CN117203480A

CN117203480A - Workpiece processing system and method for producing and operating such a workpiece processing system

Info

Publication number: CN117203480A
Application number: CN202280029081.0A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 比约恩·比赫; 海科·迪特尔; 迪特玛·韦兰德; 凯文·沃尔; 奥利弗·伊格劳尔-安格里克
Original assignee: Duer Systems Stuttgart Ag
Current assignee: Duer Systems Stuttgart Ag
Priority date: 2021-04-19
Filing date: 2022-04-13
Publication date: 2023-12-08
Also published as: WO2022223075A1; EP4327039A1; DE102021109810A1; DE112022002203A5

Abstract

A workpiece processing plant (40) comprises a processing chamber (42) for accommodating a workpiece to be processed, which is connected to at least one fresh air line (44) for introducing fresh air into the processing chamber and to at least one exhaust line (48) for exhausting exhaust gases to be cleaned from the processing chamber. Furthermore, the workpiece processing facility (40) has at least one modular thermal exhaust gas cleaning system (10) having a plurality of burner modules (12), each having: a combustion chamber (14); -a burner (19) connected to the combustion chamber (14); a raw gas inlet (21) for introducing the raw gas to be cleaned into the respective burner module (12); and a cleaning gas outlet (22) for discharging cleaned cleaning gas from the respective burner module (12). The modular thermal exhaust gas cleaning system (10) can be flexibly divided into one or more exhaust gas cleaning devices (32, 33a, 33b, 34a, 34b, 34c, 34 d) according to performance requirements and the structure of the workpiece processing facility (40), each having a single burner module (12) or at least two burner modules (12) coupled to each other.

Description

Workpiece processing system and method for producing and operating such a workpiece processing system

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a workpiece processing plant with a thermal exhaust gas cleaning device, in particular a workpiece processing plant for drying and/or hardening painted and/or coated and/or bonded workpieces, and a method for producing such a workpiece processing plant. The invention relates in particular to the field of continuous dryers, continuous curing plants, chamber dryers and chamber curing plants, in which painted and/or glued bodies or body parts can be dried and/or cured.

Background

Work piece processing facilities must typically be equipped with thermal exhaust gas cleaning facilities (TARs) to meet applicable legal requirements for hydrocarbon removal from exhaust gas (e.g., from drying facilities) as part of emissions control. Traditionally, TAR devices consist of a burner and a combustion chamber, wherein the combustion chamber has to be designed very complex and costly functionally due to the high combustion temperature (e.g. using high quality steel). Because of its complexity, TAR devices often cannot be changed/adjusted, so they must be replaced, for example, when capacity changes and/or workpiece processing facilities are reconfigured, which is very complex and expensive. Furthermore, TAR devices often have to be designed for maximum values, which often results in large dimensions, which makes it difficult to install into the corresponding workpiece processing facility.

Disclosure of Invention

The object of the invention is to provide an improved workpiece processing system with thermal exhaust gas cleaning, which enables the operating state and/or the structural flexibility of the workpiece processing system in a simple manner.

This object is achieved by a workpiece processing facility as defined in independent claim 1. Particularly advantageous designs and improvements of the invention are the subject matter of the dependent claims.

The workpiece processing system has a processing chamber for receiving a workpiece to be processed, wherein the processing chamber is connected to at least one fresh air line for introducing fresh air into the processing chamber and to at least one exhaust line for discharging exhaust gases to be cleaned from the processing chamber. In addition, the workpiece processing system according to the invention has at least one modular thermal exhaust gas cleaning system (TAR system) with a plurality of burner modules, each having: a combustion chamber with a combustion chamber for heat treating a raw gas therein; a burner (for example for burning harmful substances contained in the raw gas to be cleaned) connected to the combustion chamber; a raw gas inlet for introducing raw gas to be cleaned into the respective burner module; and a cleaning gas outlet for discharging cleaned cleaning gas from the corresponding burner module. The at least one modular TAR system may be divided into one or more exhaust cleaning devices, each having a single burner module or at least two burner modules coupled to each other, and each burner module may be separately positioned in the workpiece processing facility and separately connectable to at least one exhaust line. Depending on the division selected for the modular TAR system, the plurality of raw gas inlets of the plurality of burner modules are thus selectively connected individually to the respective raw gas supply lines, or in groups to a common raw gas supply line, and the plurality of clean gas outlets of the plurality of burner modules are selectively connected individually to the respective clean gas exhaust lines, or in groups to a common clean gas exhaust line.

The proposed modularity of the TAR system enables a flexible design of different numbers of burner modules and different numbers of individual exhaust gas cleaning devices with flexible numbers of burner modules and also simple modification of the individual burner modules, so that the TAR system can be adapted in a simple manner to the variable performance requirements and/or the variable structure of the workpiece processing installation. The modularity into TAR systems provides many different integration options in the overall construction of the installation, since the TAR system can be selectively constructed by flexible/arbitrary division into (i) an overall modular arrangement with all burner modules, or (ii) multiple pieces with one or more sub-modular arrangements with respectively at least two burner modules, or (iii) multiple pieces with one or more single-modular arrangements with respectively single burner modules, or (iv) multiple pieces with respectively one or more sub-modular arrangements with respectively at least two burner modules, with respectively single-modular arrangements with respectively single burner modules, so that specific requirements on the installation or energy boundary conditions can be met in a simple manner on the basis of the existing TAR system, for example on the basis of local conditions, available space conditions, process technical advantages, and the like. The sub-module arrangement and the single-module arrangement then require less space and can therefore also be easily installed into complex plant structures with little assembly space, and the division of the TAR system into individual sub-module arrangements and/or the single-module arrangement enables simple connection with a plurality of exhaust gas lines of the plant, which can even be remote from one another. Furthermore, the modularity opens up flexible modes of operation for existing TAR systems, in particular by a variable number of existing burner modules that can be operated, so that the performance of the TAR system can be adapted easily to, for example, the current amount of exhaust gas and/or the current thermal energy requirements of the installation.

The workpiece processing facility according to the invention has at least one such modular TAR system. This means that, for example in the case of very large facilities, two or more such modular TAR systems may optionally also be included. If the modular TAR system is divided into at least two separate exhaust gas cleaning devices, these may be operated by separate distributed controllers or a common central controller and may preferably be controlled separately. The proposed modular TAR system can be selectively divided into a plurality of exhaust gas cleaning devices, differing from conventional installations with a plurality of exhaust gas cleaning devices, for example, in the subdivision in the exhaust gas cleaning devices and the variability of the number of burner modules.

In one embodiment of the invention, the process chamber of the workpiece processing facility is provided with a single heating circuit. In this case, the TAR system may preferably have an integral modular arrangement, wherein all burner modules of the TAR system are coupled to each other, wherein the raw gas inlets of all burner modules are connected to at least one exhaust gas line and the clean gas outlets of all burner modules are connected to a common clean gas exhaust line, and wherein the common clean gas exhaust line is connected to the heating circuit of the process chamber via a heat exchanger. The heat exchanger may be configured for transferring heat from the cleaning gas to the heating gas of the heating circuit, or alternatively also for introducing at least part of the cleaning gas as heating gas into the heating circuit.

In one embodiment of the invention, the treatment chamber of the workpiece processing plant is connected to at least two exhaust gas lines and is provided with at least two separate heating circuits. In this case, the TAR system may preferably have at least two sub-module arrangements, each having at least two burner modules coupled to each other, the raw gas inlets of which burner modules are all connected to one of the at least two exhaust gas lines and the clean gas outlets of which are all connected to a respective common clean gas outlet line, wherein the common clean gas outlet lines are each connected to a respective heating circuit of the process chamber via a respective heat exchanger. This embodiment is particularly advantageous for the following workpiece processing facilities: wherein the process chamber has two process chamber regions of different temperatures (e.g., for the pre-dryer and main dryer). The heat exchangers may each be configured for transferring heat from the cleaning gas to the heating gas of the respective heating circuit, or alternatively also for introducing part of the cleaning gas as heating gas into the respective heating circuit.

