CA1040037B - Block sulphur melting apparatus and method - Google Patents
Block sulphur melting apparatus and methodInfo
- Publication number
- CA1040037B CA1040037B CA 299838 CA299838A CA1040037B CA 1040037 B CA1040037 B CA 1040037B CA 299838 CA299838 CA 299838 CA 299838 A CA299838 A CA 299838A CA 1040037 B CA1040037 B CA 1040037B
- Authority
- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- housing
- sulphur
- heater element
- block
- melting apparatus
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired
Links
- NINIDFKCEFEMDL-UHFFFAOYSA-N Sulfur Chemical compound [S] NINIDFKCEFEMDL-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 title claims abstract description 113
- 239000005864 Sulphur Substances 0.000 title claims abstract description 113
- 238000002844 melting Methods 0.000 title claims abstract description 41
- 230000008018 melting Effects 0.000 title claims abstract description 41
- 238000000034 method Methods 0.000 title claims abstract description 14
- 238000005086 pumping Methods 0.000 claims abstract description 4
- 229910052729 chemical element Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 5
- 239000000725 suspension Substances 0.000 claims description 4
- 230000000694 effects Effects 0.000 claims description 3
- 239000012212 insulator Substances 0.000 claims description 3
- 239000000463 material Substances 0.000 claims description 3
- 239000011810 insulating material Substances 0.000 claims description 2
- 239000002184 metal Substances 0.000 claims 2
- 238000000605 extraction Methods 0.000 claims 1
- 239000012530 fluid Substances 0.000 claims 1
- VNWKTOKETHGBQD-UHFFFAOYSA-N methane Chemical compound C VNWKTOKETHGBQD-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 6
- 239000007787 solid Substances 0.000 description 5
- 239000000428 dust Substances 0.000 description 4
- 238000012545 processing Methods 0.000 description 4
- 229910000831 Steel Inorganic materials 0.000 description 3
- 239000003345 natural gas Substances 0.000 description 3
- 239000010959 steel Substances 0.000 description 3
- LYCAIKOWRPUZTN-UHFFFAOYSA-N Ethylene glycol Chemical compound OCCO LYCAIKOWRPUZTN-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 2
- 230000015572 biosynthetic process Effects 0.000 description 2
- 238000010438 heat treatment Methods 0.000 description 2
- 239000006227 byproduct Substances 0.000 description 1
- 230000008602 contraction Effects 0.000 description 1
- 239000007789 gas Substances 0.000 description 1
- 239000003365 glass fiber Substances 0.000 description 1
- WGCNASOHLSPBMP-UHFFFAOYSA-N hydroxyacetaldehyde Natural products OCC=O WGCNASOHLSPBMP-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- 239000000155 melt Substances 0.000 description 1
- 238000012544 monitoring process Methods 0.000 description 1
- 229920000136 polysorbate Polymers 0.000 description 1
- 230000006903 response to temperature Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000000284 resting effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000003466 welding Methods 0.000 description 1
Classifications
-
- F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
- F27—FURNACES; KILNS; OVENS; RETORTS
- F27B—FURNACES, KILNS, OVENS, OR RETORTS IN GENERAL; OPEN SINTERING OR LIKE APPARATUS
- F27B17/00—Furnaces of a kind not covered by any preceding group
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B01—PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
- B01J—CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROCESSES, e.g. CATALYSIS OR COLLOID CHEMISTRY; THEIR RELEVANT APPARATUS
- B01J6/00—Heat treatments such as Calcining; Fusing ; Pyrolysis
- B01J6/005—Fusing
-
- C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
- C01—INORGANIC CHEMISTRY
- C01B—NON-METALLIC ELEMENTS; COMPOUNDS THEREOF; METALLOIDS OR COMPOUNDS THEREOF NOT COVERED BY SUBCLASS C01C
- C01B17/00—Sulfur; Compounds thereof
- C01B17/02—Preparation of sulfur; Purification
- C01B17/0221—Melting
Landscapes
- Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
- Organic Chemistry (AREA)
- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Inorganic Chemistry (AREA)
- Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
- General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- Thermal Sciences (AREA)
- Chemical Kinetics & Catalysis (AREA)
- Manufacture And Refinement Of Metals (AREA)
Abstract
ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
A block sulphur melting apparatus and method employ a generally horizontal heater grid extending over the area of the underside of a downwardly open heat resistant housing to melt sulphur under the heater grid. The molten sulphur flows between spaced portions of the grid and is removed from above the grid and from the housing by pumping. The heater grid is preferably a heat exchanger coil.
A block sulphur melting apparatus and method employ a generally horizontal heater grid extending over the area of the underside of a downwardly open heat resistant housing to melt sulphur under the heater grid. The molten sulphur flows between spaced portions of the grid and is removed from above the grid and from the housing by pumping. The heater grid is preferably a heat exchanger coil.
Description
~l;l 4Q(~37 The present invention relates to block sulphur melting apparatus, and to a method of melting block sulphur.
Block sulphur is produced in large quantities as a by-product of the ex~raction of natural gas, from which the sul-phur must be extracted before the gas can be used. The sulphur is stored in large blocks in the vicinity of natural gas pro-cessing plants. One such plant produces 4,000 tons of sulphur per day.
