WO2006039933A1

WO2006039933A1 - Apparatus for the treatment of particulate material

Info

Publication number: WO2006039933A1
Application number: PCT/EP2004/011232
Authority: WO
Inventors: Herbert Huettlin
Original assignee: Herbert Huettlin
Priority date: 2004-10-08
Filing date: 2004-10-08
Publication date: 2006-04-20
Also published as: RU2007116875A; CN101094716A; CN100594970C; RU2381056C2

Abstract

Disclosed is an apparatus (10) for treating particulate material, comprising a process chamber (16) which is provided with a bottom (18) that encompasses passage holes and through which the process air (21) can be introduced into the process chamber (16). In order to create a compact design, a device (60) for conditioning the process air (16) and circulating the process air (16) in the circuit is integrated into the apparatus (10).

Description

Apparatus for the treatment of particulate material

The invention relates to an apparatus for the treatment of particulate material, comprising a process chamber for receiving and treating the material, which has a bottom provided with passage openings, through which process air can be introduced into the process chamber, and with an outlet for discharging of process air from the process chamber.

Such an apparatus is known, for example, from DE 100 54 557 A1.

These apparatuses are used in particular to granulate or coate a particle-like material. A gaseous medium, so-called process air, is introduced into the process chamber via the bottom and enters the process chamber through the numerous openings, usually in the form of slots between overlapping guide plates, approximately horizontally. It has become known to design the floor differently, as is known, for example, from DE 199 04 147 A1, DE 102 02 582 C1 or DE 102 48 116 B3. The material to be treated is fluidized by the process air, the vortex characteristic is dependent on the design of the soil. For example, if the process air still imposed a certain circumferential component, gradually forming a toroidally encircling eddy current ring.

If larger agglomerates are to be formed from dust-fine powder, ie if the product is to be granulated, a sticky medium is fed to the toroidal ring via nozzles. In DE 102 48 116 C1, for example, obliquely upward-pointing spray nozzles are inserted in the wall of the container which encloses the process chamber. When coating, an already existing larger body should be applied as evenly as possible to a coating layer, that is to be sprayed on.

Due to gravity, the good particles swirled by the process air fall back to the ground, thus separating themselves from the process air which flows out of the process chamber at the upper outflow end via an outlet.

The process air is introduced via an inlet in an inflow chamber arranged below the floor and then penetrates through the numerous openings through the floor into the process chamber.

After leaving the process chamber, possibly after flowing through filters arranged at the upper end of the process chamber, the process air is removed from the apparatus and worked up. In conventional apparatus, separate so-called mono-bloc units are provided, which are arranged in spaces away from the apparatus, usually next to or above, and are connected to the apparatus via piping systems.

One speaks in such cases of supply monobloc units that are responsible for conditioning the process air and exhaust monobloc units that provide for the environmentally sound disposal of process exhaust air. The supplied process air is heated accordingly and brought to a certain drying / moisture content and moved into a Durchströmmaß suitable for process control.

Depending on the nature of the treatment of the material, the discharged process air moisture, in particular solvents must be withdrawn.

The well-known type of interaction between the actual apparatus, ie the fluidized-bed granulating and coating plant (also called WSG) and the necessary supply air monobloc and exhaust monobloc units requires a lot of space and space. This often creates long airways via supply pipes and resulting large internal surfaces that are cleaned from case to case or otherwise to maintain.

Since such devices are widely used in the pharmaceutical industry, these lines are made of high-quality metallic materials, which represent a relatively large metallic mass, which preclude a rapid change of process air temperatures, since this large mass is a sluggish system , Air-conveying pipelines are rarely clearly visible on their Innenober¬ surface, so that their cleaning can be controlled only with technically complex integrated cleaning systems. This is referred to as "cleaning in place" or "washing in place" facilities.

Rugged plant systems also require relatively large expenditures for sound and heat insulation, resulting in considerable costs for the construction and operation of such an apparatus.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to remedy this situation and to improve an apparatus of the type mentioned above in such a way that cost-effective process management is possible.

According to the invention the object is achieved in that in the apparatus, a device for conditioning the process air and the circulation of the process air is integrated in the circuit.

As a result of this measure, the established principle of monobloc construction, which is remote from the apparatus, has now been resolved and essential treatments of the process air are carried out directly in the apparatus, namely the conditioning of the process air and the circulation in the apparatus in the circuit.