In one embodiment of the invention, a process chamber of a workpiece processing facility is provided with a plurality of circulating air circuits. In this case, the TAR system may preferably have an integral module group, wherein all burner modules are coupled to each other, wherein the raw gas inlets of all burner modules are connected to at least one exhaust gas line and the clean gas outlets of all burner modules are connected to a common clean gas exhaust line, and wherein the common clean gas exhaust line is connected to at least a part, preferably all, of the circulating air circuits via a respective circulating air heat exchanger or a respective circulating air mixing chamber. Alternatively, the circulating air circuits may each at least partly have a circulating air regenerator, in which case a circulating air heat exchanger or a circulating air mixing chamber is preferably contained in the respective circulating air regenerator. Part of the cleaning gas can be mixed into the circulating air flow by means of a circulating air mixing chamber connected to the cleaning gas discharge line and the circulating air line of the corresponding circulating air circuit to heat the treatment chamber or dryer.

In one embodiment of the invention, the treatment chamber of the workpiece processing facility is connected to at least two exhaust gas lines and is provided with a plurality of circulating air circuits. In this case, the TAR system can preferably have at least two submodule arrangements, each with at least two burner modules coupled to one another, the raw gas inlets of which are each connected to one of the at least two exhaust gas lines and the clean gas outlets of which are each connected to a respective common clean gas outlet line, wherein the at least two common clean gas outlet lines are each connected to a part of the circulating air circuit via a respective circulating air heat exchanger or a respective circulating air mixing chamber. Alternatively, the circulating air circuits may each at least partly have a circulating air regenerator, in which case a circulating air heat exchanger or a circulating air mixing chamber is preferably contained in the respective circulating air regenerator. Part of the cleaning gas can be mixed into the circulating air flow by means of a circulating air mixing chamber connected to the cleaning gas discharge line and the circulating air line of the corresponding circulating air circuit to heat the treatment chamber or dryer.

In one embodiment of the invention, the process chamber of the workpiece processing facility is connected to a plurality of exhaust gas lines and is provided with a plurality of circulating air circuits. In this case, the TAR system may preferably have a plurality of single-module arrangements, each having a single burner module, the raw gas inlets of which are each connected to a respective one of the plurality of waste gas lines and the clean gas outlets of which are each connected to a respective clean gas outlet line, wherein the plurality of individual clean gas outlet lines are each connected to a respective one of the plurality of circulating air circuits via a respective circulating air heat exchanger or a respective circulating air mixing chamber. Alternatively, the circulating air circuits may each at least partly have a circulating air regenerator, in which case a circulating air heat exchanger or a circulating air mixing chamber is preferably contained in the respective circulating air regenerator. Part of the cleaning gas can be mixed into the circulating air flow by means of a circulating air mixing chamber connected to the cleaning gas discharge line and the circulating air line of the corresponding circulating air circuit to heat the treatment chamber or dryer.

In the three embodiments described above, the entire module arrangement or sub-module arrangement or single-module arrangement can also be connected on the input side to a fresh air line in order to mix the exhaust gases from the treatment chamber with the fresh air. The fresh air supply line can be mixed with the exhaust gas introduced via the raw gas inlet or via an additional fresh air inlet. In the case of an overall module arrangement and a sub-module arrangement, fresh air can be supplied to all or part of the burner modules. By mixing the exhaust gases with the fresh air in this way in the TAR system, the fresh air can be introduced as cleaning gas into the process chamber through the circulation air mixing chamber in the circulation air regenerator starting from the cleaning gas outlet line, so that the additional fresh air line into the process chamber can be omitted in a space-saving manner.

In one embodiment of the invention, the treatment chamber of the workpiece processing plant is provided with a plurality of circulation air circuits, in each of which a circulation air regenerator with a circulation air heat exchanger or a circulation air mixing chamber is included. In this case, the TAR system may preferably have a plurality of single-module arrangements, each having a single burner module, each integrated into a respective one of the plurality of circulating air regenerators. Alternatively, in addition to or instead of a single-module arrangement, the TAR system may also have at least one sub-module arrangement with two or more burner modules, which is also integrated into a respective one of the plurality of circulating air regenerators, which may be advantageous in particular, for example, in case of an increased heat demand in the region of the process chamber.

In one embodiment of the invention, the common clean gas outlet line or the common clean gas outlet lines or the individual clean gas outlet lines in the above-described embodiments can also be connected to at least one fresh air line via a further heat exchanger downstream of the heat exchanger of the heating gas circuit or the circulating air circuit, respectively. Alternatively, at least one fresh air line may have a fresh air regenerator, in which case a fresh air heat exchanger is preferably contained in the fresh air regenerator.

In one embodiment of the invention, the TAR system can also have one or more additional modules without burner, each of which can optionally be integrated into the exhaust gas cleaning device of the TAR system such that their interior is connected to the combustion chamber of the respective adjacent combustion chamber to form a common interior and each has at least one additional functional element. The TAR system preferably has the same number of additional modules as the number of burner modules, so that in extreme cases all single-module arrangements can also be supplemented with additional modules separately. Depending on the construction and/or the requirements and/or the type of the additional functional element, the additional module can be integrated on the burner module at the edge of the respective exhaust gas cleaning device or between two burner modules. As additional functional elements, the additional module has, for example, heating means (e.g., electrical, inductive, with burner, etc.) for heating the combustion chamber of the combustion module or the combustion chambers of the combustion module or a common combustion chamber to a combustion temperature or for increasing the power for rapid heating. The alternative or at least one further additional functional element may for example have at least one additional function for a corresponding exhaust gas cleaning device of the TAR system, which is selected from: (a) a (common) combustion chamber expanding the combustion chamber; (b) Compensating for dimensional changes (particularly thermally induced length changes) of the exhaust gas cleaning device; (c) Heat transfer from the cleaning gas in the common interior space to another fluid external to the exhaust gas cleaning device; (d) hot gas discharge; (e) heat storage; (f) a catalyst; (g) discharging fluid and/or particles from the common interior space; (h) injecting the additive into the common interior space; (i) adsorbing or absorbing harmful substances from the inner space.

In one embodiment of the invention, the combustion chambers of the burner modules coupled to one another in the exhaust gas cleaning device of the TAR system can be connected to one another at least partially, preferably completely, via the through-holes, so that a gas exchange between the respective adjacent burner modules is possible and thus a uniform heating takes place. By thus forming a common combustion chamber, it is also possible to perform the required purging/pre-ventilation of the common combustion chamber of all combustion chambers together, for example. This connection of the combustion chamber can optionally also be designed such that the through-holes can be closed off by a closing mechanism (for example a flap or a slider), respectively. By forming a common combustion chamber for all combustion modules, it is also possible to preheat the whole or sub-module arrangement to the required minimum reaction temperature (e.g. around 750 ℃) for safe/efficient treatment of the raw gas, e.g. using only one burner as a heating burner. Alternatively, the overall module arrangement or sub-module arrangement for heating the common combustion chamber to the lowest reaction temperature may also have at least one heating arrangement (e.g. an electrical or electromagnetic heating arrangement or another type of switchable high temperature heat source, such as a heating burner), which heating arrangement is coupled, for example, to the combustion chamber of the burner module in the region of the common combustion chamber or is provided as an additional functional element of an additional module. In the case of a common combustion chamber of all burner modules, preferably only a single heating device is provided. Preferably, the heating device further comprises a safety feature for monitoring the presence of a flame (e.g. a photocell for flame monitoring). When such a heating device is used, the burners of the plurality of burner modules can all be configured more simply and controlled more easily, since they all do not have to be used as heating burners and any safety features are not required to monitor the heating. When the common combustion chamber is heated by the burner as a heating burner or by the heating means (depending on the embodiment), the other burner or all burners of the burner module remain closed.

