JP2002517361A - Method and apparatus for obtaining improved solids fluidity by reducing cohesion - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) Abstract: A method and apparatus for reducing or eliminating the cohesive forces that can be exerted on bulk solids in containers such as those used for storage and transport, comprising a grid having two or more cells. A method and apparatus is provided wherein the majority of the cells have a height (H) to effective diameter (ED) ratio (H / ED) of greater than 1.0 and preferably greater than 1.5. .

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

[0001] The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for mass transport and / or storage of particulate or powdered materials that tend to increase cohesive strength and cohesive strength over time. In particular,
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for removing cohesive bulk solids from storage and / or transport containers.

[0002] Until BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Recently, ethylene -α-olefin and ethylene -α-olefin - elastomer or rubbery material, such as dienes, as well as polymers polydiene olefins and vinyl aromatic compounds, non-granular or non-powder-form elastomer product It is manufactured from a slurry or solution process that produces products in bale form for industrial use. With the discovery that these elastomers or rubbers can be produced in the gas-phase fluidization process, preferably in the presence of inert particulate matter, these elastomers are not granulated when exiting the gas-phase reactor system, instead of in bale form. Or it is manufactured as a powder. However, these particulate or powdered gas-phased elastomeric materials, unlike their bale form counterparts, tend to increase cohesive strength over time, thereby reducing storage or transport in bulk. Tend to unite or agglomerate. This makes it difficult to retrieve these substances when they have been stored for a certain period or time or when they have reached their destination.

There is a need to reduce or minimize the handling problems of such materials and to provide a low cost means of transporting these elastomeric polymers and other similar materials in large quantities to consumers.

[0004] SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, a method for improving the flow properties of the bulk solid material in the vessel, particularly bottom or near the provided insert Nodules of material near or outlet thereof that the container (compaction) A method is provided for improving the flow characteristics of a solid material comprising minimizing the flow rate.

In a preferred embodiment, a method for reducing or eliminating the cohesive force exerted on a granular or powdered bulk solid in a container, comprising: (1) an internal volume (VI) of the container
And (3) inserting at least one insert having two or more cells into the container, and (3) introducing the granular or powdered bulk solid into the cells of the container. A method for reducing or eliminating is provided.

[0006] Also provided is an apparatus in which an insert having two or more cells is installed in a container in order to minimize the cohesive force inside the container and improve the ability to process a large amount of solid material. . The cells of these inserts can be rectangular or circular (rings)
Shape. For rectangular cells, the majority of the cells will have a height to effective diameter ratio (H / ED) of 1.0 or greater and preferably greater than 1.5, or the height of a rectangular cell to the shorter side length. Has a height ratio (H / B). In circular cells (eg, concentric ring cells), the majority of the cells are 1.0 or more and preferably 1.
It has a height ratio greater than 5 to the distance between two cells (H / D). The central ring cell of the circular insert has a height to diameter ratio (H / d) of the central cell ring of 1.0 or more and preferably greater than 1.5.

[0007] Elastomer or rubber-like material specific description can benefit from polymer present invention relates, for example, using a gas fluidized reactor that is assisted by the flow reactor or mechanical agitation gas It is an elastomer polymer produced in such a gas phase method. Such elastomeric polymers are described, for example, in US Pat.
036 and 5453471, and WO96 / 04322 and WO96 / 043
23. Elastomers produced by these methods are in the form of granules or powders, and may be in the range of about 0.001 mm to 5 mm, preferably about
It has an average particle size in the range of from 01 to 2 mm and most preferably from about 0.001 to 1 mm. Typically, these polymers are prepared in the presence of one or more inert particulate materials (silica, carbon black, clay, talc, activated carbon, modified activated carbon, etc.)
At or above their sticking or softening temperature, about 0.3-80% by weight, preferably about 4-75% by weight, and most preferably about 4-40% by weight, based on the total weight of the polymer particles produced. % Is polymerized.

