US1871104A - Process for making briquettes - Google Patents

Description

Aug. 9, 1932. R. E. wlLLARD n 1,871,104

PROCESS FOR MAKING BRIQUETTES Filed April 28, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 DRY GOAL BIN CEUSHEZ RAW CQAL Bl N Allg 9, 1932 RE. WILLARD 1,871,104

PRoEss Eon MAKIN BRIiQUETTEs Fild April 28; -1930 `2 sheets-sheet 2 Patented Aug. 9, 1932-l UNITED STATES ROBERT E. w'ILLARD, or MINNEAEOLIS, MINNESOTA, ASsIeNOR, RY imams AssIdN- nENIrs, |ro BRIQUET ENGINEERING COMPANY, or IuNNEAroLIs, ImINEso'rA, A

GORPORATION or DELAWARE -rRooEss EOR MAKING ERIOUETTES Application mea April' es, Isso. semi No. 447,926.

My invention provides an improved rocess for the making of briquettes 'an generally stated, consists of the novel manipulations and successive steps of manipulations hereinafter described and defined in the claim.

The nature of the rocess will be made clear in the discription o the use of the improved lapparatus for carrying out the said process and a preferred form of which apparatus is illustrated in the accompanying drawings,

wherein like characters indicate like parts throughout the several views.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic view illustrating a complete briquetting plant or system;

Fig. 2 is a view lpartly in elevationand partly in vertical section illustrating that portion of the plant that involves the im.- proved process;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section taken. on the line 3-3 ,of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a transverse vertical Section taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is an end elevation of the preheatlng mixer shown in horizontal section in Fig. 3,

and in transverse section in Fig.l 4;

Fig. 6 is a transverse section taken through the conditioning mixer on the line 6-'-6 of Fig. 2 and showing lalso a fan with connectiois for exhausting gases from said mixer; an

Fig. 7 is an enlarged vertical section taken on theline7-7 of Fig. 2 through the binder Sprayer.

Referring first tothe diagram view Fig. 1

and briefly noting the order of the severaloperations in the making of briquettes by the apparatus illustrated but without discussing in detail any of said actions, the `complete system illustrated comprises as follows: The raw coal is introduced into a raw .coal bin -8, from thence it is delivered through a drier 9, from thence is elevated to a dry coal bin 10, from thence is delivered to a Crusher 11, thence by elevator 12 is delivered to ground coal bin 13, from thence is deliveredthrough a. preheating mixer 14, from thence through a binder sprayer 15, from thence through a luxer 16, from thence through a conditioning mixer 17 from thence briiluette press 184 f and from thence onto a cooling table 19.

The above noted elements 8 to 13, inclusive, and 18 and 19 are standard well known construction such as hitherto employed in'briquette `plants and the novelty of the apparatus here claimed is found in the elements 1ocated between the said above noted elements 13 Cand 18 andtheseparts will now be `descrlbed more in detail. w

The coal delivered into the ground coal bin 13 will besuitablyground for the-forming of brlquettes, will be dry and quite hot, sa g; a. temperature of about 175 degrees rom .the bin13,l this ground briquette material will be fed into one end of the preheating m1xer1 4 under the action of a power-driven Y measuring device such as used for feeding of grain and vcomprising a rotar paddleequ1pped head 20, the shaft of whic projects and is provided with a gear 2L The preheating mixer 14 is an approximately horizontal tubular Steam-j acketed shell, the steam chamber 22 of which receives live Steam through supply pipe 23, shown in Fig. 2. Steam jets 24 that receive super-heated steam from supply pipe 25open at several different points into the interior of the preheating mixer 14, as also best shown inlF'ig. 2. f' Extended longitudinally through said prevheater casing 14 is a `pair of parallel shafts.v

projecting spirallyv arranged mixerl blades 30 that are obliqucly set in the saine direction so that while mlxing the material, they propel the same longitudinally of the shell and discharge thesame through a spout 31 at the discharge end of said shell.

- Itis here important to `note that the Shell of the preheatmgl mixer`14 is air-tight so that when the interior thereofis charged with super-heated steam, the coal'will be` i thoroughl agitated'in Ian inert atmosphere to a muchhigher temperature but at any rate, to a temperature close to the temperature where volatilization begms and at a temperature at-which oxidation of the coal details will be found by would take place in the presence of atmosphere ycontaining oxygen, and this, in the apparatus described, can be `done without danger of oxidation or combustion of the coal. At this high temperaturethe coal w1ll more intimately unite with a binder, but the mixing of the binder therewith should also take place in an inert atmosphere or 1n an atmosphere in which oxygen is not present. Hence the hot coal from the preheating mlxer is next delivered to and through the binder mixer 15.

This binder mixer is of a novel construction fully disclosed and claimed in a companion application, Serial No. 447,925, filed of even date herewith and is illustrated more `in detail in Fig. 7. However, for the purposes of this case the said binder sprayer may be quite briefly described and further reference to the said companion application.