In a further embodiment of the invention, valve arrangements can be provided in the raw gas inlets of the burner modules of the TAR system, respectively, for selectively opening or closing and optionally also for throttling the respective raw gas inlets, wherein these valve arrangements can also be controlled independently of one another by the burner modules coupled to one another. The total air quantity of the raw gas to be cleaned can thus be distributed over a suitable number of burner modules which are connected to one another, so that each burner of the entire module group or sub-module group is respectively supplied with at least a minimum air quantity and at most a maximum air quantity for burner operation. In the case of single-module devices, they can then be put into operation or kept in standby mode independently of one another by means of these valve devices, depending on the operating state or operating mode of the workpiece processing installation. Such valve means may preferably also be provided for selectively opening or closing and optionally also for throttling the respective gas inlet if the burner module also has a gas inlet for fuel.

In another design of the invention, an exhaust fan for controlling the flow of exhaust gas may be provided in at least one exhaust gas line upstream of the TAR system. If at least two separate exhaust gas cleaning devices of the TAR system are connected to the exhaust gas line, it is preferable to provide an exhaust gas fan at each partial junction of the exhaust gas line, so that the distribution of the exhaust gas flow over a plurality of exhaust gas cleaning devices can be flexibly adjusted.

In another design of the invention, at least one additional burner module may be added to the TAR system, or at least one existing burner module may be removed, and/or the burner module of the TAR system may be replaced (also in a separate exhaust gas cleaning device) (i.e., replaced with a new burner module).

In another design of the invention, the burner of at least one burner module of the TAR system is integrated with a heat transfer system for transferring heat from the outgoing clean gas to the incoming raw gas and/or the incoming fuel. That is, the burner is designed as a regenerative burner. All or most of the burners of the modular TAR system are preferably designed as regenerative burners. In this design, it is advantageous if the burners are each connected to the top of the respective combustion chamber and extend downwards into the respective combustion chamber, since at high temperatures the burner hanging on top extends vertically slightly downwards into the combustion chamber without compromising its function and without changing, in particular reducing, the distance between the elements of the burner or the heat transfer system and without being subjected to forces acting on them. In addition, such a design may also facilitate settling of solids and/or condensate from the raw gas that may be generated during combustion in, for example, certain paint systems. In an alternative embodiment, the burner can also be suspended at the bottom at the combustion chamber and extend upwards into the combustion chamber and extend vertically slightly upwards at high temperatures. This alternative embodiment may be advantageous, in particular when the raw gas treatment device according to the invention is raised, for example mounted on a support frame or a roof.

The subject of the invention is also a method for manufacturing a workpiece processing plant according to the invention as described above. In the method, a treatment chamber for accommodating a workpiece to be processed is provided, wherein the treatment chamber is connected to at least one fresh air line for introducing fresh air into the treatment chamber and to at least one exhaust line for discharging exhaust gases to be cleaned from the treatment chamber. According to the invention, in the method there is also provided at least one modular thermal exhaust gas cleaning system with a plurality of burner modules, each having: a combustion chamber with a combustion chamber for heat treating a raw gas therein; a burner (for example for burning harmful substances contained in the raw gas to be cleaned) connected to the combustion chamber; a raw gas inlet for introducing raw gas to be cleaned into the respective burner module; and a cleaning gas outlet for discharging cleaned cleaning gas from the corresponding burner module. The at least one modular TAR system is then divided into one or more exhaust gas cleaning devices, each having a single burner module or at least two burner modules coupled to each other. Thereafter, the one or more exhaust gas cleaning devices so formed may be individually positioned relative to the process chamber and individually connected to the at least one exhaust gas line.

The same advantages as the above-described workpiece processing plant of the invention can be achieved by this manufacturing method, which involves assembly, debugging and possibly also maintenance procedures. Regarding advantages and advantageous/preferred design variants and the meaning of terms, reference is therefore made briefly to the explanations above in connection with the work piece processing facility.

In addition to the usual operation of work piece processing facilities with thermal exhaust gas cleaning, which are basically known to those skilled in the art, the above-described special design of the modular TAR system of the present invention enables a particularly advantageous mode of operation. The above-described method of operating a workpiece processing facility of the present invention preferably includes at least one of the following aspects:

(i) The plurality of sub-module devices and/or single-module devices of at least one modular TAR system are operated (e.g., turned on, turned off) individually;

(ii) The plurality of burner modules of the overall module arrangement and/or the at least one sub-module arrangement of the at least one modular TAR system are operated (e.g., opened, closed) individually or in groups; and

(iii) An exhaust gas flow from the process chamber through the at least one exhaust gas line to one or more exhaust gas cleaning devices of the at least one modular thermal exhaust gas cleaning system is regulated.

By means of the possible individual operation mentioned, the performance of the entire TAR system or of the individual exhaust gas cleaning devices can be adapted, for example, to the operating state of the treatment chamber and thus the energy requirements can also be reduced if necessary. For example, if the total air quantity of the exhaust gas to be cleaned is low, the number of burners activated in the overall module arrangement or in the submodule arrangement can be reduced, so that individual burners of the burner module can be operated within a favorable operating range and energy can also be saved. By operating a plurality of burner modules individually or in groups in the exhaust gas cleaning device formed, it is also possible to replace individual active burner modules, for example in partial-load operation, so that a load balancing across a plurality of burners can be achieved. Depending on the application, the exhaust gas flow can be adjusted, for example, as a function of the dryer utilization (number of bodies in the dryer) and thus as a function of the solvent load introduced into the dryer by the bodies.

The above-described methods for manufacturing and operating a workpiece processing facility preferably each further comprise at least one of the following steps: adding at least one additional burner module to the modular TAR system; removing at least one burner module from the modular TAR system; and replacing at least one burner module in the modular TAR system with a new burner module. The modularity of the TAR system and the exhaust gas cleaning device formed thereby enable burner modules to be replaced/added/removed at a lower cost.

The invention can in principle be used in any workpiece processing facility requiring thermal exhaust gas cleaning. The invention can be used particularly advantageously with modular TAR systems for workpiece processing facilities for drying/crosslinking/curing painted and/or coated and/or bonded workpieces (e.g. vehicle bodies or vehicle body parts), for example in the form of continuous dryers, continuous curing facilities, box dryers or box curing facilities.

Drawings

The above and other features and advantages of the present invention will be better understood from the following description of preferred, non-limiting embodiments, with exemplary reference to the accompanying drawings. Most of which are schematically:

FIG. 1 shows a cross-sectional view of a first design variation of a modular thermal exhaust gas cleaning system for a workpiece processing facility in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 shows a cross-sectional view of a second design variation of a modular thermal exhaust gas cleaning system for a workpiece processing facility in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 3 illustrates a possible subdivision of the modular thermal exhaust gas cleaning system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 illustrates a possible subdivision of the modular thermal exhaust gas cleaning system of FIG. 2; and

fig. 5 to 16 show different embodiments of a workpiece processing facility according to the invention.

Detailed Description

Referring to fig. 1 and 3, the basic principle of a first design variant of a modular thermal exhaust gas cleaning system (TAR system) for a workpiece processing plant according to the invention, including various alternative design variants, is first exemplarily described in detail.

