BE514182A - - Google Patents

Description

       

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  PROCESS AND INSTALLATION FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF A SERIES OF PRODUCTS
USING WOOD AS A RAW MATERIAL.



   The invention relates to a new method of manufacturing a series of products resulting from the carbonization of wood, in addition it also relates to a factory comprising a number of installations, equipment and devices intended to carry out the method mentioned above. above.



   There are already various known processes which use different installations for the carbonization of wood. In most cases, these installations have been designed for a specific purpose. Thus in ordinary wood carbonization plants most of the gases from carbonization are sent for hunting. This is due to the fact that the gases produced in the carbonization of wood are a very complex mixture of compounds which require to be separated, purified and rectified, an expensive installation for which usually independent energy is required, if although the installation is not economical.



   Bearing in mind the considerable forest resources that exist in many countries and the progress made in recent decades in artificial reforestation, it is truly embarrassing to note the enormous wealth that is being wasted or at least the low return on this wealth when it is exploited industrially.
Known carbonization plants, which have in view the separation of at least some of the volatile products produced during carbonization, usually separate tar and subject the latter, by means of an independent plant, to distillation and redistillation and in some cases the redistillates are even purified.

   In some more developed installations, a cracking process is introduced between the distillation and the redistillation. The tar cracking operation is generally carried out using catalysts and high pressures.



   One of the most important disadvantages of these installations which

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 have for object the treatment of the complex gas mixtures formed during the distillation of wood, is that the heavy residues, produced during the distillation of wood, forming a thermally insulating mass in heat so that the residual mass must be eliminated when it reaches a certain thickness. In this case, the entire installation must be stopped.



  In consideration of the fact that these installations operate at high temperatures, it is evident that an enormous amount of heat is lost both in cooling the installation in order to replace damaged parts and when heating again. the installation, fitted with parts which have been renewed, to reach operating temperatures.



   Taking the above into account, it is already understood why most existing factories are not able to take advantage of all the gaseous products which are produced during the carbonization of wood. One of the main difficulties is how to eliminate the shutdown of the plant or facilities for cleaning reasons.



   The present invention consists of a process for manufacturing a series of products using wood as the main raw material and a factory for carrying out this process, the latter being able to operate continuously to produce charcoal and further process virtually all products. and by-products which are obtained during the carbonization of wood. In consideration of the fact that the process is continuous, the shutdown of the installations, which represents one of the main difficulties of the known installations, is overcome by this means. As a further important advantage it should be pointed out that the plant according to the present invention has been designed in such a way that it practically does not require any major external means to operate said plant.



   By "external means" is meant any substance, product or significant external source necessary for the operation of part of the installation; that is to say that the wood itself and its by-products mainly produced during carbonization also form the main means of action intended to operate the plant. It is evident that the stated above is not intended to limit the purpose of the definition since it is only intended to demonstrate the most convenient way of operating the plant, although it is possible , as will appear later to those versed in this field, to obtain a similar result as regards the way of operating,

     by using one or more independent energy sources - it is thus clearly established that the object of the present invention is to include these corollaries and modifications.



   Further it has also been pointed out that in order to carry out the continuous process of the present invention certain corrective substances which are not obtained by charring of wood are necessary, and it is therefore understood that the foregoing definitions include these corrective substances. trices
By using the process of the present invention one can obtain, among other by-products to which will be referred later, a fuel for internal combustion engines which consists of a combination of products forming a high quality mixture. .

   These products are all by-products of wood. In particular, these products consist mainly of the following substances @ acyclic hydrocarbons of the saturated series Saturated hydrocarbons of the polymethylene series benzene hydrocarbons methanol butanone methyl acetone acyclic amines (methylamine, dimethylamine, trimethylamine) o pyridine.



   The proportion of the above substances depends on the needs and the use for which the fuel is intended, since each of the substances

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 these aforementioned plays an important role. t Thus, hydrocarbons form the basis of fuel and constitute its backbone. As is well known, hydrocarbons impart a high calorific value to the mixture.



   Methanol is intended to increase the octane number of the fuel.



   Butanone, methyl acetone and acetone, which is also produced, facilitate ignition and starting because of their low boil-off seal.



   Acyclic amines are able to neutralize any formation of acetic acid when combustion is carried out with an insufficient quantity of air.
The pyridine should be used to stabilize the fuel mixture.



   Among other by-products as mentioned above, there will be mentioned pyroligneous acid from which acetone, methylacetone and acetone oils are obtained by additional treatments.



   In the known processes, the last mentioned by-products are obtained from dry calcium acetate. Since the phases of the process for obtaining the above-mentioned product are fairly well known, it is considered that it is not necessary to enter into very specific details with regard to them. The main operations carried out in the known process are as follows: a) Heating of the calcium acetate liquor in large boilers in order to evaporate the water, until a pasty state is obtained. b) Drying the dough until completely dry. c) Distillation of dry calcium acetate until decomposition.



   The above 3 phases are so exorbitantly costly for wood distilleries that it is practically impossible to produce acetone from pyroligneous acid, and distilleries therefore prefer to send to l. The pyroligneous acid or the calcium acetate liquor was drained rather than industrially exploited, which obviously represents an unfortunate loss.



   In the known process for industrial exploitation of dry calcium acetate, several significant drawbacks occur, such as
The evaporation of the water contained in the calcium acetate liquor by heating the calcium acetate in enormous boilers either over direct heat or by steam, and which produces considerable thermally insulating encrustation, which implies serious drawbacks and a considerable loss of fuel.



   Once the pasty state is reached, it is necessary to extract the paste from the boiler and to spread it on heated iron trays in which the drying operation takes place? which requires the continued presence of operators to remove the paste which adheres to the heated trays.



   Once the drying operation is complete, the calcium acetate is stored for further processing.



   In other words, it has to be moved, cooled and then introduced into still autoclaves where the calcium acetate is warmed to about 300 to 4000C to be decomposed.



   Bearing in mind the time, the expense and the enormous loss of calories and, what is more important, the maintenance of 3 devices, without considering the construction costs, it appears unmistakable that for wood distilleries such an installation is really not economical,
On the other hand, the phase of treatment of the pyroligneous acid and more particularly of the calcium acetate liquor, according to the present invention, makes it possible to obtain acetone in a single continuous phase by de-

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 thermal composition of calcium acetate as will be explained later;

   this decomposition is carried out using the same heat that the installation supplies to other apparatus and more particularly to the tar cracking apparatus
The process of the present invention also allows in addition to obtain creosote oils, although we always start from the same starting material, namely wood.
It is well known that vegetable tars are soluble and that the hydrocarbon acids obtained are almost free from crecineol, while this compound is of real commercial interest,

   since it is the compound indicated for the creosotation of wood and the production of creoline and animal bath o The cracking of the hydrocarbon acids of vegetable tar to which it has already been alluded provides in addition hydrocarbon acids having a high percentage crecineol and phenol; which means that a product of poor commercial and industrial interest is transformed into a compound of great utility.
Thus, the present invention consists of a process for obtaining a series of products starting from wood as a starting material;

   the process comprises the phases in which the wood is dried and preheated with. hot gases (, carbonizes the preheated wood in several phases into charcoal, collects the charcoal and cools it, collects the gases which are given off during the carbonization of the wood and subjects them to a phase of separation of the tar and subjects the tar to thermal decomposition, while the residual gases are treated in an alcohol extraction tower capable of separating the pyroligneous acid and the soluble tar, treat the pyroligneous acid with hydrated lime and clarify the resulting calcium acetate, collects alcoholic vapors and remaining impurities from the alcohol extraction tower, condenses the alcoholic vapors, collects and collects them,

   collects uncondensed gaseous products and transforms them into fuel gas with high calorific value, collects gases of thermal decomposition of tar and separates therefrom pitch, hydrocarbon acids, neutral oils and aromatic hydrocarbons and aliphatics and stores them, collects the uncondensed gases and adds them to the gases to be transformed into combustible gas with high calorific value, subjects the clarified calcium acetate liquor to thermal decomposition, passes the gaseous products from calcium acetate liquor in a concentration tower and separates the resulting impure acetone from acetone oils, rectifies acetone and acetone oils,

   uses the fuel gases with a high calorific value for the production of the heat necessary for the thermal decomposition of tar and the decomposition of calcium acetate and uses the hot gases at least for carbonization, preheating and heating wood drying.



   The invention further comprises a plant for obtaining a series of products using wood as a raw material, which comprises several basket wagons capable of transporting pieces of wood, a set of retorts capable of carbonizing the wood in successive stages, a wood drying and preheating tunnel, the wagons being able to move in this tunnel and unload their content in the retort assembly, a device for collecting the gaseous products resulting from the carbonization, a device for separating the tar from the gaseous products and a continuously operating device for subjecting the separated tar to intermittent thermal decomposition, a device for collecting the products of thermal decomposition of the tar and a device for separating therefrom pitch, hydrocarbon acids, neutral oils,

   aromatic and aliphatic hydrocarbons, reservoirs for storing these products, an alcohol extraction tower capable of treating the gases remaining from carbonization, precipitating pyroligneous acid and soluble tar a rectification tower for the remaining products from the alcohol extraction tower, tanks for storing the rectified products, a tank for transforming pyroligneous acid by means of hydrated lime into calcium acetate and a tank for precipitating and clarifying the liquor calcium acetate

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 cium, a device for subjecting the calcium acetate liquor to thermal decomposition, a concentration tower for the gases resulting from the calcium acetate liquor,

   the concentration tower being capable of separating at least the resulting impure acetone from the acetone oils, a device for continuing the separation, a rectification tower for the acetone and a storage tank for the rectified acetone, a tower rectification for acetone oils, capable of separating acetone oils of different densities, storage tanks for rectified acetone oils, a plant for converting the remaining gases from the various operations into a gas with high calorific value and a device for burning this gas.



   According to what has been explained above, it is understood that an object of the present invention is to create a process for obtaining a series of products by carbonization of wood, in a single continuous cycle. By "single continuous cycle" is meant a number of phases forming a whole, which runs without discontinuity,
Another object is to create a factory to carry out the process, the factory being mainly put into action by means of by-products obtained in the carbonization of wood.



   Another object of the invention is to provide a method and a plant for carrying out the method, the plant being provided with automatic cleaning devices for the parts where residues are formed.



   Another object is to obtain the acetone starting directly from the calcium acetate liquor, in a single continuous phase.



   Another object of the present invention is to provide a single acetone rectifying tower in which the alkaline reactions and also the acid reactions are carried out.



   Another object is to create a tar cracking device with accessories, which allows continuous production under favorable cracking conditions.
Another object is to create a plant for reducing carbon dioxide to carbon monoxide, thereby obtaining a gas with high calorific value, the gas being intended for heating a large part of the plant.



   Another object is to create a number of retorts for the charring of wood which, in a preferred form of construction, are all connected by means of a preheating tunnel, special devices for the adjustment. load being provided for retorts.



   Another object is to create a gas collecting system to collect the gases produced in the retorts.



   Another object is to create a special type of retort which allows its loading at the same time as charring is going on; this way there is no substantial loss of calories or heat.



   Another object is to create a retort discharge system for the resulting charcoal and a special charcoal cooling plant in connection with the preheating tunnel.



   Another object is to create a preheating tunnel which makes it possible to subject the pieces of wood to a practically complete drying and also allows a preheating by the retort heating gases, from which a considerable saving of fuel results. and tempso
Another object is to create a retort having a high useful space factor.
Another object is to create a retort which requires low fuel consumption, as a matter of heating.



   Another object is to create a retort or an installation of horns the section of which is such that in relation to the coefficient of transmission.

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 heat mission, the wood in the central part of the retort is quickly charred.



   Another object is to create a retort divided into a number of superimposed chambers, which allow a reduction in the total operating period of a load in the retort.



   Another object is to create a tunnel for preheating the wood in such connection with the retorts that the heating, drying, preheating and carbonization of the wood are carried out successively and progressively at an adequate speed.



   Another object is to create a retort with several superimposed chambers which produce a change in the position of the pieces of wood as they pass from one chamber to the next, thus improving the uniformity of charring.



   Another object is to create briquettes which do not fall apart on the grates, nor do they form compact blocks when subjected to high temperature, at the same time lending themselves to storage in air. free, since water hardly affects them.



   These objects and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description in which, in order to facilitate the understanding of the invention, reference is made to various figures showing by way of example two of the preferred forms of the invention. factory.



   In the drawings: Figure 1 is a schematic side elevation, partially in section, of the intake and the preheating tunnel with its instruments and accessories in one of its preferred forms. Figure 2 is a schematic side elevation, partially in section, of the main parts of the plant of the present invention, some of these parts having been moved to better show the arrangement.



   Figure 3 is a schematic detail, in side elevation, of the coupling and control mechanism of the basket cars, in the specific form shown in the previous figures.



   Figure 4 is a side elevation, partially in section, of a wood charring retort connected to a separator! tar cleaner, a tar purifier and an alcohol tower.



   Figure 5 is a section taken along the line V-V of Figure 4.



   FIG. 6 is a longitudinal section of the tar cracking cylinder and its accessories.



   Figure 7 is a longitudinal section of the piston and the spray head of the tar cracking cylinder.



   Figure 8 is a section taken on line VIII-VIII of Figure 7.



   Figure 9 is a front elevation of the piston and spray head as shown in Figure 60
Figure 10 is a perspective view of the tar cracking cylinder piston support guide.



   Figure 11 is a section taken along the line XI-XI of Figure 6.



   Figure 12 is a section taken along line XII-XII of Figure 6.



   Figure 13 is a rear view, partly in section, of the hydrocarbon rectification tower in relation to the tar cracking cylinder and the cylinder for thermal decomposition of calcium acetate liquor, and in which the wiper piston control unit not specified o
Figure 14 is a detail in side elevation, partially

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 in section, of the boiler of the hydrocarbon rectification tower shown in figure 13, but turned at 90 C.



   Figure 15 is a section along the line XV-XV of figure
14.



   Fig. 16 is a side elevation, partially in section, of the plant producing acetone and by-products from calcium acetate liquor.



   FIG. 17 is a schematic side elevation, partially in section, of the installation for treating combustible gases.



   Figure 18 is a plan view of the bottom of a basket car.



   Figure 19 is a plan view taken along line XIX-XIX of Figure 4.



   Figure 20 is a sectional view of the extraction section of the concentration tower.



   Figure 21 is a schematic plan view of the calcium oxide hydration plant.



   Figure 22 is a section on line XXII-XXII of the rectification tower shown in fig 2.



   Figure 23 is a longitudinal section along line XXIII-
XXIII of figure 220
Figure 24 is a schematic side elevation, partially in section, of another arrangement of the preheating tunnel.



   Figure 25 is a side elevational detail of a coupling device.



   Figure 26 is a side elevational detail of the stopper shown in Figure 24.



   In order to carry out the process of the present invention, a plant has been designed which is the combination of a number of interconnected plants, so that it is possible to carry out the entire process without any problems. interruption. Each installation usually comprises a plurality of equipment, some of which are known and others are considered new,
There are even some plants, the combination of which in itself is different from the known combination of plants for carrying out similar phases, resulting in that the corresponding part of the process from those currently employed.

   An example of this is the process and plant for producing acetone and by-products, as will become apparent later.
It is further desired to establish very clearly that in the following text, a preferred form is first described in which several new apparatuses exist, for example the alcohol extraction tower and the acetone rectification tower, which reduces the installation cost, the space required and has various other advantages, as will be seen later, but, the fact of using these new towers does not exclude the possibility of replacing these towers with a certain number of towers of known type, in which the process as such would not be changed.

   Therefore, although no special benefit is realized by the possible modifications, it is understood that the present invention desires to cover those corollaries which any specialist in this field could realize.



   It is considered advantageous to install the plant of the present invention close to the forest or to the artificial plantation to be carbonized, or alternatively, if this is not possible, to install it close to the forest. from a transport station. In each case, it makes sense to build an extensive network of tracks for the basket wagons (see figure 1), which will be described later, which are capable of transporting pieces of wood of suitable size for the charring retorts of wood and for food

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 of the plant on a scale such that interruptions in the operation of the plant are avoided,
The railway network must lead to the admission door 2 of an antechamber 3 of a wood drying and preheating tunnel 4 (see figure 1),

   which will be designated later by "preheating tunnel".



  Each of the basket wagons 1 comprises a platform 5 supporting a basket 6 of sufficiently robust construction to carry a considerable load of timber 7, the volume of which should preferably be equal to that of a primary chamber 66 of a. retort 41 (see figures 2 and 4), as will be explained later, It is advisable that the baskets 6 are constructed so that they provide the largest possible spacings called contact surfaces, for the pieces of wood 7 , so that the pieces of wood can come into contact with the drying and preheating gases of the preheating tunnel 4, as will be explained in due course.



   The platform 5 of each basket wagon 1, as can be seen better in FIG. 18, is provided on its underside 8 with 2 pairs of bearings 9 supporting axles 10 provided with wheels 11. The platform Form 5 is provided at its central part with an unloading door 12 connected to the platform 5 by hinges 13, which allow the unloading door 12 to open as shown in figure 2.

   The central part of the unloading door 12 has, on its underside, as can be seen in figure 18, a pair of bearings 14 which support, allowing rotation, a pin 15 on which is mounted a wheel. adjustment 16 of the unloading door 120
It can thus be understood that the network of railways for the basket wagons 1 requires, in addition to the pair of conventional rails for the wheels 11, a central rail for the adjustment wheel 16.

   When the central rail is removed and provided that the wagon 1, or at least the part corresponding to the unloading door 12, is located above a suitable cavity, the unloading door 12 opens automatically and the load of wood 7 falls from the wagon 1 into the cavity which, as will be seen below, is the primary chamber 66 of the retort 41.



   Each basket wagon 1 further comprises a coupling projection 17 mounted on the lower face 8 of the platform 5, coaxially with the adjusting wheel 16 and at the front end of the wagon 1.



   Finally, each wagon 1 is provided with an automatic coupling device 20 (see figure 25) mounted at the front 18 and at the rear 19 of the basket 6. Usually the automatic coupling device 20 corresponding to the rear 19 is mounted at a greater height from the platform, 5 than the coupling device 20 corresponding to the front 18, in order to facilitate the coupling between 2 cars 1 aligned. This coupling device 20 consists of a bar 21, the rear end of which is supported by a pivot 22 so as to be able to oscillate; the ends of the pivot are housed in suitable supports 23 mounted on the front 18 and rear 19 of the basket 6.

   The front end of the bar 21 is of a special hook-shaped type 24 which has an upper mating surface 25 and a lower mating surface 26, the latter being farther from the pivot 22 than the surface 25. A cam surface 27 and a sliding surface 28 form the front end of the special hook 24. The end 29 connecting the lower coupling surface 26 and the sliding surface 28 should be knocked down in order to avoid 19 wear, The heights of mating surfaces 25 and 26 must be substantially equal and sufficient to prevent 2 coupled wagons 1 from becoming uncoupled when passing over uneven surfaces.

   A stopper 30 is disposed above the supports 23 to prevent the hook-shaped coupling 24 from falling too low.



   When it is desired to couple 2 aligned basket wagons 1 by means of their coupling device 20, it suffices only to push them against each other so that the sliding surface 28 of the corresponding coupling device 20 at the rear 19 of the basket 6, slide on the cam surface 27 until the lower mating surface 26 retains 1 '

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 other mating surface 25 of the other wagon; in other words, they will adopt the position indicated in figures 1 and 25. Figure 1 shows only a few wagons of the train set, the remainder of which, corresponding to the inclined part 43, is not shown. . It is obvious that during the coupling, the coupling device corresponding to the rear 19 of the basket 6 will oscillate around its pivot 22.