Examples of elastomers that can be used in the present invention include, but are not limited to, polyisoprene, polybutadiene, butadiene polymers copolymerized with styrene, and butadiene copolymerized with acrylonitrile. Polymer,
Butadiene polymer copolymerized with isoprene, butadiene / isoprene / styrene polymer, butadiene / acrylonitrile / styrene polymer, isobutylene / isoprene polymer, ethylene and 3 to 12 carbon atoms α-
Polymers with olefins (eg, ethylene-propylene and ethylene-butene polymers), ethylene and α-olefins having 3 to 12 carbon atoms (eg,
Propylene) and non-conjugated dienes (such as non-conjugated dienes include, for example, ethylidene norbornene, hexadiene, dicyclopentadiene, and octadienes such as methyl octadiene), and mixtures thereof.

[0009] The polymer produced in the process gas phase is free flowing particles which are granular and powdery as it leaves the reactor. These polymers do not need to be ground or milled.

However, during storage and transport in bulk form, these materials tend to unite or agglomerate over time to increase cohesive strength. Typically, consolidation or baby-boomer reduction is in the range of about 0.5 to 10.0 lbs / ft ^3. The method and apparatus is useful in containers with bins (the upper part of the container has vertical sides) and a hopper (the zone between the bin and the container outlet, at least one of whose sides is inclined). Restrict the unity of sex substances to a dormant state. Such containers can include, for example, storage bins and silos, hopper cars, and rail vehicles.

The principles of the present invention are applicable to both rectangular and cylindrical containers.

In the case of the container without the present invention, the flow principle developed by Andrew W. Genenic (“Gravity Flow of Bulk Solids”, Bull. 108, Unive
rsity of Utah Engineering Experiment Station, October 1961 and Bull. 123, N
According to ovember 1964), the material may agglomerate or agglomerate in the container, and the degree of agglomeration depends on the shape of the container and the packing (agglomeration) characteristics of the polymer product. When this occurs, the material forms an arch (or bridge) that can withstand significant stress, thereby transferring the load to the vessel wall or sides,
As a result, an arch (dome or bridge) is formed to prevent or minimize any flow of material from the container. In this case, it is necessary to apply a force to collapse the arch before the flow of the substance can begin. Since it is impractical to redesign the container holding the substance, the device of the present invention functions as a flow regulator.

In the method of the present invention, the container into which the bulky substance is to be introduced should have at least 2
At least one insert (or grid) having one or more cells and preferably a plurality of cells is provided. A grit is placed within the container to prevent complete coalescence of the material near the outlet of the container, thus allowing gravity-free loading of the cohesive polymer material. Once installed in the container, the grid may or may not fit snugly into the container. Preferably, the grid fits or securely fits into the container, with or without the use of physical attachments to the container wall, for example by use of bolts or clamps. The lattice can be composed of any material that is appropriate or compatible with a given bulk solid, as long as it maintains its shape and form. Typical constituent materials include, for example, carbon steel, stainless steel, plastic, styrofoam, and cardboard. In the container, the grid can be installed by welding, gluing (eg, with an adhesive), mechanical fastening or a sliding fit.

[0014] One or more inserts may be located within the container. If multiple inserts are used, they can be arranged such that they can be in contact with each other or separated by some of the bulk material in the container. If the insert is separated by some of the bulk material, the amount of material that separates the insert should not generate a consolidation force that exceeds the consolidation force used to calculate the required minimum opening of the insert's cells.

[0015] The converging hopper, cylindrical member and container outlet are often mounted in a conventional physical form. If this is done, then, according to the invention, an unloaded grate is added to the container.

Once the grid is placed in the container, a solid substance is introduced into the cells of the installed grid. The cells can be filled with the substance using any conventional means. Such means may include, for example, the use of a vacuum or dilute phase to carry the substance and then gravity feed the substance to the container via a chute, or the use of a mechanical spreader with a gravity loading system.