To enable the sulphur to be transported from the blocks, the latter must be broken down. Hitherto, this has been effec-ted by the employment of mechanical means, such as crushers and bulldozers. However, the use of such mechanical means for breaking down very large blocks of sulphur presents a very con-siderable pollution problem, since a substantial amount of the sulphur is scattered in the form of a dust during the breaking down of the very large sulphur blocks, and the sulphur dust is carried away by the wind and scattered over the surrounding countryside. In addition, the use of such mechanical means is also relatively expensive.
At the present time, attempts are being made to avoid the disadvantages of mechanically breaking up the sulphur blocks by melting the blocks.
However, sulphur is a very good heat insulator, and the melting of sulphur blocks has hitherto presented considerable practical difficulties.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel and improved block sulphur melting apparatus and method which enable economical and efficient melting of block sulphur.
; It is a further object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and a method which enable sulphur to be removed from ~k .
~114Q~37 a sulphur block substantially without any pollution of the sur-rounding area or atmosphere.
According to the present invention, there is provided block sulphur melting apparatus comprising: a heater element;
said heater element comprising a plurality of horizontally ex-tending portions; said portions extending side-by-side in prox-imity to one another and being spaced apart from one another to allow molten sulphur to flow upwardly through said heater ele-ment during operation of the apparatus; a downwardly-open hous-ing positioned over said heater element so that said heater ele-ment extends at least as far outwardly as the outer edge of said housing, around substantially the entire periphery of the said housing; an outlet pipe extending upwardly from the interior of said housing to the exterior thereof; and a pump associated with said outlet pipe for pumping molten sulphur from the interior of said housing through said outlet pipe.
When this apparatus is in use, the heater element is placed on the block sulphur and is then utilized to heat, and thereby to melt, the sulphur underlying and adjacent the heater element. As the sulphur melts, the molten sulphur flows upwardly through the heater element, and can then be extracted by a pump, which may conveniently be mounted in an opening in the top of the housing.
The downwardly open housing serves to retain heat which otherwise would rise from the heater element, and at least part of the housing is preferably provided with a layer of heat in-sulating material.
It has been found in practice that solid sulphur disposed beneath the spacings between the heater element portions is read-ily melted by heat from the heater element and also by the flow of the molten sulphur through the heater element, so that a sub-stantially even melting of the sulphur beneath the apparatus is obtained.
Also, according to the present invention, there is pro-vided a method of melting block sulphur, which comprises the steps of positioning on the sulphur a generally horizontal heat-er element provided at the underside of a downwardly open hous-ing, transferring heat from the heater element to the sulphur to melt the sulphur adjacent and underlying the heater element, and extracting the molten sulphur from above the heater element and thence from the housing.
The invention will be more readily understood from the following description of an embodiment thereof given, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:-Figure 1 shows a view taken in perspective of a block sulphur melting apparatus;
Figure 2 shows a view taken in perspective of the appa-ratus of Figure 1 with a housing removed to reveal a heater grid;
Figure 3 shows a broken-away view of part of the appara-tus of Figure l;
Figure 4 shows a broken-away view of another part of the apparatus of Figure l; and Figure 5 shows a view in perspective of a block of sul-phur portions of which have been melted.
Referring firstly to Figure 1 of the drawings, there is illustrated a block sulphur melting apparatus indicated general-ly by reference numberal 10.
The block sulphur melting apparatus 10 has a downwardly open housing 11, which is formed by a flat, rectangular top 12 1~0~37 and by side walls 13 and 14, which form a skirt depending from the top 12.
The walls 13 and 14 are flat, and have a slight down-ward and laterally outwardly extending inclination relative to the rectangular flat top 12.
Lugs 16 welded to the downwardly open housing 11 are provided for attachment of the apparatus to a suspension sling (not shown), by means of which the entire apparatus can be lifted by a crane (not shown).
A generally horizontal heater grid or element, which is illustrated in Figure 2 of the drawings, is indicated generally by reference numeral 18. The heater grid 18~is formed by a heat exchanger pipe 19, which has an inlet end 20 and an outlet end 21.
As can be seen from Figure 1, the inlet end 20 of the heat exchanger pipe 19 is provided near the periphery of the housing 11, whereas the outlet end 21 of the heat exchanger pipe 19 is located at a central portion of the flat, rectangular top 12 of the downwardly open housing 11.
The heat exchanger pipe 19 has, as can be clearly seen from Figure 2, a convolute shape which forms a coil. The turns of the coil formed by the heat exchanger pipe 19 are spaced from one another by spacings 23, through which molten sulphur flows, as is described in greater detail hereinafter, when the appara-tus is in operation.
The heater grid 18 is suspended from two transverse beams 25, each of which is formed by an upwardly open channel member.
Each of the transverse beams 25 is secured to the lowermost ends of two vertical rods 26. The uppermost ends of the rods 26 pro-ject upwardly through openings in the flat rectangular top 12 ~O~OQ37 of the downwardly open housing 11 and are suspended from the downwardly open housing 11 by nuts 27 in threaded engagement with the uppermost ends of the vertical rods 26 and resting on the flat rectangular top 12.
The manner in which the heater grid 18 is suspended from the transverse beams 25 will now be described with reference to Figure 3 of the drawings.
In Figure 3, there is illustrated a broken-away portion of one of the transverse beams 25, and a portion, shown in cross-section, of the heat exchanger pipe 19 extending at right angles to the transverse beam 25. The heat exchanger pipe 19 is linked to the transverse beam 25 by three chain links indicated generally by reference numeral 28, the outer-most or end chain links being welded to the heat exchanger pipe 19 and the transverse beam 25, respectively.
