GB2247307A - Calcining limestone - Google Patents

Calcining limestone Download PDF

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Publication number
GB2247307A
GB2247307A GB9117757A GB9117757A GB2247307A GB 2247307 A GB2247307 A GB 2247307A GB 9117757 A GB9117757 A GB 9117757A GB 9117757 A GB9117757 A GB 9117757A GB 2247307 A GB2247307 A GB 2247307A
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United Kingdom
Prior art keywords
bed
vessel
particles
limestone
region
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Granted
Application number
GB9117757A
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GB9117757D0 (en
GB2247307B (en
Inventor
Anthony Railton Windybank
Terry Nicholas Smith
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Coal Industry Patents Ltd
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Coal Industry Patents Ltd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Coal Industry Patents Ltd filed Critical Coal Industry Patents Ltd
Publication of GB9117757D0 publication Critical patent/GB9117757D0/en
Publication of GB2247307A publication Critical patent/GB2247307A/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of GB2247307B publication Critical patent/GB2247307B/en
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Fee Related legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • FMECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F27FURNACES; KILNS; OVENS; RETORTS
    • F27BFURNACES, KILNS, OVENS, OR RETORTS IN GENERAL; OPEN SINTERING OR LIKE APPARATUS
    • F27B15/00Fluidised-bed furnaces; Other furnaces using or treating finely-divided materials in dispersion
    • BPERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B01PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
    • B01JCHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROCESSES, e.g. CATALYSIS OR COLLOID CHEMISTRY; THEIR RELEVANT APPARATUS
    • B01J6/00Heat treatments such as Calcining; Fusing ; Pyrolysis
    • B01J6/001Calcining
    • B01J6/004Calcining using hot gas streams in which the material is moved
    • CCHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C04CEMENTS; CONCRETE; ARTIFICIAL STONE; CERAMICS; REFRACTORIES
    • C04BLIME, MAGNESIA; SLAG; CEMENTS; COMPOSITIONS THEREOF, e.g. MORTARS, CONCRETE OR LIKE BUILDING MATERIALS; ARTIFICIAL STONE; CERAMICS; REFRACTORIES; TREATMENT OF NATURAL STONE
    • C04B2/00Lime, magnesia or dolomite
    • C04B2/10Preheating, burning calcining or cooling
    • C04B2/106Preheating, burning calcining or cooling in fluidised bed furnaces
    • CCHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C04CEMENTS; CONCRETE; ARTIFICIAL STONE; CERAMICS; REFRACTORIES
    • C04BLIME, MAGNESIA; SLAG; CEMENTS; COMPOSITIONS THEREOF, e.g. MORTARS, CONCRETE OR LIKE BUILDING MATERIALS; ARTIFICIAL STONE; CERAMICS; REFRACTORIES; TREATMENT OF NATURAL STONE
    • C04B35/00Shaped ceramic products characterised by their composition; Ceramics compositions; Processing powders of inorganic compounds preparatory to the manufacturing of ceramic products
    • C04B35/622Forming processes; Processing powders of inorganic compounds preparatory to the manufacturing of ceramic products
    • C04B35/64Burning or sintering processes

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  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Ceramic Engineering (AREA)
  • Organic Chemistry (AREA)
  • Manufacturing & Machinery (AREA)
  • Thermal Sciences (AREA)
  • Materials Engineering (AREA)
  • Structural Engineering (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Dispersion Chemistry (AREA)
  • General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Chemical Kinetics & Catalysis (AREA)
  • Inorganic Chemistry (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Furnace Details (AREA)
  • Vertical, Hearth, Or Arc Furnaces (AREA)
  • Compounds Of Alkaline-Earth Elements, Aluminum Or Rare-Earth Metals (AREA)

Abstract

Apparatus for limestone calcining includes a vessel 2 in which a fluidised bed of particulate solids is held at an elevated temperature by the combustion of a fuel which may be solid, eg coal, liquid or gaseous. Fine limestone particles are injected into the expanded bed region 26 of the vessel 2 to create a transient fluidised bed of clay particles and are calcined therein, the heal treated particles being elutriated from the region 26 by the combustion gases, are cooled by a heat exchanger 50 and are conveyed to a cyclone separator 64 Lime particles are collected by the separator 64. <IMAGE>

