GB2195424A

GB2195424A - Coke cooler

Info

Publication number: GB2195424A
Application number: GB08623374A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Gary J Baumgartner; Frank J Jandrasi; Jr Arthur J Post
Original assignee: Triten Corp
Current assignee: Triten Corp
Priority date: 1986-09-29
Filing date: 1986-09-29
Publication date: 1988-04-07
Anticipated expiration: 2006-09-29
Also published as: GB8623374D0; GB2195424B; DE3633462A1; GB2224561A; DE3633462C2; GB2224561B; GB8922374D0

Abstract

A coke cooler comprises a vessel 4 which contains coolant 5, preferably water. A rotor 6 is mounted for rotation about a substantially horizontal axis in the vessel 4 while partially submerged in the coolant. The rotor 6 has an inlet end 9 for receiving hot coke, an outlet 10 adjacent the other end for discharging the coke, and a plurality of hollow cooling pockets (21 Figs. 6, 7) disposed in the rotor 6 so that, as the rotor 6 rotates through the coolant, the coolant will enter and leave the cooling pockets (21). The vessel is openable to permit access to the rotor for removing it from the vessel. In the preferred embodiment, the vessel (4) is formed from upper and lower portions (15, 16, 17 Figs. 2, 5) and the upper portions (16, 17) are removably or hingedly connected to the lower portion (15). The walls (25 Figs. 7, 8) of the cooling pockets (21) are fabricated from hard faced plate and the inner wall has additional hard facing applied. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Coke cooler This invention relates to a coke cooler.

A variety of coke coolers are known (for example from U.S. Patents 2 840 922; 2899176 and 3917516 and our co-pending U.K. Patent Application No. 8431470) for cooling hot bulk coke discharged during distillation of coal or petroleum. Generally these coke coolers comprise a cylindrical rotor which rotates in a coolant in a vessel, the rotor holding the material to be cooled. Hot coke, typically at 1400"C enters one end of the rotor and leaves the other end at about 65"C. The interior of the rotor may be provided with transfer bars to move the coke along the rotor as it rotates.

Because of the high temperature differentials and the abrasive action of the moving coke the rotor and the pockets therein need frequent maintenance.

In known coke coolers access to and maintenance of the rotor is difficult. The coke cooler is not easily moved. In addition there exists a path between the cooling pockets or pipes carrying the coolant and the inside of the rotor, which path provides a way for abrasive material to wear away both rotor and pockets.

The present invention, at least in its preferred embodiments, aims to reduce these disadvantages.

In one aspect the invention provides a coke cooler comprising a vessel for containing coolant, a rotor rotatable about a substantially horizontal axis in said vessel while partially submerged in said coolant, said rotor having an inlet adjacent one end for receiving hot coke and an outlet adjacent the other end for discharging the coke, a plurality of hollow cooling pockets disposed in said rotor so that, as the rotor rotates through coolant, the coolant will enter and leave the pockets, and the vessel being openable to permit access to the rotor for removal of the rotor from the vessel.

This allows maintenance and repair of the rotor.

In another aspect the invention provides a coke cooler according to the invention in which the pockets are formed as integral structures which are located in arcuate openings in the rotor, with the wall of the rotor forming no part of the pockets.

This eliminates the path between the pocket and the rotor leading to reduced abrasion.

In another aspect the pockets are fabricated from hard faced plate and their edges optionally have a layer of hard facing material integral therewith sufficiently thick to eliminate the need for extra protective wear members.

The invention further provides a cooler having retractable wheel members by which the cooler can be easily moved.

For a better understanding of the invention reference will now be made, by way of example, to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a side view, partially cut away, of one embodiment of a coke cooler in accordance with the invention; Figure 2 is a side view of a second embodiment of a coke cooler in accordance with the invention, Figure 3 is a view of one end of the coke cooler shown in Fig. 2; Figure 4 is a view of the other end of the coke cooler shown in Fig. 2; Figure 5 is a top plan view of the coke cooler in Fig. 2; Figure 6 is a perspective view of the leading portion of the rotor with the lead section removed; Figure 7 is a fragmentary section taken along line VII-VII of Fig. 6; and Figure 8 is a cut away view of the leading edge of a cooling pocket provided with an integral transfer bar.