While only one portion of the heat exchanger pipe 19 has been illustrated in Figure 3, it is to be understood that the heat exchanger pipe 19 is linked to the transverse beam 25 as illustrated in Figure 3 at each position where the heat exchanger pipe 19 passes beneath one of the transverse beams 25.
Referring again to Figure 1, it can be seen that the outer coil of the heat exchanger pipe 19 projects laterally outwardly beyond the walls 13 and 14 of the downwardly open housing 11 around substantially the entire periphery of the downwardly open housing 11.
By flexure of the chains formed by the chain llnks 28, the heater grid 18 can move to a limited extent relative to the downwardly open housing 11. In order to retain the outer coil of the heat exchanger pipe 19 in correct alignment beneath the lowermost edges of the walls 13 and 14 of the downwardly open 1C~40Q37 housing 11 around substantially the entire periphery of the downwardly open housing 11.
By flexure of the chains formed by the chain links 28, the heater grid 18 can move to a limited extent relative to the downwardly open housing 11. In order to retain the outer coil of the heat exchanger pipe 19 in correct alignment beneath the lowermost edges of the walls 13 and 14 of the downwardly open housing 11, the outer coil of the heat exchanger pipe 19 is provided wi~h retainers 30, which slidably engage the lower-most portions of the side walls 13 and 14 and which act as slid-ing guides during the movement of the heat exchanger grid 18 relative to the downwardly open housing 10.
One of the retainers 30 is illustrated in cross-section in Figure 4. As can be seen from this Figure, the retainer 30 has an upwardly open U-shaped cross-section which receives be-tween the free arms thereof the lowermost end of the side wall 14. The retainer 30 is secured by welding to the top of the outermost coil of the heat exchanger pipe 19. Whereas in the example illustrated in Figure 4, the retainer 30 is welded to the outer coil of the heat exchanger pipe 19 substantially above the center of the outer coil, it may be preferable in other em-bodiments of the invention to offset the retainer 30 laterally inwardly from the illustrated central position, so that the outer coil of the heat exchanger pipe 19 will project laterally outwardly to a greater extent from the lowermost edge of the sidewall 14.
Also, it can be seen from Figure 4 that the two free arms of the U-shaped cross-section of the retainer 30 are upwardly and outwardly inclined, to a slight extent, relative to one another. The purpose of this is to accommodate limited tilting, ~04~37 as well as vertical, movement of the heater grid 18 relative to the downwardly open housing 11.
The downwardly open housing 11 is fabricated from steel plate, and as illustrated in Figure 4, the flat rectangular top 12 of the downwardly open housing 11 is formed by two steel plates 31 and 32, between which there is sandwiched a layer 33 of heat insulating material which, in the present embodiment, comprises a glass fiber heat insulator material.
The lower plate 31 is welded to the walls 13 and 14, while the upper plate 32 may be secured in position by bolts (not shown) or by any other suitable means.
In the present embodiment of the invention, the block sulphur melting apparatus is of generally rectangular shape in plan view, and the heat exchanger pipe 19 is a steel pipe of two inches exkernal diameter, the spacings 23 between suc-cessive coils of the heat exchanger pipe 19 each being not more than 1~ inches. The horizontal overall dimensions of the heater grid 18 are 48 inches by 96 inches, the height of the housing 11 being 20 inches.
When the apparatus is in use, the apparatus is placed on and in contact with the top of a block of sulphur, and steam is passed through the heat exchanger pipe 19 from the inlet end 20 to the outlet end 21. The heat transferred from the heat exchan-ger pipe 19 to the underlying and adjacent solid sulphur causes the latter to melt, and the molten sulphur flows through the spacings 23 between the successive turns of the heat exchanger coil 19. A steam heated pump 34 mounted on the flat rectangular top 12 and extending through an opening in the latter into the interior of the downwardly open housing 10 eventually has its lowermost inlet end immersed in the molten sulphur which has ~4~)~37 risen, as described above, through the heater grid 18. The steam heated pump 34 is employed to pump this molten sulphur from the interior of the downwardly open housing 11, the mol-ten sulphur being conveyed through an outlet pipe 35 to a mol-ten sulphur pit for temporary storage or directly to further processing apparatus, which is employed to convertthe molten sulphur into, for example, solidified sulphur flakes to facili-tate transportation of the sulphur. Alternatively, the molten sulphur may be pumped through the sulphur outlet pipe 35 to a railway tanker truck for transportation in molten form.
Since the outer coil of the heat exchanger pipe 19 pro-jects laterally outwardly of substantially the entire peri-phery of the downwardly open housing 11, continued operation of the apparatus described above will cause the apparatus to sink gradually into the block of sulphur and thereby to form a smooth-walled shaft of rectangular cross-section, the outer-most coil of the heat exchanger unit 19 forming a small width of molten sulphur around the entire periphery of the apparatus.
In practice, employing an apparatus having the dimensions described above, and supplying steam at 25Q p.s.i.g. through a steam header valve (not shown) to the steam inlet formed by the inlet end 20 of the heat exchanger pipe 19 at a temperature of 375, it was found that the steam temperature at the outlet formed by the outlet end 21 of the heat exchanger pipe 19 was 350 F. and that a rate of melting, i.e. a rate of downward travel of the apparatus through the sulphur block, of one foot per hour was achieved. A steam trap was employed at the steam outlet to minimize steam consumption.
In operations hitherto carried out, it has been found that the molten sulphur beneath the downwardly open housing 11 :~L09~Q~3~
has been sufficient to fill the voids which are sometimes en-countered in block sulphur, but if necessary additional molten sulphur could be pumped into the downwardly open housing 11 to completely fill such voids.
