CA2196217C

CA2196217C - Adsorption reactor for separating undesirable components from a fluid

Info

Publication number: CA2196217C
Application number: CA002196217A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Hermann Bruggendick
Original assignee: Steag Encotec GmbH
Current assignee: Steag Energy Services GmbH
Priority date: 1994-07-29
Filing date: 1995-07-12
Publication date: 2000-11-28
Anticipated expiration: 2015-07-12
Also published as: JP3068856B2; JPH10503421A; CA2196217A1; WO1996004065A1

Abstract

A reactor has a reaction chamber (103) fed with adsorption medium through grid-like feeding funnels and emptied through grid-like discharge funnels (106).
The chamber is delimited by multiblade shutters (108, 109) and subdivided into two layers (103a, 103b) by a partition (107). The partition (107) and the downstream shutter (108) substantially have the same structure, i.e. a bar sieve located upstream followed by a stabilising grid to which blades (120 or 110) are connected. The blades are oriented upwards at the partition (107) and downwards at the shutter (108). The reactor may be assembled in a modular manner in the longitudinal and transverse directions from a plurality of reaction chambers.

Description

Adsorption reactor for separating undesirable components from a fluid The invention relates to an adsorption reactor for separating undesirable components from a fluid, in particular from an exhaust gas, having at least one reaction chamber which has feeding means at the top and funnel-shaped discharge means at the bottom for feeding and for discharging an adsorbent in lumps or in granular form.
DE-A 26 26 939 shows a device of the generic type, in which the fluid inside the reaction space is conducted through two layers traveling parallel to one another, and the adsorbent is moved at a higher speed in the downstream layer and is loaded to a lesser extent than in the layer on the upstream side. This known device is intended to carry out thorough purification of the exhaust gas as far as possible since sufficiently fresh adsorbent is still applied to the exhaust gas on the downstream side. On the other hand, adsorbent which has only been utilized to a very limited extent must con-stantly be discharged and regenerated in a relatively thick layer on the downstream side. The reaction chamber is subdivided by vertical partitions. The individual compartments are provided with adsorbent from a central filling opening and have discharge openings or funnels assigned to the individual layers.
It is known from DE-C 34 27 905 to even out the adsorbent particle flow by means of baffles over the cross section of the traveling bed.
In known adsorption equipment, significant parts, in particular, of the pile of bulk material in the top region and of the discharge pile in the bottom region of the reactor cannot or cannot satisfactorily be reached by the transversely flowing fluid. The consequence of this ranges from hot spots (heat concentrations) to sources of fire in the top region and accumulations of condensate, in conjunction with caked-on particles in the bottom region of the reactor. Furthermore, difficulties arise in the region where the fluid flows off since, on the one hand, the adsorbent is to be retained and, on the other hand, obstructions to the fluid flow should be minimized.
The invention is based on the object of providing improved flow of the fluid to be treated through the adsorbent bed and of avoiding operational malfunctions, in particular in the critical top and discharge regions of the adsorber and the fluid flow.
To achieve this object, the adsorption reactor according to the invention is defined by the fact that the feeding means are formed by a grid of a plurality of feeding funnels arranged adjacently and one behind another, and the discharge means are formed by a further grid of discharge funnels arranged adjacently and one behind another; that fluid passages are provided both at least in one downstream shutter wall and in the top region of the reaction chamber; and that the downstream shutter wall has, in a sandwich-type construction on the upstream side, a slotted hole screen with slot-bounding elements running essentially parallel, then a stabilizing grid with connecting elements running transversely to the slot-bounding elements, and, on the downstream side, a shutter construction with louvers running transversely to the slot-bounding elements.
According to the present invention, there is provided an adsorption reactor for separating undesirable components from a fluid, having at least one reaction chamber (202) which has feeding means at the top and funnel-shaped discharge means at the bottom for feeding and for discharging an adsorbent in lumps or in granular form, the reaction chamber (202) being arranged in a housing (201) and being bounded by parallel vertical shutters (203) , the feeding means having:
- a feed container (204), arranged above the reaction chamber (202), for the adsorbent, and - a distributing bottom, formed by a plurality of feeding funnels (205), between the feed container (204) and the reaction chamber (202), the discharge means having a discharge bottom which is formed by a plurality of delivery funnels (207) and is arranged below the reaction chamber (202) between the latter and a delivery container (206) for the adsorbent, the delivery funnels (207) being arranged within a region the housing (201), adjoining reaction chambers having regions where the delivery funnels (207) are arranged in fluid communication with each other, a fluid inlet (208) leading into the housing (201) in said region of the housing where the delivery funnels (207) are arranged, t 3a a lower wall (209) being arranged at the height of the discharge bottom to one side of the reaction chamber (202) between the- latter and the housing (201) or an adjacent reaction chamber (202), which lower wall allows the fluid to flow around the discharge funnels (207), an upper wall (210) being arranged in the region of the distributing bottom to the other side of the reaction chamber (202) between the latter and the housing (201) or an adjacent reaction chamber (202), which upper wall allows the fluid to flow around the feeding funnels (205), the feed container (204) being arranged within the housing (201), at least one feed pipe (212) for adsorbent leading out of the housing (201), and a fluid outlet (211) leading out of the housing (201) in the region of the feed container (204), wherein a plurality of reaction chambers (202) adjoin one another transversely to the throughflow direction and are provided with a common feed container (204) and delivery container (206), and wherein a delivery device is arranged between the discharge funnels (207) and the elongate delivery container (206), which delivery device is common to the mutually adjoining reaction chambers (202) and has at least one delivery rake (215) which can be moved transversely to the throughflow direction.
Structuring the feeding and discharge regions of the adsorbent into a large number of conical partial regioas minimizes the material pockets is the top, and bottom regions of the reactor which are difficult for~the fluid flow to reach. Moreover the particle flow aad mechanism of the bulk material inside the reaction space 3b are improved both during feeding and duriag discharge of the adsorbent by the structure into part-flows. Although the main flow of the fluid is directed traasversely to the column of adsorbent. fresh adsorbeat in the top region of the reactor is increasingly involved in the reaction due to the fluid conducted into the reaction space or out of the reaction space in that area.
The slotted hole screen forms a virtually smooth, disturbance-free surface, along which the partiele flow of the adsorbent can flow from the top, to the bottom essentially in oae plane. Particles of normal size are retained by the wall on the upstream side. In contrast, the fluid flow is allowed to pass through virtually unobstructed over the entire height of the shutter wall.
The crossover arrangement of the slot-bounding elements, the stabiliziag grid and the louvers ensures extremely high dimensional stability and rigidity, so that the properties and the shape of the shutter wall do not 2i9b21~

