US1975396A - Coal carbonizing apparatus - Google Patents

Description

(Oct. 2, 1934. J. B. JENSON 1,975,395

COAL CARBONIZING APPARATUS Filed Nov. 19. 1931 r 3 Sheets-Sheet l n )2 as n 7 4 Zamer Fame;-

Burner INVENTOR ATTORNEYS Oct. 2, 1934. J. B. JENSON 1,975,396

COAL CARBONIZING APPARATUS Filed Nov. 19, 195i 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Earner 3 V k Wm ,Bwrrzar I? I Ea n/er F 7 Y Y 1 Y A ZWMP/ 5 F i a JHMES .B..]N50/V INVENTOR ATTORN EY Oc J. B. JENSON 95 COAL CARBONIZING APPARATUS Fi led, Nov. 19, 1931 38heets-Sheet a Jmris B. JENSO/Y. INVENTOR ATTORNEYS Patented Oct. 2, 1934 1,975,396 oo CABBONIZING APPARATUS James B. Jonson, Salt Lake City, Utah, assignor of one-fourth to J. A. .Marks, Boise, Idaho Application November 19, 1931, Serial No. 576,144 4 Claims. (01. 202-108) In the usual coking process for coal, the coal, which is of a bituminous character, is placed into a retort and heated until'the volatile matter is driven 01f, the residue being largely a highly carbonaceous material, which is produced in a sintered condition which cracks'oii from the walls of the retort when the retort is cooled. In the coking process the entire physical structure of the coal from which the coke is produced has of course been changed and the resulting coke is ignitableonly with difliculty in domestic heating appliances since there is usually not sufficient draft to start the combustion of the coke.

In the present case one of the objects is to produce from a bituminous coal, a residue which differs from the usual form of coke in that the physical structure of the original coal is not appreciably altered and the resulting product is easily ignitable and usable in domestic appliances without the formation of any smoke or soot.

A second object involves the treatment of the volatile material in a manner generally similar to the well known Berginization method wherein the volatile components are acted upon by chemical agents, especially hydrogen, to produce products similar to petroleum products. In the present instance this is accomplished by treating the components of the volatile matter in the coal with hydrogen at suitable temperatures and pressures so as to eiiect a hydrogenation of the unsaturated constituents of the aforesaid volatile matter. I

The present process further differs from the coking process as usually carried out in that in the present process the retorts containing the coal are heated internallyinstead of externally, and as the coal is thus destructively distilled, a current of dry steam is passed through a bed of coal, the coal reducing the steam into a mixture of hydrogen and carbonic oxide. The excess steam with the hydrogen and carbonic oxide gases intermingle with the volatile matters in the coal, and the unsaturated components thereof become hydrogenated and thus converted into hydrocarbons of the paraffin series. .,The residuum remaining from the treatment is found tobe coke-like in heating quality, but the original structure of the coal is still retained,.and this residue is also easily ignitable' in ordinary domestic appliances and burns'withevolution of a :high degree of heat'butwithout production of soot or smoke. The residue becomes cellular and of honeycomb structurethrough the devolatilization and passing out of the hydrocarbon portions of the coal leaving a residue of approximately to 75% of the weight of the coal.

The process involved in this invention is car-' ried out by heating a portion of the coal to a suitable temperature, for example approximately 1400 F. Dry steam from a suitable source is brought into contact with hot coal, thus decomposing the steam into its elements, the oxygen combining with the'carbon of the coal to form carbonic oxides and the hydrogen remaining free; Both this hydrogen and carbonic oxide are reducing agents and the mixture of gases as it passes upwards through-the hotbed of coal becomes supereheated and it is then passed through fresh raw coal, thus removing the volatiles therefrom. Of course'the water gases produced by the action of the steam on the coal may be purifiedand reused at a slow speed. 'A'certain amount of the free hydrogen of course is utilized in hydrogenating the unsaturated constituents of the volatile materials 'as above pointed out, and converts them in this fashion into saturated hydrocarbon of the nature of crude oil, which may be recovered and fractionated in the usual practice in the order of refining. .Of course as the vapors are condensed as they issue from the retort, there will be three fractions which may be either separated as they are condensed, or may be drawn oil? together Thesefractions are in their order of condensation,a heavy paraflin fraction, a middle oil fraction, and a gasoline or light oil fraction. There is of course a residue-of noncondensable gas which is passed through a scrubberfor removal of all gasoline-like products. This non-condensable gas is composed largely of the residual water gas passing unchanged through the system, and it may be stored and used as a source of heat, and will ordinarily range from 350 to 650 B. t. u., but may be made as high as 1100 B. t. u. per cubic foot when needed.

