CA1254059A - System for automatic sampling and sample conveyance for analysis - Google Patents

Abstract

SYSTEM FOR AUTOMATIC SAMPLING AND
SAMPLE CONVENIENCE FOR ANALYSIS
Abstract of the Disclosure A system for automatic sampling and sample con-veyance for analysis, comprises a sampler having a slurry sampling member having a drain in the form of a flexible hose, a compressed air line, the fle-xible hose being connected, via a controlled valve, to a chamber f or accumulation and dispatch of samples having check valves and an outlet which is connected, via a conveying line, to a sample receiver. The sys-tem is provided with a metering receptable connected to the flexible drain hose and mounted at the inlet of the chamber and connected, via a controlled valve, to a water supply line, the capacity of the metering receptacle being commensurable with the capacity of the chamber, and the controlled valves being connected in parallel with each other.

Description

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Field o~ tbe Art The inventiDn relate~ tD the concentr~ti~n prDcesses~ a~d in particular, it deals with the a~alytical contrDl of samples of solu~iDns and slurries at metallurgical, chemical and similar plants, and mDre specifically, the invention relates to systems fDr autDmatic sampling and sample c~n-veyance fDr analysis.
BackgrDund o~ the Invention ~Dwn in the art is a system for autDmatic sampling and slurry sample cDnveyance for analysis (cf. Yancbevsky V.N. et al.~ System for Conveying Slurry Samples fDr Anal~is in a QuantDmeter KRF-13.
(in Russian) 9 InnDvative propDsals and InventiDns, ND~ 6J (342), pp~8-10, Moscow, 1g80~, comprising 9amplers installed Dn slurry lines conveying pro-ducts being analyzed, a sampling member Df a slurry sampler being connected tD a ~eceiving sump cf a rotar~ pump by means of a flexible hose. ~he pump, in the analysis mode~ pumps in the sample through a conveying line tD a pressure tank which i9 in-stalled in an e~press laboratDr~ Dver the cells o~ an analyzer. T~e receivi~g sump of the pump has a check drai~ ~unnel~ and the flexible hose ~5 Df the sampler is connected ~D a pneumatic membrane actuator b~ means Df a pull member i~ such a manner ~2S~

th~t in one po~it~on (in ths anal,ysi3 mode) the ~lurry i~ fed from the ~ampler to the pump ~ump and ln the other po~ition (in the wa~hlng mode), to the drain ~unnel. In additlon, ~ water ~upply pipeline having a ~hu~-o~f ~alvs oonneot~ to th~
pump ~ump. Por wa~hing the ~ample conveyance ~ystem, the pneumatic actuator direct~ng the slurry ~arnple to the drain funnel Qnd the ~hut-o~f valve ~tarting ~ater ~upply to the recei~ing ~ump of the pump are actuated simultaneously. Water flowing through the conveyi~g line ~nd other devices oi the sy~tem in $he expre~s laboratory washe~ them, ~ter the ~a~hing 13 over, the s~stem i8 aw~thced o~er back to the analy~is mode.
~owev~r, with ~uch a ~st~m, wa~hing o~ the drain ho~s and 8ampli~g aperture o~ the ~ampler i~ impo~ibleO In practice, it i~ the~e element~
that are mo~t pro~e to 210gging whioh 18 not u~frequently the cau~e of clogging o~ ~he drain 20 ho~e and . ~ailure o~ the sy~tem. Gradual aocumula-tion of ~lurry re~idus in the drain hose and their subsequent ~eparat~on from the ho~e wall re~ult~
in a sub~tan~ial contamination o~ a sample being analyzed. I~ additlon, the conveying line ~hould 25 be completely iilled Ior n~ashing it ~o that a large amount o~ Nater i~ required, wherea~ effi-cienoy of wa3hlng depend~ on water velocity thu~

