GB2056658A

GB2056658A - Apparatus for and method of cleaning kiln trolleys and their loads

Info

Publication number: GB2056658A
Application number: GB8012063A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Hans Lingl Anlagenbau und Verfahrenstechnik GmbH and Co KG
Current assignee: Hans Lingl Anlagenbau und Verfahrenstechnik GmbH and Co KG
Priority date: 1979-08-16
Filing date: 1980-04-11
Publication date: 1981-03-18
Also published as: GB2056658B; DE2933045A1; FR2463374A1

Abstract

An apparatus for removing ash deposits from a loaded kiln trolley comprises an extraction hood (3) for positioning above a loaded trolley, and a blowing frame (4) having inwardly directed air nozzles (5) so suspended below the extraction hood that the charge and the trolley platform can simultaneously have air blown over them in an inward direction. By raising and lowering of the blowing frame (4) the eddied ash residues are blown towards the centre of the loaded trolley and extracted by means of the extraction hood. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Apparatus for and method of cleaning kiln trolleys and their loads The present invention relates to an apparatus for, and a method of, cleaning the charges of loaded kiln trolleys by blowing and extracting ash deposits, as well as cleaning kiln trolleys themselves.

In the solid-fuel firing of "green" ceramic material, ash is deposited on the material carried on kiln trolleys and on the trolley platforms and, when the trolleys are shunted around, the ash soils the working area and causes difficulties when the bricks are unloaded and packaged. The ash should, therefore, be removed from the still-loaded kiln trolleys very thoroughly and very rapidly after the trolleys leave the kiln.

It is known for ash and other combustion residues to be blown off the empty trolley platforms after unloading of kiln trolleys, the contaminated air being extracted; eitherthe blowing can be manual or the trolley can move past a single nozzle, which is supplied with compressed air, a further nozzle on the other side of the trolley being a suction nozzle. This form of cleaning trolleys has disadvantages, namely the personnel required for manual cleaning and, in a system in which the trolley platform moves past a compressed-air nozzle, the fact that only smooth surfaces and continuous passages can be cleaned in one direction and principally that the stream of compressed air, if used on a trolley charge, would rapidly become so weak as to be unable to eddie the deposits of ash, that is, the system would be ineffective.

It is also known to clean kiln trolleys by means of large industrial vacuum cleaners, but this method cannot be used for loaded kiln trolleys since the air speeds which can be produced in such vacuum cleaners are too low to eddie the ashes.

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus suitable for and a method of so eddying ash deposits on a kiln trolley charge or on a kiln trolley platform by acting on the deposits in, effectively, all directions so as to facilitate extraction by means of an extraction hood disposed above the charge and so as to ensure that the ash in the charge is eddied from the outside towards the centre, to avoid unnecessary environmental contamination.

According to the first aspect of the present invention there is provided an apparatus suitable for removing ash deposits from a charge of a loaded kiln trolley by blowing air and extracting ash deposits carried in air, which apparatus comprises an extraction hood for positioning above a charge on a trolley, and a blowing frame having inwardly directed air nozzles is so suspended below the extraction hood that the charge and the trolley platform can, in use of the apparatus, simultaneously have air blown over them in their plane in an inwardly direction by raising and lowering of the blowing frame and the eddied ash residues can be blown towards the centre of the loaded trolley and extracted by means of the extraction hood.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of removing ash deposits from a charge of a loaded kiln trolley by blowing air and extracting ash deposits carried in air, which method comprises positioning a loaded kiln trolley below an extraction hood, suspending, below the extraction hood, a blowing frame having inwardly directed air nozzles and blowing air through the nozzles and over the charge and, optionally, the trolley platform in their plane in an inwardly direction whilst raising and lowering the blowing frame above the loaded kiln trolley, so that eddied ash residues are blown towards the centre of the loaded trolley and extracted by means of the extraction hood.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, in the constant intervals between the charges on the trolley, means of the blowing frame are inserted, which means have compressedair nozzles directed towards a charge.

The advantage of the apparatus according to the invention is principally that, as a result of a blower facility being devised as a lowerable frame for engaging around a complete charge on all sides, combustion residues from the kiln are eddied towards the centre of the trolley or charge and can, therefore, be extracted upwardly without causing major pollution to the environment at the cleaning station.

Another advantage of the apparatus according to the invention is that no special action need be taken in the trolley circuit, since automatic cleaning requires nothing more than a trolley stopping place below the extraction hood of the apparatus.

Another advantage is that the distance which the air has to penetrate into the charge is short, while the eddied residues can be extracted via an extraction hood without any integration between the input of compressed air and the extraction process.

For a better understanding of the present invention, and to show how the same may be put into practice, reference will now be made, by way of example, to the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 shows a diagrammatical front view of a kiln trolley and apparatus according to the present invention, with the blowing frame in its operative position, and Figure 2 shows a diagrammatical side view corresponding to Figure 1.

A kiln trolley 1 carrying a charge 2 is stopped below an extraction hood 3 provided with an extractor fan 7. A blowing frame 4 suspended on a vertically movable suspension 8 and extending all the way round the charge 2 and having inwardly directed compressed-air nozzles 5 is lowered over the charge 2, then raised. The frame 4 is supplied with compressed air through a supply line 6.

When the trolley 1 is in position below the hood 3, compressed air is supplied to frame 4, the same is lowered down to the trolley platform 9, then raised above the charge 2, the fan 7 simultaneously extracting through hood 3 an amount of air several times greater than the input quantity of compressed air, so that an air flow is produced around the charge 2 towards the hood 3 and effectively entrains all the eddied residues.

Claims

1. An apparatus suitable for removing ash deposits from a charge of a loaded kiln trolley by blowing air and extracting ash deposits carried in air, which apparatus comprises an extraction hood for positioning above a charge on a trolley, and a blowing frame having inwardly directed air nozzles is so suspended below the extraction hood that the charge and the trolley platform can, in use of the apparatus, simultaneously have air blown over them in their plane in an inwardly direction by raising and lowering of the blowing frame and the eddied ash residues can be blown towards the centre of the loaded trolley and extracted by means ofthe extraction hood.

2. An apparatus according to Claim 1, wherein the blowing frame has means for insertion in the constant intervals between charges on a trolley, which means have compressed-air nozzles directed towards a charge.

3. An apparatus suitable for removing ash deposits from a charge of a loaded kiln trolley, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to, and as shown in, the accompanying drawing.

4. A method of removing ash deposits from a charge of a loaded kiln trolley by blowing air and extracting ash deposits carried in air, which method comprises positioning a loaded kiln trolley below an extraction hood, suspending, below the extraction hood, a blowing frame having inwardly directed air nozzles and blowing air through the nozzles and over the charge and, optionally, the trolley platform in their plane in an inwardly direction whilst raising and lowering the blowing frame about the loaded kiln trolley, so that eddied ash residues are blown towards the centre of the loaded trolley and extracted by means ofthe extraction hood.

5. A modification of the method of Claim 4, wherein the kiln trolley is not loaded.

6. A method of removing ash deposits from a charge of a loaded kiln trolley, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawing.

7. Any novel feature or combination of features described herein.