The TAR system 10 is designed to be modular and contains a plurality (illustratively four in fig. 1) of burner modules 12 to form at least one exhaust gas cleaning device (see fig. 3). These burner modules 12 each comprise a combustion chamber 14 with a combustion chamber therein, and a burner 19, preferably suspended from the top and extending vertically downwardly into the combustion chamber 14. These combustion chambers 14 each have a burner-connecting flange 18 for connecting a burner 19 and a connecting flange 15 for coupling adjacent combustion chambers 14 to one another. The TAR system 10 also has a closing flange 17 for mounting to the external (right and left in fig. 1) burner module 12n to close the respective exhaust gas cleaning device. As shown in fig. 1, the connecting flange 15 preferably has through-holes 16 in order to connect the combustion chambers of adjacent combustion chambers 14 to one another into a common combustion chamber, so that a gas exchange can take place between the combustion chambers and thus a common, heated, homogeneous combustion chamber is produced. Optionally, a closing mechanism (not shown, for example in the form of a flap or a slider) may be provided at the through-hole 16, so as to be able to close some or all of the through-hole 16 if necessary. It is also useful if the respective connection flange 15 of the respective burner module 12 is positioned outside the respective exhaust gas cleaning device and is thus also covered by the closure flange 17.

These burners 19 each have a raw gas inlet 21 for introducing raw gas to be cleaned (exhaust gas from a process chamber 42 of a facility 40 described later) from a raw gas supply line 20 (exhaust gas line 48 coupled to the facility 40 described later) through the burners 19 into the combustion chamber 14, a gas inlet 13 for introducing fuel into the burners 19, and a cleaning gas outlet 22 for discharging cleaned gas from the combustion chamber 14 through the burners 19 into a cleaning gas discharge line 23. Although in fig. 1 the raw gas inlets 21 of all burner modules 12 are connected to a common raw gas supply line 20 and the clean gas outlets 22 of all burner modules 12n are connected to a common clean gas exhaust line 23, the raw gas inlets and the clean gas outlets may alternatively each be connected to a respective raw gas supply line, or to a respective different common raw gas supply line in groups, or to a respective clean gas exhaust line in groups, depending on the application, i.e. on the construction of the workpiece processing facility.

The burners 19 each preferably extend from top to bottom into the respective combustion chamber 14 or combustion chamber thereof (with reference to the top and bottom of the installed state). This may be advantageous in that solids and/or condensate from the exhaust gas settle in the combustion chamber. For removing the elements that settle out of the exhaust gases from the combustion chamber, although not shown, a discharge device for permanently or stepwise discharging settled solids and/or condensate may be provided, preferably in the lower region of the combustion chamber 14n or in an additional module 36, which is explained later. The discharge means of the burner module or the corresponding additional functional elements of the additional module may comprise, for example, mechanical conveying means (e.g. screw conveyor), suction means and/or purging means. In addition, the burner 19 hanging on top can extend vertically slightly downwards into the combustion chamber 14n at high temperatures without compromising their function and without reducing the distance between the burners 19 (or the elements of the heat transfer system of the burner that will be described later on) and without encountering adverse forces thereto.

For flow technology advantages, the burner 19 preferably has a cross-sectional shape that is circular or elliptical or polygonal (e.g., rectangular, hexagonal, octagonal). These burners 19 preferably also each have an integrated heat transfer system 29 for transferring heat from the outgoing clean gas to the incoming raw gas and the incoming fuel, i.e. the burner 19 is preferably designed as a regenerative burner. In this context, the invention is not limited to these specific embodiments of the heat transfer system 29. For example, these heat transfer systems 29 each extend far enough into the through-holes that the cleaning gas to be recirculated can flow into the heat transfer systems again. In addition, an air baffle can be arranged immediately downstream of the end of the heat transfer system 29, for example, so that the residence time of the cleaning gas in the combustion chamber can be adjusted before the cleaning gas re-enters the heat transfer system.

The burners 19 of the plurality of burner modules 12 may be controlled/operated independently of each other. One or more of the following features are preferably specified to perform proper operation of the plurality of burner modules 12: at least one temperature sensing device (e.g., a temperature sensor such as a thermocouple, IR sensor, pyrometer, resistance thermometer) 30 in the combustion chamber 14 for sensing the temperature in the combustion chamber; at least one temperature detecting means in the through hole 16 for detecting a temperature in the combustion chamber; and/or at least one temperature detection device (preferably at a distance of about 50 to 500mm from the end of the respective burner) close to the burner 19 for detecting the respective burner temperature; at least one air quantity detecting device 28 for detecting the quantity of exhaust gas currently to be cleaned; a plurality of valve means 26 on the burner module 12 are provided for selectively opening or closing, respectively, and optionally also for throttling the respective raw gas inlets 21 and the respective gas inlets 13. In fig. 1, for example, only one single temperature detection device 30 is shown in only one through-hole 16. If a temperature sensing device is present in the vicinity of the burner 19, the respective burner is preferably equipped with a thermocouple for controlling the burner temperature (e.g. by controlling the fuel). At least one air quantity detection device 28 is shown in fig. 1 by way of example as a flow rate sensor in the raw gas supply line 20; alternatively, the air quantity detection device 28 may also have a plurality of differential pressure sensors across one burner 19, respectively, or one differential pressure sensor across all burner modules 12.

Although not shown in fig. 1, TAR system 10 may additionally have at least one heating device in the region of a common combustion chamber of a plurality of burner modules 12 n. The heating means may be, for example, a heating burner, an electrical or electromagnetic heating means or other type of switchable high temperature heat source. The heating device supplies heat energy to the common combustion chamber to preheat the common combustion chamber to a minimum reaction temperature (e.g., about 750 ℃) required to safely/effectively treat the raw gas. Preferably, the heating device further comprises a safety feature for monitoring the presence of a flame (e.g. a photocell for flame monitoring). By using such heating means, the burners 19 of the plurality of burner modules 12n can be configured more simply and controlled at less expense, as they do not have to be used as heating burners and do not require any safety techniques to monitor the heating.

An exhaust fan 48 is preferably also provided in the raw gas supply line 20 or the exhaust line 48 to control the flow of exhaust gas from the process chamber 42 of the facility 40 into the TAR system 10 or an exhaust cleaning device thereof.

In principle, the modular TAR system 10 may have any number of combustor modules 12. Furthermore, by means of modularization, additional burner modules can be added or individual burner modules can be removed in a simple manner as required. In addition, the burner modules 12 can in principle be designed for any air quantity, for example 500Nm per burner module ³ /h or 1000Nm ³ /h。

The explained modular structure of the TAR system 10 enables a specific flexibility of the TAR system 10 in a simple manner and thus also enables the TAR system 10 to be adapted simply to the flexible structure and/or flexible performance requirements of the respective workpiece processing facility. As shown in FIG. 3, the modular TAR system 10 may be variably partitioned with its plurality of combustor modules 12. In a first variant (upper left in fig. 3), an integral module arrangement 32 is formed in the TAR system 10, wherein all burner modules 12 of the TAR system 10 are coupled to one another. In the embodiment of fig. 1 with a total of four burner modules 12, the one integral module arrangement contains, for example, all four burner modules 12. In a second variant (lower left in fig. 3), a plurality of sub-module arrangements 33 are formed in the TAR system 10, in which sub-module arrangements at least two burner modules 12 of the TAR system 10 are each coupled to one another. In the embodiment of fig. 1 with a total of four burner modules 12, in this second variant, two submodule arrangements 33a, 33b are each formed, for example, with two burner modules 12. In other embodiments, in this second variant, it is also possible to form more than two sub-module arrangements 33, sub-module arrangements 33 with more than two burner modules 12 and/or sub-module arrangements 33 with a different number of burner modules 12, depending on the total number of burner modules 12. In a third variant (lower right in fig. 3), only single-module arrangements 34 are formed in the TAR system 10, in which single-module arrangements the individual burner modules 12 of the TAR system 10 are respectively present. In the exemplary embodiment of fig. 1 with a total of four burner modules 12, a total of, for example, four single-module devices 34a, 34b, 34c, 34d are formed in this third variant. The fourth variant (upper right in fig. 3) is a combination of the second variant and the third variant, i.e. one or more sub-module arrangements 33 each having at least two burner modules 12 and one or more single-module arrangements 34 each having one individual burner module 12. In the embodiment of fig. 1 with a total of four burner modules 12, in this fourth variant, for example, a sub-module arrangement 33a with two burner modules 12 and two single-module arrangements 34a, 34b can be formed.