   In this way, we can easily form a set of wagons 1, the train being turned towards the inlet door 2 of the preheating tunnel 4 (see figure 1), to subject the pieces of wood 7 to the carbonization process "
The carbonization retorts 41 which will be described later (see FIG. 2) are arranged in at least one row and the heating gases are passed over the outer part of the retorts 41 to heat them and carry out the carbonization of the wood arranged inside the retorts 41. The heating gases are collected by the preheating tunnel 4 to dry and preheat the wood in the basket wagons 1 which move slowly in the preheating tunnel 4.

   Thus .. the statement previously stated that it is important to have baskets 6 which create the largest possible access space to ensure good contact between the drying and preheating gases and the pieces of. wood, now takes on its full meaning.



   The percentage of water contained in the various species of wood is of considerable importance for carbonization. Water in wood offers two important drawbacks, the first being that it is necessary to evaporate it as much as possible before subjecting the wood to carbonization, the second being that the dilution of the pyroligneous acid resulting from the condensation - sation of evaporated water imposes a very significant increase in fuel costs and time for its distillation.



   Heating wood up to about 160 C only produces water and therefore from an economic and technical point of view this water should be removed before actually subjecting the wood to the carbonization process.



   It is possible to dry the wood economically without resorting to any special expenditure of fuel for this purpose by taking advantage of the calories lost in the combustion gases from the heating of the retorts and other heating systems of the plant and of the charcoal cooling system. In order to achieve this result, the gases are forced to pass through the wood in the baskets-wagons 1, before they reach the chimney 44.



   Thanks to the pre-drying action, it is possible to introduce the pieces of wood in the dehydrated state into the retorts, which brings the following advantages: a) a considerable reduction in the fuel costs for heating the retorts, which amounts to approximately 50%, since the calories necessary for the evaporation of the water contained in the wood are almost equal to the calories necessary for the complete carbonization of the wood. b) The duration of charring is reduced by approximately 50%, which means that the efficiency of retorts is doubled. c) Condensing devices are reduced by around 30%, with regard to cooling surfaces, with consequent savings in cooling water for refrigeration.

   d) The pyroligneous acid is about 50% more concentrated, which also represents a saving in equipment and installations for the treatment of pyroligneous acid, especially in the latter part of the process where it is mainly transformed into acetone, as will be explained later.



   In order to carry out the pre-drying and preheating of the pieces of wood in the plant of the present invention, a drying and preheating tunnel 4 of reinforced concrete is constructed, suitably insulated to avoid as much as possible any loss of heat by radiation. Basket wagons 1

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 with their loads of wood advance inside tunnel 4 at a speed such that the journey is completed in approximately 18 to 20 hours, time necessary for the complete dehydration of the wood and for its preheating to approximately 150 C.



  Obviously, the time required will vary depending on the condition the wood is in and the kind of wood used. The preheating tunnel 4 is provided over its entire length with screens 31 which counterbalance the tendency of the hot gases to remain in the upper part of the arch of the tunnel 4, and, taking into account the displacement of the gases in direction of the chimney 44, these screens 31 produce an undulating movement of the gas stream, so that the path of the gases in the tunnel 4 is greater and that at the same time the temperature in each cross section of the tunnel 4 is more even - shape.



   The current of hot gases goes in the opposite direction of the advance of the wagons 1. Thus the gases which are the most saturated with humidity are precisely where they should be, that is to say at the starting point. the routing of the wagons 1 in the preheating tunnel 4, which is the place where the wood is still very wet. As a result of this arrangement, the dehydrating action of the hot gases on the wood is not too intense and the surfaces of the pieces of wood do not contract, whereby the evaporation of the water from - then the central part of the pieces of wood is thus carried out perfectly.



   In order to prevent the entry of large masses of air from the outside to the inside of the preheating tunnel 4 during the successive entries of the basket wagons 1 into the preheating tunnel 4, the latter is provided with an antechamber 3. This antechamber 3 comprises an intake door 2 (see figure 1) which connects the exterior with the interior of the preheating chamber and a separation panel 32 which separates the preheating tunnel. floor 4 of the anteroom 3. The length of the anteroom 3 is slightly longer than the length of a wagon 1.



   However, if it is desired to load two or more successive wagons simultaneously into the preheating tunnel 4, it suffices only to create an antechamber 3 of adequate length and it will be necessary to change the apparatus operating the uncoupling mechanism 33, as we will understand it immediately.



   The uncoupling mechanism 33, shown only schematically in figure 1, consists for example of a telescopic tube which can raise and push the bar 21 of the rear coupling device 20 of the wagon 1, from bottom to top at an adjacent point. to the pivot 22. When the telescopic tube rises, the bar 21 rises around its pivot 22 and disconnects the wagon 1 from its following immediatelyo Immediately after, the uncoupling mechanism 33 is lowered again to its resting position.

   At the same time the finger 34 of a chain drive mechanism 35 engages against the coupling stopper 17.,
The chain drive mechanism 35 shown schematically consists of two sprockets 36 and 37, one of which, for example the pinion 37 is the drive pinion, on which runs a chain 38 provided with the finger 34. The drive mechanism 35 is capable of move unmated wagon 1 forward in the direction of antechamber 3 and, after intake door 2 is open, also in antechamber 30
It is obvious that instead of a chain 38 and sprockets 36 and 37 any other suitable control device can be used.



   Once the basket wagon has entered the antechamber 3, the intake door 2 closes, and thus the interior of the antechamber 3 is substantially isolated from the outside.



   The partition panel 32 has at its lower central part a slot 39 which allows the passage of the coupling device 20 of the wagon-basket 1 which entered last into the anteroom 3, although the panel of separation 32 is closed and, taking into account that the control mechanism 35 moves the wagon 1 in the anteroom 3 towards the panel 32, its front coupling device 20 will couple the wagon to the rear device

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 coupling of the wagon in front of it, which is already housed in the preheating tunnel 4 .. the coupling being done in the manner already described above.



   When finger 34 in its movement reaches drive pinion 37, it uncouples the drive mechanism from coupling projection 17 and operates a needle (not shown) which in turn operates a drive device. (not shown) to lift the partition panel 32, thus allowing the entry of the last wagon, which has just been coupled to the set of wagons, inside the preheating tunnel 4.

   The finger 34 continues its movement and subsequently operates at exactly the desired time a second hand (not shown) which closes the partition panel 32 at the same time as it stops the movement of the operating mechanism for a short period of time before to start the operation similar to that described, this time being necessary in order to move the set of wagons forward in tunnel 4.



   The preheating tunnel 4 comprises an upper platform part 40 (see FIG. 2) which is a substantially horizontal section into which, in the form of the invention described here, all the upper ends of the retorts 41 emerge, a substantially horizontal base part 42 (see figure 1) which is adjacent to the partition panel 32 and an inclined part 43 connecting the base part 42 with the upper part 40 and terminating the tunnel 4.



   The chimney 44 is disposed above the base part 42 and allows the exit of gases to the outside. As new basket wagons are added to the set of wagons inside the preheating tunnel 4., the wagons which have unloaded their load in retorts 41 must also be brought back to earth. way of unloading the load of wood from the wagons 1, an explanation will be given in due course when describing the horns 41.



   Assuming therefore currently that the empty wagons 1 arrive at the end part 45 of the preheating tunnel 4, these wagons 1 are lowered ashore by means of an elevator 46, shown schematically, which operates in combination with a mechanism coupling and control 47 which moves the set of basket wagons 1 forward into the preheating tunnel 4.



   This coupling and control mechanism consists, as can best be seen in Figure 3, of a motor shaft 48 connected to a motor source (not shown), for example an electric motor, the motor shaft bearing a pinion 49 which meshes with a pinion 50 mounted on a shaft 51 which itself carries a pinion 52 meshing with a rack 53. A reducing and reversing mechanism (not shown) is arranged between the driving source and the shaft 51, by means of which it is possible to move the rack in both directions of a horizontal line, at the end of which the rack is suitably guided.

   A hook 54, which has on its lower free end a sliding surface 55, is articulated at one end of the rack 53. A stop 60, integral with the rack 53, prevents the hook 54 from descending lower. than necessary. It will be understood that when the rack 53 moves forward through a space formed by the elevator shaft 56, passes through the elevator car 59 which is at this time in the position shown in Figure 2. , it enters through a slot 58 in an exit door 57, the slot 58 being similar to the slot 39 of the partition panel 32 (see figure 1) so that the sliding surface 55 slides over the cam surface. 27 (see figure 3) until coupling with basket wagon 1.

   Once the rack 53 has reached the limit of its forward movement, the direction of movement is reversed and at the same time the exit door 57 (see figure 2) opens in the same way as the control panel. separation 32 (see figure 1) 'from which it follows that the coupling and control mechanism 47 moves the set of cars 1 a distance substantially equal to the length of a car 1 and so does enter the coupled empty wagon 1 into cabin 59. When empty wagon 1 is in cabin 59, as shown in figure 2, the movement

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 or the rear travel of the rack 53 is finished.

   At this moment the cab 59 begins its descent movement in its cage 56, which causes the empty wagon to automatically disconnect from the remainder of the train set and from the coupling and control mechanism 47. If desired. , the elevator 46 can be regulated automatically by means of a relay (not shown), which closes the circuit of the elevator motor 46 when the rack 53 reaches the end of its reverse stroke.

   The elevator motor 46 is synchronized with the driving source of the coupling and control mechanism 47, so that the car 59 of the elevator 46 reaches the bottom and, after the empty car has been unloaded, so that the car 59 of the elevator 46 reaches the bottom. 'there is still sufficient time to raise the cab 59 to its upper position, in other words to the position shown in FIG. 2, before the coupling and control mechanism 47 begins to introduce the next empty wagon into the cabin 59.



   The outlet door 57 has the same function as that of the partition panel 32 (see figure 1), i.e. it tends to avoid the loss of considerable volumes of preheating gas from the heating channel of the heaters. retorts 410
As already explained, in this form of the installation according to the present invention there are several aligned retorts 41, so that all the upper parts of the retorts open out into the part of the upper platform 40 of the preheating tunnel 4. The number of retorts 41 depends on the production capacity of the plant and the type of wood used.



  If the production capacity of the plant were to be very large, it would be advisable to install several parallel rows of retorts 41 with a corresponding network of rails for the basket wagons 1. Each of these retorts 41 is provided with a gas collecting tube 61 to collect the gaseous products which separate from the wood during the distillation and the collecting tubes 61 all terminate in a general collecting duct 130 which sends the distillates to a tar separator 62 which will be more alluded to late.



   As can best be seen in FIG. 4, each retort 41 is placed inside a housing made of refractory material 630 A channel 64 is placed between the outer part of the retorts 61 and the housing 63, through which pass the heating gases produced in the furnace 65.



   Each retort 41 consists of a primary chamber 66, a secondary chamber 67 and a final chamber 68. Each of these chambers can be separated from the others by a movable panel of the same construction. In order to identify these panels, the panel 85 will be called the intake panel, which separates the tunnel 4 from the interior of the primary chamber 66; the first panel which is the panel 69, separates the primary chamber 66 from the secondary chamber 67; the second panel which is the panel 70, separates the secondary chamber 67 from the final chamber 68; the unloading panel, which is the panel 71, separates the bottom of the final chamber 68 from the unloading space 72.



   Although the following description of one of these panels will be made primarily with reference to the first panel 69, it will be understood that the remaining panels 70, 71 and 85 are of the same construction except for the panel 85 which has a complementary accessory, as we will see later.



   The cylindrical wall of each retort 41 is provided at the height of the partition panels and, in the particular case under consideration, the first panel 69, an upper semicircular ring 73 and a lower semicircular ring 74 spaced apart. parallel to each other so that the corresponding part of the edge of the panel 69 is able to penetrate between them. The cylindrical wall of the retort 41 is further provided with a semicircular slot 75 so that the panel 69 can be removed from the interior of the retort 41. For this purpose the panel 69 is provided with at least two ears 76 (only one is visible in the drawings) which support a transverse block 77.

   An end portion 78 of a screw 80 passes through this transverse block 77 and is provided at its free end with a traction head (not visible) which is held by the block 77 with the possibility of turning. A

  <Desc / Clms Page number 13>

 pipe 81 connected by its inner end 79 to the retort 41 passes through the chamber 64 and the housing 63 towards the outside. The outer end 82 of the pipe 81 is provided with a gas-tight seal 523 and a threaded sleeve 83 forming a nut for the screw 80. The gas-tight seal 523 isolates the interior of the pipe 81 from outside. A handwheel 84 makes it possible to operate the screw 80 and to remove the panel 69 so as to establish a connection between the primary chamber 66 and the secondary chamber 67.



   The primary chamber 66 is isolated from the preheating chamber 4 by the intake panel 85, the construction and operation of which are similar to the panels 69 to 71 with in addition in its central part an accessory which consists of a rail section 86 for adjusting wheel 16.



   If we have to load the primary chamber 66 with a new load of pieces of wood (and it is understood that for this purpose the chamber 66 is empty) we operate the handwheel 84 so as to remove the intake panel
85 at the same time as its section of rail 86, so that the next wagon-basket 1 which will pass over the retort 41 in question will open its unloading door 12 as shown in figure 2 and thus unload its contents into the primary chamber 66.



   A hopper 87 prevents the pieces of wood from falling into the gas channel 64 when a basket wagon 1 discharges its contents into a pirate chamber 66 from a retort 41. As already explained, it is preferable that the load of wood of a wagon 1 fills the space or volume of the corresponding chamber 66. While the wagon 1 continues its movement, with its unloading door 12 open, the latter is closed automatically by means of a cam 88 (see figure 2) installed inside the retort 41.



    'Once the primary chamber 66 is loaded and after the set of wagons has continued to move, the corresponding handwheel 84 is operated to close the primary chamber 66 by means of the intake panel 85, from which it follows that the following cars will pass over retort 41 without opening their unloading door 120
Once the inlet panel 85 is closed, the first panel 69 is opened to a small extent, so as to establish communication between the primary chamber 66 and the secondary chamber 67, for a reason which will be. explained later.



   Between the upper part of the final chamber 68 and the lower part of the secondary chamber 67 is provided an outer pipe 89 which connects the two chambers 67 and 68. A part of the outer pipe 89 crosses the channel 64 in which rise the heating gases produced in the furnace 65, so that the gases during distillation, which are produced by the wood during carbonization in the final chamber 68, which go through the outer pipe 89 to the secondary chamber 67, do not condense as they pass through the outer pipe 89.



   The part 89 'of the outer pipe 89, the part which corresponds to the secondary chamber 67, is provided with an extension 90. A sliding valve 91 is removably mounted in the extension 90 and separates the outer pipe 89 from the. 'exterioro During charring, inspections must be carried out, as will be seen later, to find out whether the wood in the final chamber 68 has finished its charring process, these inspections being done by moving the slide in direction of the portion 89 'of the outer pipe 89 as indicated in broken lines, whereby the gases which are produced in the final chamber 68, if any still occur, exit through the extension 90.

   On the other hand, if the carbonization is finished, no gas comes out of the extension 90 and the absence of gas indicates to the operator that the carbonization of the wood which is in the final chamber 68 is finished. In order to obtain maximum efficiency from the heating gases produced in furnace 65 to heat retorts 41, chamber 64 is provided with a spiral 93 which forces the gases to spiral around each retort. and, after having completed their helical path, they enter the preheating tunnel 4 through the openings 94 arranged between the external face of the hopper 87 and the housing 63.

  <Desc / Clms Page number 14>

 the carbonization process is carried out as follows:

   it is understood that when starting for the first time to operate the corms 41 or after an interruption in the operation, we must load the 3 chambers 66 to 68, successively with pieces of wood and the panels must be closed with the exception of the first panel 69, which must be slightly opened in order to establish communication between the primary and secondary chambers 66 and 67 respectively The heating gases produced in the furnace 65 which enter the channel 64 pass sufficiently slowly through through it to give up a large part of their calories for the carbonization of the wood. once the charge in chamber 68 is completely charred, it is discharged.



   The explanation of how the charcoal passing through the opening corresponding to the discharge panel 71 is discharged will be given later.



   It is evident that the heating gases rising from the furnace 65 give up part of their heat on their way to the openings 94. When they enter the channel 64 they give up the first part of their heat, which is at the highest temperature, at final chamber 68, so the charge in chamber 68 will carbonize sooner than the charge located above final chamber 68.

   Once the final chamber 68 is empty, the corresponding charge is passed from the chamber 67 into the final chamber 68, by maneuvering the panel 70. once the charge from the secondary chamber has been introduced into the final chamber 68, we again closes the second panel 70 in order to again separate the final chamber 68 from the secondary chamber 67. Similarly, the charge from the primary chamber 66, which is less charred than the charge which has passed from the secondary chamber 67 in the final chamber 68, will pass from the primary chamber 66 into the secondary chamber 67. The first panel 69 is closed after the load has passed and the inlet panel 85 is opened, and thus a new one is introduced. load from paper car 1 into primary chamber 66.

   Once the primary chamber 66 is filled with wood, the intake panel 85 is closed, obviously after the wagon 1 has unloaded its contents and has continued its movement for a sufficient distance for the cam 88 to have closed the valve. unloading door 12. The first panel 69 is opened a little bit so that the gases which are produced by the wood in the primary chamber 66 can pass to the secondary chamber 67.



   Inspections are carried out from time to time to verify the state of carbonization in the final chamber 68, by means of the sliding valve 91, as explained previously, and, as soon as the carbonization is complete, the contents of the carbonization are discharged. final chamber 68 by removing the panel. unloading 71, and for this purpose the corresponding handwheel is operated.

   Once the charcoal has been discharged from the final chamber 68, the panel 71 is closed and the semi-charred wood from the secondary chamber 67 is passed into the final chamber 68 and a similar maneuver is made with regard to the wood which has only started its carbonization in the primary chamber 66 and which is passed into the secondary chamber 67, which causes the primary chamber 66 to be empty again and the operating phases described above are repeated.



   As already pointed out, the gases which are produced during the distillation in each retort 41 are taken up by the corresponding collecting tube 61.



   The vertical retorts 41 proposed here have several advantages, for example, their ease of loading and unloading over commonly used horizontal systems which consist of large and long horizontal retorts through which rail cars are passed very slowly. - baskets loaded with wood. This latter arrangement has various drawbacks, in particular in that the free spaces which remain between the wood inside the basket wagons and the walls of the retort are very large, which is partly due to the fact that the horizontal retort must have cross sections such that they allow passage

  <Desc / Clms Page number 15>

 lumber with the wagon across. In other words, the ratio between the volume of wood and the volume of the retort is very low.

   Further, in the horizontal arrangement it is really difficult to envision the conduct of hot gases through the horizontal retorts so as to obtain a uniform heat distribution. In view of the drawbacks, it is necessary: a) that the wood remains in the retort longer than it should. b) The production capacity for an equal volume of retort loading space is smaller than in the presently proposed facility.

   e) The fuel costs for charring are higher because the ratio of the volume of the horizontal retort to the volume of wood being charred is smaller, and nevertheless this retort must be at substantially the same temperature d) Due to the fact that during the charring of the wood It distills tar, it often happens that part of the tar falls on the bearings of the wheels of the wagons - baskets, causing the shafts to adhere in the bearings and producing derailments in the tunnel with all the consequences that this implies.



   Comparing the disadvantages mentioned above with the unique advantage of the horizontal system, namely that it is possible to carbonize larger pieces, it is considered that the vertical system proposed here is more convenient, since the fact that it is possible to use larger pieces of wood in the horizontal system is a very relative advantage because it must be remembered that it is easier to load small pieces of wood (for example 35 cm. long and 15 to 20 cm in diameter) in basket 6 of wagon 1 than to place large pieces of wood on special wagons for the horizontal system.



