FR2525195A1 - Suction elevator e.g. for discharge from ships hold - has horizontal transport tube portion diverging to separate to provide pre-separation - Google Patents

Abstract

The suction elevator unit (1) is for pneumatically transporting bulk material (4) from one level (e.g a ships hold 3) for discharge (7,8) at a laterally displaced point at a higher level. A transport line (13-15) is connected to a suction pump (11) via a separator (6) and having a suction nozzle (16) at the lower end of a vertical portion (15a,15,15a) and a bend (14) leading to a horizontally extending portion (13a,b). This latter portion has a cross-sectional flow area which increases from the bend towards the separator. The flow velocity reduces to provide pre-separation of the material.

Description

 The present invention generally relates and essentially relates to an installation for transporting by sucked air or air suction for the pneumatic transport of products, materials or goods in bulk or spillable from a location or post or an introduction station to a location or station or a discharge, outlet or evacuation station located higher and offset, with at least one tubular duct or transport piping connected to a separator with a suction pump motor group mounted in front, which pipe or piping carries, at its free end, a suction nozzle or similar suction nozzle or nozzle for picking up or receiving the spillable product or bulk materials and comprises a portion of upward vertical pipe rising from the suction device to a pipe bend as well as a portion of horizontal pipe or pipe leading from the pipe bend to the separator.

 The invention also relates to the various applications and uses resulting from the implementation of such an installation as well as to the systems, assemblies, apparatus, devices and equipment with which it is provided.

 Such transport installations by aspiration or suction of air fixed in position or stationary or mobile are frequently used for the unloading of ships or boats, to which the tubular conduits pipelines or transport pipes are often sufficiently mobile thanks to flexible intermediate parts or flexible or articulated for adaptation to the data, circumstances to the current unloading conditions. The spillable or bulk product, picked up or sucked by the suction nozzle, is transported by the flow of air sucked through the tubular transport line up to '' at the separator where a change of direction and a considerable increase in cross-section are foreseen for the air flow and, due to the strong reduction in the flow speed, then occurring, the bulk product transported falls outside the transport air stream. The spillable or loose product, falling outside, is accumulated or collected in a collection tank with a conical bottom and evacuated by means of an evacuation device such as for example a cell wheel or with alveoli and brought on a conveyor belt or directly introduced into a tank.

 To transfer spillable or bulk material through the tubular transport line to the separator and raise it in particular in the vertical pipe section to the current level height, a relatively high air speed is required, which is noticeably greater than the rate of suspension or sliding of the bulk material particles.

The transport air flow is maintained or maintained by a suction or suction motor-pump unit connected to the separator and for which dust-free air must be provided to avoid damage. The dusting of the transport air is carried out by means of cyclones and / or air filters which are most often contained in the separator. Considerable requirements are therefore imposed on the separator and, in order to satisfactorily separate the bulk product from the air flow and the bulk product entering at high speed and to dedust the transport air, a bulky or bulky construction and relatively expensive is generally required for the separator.

 The great demand or high energy demand, which is already considerable for purely vertical transport, is opposed to the advantages of such air suction transport systems, such as their easy adaptation to unloading conditions and dust-free unloading. In the pipe bend forming the transition passage from the vertical pipe portion to the more or less horizontal pipe portion, in the horizontal pipe portion itself and in the cyclones and / or air filters of the separator pressure or pressure losses occur which the suction or suction pump unit must additionally supply or compensate for. The invention had the task of creating an air suction transport installation of the type mentioned above, in which the efficiency or the efficiency of the separator is increased and the pressure or pressure losses in the horizontal pipe portion leading from the pipe bend to the separator are reduced, which also results in a wider or wider area for the advantageous use of the air intake transport system.

 The solution, in accordance with the invention, of the problem consists of an air suction transport installation characterized in that the horizontal pipe portion has a pipe cross section widening in such a way from the pipe bend in the direction of the separator that in the transported mixture of air and bulk material, there is a prior separation of air and bulk material before entering the separator, due to the decrease in air speed obtained by the 'increased cross section.

 The advantages obtained by the invention must be considered in particular in that, by the sole prior separation of transport air and bulk product, taking place in the horizontal pipe portion n due to B speed decreasing air, we obtain both an improvement in the efficiency or effectiveness of the separator and also a reduction in pressure or pressure losses with the lower energy demand or demand, resulting from this, and that the The arrangement of the widening of cross section, in the horizontal pipe portion, signifies or represents an additional expense which is only low and of barely appreciable weight.

