Drying and gas or vapor contact with solids – Apparatus – With means to treat gas or vapor
Patent
1982-04-19
1984-10-09
Schwartz, Larry L.
Drying and gas or vapor contact with solids
Apparatus
With means to treat gas or vapor
34 54, 34 47, 34213, 55390, F26B 2108
Patent
active
044752954
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The invention concerns an installation for the dehumidification of a gaseous drying medium using an adsorbent and with regeneration of the adsorbent, wherein the gaseous drying medium is divided into several partial streams with different humidity contents for use in the different phases of a drying process.
In DE-OS No. 1,729,438 a drying process for the production of rapidly dissolving products, such as instant coffee, milk powder, dried fruit or vegetable substances, is described, wherein there is employed a gaseous drying medium which has a relatively higher humidity content at the onset of the drying process than in the subsequent drying phase.
In BE Pat. No. 68 65 60, a process and an apparatus for the dehumidification of a stream of drying gas laden with humidity, are described, wherein two separate chambers filled with an adsorbent are used, each of which is traversed alternatingly by the stream of drying gas for its dehumidification and by a further stream of gas for the regeneration of the adsorbent.
In order to combine the two known processes with each other, as proposed in DE-OS No. 1,729,438, the moisture content of the stream of drying gas must be variable or capable of being maintained constant over an extended period of time, respectively. This may be accomplished, for example, by correspondingly controlling the time of passage of the stream through the respective chamber.
For the use on a major industrial scale of the process of DE-OS No. 1,729,438, it is appropriate to employ several drying installations which operate with a shift in phase in keeping with the above-cited published application. It is necessary in this case to have several streams of drying gas with different moisture contents available.
It is the object of the invention to provide an installation capable of simultaneously dehumidifying several partial streams of a stream of drying gas, with an economical usage of the adsorbent and of the energy required for the regeneration of the adsorbent.
The object of the invention is attained by providing plural chambers which are separate from each other and are subdivided into groups and which are filled with the adsorbent, wherein each of the several groups of chambers is traversed respectfully by a partial stream of the drying medium for its dehumidification, while a gaseous medium flows through a further group of chambers to regenerate the adsorbent located in said further group of chambers. Also there is continuous switching between the chambers and the gas streams so that each chamber is periodically traversed, at first, successively by all of the partial streams of the drying medium in the order of increasing moisture contents, and subsequently, by the gaseous medium for the regeneration of the adsorbent, while following each switching at least one chamber of each group is assigned to the next following group in the cycle.
The essential advantage of the installation according to the invention resides in the fact that it is possible not only to dehumidify any desired number of partial streams of the drying medium, each with a different moisture content, for use in different phases of a drying process, but that by means of the continuously changing composition of each group of chambers the partial streams can be dehumidified without interruption and the moisture content of each partial stream can be maintained substantially constant. Furthermore, the regeneration of the adsorbent loaded with moisture can be carried out continuously and with a constant and optimally adjustable energy input.
Preferably, the chambers are formed in a vertical cylinder by radial partition walls, and the cylinder is connected with a conduit system to conduct the streams of gas while being interconnected or switched by a valving apparatus. This results in the advantage that the switching between the individual chambers and the streams of gas can take place very rapidly and simultaneously.
In a preferred embodiment of the installation according to the invention, the cylinder is supported so as to be rot
REFERENCES:
patent: 3487608 (1970-01-01), Graff
patent: 3621585 (1971-11-01), Robertson
patent: 4255171 (1981-03-01), Dravnieks
Mittex Aktiengesellschaft
Schwartz Larry L.
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