change, even if the loads on both sides of the shutter wall fluctuate greatly.
Different pollutants, such as for example SO, and NOx and organic substances, such as dioxins and furans and heavy metals, are known to have different reaction speeds with the customary activated carbon adsorbents.
The improved adjustability of the adsorption fronts which is made possible by splitting the feeding and discharge piles can be used to advantage in a further development of the invention, in that different undesirable compo-nents of the fluid, e.g. Hg, SOs, HC1 and NOx and organic substances, are segregated in different vertical adsor-ption layers and conducted away out of the reaction chamber in separate flows. The flow is divided at at least one vertical partition. The adsorbents discharged in separate flows can then be subjected to different further processing steps. The flows of adsorbents loaded with heavy metals, e.g. Hg or even organic substances, which are particularly quick to react are disposed of separately. The same also applies to adsorbents which is loaded with SOs and HC1. In both cases, so-called open-hearth coke (OHC), that is to say activated brown coal coke whose regeneration is uneconomic, is sufficient as adsorbent. In contrast, pelletized activated hard coal coke is preferred as adsorbent in the reduction of NOx:
The price of this adsorbent makes the regeneration and reuse economically viable in an NOx reduction stage.
In an expedient further development of the invention, different flow speeds are imparted to the fluid when it flows through different adsorption layers.
Such different flow speeds are meaningful, in particular, whenever different adsorbents, such as for example OHC
and activated hard coal coke, are used in a series connection of a plurality of adsorption layers or reaction spaces. The fluid should flow far more slowly through the OHC which generally occurs as a relatively fine-grain fraction mixture with a particle size between 1 and 4 mm than through the activated hard coal coke which is generally pelletized uniformly, for example at 4 mm. If the same fluid flow is conducted successively through a plurality of adsorption layers, the flow speeds in these adsorption layers can be adjusted by the dimensioning of the upstream surfaces assigned in each case to the adsorption layers.
The invention is actually independent of the type of adsorbent bed used. In addition to the customary traveling bed methods, a fixed bed can be used as a preferred option in the invention, which is not exchanged continuously, but in cycles, i.e. after thorough loading.
The use of fixed beds with a particularly simple mechanism of the bulk-material and operational handling lends itself to the invention owing to the possibility of precise adjustment of the adsorption fronts of different pollutants and the improved throughflow over the entire column of adsorbent.
Even more reliable prevention of the formation of condensate in the bottom region of the reactor can be achieved in a further development of the invention in that the discharge funnels and/or adjoining discharge pipes are flushed with the fluid and are heated by the fluid. The fluid, which has been purified to remove at least some pollutants, emerging from a first reaction stage is fed back below the discharge bottom, thus heating the discharge funnels, filled with the adsorbent, and their discharge pipes.
However, some of the fluid can be conducted into the reaction chamber from below through the adsorbent discharge funnels. The effect of the part of the fluid to be purified which is introduced virtually in a counter-flow from below corresponds to that of the fluid part-flow introduced or conducted out at the tops that is to say the quantity of adsorbent located in the discharge-side funnels is directly involved in the adsorption, so that even small residues of still unloaded grains can be utilized completely before they are discharged.
Since, with the aid of the invention, it is possible to segregate different pollutants separately in different vertical layers of adsorbent or reaction stages connected one after another, the invention is particu-larly suitable for the complex purification of smoke gas in refuse incineration plants, in which there is typi-cally a wide variety of pollutants. The invention makes it possible to segregate very different components in a basically uniform on-line process.
A preferred embodiment of the device according to the invention, which combines the advantages of a particularly compact construction with optimum adjust-ability of the upstream surfaces and fluid speeds in the individual adsorption layers, is distinguished according to the invention by the fact that at least two annular reaction chambers are arranged concentrically in a cylindrical housing, that the two annular chambers are connected in series for the fluid flow, and that the upstream surfaces of the first annular chamber for the fluid flow are larger than those of the second annular chamber. With the at least two annular chambers nesting one inside the other, this results in both a compact construction and short flow paths. The size of the predominantly cylindrical upstream surfaces can be adjusted in a simple manner by suitable dimensioning of the radii. An even flow in the at least two annular chambers can be achieved by radial throughflow of the annular chambers or of the annular adsorbent beds.
An alternative solution to the object set is defined, according to the invention, by the fact that the reaction chamber is arranged in a housing and is bounded by parallel vertical shutters;
that the top feeding means have a feed container, arranged above the reaction chamber, for the adsorbent and a distributing bottom, formed by a plurality of feeding funnels, between the feed container and the reaction chamber;
that the discharge means have a discharge bottom which is formed by a plurality of discharge funnels and is arranged below the reaction chamber between the latter and a delivery container for the adsorbent;

that a fluid inlet leads into the housing in the region of the delivery funnels;
that a lower wall is arranged at the height of the discharge bottom to one side of the reaction chamber between the latter and the housing or an adjacent reaction chamber;
that an upper wall is arranged in the region of the distributing bottom to the other side of the reaction chamber between the latter and the housing or an adjacent reaction chamber;
that the feed container is arranged within the housing, at least one feed pipe for adsorbent leading out of the housing; and that a fluid outlet leads out of the housing in the region of the feed container.
This allows particularly favorable thermal control of the adsorption process. The fluid entering first impinges on the delivery funnels. This is of con-siderable importance since condensation phenomena will otherwise occur here due to the cooling, which in extreme cases may lead to caking of the adsorbent. The fluid then acts upon the entire side surface of the bed and flows through the latter, the throughflow direction running essentially transversely to the bed. During the process, it can also be ensured by appropriate inlets that a part-flow directed upward or obliquely upward will develop in the lower region of the bed. Subsequently, the fluid flushes the feeding funnels and the entire feed con-tainer. Preheating of the adsorbent thus already takes 2i9b2~~

place in the feed container, so that said adsorbent is activated directly with its entry into the bed. The surface of the bed below the feeding funnels is likewise acted upon by the fluid which flows through from the top to the bottom, so that. in the case of a fixed bed, no empty spaces can form here, in which the adsorbent does not participate in the process. In total, this results in an increase in efficiency with optimum utilization of the adsorbent, whilst avoiding operational malfunctions in the lower region of the bed.
The heating below the reaction chamber is all the more intensive with a greater number of delivery funnels.
Generally, a matrix-like arrangement of delivery funnels is used. The same conditions prevail above the reaction chamber in conjunction with the feeding funnels. That is to say, the feed pipes, which allow the feed container to be charged from above, are also available for thermal transfer.
The device can operate with a single reaction chamber. Advantageously, however, the housing contains at least one module comprising two laterally adjacent reaction chambers. That is to say the reaction chambers are located adjacently and parallel to one another, a common space being located in each case below the delivery bottoms and above the feeding bottoms . The fluid is passed from the bottom to the top in each case between two adjacent reaction chambers in order, after flowing through the reaction chambers, to pass into the common upper space containing the feed containers. Insofar as a ~1'9~~~ 7 plurality of modules are provided, this takes place in the spaces between the modules and the housing and in the spaces between the adjacent modules. The common space below the delivery bottoms is charged by a common fluid inlet which preferably extends over the entire length of the reaction chambers. The same conditions preferably obtain for the fluid outlet at the height of the feed containers.
As an advantageous further development of the invention; it is proposed that each module is assigned a common feed container and/or a common delivery container.
A further advantageous refinement of the inven-tion provides that the upper wall between adjacent reaction chambers is formed by a connecting wall between the adjacent feed containers for the adsorbent or by the common feed container, and that, below the wall, a barrier wall leads in each case from the feed container to the associated shutter. The barrier wall is thus located on the entry side of the reaction chamber and prevents short-circuit flow in the region of the feeding funnels.
In the case of only one reaction chamber, the same advantage is achieved in that the upper wall between the reaction chamber and the housing is arranged below the feeding funnels, and that a barrier wall leads from the feed container to the upper wall.
The feeding funnels arranged one behind the other in the throughflow direction of the reaction chamber preferably lie with their outlets essentially on an arc 21962)7 of a circle whose radius corresponds to the width of the reaction chamber, measured in the throughflow direction, and whose center point lies on the lower edge of the associated barrier wall. In this way, flow conditions are achieved in the top region which correspond approximately to the flow conditions in the rest of the reaction chamber. The adsorbent forms a surface which essentially follows the arc of a circle. The fluid entering at the lower edge of the barrier wall thus has to travel, irrespective of its flow direction, over a path up to the surface of the adsorbent, the length of which path corresponds approximately to the width of the reaction chamber measured in the throughflow direction.
In the case of a traveling-bed reactor, the adsorbent can be passed through the different layers at different speeds. The layers can also be acted upon by different adsorbents.
A particularly advantageous further development of the invention is distinguished by the fact that a plurality of reaction chambers adjoin one another transversely to the throughflow direction and are provided with common feed containers and/or delivery containers. This permits a modular construction in the longitudinal direction of the reaction chambers. The device can thus be extended in a modular manner, i.e. be of block-type design, in two directions perpendicular to one another. The fluid inlets and outlets are extended accordingly in a duct-like manner. Moreover, it is particularly advantageous in this case to arrange a 2i962i~