The integral module arrangement 32, the sub-module arrangement 33 and the single module arrangement 34 all form a thermal exhaust gas cleaning arrangement. The sub-module arrangement 33 and the single-module arrangement 34 require less space and can therefore also be installed in a simple manner into complex facility structures with less assembly space. In addition, the division of the TAR system 10 into separate sub-module arrangements 33 and/or single-module arrangements 34 results in a simple connection to a plurality of exhaust gas lines 48 of the workpiece processing facility 40, which may even be remote from one another. On the other hand, the overall module arrangement 32 and the submodule arrangement 33, because they accommodate a plurality of burner modules 12, are each suitable for a greater amount of exhaust gas to be cleaned than the single module arrangement 34.

In addition, the integrated module arrangement 32 and sub-module arrangement 33 provide various advantageous modes of operation compared to conventional non-modular exhaust gas cleaning arrangements due to their individual modularity and the individual controllability of their several existing burners 19. Thus, for example, after pre-ventilation, all or only individual burner modules 12 are activated according to a pre-selection, and then the individual burners 19 are adjusted in a modulated manner until a minimum or maximum air amount per burner 19 is reached. For example, if the minimum air amount detected by the available air amount detection means 28 of one or more of the burners 19 is below, the operation of one of the burner modules 12 may be stopped by first shutting off the fuel input line by the corresponding valve means 26 and then, after purging the burner 19 to remove the remaining gas from the burner, also shutting off the raw gas input line. The burner 19 of the remaining burner module 12 then also takes over the exhaust gas quantity of the burner module which has been brought to a standstill so that it is not lower than the minimum air quantity for normal operation. If in the opposite operating situation the maximum air quantity of all activated burner modules 12 is reached, one or more additional burner modules still in standby mode can be put into operation. To prevent capacity bottlenecks, the operation of other burner modules may preferably be prepared already from 80-90% of the maximum air quantity. However, since the combustion chambers 14 are connected, there is no need to pre-ventilate the burner module 12 to be put back into operation, so that the reaction time to air volume changes can be reduced to a minimum. If there are insufficient burner modules 12 present to treat the exhaust gas flow in a reliable manner, the exhaust gas flow may also be reduced by the exhaust fan 24. Since not all burner modules 12 have to be in operation all the time, the modularly implemented mode of operation of the TAR system 10 achieves energy savings and an adjustment of the efficiency according to the current exhaust gas flow. If the combustion chambers of the combustion chamber 14n are connected via the through-holes 16, it is also possible to preheat the entire exhaust gas cleaning device 32, 33 to the desired minimum reaction temperature with only one heating burner 19. The purging and pre-venting process is also performed throughout the combustion chamber, thus significantly reducing the time consumption compared to conventional TAR devices. Fresh air may also be used to operate one or more of the plurality of combustor modules 12 to provide additional energy if the required energy exceeds the existing energy in the TAR system 10. The remaining burner modules 12 continue to operate with the raw gas to be cleaned. The process may also be used, for example, to meet increased energy demands during heating of a workpiece processing facility by more burner modules 12 remaining operational.

With reference to fig. 2 and 4, the basic principle of a second design variant of a modular TAR system for a workpiece processing plant according to the invention will now be described in more detail by way of example.

As shown in FIG. 2, TAR system 10 may have one or more additional modules 36 without its own burner in addition to the plurality of burner modules 12. In the embodiment of FIG. 2, an additional module 36 may be coupled to the combustor module 12. In another embodiment, the additional module 36 may also be coupled between two combustor modules 12. As is shown by way of example in fig. 4, in all design variants of the division of the TAR system 10, it is preferable to integrate an additional module 36 into all the exhaust gas cleaning devices 32, 33, 34 formed in the TAR system 10. Thus, even where the TAR system is subdivided into only single-module devices 34, all of the burner modules 12 of the single-module devices 34 may be combined with additional modules 36, and the TAR system 10 may preferably contain as many additional modules 36 as there are burner modules 12.

As shown in fig. 2, the additional module 36 may in any case optionally be integrated into the respective exhaust gas cleaning device 32, 33, 34 of the TAR system 10 such that their interior space is connected with the combustion chamber of the respective adjacent combustion chamber 14 to form a common interior space. For this purpose, the additional module 36 may also be provided with through-holes in its connection flange. If the additional module 36 is coupled to a single burner module 12 of the single module arrangement 34 or to an external burner module 12 of the whole module arrangement 32 or sub-module arrangement 33, the closing flange 17 is arranged outside the additional module 36.

The additional modules 36 each have at least one additional functional element 37, 38. The additional modules 36 preferably each have a heating device 37 (e.g., electrical, inductive, with burner, etc.) as an additional functional element for heating the combustion chamber of the combustion module 12 or the combustion chambers of the combustion modules 12 or a common combustion chamber to a combustion temperature (e.g., about 750 ℃) for safe/efficient processing of the raw gas. Alternatively, a heating device 37 with increased power may also be used to rapidly heat the combustion chamber/chambers/common combustion chamber. Preferably, the heating device 37 also comprises a safety feature for monitoring the presence of a flame (e.g. a photocell for flame monitoring). By using such a heating device 37, the burners of a plurality of burner modules can be configured more simply and controlled at less expense, since none of them has to be used as heating burners and no safety department is required to monitor the heating. The at least one alternative or further additional functional element 38 may for example have at least one additional function for the respective exhaust gas cleaning device 32, 33, 34 of the TAR system, which is selected from for example: (a) increasing the (common) combustion chamber of the combustion chamber 14; (b) Compensating for dimensional changes (in particular thermally induced length changes) of the respective exhaust gas cleaning device 32, 33, 34 such that the overall dimensions of the respective exhaust gas cleaning device 32, 33, 34 can remain substantially unchanged even under high temperature loads; (c) Heat transfer from the cleaning gas in the common interior space to another fluid external to the exhaust gas cleaning device so that, for example, ORC working medium, process gas (e.g., dryer air, desorption air, etc.), etc. can be heated; (d) Hot gas discharge, which is led for example to the clean gas discharge line 23 in order to slightly reheat the clean gas after the heat has been released in the heat transfer system 29 of the burner 19 and/or to any heat exchangers of the respective workpiece processing facilities 40, whereby overheating of the respective exhaust gas cleaning devices 32, 33, 34 can also be avoided; (e) Heat is stored by the heat storage element to absorb part of the thermal energy from the cleaning gas in the common interior space so that the heat thus stored can be utilized, for example, for an alternative process or an additional process of regeneration, to improve the restarting properties of the respective exhaust gas cleaning device 32, 33, 34; (f) A catalyst composed of catalytic elements having a catalytic function for treating a raw gas; (g) Discharging fluids and/or particulates (e.g., solids, condensate) from the common interior space, which may be used to clean the respective exhaust cleaning devices 32, 33, 34 and more effectively treat the raw gas to be cleaned; (h) Injecting an additive, such as an auxiliary material for selective non-catalytic reduction (SNCR), for example, to clean a nitrogen-containing raw gas, into the common interior space; (i) Adsorbing or absorbing harmful substances (e.g., carbon dioxide) from the inner space.

In other aspects, the second design variation corresponds to the first design variation, including optional or preferred elements/features (partially not shown) explained for the first design variation.

The function of the thermal exhaust gas cleaning device and its burner is basically known to the person skilled in the art. So that a more detailed explanation may be omitted here.