   It is judicious to use in the installation of retorts according to the present invention cylindrical retorts having a diameter which will not exceed approximately 1.50 m because the heat transfer coefficient in the direction of the longitudinal axis of each retort 41 decreases considerably as the diameter of the retort increases, and this would produce the following disadvantages: a) a longer time for full carbonization. b) It is possible that in the central part of the longitudinal axis, pieces of half-charred wood remain $ which decreases the quality of the charcoal.



   Although it is possible to employ vertical retorts having a single chamber or two chambers with which it is also possible to apply the method of the present invention, retorts having at least three chambers are preferable for them. following reasons if the retort were to have only one chamber, the distillation gases would have to be sent to stack 44 (see figure 1) during the retort loading phase, with the consequent loss of the distillation gases and the danger of explosion furthermore after loading such a single chamber retort with wood, one would have to perform a complete carbonization before the retort could be unloaded, which would require more time than in the case of using a single chamber retort. three rooms,

   and this would thus decrease the efficiency of the installation because after a certain time the volume of semi-carbonized wood is smaller than the volume of the load of wood when the latter is introduced into a single retort. bedroom; in this way a significant part of the room is empty which means in other words that it is not working.



   If a two-chamber retort were used, the same disadvantage exists with respect to the void portion of the chambers as explained above with respect to the one-chamber retort, although to a lesser degree. Also, taking into account that the heights of the two chambers are greater than the chamber heights of a three chamber retort of the same total height, the gap between the discharge and the discharge of charcoal is more gram.

  <Desc / Clms Page number 16>

 due to the fact that the upper part of the lower chamber of the two-chamber retort is at a considerably lower temperature than the upper part of the third chamber or final chamber of the three-chamber retort.



   Another advantage of a retort having overlapping chambers in accordance with the present invention is that the pieces of wood after entering the primary chamber 66 are moved twice, the first time when they pass from the primary chamber 66. in the secondary chamber 67 and the second time when they pass from the secondary chamber 67 into the final chamber 68. During the movement, the pieces of charred wood change their individual positions so that a kind of Stirring of the pieces of wood occurs, allowing a more uniform carbonization to be achieved due to the compensating differences in heat intensities at the new positions which the pieces of wood occupy after redistribution.

   These facts are of considerable importance because both a saving in carbonization hours and a more uniform charcoal are obtained. It should also be pointed out that these movements of the pieces of wood when they pass from one chamber to the next chamber do not involve significant breaks because the pieces of wood when they pass from the primary chamber 66 into the next chamber. secondary chamber 67 have always started to carbonize and, when in this state, the shocks which they receive cannot usually break them. Likewise, when the pieces of wood pass from the secondary chamber 67 into the final chamber 68, the carbonization is not yet complete so that the breaks, if they occur, are of no importance. substantial.



   It should be further noted that the three-chamber retort has the advantage of keeping the production substantially constant, which is very important especially with regard to the volume of gas produced. Likewise, the pieces of wood gradually increase in temperature over the time that the process takes to complete, from the moment the pieces of wood enter the preheating tunnel 4 until they are, unloaded as charcoal. The length of the process depends on the type of wood used; it is on average 30 hours. The gradual increase in temperature exerts a remarkable influence on the size of the charcoal produced as well as on its brittleness and mechanical strength.



   The final chamber 68, where the carbonization is completed, is at about 650 to 500 C, which is a good guarantee for the total carbonization and the elimination of the sticky substances which lower the value of the charcoal. The secondary chamber 67 is approximately at a temperature of 500 to 350 C and the primary chamber 66 is at an approximate temperature of 350 to 200 C. The preheating tunnel 4 is at a temperature of approximately 180 C in the part corresponding to the upper platform 40 which is the part of the tunnel immediately above each retort 41, and at a temperature of about 60 ° C. in the base part 42 which is the part corresponding to the outlet of the gases through the chimney 44.

   Anyone skilled in this field will understand that gradually raising the temperature is an ideal solution to the problem of obtaining high quality charcoal, which must be solved.



   Retort heating gases which go to tunnel 4 are produced in furnace 65 which includes a gas burner 95 for this purpose (see Figure 4). The gas for burner 95 is produced in the plant of this invention and is also a by-product of charring wood, as will be discussed later. However, a grate 96 is provided in the furnace 65 to allow additional pieces of wood to be burnt, in the event that a greater quantity of calories is to be supplied than that which the gas burner 95 is able to provide, which is for example the case during the commissioning of the plant.

   The furnace 65 is divided by a panel 97 into a combustion chamber 98, in which are housed the burner 95 and the grate 96, and a heating chamber 99, connected to their respective upper parts by means of a pipe 100. A tar cracking cylinder 101.

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 and a thermal decomposition cylinder 102 of calcium acetate, which will be referred to later, are housed in the heating chamber 99.



   A pipe 103 connects the furnace 65 to the channel 64 of each horn 41, at the end of which the pipe 103 opens into a ring 104 suitably insulated by an insulating layer 105 of the retort, the ring
104 having a series of openings 106 connecting the ring 104 to the channel 64. The panel 97 has an internal duct 107 connecting the combustion chamber.
98 by means of the openings 108 and 109 with the piping 1030 A damper 110 makes it possible to regulate the gas flow through the pipe 1070 On the other hand, the heating chamber 99 is also connected to the piping 103 by means of an opening 111 provided with a register 112. By a suitable arrangement of the registers 110 and 112 it is possible to precisely regulate the flow of the heating gases towards the channel 64.



   Now returning to unloading the charcoal when opening the unloading panel 71 (see figure 2), the charcoal falls onto a conveyor 113, preferably a metal conveyor, provided with a number of transport buckets 114. of charcoal in order to transport it and bring it up in the vertical section of the tunnel 115 and to unload the charcoal on a horizontal conveyor 116, which preferably extends partly over the loading openings 117 silos 118 for cooling charcoal, arranged in rows in chambers 119 of ordinary concrete.

   Each silo 118 is provided at its upper part with an upper panel 120 adjustable from the outside by means of a hand wheel 121 and a lower panel 122 also adjustable from the outside by means of a. handwheel 123 to unload the charcoal from silos 118 once it has cooled down
Each silo 118 is in an operative relationship with an inclined panel 124 which can be interposed in the path of the horizontal conveyor 116 and is interposed after opening the upper panel 120 of the corresponding silo, the inclined panel 124 thereby pushing the coal out. firewood red hot (approx. 300 C) in the corresponding silo 117.

   Once the silo is fully loaded, the inclined panel 124 is raised and the top panel 120 closed and a similar operation is carried out for the loading of another silo. It is important that the tunnel 115 is cut sufficiently perfectly from the line. 'outside to prevent air from entering, because atmospheric oxygen would cause the charcoal to ignite immediately.



   The concrete chamber 119 has in its base part 125 a number of openings 126 which allow the admission of cooling air into the chamber 119 to cool the charcoal contained in the silos 118, the air being extracted. from the upper part of the chamber 119 by an extractor 127 which sends the hot air through the transport duct 128 into the central part (not shown) of the inclined section 43 of the preheating tunnel 4. The base 125 is located at a certain height above the bottom 129 so as to be able to accommodate below the lower panel 122 a wagon or an oar (not indicated) to receive the cooled charcoal coming from the silos 118.



   As already explained, the gaseous products which are separated from the wood during the carbonization in the retorts 41, are collected by the collecting tube 61 (see Figures 2 and 4) and are carried to the collecting pipe. main 130 of larger section, which conducts the gaseous products in the tar separator 62.



   The tar separator 62 is provided, in the portion above the opening 131 at which the main header pipe 130 terminates, with a number of temperature control coils 132, through which the main passage is passed. crude methanol as the cooling agent, the methanolg as will be seen later., being obtained in the alcohol extraction tower 133 in which the pyrolignous acid is treated.

   For this purpose, the alcohol extraction tower 133 is connected by the in-

  <Desc / Clms Page number 18>

 via a condenser 134 with a tank 135 connected by the intermediary of a pump 571 and a pipe 188 to the tank 136 (see figure 2) - - in which the crude methanol, as will be seen later , is collected among other products.

   The tank 136 is connected to the lower ends 137 of the coils 132 of the tar separator 62 via the pipe 138 while the upper ends 139 of the coils 132 are connected to the pipe 140, which brings in the raw methanol in the same way. than the other products in an alcohol rectification tower 141. By "raw methanol" is meant methanol with by-products and impurities.



   Thus the gases which rise from the retort 41, when they enter the tar separator 62, will bump against the pipes of the temperature control coils 132 and flow behind this, where condensation of the gases occurs. Fractions having a high distillation point such as for example tars and oils, which are collected at the bottom 142 of the tar separator 62.



   The gases which are not condensed continue to circulate through a series of metal screens 143, 143 'and 143 ", (see figures 4 and 19) in which are retained the last droplets of heavy tars, which may have escaped the the condensing action of coil 132, A conduit 144 connects the intermediate wire mesh 143 'with the lower wire 143, and a conduit 145 similarly connects the upper wire 143 "with the intermediate wire 143'. A conduit 146 connects the space formed between the intermediate screen 143 'and the lower screen 143 at the bottom portion 142 of the tar separator 62.

   The series of pipes 144, 145 and the pipe 146 have their respective upper ends 144 ', 145' and 146 'at a certain height of the web through which they pass, so that the formation on the web d 'a volume of liquid whose height is greater than that of the ends of the pipes will cause a part of the liquid to enter the pipe through the respective upper parts 144' to 146 ', and thereby the liquid will successively descend to until it reaches the bottom part 142. These conduits 144, 145 and 146 are necessary because the flow of gas from the opening 131 is such that it does not allow the free fall of the condensed particles. towards the bottom part 142.



   The condensed products which accumulate in the bottom portion 142 separate by settling into a lower fraction of tar and a smaller upper fraction comprising acidic waters and a small portion of pyrolignous acid. As a result of the high temperature at which the gases enter through opening 131 (approximately 3000C) in tar separator 62, further evaporation of the acidic water from the bottom portion 142 will occur.



   By "acidic waters" is meant the mixture of light products and pyroligneous acid.



   The evaporated fractions will rise at the same time as the gases and leave the tar separator 62 through a pipe 147 which leads the gaseous products to the alcohol extraction tower 133. A thermometer 148 allows the control of the temperature. gaseous products which come from the tar separator 62. If the thermometer 148 implies an incorrect temperature, this means that the separation of the tar is not taking place as desired and therefore the volume of the methanol must be varied. coarse for the heat control coil 132 to restore normal conditions.



   During this time the deposited tar passes through line 149 to a reservoir 150. The tar separator 62 and the reservoir 150 are both provided with draw-off valves 151 and 152 respectively, which allow the discharge of acidic water which. could have remained in the tar separator 62 or passed into the tank 150, so that finally the substantially dehydrated mixture of tar and oils remains in the tank = see 150 which is provided at its lower part with a filter 153 of a pipe 154 which brings the tar through a certain number of devices among which is a pump 204, a device which will be described later,

  <Desc / Clms Page number 19>

 in a tar cracking cylinder 101 (see Figure 2).



   The acidic waters which are discharged either to the tar separator
62, either to the tank 1509 or to both at the same time, are added to the thermal sumps 155 (see FIG. 2), which will be described later.



   The gases and steam which exit the pipe 147 of the tar separator 62 constitute a series of non-condensable products at around 150 C which enter the alcohol extraction tower 133 via the opening. 157 located immediately below a condenser 158 located approximately halfway up the alcohol extraction tower 1330
This tower 133 consists mainly of two series of cascade overflow tanks 159 and 160, both above and below the condenser 1580 These well known overflow tanks 159 and 160 are formed by central tanks 159 and annular reservoirs 160;

   the central opening 161 of the annular reservoirs 160 has a cross section of about the same dimension as the central reservoir 159 so that when a central reservoir 159 is filled with liquid and the latter begins to cascade over, it passes through the annular outer space 162 into the annular reservoir 160 disposed immediately below the central reservoir 159 in question. Likewise, when the liquid begins to overflow into an annular reservoir 160, it passes through the central opening 161 into the central reservoir 159 installed below the annular reservoir 160 in question.



   The lower part of the alcohol extraction tower 133 is a boiler 163 in which a coil 164 (see also figure 5) is installed, which receives steam through the inlet 165 connected to the pipe. main steam supply line 371 which will be referred to later; steam can be injected into boiler 163 by opening valve 166 and closing valve 167 because in doing so steam enters section 168 and is injected through nozzles 169.



  On the other hand, if it is desired to heat the overflow liquid which is in the boiler 163, consisting mainly of pyroligneous acid, without adding steam, the valve 166 is closed and the valve 167 opened with the result. that the heating coil 154 raises the temperature of the liquid in the boiler 163 and the expended steam is discharged from the heating coil 154 through the discharge line 1700
As a result of the heating of the liquid which is in the line 163, the light gaseous products separate and rise in the tower 133 and therefore the liquids which flow downwards give up in the cascades formed between each overflow tank. volatiles which they can entrain, and in this way all the alcoholic fractions separate from the liquid fractions.



   The term “gaseous products” is understood to mean the mixture of fixed gases of water vapor and of other vapors.



   The boiler 163 has a discharge pipe 171 arranged at the bottom and which will be alluded to latera
The alcohol extraction tower 133 has at its lower part a manhole 206 and the boiler 163 also has a manhole 341.



   The purpose of the condenser 158 which is supplied with cold water from a power source (not shown) is to lower the temperature of pyroligneous acid and of the combustible or stationary gases which enter the condenser to 80 C. opening 137 to about 15000., to produce the retrogradation of the acetic acid contained in the pyroligneous acid and to obtain as overhead product an alcoholic gas product of about 25% o For documentary purposes, let us say that normal- However, pyroligneous acid contains about 4% alcohol when it enters the alcohol extraction tower.



   The fixed gases and the alcoholic vapors rise together with the overhead products which are the acyclic amines, ammonia, aldehydes and acetone.

  <Desc / Clms Page number 20>

 



   In order to control and regulate the separation of the overhead products in accordance with the requirements, namely to obtain the methanol with the desired impurities in order to be able to use the impure methanol in the formation of the fuel as has been done. explained in the introduction to this text (the main impurities in methanol are butanone, methylacetone, acetone, acyclic amines and more particularly methylamine, dimethylamine, trimethylamine and pyridine), an auxiliary tank 172 is placed at about the same height as the top end of alcohol extraction tower 133,

   this auxiliary tank having a discharge line 173 provided with an upper valve 174 and a lower valve 175 opening respectively into the supply lines 176 and 177 which enter the extraction tower. alcohol 133 respectively above and below the condenser 1580 This auxiliary tank 172 contains either an aluminum solution, mineral acids (preferably sulfuric acid) or organic acids such as tannic acid.



   The use of these corrective substances or neutralization and precipitation solutions is based on the following criteria: when it is desired to neutralize the excess of amines and ammonia in addition to the precipitation of soluble tar ( which is also done by means of the corrective substances), the valve 174 is opened so that the neutralization and precipitation solution enters the tower 133 above the condenser 158, and when it is desired that the amines and ammonia rise freely in the tower, the valve 174 is closed and the valve 175 is instead opened, causing the corrective substances to enter below the opening 157 to precipitate only the soluble tar.

   It is obvious that any intermediate result can be obtained by opening adequately both the pucks 174 and 1750.
Thus the gaseous products which contain an alcoholic fraction of about 25% leave the alcohol extraction tower 133 through the pipe 178 and enter the dephlegmator 179 located between the pipe 178 and the condenser 1340. The approximately 25% alcoholic mixture contains small amounts of amines, ammonia, acetone and methylaceton.

   Passing through the dephlegmator 179, an aqueous fraction of the vapors condenses and inevitably carries with it a part of the alcoholic liquid, all these fractions returning through the conduit 180 to the upper part of the tower d 'alcohol extraction 133, with a view to being reprocessed ,, The remainder continues on its way through the pipe 181 entering the condenser 134 where the condensable fractions of gaseous products condense, the condensate then flowing through through piping 184 in a condensate tank 135.

   The non-condensable fraction (and may also be some entrained residual condensable products) passes through the discharge pipe 182 into the dephlegmator 187 which is located between the condenser 134 and the settling tank 135 and retains the liquid particles which may have been entrained by the combustible gases as it flows in the direction of the scrubbers 183 (see figure 17) which will be described more specifically below,
The pipe 184 directly connects the condenser 134 to the tank 135, and a pipe 185 connects the bottom of the dephlegmator 187 to the pipe 184.

   The dephlegmator 187 is provided at its upper part with a pipe 186 which enters the neutralization tank 521 containing an alkaline solution, for example hydrated lime, to neutralize any quantity of acetic acid which may have been entrained. The scrubbing gases continue their path through line 522 towards the lower part of one of the scrubbers 183, which forms part of the installation for treating the combustible gases as will be explained later. , and are directed to the gas burner 95 of the furnace 65 (see Figure 4).



   The tank 135 is connected to the tank 136 by means of the pipe 188 (see figure 2), and it is now possible to see where the coolant comes from for the refrigeration circuits of the temperature control coil 132 of the separator to tar 62. It should also be noted that the lower part of the alcohol extraction tower 132 is provided with two

  <Desc / Clms Page number 21>

 special tanks 189 and 190, the last of these, that is to say the tank
190, being whichever of the two is lower.

   The purpose of these special tanks is to separate the soluble tar and remove it from the alcohol extraction tower 133 by the addition of substances supplied by the auxiliary tank 172. If acid is used sulfuric, there is a precipitation of the soluble tar which is separated in the special tanks 189 and 190. For this purpose the precipitated tar descends successively in the overflow tanks 159 and 160, at the same time as the pyrolignous acid, and penetrates fi - finally in the upper special tank 189 of greater height than the overflow tanks 159 and 1600 Usually the special tanks are about 0.50 m.

   Each of the special reservoirs has an opening 191 and 192, respectively, the cross sections of which are sufficiently narrow to prevent the liquid which accumulates in the special reservoirs from passing through the central openings 191 and 192, since the gaseous products which are generated in the lower part and particularly in the boiler 163 rise through these central openings.

   In fact, taking into account that the cross section of the central openings 191 and 192 is smaller than that of the central openings 161 and annular openings 162, it is understood that the gaseous products increase their velocity or pressure as they pass. through the central openings 191 and 192, and in this way the downward movement of the liquid accumulated in the special reservoirs 189 and 190 is avoided. Thus the liquid will start to accumulate and to separate into its components, the soluble tar and pyroligneous acid, in the upper tank 189 where it has sufficient time to properly precipitate the soluble tar under the precipitating action of sulfuric acid and thus the pyroligneous acid will float on top of the soluble tar .



   The special upper tank 189 is connected to the special lower tank 190 by means of a pipe 193, the upper end 193 'of which is located below the upper edge 189' of the special tank 189, and the lower end 193 "is located adjacent to the bottom 190" of the special tank 190; thus the pyroligneous acid which floats on the soluble tar in the special tank 189 is discharged through the conduit 193 to the special lower tank 190 and, obviously, the discharge will begin when the level of l 'pyroligneous acid will tend to rise above the top 193'.

   Soluble tar accumulated in the special tank 190 is discharged through the pipe 194 provided with an inspection window 195 and a regulating valve 196. The valve 196 is closed by the operator. when he observes at the inspection window 195 that the pipe 194 does not discharge soluble tar but begins to discharge pyroligneous acid, which he observes by the change in color of the liquid.
The special lower reservoir 190 is used to repeat the above-described operation, so that the pyroligneous acid, which may have caused soluble tar fractions, is reprocessed to precipitate the soluble tar.