delivery device between the delivery funnels and the elongate delivery container, which device is common to the mutually adjoining reaction chambers and has at least one delivery rake which can be moved transversely to the throughflow direction. Said delivery rake thus extends over the entire length of the delivery container and can be moved back and forth by a single drive.
The reaction chamber is preferably subdivided by at least one partition into at least two adsorption layers running essentially vertically and transversely to the fluid flow direction, the partition having, in a sandwich-type construction on the upstream side, a slotted hole screen with slot-bounding elements running essentially parallel, then a stabilizing grid with connecting elements running transversely to the slot-bounding elements, and, on the downstream side, a shutter construction with louvers running transversely to the slot-bounding elements.
In a significant further development of the invention, it is proposed that the slotted hole screen is provided with slot-bounding elements running from the top to the bottom, the width of the slotted hole being matched to the grain size of the bulk material in such a way that the solid particles, apart from very fine-grain particles, are retained in the upstream part of the reactor.
If the wall construction according to the inven-tion is used on a partition between two reactor layers running essentially vertically and transversely to the fluid flow direction, it may be advantageous to make the partition with an increased stability since it may be subjected to greatly fluctuating loads, for example by selective charging or conducting the adsorbent away on both sides of the partition. For this purpose, it is proposed, in a further development of the invention, that the stabilizing grid has, on the downstream side, a plurality of web profiles which cross the connecting elements, the flat sides of the web profiles running from the top to the bottom and essentially parallel to the fluid flow direction.
Depending on the arrangement of the shutter construction on an outer boundary wall or a partition located in the reactor itself, the shutter louvers preferably have different directions of inclination. In association with a reactor outlet shutter, the shutter louvers have the task, above all, of trapping very fine-grain particles which have passed through the slot-bounding elements and, if possible, of conducting them directly away into the delivery container. In this function, the louvers are inclined vertically upward, starting from the web profiles, specifically preferably at an angle of about 25 to 35° relative to the vertical plane.
In contrast, in association with a partition, the louvers of the shutter construction have a downward inclination. An angle of inclination of 15 to 25°, in particular about 20° relative to the vertical plane has proved to be favorable since, with this angle of inclina-219621 l tion, the advantages of reliable deflection of the particle flow on the outlet side of the partition and a relatively small wall thickness and compact construction are combined.
The use of a slotted hole screen running over the entire downstream outlet cross section of the reactor in conjunction with the stabilizing grid and web profiles running approximately vertically has two significant advantages: on the one hand, only fine-grain particles pass from the reactor space into the region of the shutter construction thus significantly reducing the tendency to dam up; on the other hand, the web profiles which are spaced apart and run vertically in the stabilizing grid ensure that the fine-grain particles of the bulk material are conducted away downward without difficulty, since they bound vertical continuous ducts or shafts between the slotted hole screen, on the one hand, and the shutter construction comprising inclined louvers.
The opening cross section for the fluid 'remains evenly distributed over the entire height of the outlet-side shutter; neither does this change with progressive reactor operation. There is virtually no more damming-up, which in all the known constructions has been the cause of greater or lesser unevenness in the flow resistance and thus in the flow profile of the fluid.
As a partition, the wall component according to the invention provides the precondition for the fact that the flows of adsorbent in the two vertical chambers may have different speeds on each side of the wall.

The entry-side vertical layer to be fed to the special refuse can be thoroughly loaded prior to its delivery. The adjoining, at least one further vertical layer in the main body of the adsorbent bed can then be delivered continuously or in batches according to a completely different cycle. This layer which is largely free from highly toxic trace elements can be disposed of by relatively simple means, regenerated, or incinerated in ordinary incineration plants in a correspondingly cost-effective manner.
The thickness and the cross section of the individual layers and thus the position of the partitions can be selected in coordination with specific contents or pollutants in the fluid and with respect to desired precipitation characteristics. In particular, a plurality of partitions may be built into the reactor in such a way that the transversely flowing fluid flows through at least two partitions and three layers one after another.
Different contents (e. g. more or less active adsorbents) with the same or different filling levels may also be used in the individual layers separated by partitions.
The invention can therefore be used irrespective of the transverse flow medium used and the flows of adsorbent with, in principle, the same advantages.
The distance of the at least one partition from the fluid outlet shutter is preferably many times greater than that from the fluid entry shutter. This has the advantage that the entry-side vertical layer has relatively small dimensions, and the layer volume can be minimized to the size which is sufficient for adsorption of the volatile, highly toxic substances.
The wall component according to the invention can be used in an adsorbent reactor both as a boundary shutter on the fluid outlet side of the reactor and as at least one partition with the advantages described.
On the other hand, however, the outlet-side boundary shutter can also be used in an undivided reactor and - vice versa - one or more partitions of the type according to the invention can be used in conjunction with an otherwise conventional reactor.
The invention relates furthermore to a process for purifying a fluid, in particular a gas, the fluid being conducted transversely through at least one vertical bed of an adsorbent in granular form or in lumps, and the adsorbent being fed from a feed container located at the top via feeding funnels onto the bed and being conducted away at the bottom via discharge funnels into a delivery container. This process to achieve the object set is defined by the fact that the fluid is conducted above the delivery container on one side of the adsorbent bed into the region of the delivery funnels, is passed below the bed to its other side whilst flushing the delivery funnels, there it is deflected upward, passed through the bed and then, after flushing the feeding funnels and the feed container, is conducted away as purified fluid. This process permits particularly favorable thermal control of the adsorption process . With optimum utilization of the adsorbent, the efficiency of the process is increased, specifically at the same time avoiding operational malfunctions in the lower region of the adsorbent bed.
After flushing the common region of the delivery funnels of two parallel adsorbent beds, the fluid is preferably passed upward between the beds, passed through the beds on both sides and conducted away from a common space which surrounds the feeding funnels and feed containers of the two beds.
Advantageous further developments of the inven-tion are defined in the subclaims. Partial combinations and subcombinations of the features of the patent claims are deemed to be disclosed as essential to the invention.
The invention is explained in greater detail below with reference to preferred exemplary embodiments illustrated diagrammatically in the drawing, in which:
Figure 1 shows a vertical section through an exemplary embodiment of the adsorption reactor according to the invention;
Figure 2 shows a section along the line II-II in Figure 1;
Figure 3 shows a view corresponding to Figure 1 of a modified exemplary embodiment of the invention;
Figure 4 shows a vertical section through another exem-plary embodiment of the adsorption reactor according to the invention;
Figure 5 shows a section along the line V-V in Figure 4;
Figure 6 shows a perspective illustration of a further embodiment of a reactor according to the inven-tion;
Figure 7 shows a detail of the device according to Figure 6;
Figure 8 shows an illustration corresponding to Figure 6 of a further embodiment of a reactor accord-ing to the invention;
Figure 9 shows a vertical section through a part of a reactor corresponding to Figure 3 with partitions and shutter walls designed according to the invention;
Figure 10 shows a horizontal section through a part of a wall component according to the invention; i.e.
of a partition, or a part of the reactor outlet shutter according to Figure 9 with a slotted bottom from a slotted hole screen, a stabiliz-ing grid and a shutter construction (section VII-VII in Figure 9);
Figure 11 shows a sectional view, which is reduced compared to Figure 10, through a part of the partition;
Figure 12 shows a sectional view corresponding to Figure 11 through a part of the reactor outlet shutter according to Figure 9;
Figure 13 shows a slotted bottom arrangement which has been modified compared to the embodiment according to Figure 12; and Figure 14 shows a further modified embodiment of a slotted bottom arrangement, as can be used both on the outlet shutter of the reactor and in the partition:
The adsorption reactor 1 illustrated is Figures 1 and 2 inn vertical and horizontal sections has a,raw gas inlet 2 and a clean gas outlet 3. Between the inlet and the outlQt, the fluid flows through a first reaction stage 4 a~d a second reaction stage which is subdivided into twq reaction chambers 5a and 5b connected in parallel ~ (Figure 2 ) .
The first reaction stage 4 has a reaction chamber 14 which is rectangular in cross section and, is operation, is filled with a bed of bulk material consist ing of as adsorbent in lumps or is granular form. On the inlet side, the chamber 14 is bounded by a.shutter 15 which extends over the full chamber height and, on the outlet side, by a shutter 16 which extends only up to a limited height. The adsorbent is supplied from a feed container 7, fitted on top of the chamber 14, via a distributing bottom 8 at the top. In the exemplary embodiment illustrated, the distributing bottom comprises a uniform grid of square feeding funnels 18 which are arranged adjacently and one behind another is rows and columns and are adjoined by feed pipes 19 opening out into the chamber 14.
An intermediate bottom Sa is built is about half way up the chamber 14.~Its.main purpose is to relieve pressure in high adsorption beds and, in the exemplary embodiment illustrated, it has the same design and arrangement (grid of feeding funnels 18a and feed pipes 19a and barrier route 30a) as the distributing bottom 8.

