GB1023351A - Regenerative air heater - Google Patents

Abstract

1,023,351. Regenerative heat exchangers; water-tube steam boilers; superheaters; returning flue dust to furnaces. RILEY STOKER CORPORATION. March 18, 1963 [March 19, 1962], No. 10576/63. Headings F4A, F4B and F4K. A regenerative air heater comprises a housing 10 having a gas inlet 13 aligned with a gas outlet 14 and an air inlet 15 aligned with an air outlet 16, a flexible endless belt 17 to which are attached heat-carrying elements 18 and a dust hopper 23 beneath the belt for receiving dust falling from the elements 18 when their movement is reversed at the end of the belt. As shown in Fig. 1, the regenerator is used to preheat combustion air for a steam generator 11, using the exhaust gases from the latter as the heating medium. The belt 17 is driven by an upper sprocket wheel 19 and passes round a lower idler sprocket 22, these sprockets being located outside the direct flow of the gases from the air inlet 15 to the air outlet 16 and from the gas inlet 13 to the gas outlet 14. The elements 18 comprise groups of corrugated plates which are attached to members 53 (Fig. 2), of T-shaped cross-section which extend between the spaced parallel chains of which the belt 17 is made up. An access door 54 is provided in the upper part of the regenerator housing, and seals 50 are provided at the interior of the belt 17, further resiliently biased seals being provided between the regenerator housing and the members 18 (Fig. 4, not shown). The heated combustion air is supplied to the burners 31, 33 of the combustion chamber 29 of the steam generator and dust which is collected in the hopper 23 is also passed to the burners through a valve controlled line 30. The steam generator comprises a steam and water drum 33 having a downcarrier 34 leading to lower headers 35, 40 and 60 from which water-tubes extend upwardly over the walls of the combustion chamber 29 and eventually discharge into the drum 33. The upper part of the combustion chamber is formed with a constricted portion 39 and has a partition 42 defining combustion gas paths 43 and 44. Arranged in the path 43 is a superheater 48 which communicates with a header 45 supplying further superheater platens 46, 47, the platen 46 being arranged in the constricted portion 39. A reheater 49, 51 is arranged in the path 44. The combustion gases leaving the steam generator pass through downwardlydirected passages, which contain an economizer 52, before reaching the inlet 13 of the regenerator, the flow of gases in the passages being regulable by dampers arranged at their outlet ends.