The oil is poured into tanks after it is condensed and compares favorably with petroleum that comes from the wells and is treated in the same fashion as petroleum.- Whatever nitrogen there is inthe: coal is'converted to ammonia 100 which is of course recoverable as ammonium sulphate'or any other valuable ammoniacal composition.

vIn treatment, the coal' is passed through the retort in a continuous stream from whence it is discharged on to a travelling conveyor which places the finished residue in storage reaclyfor delivery. During the treatment there is a certain amount of cracking of the hydrocarbon derivablefrom the coal, with attendant deposicoal in the distillation chamber. begins its dissociation and this dissociation betion of carbon so that the fixed carbon in the residue in addition to the increased percentage through devolatilization, has increased over and above that of the original coal, which obviously increases the calorific power of the product and thereby enables the use of a correspondingly smaller quantity of fuel for the production of the same amount of heat wherever'this novel product is to be used.

As above pointed out, the retorts in which the coal is treated are heated internally, which results in there being no fusing together of the.-

resulting product which is formed and recovered as a product having an open honeycombed structure capable of absorbing air and therefore ignit ing freely and burning with a long flame, but without production of smoke or soot. v

The internal heating of the retort assures uniform heating of the material being treated, thus assuring the maximum efficiency and highest yield of product. In the carrying out of the process, the coal is heated almost entirely transversely through the bed and through a comparatively thin wall of the material. It therefore does not become necessary to screen out fines as the heating medium, in passing through the wall, comes into contact with every particle of material whether coarse or fine, and removes volatiles therefrom alike in all parts in the retort.

The invention will be more readily understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 represents a vertical sectional view through the treating retort of a form suitable for use in connection with this invention.

Figure 2 is a sectional view along the line 22-22 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a composite horizontal sectional view, the left-hand half of which is a half-section on line 23 of Fig. 1, and the right-hand half a half-section on line 24 of Fig.

Referring more particularly to the drawings and the operation of the retort, coal is introduced into the tube of the generator or gas producer 1 and allowed to rest on the grate 2 supporting the charge, and the shaft is filled onehalf or two-thirds full of preferably fine coalslack. The burners 3 operating in the combustion chamber 4 are then ignited and the brick structure heated up gradually. When the coal in the generator 5 has reached a temperature of for example from 500 to 600 F., a small amount of steam is drawn from a boiler or other suitable source of steam, and permitted to pass through the coil 6 and thence through inlets 15 into the shaft of the gas generator to contact with fine coal placed in the generator 5. The burner flames are then increased and the coal is more rapidly heated until it reaches a temperature of approximately 1480 F. The steam flow is then increased to the amount required to produce the amount. of gas necessary to heat the amount of The steam now comes more rapid as the heat increases, forming tree hydrogen, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide,

and oxygen, which gases pass upwardly together to the upper part of the generator, following the conduit '7' in the brick-work of the generator, whichconduit leads downwardly towards the bottom of the distillation chamber 8. At this point it crosses transversely through openings 7a over to the lower part of the coal contained in the distillation chamber until it reaches the'tapered vacuum tube 9 placed in the center of this distillation chamber. The gaseous material then passes upward in the vacuum chamber toward the plate 10 which closes the inside of the vacuum tube. The gas now partly cooled through contact with the coal in the lower part of the distillation chamber passes transversely through the coal to the openings 19a in the brick wall and is drawn into the second conduit 11, then it rises upwardly and passes again transversely through the openings 11a intoand through the coal to the upper compartment of the vacuum chamber 12. The v'ap'ors from the lower part of the coal column now contain some heavy oil vapors, which condense on the cooler part of the column of coal and pass down to the hotter zone where the high tempera.- ture cracks them into oil of lower boiling point,

whereby the products again pass upwardly in the gas flow. There is also of course a deposition of fixed carbon resulting from this cracking that remains on the coal, while the vapors are drawn out through the circulating pipe 13 from the upper part of the vacuum chamber and thence through the condenser system ,where condensation of the vapors takes place, but which is not shown. The oil is then drawn oil to the containers and the wet non-condensable gases pass on through scrubbers where the remaining light oil is absorbed and the non-condensable gases pass on to the gas receiver to be used for heating and such other purposes as desired.

It will therefore be seen that the steam is decomposed in a chamber separate and distinct from the main body of coal being distilled. The chamber containing the coal to be processed is relatively larger than the gas producing chamher and is located on a level with and by the side of the gas producen The walls of the shaft 5 are built of fire brick which when properly laid in masonry form openings running transversely through the wall and connect with a vertical longi- Q tudinal chamber leading from the tube of the generator containing the coal to be heated under the generation of the gas. Within the center of the distillation chamber 8 there is positioned'a smaller shaft built from cast iron plates running lengthwise and horizontally through the center of the shaft and having longitudinal. openings between each pipe, these openings being formed by the overlapping of the plates being spaced apart, forming louvers. gases and the gases and vapors ofvolatilization to pass between the plates and through the openings to the inside of the tube, which is connected to a suitable source of suction which tendsto create a suction in a shaft for the withdrawal of This allows the heating i the gases and vapors of volatilization. The paths of the gaseous products through. the retort are indicated on the drawings by arrows, which show the direction of travel. a

It will be observed'that between.

the heating I walls of the gas producer and the walls containing the steam pipe 6 there are positioned a series of baiiie platesl which baiiies are preferably of T-shape and serve for the distribution of heat for equal heating of both walls.

