RU204519U1 - Airlock for highly heated radioactive bulk material - Google Patents

Abstract

The utility model relates to equipment for handling, unloading, loading and transporting bulk materials, in particular for dosed unloading from bunkers and feeding highly heated radioactive bulk materials into transport pipelines and containers, and can be used in the energy industry, building materials industry, chemical industry and other branches of the national economy.To increase the efficiency of operation when working with heated to a temperature of 200-500 ° C and more (highly heated) radioactive bulk materials, the sluice gate contains a cylindrical body, coaxial, vertically oriented cylindrical inlet and outlet nozzles connected with the body, coaxially located in casing with the possibility of rotation of the rotor with a cylindrical drum located in its working part with cavities for bulk material located longitudinally on its cylindrical surface, along the edges of which beads are made protective grooves placed behind them, means for coaxial positioning of the rotor inside the body in the form of side covers of the body and bearings installed in them and means for sealing the internal volume of the body relative to the environment in the form of stuffing boxes made of thermally expanded graphite located between the edge sections of the drum surface and the body and fixed by the side In this case, in the sluice gate, the cavities located longitudinally on the cylindrical surface of the drum and the collars located behind them are made with a total length greater than the inner diameter of the supply and outlet nozzles, the cavities located longitudinally on the cylindrical surface of the drum are made with a depth and width greater than the maximum size particles of bulk material, the protective grooves are made with the possibility of free pouring from them, displaced from the cavities on the surface of the drum, into the running gaps between the beads and the body of small particles of bulk material la, down into the outlet pipe through the recesses in the lower edges of the connection of its neck with the body. 8 p.p. f-ly, 7 ill.

Description

Technology area

The utility model relates to equipment for handling, unloading, loading and transporting bulk materials, in particular for dosed unloading from bunkers and feeding highly heated radioactive bulk materials into transport pipelines and containers, and can be used in the energy industry, building materials industry, chemical industry and other sectors of the national economy.

State of the art

Sluice gates (sluice feeders) are auxiliary equipment for controlled unloading / loading of various bulk materials from bunkers, silos, filters, cyclones, pneumatic transport and other sealed systems under pressure conditions that differ from atmospheric pressure, in particular when cleaning air and processing bulk waste.

Sluice gates are also widely used for dosed unloading / loading, supply and movement of bulk materials in agriculture, in the production of building materials, in the chemical and energy industries and other sectors of the national economy.

The main advantages of sluice gates are the comparative simplicity of their design, reliability in operation and the ability to function autonomously, regardless of other technological equipment.

Structurally, the sluice gate is a rotary mechanism containing a shaft coaxially placed in the housing with the possibility of rotation, coupled with several cavities (sluices, chambers, cells) for bulk material.

The rotation of the shaft of the rotary mechanism of the sluice gate is usually carried out from an electromechanical drive (geared motor).

Making revolutions around the axis, the rotor cavities capture particles of bulk material supplied from above and transport them downward under the action of gravity.

The capacity of the sluice gates, therefore, can vary depending on the rotor speed and the volume of cavities (sluices, chambers, cells) mated with the rotor shaft.

The main purpose of the sluice gates is the dosed supply of various granular substances in places with pressure drops, including in-vehicle systems when they operate under reduced / high pressure and below atmospheric pressure.

In other words, sluice gates (sluice feeders, sluices) are technological equipment used to move bulk powder and granular materials between sections of the transport system at pressure drops other than atmospheric.

Thus, one of the main functions of this technological equipment is to ensure the tightness of the unloading / loading units, by ensuring a minimum gap between the edges of the rotor blades and the inner walls of the housing, which makes it possible to separate the supply and discharge sections with different pressures while maintaining a pressure drop, thus preventing , the ingress of atmospheric air into equipment with reduced pressure or the exit of gases from equipment with increased pressure, thereby maintaining the required pressure drop in the equipment at a constant level.

Another main function of sluice gates is to provide a uniform, controlled supply - dosing of bulk material through the presence of many cavities (sluices, chambers, cells) between the rotor blades, the dimensions of which and the dimensions of the internal cavities, inlet and outlet openings of the housing are calculated depending on the particle sizes and volumes handling / moving bulk material.

