US1560311A - Continuous distillation oven - Google Patents

Description

Nov. 3, 1925s '1,560,311

J. METERS CONTINUOUS DISTILLA'MON QVEN F. 2 Filed July 23, 1924 5 Shutsoshnt 2 II. l l

6 I /fv//ENTo/a'- Juf/EN Hifi/Ps Nov. 3 1925 J. METERS IJSTLLLTIQN SVEN n. du

Patented Nov. 3, 1925.

UNITED STATES JULIEN PIETERS, 0F PARIS, FRANCE.

CONTINUOUS DISTILLATION OVEN.

Application led July 23, 1924.

T0 all whom t 711,113/ conferir.'

Be it known that I, J Umax Pln'rnns, a subject of the King of the Belgiens, and a resident of Paris, France, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Continuous Distillation Ovens, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to a continuous distillation oven intended more particularly for the distillation of lignite, peat, schistsawdust, and in general of any substance having a more or less pulverulent form and containing sufficient moisture to justify its preliminary drying.

This apparatus comprises a certain ninnber of Vertical distillation retorts or chambers, having in transverse section a length considerably greater than their width and disposed in rowsiin two directions at right angles to one another, within a single block of masonry, the individual retorts being separated by longitudinal walls, pierced by channels traversed by the heating gases, and by transverse Walls pierced by passages for the escape of the gases resulting from distillation.

All the retorts of one oven are surmounted by a single feed hopper. forming a drying chamber, in which the heaped-up substance to be treated, is separated from the top of the retort-heating zone only by a layer of material sufficient to vform an effective seal or obturator, without interposition of gates, registers or the like, between the material being subjected to distillation and that being dried; the drying is eilected by the burnt gases -which after passing through the heating walls oi' the oven are distributed in a suitable manner at the base of the drying chamber.

Steam 1s preferably injected into the coke or residue of distillation of the substance contained in the chambers o1; retorts, after this steam has been superheated by the heat contained in this substance at the lower part of. the oven. by circulation in channels formed in the masonry walls between the different chambers.

The discharge of the substance from the oven is preferably produced by distributing rollers, of which the axes are arranged per pendicularly to the major axes of the horizontal section of these retorts; the rollers are f riren from the exterior of the furnace by toothed wheels all meshing together in such a way as to produce rotation of any Serial No. 727,737.

two adjacent rollers in opposite directions and to effect the simultaneous movement of all the rollers.

These rollers deliver the material into hoppers arranged beneath/the retorts in such a way that all the elements or retorts having the same transverse axis are served by the same hopper, in the bottom of which two worms of opposite hand, mounted on` the same shaft, carry all the material towards an opening formed in the middle, where a single conveyor for the whole battery, arranged along the longitudinal axis of the oven and perpendicularly to the different hoppers and worms, receixes the materialcollected by the latter. and transports it to the exterior.

The annexed drawings represent by way of example a form of construction in accordance with the invention.

Figure 1 is a view in horizontal trans verse section through the oven.

Figure 2 is a view of the same in longitudinal vertical section along the broken line 2-2--2 of Figure 1, the right-hand half passing` through the chambers or retorts, and the left-hand half through the longitudinal walls between these retorts.

Figure 3 is a view in. partial transverse vertical section, along the line 3 3 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 represents on a larger scale a detail of Figure 3.

The oven is constituted (see Figure l) by a single block of masonry or brickwork, in which are formed vertical distillation chambers or retorls a, presenting in horizontal transverse section an ellipse like shape, of which the major axis is considerably great er than the minor axis; these chambers are divided into rows, in two directions at right angles to one another. In the example represented, there are ten rows of chambers arranged parallel to the longitudinal axis .fr :i1-of they block of masonry, and each of these ten longitudinal rows comprises sin elements or chambers; in other words, there aie six rows ot ten chambers arranged in the transverse direction of the block of ma- 10? sonry.

The arrangement ot' the elements or chambers of the oren is such that the masonrv work presents a substantially square horizontal section, which possesses the advantage of affording a surfalce ot minimum external radiation at the same time at a lower .bers a.

cost of installation with a maximum stability. The number of distillation elements or retorts can evidently vary, being determined according to the production to be considered.

