Gas and liquid contact apparatus – Contact devices – Liquid spray
Reexamination Certificate
2003-01-21
2004-11-23
Chiesa, Richard L. (Department: 1724)
Gas and liquid contact apparatus
Contact devices
Liquid spray
C159S004040, C159S048100
Reexamination Certificate
active
06820865
ABSTRACT:
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
There has been no federally sponsored research or development in this application.
REFERENCE TO A MICROFICHE APPENDIX
Not applicable
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In many industrial operations a liquid slurry or solution of a product is used during its preparation. Then it is a common practice to remove the liquid, most often water, and ship only dry product to the customer. The customer may then use the product in its dry form, or he may reconstitute it with a suitable liquid. Common products so handled are instant coffee and powdered milk.
FIG. 1
shows a typical spray dryer system used industrially to remove liquid from a slurry or solution.
Feed stream
1
is a liquid carrying suspended or dissolved solids which is pumped on to a spinning disk
17
driven at high speed by a motor
3
. This action of disk
17
results in atomization of stream
1
into fine droplets
18
within the body of a spray chamber
5
. Although a spinning disk is the most common atomizer, other devices include a spray nozzle, two phase spray nozzles and high frequency devices.
A hot-arid drying-gas
2
is introduced through a manifold
4
which directs gas
2
downward into spray chamber
5
where it forms the surrounding atmosphere for droplets
18
. As droplets
18
fall through drying gas
2
their liquid component is evaporated which leaves dry particles of product. Most of the dry product passes out of spray chamber
5
at a lower solids discharge
7
. Fine particles of product are carried with the drying gas and water vapor through a gas outlet
6
to a cyclone separator
9
.
Most remaining solids leave cyclone
9
at a cyclone solids outlet
16
where they join the bulk of collected solids from discharge
7
to form a solids product
12
passing to a final separator
10
. Drying gas and water vapor
15
leaving cyclone
9
and carrying very few solids joins vent gas
11
from final separator
10
. Both streams pass through a final scrubber or bag filter
14
before venting to a suitable release point
13
. Solids leave separator
10
at an outlet
8
.
Although
FIG. 1
represents a general spray dryer design, there are many variations depending upon the material being processed and the desired product.
The spray dryer design shown by
FIG. 1
is highly adaptable to many materials, and it is used widely in many industrial applications. However much of its cost lies in the large spray chamber which may also require a major investment in building space in addition to the spray chamber itself. Also the spray disk and its drive are expensive precision devices, since they often reach speeds in the range of 14,000 rpm. Electrical energy to power the disk is a continuing operating cost.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This invention improves spray-drying equipment by simplifying it which results in savings in investment and in electrical operating cost. A contact zone in the duct used to convey hot gas
2
to manifold
4
and duct
2
itself are used to replace Spray chamber
5
in
FIG. 1. A
reversed jet nozzle valve described by U.S. Pat. No. 6,419,210 B1 and application Ser. No. 09/690,861 is used to replace spray disk
17
and its electric motor drive
3
.
Heating equipment to supply hot-arid air to the dryer including its blower is essentially the same as for a conventional spray dryer. Also, the collection system is similar to that used by conventional spray dryers of the type that includes fluidized bed drying/stripping of residual moisture from the solids.
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