Due to this compact construction in the sense of integration of the necessary components into the apparatus results in gerin¬ ger space and space requirements. At the same time, lower masses of components are necessary, which is synonymous with faster temperature and control speeds. The compact design also leads to lower noise and heat emissions. There are fewer surfaces available that come in contact with the process air, thus, the surfaces to be cleaned are much lower. Overall, lower costs for the entire system and also lower energy requirements result due to significantly lower energy losses.

In a further embodiment of the invention, the device for conditioning is arranged around the process chamber.

This measure has the advantage that a very compact construction results, which at the same time opens up the possibility of obtaining simple access to the components of the device for conditioning from the outside. This compact design also allows appropriate sound and heat insulation measures in the simplest way.

In a further embodiment of the invention, the device for conditioning has a condenser and an air heater.

The effluent from the process chamber process air usually contains solvent of the treatment medium, which is applied in the process chamber to the estate, in particular water and organic solvents. Furthermore, it is not excluded that, despite the presence of filters, gaseous or other smallest liquid droplets are entrained by the process air and thus represent a pollutant load on the process exhaust air. In the condenser these components can be condensed out and separated from the process exhaust air. The arrangement of the condenser directly in the apparatus thus accounts for lines for supplying the polluted process air to remote units containing the condenser.

The arrangement of the air heater in the apparatus allows a warming of the process air to process temperature immediately after it has left the condenser. Thus, both the cooling process to condense entrained pollutants and the subsequent reheating to Prozesstempe¬ temperature energy balance technically favorable.

In a further embodiment, a filter arrangement is provided to remove solids from process air flowing out of the process chamber.

This measure, which is known per se, has the advantage that the process air is freed of entrained solid particles. The filter assembly may consist of known dynamic filter systems that retain even the finest particles that are periodically detached from the filter by pressure surges and returned to the process chamber. These may be filter cartridges, filter cartridges or else so-called clown-collar filters, which are arranged at the upper end region of the process chamber.

In a further embodiment of the invention, the filter arrangement is arranged in terms of flow in front of the device for conditioning.

This measure has the advantage that the process air freed by the filter assembly of entrained solid particles before this process air reaches the condenser. This rules out that the surface of the condenser is contaminated by this entrained solid particles, so they are deposited on the surface.

In a further embodiment of the invention, the filter arrangement is likewise arranged around the process chamber.

This measure has the advantage that, despite existing filters, a compact construction of the entire apparatus arises, and that here too the filter arrangements are very easily accessible, namely, for example, from the outside.

In a further embodiment of the invention, a fan for circulating the process air is arranged under the floor.

This measure has the advantage that the arrangement under the floor represents a point at which such a fan can be accommodated favorably, since such floors usually have a circular outer contour anyway.

In a further embodiment of the invention, the ventilator is arranged fluidically between condenser and air heater.

This measure has the advantage that the process air which flows to the fan is already freed of all pollutants and only has to be passed by the latter to the air heater and brought to the bottom. This allows a particularly effective control of the conditioning of the process air in terms of quantity and / or heat content. In a further embodiment of the invention, at least one nozzle is provided, by means of which a treatment medium for the material can be sprayed into the process chamber.

This measure, which is known per se, means that the treatment medium can be introduced into the process chamber via the nozzles at a suitable point.

In a further embodiment of the invention, spray air for spraying the treatment medium can be withdrawn via a line from the process air and fed to the nozzle.

This measure now has the considerable advantage that a self-contained gas-tight system can be created. In the system, a so-called zero-sum air quantity is produced in that the amount of air required for spraying the treatment medium through the nozzle is branched off from the process air and supplied to the nozzle. This allows a particularly compact design with a gas-tight outward guidance of both the process air and the spray air for the nozzle. Since the nozzle sprays into the process chamber, the quantities of gas sprayed from the nozzle mix with the process air, can be worked up or conditioned together, in other words be freed from solvents or derglei¬ chen and then again as "pure-spray air "are fed to the nozzle.

In a further embodiment, a compressor is provided for compaction of the spray air. This measure has the advantage that the control of the spray air pressure or the amount of spray air can be controlled individually by means of this compressor. The compressor can also be an integral part of the apparatus, but can also be arranged outside, since the treatment medium must necessarily be fed with any substances from the outside, in particular the substance which is to be supplied to the material to be treated.

