;
FIG. 9 is an elevation of the baffles employed in the dehydrator of FIGS. 1 to 8;
FIG. 10 is a further elevation of the baffles;
FIG. 11 is a plan view of the baffle assembly;
FIGS. 12, 13 and 14 show schematically the baffles in various positions.
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
The illustrated dehydrator comprises a burner 20 which may be fed with oil or other suitable fuel, to provide by means of a blower (not shown) a stream of hot air to an agitator at 21. The pneumatic flow through the apparatus continues from the agitator 21 via a dehydrating tower 22, a classifier 23, a cyclone 24, exhaust duct 25, an exhaust fan 26 and a flue 27.
Organic material is supplied to the dehydrator from a bin 28 via a screw conveyor 29 driven by a motor 30 to the agitator 21 through a gate 31.
As is well known in the prior art, pneumatic flow through the dehydrator is determined both by the blower of the burner 20, and the partial vacuum produced by the exhaust fan 26.
The operation of the illustrated dehydrator will now be described in more detail, including those features which exemplify the novel characteristics of the present invention .
Raw material from the conveyor 29 falls through a chute 32 to the gate 31, and thence to the interior of the agitator 21. The gate 31 is controlled by means of a so
REFERENCES:
patent: 3638331 (1972-02-01), Steffen
patent: 3913469 (1975-10-01), Arnold
patent: 4249891 (1981-02-01), Noyes et al.
AKT Consultants Pty, Limited
Makay Albert J.
Warner Steven E.
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