However, in addition to the usual manner of operation of conventional TAR devices, the operation of modular TAR system 10 may preferably include (i) separate operation of a plurality of sub-module devices 33 and/or single-module devices 34; (ii) Individual or group operation of a plurality of burner modules 12 of one overall module arrangement 32 and/or at least one sub-module arrangement 33; and/or regulating the flow of exhaust gas from the process chamber 42 through at least one exhaust line 48 to one or more exhaust cleaning devices 32, 33a, 33b, 34a, 34b, 34c, 34 d. The individual or group operation of the burner modules 12 of the overall or submodule arrangement 32, 33 can be used, for example, (a) to put into operation a plurality of burner modules 12 depending on the quantity of exhaust gas to be treated; (b) If the amount of exhaust gas is below a predetermined limit value for the amount of raw gas, shutting down at least one of the plurality of burner modules 12; and/or (c) operating one portion of the burner module 12 by supplying exhaust gas to the burner 19 and operating another portion of the burner module 12 by supplying fresh air to the burner 19. For example, the exhaust gas flow rate may be adjusted according to the dryer utilization (number of bodies in the dryer) and thus according to the solvent load brought into the dryer by the bodies.

The modular TAR system 10 of the present invention described with reference to fig. 1-4 may be advantageously used in a workpiece processing facility for drying and/or hardening painted/coated/bonded workpieces (e.g., vehicle bodies or vehicle body parts). With reference to fig. 5 to 16, various embodiments of such a workpiece processing plant with correspondingly adapted exhaust gas cleaning devices 32, 33, 34 of the TAR system 10 of the present invention will now be exemplarily explained in more detail. The basic operation and detailed construction of such a workpiece processing facility 40 are known to those skilled in the art and are not the subject of the present invention, and therefore only the rough construction of the various workpiece processing facilities is explained below.

Fig. 5 shows a workpiece processing facility 40 employing a central heating design, wherein the process chamber 42 is provided with a single heating circuit 46, which also has a plurality of circulating air circuits 50. In this embodiment, TAR system 10 has an integral modular arrangement 32 wherein all combustor modules are coupled to one another.

Dryer exhaust gas is removed from the process chamber 42 of the dryer 40 at a suitable location via a single exhaust line 48. The raw gas inlets 21 of the overall module arrangement 32 of the TAR system 10 are all connected to this exhaust gas line 48. The cleaning gas generated in the integral module arrangement 32 is supplied via the cleaning gas outlet 22 to the common cleaning gas exhaust line 23. The cleaning gas is used as energy by extending the cleaning gas exhaust line 23 into the heating circuit heat exchanger 47 to transfer heat to the heating gas of one heating circuit 46 of the plant 40 or by introducing at least a portion of the cleaning gas into the heating circuit 46 of the plant 40 to use the cleaning gas as the heating gas of the heating circuit. The clean gas outlet line 23 then enters the fresh air heat exchanger 45 in order to transfer the residual heat of the clean gas to the fresh air flow in the at least one fresh air line 44. As shown in fig. 5, the overall module arrangement 32 and the two heat exchangers 45, 47 of the TAR system 10 are preferably arranged between the circulation air circuit 50 of the heating circuit 46 of the dryer 40, so that installation space can be saved.

Fig. 6 also shows a workpiece processing facility 40 employing a central heating design. In contrast to fig. 5, however, the process chamber 42 contains two dryer sections (e.g., a pre-dryer and a main dryer), each provided with its own heating circuit 46a, 46b and its own exhaust line 48. In this embodiment, the TAR system 10 has two sub-module arrangements 33a and 33b, in each of which a portion of the burner module 12 is coupled to each other and each of which is coupled to one of the two heating circuits 46a, 46 b.

The raw gas inlets 21 of the two sub-module arrangements 33a and 33b of the TAR system 10 are each commonly connected to the offgas line 48 of one of the two dryer sections. The cleaning gas generated in the submodule arrangement 33a, 33b is supplied via the cleaning gas outlet 22 to one of the two common cleaning gas outlet lines 23, which extend into the heating circuit heat exchanger 47 for transferring heat to the heating gas of the first heating circuit or the second heating circuit 46a, 46b of the installation 40 or at least a part of the cleaning gas is introduced into the first heating circuit or the second heating circuit 46 of the installation 40 and then into the fresh air heat exchanger 45 for transferring the residual heat of the cleaning gas to the fresh air flow in the first fresh air line or the second fresh air line 44. The sub-module arrangement 33a, 33b is significantly smaller than the overall module arrangement 32 and can thus be more easily/compactly arranged between the circulation air circuits 50 of the heating circuits 46a, 46b of the dryer 40. In addition, since the gas flow is reduced by the division, the two cleaning gas discharge lines 23 can be designed to have a smaller cross section and can also be omitted between the two drying zones of the process chamber 42.

Fig. 7 shows a workpiece processing facility 40 employing a conventional clean gas heating design, wherein the process chamber 42 is provided with a plurality of circulated air circuits 50, each circulated air circuit 50 having a circulated air regenerator 51, the circulated air regenerator 51 comprising a fan 52 and a circulated air heat exchanger 53. In this embodiment, the TAR system 10 may have an integral modular arrangement 32 wherein all combustor modules are coupled to one another.

The raw gas inlets 21 of the integral module arrangement 32 are all connected to the exhaust line 48 of the process chamber 42. The cleaning gas generated in the whole module device 32 is supplied to the common cleaning gas exhaust line 23 via the cleaning gas outlet 22. One clean gas exhaust line 23 then extends successively through all of the circulated air regenerators 51 to transfer the thermal energy of the clean gas via the respective circulated air heat exchangers 53 of the circulated air before the circulated air is reintroduced into the process chamber 42. After the recycle air regenerator 51, a clean gas outlet line 23 may optionally be fed into the fresh air heat exchanger 45 in order to transfer the residual heat of the clean gas to the fresh air stream in the fresh air line 44.

As a precaution, it should be noted that the recirculation air circuit 50 with the recirculation air regenerator 51 is only schematically shown in fig. 7 and the figures discussed below, without determining the specific positioning and connection of its components. Even if not shown, the circulation air circuit 50 and its circulation air regenerator 51 may of course also contain other components (e.g. throttle valves, measuring devices, etc.).

In a design variation of the workpiece processing facility 40 of fig. 7, the circulated air regenerator 51 may at least partially contain a circulated air mixing chamber instead of the circulated air heat exchanger 53. Via the circulation air mixing chambers, which are each connected to the cleaning gas discharge line 23 and the corresponding circulation air circuit 50, part of the cleaning gas can be mixed into the circulation air flow for the heating process chamber or the dryer.

Fig. 8 also shows a workpiece processing facility 40 that employs a conventional clean gas heating design, but unlike fig. 7, there are two separate dryer areas 42a and 42b (e.g., a pre-dryer and a main dryer) in the process chamber 42 (similar to fig. 6). In this embodiment, the TAR system 10 has two sub-module arrangements 33a and 33b, in each of which a portion of the burner module 12 is coupled to each other and each of which is coupled to one of the two dryer areas 42, 42 b.

The raw gas inlets 21 of the two sub-module arrangements 33a, 33b are each commonly connected to an exhaust gas line 48 of one of the two dryer areas 42a, 42b of the process chamber 42. The cleaning gases generated in the sub-module arrangements 33a, 33b are each supplied via a respective cleaning gas outlet 22 to the common cleaning gas exhaust line 23. Then, two clean gas exhaust lines 23 each extend successively through a portion of the circulated air regenerator 51 for transferring heat energy of the clean gas via the respective circulated air heat exchanger 53 of the circulated air before the circulated air is reintroduced into the process chamber 42, and then optionally into the fresh air heat exchanger 45 for transferring residual heat of the clean gas to the fresh air flow in the respective fresh air line 44. In this case, the tar system can be installed in a more space-optimized manner into the dryer installation 40 than in the embodiment of fig. 7, thanks to the two separate and smaller sub-module arrangements 33a, 33 b. In this case too, there are design variants of the workpiece processing plant 40 in which the circulating air regenerator 51 at least partially contains a circulating air mixing chamber, instead of the circulating air heat exchanger 53.