The guiding of fluid through the pile of bulk mate=ial below the intermediate bottom 8a also-corresponds to that in the top region. Fitting one or more intermediate bottoms 8a into the reaction chamber is not essential, but is often expedient.
Similar to the distributing bottom 8, a discharge bottom 9 is made up of a grid of discharge funnels 20 arranged adjacently and one behind another. The discharge funnels 20 are adjoined by discharge pipes 2 2 . The discharge pipes 21 are closed off by closure elements 23, e.g. flaps or slides. and the discharge pipes 22 are closed off by closure elements 24. To discharge the bulk material from the chamber 14, the closure elements 23, 24 are actuated in a known manner. The discharge pipes open out into different delivery containers 25 and 26, from which the adsorbent loaded with the segregated pollutants can be conveyed away for further processing with the aid of suitable conveying devices 27, 28 - illustrated here as a cellular wheel sluice.
The layer of bulk material corresponding to the inlet-side row of feeding funnels 18 and correspondingly also of discharge fuxmels 20 is preferably separated from the rest of the column of bulk material by a partition 17 according to the invention (Figure 3), so that the adsorption layer 40 between the inlet ahutter~l5 and the partition l7 can be conveyed away separately via the associated discharge funnels 20, discharge pipes 21, delivery containers 25 and conveying device 27.
Naturally,. this applies in a similar way to the adsorp-21 ~~2~' tion layer 41 on the downstream side of the partition 17.
The raw gas inlet 2 widens to the overall height dimension of the reaction chamber 14, specifically up to the region of the feeding funnels 18 and feed pipes 19.
The fluid can therefore enter the adsorbent bed both from the side through the shutter 15 and between the feed pipes 19 from above through the pile 37 of bulk material, as depicted by the solid arrows A in Figure 1. The fluid can therefore reach all the zones of the bed of bulk material, not only in a traveling bed, but also in a fixed bed. Thus virtually all the particles take part in the reaction in the same way.
Provided on the outlet side, between the top layer (pile 37 of bulk material) and the upper end of the downstream shutter 16 is a barrier route 30 in the form of a closed wall which prevents any short circuit of the fluid from above directly into the outlet duct 31. The outlet duct 31 merges into a horizontal duct section 32 which runs below the discharge bottom 9. The prepurified fluid leaving the reaction chamber 14 through the outlet duct 31 flushes the discharge funnels 20 and the dis-charge pipes 21, 22 in the duct section 32 and, in doing so, heats the adsorbent located in these elements to the extent that the risk of condensation is reliably reduced.
The fluid is deflected from the duct section 32 upward into a fluid inlet region 35a and 35b for the two chambers 5a and 5b of the second reaction stage (Figure 2). The fluid distribution in the two chambers 5a and 5b corresponds in principle to the fluid distribution described above on the inlet side shutter 15 and the pile 37 of bulk material at the top of the first reaction stage 4. Feeding and discharge funnels are also arranged in a grid-like manner in the two chambers 5a and 5b in order to ensure that the participation of the adsorbent is as even as possible throughout the interior of the chambers 5a and 5b. However, the discharge of the loaded adsorbent generally takes place through all the discharge funnels and pipes of the second reaction stage 5a and 5b at the same time. The outlet ducts 36a and 36b also have a design Which corresponds to the outlet duct 31 in the region of the downstream shutter of the two reaction chambers 5a and 5b, thus also ensuring a large-area transverse flow of the fluid in the chambers 5a and 5b.
The two ducts 36a and 36b join together in the clean gas outlet 3, as in the illustration in Figure 2.
The two reaction stages 4 and 5 are arranged adjacently, the second reaction stage being subdivided into two part-chambers 5a and 5b. This combination combines the advantages of a compact construction with good utilization and loading of the adsorbent and simple control possibilities of the adsorption fronts.
The duct section 32 may possibly also be made to be so wide that it extends over the full width of the three adjacently arranged reaction chambers 5a, 14 and 5b and thus also heats the discharge pipes of the chambers 5a and 5b.
As can be seen in Figures 1 and 3, NH3 as a reducing agent is injected in at the deflection point y 2i9~2~7 between the outlet duct 31 and the horizontal duct section 32. Of course, other feed points or preloading of the activated hard coal coke in the chambers 5a and 5b are also possible.
Also with respect to the shapes and dimensions of the individual funnels 18 and 20, the invention is not subject to any particular exceptional conditions. The square cross-sectional shape illustrated or, if appropriate, a rectangular cross-sectional shape ensures utilization of the cross-sectional surface over a parti-cularly large area to distribute the bulk material and a favorable bulk material mechanism. However, other shapes are possible with, in principle, the same advantages of the invention.
Upstream surfaces of different sizes of the two reactor stages, in particular larger upstream surfaces of the first stage 4 relative to the second stage 5, are often expedient in order to achieve a fluid flow speed which is adapted to the bulk material and the adsorption characteristics. Specifically to enlarge its upstream surfaces, the first reactor stage may be subdivided into two parallel part-chambers instead of the second reactor stage. Guiding of the fluid is then, of course, in the opposite direction to that illustrated in Figure 2.
In the feed containers 7 which are separate for all the chambers 5a, 14 and 5b, there is new bulk material for the exchange of the exhausted adsorbent. It is important to keep the loaded adsorbent separate in the case of the adsorption of highly toxic substances and of 21°~~~~

less aggressive media. In the arrangement described, this takes place simply due to the fact that layers of adsor-bent corresponding to different adsorption fronts are discharged into the separate delivery containers 25 and 26 (or into delivery containers of the chambers 5a and 5b) and are conveyed further from there. These different adsorption layers 40 and 41 are illustrated in Figure 3.
In the entry-side adsorption layer 40, for example, the majority of heavy metals, in particular Hg, can be adsorbed and discharged via the discharge pipes 21 and the delivery container 25.
However, the exemplary embodiment illustrated in Figure 3 differs from the exemplary embodiment according to Figure 1 also by the fact that the distributing bottom 8' is arranged so as to rise from the entry side to the downstream side of the reactor 1'. This lengthens the barrier route 30 in an otherwise identical design of the adsorption reactor 1'. The sectional view according to Figure 2 also applies to the exemplary embodiment accord-ing to Figure 3.
However, the raw gas inlet 2 can also extend down to below the discharge bottom 9. suitable openings to the interior of the reaction chamber 14 then being formed in the discharge funnels 20, through which openings raw gas can enter, but no granular adsorbent can escape into the fluid entry distributor. Upstream bottoms of this type are known, for example, from German Utility Model G 87 06 839.8. If the discharge bottom 9 is designed as an upstream bottom, a barrier route corresponding to the barrier route 30 must also be provided on the rear wall directly above the bottom 9 in order to avoid fluid short circuits toward the outlet duct 3l.
A fan 38 is arranged with a connecting line between the larger delivery container 26 and the duct section 32 with the purpose of breaking up any caking in the individual funnels or in the discharge pipes at the beginning of the adsorbent discharge by means of an artificially imposed flow by extracting gas.
Figures 4 and 5 illustrate a preferred embodiment of a two-stage reactor 40' whose main components are built into a cylindrical reactor housing 41' . Arranged in the housing 41' are two annular reaction chambers 44 and 45 nested concentrically one inside the other. In the exemplary embodiment described, the chambers 44 and 45 are filled with different adsorbents, for example the outer chamber 44 with OHC and the inner chamber 45 with pelletized activated hard coal coke. Correspondingly, the outer chamber 44 serves to separate the pollutants which can be adsorbed more readily (corresponding to the first stage 4 of the exemplary embodiment described above) and the inner chamber 45 serves for NOX reduction correspon-ding to stage 5 of the exemplary embodiment described above. The first and second chambers 44 and 45 are each surrounded by annular fluid outlet ducts 46 and 47. A
fluid inlet 48 is likewise designed as an annular duct and is arranged on the side of the chamber 44 located radially on the inner side. The fluid inlet 49 of the second chamber 45 located on the inside is a central duct 21962~~