   The accessories of the lower special tank 190 are of the same type as those described with respect to the upper special tank 189, in other words; the upper ridge 190 'is disposed at a greater height than the upper end 197' of the pipe 197 , which connects the special tank 190 to the overflow tank 160 located below the special tank 190. For this purpose the lower end 197 "of the discharge pipe 197 is located adjacent to the bottom 160" of the overflow tank 160.

   A pipe 198 having an inspection window 199 and a control valve 200 regulates, like the pipe 194, the discharge into the lower tank 190 of the precipitated soluble tar, while the line 197 discharges the clarified pyroligneous acid. in the following lower overflow tank 160. The soluble tar which is discharged via the pipes 194 and 198 is added to the tar stored in the tank 150 via the collecting pipe 572 (see FIG. 2).

   It is seen that by suitably manipulating the control valves 196 and 200 a continuous operation can be achieved with respect to the alcohol extraction tower 1330.

  <Desc / Clms Page number 22>

 
The hot pyroligneous acid free of oil and tar thus reaches the boiler 163 and discharges at the lower end via a pipe 171 (see also figure 2), and passes through the control valve 524, towards the neutralization tank 201. This neutralization tank 201 consists of an external tank 525 and of an internal pipe 526 which is preferably partially conical as indicated at 527 to facilitate the loading of the pyroligneous acid transmitted by the piping 171.

   A pipe 528 also enters the interior pipe 526.



   Line 528 brings the calcium hydrate produced to the hydration plant shown in Figure 21 and which will be described later.



   A shaft 529 passes through conduit 526 and supports a helix 530 at its lower end and adjacent to the free end of conduit 526. A pulley 531 mounted on a shaft 533 carried by a support 532 ( see also figure 21), transmits its motion to shaft 529 by means of a --603 bevel gear transmission,
It is understood that the materials which are discharged into line 526 through lines 171 and 528 are mixed, the pyroligneous acid and hydrated lime being completely mixed by the propeller. 530 which rotates at high speed and projects liquids with great centrifugal force towards the walls of outer tank 525. Pulley 531 receives its movement from a motive source which is not shown.



   Thus the pyroligneous acid is converted into calcium acetate by means of hydrated lime.



   In order to always obtain a suitable neutralization, the pipes 171 and 528 are both provided with control valves 524 and 534 'respectively (see figure 21).



   Hydrated lime is obtained by means of the installation shown in figure 21. A railway track 535 or a road passes near a loading chamber 536 in which the cars 537 or the trucks can unload over the. inclined surface 536 'their load of calcium oxide into chamber 536.

   A conveyor 538 with buckets 538 'takes the calcium oxide and discharges it into a hopper 539 which directs it to a channel 540 with a screw conveyor 541 which transports the load towards the discharge end 5420 A water sprinkling produced by means of a perforated pipe 543 is provided along and above the channel 540, the sprinkler being connected to a power source (not shown) through 'A feed line 5440 In this way the calcium oxide which enters the hopper 539 is transformed into hydrated lime as it passes towards the discharge end 542 which discharges the hydrated lime onto a or more 545 vibrating screens (only one is shown),

   If several sieves are used, these are superimposed and the mesh of the lower sieve is always finer than that of the sieve which is immediately above it, and in this way a sieving of the calcium hydrate is done by successive phases,
In the form shown, this sifting action is effected by a single sieve 545 which separates foreign particles from the hydrated lime, so that a hydrated lime slurry is deposited in a receptacle 546 located below the sieve 545 The discharge pipe 528 supplies the neutralization tank 201 with hydrated lime, as explained previously.



   The calcium acetate thus formed in the tank 201 is discharged into the sump or precipitation and clarification tank or still thermal sump 155 (see Figures 2 and 4). In order to clarify the calcium acetate and to lengthen the length of the path of the calcium acetate in the thermal sump 155, the latter is provided with a number of substantially vertical panels 202, which divide the sump 155 into one. number of compartments 203.

   These panels 202 act as barriers and therefore the calcium acetate, when it reaches the last compartment 203 'can be considered as substantially clarified and it is then taken up again.

  <Desc / Clms Page number 23>

 by the pump 204 which is a double pump, as will be seen later, connected on the one hand to the last compartment 203 'by means of a pipe 205 and on the other hand to the cylinder 102 for decomposition of acetate of calcium (see figure 4) where calcium acetate is converted into acetone and by-products as will be seen later. As said previously, the alcoholic liquid at about 25%, obtained in the alcohol extraction tower 133 and constituting the refrigeration liquid for the tar separator 62, is conducted, once preheated in the rectification tower 121 by the 'intermediary of the pipe 140.



   It is interesting to note that the liquid which enters the rectification tower 141 has approximately the following composition:
 EMI23.1
 
 <tb> water <SEP> 75,000%
 <tb>
 <tb>
 <tb> alcohol <SEP> methyl <SEP> 19.300%
 <tb>
 <tb>
 <tb> acetone <SEP> and <SEP> others <SEP> ketones <SEP> 30.500%
 <tb>
 <tb>
 <tb> acetate <SEP> of <SEP> methyl ' <SEP> 8.600%
 <tb>
 <tb>
 <tb> alcohol <SEP> allylic <SEP> 0.075%
 <tb>
 <tb>
 <tb> aldehydes <SEP> 0.250%
 <tb>
 <tb>
 <tb> ammonia <SEP> and <SEP> amines <SEP> 0.150%
 <tb>
 <tb>
 <tb> hydrocarbons <SEP> 0.375%
 <tb>
 
The rectification tower 141 comprises a number of bubbling tanks 207 (see Figures 22 and 23) mounted on platforms 208 and consisting of a number of conduits 209, preferably of rectangular cross section,

   which are aligned with the corresponding openings 547 formed in the platforms 208. Each conduit 209 is provided with an inverted bowl 548 of greater height than the portion of the conduit 209 which emerges from the corresponding platform 208, the bowls 548 surrounding the rectangular conduits 209 and being supported by the platforms 208. The base portion of the bowls 548 has a zig-zag shape, thus producing a greater contact area 549 for the liquid which is accumulated between the bowls. Upturned bowls 548 and corresponding piping 209. Zigzag openings 549 allow liquid to escape. A conduit 550 passes through the platform 208 and the portion of the conduit which emerges from the platform 208 has a lower height than that of the rectangular conduits 209.

   The lower end 550 'of the line 550 enters the next lower section of the bubbling tanks 207 and its free end is adjacent to the platform 208. Likewise a line 551 (see figure 22) connects the section immediately. top of the bubbling tanks 207 with the one shown in figure 23.



   The gases and vapors which rise through the rectangular ducts 209 are partially condensed when they meet the inverted bowls 548, and the gases and vapors which are not condensed exit through the openings 549 while the condensed fractions form with time a liquid level which can reach at most the height indicated by the numeral 552, because, when the liquid level tends to rise further, the liquid is discharged to the immediately lower bubbling section.



  It can thus be understood that the uncondensed gases., When they leave the inverted bowls 548 passing through the openings 549 must bubble through the liquid accumulated on the platform, and in this way the gases are washed before entering the platform. lines 209 in the next upper section of bubbling tanks 207.



   The condensed fraction, in other words, the liquid fraction, continues its downward movement through lines 550 until it reaches boiler 214 (see Figure 2) which will be alluded to later.



   An auxiliary tank 211 connected to the upper part of the rectification tower 141 via the conduit 212 provided with a regulating valve 213, contains a solution of caustic soda or a solution of calcium hydrate for precipitating. phenols and destroy aldehydes which are entrained downward with the stream of liquid which gradually passes through lines 550 to reach boiler 214.

  <Desc / Clms Page number 24>

 



  The boiler 214 is provided with a heating coil 215 which receives steam through the conduit 216 connected to the main steam supply piping 371 which will be referred to later as the coil 215 discharging the used steam through the discharge line 2180 The supply line 216 and the discharge line 218 are each provided with a control valve 217 and 219 respectively.



   The heating coil 215 has the same function as the heating coil 164 of the alcohol extraction tower 133, which is to raise the temperature of the liquid accumulated in the boiler 214, in order to evaporate the alcoholic vapors and other volatile products. Phenols, water and other precipitated impurities which accumulate in boiler 214 are discharged as residues through discharge piping 220.



   The alcoholic vapors together with the required impurities, i.e. methanol with butanone, methylacetone, acyclic amines and pyridine, leave the upper part of rectification tower 141 via line 221 and enter the condenser 222 which allows the passage of pure vapors while the remaining fractions are condensed and recycled via line 223 in rectification tower 141.

   The pure vapors are discharged through line 224 into a refrigerant 225 where they are cooled and discharged through piping 226, and a test tube 227, (which controls the quality of the distillate) and the distillate then goes to storage tank 228 until it is later used in the fuel, as described above.



   Even though the condenser 222 and the refrigerant 225 are not specifically described because they are well known, it is evident that the lines 222 'and 225', respectively, constitute the inlet lines for the liquid of. cooling, and lines 222 "and 225", respectively, constitute the corresponding discharge lines. Usually water is used as a coolant, supplied by a suitable source, not indicated.



   The feed pump 204 for both tar and calcium acetate liquor includes two pumps 229 and 230 of substantially identical construction. The pump 229 is connected to the supply pipe 205 and to a flexible pipe 231 connected to the supply device in the calcium acetate decomposition cylinder 102, as will be described later. is connected via the conduit 154 to the reservoir 150, and via the flexible conduit 232 to the supply device of the tar cracking cylinder 101.



   As can best be seen in Figure 6, each pump 229 and 230 respectively comprises a cylinder 229 'and 230'. The construction will be described with reference to the pump 230. The cylinder 230 'includes a plunger 233, the upper end of which is connected to a rod 234. The free end portion of the rod 234 is articulated by means of 'nuts 235 and 235' to a crossbar 236; tamping 237 isolates the inside of the pump 230 from the outside and allows the passage of the plunger 233.

   The base 230 "of the pump 230 has a central borehole provided at its inner end with a seat for a ball 240 disposed in a cage 241 forming a check valve. A pipe 242 is connected to the base 230" of the cylinder 230 ', A check valve 243 connects line 242 to flexible line 2320
The cylinder 230 'is mounted on a base 244 through which the tubing 154 passes. The pipe 154 connects the pump 230 to the reservoir 150.



   The transverse bar 236 carries in its middle a projection 246 to which is coupled a connecting rod 247, the other end of which is coupled to a level 248 actuated by a control shaft 2490 It will be understood that by rotating the The drive shaft 249 the crossbar 236 rises and falls, and with it the plunger 233 which in its upward movements sucks a given volume of liquid tar from the reservoir 150 through the intermediate

  <Desc / Clms Page number 25>

 diary of the pipe 154 passing through the intermediary of the check valve 240, which will be in the position shown in the broken line,

   During the intake stroke described above the check valve 243 stops the return of the liquid contained in the flexible pipe 232 and the connecting devices, back towards the cylinder 2300
During the return stroke or downward movement of the diver
233, the liquid in the cylinder 230 'is ejected through the line 242 and the check valve 243 in the flexible line 232 and at the same time the check valve 240 closes.



   Referring now more specifically to the tar cracking cylinder 101 and to its cracking device housed at least partially in the heating chamber 99, it should be pointed out first of all that the tar cracking cylinder 101 is of construction similar to the calcium acetate decomposition cylinder 102 which, therefore, will not be specifically described later, the cylinder 101 having a partially hollow rod 250 which enters a cracking cylinder 101 through a 2510 L jam The free end of the rod 250, as can best be seen in Figure 7, housed in the cylinder 101, is provided with a flange supporting a disc 252 (see also Figure 8) by means of bolts 253.

   The lower part of the disc 252 has, in the form of the invention shown, a wearing part 256 (see figure 10) which slides on a guide rail 260 attached to the bottom part of the cracking cylinder 101 and the length of which is substantially equal to the distance between the openings 285 and 286 (see FIG. 6) and the object of which will be explained later. The wearing part 256 is formed by a bar 255 provided with a groove 254 in its lower part 255 '(see FIG. 10). This groove 254 is complementary to the rail 260.

   The bar 255 is provided at each end with support projections 257 and 261, respectively, which are connected to the lower part of the disc 252 by means of a number of bolts 268 (see also figure 7) which pass through the perforations. 2590
The front face 262 of the disc 252 is a support face for a residue scraper 263 whose free edge 264 is in scraping contact with the internal surface 265 of the cylinder 101.



   A spray head 266 (see also Fig. 9) is also supported by the disc 252 by means of several bolts 267 which also pass through the scraper 263 which is further secured to the bottom of the disc 252 by bolts 268. At least one longitudinal perforation 553 connects the front face 262 with the rear face 554 of the piston 269.



   The hollow rod portion 250 is provided at a part external to the cylinder 101 and at a point which does not enter the cylinder 101, even if the piston 269 reaches the dead center of its stroke corresponding to the opening 270. The piston 269 is formed from a set of elements shown in detail in Figure 7, most of which have already been described.



   The flexible pipe 232 enters the hollow portion of the rod 250 via the opening 270 through which also enters a cooling pipe 271. The flexible pipe 232 is obviously replaced by a rigid pipe 232 'in the tube. portion within rod 250. Line 232 'passes through scraper 263 through perforation 272 and enters a semi-cylindrical space 273 formed by spray head 266 and scraper 263.

   The semi-cylindrical space 273 is provided at its periphery with a number of spaced nozzles 274 which allow the ejection of the vegetable tar through the nozzles 274 by the plunger 233 during its downward stroke, the tar being ejected through the nozzle. inside the cylinder 101 and more particularly on the internal wall 2650 For this purpose, the inclined portion 275 of the scraper 263 constitutes a directing screen for the tar ejected by the jets 274.



   The cooling line 271 receives crude acetone as a coolant, the crude acetone being supplied by the plant.

  <Desc / Clms Page number 26>

 tion producing acetone, which will be described later. The pipe 271 enters the semi-cylindrical chamber 276 formed in the disc 252, and returns through the semi-cylindrical chamber 276, the hollow rod 250, and leaves the latter via the pipe 277. The remaining rear portion 250 'of the rod 250, which is the portion behind the opening 270, is preferably solid and supports a transverse pin 278 partially housed in a bearing 279 integral with one end of the rod. The articulation 280, the other end of which forms an articulation with a crank 282 controlled by the control shaft 249.

   A supporting and sliding guide 283 for the rod 250 is provided between the free outer end 284 of the solid part 250 'and the transverse pin 278.



   It will be understood from what has been said above that when the motor shaft 249 is actuated, the transverse bar 236, forming part of the pump 204, and the piston 269, by means of its rod 250, and a similar piston housed in the calcium acetate decomposing cylinder 102, because the cross pin 278 connects the two rods to each other, will be actuated simultaneously.

   The arrangement of the calcium acetate feed line, which corresponds to line 232 'of the tar cracking cylinder 101, and the arrangement of the cooling line, which corresponds to the cooling line 271, of the arrangement of cylinder 101, is substantially the same as indicated above and therefore it is understood that when specific reference is made to the installation of which cylinder 102 forms a part, that the construction has already been explained. - quée.



   Because of what has been said above. it will be understood that the weight of the piston 269 is considerable and it has therefore been judged preferable to provide the cylinder 101, as well as the cylinder 102, respectively with rails 260 and a wear part 256 for the piston 269, and therefore during wear of the wear part 266, and more particularly of the bar 265, the wear part 266 can easily be replaced without the need to make the cylinder HERE.



   As can best be seen in Figure 6, cylinder 101 protrudes out of heating chamber 99 at its two ends, which are closed by joint covers 258 and 258 '. Each of these projecting parts have at their base openings 285 and 286 to which the sewers 287 and 288 are respectively connected, having corresponding anterooms 289 and 290, separated by panels 291 and 292 operable by means of screws 293 and 294., themselves provided with handwheels 295 and 296 respectively. The anterooms 289 and 290 are isolated from the outside by means of the unloading panels 297 and 298 operable by means of the screws 299 and 300 provided with steering wheels. hand 301 'and 302 respectively.

   The panels 291, 2929 297 and 298 and their accessories are of a type similar to the panels 69, 71 and 85 of the retorts 41.



   As will be seen later, the sewers 287 and 288 collect the carbonaceous residues which are discharged by the piston 269 and, when the sewers 287 and 288 are full of residues, the latter are passed through the anti-chambers 289 and 290 by operating the handwheels 295 and 296 respectively; once the tailings have been unloaded into the respective anterooms, panels 291 and 292 are closed again and discharge panels 297 and 298 are opened, the tailings being unloaded through channels 303 and 304 into wagons 305 and 306 preferably forming part of a train (not shown). These residues are used in the briquette making mixture, as will be explained later.



   Starting from the foregoing explanation, and if one especially recalls the explanation concerning the chambers 66 to 68 of the retorts 41, it will be understood that when unloading the carbonaceous residues in the manner explained above, it will be understood between the inside of the cylinder 101 and the outside is not established, and thus there is no substantial loss of cracking gas.

  <Desc / Clms Page number 27>

 



   Having thus explained the construction details of the last described devices which are the pump 204, the tar cracking cylinder
101, and their respective accessories, we will now analyze their operation.



   Taking into account that the drive shaft 249 operates the pump 204 and the piston 269 at the same time, it will be understood that the two mechanisms are synchronized. The timing is designed such that when the plunger 233 has reached the top dead center of its stroke, the piston 269 has reached the forward dead center of its stroke which, in puffs words, corresponds to the edge of the stroke. opening 285.

   When the control shaft 249 continues its rotation, the plunger 233 forces the tar contained in the cylinder.
230 'through line 242, check valve 243, flexible line 232; the rigid pipe 2329 and the nozzles 274, which eject the tar as a finely divided rain on the inner wall 265 of the cylinder
101; the arrangement is such that dejection takes place during the movement. of the piston 269 from the opening 285 to the opening 286, the latter corresponding to the posterior dead center of the horizontal stroke of the piston 269; the ejection stops precisely when the piston 269 has reached the posterior dead center which also corresponds to the lower dead center of the stroke of the plunger 233 of the pump 204.



   The same principle and operation apply to the pump 229 of the 1 ± 1 calcium acetate decomposition cylinder 102.



   Now returning to the previous description, ejection does not occur during the reverse stroke of the piston 269., because during the reverse stroke, the plunger 233 draws a new charge of tar from the reservoir 150. The piston 269 and above particularly the scraper 263 performs in the opposite stroke a scraping action on the inner surface 265 of the cylinder 101, discharging the residue through the opening 285 into the sewer 287.



   In the following description, the stroke which piston 269 makes from opening 285 to opening 286 in which it ejects tar, is referred to as "working stroke" and the other stroke is referred to as "scraping stroke" .



   During the working stroke, the piston 269 and more particularly the nozzles 274 eject a finely divided rain of tar onto the internal surface 265 of the cylinder 101. Because the internal surface 265 of the cylinder 101 is at a high temperature, in the region of 500 C, when the tar rain comes in contact with the inner surface 265, there is an immediate spitting of the goqTon fractions which come into contact and adhere for an infinitesimal period of time on the inner surface 265, while that the remaining fraction of the tar rain, which does not adhere, falls on the corresponding semi-cylindrical lower part of the cylinder 101.

   This takes place because a fraction of the tar rain, when ejected upward by the nozzles 274, is repelled due to the difference in surface tensions between the tar and the internal hot wall 265. C ' It is precisely for this reason that the nozzles 274 have been provided at the upper semi-cylindrical part since the lower semi-cylindrical inner wall 265 is indirectly coated. Thus, the ejection of tar produced by the nozzles 274 forms a thin film on the inner wall 265 during the working stroke.