Known widely used in pneumatic conveying installations sluice gates for loading / unloading bulk materials, in the bodies of which there are rotors with blades with elastic wear-resistant linings or inserts made of rubber or other elastic polymeric materials.

Known is a sluice valve for feeding bulk materials into a pipeline of a pneumatic transport installation, which includes a housing in which a rotor with blades equipped with replaceable elastic wear-resistant rubber pads is located, in which, in order to regulate the radial clearance between the pads and the body, there are holes in the pads and blades, in which the adjusting cams are located, allowing, when turning, the pads to move relative to the blades in the radial direction, and in order to regulate the end clearance between the pads and the body, in the body between its end caps, which have bushings with external threads, and the rotor, discs with hubs passing through inside the bushings of the end caps and moving in them along the rotor shaft, and the movement is carried out using the nuts on the hubs when screwing the latter onto the bushings [SU 228596 B65G5 / 14 Publ. 10/08/1968 Bul. No. 30].

The disadvantage of the airlock according to SU 228596 is the use of rubber pads, which limits the temperature of its application to 120-150 ° C, which, in turn, excludes the possibility of its use for bulk materials heated to temperatures above 150 ° C, and also necessitates regulation of the gap between the body and the blades, which is problematic when working with radioactive substances, since the presence of additional adjustment elements inside the body increases stagnant zones and complicates decontamination, which, in turn, contributes to the accumulation of radioactivity.

Known is a sluice valve mainly for feeding bulk materials into a pipeline of a pneumatic transport installation, containing a housing in which a rotor with blades is located on the shaft, having wear-resistant linings interacting with the working surface of the housing, in which, in order to increase the sealing of the rotor compartments, automatic compensation of the radial gap between the linings and the body, as well as simplifying the design, the rotor blades along the perimeter are equipped with elastic pneumatic tubes constantly pressing the wear-resistant pads to the working surface of the body. Elastic pneumatic tubes of the rotor blades are connected through an annular chamber and a central channel, made in the rotor shaft, with a source of compressed air, the working surface of the sluice valve body is spherical, wear-resistant linings in the cross-section are replaceable L-shaped and in the zone of their contact with the working surface housings are thickened [SU 447338 B65G 53/46 Publ. 1974.10.25].

The disadvantage of the design according to SU 447338 is the use of wear-resistant elastic pads and flexible air supply tubes, which also limits the temperature of this design and requires the creation of a pneumatic line and an automatic system for its control and monitoring. This greatly complicates and increases the cost of the structure as such and its operation, and the presence of additional elements of the pneumatic system inside the housing increases the number of stagnant zones and complicates decontamination, which contributes to the accumulation of radioactivity.

Known sluice feeder containing a housing with loading and unloading nozzles, as well as a rotor with radial blades forming cells in which the blades or the rotor together with the blades are made of an elastic material, in particular of polyurethane, which has the ability to restore its original shape, the diameter of the rotor with blades is larger the inner diameter of the sluice feeder body, and the rotor blades are bent back relative to the direction of rotation of the rotor. As wear progresses, the blades straighten, providing a constant pressing force against the inner surface of the housing, maintaining the tightness of the feeder for the entire service life of the elastic rotor [RU 90426 B65G53 / 46 Publ. 10.01.2010 Bul. No. 1].

The disadvantage of the design according to RU 90426 is the use of elastic materials, for example, polyurethane, which not only limits the temperature of application of this design, but also does not allow its use for bulk radioactive materials, since it is known that polymeric materials are susceptible to embrittlement and destruction under the influence of radiation.

Known is a self-cleaning sluice gate containing a housing with loading and unloading nozzles, a rotor with cells located inside the housing, equipped with a mechanical rotor cleaning device in the form of a rotary scraper making a constant circular rotational motion from the drive of the cleaning scraper through the "Maltese mechanism", while the axis of rotation of the scraper displaced in the horizontal plane relative to the axis of rotation of the rotor, providing material exit from the gate along the tangent [RU 154561 B65G53 / 46 Publ. 08/27/2015 Bul. No. 24].

The disadvantage of the airlock according to RU 154561 is the complexity of the design and, accordingly, insufficiently high operational reliability.