which runs along the central axis 50 of the reactor 40'.
The annular fluid inlet 48 of the first reaction chamber 44 and the likewise annular fluid outlet 47 of the second reaction chamber 45 are separated by a partition 51 which in this case is cylindrical.
In the top region of the reactor housing 41', a helical entry duct 52 is arranged coaxially around its central axis 50 and is connected to the annular duct serving as fluid inlet 48 of the first reaction chamber 44. Owing to the helical arrangement of the entry duct 52, the fluid to be purified and possibly loaded with solid particles and/or water droplets receives a relatively strong swirl which forces the heavier par-ticles and droplets outward into the region above the piles 37 of bulk material and between the feeding funnels and feed pipes 18 and 19 of the first reaction stage. The design and arrangement of the feeding and discharge funnels and the introduction of the fluid into the two reaction chambers 44 and 45 correspond to the conditions explained with reference to Figures 1 to 3. Owing to the circular arrangement and subdivision of the distributing bottoms 8 and discharge bottoms 9, however, the funnels 18 and 20 preferably have a trapezoidal design, as can be seen in Figure 5.
The design of the shutters or other separating elements to bound the reaction chambers 44 and 45 may also correspond to those of the exemplary embodiment described above, the shutters 55 and 56 (or 65 and 66), however, having an approximately circular annular design by sufficient segmenting on the upstream and downstream sides corresponding to the chamber cross section.
As already mentioned, the fluid which has not been purified enters the reactor housing 41' through the entry duct 52 which imposes a swirl, it reaches the mainly cylindrical upstream surfaces in the region of the shutter 55, crosses the annular first reaction chamber 44, emerges on the downstream side thereof through the downstream shutter 56 into the outlet duct 46, is deflected downward into a circular flow chamber 58 where it flows radially inward in the direction of the central fluid inlet 49 of the second reaction chamber 45. In the circular flow chamber 58, the fluid flushes the discharge funnels 20 and the discharge pipes 22 in a similar way as in the exemplary embodiment described above.
In the central fluid inlet 49, the fluid which has been freed from the rapidly adsorbed pollutants, i.e.
has been partially purified, is firstly distributed axially and flows from there corresponding to the arrows in a cross-flow or between the feed pipes 19 from above into the ring of bulk material of the second reaction chamber 45. The shutter 65 separates the chamber 45 on the inlet side and the shutter 66 separates the chamber 45 on the outlet side from the adjoining fluid ducts 49 and 47 respectively. The fluid outlet duct 47 opens out in the top part into a discharge funnel 59 from where the clean gas can be conducted into a centrally arranged stack 60.
The upstream surface of the first reaction chamber 44 corresponding to the shutter 55 is larger, for example in the ratio of radii, than the upstream surface of the second reaction chamber 45 corresponding to the shutter 65. The flow speed of the fluid in the first chamber 44 is correspondingly slower in comparison to that in the second chamber 45. This is also desirable, in particular when different adsorbents are used in the two chambers 44 and 45.
Annular feed containers 61 and 62 are likewise arranged above the annular distributing bottoms 8. A
motor-driven distributing device in the form of a rotating rake 63 is arranged in or above the inner feed container 62. The rotating rake 63 levels the bulk material located in the container 62 even in the case of feed via a single fixed feed nozzle, even if the latter were to be arranged laterally.
The feed container 61 assigned to the first reaction chamber 44 is charged with the aid of a rail trolley 67 through charging openings 68 distributed in a circle around the central axis 50. The trolley runs on a ring 69 of rails which is likewise concentric to the central axis 50. The trolley is preferably provided with means for airtight docking with the charging openings 68, a loading space which can be closed in an airtight manner, and a fan for pressurizing the loading space. In this design, the overpressure prevailing in the reaction chamber 44 and thus also in the feed container 61 can be compensated in the loading space of the trolley 67 , so that no smoke gas can escape into the trolley and from there into the ambient atmosphere.
In the embodiment according to Figure 6, the adsorption reactor has a housing 201 which contains a reaction chamber 202 for adsorbent, in this case active coke. The reaction chamber 202 is bounded by shutters 203. Located above the reaction chamber 202 is a feed container 204 from which the reaction medium passes via a plurality of feeding funnels 205 into the reaction chamber. Provided below the reaction chamber is a delivery container 206 which receives the exhausted adsorbent. In this case, the latter travels through a plurality of discharge funnels 207.
The gas to be purified enters the housing 201 through an inlet 208 on the left side. A lower wall 209 prevents the gas from traveling upward directly along the housing. On the contrary, it is forced to flow around the discharge funnels 207 and heat the latter, so that no condensation phenomena can occur there. The gas is then deflected upward on the right by the reaction chamber 202 and flows through the reaction chamber from right to left. The space on the right is closed off toward the top by an upper wall 210. Before the gas can escape through an outlet 211, it is forced to flow around the feed container 204 and the feeding funnels 205, specifically in such a way that the top of the feed container is also available for heat transfer. The adsorbent is thus preheated and is already in an active state when it enters the reaction chamber 202. The feed container 204 is charged with adsorbent via a supply pipe 212. The ~) ~~~

section of the supply pipe 212 located in the housing 1 is also heated. The reaction chamber 202 contains two diagrammatically indicated partitions 213 and is sub-divided by the latter into a total of three layers. The layers permit different guiding of the adsorbent and the application of different adsorbents.
As can be seen from Figure 6, two reaction chambers adjoin one another transversely to the through-flow direction. This is illustrated by a diagrammatically indicated partition 214. The feed container 204 and the delivery container 206 are common to both reaction chambers. Furthermore, a continuous delivery rake 215 which is actuated by a single drive extends over the entire length of the delivery container 206.
Extending from the feed container 204 to the upper wall 210 is a barrier wall 216 whose lower edge defines the center point of an arc 217 of a circle (Figure 7), the radius of this arc corresponding to the width of the reaction chamber 202, measured in the throughflow direction. The feeding funnels 205 lie with their outlets approximately on this arc in order likewise to roughly approximate the surface of the adsorbent to this arc. The gas flowing around the lower edge of the barrier wall 216 thus has to travel essentially over the same route up to the surface of the adsorbent as the gas flowing transversely through the reaction chamber 202.
In Figure 8, identical parts are denoted by identical reference numerals.
The modular construction according to the inven-tion in one direction has already been explained with reference to Figure 6. According to Figure 8, a total of four elements are positioned one behind another in this direction, cf. the three partitions 214 indicated.
. Furthermore,. Figure 8 shows that in each case two laterally adjacent reaction chambers 202 are combined to form a module 218, and that the device contains two of these modules. The inlet 208 supplies a common space which is located between the discharge bottoms, formed by the discharge funnels 207, and the delivery containers 206. The lower walls 209 force the gas into the space between respectively adjacent reaction chambers. The upper walls 210 are formed here by the feed containers 204, each module 218 having a single feed container for its two reaction chambers 202. After flowing through the reaction chambers 202, the gas passes, on the one hand, into the lateral spaces between the modules 218 and the housing 201 and, on the other hand, into the central space between the two modules . Again the two feed con-tainers 204 lie in a common space which laterally adjoins the duct-shaped outlet 211. Each module has a single delivery container 206. The modular construction accord-ing to the invention allows the block-type construction of the reactor to be maintained with any desired extension.
Modifications are quite possible within the scope of this embodiment. For instance, differing from Figure 8, a single module may be used. It is also possible, instead of the delivery rake 215, to use a delivery 219b21 ~

device of a different type. The duct-shaped inlets and outlets 208 and 211 shown in Figure 8 can be replaced by individual pipes which lead to a common header. Further-more, it is possible to arrange the inlet 208 likewise on the end face and the outlet 211 likewise laterally in Figure 6. The inlets and outlets 208 and 211 can equally lie on the end face according to Figure 8.
The partitions 213, which are indicated only diagrammatically here, comprise shutter constructions and bear, on their upstream side, a slotted hole screen whose slot bars run vertically. A slotted hole screen of this type is also arranged on the upstream side of the down-stream shutter 203.
The partitions 213 may also be replaced by simple perforated metal plates.
The partitions 214 may be separating walls or perforated metal plates. They can also be omitted completely.
Figure 9 shows a diagrammatic vertical section through a part of an exemplary embodiment of an adsorp-tion reactor 101. In the exemplary embodiment described, the reactor 101 has a rectangular cross section. It has a housing 102 which surrounds a reaction chamber 103.
Provided in the housing 102 are a distributing bottom with feeding funnels arranged in a matrix-like manner for the uniform distribution of the bulk material over the cross section of the chamber 103 and a discharge bottom 106, 106a which has a plurality of discharge funnels for discharging the bulk material from the chamber 103.