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making it necessary to install a high capacity pump.
Also known in the art is a system for automa-tic sampling and sample conveyance in sampling slurIies (cf. Yu.A.Baranov, Automatic Sampling and Sample Conveyance System (in Xussian)s Jr. '~svetnaya Lietallurgia, L~o. 20, 1982, pp, 35-37), co[llprising a sam~
pler having a slurry sampling mernber i n the form of an apertured blade which is ~ounted at an ove:r-fall of a process slurry flow being controlled~
'~he drain of the apertured blade of the sampler is connected by means of a flexible hose to a chamber for accumulation and dispatch of samples through a first check valve. ~he chamber for accumu-lation and dispatch of samples is connected, via a~ electricall~ controlled valve, to a cornpressed - air suppl~ line, and, via a co~veying line, to a sample receiver. ~n addition, to ensure that the the volume of the sample being dispatched should be always the same, the chamber for accumulation and dispatch of samples i9 ~illed with water to the overflow level9 water being continuously supplied throu~h a second check valve. During operation of the system, a-single sample received b~ a sampler during one cycle of its operation is fed under gravity through the flexible hos~ to the chamber for ~ccumulation and dispatch of samples. The accu-mulated sample is dispatched and conveyed by admit-tin~ compressed air to the chamber by actuating 1~5~5~

the electrically controlled valve. The sample is ad~itted fro~ the conveying line to the sample re-ceiver and then, to a circulation circuit for an X-ray spectral analysis~
'~he chamber ~OI` acc~llulation and dispatch of sauples, conveying line and sample receiver are washed by feed~ng compressed air, upon actuation of the electrically controlled val-ve, to the cham-ber ~or accumulation and dispatch of samples imme-diately after it has been filled with water.
This system calls for a large water consumption (more than 150 l/h)~ yet there is no provisio~ for washing of the sa~pling apertuIe and flexible drain hose. It is these parts of the system that are most prone to clogging with slur~y thus not only resulting in a worse reliability of the sample analysis data boecause the sample is not quite rep-- rese~tative, but also causing clogging of the sa~p-ler aperture and the hose up to the complete fai-luxe of the systém.
Summary of the I~entio~
It is an object of the invention to improve reliabilit~ of the systeln in operation by elimina-ting clogging of variuus parts of the system.
Another object of the inve`ntion is to make a sample taken for analysis more representative by en-suring constant dimensions of the sa~pler aperture, hence, u~iform sampling through the aperture.

~Z5~59 Further object Df the invention is to lower water consumption owi~g to its c~clic suppl~.
'~h~ inverltion essential~y resid~s in that in a 9y9 tem for automatic sampling and ~ampLa conveyance for analy~is, comprisi~g a sampler havi~g a slurry sampling member, having a drain in the form of a ~10xible hDse cDnnected to a chamber for accumulation and dispatch o~ samples having check valves and con-nected to 8 water supply line and, via a controlled valve, to a compre~sed air ~upply li~e~ a sample receivar which is connected, via a conveying line, to the outlet of the c~amber for accumulation and dispatch of sampl~s, a com~and device electrically co~nect3d tD the sampler and controlled valveS according to the in~en-tion7 there are also provided a metering receptacleinstalled at the inlet of the chamber for accumulation and dispatch of sample~, and a~ sdditional controlled valve mounted between the water suppl~ line and the metering ~ecJptacle, tbe metering receptacle being of a capacity which is close~ or equal to the capacit~
of the chamber for accumulation snd dispatch of samplas, and the controlled valves being connected in parallel with each Dther.
The ~ystem according to the invention makes it.
po~sinle to effect a cyc}ic wa~hing of the flexible hose and slurry sampling member when the additional valve i9 opened 90 as to avoid clogging thereof, - b -~zs~os~