   The gases which are introduced during the cracking action leave the cylinder 101 via the outlet pipe 307 passing, during the first half of the working stroke, through the perforations 553 made in the piston 269 and by entering, in the second half of the working stroke, directly into the outlet pipe 307.



   It is evident that when the liquid tar comes into contact with the hot inner surface 265 of the cylinder 101, the temperature of the cylinder wall decreases. Once the working stroke is completed, the piston begins its scraping stroke by removing the residues, mainly carbonaceous residues which adhere to the internal surface 265, removing them by scraping, and during this scraping stroke, the wall cylinder has the

  <Desc / Clms Page number 28>

 sufficient time to raise its temperature to the correct cracking or thermal decomposition temperature, so that when a new working stroke begins, the tar which is ejected by the nozzles 274 will come into contact with a clean internal surface 265, which is at the correct cracking temperature.



   As already indicated, the gases produced by the cracking operation pass through the outlet pipe 307 passing through the opening 308 of a scraping piston 309 (see also Figure 11) towards a dephlegmator 310. in which the heaviest parts or fractions condense. The scraper piston 309 is provided for scraping the inner wall 311 of the outlet line 307, because when the gases leave the cylinder 101 through the line 307 coking occurs due to the temperature difference, and the gases leave the cylinder 101 through the line 307. residues adhere to the inner wall 311 as well as to the wall with the perforations 308 of the scraper piston 309. A panel 312 is provided with an equal number of protruding pins 313 capable of entering the openings 308 of the scraper piston. 309.

   Cee protruding pegs are each provided with a scraping end 314; a cross-shaped pipe 315 connects the space formed by the outlet pipe 307 with an extension 307 'which enters the dephlegmator 310. The scraping piston 309 is mounted on a rod 316, the upper end of which is 316 'protrudes to the outside by passing through the jam 317.



  The upper end 316 'is housed in a bearing 319 to which is also coupled the lower end 320' of a rod 320, the upper end 320 "of which is guided by a stationary guide 318. A partial shaft 321. ment housed in the bearing 319 is connected to the lower end portion 322 'of an oscillating bar 322 whose upper end 322 "is coupled to a shaft 323 also connected to the free end 324' of an eccentric 324 mounted on a shaft 325 supported by a stationary bearing 326 and provided with a transmission pulley 327 connected to a pinion 328 by means of several V-shaped belts 329. The pinion 328 is mounted on a shaft ... 330 forming part of a speed reducer 331 connected by a coupling 332 to a motor

  electric 333. It is understood that by rotating the control shaft of the electric motor, the latter transmits its movement to the speed reducer 331, to the pinion 328, with V-belts 329, to the pulley 327, to the shaft 325 and to the eccentric 3240 The oscillating bar 322 transforms this rotary movement into a reciprocating rectilinear oscillating movement, and thus the rod 316 guided by the rods 32.0 will move in an up and down movement , The movements of the rod 316 and its scraper piston 309 are synchronized with the movements of the piston 269, so that the upper dead center of the stroke of the scraper piston 309, that is to say when the latter is in contact or at least adjacent to the panel 312, corresponds to the end of the working stroke of the piston 269,

   and that the lower dead center of the stroke of the scraper piston 309 corresponds to the starting point of the working stroke of the piston 269,
Therefore during the working stroke of the piston 269, the scraper piston 309 and the scraper ends 314 will clean the scraper piston 309 when it reaches its upper terminal position, and more particularly, the end. The scraper 314 will clean the openings 308, and thus the residual material, scraped mainly from the carbonaceous material, will fall into the cylinder 101.



  * When the piston 269 begins its scraping stroke, the scraping piston 309 will begin its scraping action, still discharging the residue into the tar cracking cylinder 101, and the piston 269 will transport the residue portion of the residue to the sewer 287. the outlet line 307, these residues having been removed by scraping before the piston 269 reaches the outlet line 307.

   As the piston 269 continues its scraping stroke toward the cover 258, and once it has passed the portion corresponding to the opening of the outlet line 307, the scraping piston 309 will continue to operate. downward scraper movement and discharge the scraped off residue into cylinder 101 behind rear face 554 of piston 269. When piston 269 begins its new working stroke, back face 275 'of inclined face 275 of scraper 263 will carry the last mentioned residues to sewer 288 and into it, where they will be discharged in the manner

  <Desc / Clms Page number 29>

 already explained
The vapors and gases which were formed in the cracking cylinder 101 and which entered the dephlegmator 310,

   leave the latter through the upper part and, more particularly) through the connecting pipe 334 to enter the condensing tower 335. This tower consists of a number of lower bubbling tanks 336 and a number of upper bubbling tanks 337 separated by a multitubular condenser 338. The bubbling tanks 336 and 337 are of the typical type as the bubbling tanks 207 with their respective accessories, as described in connection with the rectification tower 141 (see figures 2, 22 and 23) and therefore, will not be specifically described in connection with condensing tower 335.

   The only interesting detail is that the driving
339 (see figure 6) which discharges the condensed liquid from the last section of the lower tanks 336 is of such length that its discharge opening 339 'is located adjacent to the base 340 of the condensing tower 3350 A pipe 342 connects the lower part of the upper 337 bubbling tanks with the upper part of the lower 336 bubbling tanks ,, A return flow piping 343 connects the base
340 with the dephlegmator 310;
A pipe 344 allows the discharge of the gaseous head products from the condensing tower 335 and leads them to the pipe 522 (see figure 2) which leads the gaseous products to the scrubbers 183 (see also figure 17).



   Multitubular condenser 338 receives its cooling water through line 345 and discharges through line 3460 The source of cooling water supply is not indicated.



   The gases and vapors which enter the condensing tower 335 through the conduit 334 pass, in the form of the invention shown (see Figure 6) into the section 336 of lower bubbling tanks where the condensed liquids will remain, while the remaining gases and vapors will pass through the multi-tube condenser 338, where the gases are subjected to a complete cooling action, being already cold when they bubble into chamber 347, and since these gases still contain some hydrocarbons, especially those with a low distillation point, are forced to bubble again in the upper section of the bubbling tanks 337, in order to remove the last traces of hydrocarbons which they may have entrained.



   Thus, the non-condensable or fixed gases are discharged through piping 344 and are, as previously indicated, added to the non-condensable or fixed gases produced in the carbonization of wood, as previously described.



   During this time condensed liquids, mainly aromatic hydrocarbons, acyclic saturated series hydrocarbons, and ethylenic series hydrocarbons, move downward through line 342, the lower section of bubbling tanks 336, and the line 339 to enter through the return flow line 343 into the dephlegmator 310, The return of these cold liquids causes the cooling of the extension 307 'of the outlet line 307, and thus the Coking of the heavy ends up in extension 307 'is avoided. Precisely because of these facts, it is not necessary for the scraping piston 309 to also clean the inner walls of extension 307'.



   These liquids supplied by the return flow line 343 are heated in the dephlegmator 310 and leave the latter through the discharge line 348 (see also Figure 13). This dehcarge piping 348 passes through the upper part of the heating chamber 99, the line 100 and the combustion chamber 98 where it is preheated to about 12000 and then enters the central part of the boiler 349 of the purification tower. 350 (see also figure 14) which is

  <Desc / Clms Page number 30>

 disposed in another furnace 565 (see Figure 2).

   The boiler 349 (see also Figure 15) is subdivided into a number of chambers 351 formed by a number of panels 352 provided with perforations 354 which connect the chambers 351 formed by the panels 352.



   The discharge end 348 'of the discharge pipe 348 opens into the first chamber 351' separated from the last chamber 351 "by a panel 352 'without any opening.



   The hydrocarbons which are discharged from the discharge end 348 'and which fall into the first chamber 351' are forced to flow through all the chambers 351, as indicated by arrows 357, to reach the last chamber 351 " where they enter the discharge pipe 358 provided with a control valve 359. During this movement, the volatiles separate and rise in the purification tower 35Q due to the continuous movement of the liquid mass as it moves. it passes through all of these chambers 351. Thus the last chamber 351 "now contains virtually only pitch.



   This pitch is discharged via the discharge piping 358, (see figure 2) into wagons 360, consisting of a heat insulated tank 361 (eg wrapped with 'glass fibers) at the inside which is housed a mixing device consisting of a mixing propeller (not shown) mounted on a shaft 326 the end of which passes to the outside where a pulley 363 is mounted and connected to a control unit 364 by means of a belt 365, the control unit being provided with a control pulley 366.



   This wagon 260 is pre-loaded with a mixture of wood chips obtained during the cutting of wood intended for carbonization, and carbonaceous residues obtained in the sewers of the cracking cylinder 101 and unloaded in wagons 305 and 306, and residues of charcoal dust separated from the cooled charcoal, the latter being cooled in silos 118.



   Liquid pitch is discharged into this mixture and the mixer 362-366 forms a homogeneous mixture with all the components. This mixture is produced while wagon 360 is transported to a brickyard (not shown) where its contents are unloaded and the lighters are made.



   Thus a briquette is obtained with a calorific value of about 9000 calories. This briquette does not fall apart on the grills and does not clump with other briquettes to form compact blocks when subjected to high temperatures. In addition, the briquettes can be stored outside because the water does not substantially affect them.



   The liquids evaporated in the boiler 349 go up in the purification tower 350 (see figure 13), which is provided with a number of bubbling tanks 367 whose structure is similar to that of the bubbling tanks of the tower. condensation 335.



   The purification tower 350 is provided with a lower extraction section 368 and an upper extraction section 369 in which the various fractions which will subsequently accumulate there are extracted or purified,
The main steam supply line 371 connected to a source of steam supply (not shown) and which will be referred to later when the decomposition of calcium acetate is studied, supplies steam not only to the branches 372 but also to an additional number of branches as we have already seen and as we will see later, to supply steam to all the parts of the plant which need it.



   In the part of the installation currently under consideration, or in other words, the extraction sections 368 and 369 (see also fi

  <Desc / Clms Page number 31>

 gure 20), the steam is supplied to each chamber 370 via a valve 373 and a coil 353 provided with openings 355 which allow the injection of the steam into the chambers 370 which are subdivided in the part. lower, by means of a number of panels 374, and thus a number of lower chambers 356 are formed.

   The panels 374 are provided alternately with openings 517 adjacent to the central duct 518 through which the vapors and gases rise and enter the chamber (see also figure 13) and with openings 519 adjacent to the periphery of the panels. respective extraction sections 368 and 369.

   These openings 517 and 519 are arranged alternately so that the heating coil 353, which passes through the opening, assumes a wavy or zig-zag shape, and the liquid, which is precipitated in the chambers.
356, follow the same path as indicated by the arrows 5200 A panel 374 'separates the first lower chamber 356' from the last lower chamber 356 "connected to the discharge pipe 3750
In this way,

   the condensed products which are to follow the meandering path in the lower extraction section 368 and the upper extraction section 369 are subjected to heating and distillation which ensures that the volatiles will be released before the hydrocarbons liquids leave the lower extraction section 368 through the discharge piping 375 and through the upper discharge piping 376 to the upper extraction section 369. It is important to maintain a constant temperature in the pipes. extraction sections 368 and 369 in order to always harvest the same hydrocarbons as will be explained immediately.



   Both discharge lines 375 and 376 are provided with control valves 377 and 378, respectively. These pipes 375 and 376 are respectively connected to the cooling coils 379 and 380, each arranged in a cooling tank 381 and 382, from which the hydrocarbons are discharged in the liquid state in the storage tanks 383 and 384. indicated. schematically, by first passing through the control or test tubes 385 and 386, respectively. The way in which the cooling coils 379 and 380 are cooled will be explained later.



   As is known, the control tubes are all provided with a breather tube such as the tube 387 in the control tube 385, which is connected to the atmosphere, and thus, the production of a return is avoided. in the discharge line due to back pressure.



   The lower storage tank 383 (shown schematically only) collects products which are approximately in the range of 120-150 ° C, which form the acidic hydrocarbon compounds consisting mainly of phenol, cresol, crecineol and cineol.



   The storage tank 384 (shown only schematically) corresponding to the middle portion of the purification tower 350 collects the products formed mainly of neutral oils with a distillation point of approximately between 150 and 180 C. These oils Neutrals are cracked again in the tar cracking cylinder 101, and for this purpose, line 388 brings the neutral oils to reservoir 150 (see Figure 2).



   The non-condensed products leave the upper part of the purification tower 350 via the piping 389 and enter a multitubular condenser 390 in which the overhead products are cooled and condensed and then are discharged via the piping. rie 391, the control tube 392, and the discharge pipe 557 in the storage tank 393 shown schematically ,,
The discharge piping 557 as well as similar piping from the control tubes 385 and 386 terminate in the respective storage tanks 393,384 and 383 very near the bottom.

   The multitubular condenser 390 is provided in its lower chamber 558, in addition to the piping 391,

  <Desc / Clms Page number 32>

 another tubular fitting 559 which enters a dephlegmator 560 similar in structure to that of the dephlegmator 187 of the alcohol extraction tower 133. A discharge pipe 561 for liquid fractions which may have been entrained, connects the dephlegmator 560 to storage tank 393. The upper part of dephlegmator 560 is connected to suction fan 562, the discharge opening 563 of which is connected directly to the atmosphere.



   Let us return to the condensation tower 335 (see figure 6). The gas discharge pipe 344 of this tower which is connected, as already mentioned, to the pipe 552 and also supplies the scrubbers 183, is provided with a pressure regulator 564 shown schematically and well known, intended µ-adjust the pressure on both sides and more particularly the pressure in the condensing tower 335 and in the dephlegmator 310.



   Considering now the whole of the dephlegmator 310, the discharge piping 348, the boiler 349 and the purificatiai tower 350, with regard to their mode of operation, it is necessary to point out the following The boiler 349 is heated by means of a furnace 565 from which it results that the volatile fractions rise from the residual pitch, and that there is thus produced a pressure in the boiler 349 which tends to stop the discharge of the liquid supplied by the piping discharge 348 connected to the dephlegmator 310.

   In order to overcome this difficulty, a pressure regulator 554 has been provided, which ensures that a certain pressure is maintained in the dephlegmator 310 on the liquid in the dephlegmator 310, this pressure being able to at least partially counterbalance the pressure. pressure in the boiler 349.

   However, the pressure which is sometimes produced in the boiler 349 is too high compared to the pressure existing in the dephlegator 310, and this is why the dephlegmator 560 has been provided with the suction fan. 562 which cooperates in assisting the gases to rise in boiler 349 and purification tower 350, and thus the pressure in boiler 349 is sufficiently reduced to ensure the free discharge of liquids through the discharge opening 348 '. It is therefore important to properly balance the operating power of the suction fan 562 and the pressure regulator 564.



   The hydrocarbons stored in the storage tank 393 form the backbone of the fuel for internal combustion engines, these hydrocarbons consisting of acyclic hydrocarbons of the saturated series, saturated hydrocarbons of the polymethylenic series and benzene hydrocarbons.



   Multitubular condenser 390 receives its cooling water from an unspecified source which supplies water through supply line 3940 The used water is discharged through the supply line. discharges 395 and enters the piping 396 which sends it to the lower part 382 'of a cooling tank 382, the water used being discharged through the upper part 382' from which the water is supplied via line 397 into the lower part 381 'of a cooling tank 381, and is finally discharged at the upper part 381 ".

     Thus, the same cooling water is used for successive phases, which is possible due to the fact that the temperature in the multi-tube condenser 390 and in the cooling tanks 382 and 381 gradually increases.



   Returning now to Figure 2, and more particularly to thermal sump 155, the decomposition of clarified calcium acetate will now be examined. The clarified calcium acetate, stored in the last compartment 203 ', is sucked by the pump 229 via the pipe 205. This pump 229 sends the calcium acetate liquor via the flexible pipe 231. in the spray head 398 (see figure 16) of the piston 399 mounted on the rod 400.

   The spray head 398 is arranged so that it can slide into the cylinder 102 of

  <Desc / Clms Page number 33>

 decomposition of calcium acetate, partially housed in the heating chamber 99, as has already been explained, and is provided at its two ends respectively with sewers 401, all this having already been described both from a structural point of view than from an operational point of view when talking about the tar cracking cylinder 101, as can best be seen in figure 6.



   A line 402 supplies the coolant and a line 403 allows the discharge of the coolant which has been reheated. The coolant or refrigeration liquid is needed in order to prevent calcium acetate, which enters the rod 404, from forming encrustations on the internal walls of the pipe which is the continuation of the flexible pipe encrustations which eventually obstruct the line.



   The refrigerant liquid is water supplied from a source (not shown) and which enters the rod as indicated through line 402 and leaves the latter through line 403. hot water is sent to a boiler (not shown) fitted with its furnace and its corresponding accessories to produce the necessary steam demanded in several parts of the plant, as we have already seen and as we will see later , the steam-producing boiler being connected to the general steam supply line 371.



   As in the tar cracking cylinder 101, the calcium acetate decomposition cylinder 102 is provided at its upper central part with an opening 404, to which is an outlet pipe 405 extending into the dephlegmator. 406. The working stroke of piston 399 is exactly the same as that of piston 269 of tar cracking cylinder 101.



  During the working stroke, the spray head 398 projects a finely divided rain of calcium acetate liquor against the inner wall 407 of the calcium acetate decomposition cylinder 102. The finely divided rain forms a film on the inner wall 407, where the water is almost instantaneously evaporated and immediately after this the drying of the paste begins, after which the dry paste decomposes, the calcium acetate in this state reaching a temperature greater than 300 GB Thus, water vapor, acetone vapors, methyl acetone and acetone oil come out of the calcium acetate decomposition cylinder 102 through the opening 404 and enter the dephlegmator 406.



  The residual ash is discharged into the sewers 4010 If we have in mind the explanation of the scraping stroke given in relation to the tar cracking cylinder 101 and the outlet pipe 307 (see figure 6), it will be understood that the absence of a scraper piston in the outlet pipe 405 (see figure 16) of the calcium acetate decomposition plant means that it is not really necessary to have a sewer 401 adjacent to the dead center of the working stroke of piston 399 or, in other words, the right hand sewer in figure 50 However, it is preferable to provide such a sewer,

   because in practice it is possible that small quantities of residue will not be discharged into the left sewer during the scraping stroke or that some residue will fall into the cylinder through opening 404, which will then be discharged in the right sewer.



   The term "acetone oil" should be understood to mean a mixture of substances obtained as by-products of purification of crude acetone, these by-products derived from higher ketones produced during the treatment of the liquid of calcium acetate. which was formed from pyroligneous acid which contains about 5% other acids than acetic acid (see "La Industria de la Destilacion de Lena y sus Derivados" o Juan A. Yantorno, Buenos Aires, 1933, pages 546 ff .; 559 ff.).



   The dephlegmator 406 collects the heavy oils and part of the water. The remaining gases and vapors rise in the concentration tower 408, formed by a number of cascade tanks 409 of the same type and arranged in the same way as the cascade tanks 159 and 160 of the extraction column of alcohol 133 (see figure 4).

  <Desc / Clms Page number 34>

 



   The uncondensed vapors and gases, which constitute a crude mixture of 20-25% acetone, leave the tower through line 410 and enter the condenser 411 whose function is to concentrate them even more, so that a large part of the water is recycled to the concentration tower 408 via a reflux piping 412, while the non-condensed gaseous products having a higher concentration of acteone, are discharged through the piping discharge 413 and enter the refrigerant 414,

   where crude acetone is obtained at an approximate concentration of 25 to 30% This solution is discharged by means of a pipe 415 into a dephlegmator 566, the upper part of which is connected by means of a pipe 567 to a suction fan 568 embossed to the atmosphere, while the lower part of the dephlegmator 566 is connected to the discharge pipe 569 which leads the liquid to a precipitation tank 416 where the acetone oils collect. separate and float on the surface of the acetone so that they can pass, when a certain level has been reached, to reservoir 417, by means of piping 418.