A partition 107 running essentially vertically separates the chamber 103 into two adsorption layers 103a and 103b. The layer 103a faces the entry shutter 109 and the layer 103b extends from the downstream side of the partition 107 to the reactor outlet shutter 108 located opposite.
The fluid to be treated - in the exemplary embodiment smoke gas - flows through the reactor 101 in the manner depicted by arrows. The smoke gas enters the reactor 101 at the bottom, flows around the discharge bottom 106 with the discharge funnels and discharge pipes and enters the upstream adsorption layer 103a through a gas inlet box and the entry shutter 109 over the majority of the construction height of the housing 102. In the exemplary embodiment described, the angle of incidence of the louvers forming the shutter 109 is 70° ~ 5° relative to the horizontal plane. The fluid flows through the bed in the layer in the transverse direction, as shown by the flow lines. The fluid emerges on the downstream side through the outlet shutter 108 and its louvers 110 into a gas outlet box. The wall construction on the outlet side has the louvers 110 which are arranged vertically one above another and, in the exemplary embodiment described, are set at an angle of 60° ~ 5°, preferably 60° to 65°, relative to the horizontal plane.
The new aspects according to the invention relate above all to the design of the partition 107 which, in the exemplary embodiment described, runs vertically and to the shutter 108, of quite similar design, of the reactor housing 102. These new aspects are to be explained in greater detail below with reference to the diagrammatic partial views according to Figures 10 to 12.
As shown above all in the enlarged horizontal sectional view according to Figure 10, the partition 107 and the shutter 108 are designed as a slotted bottom. The latter comprises an upstream slotted hole screen 113 with bar-shaped slot-bounding elements 113a running from the top to the bottom and of uniform triangular cross section. The slotted hole screen 113 is connected in a sandwich-like manner to a stabilizing grid 114. In the case of a customary grain size of the activated coke used as adsorbent, the slot-bounding elements 113a have a slot width of 1.25 mm t 0.5 mm, a profile side length facing the activated coke bed of 2.2 mm t 0.5 mm, and a depth to the stabilizing grid of 4.5 mm t 1 mm. However, these dimensions correspond only to an exemplary embodiment implemented in a prototype; in particular the width of the slot 113b between two adjacent slot-bounding elements 113a is expediently oriented by the size of the bulk material particles which are to be retained by the slotted hole screen in the entry-side adsorption layer 103a (or in the case of the shutter 108 in the outlet-side adsorption layer 103b).
According to Figure 10, the stabilizing grid 114 comprises connecting bars 115, which run transversely to the slot-bounding elements 113a, and web profiles 116 arranged at greater intervals parallel to the slot-WO 96./04065 - 35 - PCT/EP95/02725 bounding elements. The longitudinally running bar-shaped slot-bounding elements 113a are spot-welded to the connecting bars 115 arranged at greater intervals one above another; on the other side, the web profiles 116 are welded to the transversely running connecting bars 115. The narrow sides remote from the connecting bars 115 can alternatively be connected, in particular welded, to twisted square bars 118 in the manner illustrated in Figure 10. These square bars are commercially available as an assembly unit with the web profiles 116 (for other purposes) and are therefore also used here. The square bars 118 can also be provided instead of the rectangular or round connecting bars 115.
As mentioned above, the outlet shutter 108 of the reaction chamber 103 is provided, in the exemplary embodiment described, with the same approximately ver-tically running slotted bottom 112 as the partition 107.
The bulk material is thus retained on the upstream side of the slotted bottoms 112 both of the partition 107 and of the shutter 108, at least to the extent that its particle diameter is larger than the slot width 113b of the slotted hole screen 113. Insofar as small-grain particles can penetrate the slots 113b in the fluid throughflow direction (arrow A in Figure 10), they arrive at vertical ducts 117 formed between the flat sides of the profiles 116 and drop through these (continuous) ducts down into a delivery region which is denoted by 119 in Figure 12 for the outlet shutter. In the delivery region, these fine-grain particles are either fed back to the adjacent discharge funnel of the discharge bottom 106 or else, if appropriate, conducted away separately in order to continuously reduce the technologically unfavor-able dust components.
Other than with conventional transverse flow adsorbers, no noticeable accumulations of bulk material form on the obliquely arranged louvers 110 on the outlet side of the housing 102, so that the fluid is subject to a uniform flow resistance on the downstream side over the entire height of the housing. The angle of inclination of the individual louvers 110 of the shutter is thus also uncritical; however, the angle of inclination is prefer-ably sufficiently large to feed any bulk material impinging on the louvers 110 back into the ducts 117 or to allow it to flow away. For this purpose, an angle of about 60° t 5° relative to the horizontal plane has proved to be expedient for the louvers 110.
The partition 107 has a different arrangement of the shutter louvers 120 on the downstream side facing the adsorption layer 103b with an otherwise matching design of the slotted bottoms of the partition 107 and the shutter 108. The louvers 120 are arranged obliquely downward from the slotted bottom 112 arid inclined in the direction of the layer 103b. An angle of inclination of 20° t 5° relative to the vertical plane has proved to be favorable to ensure, on the one hand, a relatively free passage of fluid and, on the other hand, to reliably prevent bulk material passing from the layer 103b into the entry-side layer 103a. With the acute angle relative to the vertical plane, the space requirement of the wall 107 including the louvers 120 in the reactor is also acceptably small.
As can be seen, the columns of bulk material in the layers 103a and 103b separated from one another by the wall 107 are continuously separated from one another right into the discharge region assigned individually to them in each case. In particular, the entry-side layer 103a has its own discharge funnels 106a. The larger particles emerging from the layer 103a through the slot-bounding elements 113a drop, upon entry into the space between the web profiles 116, vertically downward through the ducts 117 and are conducted away by the wall 119' into the discharge funnel 106a. These loaded particles are prevented from passing into the layer 103b. The column of adsorbent located in the relatively narrow layer 103a can be emptied via the discharge funnel 106a independently of the main bed of the layer 103b and passed on for suitable disposal, for example as special waste material of an incineration plant. Experience shows that virtually all the highly toxic portions, such as dioxins and furans, are separated by adsorption in this relatively thin layer. After passage through the par-tition 107, the other pollutants are separated by adsorption in the subsequent layer 103b near to the outlet over a path length of the fluid which is, for example, 9 times longer. The disposal of the used or loaded adsorbent from the layer 103b can be carried out in a comparatively simple and unproblematic manner. This adsorbent can also be regenerated, if appropriate, and fed back into the reactor 101.
A continuous design both of the slot-bounding elements 113a and of the web profiles 116 running parallel to the latter (at a far greater distance) is generally to be given preference for cost reasons. On the other hand, these vertically running components 113a and 116 can, however, also be joined together from a plurality of parts either in an abutting or meshing or overlapping manner. In particular for the web profiles 116, it is sufficient for these to extend over a partial length of the reactor height in such a way that the louvers 110 of the shutter can be attached, in particular welded, to them. Any interruption in the web profiles 116 is insignificant for the reliable discharge of the small-grain particles through the ducts 117 since particle exchange between adjacent ducts 117 does not impair the guiding of the particles from the top to the bottom, and the inclined louvers 110 also have a directing effect obliquely downward.
Figures l3 and 14 show embodiments of slotted bottoms 140 and 150 respectively, in which the slotted hole screen comprises in each case a plurality of ver-tical sections 141a, 141b and 151a...151c respectively which are arranged in an overlapping manner. In the embodiment according to Figure 13, each section of the slotted hole screen is bent twice at its upper end 142 and engages behind the lower end of the higher section 141a of the slotted hole screen. The individual slot-bounding bars are aligned vertically with one another in the overlapping sections 141a and 141b of the slotted hole screen. Also provided in the modified embodiment according to Figure 13 is a stabilizing grid 144 with transversely running connecting bars 145 and with web profiles 146 bounding discharge ducts 117. However, the web profiles 146 are interrupted vertically and only assigned to the flat parts of the sections 141a and 141b of the slotted hole screen. The shutter louvers connected to the web profiles 146 are not illustrated in Figures 13 and 14.
In the embodiment in Figure 13, the vertical boundary plane of the bed of bulk material is interrupted in the overlapping region of the sections 141a and 141b of the slotted hole screen. A small accumulation 147 forms there. Owing to the free space in the region of the overlapping point on the other side of the accumulation 147, the increase in the flow resistance there is not significant. The interruption of the slot-bounding elements or of the slots 113b formed between the latter has the advantage, however, that particles, in particular elongate particles, of bulk material trapped in slots 113b can be freed from the slot guide in sections, namely in the region of the accumulation 147, and can reorient themselves.
A similar effect is achieved in the modified embodiment illustrated in Figure 14. The active slot-bounding elements in the sections 151a to 151c of the slotted hole screen run predominantly at a slight 2i 921 l inclination to the generally vertical direction of travel of the bulk material in the reaction chamber 103. Owing to the inclination of the sections of the slotted hole screen, only one bend is provided in the overlapping region 152 in the embodiment according to Figure 14.
In the embodiment according to Figure 14, too, a stabilizing grid is assigned individually in each case to the sections 151a...151c of the slotted hole screen. Only the transversely running connecting bars 155 are illus-trated in Figure 14.
Numerous modifications are possible within the scope of the concept of the invention. For instance, the individual components belonging to the slotted bottom 112 may predominantly have rounded edges and, taking account of the stabilizing requirements, large intervals and/or small wall thicknesses. The downstream side may, if appropriate, also be curved horizontally or be designed to be polygonal and flat in sections. The design of the shutter is uncritical owing to the particular supporting and holding function of the slotted bottom 112, 140 or 150. The size of the ducts should be chosen to ensure, wherever possible, that, on the one hand, the space requirement is small arid, on the other hand, that the particles of bulk material passing through the slotted hole screen are reliably conducted away under the influence of gravity.
Furthermore, it is readily possible within the scope of the invention to use only a single adsorption layer. The flow direction of the fluid can also be 21~62i1 reversed; for example in Figure l, so that the raw gas enters the adsorber 1 at 3 and leaves the latter at 2.
The raw gas then emerges from the adsorption layer at the top.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. An adsorption reactor for separating undesirable components from a fluid, having at least one reaction chamber (202) which has feeding means at the top and funnel-shaped discharge means at the bottom for feeding and for discharging an adsorbent in lumps or in granular form, the reaction chamber (202) being arranged in a housing (201) and being bounded by parallel vertical shutters (203), the feeding means having:
- a feed container (204), arranged above the reaction chamber (202), for the adsorbent, and - a distributing bottom, formed by a plurality of feeding funnels (205), between the feed container (204) and the reaction chamber (202), the discharge means having a discharge bottom which is formed by a plurality of delivery funnels (207) and is arranged below the reaction chamber (202) between the latter and a delivery container (206) for the adsorbent, the delivery funnels (207) being arranged within a region the housing (201), adjoining reaction chambers having regions where the delivery funnels (207) are arranged in fluid communication with each other, a fluid inlet (208) leading into the housing (201) in said region of the housing where the delivery funnels (207) are arranged, a lower wall (209) being arranged at the height of the discharge bottom to one side of the reaction chamber (202) between the latter and the housing (201) or an adjacent reaction chamber (202), which lower wall allows the fluid to flow around the discharge funnels (207), an upper wall (210) being arranged in the region of the distributing bottom to the other side of the reaction chamber (202) between the latter and the housing (201) or an adjacent reaction chamber (202), which upper wall allows the fluid to flow around the feeding funnels (205), the feed container (204) being arranged within the housing (201), at least one feed pipe (212) for adsorbent leading out of the housing (201), and a fluid outlet (211) leading out of the housing (201) in the region of the feed container (204), wherein a plurality of reaction chambers (202) adjoin one another transversely to the throughflow direction and are provided with a common feed container (204) and delivery container (206), and wherein a delivery device is arranged between the discharge funnels (207) and the elongate delivery container (206), which delivery device is common to the mutually adjoining reaction chambers (202) and has at least one delivery rake (215) which can be moved transversely to the throughflow direction.