Apparatus A suitable apparatus for practicing the present invention is shown in FIG. 1 (grid or insert for a cylindrical container) and FIG. 2 (grid or insert for a rectangular container).

FIG. 1 shows a converging hopper (1), a cylindrical container cross section wall (2), a no-load device (3) of the present invention, and a cylindrical shape having a container outlet (4) located at the bottom of the container. A container is shown. The container shown has an inlet opening (not shown) at the top of the cylindrical container. The no-load device (3) comprises a plurality of concentric rings. The center ring of this unloaded device has a diameter (d) equal to or greater than the required minimum bin opening to obtain a conical channel based on the instantaneous flow data of the material. The distance (D) between the two rings is equal to or greater than the required minimum aperture to obtain a planar flow channel based on the instantaneous flow data of the material. The required minimum bin opening to obtain a conical or parallel flow channel is calculated by performing the procedure specified by Andrew W. Genenic (“Gravity Flow
of Bulk Solids ”, Bull. 108, University of Utah Engineering Experiment Sta
tion, October 1961 and Bull. 123, November 1964). The height (H) of the grate (or insert) is equal to the required minimum aperture to obtain a conical channel, and preferably it is greater than 1.5. In the present invention, preferably an unloaded grid (3) (shown in both circumferential and elevational views) is added to the container.

FIG. 2 shows a schematic view of a rectangular transport container with a convergent hopper (2), a container outlet (3), a vertical side of the container (1), and a no-load device (4) or cell grid of the present invention. It is shown. The openings between the walls (or sides) of the cells of the grid are rectangular or square in shape. The dimensions of the aperture are represented by L (longer side) and B (narrower side). If the ratio of L to B (L / B) is less than or equal to 3.0, the effective diameter of the openings between the walls of the grating will be the required diameter to obtain a conical channel based on Genic's theory as described above. Equal to or greater than the minimum bin opening of This effective diameter is a mathematical construct that relates the area of the cross section of the geometric shape to a circle having the same area.

A way to calculate the effective diameter of a non-circular form is to measure the diameter of a circle having the same cross-sectional area as the form in question. For example, a rectangular cell has two long side dimensions and one short side dimension. The effective diameter of this rectangular cell is

(Equation 1) (Where A equals the area of the rectangular cell (L × B) and ED equals the effective diameter or 1.60 in the example above). If the ratio of L to B (L / B) is greater than 3.0, B is equal to or greater than the required minimum bin opening to obtain a planar flow channel. The height (H) of the grid is equal to the minimum bin opening to obtain a conical or planar flow channel, preferably it is greater than 1.5. An inlet opening means (not shown) is located at the top of the shipping container.

Preferably, the individual cell sides of the grid have a rough surface, rather than a smooth surface, to provide additional friction to the bulk solid. The component material itself may be as coarse as carbon steel or may be made of, for example, the trade name "Pla" from Wisconsin Coaching.
te 4310 "may be sprayed or coated with an abrasive compound.

The thickness of the grid cell has no minimum dimension other than that required to obtain mechanical strength such that the cell retains its shape. Typically, this thickness may be between 0.0635 inches and 0.250 inches.

The method and / or apparatus of the present invention can be combined with other prior art methods for handling bulk solid materials. These methods can include, for example, sending a form of energy to the material to activate the flow (usually by disrupting coherent structures in the material). The use of vibrating devices is the most appropriate method used industrially today. Industrial vibrating equipment intended for use in hopper cars or bulk storage bins is available from a number of suppliers.
Other popular devices use high-pressure gas discharged therein to break up bulk material and induce flow. This device is generally known. This is because "blasters" use the energy of compressed gas to break up coherent bulk material and induce flow. The gas is often directed in a desired exhaust direction. Still other methods for inducing flow include devices that fluidize or aerate the bulk solids, thus reducing friction between the storage container and the bulk material itself. U.S. Pat. No. 4,617,868 discloses a no-load system for a hopper car, which includes a series of fluidizing conveyors in the converging hopper of the car. U.S. Pat. No. 4,880,148 also discloses the use of a fluidized pad system as a retrofit to the bottom of the hopper car outlet to reduce frictional forces in the outlet area. All of these above methods
It does not work well for highly cohesive materials undergoing consolidation / compression.