In a further embodiment of the invention, an annular space is arranged around the process chamber, in which at least parts of the filter arrangement and / or the device for conditioning are arranged.

This measure has the advantage that a very compact schlan¬ ke construction is achieved in which the components are arranged easily accessible around the process chamber around.

In a further embodiment of the invention, the process chamber has a standing cylindrical wall which is closed off by the bottom, an air heater and the fan are arranged underneath the floor, and an annular space around the wall contains annular filters and a downstream ring filter miger capacitor arranged.

In this special embodiment, an optimal adaptation of the conditioning device for the process air to the geometry of the process chamber takes place, so that a particularly compact, effectively constructing and therefore also inexpensive to operate device results. In a further embodiment of the invention, the process chamber has a cover at an upper outflow end, which serves for deflecting the process air into the device for conditioning.

The lid thus serves not only as a conclusion and possibly also as an observation window for the processes in the process chamber, but at the same time provides the diversion of the process air flowing from the process chamber into the further processing or conditioning devices, such as Filter, Konserser etc. dar.

In a further embodiment of the invention, a sieve is arranged at the outflow end of the process chamber. In particular, it is advantageous to design this screen as a vibrating screen.

This measure has the advantage that a separation of solid particles from the outflowing process air is possible. Due to the design as a vibrating screen, the particles fall off again from the vibrating sieve and back into the process chamber. These are thus available for treatment again. The design as a flat screen promotes the compact construction of the apparatus.

It is understood that the above-mentioned and below to be explained features can be used not only in the specified combination, but also in other combinations or in isolation, without departing from the scope of the present invention. The invention will be described and explained in more detail with reference to a selected Ausführungs¬ example in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Show it:

1 shows a vertical section through an apparatus according to the invention with an integrated device for conditioning the process air and for circulating it,

2 shows a cross section through the apparatus of Figure 1, and

FIG. 3 is a highly schematic representation of a schematic diagram of the apparatus according to the invention with a number of additional auxiliary devices for supplying the nozzle.

An apparatus for the treatment of particulate material shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 is denoted by the reference numeral 10 in its entirety.

As is apparent in particular from the sectional view of FIG. 1, the apparatus 10 has a container 12 which has an inner hollow cylindrical wall 14. The wall 14 delimits a process chamber 16, which is closed off by a bottom 18.

The bottom 18 is composed of a series of seven stacked ring plates, which partially overlap one another, so that slots are formed between the ring plates which form annular passage openings through the bottom. In the plan view of Figure 2 is representative of such a ring plate designated by the reference numeral 17, a entspresponding annular slot with the reference numeral 19th

In the middle of the bottom 18, a nozzle 20 is accommodated, which is designed as a ring-gap nozzle, wherein the annular gap of the nozzle 20, which is not designated here, runs circumferentially and thus the nozzle 20 sprays annularly in the ground plane.

The detailed design and the operation of such a floor is described, for example, in DE 102 48 116 C1, to which reference is expressly made.

Such a spray nozzle with a spray angle of 180 ° and a wrap angle of 360 ° is described, for example, in DE 102 32 863 A1, to which reference is expressly made.

The combination of such a floor with such a spray nozzle is also described in the international patent application PCT / EP 2004/010096 of 10.09.2004.

The inner wall 14 is surrounded at a distance from an outer wall 22, whereby an annular space 24 is formed between the walls 14 and 22. The outer wall 22 projects slightly above the wall 14 in height and is closed by a cover 26.

A filter assembly 28 includes a vibrating screen 30 that covers the top of the wall 14. In the upper region of the annular space 24, two annular V-filters 32 and 33 of two different filter classes are arranged.

The vibrating screen 30 serves as exhaust air pre-filter, the V-filter 32 as Abluftfeinfilter and the underlying V-filter 33 as Abluftfeinstfilter.

Below the filter arrangement 28, a two-stage condenser 35 is arranged in the annular space 24, which can be acted upon via connections 37, 38 with a cooling medium 40. Medium depending on the nature of the auszukondensierenden substances, for example water and Lösungs¬ such as acetone, isopropanol, ethanol etc., are An¬ connections 37 and 38 cooling medium 40 supplied in the range from -40 ⁰ C to + 5 ° C.

The inner wall 14 terminates at a distance in front of a pedestal 41, which represents a lower end of the outer wall 22. As a result, an annular opening 42 is present. In the region of this opening 42, a mist eliminator 43 is arranged, which stands above a collecting trough 44, which is connected to an outlet 45, so that condensed liquids can be fed to a collecting vessel 46 (see FIG. 3).