2. Adsorption reactor as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least two separate reaction chambers (4, 5a, 5b; 40, 41), which can be filled with adsorbent and emptied independently of one another, are arranged spatially adjacently and are connected one behind the other for the fluid flow.

3. Adsorption reactor as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the discharge funnels (20) and adjoining discharge pipes (21, 22) are arranged in the flow path (32) of the fluid to be purified.

4. Adsorption reactor as claimed in any of claims 1 to 3, wherein an exhaust-gas duct (32) is connected downstream of the exhaust-gas outlet (31) of a reactor stage (4) and is arranged below its (4) bottom (9) in such a way that the discharge funnels (20) and pipes (21, 22) are flushed with fluid, thus heating them.

5. Adsorption reactor as claimed in any of claims 1 to 4, wherein the bottom funnel grid (20) is provided with openings for the passage of the fluid to be purified, and wherein the openings are connected to the fluid inlet (2).

6. Adsorption reactor as claimed in any of claims 1 to 5, wherein the fluid inlet (2) extends approximately over the total height of the reaction chamber, whereas the fluid outlet (31) covers only a limited height of the outlet side of the reactor (1) in order to avoid flow short circuits in the top region of the reaction chamber.

7. Adsorption reactor as claimed in claim 4, wherein a first reactor stage (4) is flanked on both sides by two reactor stages (5a, 5b), and wherein the fluid flow fed back below the bottom (9) of the first reactor stage is subdivided into at least two parallel part-flows and is conducted into the two reactor stages (5a, 5b) flanking the first reactor stage (4).

8. Adsorption reactor as claimed in any of claims 1 to 7, wherein a plurality of rows (18') of feeding funnels (18) are arranged one behind the other at stepped heights starting from the fluid inlet (2).

9. Adsorption reactor for separating undesirable components from a fluid, having at least one reaction space (44, 45) which has feeding means at the top and funnel-shaped discharge means at the bottom for feeding and for discharging an adsorbent in lumps or in granular form, as claimed in any of claims 1 to 8, wherein at least two annular reaction chambers (44, 45) are arranged concentrically in a cylindrical housing (41), wherein the two annular chambers (44, 45) are connected in series for the fluid flow, and wherein the upstream surfaces of the first annular chamber (44) for the fluid flow are larger than those of the second annular chamber (45).

10. Adsorption reactor as claimed in claim 9, wherein the upstream and downstream surfaces of the two annular chambers (44, 45) are arranged in such a way that the fluid flows through the annular chambers essentially radially.

11. Adsorption reactor as claimed in claim 10, wherein the first and second annular chambers (44, 45) are surrounded by annular fluid outlet ducts (46, 47), wherein the fluid inlet for the first annular chamber (44) is likewise designed as an annular duct (48), and wherein the fluid inlet (48) of the first annular chamber and the fluid outlet (47) of the second annular chamber (45) are separated by a cylindrical partition (51).

12. Adsorption reactor as claimed in any of claims 9 to 11, wherein a circular flow chamber (58), which connects the fluid outlet (46) of the first annular chamber (44) to the fluid inlet (49) of the second annular chamber (45), is arranged below the discharge bottoms (9) in such a way that the discharge funnels (20) and discharge pipes (22) are flushed and heated by the partially purified fluid flowing radially from the outside to the inside.

13. Adsorption reactor as claimed in any of claims 9 to 12, wherein a helical entry duct (52) is arranged in the top region of the reactor housing (41') around its central axis (50) and is connected to the fluid inlet (47) of the first annular chamber (44).

14. Adsorption reactor as claimed in any of claims 9 to 13, wherein the distributing (8) and discharge bottoms (9) are of annular design, and their funnels (18, 20) are of trapezoidal design.

15. Adsorption reactor as claimed in any of claims 9 to 14, wherein annular feed containers (61, 62) are arranged above the annular distributing bottoms (8).

16. Adsorption reactor as claimed in claim 15, wherein, in one annular feed container (62), a motor-driven, rotating distributing device (63) is mounted on an axis of rotation which coincides with the vertical housing axis (50).

17. Adsorption reactor as claimed in claim 15 or 16, wherein identically shaped charging openings (68) are arranged in a covering wall of an annular feed container (61), distributed at equal intervals around the housing axis (50), and wherein a ring of rails (69) is arranged at a corresponding radial distance above the covering wall.

18. Adsorption reactor as claimed in claim 17, wherein a rail vehicle (67) which runs on the ring of rails (69) is provided with means for the airtight docking with the charging openings (68), a loading space which can be closed in an airtight manner, and a fan for pressurizing the loading space.