hence to eliminate failures of the system, tbe rep-resenta~iveness of samplas taken for anal~is also being improved. I~ addibion, watar consumption i9 lDwered because it is not necessarg bc supply u/~ter continuall~ to tbe chamber fDr accumulation and dispatc~ Df samples.
Description Df the Dra~ing Thase and other Dbjects and advantages o~ the in-vention will become apparsnt ~rom the ~ollouing dstailed description of an embodiment thereo~ with reference to the accompan~i~g drawing, in whlc~:
Figure 1 ~hows a structural diagram Df a s~stem for automatic sampling and sampla conveyance for analysis according to the invantio~;
~i~ure 2 is a structural embodim~nt of a me~ering receptacle according tD tha i~vention.
Detailed Descriptio~ of the Invention A system fDr autDmatic sampling a~d sample con-veyance comprises a sampler 1 having a slurr~ samp~ing member 2 in thc ~Drm o~ an apertured blade 3 mountad o~ an arm 4 o~ the sampler 1, which may be similar to that described in USSR I~ventor's Certi~icats No.aO2838.
For draining ~lurry, the ~lurr~ ~ampling member 2 is connected, via a ~lexible hose 5~ to an inlot o~ a cham-ber 6 ~or accumulation and di~patch of samples t~rougha metering receptacle 7. At the inleb o~ the chamber 6 is install~d a first check valve 8. ~he chambar 6 is con-nected, via the ~irst check valve 8 and also via a valve 9 installHd at the inl~t o~ the chamber 6, to a line 10 for ~z~s~

compres~ed alr ~upply. The c'n~mber 6 i~ also connec-ted to a line 11 Por ~upplying water through the me-tering receptacle 7 by mean~ o~ an ~dditionnl ~alre 12~ r~he chamber 6 i~ provided with a ~eco~d oheck ~alve 13 for discharging an e~ce~ of water. An out-let 14 of the chamber 6 connects, via a conreying lina 15, to ~ ~ample recei~er 16 h~vi~g pipe~ 17 and 18 for di~ch~rging ~aste air and liquid ~ample (~lurry) for anal~si~9 re~pectively, the analy~i~ being oonduc-10 ted~ e.g~ in an X~ray ~pectral analyz~r ~not shown).The design of the chsmber 6 Por accumulati~g ana di~-patch of samplss ~ ~ known in the art (cf~ USSR Inven-tor' 3 Certi~icate No.750319).
The sample recel~er-16 ~omprisa~ a ~idely known 15 ¢yolone (~. Polytechnical Dictlonar~ (in Ru~sian)?
Ed. b~ N~o Artvbolev~ky,.M., SoYet~ka~s Entsiklopeaia Publi~hi~g House, 1976, p.554~. ~ slurr~ and air mi~ture ~rom the convey~g line 15 ~ admitt~d to the rece~ver 16 ~herein, owing to an abrupt ~nd 20 ~ub~tantial.volume inor~a~e (e~pansion~ and lowering o~ velo~it~ the slurry ~lo~ do~n through the pipe 18, and the wa~te air escapes through the upper pipe 17~
~ I!he ~y~3tem also oomprises a command device 1~' ~hioh generally oompri~e~ a ~ell kno~m. electrio ma~tor oont-25 roller having an electrio motor with a reduatlongeari~g having ~ ~ha~t on 7~hich is mounted a c~m und conta¢t mean~ for olo~ing cont~cts in suc~ a manner s~

a8 to ~ffect control in a pre-set ~equenee tnot sho~
- in the drawi~g~ O T~e outputs of ~he command d~ice 19 are connected to an actuator mean~ (not sho~n) - o~ the ~ampler 1 and to th~ contro]Llea ~al~e~ 9 and 12.
In order to en~ure opti~um condition~ ~or operatiou o~ the sy~tem, the capacitie~ o~ the meteri~æ re-ceptacle 7 and ~hamber 6 are about equal to sach other~
~he metering resoptacle 7 ~Figure 2) oomprises 10 a CQSing in the Porm of two oppositely mounted cone~
19 and. 20 9 ~d a cylinder 21. An inl~t pipe 22 i~
welded into the upper cone 19 ~or admitting ~ ~lurry ~ample iro~ the blQde of the ~ampler 1 and ~or wa~hing the blade and ~le~ible ho~e 5 (Figure 1) 9 15 ~nd there i~ al~o pro~ided a pipe 23 t~igure ~) ior water ~upply, which ls connected to th0 electricall~
controlled ~alve 12 (Figur~ A aampl~ or aocu-mulated water is drained through the lower co~e 20 ana a pipe 24 ~hi¢h is connected to the inlet o~
20 the ~ample accumulation chamber 6 (~igure 1).
~ he ~ystem for automati¢ ~3ampllng and ~ample coIl~eyance e.ccording to the invention ~ ctiolls in the Iollo~ing manner.
In the ini tial po~ition, the ¢ontroll~d valve~
25 9 s~d 12 are olosed~ the ~heol: ~ral~e~ 8 and 13 ar~
. ope~, the ch~nber 6 i~ ~illed ~rith wat~r to the level o~ the over~low opening of th~ ch~ck val~re 13, _ g ~!L2~