In a space 47 below the bottom 18 and within the wall 14, a fan 48 is arranged, which acts as a radial fan. This suction centrifugal high-performance fan is operated via a hydraulic, pneumatic or electric drive. Centrally centrally above the fan 48 is the nozzle 20, which is deductible down from the bottom 18 of the apparatus 10. The approximately cylindrical body of the central nozzle 20, which extends below the bottom 18, is surrounded by a pipe 51 at a distance.

Around the tube 51 around an air heater 52 is arranged, which is supplied via terminals 54, 55 to the outside with a heating medium 57. The heating media can be hot water, hot water or steam. It can also be operated with electrical energy.

In the space between the outside of the body of the nozzle 20 and the tube 51 flaps 50 are arranged.

Between the fan 48 and the air heater 52 more flaps 49 are arranged.

Depending on the position of the flaps, more or less process air which is moved by the fan 58 in the direction of the air heater 52 is fed directly to the air heater 52 or fed to the lower side of the bottom 18 in the bypass between the air heater 52 and the body of the nozzle 20. A control, which is not described in more detail here, permits a corresponding adjustment of the flaps.

As can be seen from the sectional views, the walls 14, 22 are provided with an insulation 59 and an insulation 61, respectively, so that the condenser 35 is thermally isolated from the air heater 52 and vice versa.

The arranged in the annular space 24 condenser 35, the fan 48 and the air heater 52 form parts of a device 60 for Conditioning process air 21 and circulating the process air 21 in the circuit.

In order to form a self-contained circulatory system, process air 21, after it has penetrated the droplet separator 43, is discharged from the apparatus 10 via an intake line 63, as can be seen from FIG.

The process air 21 withdrawn via the intake line 63 is compressed by a compressor 73 and returned to the nozzle 20 as spray air via two lines 74, 75. The treatment medium 76 to be sprayed from the nozzle 20 is treated in a mixing tank 67 with a stirrer 69 and fed to the nozzle 20 via a pump 71.

As already mentioned above, the nozzle 20 is provided with an annular gap nozzle which sprays the treatment medium, in cooperation with the spray air, to a flat planar spray surface running approximately horizontally at a distance above the uppermost guide plate of the base 20.

The arrangement of the stacked ring plates 17 is such that the process air 21 exits in a radially inwardly directed flow is deflected from the inside of the wall 14 upwards, the entrained thereby entraining Gutteilchen, which then then again in the middle of the Head of the nozzle 20 fall back, as shown in Figure 1 by the corresponding movement arrows.

In the process chamber 16, therefore, the particles to be treated are separated by the process particles passing through the bottom 18. air 21 swirls, for example, to a toroidal umlaufen¬ the ring. The evenly sprayed sprayfill treats the material to be treated extremely evenly.

The process air 21 emerges from the upper end of the process chamber 16 and thereby passes through the vibrating screen 30, whereby coarse entrained solid particles are separated and shaken off again by the arrangement as a vibrating screen from these or from the underside thereof and the process chamber 16 be returned.

From the bottom of the lid 26, the process exhaust air 21 is deflected vertically downward and introduced evenly into the annular space 24. It flows in the annular space 24 from top to bottom, flows through the first V-filter 32 and the second V-filter 33, whereby even the finest entrained solid particles are filtered out.

The process exhaust air then passes through the two-stage condenser 35, by means of which both water and other solvents are condensed out. The condensate is collected in the bottom-side collection trough 44.

The droplet separators 43 ensure that even fine entrained droplets are separated off.

The reclaimed process exhaust 21 now flows into the space 47 and is freed of any impurities, be it from solids or liquid particles. A part is sucked in via the suction line 63 and, as described above, fed via the compressor 33 to the nozzle 20 as spray air. The process air 21 is supplied via the fan 48 to the air heater 52, wherein the process air 21, a corresponding heat content is transmitted.

Depending on the position of the flaps 49, 50, more or less process air 21 is led directly over the air heater 52.

The now heated process air is supplied to the underside of the bottom 18, passes through the slots 19 in the ground and forms an initially approximately horizontally oriented air cushion, on which the toroidal moving, highly fluidized ring is located on entangled Gutteilchen.