 According to another characteristic of the invention, the horizontal pipe portion is made in the form of a cone trunk.

 According to yet another characteristic of the invention, the horizontal pipe portion comprises a succession of pieces or sections of coaxial cylindrical pipe whose diameters increase from the pipe bend to the separator.

 According to yet another characteristic of the invention, the horizontal pipe portion has one or more pieces or sections of frustoconical pipe and one or more pieces or sections of cylindrical pipe in a coaxial succession.

 According to yet another characteristic of the invention, the horizontal pipe portion consists of a telescopic tube or pipe in which each of the tubular pipe sections, sliding mutually into each other, comprises at least one cylindrical pipe section and / or at least one frustoconical pipe section, and a pulling and pushing displacer device exists for extension by extension and shortening by retraction of the telescopic pipe.

 According to yet another characteristic of the invention, the horizontal pipe portion opens into the separator via a flexible or flexible pipe section and a lifting or lifting device exists for the upward or upward and downward pivoting for the bottom of the horizontal pipe portion around a horizontal axis of rotation in the vicinity of the flexible pipe section.

 According to yet another characteristic of the invention, the flexible pipe section has a pipe cross section widening in the direction of flow.

 According to yet another characteristic of the invention, with an installation comprising a separator with a conical bottom and with discharge, outlet or evacuation device connected thereto, the pipe portion.

horizontal opens into the ocular part of the separator.

The invention will be better understood and other objects, characteristics, details and advantages thereof will appear more clearly on reading the explanatory description which will follow, referring to the appended schematic drawings given solely by way of nonlimiting examples illustrating currently preferred specific embodiments of the invention and in which
- Figure 1 is a schematic representation of a
air suction transport installation according to the invention with a horizontal pipe portion according to a first embodiment, when unloading a ship; and
- Figure 2 is a schematic representation of a horizontal pipe portion according to another embodiment.

 The air suction transport installation according to the invention, shown in FIG. 1, is of the stationary type or fixed in position and erected or mounted for the unloading of bulk or spillable products 4 from a ship 3 on the loading ramp for a quay wall 2.

In the air suction transport system generally designated by the reference numeral 1, a cylindrical separator 6 is rigidly mounted in a machine bbati 5, which separator is produced in the form of a cyclone separator with a conical bottom bottom 6a and contains for example a fife 9. At the deepest or lowest location of the separator bottom 6a is connected a discharge, outlet or evacuation device 7 which consists for example of a cell wheel or similar rotary lock with cell rotor for continuous evacuation or discharge and brings or transfers the bulk product transported 4 from the separator 6 through an outlet or an outlet pipe 8, for example on a conveyor belt 23 located below it .To the separator 6 is connected at the top a tubular pipe or pipe 10 which transfers dust-free transport air from the separator 6 to a suction or suction motor pump group 11. The moto-p group suction or suction pump It is of a usual type of construction for such an installation by air suction and includes for example a piston pump and a control or drive motor.

 From the separator 6 extends a tubular pipe or transport pipe which is composed of a portion of transport piping containing a portion of horizontal pipe 13a, 13b and a portion of vertical transport piping 5, 15a connected by the intermediate of a pipe bend 14 to the transport pipe portion mentioned above. The vertical transport piping portion is made up of rigid tubular rods 15 and flexible or flexible intermediate sections 15a or of joints assembled, as is usual in transport installations by air suction, and door, at its lower end , a suction nozzle forming a nozzle, nozzle or suction nozzle 16 of a conventional type of construction. The portion of vertical transport piping 15, 15a, sufficiently mobile thanks to the flexible intermediate sections isba, and the pipe elbow 14 connecting to it. these have a constant pipe cross section over the entire length and are smooth on the side or the internal face to obtain as low a flow resistance as possible for the bulk product carried in the upward direction (arrow) by the current of sucked air.

 The horizontal transport pipe portion, containing the horizontal pipe portion 13a, 13b, is capable of pivoting up and down around a horizontal axis of rotation 21 on the machine frame 5 by means of a device lifting or lifting 19 of any type of construction n such as a pulley block, a winch or a hydraulic cylinder cylinder, in order to be able to adjust the portion of vertical transport piping 15, 15a with the suction nozzle 16 at the desired level height and make it follow the movement necessary during unloading.