Since the heater grid 18 is suspended from the downwardly open housing 11 in such a manner as to be capable of limited - vertical and tilting movement relative to the downwardly open housing 11, b-y flexing of the chains formed by the chain links 28, the heater grid is enabled to self-adjust in position in accordance with any minor irregularities in the shape of the solid sulphur underlying the heater grid.
Also, employing the dimensions described above, it was found that the molten sulphur produced by the heating effect of the heater grid 18 was sufficient to effectively melt any solid sulphur underlying the spacings 23 between adjacent or successive turns of the coil formed by the heat exchanger pipe 19. However, it is to be understood that the above mentioned dimensions of the apparatus are given by way of example only, and that these dimensions may be varied in the scope of the present invention.
In addition, the above described apparatus may be modi-fied by the provision of thermometers (not shown) at the in-let and outlet of the heat exchanger pipe 19 in order to faci-litate monitoring of the correct operation of the apparatus.
Moreover, the flexible suspension of the heater grid 18 allows relative expansion and contraction of the heater grid 18 relative to the downwardly open housing 11 in response to temperature changes.
While the present embodiment of the invention employs only one heat exchanger coil, it is to be understood that more `37 than one such coil may be employed. For example, in order to facilitate transportation of the apparatus, two coils may be secured side-by-side in such a manner that they can be readily dismantled from one another for transportation.
Referring now to Figure 5, there is illustrated in this Figure a sulphur-block 37 in which two holes indicated generally by reference numerals 38 and 39 have been formed by the present apparatus. The hole 38 extends downwardly to the bottom of the sulphur block 37, while the hole 39 is illustrated during its formation, and has not yet reached the bottom of the sulphur block 37. The holes 38 and 39 are spaced apart from one another, and from the edges of the sulphur block 37, by a distance suf-ficient to leave walls 40, 41, 42 and 43, which are formed by unmelted portions of the sulphur block 37. Preferably, the walls 40 to 43 have a thickness of 6 inches to one foot and it will of course be readily understood that these walls serve to retain the molten sulphur beneath the block sulphur melting apparatus 10 dur-ing formation of the holes.
As operation of the apparatus is continued, a plurality of further, similar holes of rectangular horizontal cross-section will be formed through the sulphur block 37. When substantially the entire volume of the sulphur block 37, except for the walls around the holes, has thus been melted, the walls can be mechan-ically crushed and piled into one of the holes which is left for that purpose, so that the block sulphur melting apparatus 10 can then be placed on the crushed sulphur and employed to melt the latter. The crushing of the relatively thin walls left in the block of sulphur can be readily effected by the usual mechanical means and will of course not produce nearly as much dust as if produced in the prior art methods employing mechanical crushing 1~
~4~ 37 ..
to effect removal of the entire block.
Consequently, it will be apparent that the present block sulphur melting apparatus and method substantially reduce pol-lution of the surrounding atmosphere and area by sulphur dust by converting the majority of the sulphur block directly to molten sulphur, instead of lumps of solid sulphur which subse-quently have to be crushed for melting, and in this way not only is pollution substantially reduced, but in addition the costs of processing the sulphur blocks are substantially re-duced as compared with methods and apparatus employed hitherto.
In addition, it will be readily appreciated that furthermodifications may be effected in the above-described apparatus within the scope of the present invention. For example, instead of employing a coil-shaped heat exchanger pipe, the heater grid may be formed by one or more heat exchanger pipes of serpentine shape, and a heat exchanger medium other than steam, for example heating oil, glycol or sulphonol, may be employed. ~Iowever, the use of steam in the vicinity of natural gas processing plants is economical, since steam is readily available at such plants. In vicinities where an existing supply of suitable heat is not read-ily available, the block sulphur melting apparatus may be provided with a suitable steam generator or other heater for providing a h`eated heat exchange medium.
Moreover, the heat exchanger pipe may be replaced by one or more suitably shaped and protectively encased electrical 26 heater elements.
Block sulphur is produced in large quantities as a by-product of the ex~raction of natural gas, from which the sul-phur must be extracted before the gas can be used. The sulphur is stored in large blocks in the vicinity of natural gas pro-cessing plants. One such plant produces 4,000 tons of sulphur per day.
To enable the sulphur to be transported from the blocks, the latter must be broken down. Hitherto, this has been effec-ted by the employment of mechanical means, such as crushers and bulldozers. However, the use of such mechanical means for breaking down very large blocks of sulphur presents a very con-siderable pollution problem, since a substantial amount of the sulphur is scattered in the form of a dust during the breaking down of the very large sulphur blocks, and the sulphur dust is carried away by the wind and scattered over the surrounding countryside. In addition, the use of such mechanical means is also relatively expensive.
At the present time, attempts are being made to avoid the disadvantages of mechanically breaking up the sulphur blocks by melting the blocks.
However, sulphur is a very good heat insulator, and the melting of sulphur blocks has hitherto presented considerable practical difficulties.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel and improved block sulphur melting apparatus and method which enable economical and efficient melting of block sulphur.
; It is a further object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and a method which enable sulphur to be removed from ~k .
~114Q~37 a sulphur block substantially without any pollution of the sur-rounding area or atmosphere.