The closest in technical essence and the achieved technical result (prototype) is a sluice feeder for a titanium sponge, which, to increase the productivity of the feeder by eliminating its downtime, contains a housing with holes in which a rotor with blades located radially is installed, loading and unloading nozzles and a thrust stove. The thrust plate is installed in the loading branch pipe and, on the one hand, is attached to the wall of the loading branch pipe body, and on the other side, it is mounted for movement relative to this wall using an adjusting device located on the outer surface of the branch pipe. The body of the loading branch pipe is made of rectangular shape, and the thrust plate is installed with the ability to move it to the stop with its placement at an angle of 20-30 ° to the body of the loading branch pipe. The adjusting device is made in the form of a plunger with a shock absorber, which are placed in a sealed housing, and the plunger is designed to move in the hole of the said wall to the stop plate [RU 2319653 B65G53 / 46, B65G 65/48 Publ. 03/20/2008 Bul. No. 8].

The disadvantage of the lock feeder according to RU 2319653 (prototype) is the presence of stagnant zones, which does not allow its use for radioactive bulk materials due to the complexity of decontamination and accumulation of radioactivity in stagnant zones.

A common disadvantage of the known sluice gates is the impossibility of their use for heated to temperatures of 200-500 ° C and more (highly heated) radioactive bulk materials due to the use of rubber and polymer materials for sealing and seals, which quickly collapse under the influence of high temperature and radiation, as well as the presence of stagnant zones in their design, in which radioactive material can accumulate with an increase in radioactivity, which significantly complicates the decontamination of equipment and causes the accumulation of radioactivity.

No sluice gates for (highly heated) radioactive bulk materials heated to temperatures of 200–500 ° C or more were found in the scope of the patent search.

Task and technical result

The objective of the utility model is to create a sluice gate design for moving and dispensing (highly heated) radioactive bulk materials heated to temperatures of 200–500 ° C or more, ensuring tightness relative to the external environment and excluding internal stagnant zones to prevent the possibility of radioactivity accumulation and increase the decontamination efficiency.

The technical result achieved when using the proposed airlock is to increase its effective functioning when working with heated to a temperature of 200-500 ° C and more (highly heated) radioactive bulk materials.

The essence of the utility model

The problem is solved and the required technical result is achieved by the fact that the airlock for highly heated (heated to temperatures of 200-500 ° C and more) radioactive bulk materials contains

cylindrical body,

coaxial, vertically oriented cylindrical inlet and outlet nozzles communicating with the body,

a rotor coaxially placed in the housing with the ability to rotate with a cylindrical drum located in its working part with cavities for bulk material located longitudinally on its cylindrical surface, along the edges of which beads are made with protective grooves located behind them,

means for coaxial positioning of the rotor inside the housing in the form of side covers of the housing and bearings installed in them, and

means for sealing the internal volume of the housing relative to the environment in the form of stuffing boxes made of thermally expanded graphite located between the edge sections of the drum surface and the housing and fixed by the side covers of the housing of the pressure rings,

At the same time, in the airlock

The cavities located longitudinally on the cylindrical surface of the rotor drum and the collars located behind them are made with a total length greater than the inner diameter of the supply and outlet pipes,

The cavities located longitudinally on the cylindrical surface of the drum are made with a depth and width greater than the maximum particle size of bulk material,

the protective grooves are made with the possibility of free pouring from them the displaced from the cavities on the drum surface into the running gaps between the beads and the body of small particles of bulk material, down into the discharge pipe through the recesses in the lower edges of the connection of its neck with the body,

recesses for pouring particles from the protective grooves into the discharge pipe in the lower edges of its interface with the body are made with a length less than the diameter of the discharge pipe,

the collars located along the edges of the cavities on the drum surface are made with a width smaller than the running clearance between the drum surface and the housing, and

The protective grooves located along the edges of the cavities on the drum surface behind the beads are made with a width of at least two times the size of the largest particles of a granular substance and a depth of at least two times the size of the largest particles of a granular substance.

In addition, the sluice gate contains a geared motor coupled to the rotor with the ability to regulate the rotor speed in the housing and dosed supply of bulk material and is manufactured in an explosion-proof design.