Fig. 9 illustrates a workpiece processing facility 40 employing a conventional clean gas heating design and maximum dispersion of the TAR system 10. In this embodiment, TAR system 10 is divided into several single units 34a-d, each having only a single combustor module 12 and an optional additional module 36. Depending on the application, for example in the case of an increased heat demand in the front region of the treatment chamber 42 (for example for heating the vehicle body), it is also possible to use a submodule arrangement 33 with two burner modules 12 in place of the corresponding single-module arrangement.

The raw gas inlets 21 of the single-module devices 34a-d are each connected to one of a plurality of exhaust lines 48 from the process chamber 42. The cleaning gases produced in the single-module devices 34a-d are each supplied via a respective cleaning gas outlet 22 to a single cleaning gas exhaust line 23, which cleaning gas exhaust line 23 extends to one of the plurality of circulating air regenerators 51 for transferring thermal energy of the cleaning gases via the respective circulating air heat exchangers 53 of the circulating air before the circulating air is reintroduced into the process chamber 42. After the circulating air regenerator 51, the individual clean gas outlet lines 23 can optionally merge and optionally enter the fresh air heat exchanger 45 in order to transfer the residual heat of the clean gas to the fresh air flow in the fresh air line 44. Alternatively, the clean gas exhaust line 23 may optionally be supplied to the various fresh air heat exchangers 45 after the recycled air regenerator 51. Due to the dispersion of this embodiment, the hot gas lines along the process chamber 42 may be omitted and the placement of the single-module devices 34a-d may be very compact and space-saving to be performed close to the circulating air regenerator 51. In this case too, there are design variants of the workpiece processing plant 40 in which the circulating air regenerator 51 at least partially contains a circulating air mixing chamber, instead of the circulating air heat exchanger 53.

The embodiment shown in fig. 10 differs only slightly from the embodiment shown in fig. 9. In this embodiment, each of the single-module devices 34a-d of the TAR system 10 is integrated directly into one of the plurality of circulated air regenerators 51.

The embodiment shown in fig. 11 is not schematically different from the embodiment shown in fig. 10. In this embodiment, the circulating air mixing chambers 54 are respectively included in the circulating air regenerators 51, instead of the circulating air heat exchangers 53.

Fig. 12 shows a workpiece processing facility 40 having a process chamber 42, the process chamber 42 being directly heated by several circulating air circuits 50. In this embodiment, the TAR system 10 may have an integral modular arrangement 32 wherein all of the combustor modules 12 are coupled to one another. The raw gas inlets 21 of the integral module arrangement 32 are all connected to the exhaust line 48 of the process chamber 42. The cleaning gas generated in the overall module arrangement 32 is supplied via the cleaning gas outlet 22 to one or more cleaning gas exhaust lines 23, via which cleaning gas exhaust lines 23 the cleaning gas is directly mixed into the circulating air circuit 50. Thus, the circulated air circuit 50 does not require a circulated air heat exchanger. Also in this design variant, part of the clean gas can optionally be supplied to the fresh air heat exchanger 45.

Similar to fig. 12, fig. 13 shows a workpiece processing facility 40 having a directly heated process chamber 42. In contrast to fig. 12, however, the treatment chamber 42 comprises two dryer areas 42, 42b with respective exhaust gas lines 48, each assigned a sub-module arrangement 33a, 33b of the TAR system 10.

Like fig. 12, fig. 14 also shows a workpiece processing facility 40 having a directly heated process chamber 42. In contrast to fig. 12, the clean gas outlet line 23 of the overall module arrangement 35 is not fed to the fresh air heat exchanger 45. In this case, fresh air is introduced into at least a portion of the burner module 12 and mixed with the exhaust gas from the process chamber 42, thereby being introduced indirectly as a cleaning gas into the process chamber 42 via the recirculation air circuit 50. In this embodiment, the additional fresh air line may be omitted to save space.

The embodiment of the workpiece processing facility 40 shown in fig. 15 differs from the embodiment shown in fig. 14 (similar to fig. 6, 8, 13) in that the treatment chamber 42 has two separate dryer areas 42a, 42b, each of which is assigned a sub-module arrangement 33a, 33b of the TAR system.

Fig. 16 illustrates an embodiment of a workpiece processing facility 40 for rapid heating a process chamber 42. It corresponds to the embodiment of fig. 7, wherein at least one additional burner module is added to the overall module arrangement 35 of the TAR system 10. This extension of TAR system 10 for flexibly meeting performance requirements can also be performed in a similar manner in all other described embodiments.

The scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims. Those skilled in the art will be able to recognize other embodiments of the workpiece processing facility according to the present invention, which are based on modifications and/or feature combinations of the above-described embodiments. For example, some of the above-described embodiments of the workpiece processing facility may also be equipped with a sub-module arrangement and a single-module arrangement (see, for example, the upper right variant of fig. 3), instead of being equipped with only a sub-module arrangement or with only a single-module arrangement. In addition, in all of the above-described embodiments of the workpiece processing facility, the entire module arrangement or sub-module arrangement or single-module arrangement may also be equipped with additional modules, for example (see, for example, fig. 4).

List of reference numerals

10 Modular thermal exhaust gas cleaning system (TAR system)

12 burner module

13 gas inlet

14 combustion chamber

15 connecting flange

16 through holes

17 sealing flange

18 combustor flange

19 burner

20 raw gas supply line

21 raw gas inlet

22 clean gas outlet

23 clean gas exhaust line

24 exhaust fan

26 valve device

28 air quantity detection device

29 heat transfer system

30 temperature detection device

32 as an integral modular unit of an exhaust gas cleaning device

33a, b as submodules for an exhaust-gas cleaning device

34a, b, c, d as an exhaust gas cleaning device

36 additional modules

37 heating device

38 other additional functional elements

40 workpiece processing facility

42 process chamber

42a, b treatment chamber region

44 fresh air line

45 fresh air heat exchanger

46. 46a, b heating circuits, a plurality of heating circuits

47 heating loop heat exchanger

48 exhaust gas pipeline

50 circulation air loop

51 circulation air regenerator

52 fan

53-cycle air heat exchanger

54 the circulation air mixing chamber.

Claims

1. A workpiece processing facility (40), comprising:

a treatment chamber (42) for receiving a workpiece to be processed, wherein the treatment chamber (42) is connected to at least one fresh air line (44) for introducing fresh air into the treatment chamber and to at least one exhaust gas line (48) for discharging exhaust gas to be cleaned from the treatment chamber; and

At least one modular thermal exhaust gas cleaning system (10) having a plurality of burner modules (12), each of said burner modules having:

a combustion chamber (14) with a combustion chamber for heat treatment of the raw gas therein;

-a burner (19) connected to the combustion chamber (14);

a raw gas inlet (21) for introducing the raw gas to be cleaned into the respective burner module (12); and

a clean gas outlet (22) for discharging cleaned clean gas from the respective burner module (12), wherein at least one of the modular thermal exhaust gas cleaning systems (10) can be divided into one or more exhaust gas cleaning devices (32, 33a, 33b, 34a, 34b, 34c, 34 d) each having a single burner module (12) or at least two burner modules (12) coupled to each other, and each being individually positionable in the workpiece processing facility (40) and individually connectable to the at least one exhaust gas line (48).

2. The workpiece processing facility (40) of claim 1, wherein,

the treatment chamber (42) is provided with a single heating circuit (46);

The exhaust gas cleaning system (10) has an integrated module arrangement (32), wherein all burner modules (12) of the exhaust gas cleaning system (10) are coupled to each other, wherein the raw gas inlets (21) of all burner modules (12) are connected to at least one exhaust gas line (48), and the clean gas outlets (22) of all burner modules (12) are connected to a common clean gas discharge line (23); and

the common clean gas exhaust line (23) is connected to a single heating circuit (46) of the process chamber (42) by a heat exchanger (47).