The present invention is fundamentally different in that the unloaded grid serves to prevent bulk material consolidation near the outlet of the container or hopper car. As a result, the bulk material flows from the device by gravity, as described above, or with little help.

All references cited herein are cited as references with respect to the present invention.

The following examples are provided to illustrate the invention and do not limit the invention in any way. All parts and percentages are by weight unless otherwise indicated.

[0027] were carried out several experiments to illustrate the embodiments the present invention. This experimental procedure involved the configuration of a hopper car simulation device. This simulator has a width of 3
It contained a ft x 5 ft bin. The bottle was 3 feet deep except for a converging hopper at the bottom. The hopper had its main length direction converging at an angle of 45 ° to a 1 ft x 5 ft exit. The outlet dimensions could be adjusted by using a plywood closure along the bottom. In the test, two sets of grids were used. The first grid was constructed using two 5 feet long x 1.33 feet high and four 3 feet long x 1.33 feet high sheet metal, and this was a hopper car simulation system. Was divided into 15 equal sized cells. Each cell is 1 foot wide, 1 foot long and 1.33 feet high. The second grid is a variant of the first grid. The cell adjacent to the long side of the wall of the simulation device was further divided into two cells. This is 6 inches wide next to the long side of the simulation device wall,
The resulting cell is 1 foot long and 1.33 feet high, and the cell at the center of the simulator is 1 inch wide, 1 foot long and 1.3 height high.
It was three feet.

The simulator was loaded with the bulk material to be tested (in this case, the trade name “Elastflow EPDM” from Union Carbide) with or without a grid. A metal weight equal to 13 feet of material was placed on top of the test material and evenly distributed to simulate the full load of the hopper car. At this point, the simulator was moved to a constant temperature booth for conditioning for a specified time. The conditions for all tests were set such that the material was heated to 40-45 ° C. and then the material was maintained at the given temperature for 3 days.

Controls The controls for the series of experiments were directly gravity-free from the simulator described above, but did not install an unloaded grid. Some experiments have shown that in the absence of an unloaded grid, particulate EPDM could only be unloaded under conditions of maximum temperature exposure of 40 ° C. Exposure to temperatures above 40 ° C. resulted in severe consolidation of the EPDM and the simulator could not be unloaded by gravity. This condition persisted even when using conventional machinery including vibrators and air blasters. No matter how long the vibrator engages,
The polymer remained in the simulator.

The test using the first grating having a H / ED example 1 1.2, most of the test substance but is easily discharged from the simulator, close to the wall material has not occurred and discharged unity Partially successful in that respect. The cause was likely due to the additional frictional support provided to the material by the convergent hopper wall of the simulator.

Example 2 Based on the results of Example 1, the second grating was modified so that the outer cells had a higher effective H / ED than that of the first grating. The H / ED of the outer cell of the second lattice was 1.67. By using a larger H / ED, the cohesive force at the point of the converging hopper was greatly reduced. This variant is completely unloaded under the same temperature and pressure conditions as used in the control and example 1.
Brought.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a cell grid and an elevation view of a cylindrical storage container. In FIG. 1, 1 = converging hopper made of any material such as stainless steel or carbon steel, plastic, glass, etc., 2 = wall section of cylindrical vessel, 3 = no load device (eg insert), and 4 = vessel outlet It is.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the appearance of a rectangular transfer container such as a hopper car and a schematic diagram of a cell grid to be inserted into the container. In FIG. 2, 1 = vertical side of the container,
2 = converging hopper, 3 = container outlet, and 4 = no load device (insert) or cell grid.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Convergent hopper 2 Section wall 3 No-load device 4 Container outlet