According to the present invention, there is provided block sulphur melting apparatus comprising: a heater element;
said heater element comprising a plurality of horizontally ex-tending portions; said portions extending side-by-side in prox-imity to one another and being spaced apart from one another to allow molten sulphur to flow upwardly through said heater ele-ment during operation of the apparatus; a downwardly-open hous-ing positioned over said heater element so that said heater ele-ment extends at least as far outwardly as the outer edge of said housing, around substantially the entire periphery of the said housing; an outlet pipe extending upwardly from the interior of said housing to the exterior thereof; and a pump associated with said outlet pipe for pumping molten sulphur from the interior of said housing through said outlet pipe.
When this apparatus is in use, the heater element is placed on the block sulphur and is then utilized to heat, and thereby to melt, the sulphur underlying and adjacent the heater element. As the sulphur melts, the molten sulphur flows upwardly through the heater element, and can then be extracted by a pump, which may conveniently be mounted in an opening in the top of the housing.
The downwardly open housing serves to retain heat which otherwise would rise from the heater element, and at least part of the housing is preferably provided with a layer of heat in-sulating material.
It has been found in practice that solid sulphur disposed beneath the spacings between the heater element portions is read-ily melted by heat from the heater element and also by the flow of the molten sulphur through the heater element, so that a sub-stantially even melting of the sulphur beneath the apparatus is obtained.
Also, according to the present invention, there is pro-vided a method of melting block sulphur, which comprises the steps of positioning on the sulphur a generally horizontal heat-er element provided at the underside of a downwardly open hous-ing, transferring heat from the heater element to the sulphur to melt the sulphur adjacent and underlying the heater element, and extracting the molten sulphur from above the heater element and thence from the housing.
The invention will be more readily understood from the following description of an embodiment thereof given, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:-Figure 1 shows a view taken in perspective of a block sulphur melting apparatus;
Figure 2 shows a view taken in perspective of the appa-ratus of Figure 1 with a housing removed to reveal a heater grid;
Figure 3 shows a broken-away view of part of the appara-tus of Figure l;
Figure 4 shows a broken-away view of another part of the apparatus of Figure l; and Figure 5 shows a view in perspective of a block of sul-phur portions of which have been melted.
Referring firstly to Figure 1 of the drawings, there is illustrated a block sulphur melting apparatus indicated general-ly by reference numberal 10.
The block sulphur melting apparatus 10 has a downwardly open housing 11, which is formed by a flat, rectangular top 12 1~0~37 and by side walls 13 and 14, which form a skirt depending from the top 12.
The walls 13 and 14 are flat, and have a slight down-ward and laterally outwardly extending inclination relative to the rectangular flat top 12.
Lugs 16 welded to the downwardly open housing 11 are provided for attachment of the apparatus to a suspension sling (not shown), by means of which the entire apparatus can be lifted by a crane (not shown).
A generally horizontal heater grid or element, which is illustrated in Figure 2 of the drawings, is indicated generally by reference numeral 18. The heater grid 18~is formed by a heat exchanger pipe 19, which has an inlet end 20 and an outlet end 21.
As can be seen from Figure 1, the inlet end 20 of the heat exchanger pipe 19 is provided near the periphery of the housing 11, whereas the outlet end 21 of the heat exchanger pipe 19 is located at a central portion of the flat, rectangular top 12 of the downwardly open housing 11.
The heat exchanger pipe 19 has, as can be clearly seen from Figure 2, a convolute shape which forms a coil. The turns of the coil formed by the heat exchanger pipe 19 are spaced from one another by spacings 23, through which molten sulphur flows, as is described in greater detail hereinafter, when the appara-tus is in operation.
The heater grid 18 is suspended from two transverse beams 25, each of which is formed by an upwardly open channel member.
Each of the transverse beams 25 is secured to the lowermost ends of two vertical rods 26. The uppermost ends of the rods 26 pro-ject upwardly through openings in the flat rectangular top 12 ~O~OQ37 of the downwardly open housing 11 and are suspended from the downwardly open housing 11 by nuts 27 in threaded engagement with the uppermost ends of the vertical rods 26 and resting on the flat rectangular top 12.
The manner in which the heater grid 18 is suspended from the transverse beams 25 will now be described with reference to Figure 3 of the drawings.
In Figure 3, there is illustrated a broken-away portion of one of the transverse beams 25, and a portion, shown in cross-section, of the heat exchanger pipe 19 extending at right angles to the transverse beam 25. The heat exchanger pipe 19 is linked to the transverse beam 25 by three chain links indicated generally by reference numeral 28, the outer-most or end chain links being welded to the heat exchanger pipe 19 and the transverse beam 25, respectively.
While only one portion of the heat exchanger pipe 19 has been illustrated in Figure 3, it is to be understood that the heat exchanger pipe 19 is linked to the transverse beam 25 as illustrated in Figure 3 at each position where the heat exchanger pipe 19 passes beneath one of the transverse beams 25.
Referring again to Figure 1, it can be seen that the outer coil of the heat exchanger pipe 19 projects laterally outwardly beyond the walls 13 and 14 of the downwardly open housing 11 around substantially the entire periphery of the downwardly open housing 11.
By flexure of the chains formed by the chain llnks 28, the heater grid 18 can move to a limited extent relative to the downwardly open housing 11. In order to retain the outer coil of the heat exchanger pipe 19 in correct alignment beneath the lowermost edges of the walls 13 and 14 of the downwardly open 1C~40Q37 housing 11 around substantially the entire periphery of the downwardly open housing 11.