3. The workpiece processing facility (40) of claim 1, wherein,

the treatment chamber (42) is connected to at least two exhaust gas lines (48) and provided with at least two separate heating circuits (46 a, 46 b);

the exhaust gas cleaning system (10) has at least two sub-module arrangements (33 a, 33 b) each having at least two burner modules (12) coupled to one another, the raw gas inlets (21) of which are all respectively connected to one of the at least two exhaust gas lines (48) and the cleaning gas outlets (22) thereof are all respectively connected to the respective common cleaning gas outlet line (23);

the common clean gas outlet line (23) is connected to a respective heating circuit (46 a, 46 b) of the treatment chamber (42) via a respective heat exchanger (47).

4. The workpiece processing facility (40) of claim 1, wherein,

the treatment chamber (42) is provided with a plurality of circulating air circuits (50);

the common clean gas outlet line (23) is connected to at least a part of the circulating air circuit (50) via a respective circulating air heat exchanger (53) or a respective circulating air mixing chamber (54).

5. The workpiece processing facility (40) of claim 1, wherein,

the treatment chamber (42) is connected to at least two exhaust gas lines (48) and is provided with a plurality of circulating air circuits (50);

the exhaust gas cleaning system (10) has at least two submodule arrangements (33 a, 33 b) each having at least two burner modules (12) coupled to one another, the raw gas inlets (21) of which are all respectively connected to one of the at least two exhaust gas lines (48) and the cleaning gas outlets (22) thereof are all respectively connected to the respective common cleaning gas outlet line (23); and

At least two common clean gas outlet lines (23) are each connected to a part of the circulation air circuit (50) via a respective circulation air heat exchanger (53) or a respective circulation air mixing chamber (54).

6. The workpiece processing facility (10) of claim 1, wherein,

the treatment chamber (42) is connected to a plurality of exhaust gas lines (48) and provided with a plurality of circulating air circuits (50);

the exhaust gas cleaning system (10) has a plurality of single-module arrangements (34 a, 34b, 34c, 34 d) each having a single burner module (12) with its raw gas inlet (21) connected to a respective one of a plurality of exhaust gas lines (48) and its cleaning gas outlet (22) connected to a single cleaning gas discharge line (23) respectively; and

each of the plurality of individual purge gas outlet lines (23) is connected to a respective one of the plurality of recirculation air circuits (50) via a respective recirculation air heat exchanger (53) or a respective recirculation air mixing chamber (40).

7. The workpiece processing plant (40) according to any of claims 4 to 6, wherein the integral module arrangement (32) or the sub-module arrangement (33 a, 33 b) or the single module arrangement (34 a, 34b, 34c, 34 d) is connected on the input side with a fresh air line (44) for mixing the exhaust gases from the treatment chamber (42) with fresh air.

8. The workpiece processing facility (40) of claim 1, wherein,

the treatment chamber (42) is provided with a plurality of circulating air circuits (50), and the circulating air circuits (50) respectively comprise a circulating air regenerator (51) with a circulating air heat exchanger (53) or a circulating air mixing chamber (54); and

the exhaust gas cleaning system (10) has a plurality of single-module arrangements (34 a, 34b, 34c, 34 d), each having a single burner module (12) which is each integrated into a respective one of a plurality of circulating air regenerators (51).

9. The workpiece processing plant (40) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the common clean gas outlet line (23) or a plurality of the common clean gas outlet lines (23) or a single clean gas outlet line (23) is further connected with the fresh air line (44) via a further heat exchanger (45) downstream of a heat exchanger (47, 53) of one of the heating gas circuits (46) or a plurality of the heating gas circuits (46 a, 46 b) or the circulating air circuit (50), respectively.

10. The workpiece processing plant (40) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the thermal exhaust gas cleaning system (10) further has one or more burner-free additional modules (36) which can be selectively integrated into the exhaust gas cleaning devices (32, 33a, 33b, 34a, 34b, 34c, 34 d) of the exhaust gas cleaning system (10) in each case such that their interior is connected to the combustion chamber of the respective adjacent combustion chamber (14) in order to form a common interior and in each case has at least one additional functional element (37, 38).

11. The workpiece processing facility (40) of any of the preceding claims, wherein the combustion chambers (14) of the mutually coupled burner modules (12) of the thermal exhaust gas cleaning system (10) are interconnected at least partially by one or more through holes (16) into a common combustion chamber.

12. Workpiece processing plant (40) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein valve means (26) for selectively opening or closing the respective raw gas inlets (21) are respectively provided at the raw gas inlets (21) of the burner modules (12) of the thermal exhaust gas cleaning system (10), wherein the valve means (26 n) are further controllable independently of each other by the burner modules (12) coupled to each other.

13. The workpiece processing plant (40) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein an exhaust fan (24) for controlling the flow of exhaust gases is provided in the at least one exhaust gas line upstream of the thermal exhaust gas cleaning system (10).

14. The workpiece processing facility (40) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein at least one additional burner module can be added to the thermal exhaust gas cleaning system (10) or at least one existing burner module (12) can be removed and/or the burner module (12) of the thermal exhaust gas cleaning system (10) is replaceable.

15. The workpiece processing plant (40) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the burner (19) of at least one burner module (12) of the thermal exhaust gas cleaning system (10) is integrated with a heat transfer system (29) for heat transfer from the outgoing cleaning gas to the incoming raw gas and/or the incoming fuel.

16. A method for manufacturing a workpiece processing facility (40) according to any of claims 1 to 15, comprising:

-providing a treatment chamber (42) for receiving a workpiece to be processed, wherein the treatment chamber (42) is connected to at least one fresh air line (44) for introducing fresh air into the treatment chamber and at least one exhaust line (48) for exhausting exhaust gases to be cleaned from the treatment chamber;

providing at least one modular thermal exhaust gas cleaning system (10) having a plurality of burner modules (12), each having: a combustion chamber (14) with a combustion chamber for heat treating the raw gas therein; -a burner (19) connected to the combustion chamber (14); a raw gas inlet (21) for introducing the raw gas to be cleaned into the respective burner module (12); and a cleaning gas outlet (22) for discharging cleaned cleaning gas from the respective burner module (12);

Dividing at least one of the modular thermal exhaust gas cleaning systems (10) into one or more exhaust gas cleaning devices (32, 33a, 33b, 34a, 34b, 34c, 34 d) each having a single burner module (12) or at least two burner modules (12) coupled to one another; and is also provided with

The exhaust gas cleaning devices (32, 33a, 33b, 34a, 34b, 34c, 34 d) are individually positioned relative to the treatment chamber (42) and the exhaust gas cleaning devices (32, 33a, 33b, 34a, 34b, 34c, 34 d) are individually connected to at least one exhaust gas line (48).

17. A method for operating a workpiece processing facility (40) according to any of claims 1 to 15, comprising at least one of:

-operating individually a plurality of sub-module arrangements (33 a, 33 b) and/or single-module arrangements (34 a, 34b, 34c, 34 d) of at least one modular thermal exhaust gas cleaning system (10);

-operating a plurality of burner modules (12) of an integral module arrangement (32) and/or of at least one sub-module arrangement (33 a, 33 b) of at least one modular thermal exhaust gas cleaning system (10) individually or in groups; and

an exhaust gas flow from the process chamber (42) through the at least one exhaust gas line (48) to one or more exhaust gas cleaning devices (32, 33a, 33b, 34a, 34b, 34c, 34 d) of the at least one modular thermal exhaust gas cleaning system (10) is regulated.

18. The method of claim 16 or 17, further comprising at least one of the following steps:

adding at least one additional burner module to the modular thermal exhaust gas cleaning system (10);

removing at least one burner module (12) from the modular thermal exhaust gas cleaning system (10); and

at least one burner module (12) in the modular thermal exhaust gas cleaning system (10) is replaced with a new burner module.