Drying and gas or vapor contact with solids – Process – Gas or vapor contact with treated material
Patent
1996-07-18
1997-10-07
Kwon, John T.
Drying and gas or vapor contact with solids
Process
Gas or vapor contact with treated material
34219, 34474, F26B 300
Patent
active
056734964
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to improvements in the means for and methods of making dry charged battery plates, and in particular, to the apparatus and process for drying previously charged battery plate groups.
BACKGROUND ART
The prior art to which this invention relates is best illustrated in the United States Patent issued to E. G. Tiegel et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,413,728 dated Dec. 3, 1968. Prior art FIGS. 1, 2, and 3 illustrate this machine and the method of using it. With reference to those drawings and the specification of that patent it will be noted that in operation the door 13 is opened and a basket 20 containing battery plate groups is lowered into a drying chamber 18. When closed, the door 13 relies upon a gasket around its periphery to maintain a seal.
A centrifugal fan 41 receives hot combusted gases from a combustion chamber 38 and mixes it with intake air which it then blows down the sloping surface in the direction the arrows shown over the charged plates. The hot air passes through the basket and thence through a support means 19, and through a baffle means 28 and into a cooling chamber 25. Within this cooling chamber a spray nozzle 27 sprays water into the air. The baffle 28 is designed to prevent the mist from that spray from going back up-stream in the air flow.
The hot air with entrained water continues in a clockwise direction and passes through a mist eliminator 39; which is in the form of a wire screening which removes the physical water droplets. It then re-enters the collecting and pre-mixing chamber 37 and becomes part of the intake air through the fan 41. An exhaust duct 44 is provided with a damper valve 47 ostensibly to maintain positive pressure. It is stated that the pressure in the chamber 37 is above-atmospheric.
Intake air is supposedly controlled by the temperature of the exhaust gas in duct 43.
The specification states that in its method form, the invention generally comprises the steps of placing charged batteries or plates in a drying chamber, providing a stream of substantially oxygen-free drying gas by mixing cold, substantially oxygen-free air at high humidity with hot, substantially oxygen-free combustion gases and passing the stream of drying gas through the drying chamber containing the battery plates to be dried. It states that the drying gases should be of a relatively low temperature to avoid injury to the charged battery plates; preferably not more than about 200.degree. Fahrenheit or less; the preferred range being about 100.degree. Fahrenheit to 250.degree. Fahrenheit, and preferably the temperature will be adjusted in the range of 170.degree. F. to 185.degree. Fahrenheit. The specification states that the apparatus can be regulated accurately at 180.degree. Fahrenheit if desired.
Prior art machines of this type have been manufactured and sold by the Tiegel Manufacturing Company of Belmont, Calif. In the real world, the Tiegel dry charge machined operated at 180.degree. F. or less.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
We have redesigned this machine both conceptually and structurally to provide a greatly improved apparatus and method for making dry charged plates.
The essence of the present invention is that the energy input in the form of heat is controlled by both the apparatus and the process, to provide maximum thermal efficiency. Heat is used primarily to dry the plates and minimally to reheat the air from the heat (temperature) loss due to the condensation process. In the prior art, the apparatus and method, as exemplified by the Tiegel machine, used too much cooling, that is, more than what was needed. That machine used a spray nozzle, as well as very cold water. The spray nozzle caused high surface area water droplets which not only transferred heat quickly, but also created problems in that they were transferred to the plates, thereby lengthening the time it took to dry them. This created a need for even more BTU to bring the machine up to temperature.
By the method, heat is used to remove the moisture from the plates and to bring the temperature
REFERENCES:
patent: 2732631 (1956-01-01), Black
patent: 3413728 (1968-12-01), Tiegel et al.
patent: 4099337 (1978-07-01), Wauhop, Jr.
patent: 5040974 (1991-08-01), Lanham et al.
Tiegel Ralph G.
Wegner Paul C.
Benasutti Frank J.
Kwon John T.
Tiegel Manufacturing Company
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