By flexure of the chains formed by the chain links 28, the heater grid 18 can move to a limited extent relative to the downwardly open housing 11. In order to retain the outer coil of the heat exchanger pipe 19 in correct alignment beneath the lowermost edges of the walls 13 and 14 of the downwardly open housing 11, the outer coil of the heat exchanger pipe 19 is provided wi~h retainers 30, which slidably engage the lower-most portions of the side walls 13 and 14 and which act as slid-ing guides during the movement of the heat exchanger grid 18 relative to the downwardly open housing 10.
One of the retainers 30 is illustrated in cross-section in Figure 4. As can be seen from this Figure, the retainer 30 has an upwardly open U-shaped cross-section which receives be-tween the free arms thereof the lowermost end of the side wall 14. The retainer 30 is secured by welding to the top of the outermost coil of the heat exchanger pipe 19. Whereas in the example illustrated in Figure 4, the retainer 30 is welded to the outer coil of the heat exchanger pipe 19 substantially above the center of the outer coil, it may be preferable in other em-bodiments of the invention to offset the retainer 30 laterally inwardly from the illustrated central position, so that the outer coil of the heat exchanger pipe 19 will project laterally outwardly to a greater extent from the lowermost edge of the sidewall 14.
Also, it can be seen from Figure 4 that the two free arms of the U-shaped cross-section of the retainer 30 are upwardly and outwardly inclined, to a slight extent, relative to one another. The purpose of this is to accommodate limited tilting, ~04~37 as well as vertical, movement of the heater grid 18 relative to the downwardly open housing 11.
The downwardly open housing 11 is fabricated from steel plate, and as illustrated in Figure 4, the flat rectangular top 12 of the downwardly open housing 11 is formed by two steel plates 31 and 32, between which there is sandwiched a layer 33 of heat insulating material which, in the present embodiment, comprises a glass fiber heat insulator material.
The lower plate 31 is welded to the walls 13 and 14, while the upper plate 32 may be secured in position by bolts (not shown) or by any other suitable means.
In the present embodiment of the invention, the block sulphur melting apparatus is of generally rectangular shape in plan view, and the heat exchanger pipe 19 is a steel pipe of two inches exkernal diameter, the spacings 23 between suc-cessive coils of the heat exchanger pipe 19 each being not more than 1~ inches. The horizontal overall dimensions of the heater grid 18 are 48 inches by 96 inches, the height of the housing 11 being 20 inches.
When the apparatus is in use, the apparatus is placed on and in contact with the top of a block of sulphur, and steam is passed through the heat exchanger pipe 19 from the inlet end 20 to the outlet end 21. The heat transferred from the heat exchan-ger pipe 19 to the underlying and adjacent solid sulphur causes the latter to melt, and the molten sulphur flows through the spacings 23 between the successive turns of the heat exchanger coil 19. A steam heated pump 34 mounted on the flat rectangular top 12 and extending through an opening in the latter into the interior of the downwardly open housing 10 eventually has its lowermost inlet end immersed in the molten sulphur which has ~4~)~37 risen, as described above, through the heater grid 18. The steam heated pump 34 is employed to pump this molten sulphur from the interior of the downwardly open housing 11, the mol-ten sulphur being conveyed through an outlet pipe 35 to a mol-ten sulphur pit for temporary storage or directly to further processing apparatus, which is employed to convertthe molten sulphur into, for example, solidified sulphur flakes to facili-tate transportation of the sulphur. Alternatively, the molten sulphur may be pumped through the sulphur outlet pipe 35 to a railway tanker truck for transportation in molten form.
Since the outer coil of the heat exchanger pipe 19 pro-jects laterally outwardly of substantially the entire peri-phery of the downwardly open housing 11, continued operation of the apparatus described above will cause the apparatus to sink gradually into the block of sulphur and thereby to form a smooth-walled shaft of rectangular cross-section, the outer-most coil of the heat exchanger unit 19 forming a small width of molten sulphur around the entire periphery of the apparatus.
In practice, employing an apparatus having the dimensions described above, and supplying steam at 25Q p.s.i.g. through a steam header valve (not shown) to the steam inlet formed by the inlet end 20 of the heat exchanger pipe 19 at a temperature of 375, it was found that the steam temperature at the outlet formed by the outlet end 21 of the heat exchanger pipe 19 was 350 F. and that a rate of melting, i.e. a rate of downward travel of the apparatus through the sulphur block, of one foot per hour was achieved. A steam trap was employed at the steam outlet to minimize steam consumption.
In operations hitherto carried out, it has been found that the molten sulphur beneath the downwardly open housing 11 :~L09~Q~3~
has been sufficient to fill the voids which are sometimes en-countered in block sulphur, but if necessary additional molten sulphur could be pumped into the downwardly open housing 11 to completely fill such voids.
Since the heater grid 18 is suspended from the downwardly open housing 11 in such a manner as to be capable of limited - vertical and tilting movement relative to the downwardly open housing 11, b-y flexing of the chains formed by the chain links 28, the heater grid is enabled to self-adjust in position in accordance with any minor irregularities in the shape of the solid sulphur underlying the heater grid.
Also, employing the dimensions described above, it was found that the molten sulphur produced by the heating effect of the heater grid 18 was sufficient to effectively melt any solid sulphur underlying the spacings 23 between adjacent or successive turns of the coil formed by the heat exchanger pipe 19. However, it is to be understood that the above mentioned dimensions of the apparatus are given by way of example only, and that these dimensions may be varied in the scope of the present invention.