Brief Description of Drawings

The essence and distinctive features of the design of the proposed airlock are illustrated by the drawings.

FIG. 1 and 2 show the design of the proposed lock, including:

cylindrical body 1 with a horizontally oriented axis;

coaxially installed in the housing 1 rotor 2 with the possibility of its adjustable rotation on high-temperature bearings 3;

sealing units containing stuffing box rings 4 of thermally expanded graphite, sealed by means of side covers 5 and clamping rings 6, providing, together with smooth edge surfaces 14 of the cylindrical surface of the drum of the rotor 2, reliable sealing of the internal volume of the housing 1 relative to the environment;

coupled to the rotor 2 a gear motor 7 with an adjustable rotation speed;

coaxial vertically oriented cylindrical upper supply nozzle 8 and lower discharge nozzle 9, by means of which the bulk material is fed from above into the valve body 1 and as a result of the rotation of the rotor 2 is removed from the body 1 downward.

FIG. 3, 4 and 5 show the design of the rotor 2 with a cylindrical drum located in its working part with cavities 10 for bulk material located longitudinally on its surface, along the edges of which beads 11 are made with protective grooves 12 located behind them, smooth edge parts mating with the sealing units 14 of a cylindrical drum, installed in high-temperature bearings 3 on the journals 15 of the rotor shaft 2, which is mated with a geared motor with a shank 16, and also shows the total length 17 of the working area of the drum in contact with bulk material.

FIG. 6 and 7 show cross-sections of the body 1 and coaxial vertically oriented cylindrical upper supply pipe 8 and lower outlet pipe 9 with flanges attached to them and stiffening ribs installed, if necessary, between them, providing the required body rigidity with pipes 8 and 9 attached to it.

FIG. 6 and 7 also show the recesses 13 for free pouring of particles from the protective grooves 12 into the discharge branch pipe 9 in the lower edges of the region of its interface with the housing 1.

Implementation of the utility model

The airlock is mainly intended for the dosed supply of bulk radioactive materials at a temperature of 200-550 ° C and more, then - "high-temperature radioactive bulk materials" during their loading / unloading, ensuring sealing relative to the environment while maintaining the pressure drop in the inlet and outlet pipes and transport pipelines.

Structurally, the sluice gate contains (Fig. 1, 2) a cylindrical body 1 with a horizontally oriented axis, in which the rotor 2 is coaxially mounted by means of high-temperature bearings 3 and side covers of the body 5.

The rotor shaft 2 by means of the shank 16 is coupled with the gear motor 7 with the possibility of regulating the speed of its rotation.

Coaxial vertically oriented cylindrical upper supply pipe 8 and lower discharge pipe 9 are connected to the body 1, by means of which the bulk material from the supply pipe 8 is fed from the top inside the body 1 of the sluice gate 1, enters the cavities 10 longitudinally located on the surface of the cylindrical drum of the rotor 2, and then as a result of the rotation of the rotor 2, it is removed from the housing 1 down into the outlet branch pipe 9.

On the outer side surfaces of the housing 1, the inlet 8 and outlet 9 of the nozzles (Figs. 1, 2, 7, 8), stiffening ribs can be installed, increasing, if necessary, and ensuring the rigidity of the structure of the sluice gate as a whole.

A characteristic feature of the design of the rotor 2 (Fig. 3, 4, 5) is the presence of a cylindrical drum located in its working part with cavities 10 (cells, sluices) located longitudinally on its surface for bulk material, along the edges of which collars 11 are made with located behind them protective grooves 12, smooth edge parts 14 of the cylindrical drum mating with the sealing units.

Longitudinal cavities 10 on the cylindrical surface of the rotor drum are made with a depth and width greater than the maximum particle size of the transported bulk material.

The width of the collars 11 is selected so that it is not more than the size of the running clearance between the surface of the cylindrical drum of the rotor and the inner surface of the cylindrical body 1, usually with an average processing accuracy of 0.3-0.5 mm.

The working area of the cylindrical surface of the rotor drum, including the longitudinal cavities 10 and the collars 11, is made with a length greater than the internal diameters of the supply 8 and outlet 9 nozzles.