   The suction fan 568 is intended to decrease the pressure in the cylinder 102, the concentration tower 408 and its accessories, to be sure that the decomposed fraction of calcium acetate in the cylinder 102 is immediately removed, thus avoiding a subsequent decomposition of the crude acetone, since this is not desirable for the object pursued here.



   Refrigerant 414 and condenser 411 are cooled with water supplied from a power source (not shown), with water entering through inlet piping 419 into separator or refrigerant 414 and leaving the top. from it by means of the pipe 420 to enter the condenser 411 and finally to be discharged at the top by means of the discharge pipe 421.



   It should now be noted that in order to eliminate all traces of acetone from the water and from the acetone oil, which return to the dephlegmator 406, the latter is fitted with a heating coil 422 supplied with steam from the supply pipe 371 which has already been described in FIG. 13 in relation to the purification tower 350. A valve 423 makes it possible to control the volume of steam entering the coil 422.



   The aqueous acetone solution which settles in the reservoir 416 is ready for admission to the acetone rectification tower 424. A discharge pipe 425 provided with a control valve 426 is disposed at the bottom of the reservoir 416. and allows the discharge of the crude acetone which continues its way through the piping 427 and enters the refrigeration line 271 of the hollow rod 250 (see Figures 6 and 7). Once the crude acetone is properly heated in the tar cracking cylinder 101, it leaves the hollow rod 250 through the piping 277 and enters the lower part of the grinding tower 424, in which the preheated crude acetone solution is subjected to chemical treatment.



   The acetone rectifier tower 424 includes a downhole boiler 428 with a heating coil 429 which receives steam through the main steam supply line 371, the steam previously passing through the valve. 431. A discharge pipe 432 which at the same time forms a level device for the boiler due to the fact that its discharge opening 432 'is arranged at a certain height from the floor, gives the assurance that the liquids which flow in column 434 and enter boiler 428 remain for a considerable time in boiler 428, for a reason which will be explained later.



   Acetone rectification tower 424 is provided with a lower section of bubbling tanks 433 and an upper section of bubbling tanks 434 of the type used in rectification tower 141 (see Figure 22). The upper section 434 is separated from the lower bubbling tank section 433 by an intermediate boiler 435 into which the upper portion of the lower bubbling tank section 433 enters.

  <Desc / Clms Page number 35>

 



     A number of discharge lines 436 connect the bottom section 4349 of the upper section of the bubbling tanks 434 with the lower part of the boiler 435, the discharge lines 436 being adapted for discharging the liquid portions from the upper section of the tanks. bubbling 434 in the lower part of the boiler 435. A heating coil 437 is arranged in the bottom part of the boiler
435 and is supplied with steam through the general supply line
371.

   A discharge pipe 438, having a discharge opening 438 ', maintains the liquid level in the boiler 435 at a considerable height in the same way that the discharge opening 432' does with the liquid contained in the boiler 428, and thus the liquid residues formed in the boiler 435 can be discharged.



   As already stated, the raw preheated acetone enters through piping 277 into the lower section of the bubbling tanks.
433 where the liquid portions will fall in the direction of the boiler 428 and the gaseous products will rise in the tower 424. The heating coil 429 which is connected to the main steam supply piping 371 is fitted with a discharge 430 having a valve, and allows to raise the temperature of the liquid portion housed in the boiler 428, and thus the acetone vapors separate from the liquid and rise in the tower 424 by bubbling through the vessel of bottom splash 433; the vapors thus increase their acetone content each time.

   These vapors in this way reach the tanks 433 'where they are treated with a corrective agent such as alkaline solutions supplied by the auxiliary tank 439 and its supply piping 440 A control valve 441 allows the volume to be adjusted. the alkaline solution, which can for example be sodium carbonate, 'caustic soda or hydrated lime. This solution (or solutions) is added in order to precipitate the remainder of the oils and to neutralize the quantities of phenols having may be entrained, which are produced by the quantities of tar which may possibly remain in the calcium acetate liquor,
The acetone vapors thus purified rise and bubble in the following bubbling tanks,

   until they finally reach the boiler 435 and then pass into the upper section of the bubbling tanks 434.



   In this upper section 434, the vapors bubble into the liquid part containing in solution a corrective agent such as mineral acids supplied from the auxiliary tank 442 by means of the valve 443 and the piping 444. The mineral acids are necessary for removal of amino portions and other impurities that acetone vapors may still contain.



   Thus, the pure acetone vapors exit through the upper part of the tower 424 through the pipe 445 and enter the condenser 446 which recycles to the acetone rectification tower 424 by means of the pipe 447 the liquid parts which have can be entrained, while the acetone vapors are conducted into the refrigerant 448 by means of the piping 449 and, in the refrigerant 448, the acetone vapors are liquefied.

   Liquid acetone exits refrigerant 448 through discharge piping 450 and enters storage tank 451 (shown only schematically) by first passing through test tube 452 fitted with a hose. breather 4530
The cooling system of condenser 446 and refrigerant 448 is exactly the same as that of condenser 411 and refrigerant 414 and therefore does not need to be specifically described.



   During this time, the liquid portion which enters the boiler 435 by means of the discharge line 436, and which still contains acetone in solution, is retained for a considerable time in the boiler 435 in order to remove. the very last traces of acetone that the liquid may still contain, and it is for this that the heating coil 437 is provided.

  <Desc / Clms Page number 36>

 



   From the above description of the acetone rectifier tower 424 it can be understood that due to the double arrangement of the boilers and their accessories the heat loss is considerably reduced compared to known types of grinding tower. rectification which uses at least two independent columns, one for the alkaline treatment and the other for the acid treatment. If a plant with two independent towers is used, there is no need to make any substantial changes to the process.



   In addition, this new tower 424 also makes it possible to reduce the overall height, compared to the sum of the heights of the known independent towers, which also represents a reduction in the number of bubbling tanks.



   From the foregoing explanations it can also be understood that the rectification tower 424 or its structural equivalent can be used with any other type of distillation process, in which the fluid to be rectified must be subjected to two different treatments, such as the acid and alkali treatments described above. Obviously if one has to replace the bubbling tanks with some other type of tank, for example the cascade tanks described above, this can be done easily. Consequently, the invention wishes to cover this variant as well.



   Acetone oils, a part of which accumulates in the upper part of reservoir 417 as has already been described, also accumulates in reservoir 454. Acetone oils which are collected in reservoir 454 are supplied by dephlegmator 406. by means of the pipe 455 which functions according to the same level principles as the discharge pipes 432 and 438. A discharge pipe 456, which also functions according to the same principle, discharges the water contained in the tank 454 which is discharged to the sewer.

   A pump 457 sucks from the upper part of the reservoir 454 the acetone oils which float on the water in the reservoir 454, by means of a pipe 458, and sends the acetone oils through a pipe 459 in a 417 tank.



   A pump 460 with a suction line 461 which enters the reservoir 417 sends the acetone oils through the supply line 462 to the boiler 463 of the acetic oil rectification tower 464. This boiler 463 is provided with a heating coil 466 having steam discharge openings 467, the coil 466 being connected to the main steam supply line 371 through the valve 465,
The acetone oils entering the boiler 463 by means of the valve 468 begin to rise in the gaseous state, in other words, the acetone oil vapors and the water vapors pass through the bubbling tanks. (not shown), arranged in tower 464,

   where different products separate at different heights; more particularly, the heavy oils are collected in the lower part of the tower 464 by the pipe 469, and pass by means of the refrigerant 470 in the storage tank 471. The medium oils are collected at an average height of column 464 via piping 472, pass into refrigerant 473 and are stored in storage tank 474, and finally the light oils are collected at the top by piping 475, pass into refrigerant 476, and are stored in storage tank 477.

   All of the storage tanks 471, 474 and 477 are shown schematically.



   The coolant distribution system for refrigerants 470, 473 and 476 is of the same type as that described with respect to purification tower 350 (see Figure 13).



   It is obvious that the separation of the various acetone oils must be done in accordance with the application for which they are intended.



  By way of example, it can be pointed out that these oils may be used as a denaturant for ethyl alcohol.

  <Desc / Clms Page number 37>

 



   As has already been said, the pipe 522 of the neutralization tank 521 (see figure 4) conducts the fixed gases towards the lower part of the first scrubber 1830 It should be noted that the pipe 344 also opens into the pipe 522 and therefore the stationary gases, produced in the condensing tower 355 (see also Figures 2 and 6), are also conducted into the first scrubber 183.

   (see figure 17)
The fixed gases form an intermediate product of appreciable value since they can be used to feed the gas burner (or burners) 95 (see figure 4). These gases have approximately the following composition
 EMI37.1
 
 <tb> anhydride <SEP> carbonic <SEP> 58 <SEP>% <SEP>
 <tb>
 <tb> oxide <SEP> of <SEP> carbon <SEP> 35 <SEP>% <SEP>
 <tb>
 <tb> hydrogen <SEP> 4 <SEP>%
 <tb>
 <tb> oxygen, <SEP> methane, <SEP> nitrogen, <SEP> etc. <SEP> 3 <SEP>% <SEP>
 <tb>
 
The calorific value of the gases produced during the distillation of wood can be considerably increased if the high percentage of carbon dioxide is converted into carbon monoxide.

   This reduction is effected by passing the gas through red-hot charcoal or charcoal, with the result of obtaining a combustible gas having a calorific value of between 6000 and 7000 calories / kg.



   For this purpose, an installation is provided for treating the combustible gases, as can be seen in figure 17, which consists of a number of scrubbers 183. The gases are introduced to the lower part of the first scrubber by means of the piping 522 and rise through the scrub- ber 183 in countercurrent to a shower of water 478 supplied by the rosettes 4790 As is known, the scrubbers 183 are filled with obstacles 480 such as pieces glass, pumice stone etc.

   While which gases leave the end of the pipe 522 provided with a cap 481 in order to prevent the entry of water into the pipe 522, and as they ascend the chamber 482, the water reaches the lower part, dragging in its downward movement the hydrocarbons and other impurities contained in the stationary gases, the impurities being discharged together with the water by means of the discharge line 483. a cap 483 'in the reservoir 484 from where the washing water is again taken up by the pump 485 which returns it by means of the rosettes 479 in the scrubbers 183.



   As the washing operation continues, the washing water in the circuit becomes more and more loaded with the products separated from the fixed gases, until the proportion has become such that the water does not. can no longer be used for washing. When it is at this stage, the valve 486 is opened and the water with the impurities is sent to the tank 136 by means of the pump 485 via the pipe 487 (see also figure 2), the tank 136 containing crude methanol. A new volume of fresh water is introduced into the tank 484 by means of the water supply line 245 regulated by the control valve 570. The water supply line 245 is connected to a water supply line. appropriate source, which is not shown.



   The washed gas which is contained in the chamber 482 is collected by the pipe 488 provided with a cap 488 ', is sent to the lower end of another scrubber 183, the operation being repeated until it reaches the last scrubber 183 or the discharge pipe 489 with a cap 489 'collects the gas.



   The washed gas is sent through line 489 to a safety valve 490, the function of which is to prevent flames from returning to the gas enrichment device, hereinafter referred to as gasifier 491, in the direction of scrubber 183.



   The gases which are collected by the discharge piping 489. And sent through the safety valve 490, continue their way through the piping 493 to enter through the injector 495 into the central part of the gasifier 491 or, otherwise said, in its 499 reduction zone.

  <Desc / Clms Page number 38>

 



  Gasifier 491 reduces carbon dioxide to carbon monoxide; it comprises a charcoal deposit 496 which can be loaded by means of the opening 497 provided with a cover 497 '. The gasifier 491 is provided in the lower part of the deposit 496 with a hopper 498 which enters the reduction zone 499 where the charcoal is in the incandescent state. A combustion zone 500 includes a grate 501 which supports the glowing charcoal.



   In order to prevent the ignited charcoal from going out, which it would do if the fixed gases injected by injector 495 were injected alone, it is necessary to activate reduction zone 495 and the combustion zone 500 by an introduction of air produced by a fan 502, which supplies the air in a sufficient proportion to maintain the reduction zone at about 1200 to 1300 C, whereupon the carbon dioxide, which is injected by the injector 495 is dissociated, and in this way the resulting gas has approximately the following composition
 EMI38.1
 
 <tb> oxide <SEP> of <SEP> carbon <SEP> 80%
 <tb>
 <tb> anhydride <SEP> carbonic <SEP> 5 <SEP>% <SEP>
 <tb>
 <tb>
 <tb> nitrogen, <SEP> oxygen, <SEP> etc.

    <SEP> 15 <SEP>% <SEP>
 <tb>
 
The nitrogen fraction is due to the injection of air supplied by the fan 502 necessary for the activation of the combustion, since the fixed gases supplied by the injector 495 contain only about 1 to 2% nitrogen. The resulting gas leaves the gasifier 491 by means of the pipe 494 and is cooled in a multitubular condenser 504, provided with a tubular water cooling system of known type and already described in relation to other condensers. The cooled gases are collected by the pipe 503 by means of a pressure control pump 492 of the. Bay type.



   It is known that the pressure inside the retorts 41 and other apparatus and installations, all connected to the pressure regulating pump 492, is not uniform. The pump 492 is necessary for the purpose of avoid these pressures being either too high or too low. If the pressure is too great, cracks may occur in the retorts and other parts, which allow gases to escape, and if the pressure is too low, the high temperature which may result may decompose the hydrocarbons. into other compounds of lower molecular weight.



   In order to regulate the pressures, the pressure regulating pump 492 is provided; it consists of a cylindrical drum 510 in which an eccentric 511 rotates, provided with a pair of diametrically opposed extensible blades 512, which by means of a tension spring 513 are always in contact with the internal wall 514 of the drum 510. Thus the drum 510 is divided into two different compartments, and by rotation of the eentric 511, the gas is sucked by the pipe 503 and sent through the pipe 506 under a pressure which varies according to the speed of rotation of eccentric 511. The gas pressure at the inlet and outlet of pump 492 is indicated by gauges 515 and 516, respectively.



  The eccentric 511 is set in motion by an electric motor (not shown). Line 506 leads the gas into gasometer 505 where it accumulates.



   The fuel gas is injected into the gas burner 95 at the average% of the pressure supplied by the gasometer 505, and for this purpose the gases first pass through the line 507, the safety valve 508 and the supply piping. 509. The safety valve 508 has been provided in order to prevent backfires from the burner 95 in the direction of the gasometer 505 and in the latter.



   Instead of supplying a preheating tunnel 4 with the retorts 41 and their respective accessories, the arrangement shown in FIG. 24 can be used instead, this arrangement or installation being more economical because the basket wagons 1 do not do not require the coupling device 20 or the coupling and control mechanism 47, with their special hooks 24.



   In this form of the invention, as in that described above, an antechamber 555 is provided with its inlet door 573, its panel.

  <Desc / Clms Page number 39>

 divider bar 574 and chain drive mechanism 5750
Basket cars 576 are similar to basket cars 1 with the only difference that the front and rear of basket cars 576 are respectively provided with a pair of front buffers 577 and a pair of rear buffers. 578 (only one stamp of each pair is visible) of the conventional type in wagons.

   The two pairs of buffers 577 and 578, are located at the same height with respect to the railsa
The drying and preheating tunnel 579 differs from the tunnel 4 of the form of the invention described above in that it has a slope and thus enters. the ground, which has the advantage that once a wagon
576 entered the anteroom 555 and the chain operating mechanism
575 has opened the partition panels 574, which are not provided with a slot, the slope is sufficient to allow the car 576 to move forward in the preheating tunnel 579 until its front buffers
577 touch the rear buffers 578 of the car in front of it.

   The various wagons thus reach one by one, as a result of the action of gravity, the end part 579 'of the preheating tunnel 579 where a pair of rails 580 is provided with a stop device 581 formed by 'a pair of rail sections
582 (only one is visible) resiliently mounted on a number of compression springs 583 capable of moving the pair of rail sections 582 upward until their respective protrusions 584 retain the corresponding lugs 585 mounted on the rails 580 as shown in figure 24, so that the stopper 581 stops each car 576 when it reaches the end of its course corresponding to the preheating tunnel 579.



   The preheating tunnel 579 is connected to an elevator shaft 586 in which an elevator car 587 is slidably mounted, the car having a platform 588 with a pair of rails 589 with the same slope as the pair of rails 580. The two rails 589 are each provided with a projection 590 capable of lowering the stopper 581 when the car 587 reaches its lowest position, whereupon one of the cars 576 can enter. cabin 5870
The opposite end of the pair of rails 589 is provided, for example, with a stopper 591, similar to the stopper 581, which prevents cars 576 housed in cab 587 'from leaving the latter until until cab 587 reaches the upper end of its path.



  The car is transported by the elevator motor 592 and its accessories.



  A protrusion -593- similar to protrusions 590, lowers the stopper 591 when the cab reaches its upper position, so that the car 576 can exit the cabdne 587, as will be seen later.



   When the car 587 reaches its extreme upper position, it will, by means of its platform 588 which comes into closing contact with the closing member 594 formed by the concrete of the elevator shaft, isolate the upper terminal portion 586 'of the remainder of the elevator shaft 586.



   This is of fundamental importance, because the loading opening 595 of the retorts 596, in this form of the invention, opens to the atmosphere and the cars 576, when they leave the cabin 587 after opening the control panel. separation 597, exit to the open air and are partially covered by a roof 598.

   The system for unloading the timber contained in the wagons 576 is the same as that of the form previously described of the invention, but it should be noted that the railway track in the upper part 599 above the Retorts 596 is also sloped, eliminating the need for a coupling and control mechanism; the upper part 599 is connected to the elevator shaft 600 in which an unloading cabin 239 for empty cars is provided, similar to the elevator 46 in the form of the invention previously described.



   The fact that the upper part 599 is in contact with the atmosphere, implies a number of advantages over the other form

  <Desc / Clms Page number 40>

 of the invention, because it is possible to visually control the unloading of the wagons and the loading of the retorts. Bearing in mind the very short time that the preheated wood of the wagons is in contact with the atmosphere before being loaded into the retorts, this exposure to air is not of substantial importance.



   Due to the fact that the charging openings 595 of the retorts 596 are in contact with the atmosphere, it is evident that the heating gases must be conducted in a different manner with regard to their discharge into the preheating tunnel. 5790
For this purpose the retorts are provided at their upper part with a collecting pipe 156 for the heating gases which enter the elevator shaft 586 below the closing member 594, the gases passing through the shaft. 'elevator 586 and entering the preheating tunnel 579 from where they are sent outside by means of the chimney 238.



   It will be noted that when the car 587 is not in its upper position, the elevator shaft 586 is substantially completely isolated from the atmosphere by its panel 597, and the gases supplied by the collecting line 156 are not do not come into contact with the atmosphere.



   When the elevator car 587 reaches the upper end of its travel, and when the panel 597 is opened, the isolation of atmospheric gases is still maintained due to the fact that the platform 588 is in closing contact with the closing member 5940
The upper part 599 is provided at its end adjacent to the elevator shaft 600 with a panel 601, synchronized with the car 239 which prevents the cars 576 from leaving the upper part 599 when the car 239 is not not in the position shown in figure 24.



  Car 239 is provided with a stopper (not shown) similar to stopper 581.



   Having thus completed the specific description of the preferred forms of the installation according to the invention and also of the process, it is necessary to further specify what happens to the various products collected in the various storage tanks, in one of the preferred forms of the invention.