In addition, the above described apparatus may be modi-fied by the provision of thermometers (not shown) at the in-let and outlet of the heat exchanger pipe 19 in order to faci-litate monitoring of the correct operation of the apparatus.
Moreover, the flexible suspension of the heater grid 18 allows relative expansion and contraction of the heater grid 18 relative to the downwardly open housing 11 in response to temperature changes.
While the present embodiment of the invention employs only one heat exchanger coil, it is to be understood that more `37 than one such coil may be employed. For example, in order to facilitate transportation of the apparatus, two coils may be secured side-by-side in such a manner that they can be readily dismantled from one another for transportation.
Referring now to Figure 5, there is illustrated in this Figure a sulphur-block 37 in which two holes indicated generally by reference numerals 38 and 39 have been formed by the present apparatus. The hole 38 extends downwardly to the bottom of the sulphur block 37, while the hole 39 is illustrated during its formation, and has not yet reached the bottom of the sulphur block 37. The holes 38 and 39 are spaced apart from one another, and from the edges of the sulphur block 37, by a distance suf-ficient to leave walls 40, 41, 42 and 43, which are formed by unmelted portions of the sulphur block 37. Preferably, the walls 40 to 43 have a thickness of 6 inches to one foot and it will of course be readily understood that these walls serve to retain the molten sulphur beneath the block sulphur melting apparatus 10 dur-ing formation of the holes.
As operation of the apparatus is continued, a plurality of further, similar holes of rectangular horizontal cross-section will be formed through the sulphur block 37. When substantially the entire volume of the sulphur block 37, except for the walls around the holes, has thus been melted, the walls can be mechan-ically crushed and piled into one of the holes which is left for that purpose, so that the block sulphur melting apparatus 10 can then be placed on the crushed sulphur and employed to melt the latter. The crushing of the relatively thin walls left in the block of sulphur can be readily effected by the usual mechanical means and will of course not produce nearly as much dust as if produced in the prior art methods employing mechanical crushing 1~
~4~ 37 ..
to effect removal of the entire block.
Consequently, it will be apparent that the present block sulphur melting apparatus and method substantially reduce pol-lution of the surrounding atmosphere and area by sulphur dust by converting the majority of the sulphur block directly to molten sulphur, instead of lumps of solid sulphur which subse-quently have to be crushed for melting, and in this way not only is pollution substantially reduced, but in addition the costs of processing the sulphur blocks are substantially re-duced as compared with methods and apparatus employed hitherto.
In addition, it will be readily appreciated that furthermodifications may be effected in the above-described apparatus within the scope of the present invention. For example, instead of employing a coil-shaped heat exchanger pipe, the heater grid may be formed by one or more heat exchanger pipes of serpentine shape, and a heat exchanger medium other than steam, for example heating oil, glycol or sulphonol, may be employed. ~Iowever, the use of steam in the vicinity of natural gas processing plants is economical, since steam is readily available at such plants. In vicinities where an existing supply of suitable heat is not read-ily available, the block sulphur melting apparatus may be provided with a suitable steam generator or other heater for providing a h`eated heat exchange medium.
Moreover, the heat exchanger pipe may be replaced by one or more suitably shaped and protectively encased electrical 26 heater elements.
Claims (23)
1. Block sulphur melting apparatus, comprising:
a heater element;
said heater element comprising a plurality of horizontally extending portions;
said portions extending side-by-side in proximity to one another and being spaced apart from one another to allow molten sulphur to flow upwardly through said heater ele-ment during operation of the apparatus;
a downwardly-open housing positioned over said heater element wherein said heater element extends at least as far outwardly as the outer edge of said housing, around substantially the entire periphery of said housing;
an outlet pipe extending upwardly from the interior of said housing to the exterior thereof;
and a pump associated with said outlet pipe for pumping molten sulphur from the interior of said housing through said outlet pipe.
a heater element;
said heater element comprising a plurality of horizontally extending portions;
said portions extending side-by-side in proximity to one another and being spaced apart from one another to allow molten sulphur to flow upwardly through said heater ele-ment during operation of the apparatus;
a downwardly-open housing positioned over said heater element wherein said heater element extends at least as far outwardly as the outer edge of said housing, around substantially the entire periphery of said housing;
an outlet pipe extending upwardly from the interior of said housing to the exterior thereof;
and a pump associated with said outlet pipe for pumping molten sulphur from the interior of said housing through said outlet pipe.
2. Block sulphur melting apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said heater element is formed by at least one heat ex-changer pipe provided with an inlet and an outlet for the flow of a heated fluid through said heater element.
3. Block sulphur melting apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the heater element is in the form of a coil.
4. Block sulphur melting apparatus as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the heater element is secured to said housing by a connection allowing movement of said heater element relative to said housing.
5. Block sulphur melting apparatus as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 3, and further comprising a linkage movably suspending said heater element relative to said housing.
6. Block sulphur melting apparatus as claimed in Claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein said outlet is provided in the top of said housing.
7. Block sulphur melting apparatus as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein said housing comprises sheet metal with a layer of a heat insulator material.