In the longitudinal walls of this block of masonry there are formed the horizontal channels m and n for the gases which are to heat the chambers a while in the transverse walls between the chambers a there are formed uptakes or flues b connected to the chambers by assages b for the escape of the distillation gases: each of the llues, arranged betwe ni two chambers a, a, communicates with the two chambers through these passages b1 b.

The substance to be treated, brought to the base of the oven by hand-trucks or by any other means of transport, is conveyed by an elevator, such as a noria or a bucketchain (not represented), to the top of the oven, where it is dumped into a hopper c, surmounting the whole block of masonry and serving all the vertical retorts or cham- This ho per allows the discharge pell-mell or in a lieap of the material to be treated and constitutes both an oven-feed reservoir and a drying chamber for preliminary drying of the material before its introduction into the distillation chambers or retorts a. y

The drying chamber is not separated from the oven proper by any obturation device such as a register, gate, valve or the like. The substance to be treated distributes itself automatically into the different wells or vertical ducts al, at the top of the distillation chambers or retorts a, and its regular descent into each of them is indicated directly by the simpleobservation of the upper level in the drier. The descent of the material is a function only of the reduction of its own volume, due to the distillation, and of the working of the furnace-dischar ing apparatus situated at the base of t e furnace retorts, as described in detail hereafter.

The drier o is separated from the upper part of the heating zone in the retorts a by a suflicient layer of material for the latter to constitute,an efective obturator between the drying zone and the distillation zone.

The absolute continuity of contact thus obtained between the material contained in the retorts of the oven and that enclosed in the-drier, presents the great advantage of maintaining the, oven constantly filled, -in s ite of the reduction of volume caused by tlie distillation and in spite even of a momentary stoppage of the elevator apparatus serving .to li l the drying hopper c.

The drying is effected by means of the burnt gases derived from the heating of the retorts, the last heat-units being thus completely exhausted from these gases, which are collected in a horizontal passage d sitof an inverted V, for ensuring the passage,

of the gases through the material which rests upon these screens and fills the vertical ducts a.1 between the longitudinal walls e and the transverse walls f (Figure 3).

The heating of the material to be treated, thus preliminarily dried, takes place at the upper part of the retorts a, in the zone A igure 3), in contact with cast iron plates a2, forming the internal lining of these retorts; the heating starts at a relatively low temperature an progressively increases from the drying tem rature up to about 400 to 500 C. By t istime the material will have given up all its ori inal moisture, and the greater part of its vo atileproducts, comprising the tarry oils. All these gases and vapours are easily evolved, in proportion as they are formed, through the numerous evacuation conduits b1 in the transverse walls between the retorts a, and connected to the flues b `(Figure 2) as mentioned above; they likewise escape at the upper part of each retort into collector passages g, arranged above the collector passages d' for the spent heating gases, at the top of the longitudinal walls between the retorts. All these roducts of the distillation are collected 1n a manifold h.

The semi-coke formed continues its descent in the vertical retorts ai of the oven, in contact with walls of refractory materials, raisedto a higher and higher temtperature in the zone B (Figure 3). The

nal temperature of heating can thus be sufficiently high to expel the volatile substances as completely as is desired according to the final product to be obtained.

The heating of the retorts in the zones B and A is effected by the combustion of.

gas and air in channels providedin the longitudinal walls between the retorts in the masonry. There can be utilized for this purpose the gases which are evolved during the progressive distillation of the material; these gases are drawn off, as they are formed, by a fan or suction device, which passes them through condensers, in which the tarry oils are deposited as well as the ammoniacal 1i uors, and through suitable oil or acid was ers for the removal of the benzols/ and ammonia. After complete purification in the byroduct works, the gases are returned 'o t e ovens to be distributed to each ot the longitudinal heating walls by means ot' conduits 1T of refractory `material the rate of consumption being adjustable by means of valves arranged at the outside of the oven upon the pipes -1 supplying these conduits from a gas main in? t leaving these conduits i', the gases encounter air which has been preheated in thelchambers formed of refractory nmteriai'in the longitudinal walls; combustion takes place in the chamber l', and the burnt gases circulate in the channels m formed infthe longitudinal walls in the distillation one ll, and in the channels a foruu" in these same walls in the heating zone A, before 'escaping by the collector' passage rl to ell'cct the drying of the material in the hopper c.

The combustion in the chambers can be conveniently supervised through windows Z provided in the ends of each chamber (Figure 2); this arrangement allows an accurate regulation of the temperature for the whole extent of a longitudinal heating wall or pier.