Description

IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO LIMESTONE CALCINING This invention concerns improvements in or relating to limestone calcining.
In particular the present invention has reference to the calcination of limestone utilising a fluidised combustion bed for the generation of the requisite heat.
It is already known from our British Patent No 2 027 859 to employ a bubbling fluidised combustion bed to generate the heat for calcination of gypsum to produce plaster, wherein the gypsum is heated at a temperature in the region of 1500C in a separate bed from the combustion bed but receives heat therefrom by conduction and by the passage of combustion gases therethrough.
The advantage of employing a fluidised bed combustion system for heat treatment purposes is that by designing it for a low excess air requirement, a high thermal efficiency results.
Additionally, lower capital costs are associated with such a system in comparison with the more complex circulating fluidised bed systems or the conventional rotary drum heat exchangers. Fluidised combustion or heat treatment beds require no moving parts and are relatively simple to automate.
An object of the present invention is to provide an improved method of and apparatus for calcining limestone.
According to a first aspect of the present invention a method of calcining limestone includes the steps of establishing a bed of inert particles, fluidising the bed with a comburent gas, burning fuel within the bed to heat the bed, maintaining the bed at an elevated temperature, introducing limestone particles into an upper expanded region of the fluidised bed to create a transient bed of fluidised limestone particles within said region and to effect calcination thereof, elutriating the hot limestone particles from the region in the exhaust gases issuing from the bed, cooling the gases and the lime particles, and separating the elutriated calcined lime particles from the gases.
The temperature of the fluidised bed may conveniently lie in the range 900 to 10000C.
The inert particles may be sand or other suitable material.
The fuel to be combusted within the fluidised bed may be liquid, gaseous or solid.
According to a second aspect of the invention apparatus for calcining limestone in accordance with the method of the invention includes a vessel adapted to contain in its relatively lower part a fluidised bed of particulate material, inlet means for a fluidising comburent gas, inlet means for a fuel, an expanded bed region within the vessel, inlet means for introducing limestone particles into the expanded bed region, an exhaust gas outlet in a relatively upper part of the vessel, particle separation means, and a heat exchanger interposed between the vessel and the particle separation means.
The heat exchanger may be interposed between the lower part of the vessel and the outlet.
Conveniently, the inlet means for a comburent gas is provided by a plenum chamber defined beneath a gas permeable base and the bottom of the vessel, the gas permeable base being of conventional form, namely a distributor plate with perforated stand pipes. Alternatively, the inlet means may comprise a plurality of sparge pipes provided with bubble caps.
In the case of solid fuel, eg coal, the inlet for fuel may be located above the lower part of the vessel and above or within the expanded bed region. The expanded bed region of the vessel is that region into which upon full fluidisation the bed will expand in use. The expanded bed region may advantageously be of greater lateral dimension than the lower part of the vessel in order in use to increase the residence time of the limestone particles.
The inlet for limestone particles is disposed above the lower part of the vessel and in the expanded bed region, such that in use the limestone particles are injected into the expanded fluidised bed.
Conveying means for solid fuel, which is for example coal, is at least one feed screw of conventional form extracting from a suitable storage hopper. The inlet means for the fuel when liquid fuel is used, may be in the form of climbing film nozzles incorporated in the gas permeable base of the inlet means for the comburent gas. The inlet means for a gaseous fuel may be in the form of nozzles in the gas permeable base.
Suitable conveying means for the limestone particles are provided for transferring particles from a process, storage hoppers or directly from a grinding system provided to comminute the limestone into appropriate particulate form and size.
The heat exchanger may be of any suitable configuration and may be of ceramic material. The heat exchange fluid may be air provided by a forced or induced draft fan, or any other suitable fluid or other suitable fluid.
The particle separation means may conveniently be a cyclone separator provided with a gas outlet and a material outlet connected to suitable collection means for the lime particles, the inlet to the cyclone being connected by ducting to the exhaust gas outlet of the heat exchanger. In addition to or as an alternative to the cyclone separator, a bag filter may advantageously be employed. A precipitator may be employed as an alternative particle separation means. For acceptable efficiency of the method, it is necessary to achieve maximum retention of the particulate lime product. Furthermore, it is necessary to secure that particulate emissions from the apparatus are kept within the limits prescribed in the impending legislation.