19. Adsorption reactor for separating undesirable components from a fluid, having at least one reaction chamber (202) which has feeding means at the top and funnel-shaped discharge means at the bottom for feeding and for discharging an adsorbent in lumps or in granular form, as claimed in any of claims 1 to 18;
wherein the reaction chamber (202) is arranged in a housing (201) and is bounded by parallel vertical shutters (203);
wherein the top feeding means have a feed container (204), arranged above the reaction chamber (202), for the adsorbent and a distributing bottom, formed by a plurality of feeding funnels (205), between the feed container (204) and the reaction chamber (202);
wherein the discharge means have a discharge bottom which is formed by a plurality of discharge funnels (207) and is arranged below the reaction chamber (202) between the latter and a delivery container (206) for the adsorbent;
wherein a fluid inlet (208) leads into the housing (201) in the region of the delivery funnels (207);
wherein a lower wall (209) is arranged at the height of the discharge bottom to one side of the reaction chamber (202) between the latter and the housing (201) or an adjacent reaction chamber (202);
wherein an upper wall (210) is arranged in the region of the distributing bottom to the other side of the reaction chamber (202) between the latter and the housing (201) or an adjacent reaction chamber (202);
wherein the feed container (204) is arranged within the housing (201), at least one feed pipe (212) for adsorbent leading out of the housing (201); and wherein a fluid outlet (211) leads out of the housing (201) in the region of the feed container(204).

20. Adsorption reaction as claimed in claim 19, wherein the housing (201) contains at least one module (218) comprising two laterally adjacent reaction chambers (202).

21. Adsorption reaction as claimed in claim 20, wherein each module (218) is assigned a common feed container (204) and a common delivery container (206).

22. Adsorption reaction as claimed in claim 20 or 21, wherein the upper wall (210) between adjacent reaction chambers (202) is formed by a connecting wall between the adjacent feed containers (204) for the adsorbent or by the common feed container (204), and wherein, below the wall (210), a barrier wall (216) leads in each case from the feed container (204) to the associated shutter (203).

23. Adsorption reaction as claimed in claim 19, wherein the upper wall (210) between the reaction chamber (202) and the housing (201) is arranged below the feeding funnels (205), and wherein a barrier wall (216) leads from the feed container (204) to the upper wall (210).

24. Adsorption reaction as claimed in any one of claims 19 to 23, wherein the feeding funnels (205) arranged one behind the other in the throughflow direction of the reaction chamber (202) lie with their outlets essentially on an arc of a circle whose radius corresponds to the width of the reaction chamber (202), measured in the throughflow direction, and whose center point lies on the lower edge of the associated barrier wall (216).

25. Adsorption reaction as claimed in any one of claims 19 to 24, wherein a plurality of reaction chambers (202) adjoin one another transversely to the throughflow direction and are provided with common feed containers (204) and delivery containers (206).

26. Adsorption reaction as claimed in claim 25, wherein a delivery device is arranged between the discharge funnels (207) and the elongate delivery container (206), which delivery device is common to the mutually adjoining reaction chambers (202) and has at least one delivery rake (215) which can be moved transversely to the throughflow direction.

27. Adsorption reaction as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 26, wherein the reaction chamber (14; 103; 202) is subdivided by at least one partition (17; 107; 213) into at least two adsorption layers (40, 41; 103a, 103b) running essentially vertically and transversely to the fluid flow direction, and wherein each layer has a plurality of feeding and discharge funnels (18; 20; 207) with separately actuable closure and metering devices (23, 27 and 24, 28).

28. Adsorption reactor as claimed in claim 27, wherein the partition (17; 107; 213) has, in a sandwich-type construction on the upstream side, a slotted hole screen (113; 141;
151) with slot-bounding elements (113a) running essentially parallel, then a stabilizing grid (114; 144) with connecting elements (115; 145; 155) running, transversely to the slot-bounding elements, and, on the downstream side, a shutter construction with louvers (120) running transversely to the slot-bounding elements.

29. Adsorption reactor as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 28, wherein the stabilizing grid (114; 144) has a plurality of web profiles (116; 146) which cross the connecting elements (115; 145; 155).

30. Adsorption reactor as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 29, wherein the slotted hole screen (113; 141; 151) is provided with slot-bounding elements (113a) running from the top to the bottom, the width of the slotted hole (113b) being matched to the grain size of the bulk material in such a way that the solid particles, apart from fine-grain particles, are retained in the upstream part of the reactor (103, 103a).

31. Asorption reactor as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 30, wherein the flat sides of the web profiles (116; 146) crossing the connecting elements (115; 145; 155) run from the top to the bottom and essentially parallel to the fluid flow direction (A).

32. Adsorption reactor as claimed in any of claims 1 to 31, wherein the slot-bounding elements (113a) have approximately triangular cross-sectional profiles, against one side of which the fluid flows, and whose corner located opposite the upstream side is connected to the transversely running connecting elements (115; 145; 155) of the stabilizing grid (114, 144).

33. Adsorption reactor as claimed in claim 31 or 32, wherein an essentially vertical duct (117) for conducting away small-grain particles which have passed through the slotted hole screen is provided in each case between two adjacent web profiles (116) of the stabilizing grid (114).

34. Adsorption reactor as claimed in claim 33, wherein the ducts (117) formed between the web profiles (116) open out at the lower end into a delivery funnel.

35. Adsorption reactor as claimed in any of claims 1 to 34, wherein the slot-bounding elements (113a) are designed as straight bars.

36. Adsorption reactor as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 35, wherein the slotted hole screen comprises a plurality of vertical sections (141a, 141b; 151a...151c) which are arranged in an overlapping manner in such a way that the slot section (141a, 151a) located higher in each case overlaps the lower section (141b;151b) toward the reaction chamber (103).

37. Adsorption reactor as claimed in claim 36, wherein the upper end (142; 152) of each gap section (141a, 141b;
151a...151c) is bent at right angles.

38. Adsorption reactor as claimed in claim 36 or 37, wherein the individual slot-bounding elements (113) of each section (141a; 151a) of the slotted hole screen are aligned with those of the adjacent sections (141b; 151b) of the slotted hole screen.

39. Adsorption reactor as claimed in claim 37 or 38, wherein each section (141a, 141b) of the slotted hole screen is assigned its own stabilizing grid (144) which is connected to a flat region of the section of the slotted screen.

40. Adsorption reactor as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 27 and 29 to 39, wherein the louvers (110) of the shutter construction are arranged inclined obliquely upward.

41. Adsorption reactor as claimed in claim 40, wherein the shutter louvers (110) are arranged inclined at an angle between 25 and 35° relative to the vertical plane.

42. Adsorption reactor as claimed in any one of claims 33 to 41, wherein the louvers (110) of the shutter construction are arranged inclined relative to the vertical ducts (117) in such a way that the bulk material on the louvers is deflected into the ducts under the effect of gravity.

43. Adsorption reactor as claimed in any one of claims 28 to 39, wherein the louvers (120) of the shutter construction are inclined obliquely downward.

44. Adsorption reactor as claimed in claim 43, wherein the shutter louvers (120) are arranged inclined at an angle between 15 and 25° relative to the vertical plane.

45. Adsorption reactor as claimed in any one of claims 27 to 44, wherein the distance of the at least one partition (107) from the fluid outlet shutter (108) is many times greater than that from the fluid inlet shutter (109).

46. Adsorption reactor as claimed in claim 10, wherein the upstream and downstream surfaces are arranged in such a way that the fluid flows through the annular chambers essentially radially, from the inside to the outside.

47. Process for purifying a fluid, the fluid being conducted transversely through at least one vertical bed of an adsorbent in granular form or in lumps, and the adsorbent being fed from a feed container located at the top via feeding funnels onto the bed and being conducted away at the bottom via delivery funnels into a delivery container, wherein the fluid is conducted above the delivery container on one side of the adsorbent bed into the region of the delivery funnels, is passed below the bed to its other side whilst flushing the delivery funnels, there it is deflected upward, passed through the bed and then, after flushing the feeding funnels and the feed container, is conducted away as purified fluid.

48. The process as claimed in claim 47, wherein, after flushing the common region of the delivery funnels of two parallel adsorbent beds, the fluid is passed upward between the beds, passed through the beds on both sides and conducted away from a common space which surrounds the feeding funnels and feed containers of the two beds.