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of front page (81) Designated country EP (AT, BE, CH, CY, DE, DK, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, IE, IT, LU, MC, NL, PT, SE ), OA (BF, BJ, CF, CG, CI, CM, GA, GN, GW, ML, MR, NE, SN, TD, TG), AP (GH, GM, KE, LS, MW, SD, SL, SZ, UG, ZW), EA (AM, AZ, BY, KG, KZ, MD, TJ, TM), AL, AU, BA, BB, BG, BR, CA, CN, CU, CZ, EE , GE, HU, ID, IL, IS, JP, KR, KZ, LC, LK, LR, LT, LV, MG, MK, MN, MX, NO, NZ, PL, RO, RU , SG, SI, SK, SL, TR, TT, UA, UZ, VN, YU (72) Inventor Duane Van Warn United States 08876 New Jersey, Somerville, Van Zandt Drive 39 (72) Inventor John Franssis Kantz United States 07863 New Jersey, Oxford, Jane Chapel Road 392 (72) Inventor Leonard Sebastian Skalora United States 07083 New Jersey, Union, Stratford Road 580 F-term (reference) 3E070 AA19 AB11 WF05

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A device comprising an insert disposed inside a container to minimize cohesion within the container and to improve the ability to process large amounts of solid material. 2. The insert comprises a grid having two or more rectangular cells, wherein the ratio of the long side to the short side of each rectangular cell is 3.
2. The method according to claim 1, wherein most cells have a height to effective diameter ratio H / ED of less than or equal to 1.0 and an effective diameter equal to or greater than the minimum bin opening of the conical channel. The described device. 3. The insert comprises a grid having two or more rectangular cells, wherein the ratio of the long side to the short side of each rectangular cell is 3.
0 or greater, and most cells have a height to length ratio H of the shorter side of the cell greater than or equal to 1.0.
2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the length of the shorter side of the cell is equal to or greater than the lowest opening of the planar flow channel. 4. An insert having two or more concentric ring cells.
Where the center ring cell of the insert has a diameter (d) equal to or greater than the smallest bin opening of the conical channel and the center ring cell has a height to diameter ratio H of 1.0 or greater. / D, the distance between two concentric ring cells (D)
2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein is equal to or greater than the minimum aperture of the planar flow channel, and wherein most cells have a height-to-cell distance ratio H / D of 1.0 or greater. 5. A method for improving the flow characteristics of a bulk solid material in a container, comprising: (1) measuring the internal volume (VI) of the container; and (2) at least one of the at least one having two or more cells. A method for improving the flow characteristics of a bulk solid material comprising the steps of: inserting an insert into a vessel; and (3) introducing the bulk solid into the vessel. 6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the bulk solid is a polymer. 7. The polymer is a polymer of butadiene copolymerized with polyisoprene, polybutadiene, styrene, a polymer of butadiene copolymerized with acrylonitrile, a polymer of butadiene copolymerized with isoprene, and a polymer of butadiene and isoprene. And styrene, butadiene and acrylonitrile and styrene, isobutylene and isoprene, ethylene and α-olefin having 3 to 12 carbon atoms, ethylene and 3 to 12 Α- having a carbon atom of
7. The method of claim 6, wherein the method is selected from the group consisting of polymers of olefins and non-conjugated dienes, and mixtures thereof. 8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the polymer is produced by a gas phase method. 9. The polymer has an average diameter in the range of about 0.001 mm to 5 mm, and is inert particulate in an amount in the range of about 0.3 to 80% by weight based on the total weight of the polymer. 8. The method of claim 7, comprising a substance. 10. The method according to claim 9, wherein the polymer is an ethylene-propylene-diene terpolymer prepared in the gas phase in the presence of an inert particulate material.