  Since the destination of the products has already been explained in its general lines during the introduction of this text, further details will now be provided.



   Fuel, as already explained, is a mixture of the following compounds:
The acyclic hydrocarbons of the saturated series, the saturated hydrocarbons of the polymethylene series and the benzene hydrocarbons are obtained in the storage tank 393;

   methanol with its impurities, which, as we have already seen - are butanone - methylapetone, acyclic amines and pyridine, are obtained in the storage tank 228 and form substantially the complete mixture of the integrating elements of a fuel It can be pointed out that the volumetric production of the various products in relation to the volume of the wood input is in direct proportion to the, quantity of each of the resulting products mentioned above and which are fully used in the formation of fuel.



   Apart from fuel, as has also been reported, acetone, produced from calcium acetate and collected in storage tank 451, is another by-product.



   The charcoal is stored in silos 118; the creosote oils are in storage tank 383; the briquettes are partially formed in the wagons 360 and finally the acetone oils are obtained in the storage tanks 471, 474 and 477. it is obvious that the integral elements of the end products mentioned can also be used for other uses or can be sold directly - an example of this is that the pitch discharged through the piping

  <Desc / Clms Page number 41>

 
358 can be sold partially or wholly as such instead of being used for briquette formation.



   Another example of other uses is that the vegetable fuel can also serve as a solvent for fats, fats, oils and resins such as those used in the manufacture of paints and varnishes; in the rubber industry, it can replace solvents and aromatic hydrocarbons (benzene, toluene, xylene); in the celluloid industry and other industries, it can replace expensive extraction fluids and solvents.



   CLAIMS.



   1 / Single-circuit process for the manufacture of a series of products, using wood as raw material, characterized in that it comprises the phases in which the pieces of wood are subjected to a drying action and preheating by means of hot gases, the preheated pieces of wood are carbonized, the resulting charcoal is collected and cooled, the gaseous products of the carbonization of the wood obtained during the charring are collected, the tar is separated from these gaseous products, the pyroligneous acid and soluble tar are separated from the remaining gaseous products, the soluble tar is separated from the pyroligneous acid, or the pyroligneous acid is neutralized with calcium hydrate to form a liquor. 'calcium acetate,

   the condensable products of the remaining gaseous products are condensed to obtain a condensate consisting of an alcoholic solution with impurities, the condensate is rectified and the fixed gases of the gaseous products are transformed into a combustible gas with a high calorific value. cracking the tar separated and collects the gaseous products of the tar which has undergone cracking, the pitch, the acidic hydrocarbons, the neutral oils and the aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons are collected from the gaseous products mentioned last. fixed gases of the last-mentioned gaseous products, and added to the first-mentioned fixed gases, the calcium acetate liquor is subjected to decomposition, the resulting gaseous products are concentrated, acetate liquor calcium,

   the crude acetone and the resulting acetone oils are separated and stripped separately, and the high calorific fuel gas is used to heat and produce the hot gases.


    

Claims (1)