The teniperature obtained in these combustion chambers is a maximum, diminishing progressively in the channels m and n, as the flames and the fumes give up their heat to the treated material, which gravitates in opposite direction in the retorts a.

Owing to the methodical heating thus obtained, and owing also to the means of control and adjustment at disposal for keeping the temperature uniform at the same level in the different retorts, the yield of the oven is a. maximum, not only trom the point of view of the by-products and of the, daily capacity, but also from the point of view of economy in heating; this last advantage acquires a capital importance in the caseA of the distillation of substances with large contents of moisture.

lVhen the distillation is finished, the coke (or residue of the distillation) undergoes a direct cooling due to the injection of a current of steam which has been preheated in the channels o formed in the longitudinal walls, atthe lower part of the oven; this steam, injected into the chambers of the oven through apertures o formed in the sides of the longitudinal walls of the oven, produces upon the incandescent coke the well known endothermic reaction for the formation of water gas. At the same time however this injection ot steam serves to generate hydrocarbons ot more or less complex composition, which thus increase in a substantial manner the yield of benzoles and oils obtained by simple distillation.

llhe still hot material, continuing its descent, then undergoes an external cooling by the circulation of the current of steam in the channels o of the longitudinal walls; the latter thus constitute a recuperato"y which is made of sufticient capacity to ob tain the complete cooling et' the. residue before its evacuation,

The discharge is effected by dirgributing rollers p '1, of which the ases f are arranged parallel to one another. perpendicularly to the major axis of the retorts a. of the oven. The :'iafts of these rollers are provided, externally of theV oven, with simi-v lar toothed wheels p2 all meshing together, in such a way as to rotate adjacent rollers in opposite directions and to obtain the .simultaneous motion of all the rollers by driving one only, arranged as near as pos sible to the centre so as to reduce the force of transmission.

From these distributing rollers p, constituting the discharging mechanism propel', the material falls into sheet-iron hoppers r, arranged transversely beneath the oven, parallel to the axes of the rollers '11; each hopper 7' is thus common to the series of oven elements or retorts having the same transverse axis.

Two Archimedean screws s s of opposite hand, mounted upon the same axis in the bottom of each hop er r, bring back all the material dumped y the rollers p p into the hopper, towards a common discharge opening arranged at the centre, that is to say upon the longitudinal axis w-w of the block of masonry of the oven (Figure 1). Each ot these openings lies above a. horizontal conveyor t, common to the whole battery of retorts a of the oven and traveling along the longitudinal axis --a' of the oven, that is to say, perpendicularly to the axis of the Archimedean Screws 8 s.

This conveyor is b preference completely closed so as to avoi dust, and the coke or residue of distillation is thereby placed directly upon hand-trucks or upon any Suitable conveyor for its further utilization. The rollers the worms s and the conveycr t can be (iiiven by a single transmission/mechanism, communicating at the same time to each of these parts a suitable motion.

Having thus described my inventi n, what I claim is:-

1. A vertical apparatus for the c ntinuous distillation et lignite, peat, and like carbonaceous materials, comprising a block, a. number of vertical retorts arranged in said block in rows in two directions at right angles to one another,-each retort present,- ing in cross section a length greater than its width,--and passages in the walls separating Said retorts, parallel to the major axes thereof for the assage of heating gases, in com-A l2r J bination with flues standing vertically be- 'tween the retorts, along the major axes of the latter, said flues being adapted to collect the gases of distillation, and other passages connecting each of said retorts with said flues at a plurality of heights.

2. In a vertical distillation apparatus as described in claim 1, a single feed hopper at the top of the retorts continuously open to them all. a

3. In a vertical distillation apparatus as described in claim 1, a hopper above said retorts, and means of introducing into the bottom of said hopper burned gases from the heating gaspassages.

4. In a vertical distillation apparatus as described in claim 1,' passage means in the lower part of the longitudinal walls adapted to the superheating of steam, and means at the top o said passage means, for introducing the' steani into the retorts, as described.

5. In a vertical distillation a paratus as described in claim 1, a pair of sistributin rollers under each retort, the axes of sai rollers being arranged at right angles to the major axes of the horizontal cross section of the retorts, and means for imparting to substantially `the rollers of each pair a rotation in opposite directions, substantially as described. In witness whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name this 10th day of July 1924.

JULIEN PIETERS.

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