Within the shell of the binder sprayer is a. plurality of annular conical deectors 32 and extended axially through said sprayer is a hollow shaft 33 plugged at 34 and pro. vided with impeller heads 35. The binder material will usually be asphalt or an asphalt compound fed downward through the upper portion of shaft 32 and from thence outward through discharge ducts or passages 36 formed in the lfpper head 35. The deiecting cones 32 are preferably hollow and supplied with live steam through a pipe 37 that is connected to the steampipe 23.. Steam jets 38 are connected to theY super-heated steampipe 25 and are positioned to discharge into the upper portion of the binder sprayer obliquely downward in the direction of rotation of the shaft 32 so that the briquette material delivered into the upper end of said sprayer will be given a whirling motion. The ground coalr or briquette material dropping from the first deflector onto the upper rotating impeller head 35 will be thrown outward against the oblique under surfaceof the upper defiector and will be thoroughly commingled with the spray of binder delivered from the ducts 36 of said upper head.

The supply of binder is preferably delivered only from the upper head but the successive deflecting' and mixing actions will be' ref peated as the material passes downward from the second deector to the second impeller head and fromV the third deilector to lthe third or lowermost impeller head so that the coal and binder willbe very thoroughly mixed when it reaches the botttom of said sprayer and is delivered into the receiving end of the uxer 16. 1

The uxer 16 is substantially a repetition or duplication of the preheating mixer, that F ply pipe 25. By the time the briquette ma-` terial reaches the delivery end of the luxer 16, its temperature will be reduced probably down to about 350 degrees F. and it will be delivered from the iuxer into the conditioning mixer through discharge conduit 43 at about that temperature.

A chemical action is started in the binder sprayer which is substantially as follows: The highly heated coal, coming from the preheating mixer at a` high temperature (400) comes into 'contact with the binder at 175. The action of the sulphur in solution in the asphalt is vretarded in the binder mixing tanks as much as possible, by using only a temperature in the mixing tanks 15 in excess of the melting point of the asphalt, so that the resulting solution is only Huid enough to handle through the binder pumps.

When the binder comes in contact with the coal, which is at a lmuch higher temperature (400) the temperature of the binder is immediately raised to the high temperature of the coal. This high temperature hastens the desired chemical reaction in both coal and binder, called polymerization, where the hydrogen in the bituvmens in both coal and binder unite with sulphur in solution in the binder, forming hydrogen sulphide (H25) which passes olf and is Wasted.

This polymerization eliminates some of the hydrogen from the hydrocarbon molecules, thereby enriching the hydrocarbons in carbon, and the molecules become rearranged into molecules 'of higher molecular weight.

The abovev described action continues throughout the fluxer and hence the importance of keeping up and a continuing the mixing and agitation operation at a high temperature for a considerable period of time v after the material leaves the sprayer. The

so-called fluxer performs this function.

The function of the so-call'ed conditioning no mixer 17 is to reduce the temperature of the briquette material to such temperature that it can be properly formed into briquettes and it is important that while this cooling operation takes place, that the agitation and mixing,r of the material is continued. The shell of this conditioning mixer is of substantially the same form as preheating mixer except that it is not steam jacketed. It has the same parallel shafts 44 driven in the same directions and provided with oblique mixing blades 45 that mix the material and progressively force the same toward the delivery end of the mixer from whence it is delivered through a discharge passage 46 to an ordinary briquette machine indicated as an entiret-y by the numeral 47. To cool the briquette material while it is passing through the conditioning mixer, Water jets 48 are provided and these are connected to a water supply pipe 49. To draw oit the gases and vapors formed within the conditioning mixer 17, it is showmas provided with a discharge pipe 50 connected to a blower 51; and in practice the other mixing devices may be likewise connected to a discharge fan for carrying off the gases and vapors.

The jets 48, as indicated, may be connected either to a water supply or to a source of saturated steam and hence it will be understood that broadly the one is the equivalent of the other, although the water Will have the greater cooling effect. Saturated steam, however, is of much lower temperature than the material introduced into the conditioning mixer and hence would also have, to a less extent, a cooling action.

The bindin fluid may be contained in any suitable supp y tank or receptacle, such as an elevated tank 52 that delivers to a pump 53. This pump 53 may be of any suitable well known rotary measuring type such as a rotary gear pump that is connected to deliver the binder and material in measured quantity to the upper end of the hollow rotary shaft 32. The shaft 54 of the rotor of this pump 53 is connected by gears 55 and 56 to a transverse shaft 57, and the other end of this shaft 57 is connected by a spur pinion 58 and the hitherto noted gear 21 to the rotary paddleequipped head 20 of the measuring coaleeding device. From this it follows that the coal or briquette material and the binding material will be supplied to the apparatus in denite proportionate quantities. This proportionate quantity may, of course, be varied by changing the gears and 56 or the gears 2l and 58. As shown, shaft 57 is driven from a small electric motor 59 through a chain or link belt 60 and co-operating sprockets.

What I claim is:

The process of making briquettes which includcs heating the ground briquette material approximately to the temperature of its incipient distillation by the application of

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