As shown in Fig. 1 a coke cooler is mounted on a movable skid 2 which has four retractable wheels 3. The coke cooler 2 comprises a vessel 4 containing water 5 in its lower portion and a rotor 6 mounted on rollers 7 for rotation about a substantially horizontal axis. Spray nozzles 8 are mounted above the rotor 6 for spraying cooling water onto the rotor 6. There are more nozzles 8 above the hot inlet end 9 of the rotor than at the relatively cooler outlet end 10.

The wheels 3 form part of wheel assemblies each including a hydraulic ram 11 mounted on the movable skid 2. By actuating the hydraulic ram 11 the retractable wheels 3 can be moved downwardly raising the skid 2 and thus the whole coke cooler 1 above the ground. The movement of the coke cooler 1 on the retractable wheels 3 is then greatly facilitated. After positioning the coke cooler 1 the wheels 3 can again be retracted so that the movable skid 2 rests on the ground.

Fig. 2 shows a second embodiment of coke cooler which is generally similar to that shown in Fig. 1 except that a collecting hopper 13 is mounted on the movable skid 2 at the outlet end 10 of the rotor 6. Furthermore feed tube 14 is shown extending into the inlet end 9.

As shown in Figs. 2 and 5, the vessel 4 has a lower portion 15 and two upper portions 16 and 17. The two upper portions 16, 17 are removably bolted to the lower portion 15 and are bolted to each other along the seam 18.

Alternatively, the upper portions 16, 17 are connected to the lower portion 15 at one side by hinges 19 (Fig. 2). In either arrangement the two upper portions 16, 17 can be moved upwardly and away from the lower portion 15 separately or together to permit access to the rotor 6 so that the rotor 6 can be removed from the vessel 4 or worked on in its position in the vessel 4. This greatly facilitates maintenance of the rotor 6.

In use, hot coke enters the rotor 6 through inlet end 9, moves along the rotor 6 and is discharged through the outlet end 10. A layer of hard facing 20 is applied to the interior of the rotor 6 to increase the resistance to temperature and abrasion.

The rotor 6 is formed with a series of parallel interleaved top, side and bottom, cooling pockets 21 each having an inlet 22 and an outlet 23 (Fig. 6) such that as the rotor rotates through the water 5 in the vessel 4 in the direction of arrow A the coolant flows through the cooling pockets 21.

Each cooling pocket 21 has a shape- which is generally a segment of a circle (a taco shell shape) and comprises a pair of parallel spaced side walls 24 having arcuate outer edges of substantially the same radius as the rotor 6.

The walls 24 are joined by an inner wall 25 and an outer wall 26.

Each cooling pocket 21 is made as an integral structure, and the rotor 6 is formed with a plurality of arcuate openings 27 each shaped to receive a pocket 21. The cooling pockets 21 are inserted into these openings 27, so that the side walls 24 project slightly beyond the exterior surface of the rotor 6 making it possible to weld the cooling pockets 21 in place with an acceptable weld from the outside of the rotor 6. Preferably also the interface between the rotor 6 and the cooling pocket 21 at the interior of the joint has hard facing applied to it.

In prior art coke coolers two openings were cut in the rotor and a cooling pocket was pushed through one opening and out of the other and then welded in place. This produced an area between the pocket and the rotor which was inaccessible for hard facing and was subject to wear. In the present embodiment the side walls 24 of the cooling pocket 21, in effect, fill in the previous space between the cooling pocket and the rotor so that there is no unwanted wear path. The rotor 6 forms no part of the outer wall 26 closing the centre part 28 of the cooling pocket 21 through which water flows.

The walls 24, 25 of each cooling pocket 21 are fabricated from hard faced plates which can then have hard facing applied to them.

The inner wall 25 of the empty pocket 21, as seen in Figs. 7 and 8, has integrally formed thereon a layer of hard facing which is about 0.95 cms thick. The preferred hard facing is commercially available Triten T200X.