 In the horizontal pipe portion 13a, 13b, the cross section decreases, in accordance with the invention, in the direction of flow, that is to say from the pipe bend 14 towards the separator 6, in which case , the widening of cross section can be undertaken in any manner chosen at will, such as for example continuously over the entire length of the pipe portion, continuously in one or more partial sections of the portion pipe or staggered or discontinuous. In the embodiment shown in Figure 1, the horizontal transport piping portion consists of a telescopic pipe tube with a first tubular section of pipe containing a section of frustoconical pipe 13a and whose small transverse section of pipe is equal to that of the pipe bend 14 to which said section is fixed, and of a second tubular pipe section containing a cylindrical pipe section 13b and in which the first tubular section of pipe, forming the tapered pipe section 13a, is slidably telescopically inserted and whose pipe cross section corresponds to the large pipe cross section of the frustoconical pipe section 13a. other end, the cylindrical pipe section 13b opens into a joint or a flexible or flexible pipe section 12 which consists for example of several narrow cylindrical rings or ferrules of increasing diameter which are superimposed or overlap freely at the connection locations, or which is produced in the form of an airtight elastic body with a cross-section remaining constant or uniform or increasing, and which passes or is connected in a connection tube 6b of corresponding opening width, starting from the separator 6 and from preferably the conical bottom 6a of the separator.

For the positioning of the vertical transport piping portion 15, 15a on the bulk product to be picked up or received, the frustoconical partial section 13a can be taken out or pulled out of the cylindrical partial section
13b or entered or repelled therein by means of a
traction or pull and push displacer
of any type of construction. In the example
embodiment shown, the displacer device is
consists of a hydraulic cylinder cylinder 17 which is fixed
to the partial cylindrical section 13b and whose piston rod 18, which can slide to extend outwards in front, is connected to the front end by an element
18a to the pipe bend 14.At the end
rear, close to the machine frame5, the hydraulic cylinder cylinder 17 is equipped with a support 20 in the form of a fork or fork which is rotatably mounted in
support bearings 22 existing on the machine frame 5
on both sides of the flexible pipe section 12, so as to be able to pivot around the horizontal axis of rotation 21.

If, in a given air suction transport installation, the horizontal pipe portion 13a, 13b
always has the same length, this portion of pipe can naturally be produced in a tube in one piece
and the pulling or pushing device can be omitted or deleted. The horizontal pipe portion can
then also have a continuously increasing cross section or be frustoconical.

FIG. 2 represents a portion of horizontal pipe which consists of several sections of cylindrical pipe 13'a, 13'b, 13'c, 13d assembled which have an increasing diameter from the pipe bend
14 towards the separator and can slide mutually or reciprocally into each other telescopically.

 Any combinations of frustoconical and cylindrical sections of pipe can also be provided for the horizontal pipe portion. The various pipe sections can then have equal or different lengths and the frustoconical pipe sections can have equal or different opening angles, in which case, it must simply be ensured that the pipe diameters, at the junction or abutment between the various pipe sections, increase from the pipe bend towards the separator. If the horizontal pipe portion consists of a telescopic pipe tube, each of the tubular pipe sections, capable of sliding each other in the others and having cylindrical side wall surfaces, may comprise, inside, one or more successive pipe sections in which case for each tubular pipe section, with the exception however of the first tubular pipe section carrying the pipe bend, the flow channel formed by it, begins, in the direction of flow, by a section of conduit e cylindrical in which the preceding tubular section of pipe is movable by sliding in an airtight manner.

The horizontal pipe portions previously
described are obviously carried out or formed in such a way that the pressure or pressure losses are as low as possible, as in particular by the arrangement of surfaces initreslisssete continuous passage or transition connections between the pipe sections, as is known in fluid flow technique.

It should also be noted that the expression "frusto-conical" should be used here in the more general sense relating to appearance or appearance and not to the exact geometric shape, so that the portion of horizontal pipe can contain by example also a pipe section in the form of a trumpet which, as a whole, can no longer be described as frustoconical but is understood to be assimilated to a coaxial succession of several sections of frustoconical pipe.

 An ideal horizontal pipe portion according to the invention would exist in a transport installation by air suction, obviously when, during operation, the separation of air and bulk product begins from the beginning or just at the beginning of this portion line, therefore, directly after the pipe bend and if the transport air and the transported bulk product are separated to the greatest extent at the inlet of the separator and the transported bulk product falls, so to speak in the receiving container or collector of the separator. In general, however, this is only an optimization of the horizontal pipe portion, in which case the cross section of the inlet pipe, the length, the extension length or extension and an upper limit for the cross section of the pipe outlet can be given in advance. The subdivision of the horizontal pipe portion into successive pipe sections is not critical for obtaining low pressure or pressure losses, so that one can generally be satisfied with a relatively coarse subdivision , comprising only a small number of pipe guides, and which, in the case of a telescopic pipe tube, is made appreciably obvious already by its construction. In the event of a determined or fixed subdivision, i.e. in the case of fixing the number and length of the various pipe sections, one can also easily discern for them a judicious shape, truncated cone or cylinder, and, to obtain an optimal configuration, only few modifications will be which are easy to determine during tests.

 In the case of the separator to be connected to the transport pipe or pipeline, the type, separator with cyclones and / or air filters, depends on the type or nature of the bulk product to be transported and the size or value of the power, capacity or rate of transport.

In the case of a transport pipe or pipe with a horizontal pipe portion according to the invention, there is, in all cases at the entry into the separator, a more or less strong separation of transport air and of bulk material, so that the separator itself only needs to complete or complete the complete separation. If a horizontal pipe portion according to the invention is connected to a separator, instead of the usual transport pipe, this leads to an increase in the efficiency of the separator. An air suction transport installation according to the invention can therefore be equipped with a smaller separator model than a comparable conventional air intake transport system, so that savings or gains are obtained not only in energy demand or demand but also in equipment or development.

The increase in separator efficiency and the energy saving obtained with the portion of horizontal pipe according to the invention can also be exploited in an air suction transport installation of a conventional type of construction, by the fact that, in the transport pipe, the horizontal pipe portion is replaced by a portian according to the invention, in which case, the energy saving and the increase in efficiency can thus be sufficient to allow the connection of one or more of several additional transport lines and thus obtain a considerable increase in the power or capacity of the transport installation, without the separator or the energy supply having to be modified

Claims (8)

 1. Air suction transport installation for the pneumatic transport of bulk material from an introduction location to an evacuation location located higher, being offset, with at least one tubular transport pipe connected to a separator with downstream suction motor-pump unit, which carries, at its free end, a suction nozzle for collecting the bulk product and has a vertical pipe portion rising from the suction device to a pipe bend as well as '' a horizontal pipe portion leading from the pipe bend to the separator, characterized in that the horizontal pipe portion (13a, 13b ;; 13'a., 13'd) has a cross section of pipe widening by in such a way, from the pipe bend (14) towards the separator (6), that in the mixture of air and bulk product transported, there is a prior separation of air and bulk product before entering the separator (6), at r because of the decrease in air speed obtained by the increase in cross section.  2. Installation according to claim 1, characterized in that the horizontal pipe portion is frustoconical.  3. Installation according to claim 1, characterized in that the horizontal pipe portion has a succession of cylindrical coaxial pipe sections (13'a, 13'b, 13'c, 13'd) whose diameters increase from the bend piping (14) towards the separator (6).  4. Installation according to claim 1, characterized in that the horizontal pipe portion comprises one or more frustoconical pipe sections (13a) and one or more cylindrical pipe sections (13b) in a coaxial succession.  5. Installation according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that the horizontal pipe portion (13a, 13b; 13'a, 13'd) consists of a telescopic pipe tube in which, each of the tubular pipe sections , capable of sliding one inside the other, comprises at least one cylindrical pipe section (13b, 13'a, 13'b, 13'c, 13'd) and / or at least one frustoconical pipe section (13a) , and a displacement device by traction and push (17, 18) exists for the pulling in extension and for the retraction of the telescopic pipe tube.  6. Installation according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the horizontal pipe portion (13a, 13b; 13'a, 13'd) opens into the separator (6) via a section flexible pipe (12) and a lifting device (19), for pivoting up and down the horizontal pipe portion around a horizontal axis of rotation (12), exists in the vicinity of the flexible pipe section (12).  7. Installation according to claim 6, characterized in that the flexible pipe section (12) has a cross section of pipe widening in the direction of flow.  8. Installation according to at least one of the preceding claims, with a separator (6) which has a conical bottom (6a) and a discharge or discharge device (7) connected thereto, characterized in that the portion of horizontal pipe (13a, 13b; 13'a, ...., 13'd) opens into the conical part of the separator (6).