A bursting disc may be associated with the ducting for safety purposes when operating the calcination method using gas as the fuel.
By way of example only, one embodiment of apparatus for calcining limestone and a method of calcining limestone using such apparatus is described below with reference to the accompanying drawing which is a diagrammatic vertical section through the apparatus.
Referring to the drawing, apparatus for calcining limestone is shown generally at 1 and includes a vessel 2 lined with refractory 4 and having a relatively lower part 6, relatively upper part 8 and an intermediate part 10. In the lower part 6 there is provided a distributor plate 12 having a plurality of stand pipes 14 perforated at their upper free ends. A plenum chamber 16 is defined between the plate 12 and the bottom 18 of the vessel 2, and has an inlet 20 connected to a fan (not shown) and a source (not shown) of combustible gas for start-up purposes to be described later in this specification.
The lower part 6 in use accommodates a bed 22 of generally inert particulate material, for example sand, which has a static level at 24. The intermediate part 10 in use accommodates an expanded bed region 26, that is the region into which the fluidised bed expands upon full fluidisation.
An inlet 28 for limestone particles is located in the intermediate part 10 and registers with a screw feeder 30 supplied from a hopper 32, the inlet 28 communicating with the expanded bed region 26.
A fuel inlet 34 for coal is positioned above the intermediate part 10 and is connected to a screw feeder 36 supplied from a hopper 38 fed in turn from a bunker 40 by means of an inclined screw 42. A sight glass 44 and a start-up ignition torch 46 are also provided above the intermediate part 10 as shown.
A heat exchanger 50 is disposed within the upper part 8 and comprises a plurality of ceramic tubes 52 arrayed across the exhaust gas duct 54 formed within the part 8. The tubes 52 communicate with an inlet manifold 56 connected to a forced draft fan (not shown) and an outlet manifold 58.
The exhaust gas duct 54 has an outlet 59 coupled to a duct 60 provided with a bursting disc 62 for safety purposes when operating on gas. The duct 60 leads to a cyclone separator 64 of conventional design having an inlet 66, a gas outlet 68 and a solids outlet 70 which communicates with a collection receptacle 72.
In operation, the bed 22 of sand is formed in the lower part 6 of the vessel 2 and is fluidised by air fed via the plenum 16 from the fan (not shown). Start-up gas is also injected into the bed through the plenum 16 and the distributor plate 12 and is ignited by the torch 46. The supply of gas is maintained and combustion continues until the temperature of the bed has reached a level at which coal introduced through inlet 34 will burn satisfactorily. Once this stage has been reached, the supply of gas is stopped.
The temperature of the bed 22 is then elevated by increased combustion to a value at which clay calcination can take place. The temperature of the bed will lie between 9000 and 10000C.
Fine limestone particles formed for example by grinding are fed from the hopper 32 through the screw feeder 30 and the inlet 28 into the expanded region 26 of the bed therein to create a transient bed of limestone particles and to be subjected to heat treatment which calcines them.
The expanded bed region being of greater dimension than the lower part 6 in which combustion takes place, allows for a greater residence time in the transient bed for the limestone particles than with an intermediate part of the same cross section as the lower part 6.
The gases arising from the combustion within the bed 22 elutriate and thus convey the fine calcined limestone particles in their upward passage within the vessel 2 to exit through the heat exchanger 50 wherein the particles cool in suspension and thence through the outlet 59 into the ducting 60. The exhaust gases with the entrained calcined limestone particles pass into the cyclone separator 64 through the inlet 66. In conventional manner, the solid particles of lime are separated from the gases which exit through the outlet 68, the particles gravitating to the base of the cyclone separator to discharge through the outlet 70 for collection in receptacle 72.
During the passage of the lime-laden gases through the heat exchanger 50, heat is transferred and is carried away by air flowing through the ceramic tubes 52 between the inlet manifold 56 and the outlet manifold 58. This heated air can be utilised as the combustion/fluidising air, to preheat the incoming limestone feed in a grinding mill or elsewhere within the overall calcination method and thus the thermal efficiency of the calcination method is optimised. By removing heat directly from the fluidised bed of inert particles, the excess air required to maintain the bed at a temperature of below 10000C can be reduced to the minimum required for efficient coal combustion, thereby maximising the overall thermal efficiency of the calcination method.