and the ~ampling membar 2 of th0 ~ampler 1 i9 ready to take a ~ample. Taki~g ~ingle ~amples in tha ~tem i~ e~îected by the ~ampler 1 iollowirlg a command ~rom the eommand dt3~ice 18! A 3ingle sample 5 takerl fl~om the prooes~ ~lo~ ( the ~lo~ direction i~
~hov~n by ~rrow~ ~5~ i8 admittedy through the fle-xible ho~e 5 a:nd metering receptacle 7, to the chamber 6 whesrein sever~l inai~idual ~ampla~ ~re regularl~ accumulated. The incoming ~ample~ di 10 pl~ce water a~ailable in ~he chamber 6 thI~ou~h the o~erI lo~ opening o~ the eheck valve 13 80 that an accumu~ated ~ample of one and the ~ame volume wlll be conveyed ~or analyei~. The sQmple is di~-patched and conveyed ~ollowing 8 ¢ommand ~rom ~he command de~i¢e l~'by ~eeding oompres~ed air to the chamber 6 ~he~ the controlled valve 9 ie ~pened.
Under the action o~ compre~ed air~ the ¢heck ~alve~ 8 and 13 are Glosed, and the ~ampl~ i~ ied through the con~ying line 15 to th~ ~mple recei-ver 16 wherein the conve~i~g air i~ ~eparated ~romthe ~ample, and the ~Qple i8 prepared ~or analy-8i8~ Concurrently ~th the open~n~ o~ the oontrol-led ~alve 9, the addltio~al controlled ~alYe 12 i~
opened to ~upply ~ater under pre~ure to the Mete-ring recepta¢l~ 7. Since the oheck ~alve 8 i~ clQ~edgwater will fill-up tha m~tsri~g re~eptacle 7 a~d ~ill ~low through the flexibla ho~e 5 and aperture~ 3 o~