The depth and width of the protective grooves 12 on the cylindrical surface of the drum 2 are selected by calculation, but not less than twice the size of the largest particles of bulk material.

Sealing of the internal working volume in the sluice valve body is ensured by means of stuffing rings 4 made of thermally expanded graphite, widely used as a sealing material in equipment for nuclear energy facilities with the ability to operate at temperatures up to 1000 ° C, placed in the travel gap between the flat edge parts of the cylindrical drum and body and sealed by means of clamping rings 6 and side covers 5.

Thus, the original design of the cylindrical drum of the rotor 2, in addition to the main function of the dosed movement of bulk material, is also capable of performing the function of protecting the sealing units and running clearances.

On the side surface of the drum of the rotor 2, in its central working part 17, longitudinal cavities 10 (sluices, cells) for bulk material are selected, by means of which, when the rotor 2 rotates, the transported bulk material is dosed from the upper supply pipe 8 to the lower discharge pipe 9, and on the edge parts of the working area 17, along the edges of its working cells 10, beads 11 are made, behind which protective grooves 12 are made, by means of which part of the bulk material displaced during movement from the cells 10 in the working part of the surface of the drum of the rotor 2 is freely poured down into the outlet pipe 9 through the recesses 13 in the lower parts of its interface with the housing 1 (Fig. 6, 7).

Adjustable rotation of the rotor 2 to regulate the metered supply and metered movement of bulk material is carried out by means of the rotor 2 mated to the shank 16 of the motor-reducer 7.

A characteristic distinctive feature of the design of the rotor drum 2 (Fig. 3-5) is its cylindrical design with cells 10 (sluices) for bulk material on a cylindrical surface, the presence of collars 11 at the edges of the longitudinal cavities 10, as well as the presence of protective grooves 12, through which part of bulk material, displaced during movement from the cells 10 in the working part of the surface of the drum 2, is freely poured down into the outlet pipe 9 through the recesses 13 in the lower parts of the interface of its neck by the body with a width sufficient to overlap the width of the protective grooves 12 on the surface of the drum of the rotor 2 and the length not less than a sector equal to 30 °.

The airlock functions as follows:

Rotating, the rotor 2 by means of the longitudinal cavities 10 on the surface of the cylindrical drum moves the bulk material from the supply pipe 8 from top to bottom into the outlet pipe 9 and further along the technological process.

Small particles of bulk material, the size of which is at least in one direction less than the size of the running gap between the inner surface of the cylindrical housing 1 and the surface of the cylindrical drum of the rotor 2 in its working area (usually with an average processing accuracy of 0.3-0.5 mm), can be tightened (displaced) into the running clearance and fall on the collars 11.

Since the width of the collars 11 is selected in such a way as to be no more than the running clearance (no more than 0.3-0.5 mm), then small particles of loose material that fell on the collars 11, being in a dynamically unstable position when the rotor drum rotates, fall or back into longitudinal cavities 10 or into protective grooves 12 on the cylindrical surface of the rotor drum.

Caught in the width and depth of at least two times the size of the largest particles of bulk material, the protective grooves 12 small particles of material under the action of gravity freely fall down them and through the recesses 13 in the upper parts of the interface of the neck of the outlet nozzle 9 with the body 1 (Fig. 6, 7 ) are poured down together with the main flow of bulk material in the outlet pipe 9.

Thus, the possibility of small particles of bulk material entering further the protective grooves 12 into the running clearances between the rotating rotor 2 and the housing 1 to the gland seal assemblies and bearings 3 is completely excluded, thereby completely eliminating the possibility of damage to the packing rings 4 from expanded graphite and depressurization of the internal working volume airlock, and also prevents increased wear due to clogging of the running clearances by particles of bulk material and their entry into the bearings 3.

This not only completely excludes the possibility of particles of radioactive material getting to the sealing units, but also by eliminating the possibility of clogging the running gaps, the formation of stagnant zones is completely excluded, from which it is difficult to wash out the radioactive substance during deactivation, and thereby the accumulation of radioactivity is prevented.

Thus, the proposed original design of the airlock, in comparison with the known analogues and the prototype, provides high manufacturability of manufacture, operation and repair due to a simple, durable and compact design, ease and ease of access to internal mechanical parts, accurate alignment and exclusion of the possibility of thermal or mechanical deformation. rotor, increased reliability of a simple design of chassis and sealing units, as well as structural elements of their protection.

In addition, the proposed original design of the airlock, in comparison with the known analogues and the prototype, provides high tightness in conditions of high temperatures up to 1000 ° C, the absence of stagnant zones with the prevention of radiation accumulation and the possibility of effective decontamination, the possibility of manufacturing in an explosion-proof design. This proves the suitability of the proposed airlock for operation when working with highly heated radioactive bulk materials, in particular with bulk radioactive waste.

Thus, the manufacture and use of the proposed airlock ensures a confident achievement of the technical result, namely, an increase in its effective functioning when working with highly heated radioactive bulk materials, and also proves that all the essential features of a utility model are in causal relationship with the technical result obtained from the use of the utility model.

Specific materials, design features and manufacturing technology of the sluice gate and / or its individual parts are selected in the usual way in relation to the specific conditions of its operation.

The production of prototypes and the results of field tests in real production conditions of the NPP showed a confident achievement of the technical result.

As individual elements and assemblies of the proposed sluice gate, various materials and design solutions known in the art can be used, which are usually used in the manufacture and use of a sluice gate.

The analysis also shows that all general and particular features of a utility model are essential, since each of them is necessary, and all together they are not only sufficient to achieve the goal of the utility model, but also allow the utility model to be implemented in an industrial way.

Considering the novelty of the essential features, the technical solution to the problem posed, the materiality of all general and particular features of the utility model, proven in the section "State of the art" and "Disclosure of the utility model", proved in the section "Implementation of the utility model", the technical feasibility and industrial applicability of the utility model, successful solving the technical problem and confidently achieving the required technical result in the implementation and use of the utility model, in our opinion, the declared utility model meets all the protection requirements for utility models.

Claims (9)

1. Airlock for highly heated radioactive bulk material, characterized in that it contains a cylindrical body, coaxial, vertically oriented cylindrical inlet and outlet pipes communicating with the body, coaxially placed in the body for rotation with a rotor with a cylindrical drum located in its working part with longitudinally arranged on its cylindrical surface, cavities for bulk material, along the edges of which beads are made with protective grooves located behind them, means for coaxial positioning of the rotor inside the body in the form of side housing covers and bearings installed in them, and means for sealing the internal volume of the body relative to the environment in the form of stuffing box rings from thermally expanded graphite located between the edge sections of the drum surface and the casing and fixed by the side covers of the casing of the pressure rings. 2. The airlock according to claim 1, characterized in that the cavities located longitudinally on the cylindrical surface of the drum and the beads located behind them are made with a total length greater than the inner diameter of the supply and outlet pipes. 3. The airlock according to claim 1, characterized in that the cavities located longitudinally on the cylindrical surface of the drum are made with a depth and width greater than the maximum particle size of the bulk material. 4. The sluice gate according to claim 1, characterized in that the protective grooves are made with the possibility of free pouring from them the displaced from the cavities on the drum surface into the running gaps between the beads and the body of small particles of bulk material down into the discharge pipe through the recesses in the lower edges of its connection neck with body. 5. The airlock according to claim 4, characterized in that the recesses for pouring particles from the protective grooves into the discharge pipe in the lower edges of its interface with the body are made with a length less than the diameter of the discharge pipe. 6. The sluice gate according to claim 1, characterized in that it contains a gear motor coupled to the rotor with the ability to regulate the rotor speed in the housing and dosed supply of bulk material. 7. The airlock according to claim. 1, characterized in that the beads located along the edges of the cavities on the surface of the drum are made with a width smaller than the size of the running gap between the surface of the drum and the body. 8. A sluice gate according to claim 1, characterized in that the protective grooves located along the edges of the cavities on the drum surface behind the ribs are made with a width of at least twice the size of the largest particles of a granular substance and a depth of at least two times the size of the largest particles of a granular substance. 9. The airlock according to claim 1, characterized in that it is manufactured in an explosion-proof design.

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