Claims (18)

CLAIMS:
1. A method of calcining limestone includes the steps of establishing a bed of inert particles, fluidising the bed with a comburent gas, burning fuel within the bed to heat the bed, maintaining the bed at an elevated temperature, introducing limestone particles into an upper, expanded bed region of the fluidised bed to create a transient bed of limestone particles within said region and to effect calcination thereof, elutriating the hot limestone particles from the region in the exhaust gases issuing from the bed, cooling the lime particles and the exhaust gases, and separating the elutriated lime particles from the gases.
2. A method according to claim 1 in which the elutriated hot lime particles are passed in heat exchange with a fluid thereby to effect the cooling of the particles prior to their separation from the entraining gases.
3. A method according to claim 1 or 2 in which the fuel is solid, liquid or gaseous.
4. A method according to claim 3 in which the solid fuel is coal.
5. A method according to any one of the preceding claims in which the temperature of the fluidised bed lies in the range 900 to 10000C.
6 A method of calcining limestone substantially as described with reference to the accompanying drawing.
7. Apparatus for calcining limestone in accordance with the method claimed in any one of the preceding claims includes a vessel adapted to contain in its relatively lower part a fluidised bed of particulate material, inlet means for a fluidising comburent gas, inlet means for a fuel, an expanded bed region within the vessel, inlet means for introducing limestone particles into the expanded bed region, an exhaust gas outlet in a relatively upper part of the vessel, particle separation means, and a heat exchanger interposed between the vessel and the particle separation means.
8. Apparatus according to claim 7 in which the inlet means for a comburent gas is provided by a plenum chamber defined beneath a gas permeable base and the bottom of the vessel.
9. Apparatus according to claim 8 in which the gas permeable base is a distributor plate provided with perforate standpipes.
10. Apparatus according to claim 7 in which the inlet means for a comburent gas is a plurality of sparge pipes arrayed across the base of the vessel.
11. Apparatus according to any one of claims 7 to 10 in which the vessel has an intermediate part between the upper and lower parts, in use an expanded bed region being accommodated therein.
12. Apparatus according to claim 11 in which the inlet means for a solid fuel is located in or above the intermediate part of the vessel.
13. Apparatus according to claim 11 or 12 in which the inlet means for limestone particles is located in the intermediate part of the vessel.
14. Apparatus according to any of the preceding claims 7 to 13 in which the heat exchanger is comprised of a plurality of ceramic or metallic tubes, inlet and outlet manifolds being provided for the tubes.
15. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims 7 to 14 in which the particle separation means is a cyclone separator.
16. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims 7 to 14 in which the particle separation means is a precipitator.
17. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims 7 to 14 in which the particle separation means is a bag filter.
18. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims 7 to 14 in which the particle separation means comprises a cyclone separator in series with a bag filter and/or a precipitator.
19 Apparatus for calcining limestone substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawing.
GB9117757A 1990-08-21 1991-08-16 Improvements in or relating to limestone calcining Expired - Fee Related GB2247307B (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB909018284A GB9018284D0 (en) 1990-08-21 1990-08-21 Improvements in or relating to limestone calcining

Publications (3)

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GB9117757D0 GB9117757D0 (en) 1991-10-02
GB2247307A true GB2247307A (en) 1992-02-26
GB2247307B GB2247307B (en) 1994-04-06

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GB909018284A Pending GB9018284D0 (en) 1990-08-21 1990-08-21 Improvements in or relating to limestone calcining
GB9117757A Expired - Fee Related GB2247307B (en) 1990-08-21 1991-08-16 Improvements in or relating to limestone calcining

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Cited By (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP0735010A1 (en) * 1995-03-27 1996-10-02 Yoshizawa Sekkai Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha Method and apparatus for calcining fine limestone powder
WO1999016541A1 (en) * 1997-09-30 1999-04-08 Mortimer Technology Holdings Ltd. A process and apparatus for treating particulate matter
WO1999025884A1 (en) * 1997-11-14 1999-05-27 Treibacher Schleifmittel Ag Method and unit for heat-treating fine-grained materials in a coarse-grained fluidized bed

Cited By (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP0735010A1 (en) * 1995-03-27 1996-10-02 Yoshizawa Sekkai Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha Method and apparatus for calcining fine limestone powder
WO1999016541A1 (en) * 1997-09-30 1999-04-08 Mortimer Technology Holdings Ltd. A process and apparatus for treating particulate matter
US6475462B1 (en) 1997-09-30 2002-11-05 Mortimer Technology Holdings Limited Process and apparatus for treating particulate matter
WO1999025884A1 (en) * 1997-11-14 1999-05-27 Treibacher Schleifmittel Ag Method and unit for heat-treating fine-grained materials in a coarse-grained fluidized bed
US6811765B1 (en) * 1997-11-14 2004-11-02 Epion Corporation Thermal treatment of fine grain materials in a coarse-grain fluidized bed

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
GB9117757D0 (en) 1991-10-02
GB9018284D0 (en) 1990-10-03
GB2247307B (en) 1994-04-06

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Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
732E Amendments to the register in respect of changes of name or changes affecting rights (sect. 32/1977)
PCNP Patent ceased through non-payment of renewal fee

Effective date: 19970816