2 / A single-circuit process according to claim 1, charac- terized in that it comprises the additional phase in which heating is used by means of hot gases first to make the cracking of tar and decompose the acetate liquor. of calcium, carbonize the preheated pieces of wood, preheat the pieces of dry wood and finally dry the pieces of wood. 3 / A single circuit process according to claims 1 and 2, charac- terized in that the preheated pieces of wood are carbonized in at least two phases. 4 / A single-circuit method according to claim 3, charac- terized in that the preheated pieces of wood are carbonized in three phases. 5 / A single-circuit process according to claims 1 to 4, charac- terized in that the tar separated from the gaseous products is subjected to a decantation in order to separate the acid waters. 6 / A single-circuit process according to claim 5, charac- terized in that the acidic water is separated from the tar in two separators. 7 / A single-circuit process according to claims 1 to 6, charac- terized in that the pyroligneous acid and the soluble tar are separated from the remaining gaseous products by treating it with at least one corrective substance from the group comprising aluminum solutions , mineral acids and organic acids. 8 / A single circuit process according to claim 7, charac- terized in that the mineral acid is sulfuric acid. <Desc / Clms Page number 42> 9 / A single circuit process according to claim 7, charac- terized in that the organic acid is tannic acid. 10 / A single circuit method according to claims 7 to 9, charac- terized in that the remaining gaseous products are treated directly with one of the corrective substances. 11 / A single circuit process according to claims 7 to 9, charac- terized in that the remaining gaseous products are partially condensed to obtain a condensate and in that this condensate is treated with one of the corrective substances. 12 / A single circuit method according to claims 1 to 11, characterized in that the calcium acetate liquor is clarified before subjecting it to decomposition. 13 / A single-circuit method according to claims 1 to 12, characterized in that the condensate of the gaseous products remaining in a temperature control coil is used as a cooling liquid before its rectification. 14 / A single-circuit method according to claims 1 to 13, characterized in that washing in an installation of scrubbers the fixed gases, in that the washed gases containing a high percentage of carbon dioxide are subjected to a reduction reducing l carbon dioxide to carbon monoxide, thereby obtaining the high calorific value gas. 15. A single-circuit method according to claim 14, characterized in that the gas of high calorific value is stored under pressure. 16 / A single-circuit process according to claims 1 to 15, charac- terized in that the acidic hydrocarbons, neutral oils and aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons are condensed and cooled before separating them from the gaseous products mentioned last . 17 / A single circuit process according to claim 16, characterized in that the neutral oils are added to the tar which is to undergo the cracking. 18 / A single-circuit process according to claim 17, characterized in that the pitch is used to make briquettes. 19 / A single-circuit process according to claim 1, charac- terized in that to convert mainly the calcium acetone liquor into acetone there is provided a closed surface defining a closed space, this surface is heated to the decomposition temperature of l 'calcium acetate, a finely divided rain of water containing impure calcium acetate liquor is produced, the rain is caused to move in a unidirectional rectilinear motion in the enclosed space, so as to apply a plaster thin of the liquor of calcium acetate at successive peripheral portions of the heated surface, the water contained in the thin coating of liquor is evaporated to produce on this heated surface impure calcium acetate dry that adheres to it, the dry impure calcium acetate is caused to continue to adhere to the heated surface for a time sufficient to decompose the dry impure calcium acetate and generate gaseous products consisting substantially of acetone and acetone oils in the ga state - Zeux, the gaseous acetone is removed, and the acetone oils from the enclosed space, the gaseous products are concentrated, a fraction of crude acetone is separated from it and a fraction of acetone oil and the two fractions are separately rectified. 20 / A single-circuit process according to claim 19, characterized in that the gaseous products contain heavy acetone oils, and in that before the concentration of the gaseous products is carried out a separation of the heavy acetone oils and 'part of the water. 21 / A single-circuit process according to claim 19, characterized in that the concentration of the gaseous products is carried out by separating them into a first fraction comprising heavy acetone oils and part of the evaporated water, and in a second fraction comprising aceto oils <Desc / Clms Page number 43> lighter weight, acetone and the remainder of the evaporated water, in that a second enclosed space is provided, the second fraction is flowed through the second enclosed space to separate the second fraction into a condensate. and as a vapor fraction, in that the condensate is added to the first fraction and the vapor fraction is condensed to produce a mixture of crude acetone and lighter acetone oils. 22 / A single-circuit process according to claim 21, characterized in that the mixture of crude acetone and lighter acetonic oils is allowed to stand in order to bring about the separation by settling of the condensed mixture in a layer. a supernatant comprising substantially the acetone oils and a lower layer comprising substantially the crude acetone together with a retained fraction of acetone oil, entrained phenols and a fraction of impurities comprising amines and the like, in that the supernatant layer is discharged and the acetone oils thus discharged are collected. 23 / A single-circuit process according to claim 22, characterized in that the heavy acetone oils are separated from the water fraction and added to the dehbelled acetone oils. 24 / A single-circuit process according to claim 22, characterized in that the lower layer is heated to convert it into a vapor phase, the vaporized lower layer is treated with at least one alkaline solution, thus producing the precipitation of the vapor. retained fraction of acetone oils and neutralization of entrained phenols, and in that the lower layer thus purified and neutralized (while still in the vapor phase) is subjected to the action of an acid solution to in this way removing amines and the like to obtain substantially pure acetone vapor, by concentrating, cooling and collecting the substantially pure acetone. 25 / A single circuit process according to claim 24, characterized in that the alkaline solution consists of at least one compound from the group of compounds calcium carbonate, caustic soda and calcium hydroxide. 26 / A single-circuit method according to claim 24, characterized in that the acid solution is a mineral acid. 27 / A single circuit process according to claim 23, characterized in that the acetone oils are heated and rectified and independently collect the heavy acetone oils, the medium acetone oils and the light acetone oils. 28 / A single circuit method according to claim 1, charac- terized in that the tar is liquid vegetable tar. 29 / A single-circuit process according to claim 28, characterized in that the liquid vegetable tar is subjected to the phases in which a finely divided rain of vegetable tar is applied, which moves rectilinearly in one direction, against the successive peripheral portions of the inner wall of a tank heated to the tar cracking temperature and in that the tar cracking into rectifiable gaseous products is carried out there, the gaseous products are collected and rectified, 30 / A single-circuit process according to -.revendication 29, characterized in that it comprises the phases in which a spray head is moved in both directions in a rectilinear fashion in a heated tank having an internal wall at the temperature of tar cracking, a substantially semicircular rain is continuously emitted by means of this head, during one direction of movement only, against the successive peripheral portions of the internal wall of the heated tank, the cracking of the tar into rectifiable gaseous products is carried out therein , the gaseous products are collected and rectified. <Desc / Clms Page number 44> 31 / A single-circuit method according to claims 29 or 30, characterized in that the tank removes the solid residual decomposition products obtained during cracking, mainly when one does not perform the operation of cracking tar. 32 / Single circuit process for the manufacture of a series of products using wood as a raw material, substantially as described and for the specified purpose. 33 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as a raw material, characterized in that it comprises a certain number of means of transporting pieces of wood, an installation of retorts for carbonization of wood, a tunnel drying and pre-heating of the wood connected to the retort plant, wagons for unloading the pieces of wood in the retort plant, a means for collecting and cooling the resulting charcoal, a means for collecting the gaseous products of the carbonization of wood which are generated during the carbonization in the installation of retorts, a means, connected to the preceding means for collecting the gaseous products of the carbonization of wood, for separating the tar gaseous products, a means, connected to the means of separation of the tar, for separating pyroligneous acid and soluble tar from the remaining gaseous products and comprising means for separating soluble tar from pyroligneous acid, means for converting pyroligneous acid into calcium acetate liquor, means connected to means for separating pyroligneous acid and soluble tar to condense the condensables from the remainder of the gaseous products, a means for rectifying the condensate, a means for transforming the fixed gases remaining from the gaseous products into a combustible gas with power. high calorific, a means for effecting the cracking of the separated tar and collecting its gaseous products, a means for separating from the gaseous products last mentioned the pitch, the acidic hydrocarbons, neutral oils and aromatic and aliphatic hydrocarbons, a means for collecting the remaining fixed gases from the cracked gaseous products and a connection to add them to the fixed gases first mentioned, a means for subjecting the calcium acetate liquor to thermal decomposition, a means for concentrating the gaseous products resulting from the calcium acetate liquor and a means for separating the resulting crude acetone and acetone oils, a means for rectifying crude acetone and a means for rectifying the acetone oils, a means comprising a burner supplied with this combustible gas, to produce hot gases, connections for using the hot gases in at least one of the cracking means, a thermal decomposition means, a retort installation and a drying and preheating tunnel. 34 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as raw material according to claim 33, characterized in that the means of transport consist of a number of wagons-panierso '35 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products , using wood as a raw material according to claim 34, characterized in that the basket cars each comprise a platform and a basket mounted on the platform, an unloading door in the platform, the door constituting the platform. means for unloading the pieces of wood, and a means for regulating the opening and closing of the unloading door, 36 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as raw material according to claim 35, characterized in that the unloading door is hingedly connected to the platform and in that the means for adjusting the opening and closing of the unloading door consists of an adjusting wheel supported by the unloading door and adapted to run on an adjustment rail 37 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as raw material according to claims 34 or 35, characterized in that the platform comprises a mating projection at its lower surface. <Desc / Clms Page number 45> 38 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as raw material according to claim 37, charac- terized in that the basket has a front end and a rear end and at least one buffer mounted on each of these ends. 39 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as raw material according to claim 37, characterized in that the basket supports at its front and rear ends a coupling device, the coupling device of the rear end being located at a greater height from the platform than the front end coupling device. 40 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as a raw material according to claim 39, characterized in that the coupling device comprises a bar supported so as to be able to oscillate at one end by the basket and forming part of the 'other end with a special hook. 41 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as raw material according to claim 40, characterized in that the special hook comprises an upper mating surface and a lower mating surface, the upper mating surface being located closer to one end than the lower mating surface, a meeting cam surface and a sliding surface meeting at one end and each having another end the other end of the surface cam being connected to the lower mating surface and the other end of the sliding surface being connected to the upper mating surface. 42 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as raw material according to claims 33 to 41, charac- terized in that the drying and preheating tunnel comprises an anti-chamber, a base portion, an inclined portion and a platform portion, the base portion being connected at one end to the anteroom and at the other end to the inclined portion, the platform portion being connected to the inclined portion at a point remote from the inclined portion. base, the platform portion being connected to the retort installation, a chimney connecting the base portion to the stump, an empty car unloading elevator connected to the platform portion and a means for moving a row of basket wagons housed in the drying and preheating tunnel, 43 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as a raw material according to claim 42, characterized in that at least the inclined portion comprises a number of screens to produce an undulating movement of the masses of gas passing through the tunnel. 44 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products using wood as a raw material according to claim 43, characterized in that the antechamber comprises a removable inlet door, a removable partition panel which separates the antechamber from the base portion , a control mechanism partially housed in the anteroom and designed to introduce wagons from outside the anteroom into it, a disconnect device for the outer set of wagons in operative relation with the mechanism control and located outside the anteroom. 45 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as raw material according to claims 42 to 44, charac- terized in that the unloading elevator comprises a cabin housed so as to be able to slide in a cage. elevator, and a removable unloading panel separating the platform portion from the elevator shaft. 46 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as a raw material according to claim 45, characterized in that the means for moving the train of basket wagons is located behind the elevator shaft and is designed to pass through the elevator shaft, the car and the unloading panel in the platform portion for access <Desc / Clms Page number 46> couple the wagon adjacent to the unloading panel and introduce 1 into the cabin, thus moving the train lodged in the drying and pre-heating tunnel. 47 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as raw material according to claims 33 to 41, characterized in that the drying and preheating tunnel comprises an antechamber connected at one end of a 'first portion on a slope, a first elevator shaft connected to the other end of the first sloping portion, a first cabin in the first elevator shaft, the first elevator shaft being connected to one end of a second sloping portion located above the retort installation, a second elevator shaft connected to the other end of the second sloping portion and provided with a second car. 48 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as raw material according to claim 47, characterized in that the antechamber comprises the same means as that claimed in claim 44. 49 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as a raw material according to claim 48, characterized in that the other end of the first sloping portion is provided with a means of stopping wagons adjustable by the first cabin. 50 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as raw material according to claim 49, characterized in that the first elevator shaft is provided at its upper part with an isolation means to isolate the upper part, by means of the first car, from the lower part of the first elevator shaft, the retort installation comprising a connection communicating with at least the lower part of the first elevator shaft for hot gases, the first elevator shaft being connected to the first sloping portion. 51 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as a raw material according to claim 50, characterized in that the first cabin comprises a stop means for the basket wagons, this stop means being / adjustable by this end of the second sloping portion, 52 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products using wood as a raw material according to claim 33, characterized in that the means for converting pyroligneous acid into calcium acetate liquor comprises a neutralization tank supplied with acid pyroligneous and calcium hydroxide, and connected to a thermal sump to clarify the resulting calcium acetate liquor. 53 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as raw material according to claim 52, characterized in that the neutralization tank comprises an inner pipe having a free end, a control shaft passing through the inner pipe and having a helix adjacent the free end of the inner conduit to cooperate in the neutralization of the pyroligneous acid with the calcium hydroxide. 54 / Plant for manufacturing a series of products using wood as raw material according to claim 52, characterized in that the thermal sump comprises a number of compartments comprising a first compartment and a last compartment, the neutralization tank being connected to the first compartment, these compartments being separated by a certain number of barriers, the last compartment being connected to the means serving for the treatment of the calcium acetate liquor by thermal decomposition. 55 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as a raw material according to claim 52, characterized in that the calcium hydroxide is prepared in a hydration installation comprising means for converting the calcium oxide into calcium hydroxide. <Desc / Clms Page number 47> 56 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as raw material according to claim 33, characterized in that the means for converting the fixed gases into a fuel gas with high calorific value comprises at least one scrubber for washing the gases, a gasifier connected to the scrubber for reducing the carbon dioxide contained in the fixed gases to carbon monoxide, a means for cooling and a means for storing the reduced gases, connected to the gasifier at one end and to the burner at the same 'other end 57 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as raw material according to claim 43, characterized in that a pressure regulator is located between the gasifier and the means for storing the reduced gases. 58 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as raw material according to claim 44, characterized in that a first safety valve is located between the scrubber and the gasogen and in that a second safety valve is located between the means for storing the reduced gases and the burner. 59 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as a raw material according to claim 43, characterized in that the scrubber comprises a washing water circulation pump and a branch for discharging the used washing water to be used as a cooling agent in the installation. 60 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as a raw material according to claim 33, characterized in that the installation of retorts for the carbonization of wood comprises a substantially vertical tank for the carbonization of wood housed in an insulated housing thermally, a heating means for the tank and a means for subjecting the gaseous products obtained during the carbonization to subsequent treatments, in that the tank is provided with removable and adjustable separation means for separating the tank at least in a primary chamber and a final chamber superimposed, the primary chamber being provided with an adjustable means of the wood intake opening, the final chamber being provided with a connection for discharging the gaseous products and with an discharging means for discharging the charcoal, 61 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products., Using wood as a raw material according to claim 60, characterized in that the removable and adjustable separation means, the adjustable means of the inlet opening of the wood and the means of unloading are each made up of substantially horizontal panels designed to close and open a horizontal cross section in which they are disposed. 62 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as raw material according to claims 60 and 61, charac- terized in that the reservoir is provided with a removable and adjustable separation means, dividing the reservoir into a primary chamber , in a secondary chamber and in a final chamber, the primary chamber being provided with the adjustable means of the timber inlet opening, and the final chamber being provided with the discharge means. 63 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as raw material according to claim 62, characterized in that the secondary chamber and the final chamber are connected by means of an external pipe provided with a valve designed to connect the final chamber to the exterior and to the secondary chamber. 64 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as a raw material according to claims 60 to 63, characterized in that there is between the thermally insulated housing and the vertical tank a gas heating channel in which a helical construction is disposed, which defines a helical passage all around to increase the length of the path of the heating gases which rise in the channel, the gases being supplied by the heating means. <Desc / Clms Page number 48> 65 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as a raw material according to claim 64, characterized in that the channel has an upper end and a lower end, the lower end being connected to the heating means of the tank consisting of a supply source of heating gas, the upper end being connected to a wood drying and preheating tunnel. 66 / Installation for producing a series of products, using wood as a raw material according to claim 60, characterized in that the unloading means is designed to unload the charcoal on a transport means housed in a sealed housing connected to a installation of cooling silos in which the conveyor means is able to discharge the charcoal. 67 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as a raw material according to claim 63, characterized in that the secondary chamber is provided with a collecting tube for collecting the gaseous products, connected to a tar separator, connected to it - even at an alcohol extraction tower. 68 / Plant for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as a raw material according to claim 67, characterized in that the tar separator is further connected to a tar storage tank. 69 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as a raw material according to claim 68, characterized in that the collecting tube is connected to the tar separator in an intermediate portion between the bottom and the top, in that at at least one temperature control coil sits above this portion and at least one wire mesh separator sits above the temperature control coil, with the alcohol extraction tower connected to the tar separator in a point above the wire mesh separator, the bottom being connected to the tar storage tank. 70 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as a raw material according to claim 67, characterized in that the alcohol extraction tower comprises a boiler, a lower section of cascade tanks above the boiler and connected to it, an inlet opening for a connection communicating the tar separator with the alcohol extraction tower, a multi-tubular condenser located above the inlet opening and connected to the lower section of cascade tanks, an upper section of cascade tanks connected to the condenser at a point remote from the connection of the lower section to the condenser, the upper section of the cascading reservoir having a top portion and means connected to the top portion for condensing the condensable fractions of the gaseous products, a reservoir for the condensable fractions and a connection putting the reservoir in communication with a dp end . temperature control coil, a rectification tower, a connection between the other end of the temperature control coil and a rectification tower. 71 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as a raw material according to claim 70, characterized in that the boiler is provided with a heating means. 72 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products using wood as a raw material according to claim 71, characterized in that the heating means consists of a steam supply pipe, a first and a second control valve, a coil valve having a discharge line leaving the boiler, the first control valve connecting the steam supply piping to the steam coil, and the second control valve connecting the steam supply piping to the steam coil. a section having steam ejection jets. 73 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as raw material according to claim 70, characterized in <Desc / Clms Page number 49> that the lower and upper sections of the cascade tanks are connected to an auxiliary tank containing mineral acid and means for controlling the flow of acid in these upper and lower sections. 74 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as a raw material according to claim 73, characterized in that the lower section comprises near the boiler at least one special tank of greater height than the cascade tanks and provided with a discharge means for discharging the precipitated soluble tar to the outside. 75 / Installation to manufacture a series of products, using wood as a raw material! according to claim 74, characterized in that the boiler is provided with a discharge pipe connected to a tank for neutralization of pyroligneous acid with calcium hydroxide to form a calcium acetate liquor. 76 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products using wood as raw material according to claims 70 to 75, charac- terized in that the means connected to the upper section of cascading tanks for condensing the condensable fractions of the gaseous products consists into a dephlegmator having a reflux pipe connected to the alcohol extraction tower, the dephlegmator being connected to a multi-tube condenser, itself connected to a reservoir for the condensable fractions and to a dephlegmator also connected to the reservoir for condensable fractions and having a discharge opening for non-condensable fixed gases. 77 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as raw material according to claim 70, characterized in that the rectifying tower comprises a boiler with a heating means, a number of superimposed bubbling tanks having a top portion and means connected to the top portion for condensing the ground products. 78 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as raw material according to claim 77, characterized in that the bubbling tanks are mounted on a number of platforms each bubbling tank comprising a pipe passing through through one of these platforms, an inverted bowl mounted on the platform and covering the part of the pipe emerging from the platform, the bowls having a zig-zag shaped base portion and at least one con discharge pipe for each of the platforms which emerges from the platform to a lesser extent than the pipes, the discharge pipe leading to the next lower platform. 79 / Retort installation according to claims 60 to 78, characterized in that the tar reservoir is connected to the liquid tar cracking installation and to the hydrocarbon rectification installation which operate continuously, , 80 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as a raw material according to claim 79, characterized in that the liquid tar cracking installation and the hydrocarbon rectification installation, which operate continuously comprising nent a means for supplying and effecting the tar cracking intermittently, a means for collecting the resulting gaseous products which is connected to them and comprising a dephlegmator, a condensing tower having a first connection * to lead the gaseous products from the dephlegmator into the condensing tower and a second connection to return the condensed products to a liquid collecting part of the dephlegmator, a means to regulate the pressure in the tower condenser and the dephlegator, a purification tower having a boiler, a first extraction section connected to the boiler, a first section for washing the gaseous products connecting the first extraction section to the second sec- extraction section, a second section for washing the gaseous products connected to the second extraction section, a means for collecting the products <Desc / Clms Page number 50> condensates from the purification tower, the boiler being put in communica--; tion by means of a third connection with the liquid collecting part of the dephlegmator. 81 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as a raw material according to claim 80, characterized in that the dephlegmator comprises a top portion and an inner pipe having a free end and connected to the means carrying out the cracking of gou- dron. 82 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as a raw material according to claim 80, characterized in 'that the condensation tower has a base portion, a first section of bubbling tanks connected to the base portion, a multi-tubular condenser connected to the first section of the bubbling tanks at a point remote from the base portion, a second section of bubbling tanks connected to the multi-tube condenser at a point remote from the first section bubbling tanks. 83 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as raw material according to claims 81 and 82, charac- terized in that the first connection is a first pipe placing the dephlegmator above in communication with the free end of the interior pipe with the base portion of the condenser tower which has a bottom, the second connection being a second pipe bringing the bottom of the condenser tower into communication with the dephlegmator below the free end of the sedan. 84 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as a raw material according to claim 82, characterized in that the first and second sections of bubbling tanks each consist of a certain number of superimposed bubbling tanks mounted on a a number of parallel spaced horizontal platforms, each bubbling tank comprising a pipe passing through one of these platforms, an inverted bowl mounted on the platform and covering the part of the pipe emerging from the platform. shape, each of these bowls having a zig-zag-shaped base portion and at least one discharge line, for each of the platforms, emerging from the platform to a lesser extent than the line. 85 / installation for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as raw material according to claim 84, characterized in that the platforms are superimposed, forming the sections of bubbling tanks. 86 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as raw material according to claim 85, characterized in that the discharge pipe opens into the space immediately below the cast iron platform by which it is supported. 87 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as raw material according to claims 83 and 86, characterized in that the means for adjusting the pressure in the condensing tower and the dephlegmator are connected to the top of the second section of bubbling tanks, a discharge pipe for discharging the fixed gases being connected to the means for regulating the pressure 88 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as raw material according to claims 80 to 87, charac- terized in that the boiler of the purification tower is housed in a furnace and comprises a lower portion and an upper portion , a number of perforated panels dividing the lower portion into a number of chambers, comprising a first chamber and a last chamber, an unperforated panel separating the first chamber from the last chamber, the remaining panels having a opening connecting the adjacent rooms. <Desc / Clms Page number 51> 89 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as a raw material according to claim 88, characterized in that the first connection is a third pipe placing in communication the dephlegmator below the free end of the pipe interior with the first boiler chamber. 90 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as raw material according to claim 89, characterized in that the last chamber is connected to a discharge pipe provided with a discharge adjustment means. 91 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as raw material according to claim 90, characterized in that the first and second extraction sections each comprise a lower portion and an upper portion, a central pipe for each of the sections extractor passing through their lower portions and entering their respective upper portion, a number of perforated panels dividing each lower portion into a number of chambers comprising a first chamber and a last chamber, an unperforated panel separating the first chamber from the last the other remaining panels having an opening connecting the adjacent chambers, a vapor coil passing through the chambers and the openings, the last chamber being provided with a discharge pipe. 92 / Plant for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as a raw material according to claim 91, characterized in that the steam coil is provided with steam ejection openings in the portion housed in said chambers 93 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as raw material according to claims 91 or 92, characterized in that the discharge piping is connected to a refrigerant itself connected to a storage tank. 94 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as raw material according to claim 93, characterized in that an adjustment tube is arranged between the coolant and the storage tank. 95 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as raw material according to claims 88 to 94, characterized in that the first and second washing sections of the gaseous products each consist of a number of tanks of superimposed bubbling, mounted on a number of platforms, each bubbling tank comprising a pipe passing through one of these platforms, an inverted bowl mounted on the platform and covering the part of the pipe emerging from the platform the bowls having a zig-zag-shaped base portion and at least one discharge pipe for each of the platforms, emerging from the platforms to a lesser extent than the pipes, the discharge conduits opening into the space immediately below the platform by which they are supported. 96 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as a raw material according to claim 95, characterized in that the upper section of the bubbling tanks has a top portion provided with a pipe placing the top portion in communication with a multitubular condenser connected to a storage tank and to a dephlegmator connected to an extraction fan designed to reduce the pressure in the hydrocarbon rectification plant. 97 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as a raw material according to claims 80 and 93, characterized in that the means for supplying the tar intermittently comprises a tar supply tank, the tank d The storage of the second extraction section being connected to the tar supply tank. <Desc / Clms Page number 52> 98 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as a raw material according to claim 97, characterized in that the means for supplying the tar and carrying out its intermittent cracking comprise a pump connected to the feed tank. tar tion, a cracking tank having at least one inner wall, an at least partially hollow rod moving in both directions in the tank and provided with a piston to which is attached a spray head - for spraying the tar against the internal wall of the tank, a means for heating the tank to the tar cracking temperature, a means in operative relation with the reservoir for conducting the gaseous products resulting from the cracking of tar to the dephlegmator and a means connected to the reservoir for removing the solid residual products of decomposition during the cracking phase as the piston moves in the two ways in the tank 99 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as a raw material according to claim 97, characterized in that the means for supplying the tar and carrying out its intermittent cracking comprise a pump connected to the feed tank. tar and an at least partially hollow rod by means of a flexible pipe, the rod being provided with a flange supporting a piston housed in a cylinder heated to the tar cracking temperature having an internal wall, the piston comprising a disc having a first semi-cylindrical chamber connected to a pipe housed in the rod hollow and communicating a cooling source with the first semi-cylindrical chamber, the disc supporting a scraper in scraping contact with the inner wall of the cylinder, a spray head forming with the scraper a second semi-cylindrical chamber connected to a number of nozzles designed to eject tar over the upper half of the inner wall of the cylinder, the second semi-cylindrical chamber being connected to the flexible pipe by means of a rigid pipe passing through through the hollow rod, the first semi-cylindrical chamber and the second semi-cylindrical chamber were arranged in parallel, a discharge opening in the hollow rod for the coolant supplied by the cooling source. 100 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as a raw material according to claim 99, characterized in that the piston is provided with at least one perforation placing the front in communication with the rear of the piston. 101 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as the raw material according to claim 100, characterized in that the cylinder comprises at each end portion and in its bottom part an opening connected to a sewer "provided with a panel partition connected to an antechamber itself provided with an unloading panel at a point remote from the partition panel, the panels being provided with a means for moving them. 102 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products using wood as a raw material according to claim 101, characterized in that a guide rail is mounted in the base portion of the cylinder between the openings to which the sewers are connected. 103 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as a raw material according to claim 102, characterized in that the piston is provided at its base portion with a replaceable wear and sliding part mounted so as to be able to slide on the rail. 104 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products using wood as a raw material according to claim 103, characterized in that the inner pipe of the dephlegmator is connected coaxially to one end of the pipe: 'discharge of gaseous products, the other of which end is connected to the cylinder. 105 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as a raw material according to claim 104, characterized in <Desc / Clms Page number 53> that a scraping piston is housed so as to be able to slide in the discharge pipe for the gaseous products, the scraping piston being synchronized with the piston housed in the cylinder, the scraping piston being provided with at least one perforation connecting its front face to its rear face and a cleaning means for cleaning the opening 106 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as raw material according to claim 33, characterized in that the means for subjecting the calcium acetate liquor to thermal decomposition comprises a plant for continuously producing acetone using the calcium acetate liquor as a raw material, having a reservoir of decomposition of calcium acetate comprising at least one inner wall, a partially hollow m minus rod moving back and forth in the reservoir a piston mounted on the rod, a spray head attached to the piston to project a finely divided rain of calcium acetate liquor against the inner wall, a means for introducing the calcium acetate liquor into the stem, a means for heating the reservoir to the decomposition temperature of calcium acetate, a concentration tower connected to the reservoir, means for removing gaseous decomposition products from the reservoir, means operating as a result of piston movements back and forth within the reservoir to remove solid decomposition products, means for separating gaseous decomposition products in a fraction of heavy acetone oils and water and in a fraction of crude acetone comprising lighter acetone oils and crude acetone9 this means being connected to the concentration tower, a means connected to the concentrating tower for separating acetone oils from crude acetone, means for rectifying crude acetone and means for rectifying acetone oils connected each to the means for separating acetone oils from crude acetone ,, ' 107 / Installation to manufacture a series of products, using wood as raw material according to claim 1 06, characterized in that the reservoir is a cylinder. 108 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as raw material according to claim 106, characterized in that the piston mounted in the cylinder is designed to move in both directions between a starting position for spraying and a position spray finish. 109 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products using wood as raw material according to claim 108, characterized in that the means for removing the solid decomposition products comprises at least one sewer adjacent to the starting position of spraying, this sewer comprising an anteroom, a removable panel, a discharge panel, the anteroom being separated from the sewer by the removable panel and from the outside by the discharge panel, and a means. for collecting the solid decomposition products to from the anteroom 110 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as raw material according to claim 109, characterized in that the cylinder comprises two adjacent sewers at each of the positions. 111 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products using wood as raw material according to claim 110, characterized in that the piston comprises a disc mounted on the rod, a scraper mounted on the disc to come into scraping contact with the internal wall as a result of the displacement of the piston from its final position to its starting position, the spray head being mounted on the scraper and provided with a number of nozzles directed towards the upper half of the cylinder, a flexible pipe, a pump, check valve, calcium acetate liquor supply source, a calcium acetate liquor supply line connecting the spray head through the hollow rod to the flexible line connected to the pump by means of the check valve, the pump being connected to the power source in calcium acetate liquor <Desc / Clms Page number 54> 112 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as raw material according to claim 111, characterized in that the cylinder is substantially horizontal 113 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as raw material according to claims 107 to 112, characterized in that the cylinder comprises an upper middle part, an opening therein, an outlet pipe having a free end, a dephlegmator having a top, the concentration tower being connected to the dephlegmator, the outlet pipe being connected to this opening and extending into the dephlegmator, the free end of the pipe being adjacent to the top, so that the gaseous products formed by thermal decomposition of the rain can penetrate through the outlet pipe into the dephlegmator and be separated there into a fraction of heavy acetone oils and water and into a fraction of crude acetone and for that the. fraction of crude acetone can enter the concentration tower. 114 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as raw material according to claim 113, characterized in that a heating coil is housed in the dephlegmator, a power source for the heating coil and a means for adjust the power supply from the power source being connected to the heating coil 115 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as a raw material according to claim 113, characterized in that the dephlegmator has a bottom portion, a first discharge pipe, a first tank having a top and a. bottom, a second discharge pipe having a discharge opening for discharging water, the first discharge pipe connecting the bottom portion of the dephlegmator to the top of the first tank, the top of the first tank being located below the free end of the outlet pipe, the second discharge pipe connecting the bottom of the first tank to the outside, its discharge opening being located below the top of the first tank. 116 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as raw material according to claims 106 to 115, characterized in that the concentration tower comprises a top, a number of superimposed cascade tanks formed by cylinders - drums and annulars arranged alternately, designed to successively discharge the liquid overflowing from one tank to the next lower tank until final discharge of the liquid in the dephlegmator connected to the top of the concentration tower, a multitubular condenser connected to the - pick, a reflux pipe connected to the multitubular condenser and to the concentration tower to recycle the condensed portions in the concentration tower, a second dephlegmator, a second tank, a refrigerant connected to the condenser and to the second tank., 117 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as a raw material according to claim 116, characterized in that the second dephlegmator is also connected to a suction fan intended to cooperate in the discharge of the gaseous products from of the decomposition cylinder of calcium acetate. 118 / installation for manufacturing a series of products using wood as a raw material according to claim 117, characterized in that the first, second and third reservoirs each have an upper part, a pipe connecting the upper parts of the second and third tanks, a first pump connecting the upper part of the first tank to the upper part of the third tank and designed to discharge the heavy acetone oils from the first tank into the third, a second pump - connecting the upper part of the third tank to the tower rectification to rectify acetone oils, a discharge opening in the bottom portion, a pipe putting in communication the discharge opening with the means for rectifying the crude acetone <Desc / Clms Page number 55> 119 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products using wood as a raw material according to claim 116, characterized in that the means for separating the mixture of crude acetone and acetonic oils comprises the second reservoir and a third reservoir of dep8t connected respectively to their upper part by a pipe, a first pump connecting the top of the first deposit tank to the top of the third deposit tank and designed to discharge the heavy acetone oil from the first deposit tank into the third , a second pump connecting the top of the third deposition tank to the rectification tower for rectifying acetone oils, the second deposition reservoir being provided with a discharge opening adjacent to its bottom for discharging the crude acetone into the means for rectifying crude acetone. 120 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as raw material according to claim 119, characterized in that the means for rectifying the raw acetone consists of a rectifying tower comprising a bottom boiler provided with a heating means, in an intermediate boiler provided with a heating means ,,,, in a lower section of tanks and in an upper section of tanks, the lower section of tanks connecting the lower boiler to the intermediate boiler , and the upper section of tanks being connected to the intermediate boiler at one end and at a point remote from the lower section and to a discharge at the other end, and a means for introducing corrective agents into the upper and lower sections of the reservoirs. 121 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as a raw material according to claim 120, characterized in that the heating means are steam coils supplied with steam from an external source. 122 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as raw material according to claim 121, characterized in that the steam coils are each provided with at least one steam flow control valve. 123 / Plant for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as raw material according to claims 120 to 122, characterized in that the lower and upper sections of the tanks each comprise a number of superimposed bubbling tanks. 124 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as a raw material according to claim 123, characterized in that the bubbling tanks are mounted on a number of platforms and in that each bubbling tank comprises a pipe passing through one of these platforms, an inverted cup mounted on the platform and covering the part of the pipe emerging from the platform, the cups having a zig-shaped base portion. zag and at least one discharge pipe for each of these platforms, emerging from these platforms to a lesser extent than the pipe and opening into the immediately lower bubbling tank. 125 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as raw material according to claim 124, characterized in that the superposed platforms form vertical sections of bubbling tanks. 126 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as a raw material according to claim 125, characterized in that the bottom boiler has a top, the lower section of the bubbling tanks having an upper part and a lower part, the upper part of the lower section of the bubbling tanks entering the intermediate boiler which has an upper part the lower part of the lower section of the tanks being mounted to the top of the bottom boiler and connected to this top. 127 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as raw material according to claim 126, characterized in <Desc / Clms Page number 56> that the upper section of the bubbling tanks has a bottom part, mounted on the upper part of the intermediate boiler and connected to the latter, in that at the hands a discharge pipe for the bottom part of the upper section of the bubbling tanks enters the intermediate boiler externally at the top of the lower section of the bubbling tanks. 128 / Installation to manufacture a series of products, using. Wood as a raw material according to claims 120 to 127, characterized in that the bottom boiler and the intermediate boiler are each provided with a discharge pipe connected near the bottom of each of the boilers and having an opening of discharge to a level corresponding to the upper portion of each of these boilers. 129 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as raw material according to claims 120 to 128, characterized in that the means for introducing the corrective agents into the upper section of the tanks comprises a first auxiliary tank with a first supply line connected to the upper section of the tanks, the first supply line being regulated by means of a first control valve. 130 / Installation for manufacturing a series of products, using wood as raw material according to claims 120 to 128, characterized in that the means for introducing the corrective agents into the lower section of the tanks comprises a second auxiliary tank with a second supply line connected to the lower section of the tanks, the second supply line being adjusted by means of a second control valve. 131 / Plant for manufacturing a series of products using wood as a raw material which is constructed, arranged, and operated substantially as described and with reference to the accompanying drawings. in appendix 10 drawings.