Using this hard facing eliminates the need for separate wear sleeves, wear shields or wear plates as used in known coke coolers.

As seen in Fig. 8 transfer bars 29 can be integrally secured to the ends of the cooling pockets 21 by welding to facilitate movement of coke through the coke cooler 1.

Therotor 6 is provided with a lead section 30 and a trailing section 31 and is driven in rotation by a motor 32 acting through a gear train 33 which drives a toothed pinion 34 in meshing engagement with a toothed member 35 fast with respect to the rotor 6.

Claims

1. A coke cooler comprising a vessel for containing coolant, a rotor rotatable about a substantially horizontal axis in said vessel while partially submerged in said coolant, said rotor having an inlet adjacent one end for receiving hot coke and an outlet adjacent the other end for discharging the coke, a plurality of hollow cooling pockets disposed in said rotor so that, as the rotor rotates through coolant, the coolant will enter and leave the pockets and the vessel being openable to permit access to the rotor for removat of the rotor from the vessel.

2. A coke cooler according to Claim 1, in which the vessel is formed from upper and lower portions, and the upper portion is removably connected to the lower portion.

3. A coke cooler according to Claim 1 or 2, in which the upper portion is hingedly connected to the lower portion.

4. A coke cooler according to Claim 2 or 3 in which the upper portion is formed from a plurality of parts each independently connected to the lower portion.

A coke cooler according to any of Claims 1 to 4, including a skid, wheels connected to the skid, and means for extending and retracting said wheels.

6. A coke cooler according to any of Claims 1 to 5, including at least one transfer bar directly connected to at least one cooling pocket, the or each transfer bar being at an angle to the associated cooling pocket for facilitating movement of coke through the rotor.

7. A coke cooler according to any of Claims 1 to 6, in which the cooling pockets are integral structures prior to their connection to the rotor, the wall of the rotor forming no part of the cooling pockets.

8. A coke cooler according to any of Claims 1 to 7, in which each cooling pocket has a leading edge that contacts the coke and at least some of the leading edges are formed of hard faced plate and/or have a hard facing layer integral therewith.

9. A coke cooler according to any of Claims 1 to 8, in which the rotor is formed with a plurality of arcuate openings and each cooling pocket has an arcuate edge of substantially corresponding radius which is secured in one of the openings to substantially close that opening apart from the cooling pocket inlet and outlet, with no axially extending channel between the cooling pocket and the rotor shell.

10. A coke cooler comprising a vessel for containing coolant, a rotor for rotation in the vessel, the rotor having an inlet and an outlet for receiving and discharging coke, a plurality of hollow, cooling pockets mounted in the rotor so that as the rotor rotates in the vessel coolant enters and leaves said cooling pockets, and in which the rotor is formed with a plurality of arcuate openings and each pocket has an arcuate edge of substantially corresponding radius which is secured in one of of the openings to substantially close that opening apart from the pocket inlet and outlet, with no axially extending channel between the pocket and the rotor.

11. A coke cooler according to Claim 9 or 10, in which each cooling pocket is secured in its opening by welding on the outside of the rotor.

12. A coke cooler according to any of Claims 1 to 11, in which the internal surface of the rotor at the interface with one or more cooling pockets is hard faced.

13. A coke cooler according to any of Claims 1 to 12, in which each cooling pocket has similar spaced substantially parallel walls which are segments of a circle, the central portions of the arcuate edges of which are joined by an outer wall and the inner substantially straight edges of which are joined by an inner wail.

14. A coke cooler according to Claim 13 in which the walls are fabricated from hard faced plate and the inner edge has additional hard facing applied.

15. A coke cooler comprising a vessel for containing coolant, a rotor for rotation in the vessel, the rotor having inlet and outlet means for receiving and discharging material to be cooled, a plurality of hollow cooling pockets mounted in the rotor so that as the rotor rotates in the vessel coolant enters and leaves the pockets, the pockets being shaped as segments of a circle with the arcuate edge substantially co-terminus with the outer surface of the rotor and the inner edge being formed of hard faced plate and/or being hardfaced integrally with the pocket.

16. A coke cooler substantially as described herein with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings.