US1430386A - Method of treating fuel for briquetting purposes - Google Patents

Description

G. (OMAREK- METHOD OF TREATING Fi L FOR BRIOUETTING PURPOSES. APPLICATION mso nmm, 1920.

1,430,386. PatentedSept. 26, 1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

. Mia Mylar/f- ,au v 59% G. KOMAREK. METHOD OF TREATING FUEL FOR BRIQUETTING PURPOSES. APPLICATLON FILED DEC-31, 1920.

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GUSTAV KOMAREK, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR, BY TEESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO MALCOLIVISON ENGINEERING AND MACHINE CORPORATION, OFSI'. LOUIS,,IVIIS-,

SOURI, A CORPORATION OF MISSOURI.

METHOD OF TREATING FUEL FOR BRIQUETTING FURPOSES.

Application filed December 31, 1920. Serial No. 434,342.

T 0 all whom it may concern Be it known that I, GUSTAV KOMAREK, a citizen of the United States, residin at city of Chicago, county of Cook, and gtate of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Methods of Treating Fuel for Briquetting Purposes, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, such'as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which Figure 1 is a side elevational view of the apparatus employed in my improved method of treating fuel for briquetting purposes.

Figure 2 is an enlarged view of the fluXer forming a part ofthe apparatus.

This invention relates to a new and useful method of treating fuel for briquetting purposes, the object being to handle and treat the coal dust (either anthracite or bituminous) with its binder (coal tar, asphaltum tar or other binder) with heat, and under pressure preferably applied in such a manner that the mass will be gradually heated up to the desired temperature inreadiness to be fed to the briquet forming machine which compresses the material into the form of briquets. These briquets are taken from the machine and permitted to cool and to become partially dry before being piled in bins, containers, etc,

The apparatus for carrying out my improved method is preferably so arranged that the operation of making briquets from practically dry coal dust is substantially continuous. In speaking of coal dust, I refer to coal of small sizes, either from culm banks or screenings, which is reduced by a crushing or pulverizing machine so that the largest particles in the raw mass to be treated are no larger than will passthrough a screen of, say, twenty-five or fifty mesh. 0f course, there are numerous smaller par ticles, and, indeed, some coal dust as fine as would pass through a one-hundred mesh screen. As shown in Figure 1-, the coal or dust is delivered into a bin or hopper 6. This bin or hopper has a contracted discharge opening at its bottom controlled by a horizontally sliding gate valve 7 8 is a conveyor of suitable form for conveying the coal from bin 6 to a crushingma, chine 9, if it is desired to use a crushing-.-

machine at this point. It is obvious, however, that the coal may be crushed before it is placed in the bin 6; In any a vertical bucket, or other elevator 11, and delivered through a spout 12 to a hori zontally disposed paddle conveyor 13 to, spout 14:. This feed spout is in the form-oftv tapered column, the bottom portion of:

which is larger than the top portion. The

coal dust and its binder in the final treat-,-

ment of the mass before it is permitted to escape through a discharge opening 17 onto. a paddle conveyor 18 by which it is carried to a feed box 19. The feed box 19 is provided with oppositely revolving agitatin a blades in its lower end and the materifi passing between these agitators is delivered between the compressing rolls of the briquet machine 20, this type. of feeding mechanism and briquet machine being preferably that shown in an application filed by me on August 21, 1920, Serial No. 404,97 9. The formed briquets are delivered onto a belt 21 which carries them to suitable bins or other receptacles and in this travel, the newly formed briquets are allowed to cool and dry.

14 is a vertical steam pipe located in the central portion of the column 1 1- for spraying steam at about one-hundred-twenty 120) pounds pressure into the mass of coal dust and binder near the bottom of the column and preferably at a point just above the agitating blades in the fluxing machine 16.

22 is a binder feeding belt for supplying the'binder in the form of small particles of .asphaltum tar into the conveyor 8 whereby it can be carried with the coal dust into the crushing machine 9; or,vif the binder is in liquid form, such as sulphite, it can be in:

event,- the, crushed coal is lifted through chute 10 by;

troduced at some other point in the system,

from a barrel or tank 23, before it reaches the top of the column of the mass in the tapered cylinder 1a, or this binder may be introduced into the mass at the upper end of column 14. I prefer, however, to introduce the binder which forms about five per cent of the mass of coal dust being treated into the system at some point where it will be thoroughly mixed with the c all dust be fore the mass is cooked in column 14, the object being to coat each particle of coal with a film of binder. This, of course, is mechanically impossible, but by agitation and movement of the particles is fairly well accomplished, or at least is carried on to such an extent as to answer practical requirements.

l l hen the coal dust and binder is introduced into the top of column 14;, itself form-- ing a column of material having a vertical height of about ten or twelve feet, the tapered cylinder 14: having a diameter of about five feet at its base, it will be apparent that the weight of this mass is considerable, so much so that as the material gradually descends in the column, the superposed weight increases and tends to compress the material, causing the. particles to adjust themselves in closer contact. At the time that the material enters the top of the column, it is in the form of a dry, granular mass, the admixture of the binder making it slightly cohesive. The introduction of steam at the bottom of the column through the pipe 14, said steam pipe being? about one-hundred-twenty (120) pounds pressure, will heat the mass of material in the column to such a degree that the binder becomes more fluid and will consequently spread over a greater surface area of the parti else. The lower end of the steam pipe 145 is perforated along each side, as at ll so as to dii; ct the steam laterally. This steam when it first enters the column is extremely hot and dry, but as it ascends the column, it becomes cooler and is finally condensed, at least in part, the water of condensation being taken up by the particles of coal which. may be exposed thereto. Uf course, if the particles of coal are entirely coated with the binder, they will not readily absorb the moisture, but as stated before it is practically impossible to completely coat each particle of coal and, notwithstanding the previous agitating and mixing steps which may have been employed to coat the particles of coal with the binder, there may be some lumps composed of dry coal dust in which there is little or no binder. Then these lumps are fractured, and the dry particles exposed to moisture, they will take up this moisture or water of condensation and in doing so create a partial vacuum at or near the upper end of the column which tends to draw the steam. upwardly through the column. For this reason, a vent 15 is provided at the top of the column and in practice, in order to get the best results in this cooking of the mass for the desired length of time so that it will be thoroughly and properly heat treated in the presence ofthc moisture, I admit steam at the bottom of the column in such quantities that it is distributed throughout the entire column, the slight excess escaping through the vent. This vent then serves as an indicator in determining the quantity of steam to be introduced in a given length of time according to the speed of travel or descent of the particles in the column which is largely controlled by the height and diameter of the column and the quantity discharged through the discharge opening at the bottom of the flux' chamber. The supply of coal dust and binder at the top of the column should be so proportioned as to keep the column full and to compensate for the amount taken from the bottom of the column, in order to get the best results. As the particles of coal dust and binder descend in the tapered cylindrical tank or housing 14., they are permitted to spread laterally and will continue to spread as the diameter of the nopper or cylinder increases toward its bottom. This is desirable because in addition to the vertical descending movement, some of the particles are subjected lateral movement relative to each other which occurs throughout the column and is particularly desirable in the hottest zone of the column which naturally would be at a point immediately above and in proximity to the steam pipe. l hen the column of coal dust and its binder have been heat treated in the column 14: and when the mass is hottest, at the bottom of the column, it is agitated by oppositely revolvii'ig blades to more effectively coat the particles oi coal and the binder so that when the mass is delivered to the briquet forming rolls, it is not only hot but in a semiplastic condition so that it can be easily and readily shaped. These pressing rolls rotating in opposite directions tend to compress the coal dust and its now fluid binder into a compact briquet which is dropped onto the cooling belt 21 to be cooled. The resultant cold briquet is a compact mass giving a clean, smooth, dustless break, slightly vitreous in character and nearly homogeneous.

The apparatus is preferably installed in a buildingand forms a part of the briquet making equipment. The kind of binder used largely governs the equipment for handling the coal and binder. For instance, if pitch is used in solid form then the pitch is usually fed with the coal and both may be dumped into the crusher and crushed together before being fed into the fluxing apparatus. If, on the other hand, liquid pitch or asphaltum oil or any other liquid binder is used then the binder is fed into the coal (which has previously been crushed) in a paddle or screw conveyor where it receives preliminary mixing before it enters into the hopper of the fluxing apparatus.

The hopper or cylinder of the fluxing apparatus is preferably made tapered with the arge end at the bottom so as to allow the mixture to feed downward with diminishing friction resistance from the sides or Walls of the hopper or cylinder. When in operation the hopper or cylinder is practically full of mixture and a vertical steam pipe passes downward into the mixture substantially in the center of the mixture column. This pipe has holes distributed at its bottom end. The steam is admitted through these holes directly into the mixture column and softens and heats the mixture column.

The upper portion of this mixture column is not subjected to any mechanical action while under heat treatment but is gradually fed downward. This action is continuous and while the mixture column feeds downward new coal is being continuously fed on top of the mixture column. Nhen the mixture column has reached a certain point in its downward course it is engaged by shaped mixing arms 25 and is subjected to an intense mechanical working or kneading action. This kneading action becomes at once very effective as the'mixture has pre viously been heated and softened, and it is given additional effect through the weight of the material column which bears down on that part of the mixture which is under the mechanical working action and the greater this weight the more effective will be the work of the mechanical mixing arms against the material.

The particular type of fluxer illustrated in Figure 2 of the drawings is peculiarly adapted to effectively knead the cooked and semiplastic coal. The arcs of movement of the ii-shaped arms intersecting each other immediately below the steam pipe will prevent the material from revolving with the shaft and arms.

While I have described the introduction of steam through a vertical pipe into the chamber near its lower end as the medium for cooking the contents of the chamber,

and which vertical arrangement of the pipe will avoid obstructing the descent of the mass in the tapered cylinder, it is obvious that a cross pipe could be used, or a ring, or exteriorly arranged heat generating mediums, such as gas or oil burners or grate bars upon which fuel could be burned, can be employed; and also that the contents of the binder tank could be heated to render it fluid, although the heat necessary to render the contents of the binder tank fluid is low compared with that which should be employed to secure the best results in cooking the mass in the tapered cylinder 14.

Where the binder is sulphite it is not nec essary that it be heated, but where coal tar is used, particularly in cold Weather, it may be desirable to heat the coal tar so as to make it fluid.

What I claim is:

1. A method of treating fuel for briquetting purposes which includes combining coal dust and its binder and feeding the same into the top of a vented chamber, introducing steam into the bottom of said chamber, and agitating the heat treated fuel in the lower part; only of said chamber.

2. A method of treating fuel for briquetting purposes which consists in combining coal dust and its binder and delivering the same to the top of a vertically elongated chamber through which said material gradu-' ally descends as it is taken from the bottom of the chamber, heat treating the material in the chamber and subjecting it to an intense mechanical Working or kneading action at the bottom only of the chamber, and finally forming the material into briquets after the material leaves said chamber.

3. The method of treating fuel for briquetting purposes which includes combining coal dust with a binder, forming a vertical column of the mass, applying heat to the column, and kneading the mass in the lower portion only of the column.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix my signature this 22nd day of December, 1920.

GUSTAV KOMAREK.

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