8. Block sulphur melting apparatus, comprising:
a heater element;
said heater element comprising a plurality of horizontally extending portions;
said portions extending side-by-side in proximity to one another and being spaced apart from one another to allow molten sulphur to flow upwardly through said heater element during operation of the apparatus;
a downwardly-open housing positioned over said heater ele-ment so that said heater element extends across the under-side of said housing;
said housing having a downwardly extending skirt, said heater element projecting laterally outwardly of said hous-ing beyond said skirt around the periphery of said skirt;
and said heater element comprising a heat exchanger pipe having an inlet end and an outlet end communicating with the exterior of said housing for the flow of a heat ex-change medium through said heater element; a sulphur outlet pipe extending upwardly from the interior of said housing to the exterior thereof; and a pump associated with said outlet pipe for pumping molten sulphur from the interior of said housing through said outlet pipe.
a heater element;
said heater element comprising a plurality of horizontally extending portions;
said portions extending side-by-side in proximity to one another and being spaced apart from one another to allow molten sulphur to flow upwardly through said heater element during operation of the apparatus;
a downwardly-open housing positioned over said heater ele-ment so that said heater element extends across the under-side of said housing;
said housing having a downwardly extending skirt, said heater element projecting laterally outwardly of said hous-ing beyond said skirt around the periphery of said skirt;
and said heater element comprising a heat exchanger pipe having an inlet end and an outlet end communicating with the exterior of said housing for the flow of a heat ex-change medium through said heater element; a sulphur outlet pipe extending upwardly from the interior of said housing to the exterior thereof; and a pump associated with said outlet pipe for pumping molten sulphur from the interior of said housing through said outlet pipe.
9. Block sulphur melting apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said heater element is suspended from said housing by a flexible suspension allowing movement of said heater element relative to said housing.
10. Block sulphur melting apparatus as claimed in claim 9, wherein said suspension comprises chain links.
11. Block sulphur melting apparatus as claimed in claim 9 or 10, wherein slidable guide members connecting said heater element and said housing are provided for guiding the movement of said heater element relative to said housing.
12. Block sulphur melting apparatus as claimed in claim 1, 9 or 10, wherein at least a top portion of said housing comprises a layer of heat insulating material sandwiched between layers of sheet metal.
13. Block sulphur melting apparatus as claimed in claim 8, 9 or 10, wherein said heat exchanger pipe communicates with a heat exchange medium inlet near the periphery of said housing and with a heat exchange medium outlet at a central portion of said housing.
14. Block sulphur melting apparatus as claimed in claim 8, where-in said heat exchanger pipe is in the form of a coil having mutu-ally spaced turns.
15. Block sulphur melting apparatus as claimed in claim 14, wherein said heat exchanger pipe communicates with a heat ex-change medium inlet near the periphery of said housing and with a heat exchange medium outlet at a central portion of said housing.
16. Block sulphur melting apparatus as claimed in claim 8, 14 or 15, wherein said horizontally extending portions are mutually spaced by spacings having widths less than that of said heat exchanger pipe.
17. Block sulphur melting apparatus as claimed in claim 1, 8 or 9 wherein said housing has a generally straight-sided shape in plan view.
18. Block sulphur melting apparatus as claimed in claim 8, where-in said apparatus is substantially rectangular in plan view.
19. A method of melting block sulphur, which comprises the steps of:
positioning on said sulphur a generally horizontal heater element provided at the underside of a downwardly open housing, so as to extend at least as far outwardly as the outer edge of said housing around substantially the entire periphery of said housing;
transferring heat from said heater element to the sulphur to melt the sulphur adjacent and underlying said heater element; and extracting said molten sulphur from above said heater ele-ment and thence from said housing.
positioning on said sulphur a generally horizontal heater element provided at the underside of a downwardly open housing, so as to extend at least as far outwardly as the outer edge of said housing around substantially the entire periphery of said housing;
transferring heat from said heater element to the sulphur to melt the sulphur adjacent and underlying said heater element; and extracting said molten sulphur from above said heater ele-ment and thence from said housing.
20. A method as claimed in claim 19, which includes effecting the transfer of heat from said heater element to the sulphur by flowing a heat exchange medium through said heater element.
21. A method as claimed in claim 20, which includes employing steam as said heat exchange medium.
22. A method as claimed in claim 19, 20 or 21 which includes employing a heated pump mounted on said housing to effect the extraction of the molten sulphur.
23. A method as claimed in claim 19, 20 or 21, which includes melting areas of a block of the sulphur which are separated from one another and from the sides of the block by walls formed by portions of the block which are left unmelted.
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA191,888A CA969438A (en) | 1974-02-06 | 1974-02-06 | Block sulphur melting apparatus and method |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA1040037B true CA1040037B (en) | 1978-10-10 |
Family
ID=4099111
Family Applications (2)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA191,888A Expired CA969438A (en) | 1974-02-06 | 1974-02-06 | Block sulphur melting apparatus and method |
| CA 299838 Expired CA1040037B (en) | 1974-02-06 | 1978-03-28 | Block sulphur melting apparatus and method |
Family Applications Before (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA191,888A Expired CA969438A (en) | 1974-02-06 | 1974-02-06 | Block sulphur melting apparatus and method |
Country Status (1)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| CA (2) | CA969438A (en) |
Cited By (1)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WO2004076347A1 (en) * | 2003-02-28 | 2004-09-10 | Ellithorpe Richard C | In situ sulphur remelter |
-
1974
- 1974-02-06 CA CA191,888A patent/CA969438A/en not_active Expired
-
1978
- 1978-03-28 CA CA 299838 patent/CA1040037B/en not_active Expired
Cited By (1)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WO2004076347A1 (en) * | 2003-02-28 | 2004-09-10 | Ellithorpe Richard C | In situ sulphur remelter |
Also Published As
| Publication number | Publication date |
|---|---|
| CA969438A (en) | 1975-06-17 |
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