as~

the ~lurr~ ~ampli~g member 2 ~o a~ to ~a~h the~e ele-me~t~ ~f the sy~tem. A~ter the sample ha~ b~en con~
~e~ed~ and ~ollowing a command from the comm~nd devioe 1~'~ the ~alve~ 9 ~nd 12 are ~imulata~eou~ly clo~ed ~o ~8 to l~terrupt compr~ed air and ~ater ~upply to the metering receptacle~ 7. ~he ch~ck valve 8 i~ open~d, and water aYailable in the me-tering receptacle 7 and flexible ho~a 5 will fill--up the chamber 6 whi¢h ha~ the capacit~ co~mensu-10 rable with t~at o~ the metering receptacle 7. Onthe one hand ~h~ provide~ a gurAntee o~ o~e and the ~ame ~elume o~ ~ample~ being conveyed ~or anal~si~ with complete filli.ng of the ch~mber 6 up to the overflow level, and on the other hand~
15 wat~r con~umption i~ minimized. Water ~upply through the meteri~g receptacle 7 makes it po~-~ible to i901ate the w~r ~uppl~ line 11 ~rom the ~hamber 6 thu~ pre~n~i~g it ~rom being ~illed with ~ter under pre~sure because otherwise a g~uge 20 ~t9~ pre~8ure i~ the chamber 6 would oau~e ~losure of the check ~alve 8 at the inlet thereof t.hus hampering admission o~ a sample to the chamber 6.
A~ter a certain b$me inter~al (af about one minute) ~et-up by the command device 1~ the co~trolled 25 val~e~ 9 and ~2 are again actuated re~tart the ~uppl~ o~ water and co~pres~ed air~ the v~l~e 8 being closed. Water admitted to the metering re ; 11 --ceptacle 7 ~qi 11 flo~ through the ~ ible ho~e 5 and ~ampling rnemb~r 2 to ~ash thes~ part~ of the ~yltem c~n~a agairL" Water present i:ll the ch~mber 6 i~ conYeyed under the action o~ oompreæ~e~ air 5 through the co~veying line 1~ to the ~arnpl~ re~
ceiv~r 16 to ~ash the~e part~ of the ~y~tem~ Whe~
the ~ample had bee~ corlveyed, the controlled ~Qlves 9 and 12 ar~ clo~ed to interrupt æupply o~ water and co~pre~ed air. ~ne oheok ~alve 8 i~ thu~ opened, 10 md ~ater pre~ent i~ the metering reoept~cle 7 an i:~ ths ~le}~ible hose 5 fill~ the charnber 6. The 8y~1-t~ brought b~ck to the initial ~ta~e. The c~cle i~ then repeated at 15-30 minuteæ interv~ls.
IJse o~ the intrentio:n, owing 1;o the c~lic 15 ~ra~hi~ su~tantlall~ ~ompletely elimina~e~ clog-~g of the ~lurr~y ~ampli:ag ~ember 2, i.e~, the apperture o~ the blade 3, lNith ~lurr~ ~o that the geometrical conîiguratio:~ o~ the apert~Lre 3 r~maln~
unch~ed thu~ making it po~ible to take sample~
20 irom the Ilow of ~lurry which ~re full~ repre~en-tative. In additlon3 ~a~hing oi the rle~:Lble ho~e 5 ~rith ~ater i8 ~n~ured 80 as to avoi~ danger of contamirlation oX following ~ample~ ~ith re~idues :a~ the precedin~ 8ample8. Thi~ cility impro~e~
25 rel~ abllity of the sy~tem in op~ration ~d rep-resentati~elaa~ oi sample~ taken and oon~yed ~or sn~lysi~ a:lld re~lts i~ a lo~er ~er Gonsumptior:

( up to ~5 l/h) ~d :rsductlon o~ operati~zl co~t ~
~ he irlventio~ may be u~ed at concentration facto:rie~ in the met~llurgical and min~ ng lndust-ri ~38 and in other industri es .

Claims

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

A system for automatic sampling and sample con-veyance for analysis, comprising:
- a sampler having a slurry sampling member;
- a flexible hose having two ends and designed for draining slurry from said slurry sampling mem-ber;
- a metering receptacle having a sample in-let, a compressed air inlet, and an outlet;
- said flexible hose having one said end there-of connected to said slurry sampling member and said other end connected to said slurry inlet of said metering receptable;
- a water supply line connected to another inlet of said metering receptacle;
- a chamber for accumulation and dispatch of samples having an inlet for the admission of slurry and compressed air, a first outlet for dispatching slurry, and a second outlet for draining an excess of water;
- a first check valve mounted at said inlet of said chamber for accumulation and dispatch of samples;
- a second check valve mounted at said second outlet of said chamber for accumulation and dis-patch of samples;
- said metering receptacle being connected to said first inlet of said chamber for accumulation and dispatch of samples through said first check valve;
- a compressed air supply line connected to said inlet of said chamber for accumulation and dispatch of samples through a first controlled valve;
- an additional controlled valve mounted bet-ween said water inlet of said metering receptacle and said water supply line;
- a conveying line for conveying samples, having two ends;
- a sample receiver having an inlet for re-ceiving slurry;
- said conveying line having one said end thereof connected to said first outlet of the cham-ber for accumulation and dispatch of samples and the other said end thereof connected to said inlet sample receiver;
- a command device having two outputs;
- one said output of the command device being electrically connected to said sampler;
- said other output of the command device being connected to said controlled valves;
- said controlled valves being connected in parallel with each other;
- capacities of said metering receptacle and said chamber for accumulation and dispatch of samples being about equal to each other.