It can be seen from FIG. 1 and FIG. 3 that via a connection 65, which is connected to a fan 77, downstream of the activated carbon filter 79, a certain negative pressure of approximately 100 Pa can be permanently maintained in the system.

In the system itself, there is a so-called zero-clearance air quantity, that is, the process air withdrawn from the inner circuit via the suction line 63 is again supplied as a spray air through the nozzle, so that no Prozeßluft¬ quantities leave the apparatus or this must be supplied from the outside. Since a certain negative pressure is to be maintained in such systems relative to the outside, there is the fan 77, called a sniffer fan, which is capable of producing the system vacuum of 100 Pa and at the same time the pack of the activated carbon filter 70 or its To overcome resistance. In practice, the system is completely gas-tight, the fan ventilator 77 always works against the negative pressure, but does not convey any amount of air, because there is no leakage.

The filling of the process chamber 16 with the material to be treated can be carried out from above with the lid 26 open and the vibrating sieve 30 lifted off.

The emptying of the treated material takes place radially or tangentially via a connection 82, which has a radially or tangentially arranged closure stopper 84, which can be manually or mechanized / automatically pulled out or inserted again. The product of treated particles of good that moves radially and tangentially through the process air 21 via the bottom 18 automatically finds its way to the discharge nozzle 82 into a corresponding receiving vessel, not shown here in detail.

The illustrated arrangement also allows a very simple cleaning of the entire interior of the system.

It is possible to flood the entire interior with a rinsing / cleaning fluid and to circulate it by moving the fan 48 relatively slowly, ie, to achieve a sort of washing machine effect.

For easy accessibility to the parts of the device 60 which are accommodated in the annular space 24, it is possible to raise the entire outer wall 22, or to form this outer wall 22 as doors which can be moved upwards as segments.

Claims

claims

1. Apparatus for the treatment of particulate material, comprising a process chamber (16) for receiving and treating the material, which has a bottom (18) provided with passage openings, through which process air (21) can be introduced into the process chamber (16), and with an outlet for removing process air from the process chamber (16), characterized in that a device (60) for conditioning the process air and circulating the process air in the circuit is integrated in the apparatus (10).

2. Apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the device (60) for conditioning around the Prozeß¬ chamber (16) is arranged around.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the device (60) for conditioning a Kon- denser (35) and an air heater (52).

4. Apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized ge indicates that a filter assembly (28) is provided to remove solids from the process chamber (16) ab¬ flowing process air (21).

5. Apparatus according to claim 4, characterized in that filters (30, 32, 33) of the filter assembly (28) are arranged strömungs¬ technically in front of the device (60) for conditioning the process air.

6. Apparatus according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that the filter arrangement (28) is also arranged around the process chamber (16) around.

7. Apparatus according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized ge indicates that under the bottom (18) a fan (48) for circulating the process air (21) is arranged.

8. Apparatus according to claim 7, characterized in that the fan (48) is arranged fluidically between the condenser (35) and air heater (52).

9. Apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized ge indicates that at least one nozzle (20) is provided, by means of a treatment medium (76) for the material in the process chamber (16) is einsprühbar.

10. Apparatus according to claim 9, characterized in that spray air for spraying the treatment medium (76) via a line (63) of the process air (21) is removable and the nozzle (20) can be fed.

11. Apparatus according to claim 10, characterized in that a compressor (73) for compressing the spray air is vorgese¬ hen.

12. Apparatus according to one of claims 1 to 11, characterized ge indicates that around the process chamber (16) around an annular space (24) is arranged, the at least parts of a filter assembly (28) and / or device (60) for Kondi- tioning.

13. Apparatus according to claim 12, characterized in that the process chamber (16) has a standing cylindrical wall (14) which is closed by the bottom (18), that under the bottom (18) an air heater (52) and the fan (48) are arranged, and that in a Ring¬ space (24) around the wall (14) annular filter (32, 33) and a nachgestalteter annular condenser (35) are arranged.

14. Apparatus according to one of claims 1 to 13, characterized ge indicates that at an upper outlet end a cover (26) is provided, which serves for the deflection of the process air (21) in the device (60) for conditioning the Zessluft process ,

15. Apparatus according to claim 14, characterized in that at the outflow end of the process chamber (16) a sieve (30) is arranged ange¬.

16. Apparatus according to claim 15, characterized in that the sieve is designed as a vibrating screen (30).