" h bottom. of the distillation chamber 3 there is provided suitable equipment, not shown, which automatically removes the product as soon as it is processed, thus also permitting fresh coal to enter the tube of the distillation chamber as 3 rapidly as the treated coal is removed from the bottom. It will also be understood that coal is automatically fed into the tube of the gas producer as rapidly as it becomes consumed in the production of gas.

As the coal in the chamber 8 becomes devolatilized, it is removed as aforesaid, as treated, and permits simultaneous introduction of untreated coal into the distillation chamber automatically.

The uniform contacting and heating of the coal particles, whether large or small, makes the process very rapid, and, through the dissociation of the steam, there is produced a comparatively large volume of heating gases and hydrogen with fresh hydrogen constantly circulating in the distillation chamber.

In view of the fact that the carbon of the volatile material in the coal combines with hydrogen much more rapidly than with oxygen, there is a selective combination with the hydrogen to produce the petroleum-like product with high content of paraffin hydrocarbon as previously mentioned.

It will be understood that while coal is the material specifically described in connection with this process, the process is equally applicable with all generally similar materials such as lignite, peat, shale, and similar products which are capable of destructive distillation.

It will be understood also that the invention is susceptible of being performed by processes in which the steps are capable of modification from the above specifically described procedure without departing from the inventive concept. It will accordingly be understood that it is desired to embrace within the scope of this invention such modifications and changes as may be necessary to adapt it to varying conditions and uses.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-- 1. An apparatus of the character described comprising a gas producing chamber, a distillation chamber spaced from the gas producing chamber, parallel passages in the wall between the two chambers, one of said passages leading from the first chamber to the bottom of the second, a hollow column member within the distillation chamber defining a suction chamber and having ports at intervals therethrough communicating with the distillation chamber, the other of said passages receiving the gases from the bottom of the column member and leading the gases through the coal in the distillation chamber tothe top part of the suction chamber of said column member, and means for producing suction through the suction chamber and thence through the distillation and gas producing chambers.

2. An apparatus for distilling coal and the like,

comprising a casing having shafts therein defining a gas producing chamber and a distillation chamber, the said chambers being adapted to re: ceive a quantity of coal therein, means for externally heating the gas producing chamber above devolatilization temperature of the coal therein,

means for introducing steam into the gas producing chamber adjacent the bottom thereof for subjecting the heated coal to the steam as the coal is devolatilized, thereby producing a highly heated gaseous mixture, conduits for leading the said gaseous mixture from the gas producing chamber into the distillation chamber adjacent the bottom thereof, means for creating suction through the distillation chamber, and means for causing a zig-zag penetration of the said coal in the distillation chamber by the said highly heated gaseous mixture, thereby producing a distillation of the coal by the said mixture.

3. An apparatus for distilling coal and the like, comprising a casing having shafts therein defining a gas producing chamber and a distillation chamber, each of the said chambers being adapted to contain a column of coal, burners disposed vertically adjacent the distillation chamber but exteriorly thereof for externally heating the said chamber and coal contained therein to a temperature above devolatilization of the coal, a steam coil disposed around the said gas producing chamber and opening into the chamber adjacent the bottom thereof to thereby subject the column of coal therein to the said steam as the coal becomes devolatilized, to thereby produce a highly heated gaseous mixture, conduits for leading the said mixture from the gas producing chamber into 7 the distillation chamber, means for producing 105 suction through the chambers, and means for causing the said gaseous mixture to travel in a zig-zag direction upwardly through the coal in the distillation chamber to distill the said coal bythe heat of the said gaseous mixture.

4. An apparatus of the character described, comprising a gas producing chamber, means for externally heating the chamber, a distillation chamber communicating with the gas producing chamber and adapted to receive gaseous products therefrom, a hollow column member within the distillation chamber defining a vertical suction chamber adapted to be surrounded by coal, a partition extending across the suction chamber and dividing the said chamber into upper and 12 lower compartments, the said compartments being provided with ports communicating with the distillation chamber, a conduit surrounding the distillation chamber and extending above and below the plane of the said partition and com- 125 municating at intervals with the distillation chamber, and means for producing suction through the suction chamber and thence through the distillation and gas producing chambers, said conduit, ports and partition being arranged so as 130 to pass the gas from the producing chamber back and forth through the coal in the distillation chamber before discharge therefrom.

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