Title of Invention

HOT MATERIAL CONVEYOR

Abstract

HOT MATERIAL CONVEYOR A conveyor for hot material comprising a conveying means that is covered over at least a portion of its length by a housing and which is connected to a material delivery means, whereby provided in the housing that covers the conveying means are introduction means for furnishing water to the hot material disposed on the conveying means, is characterized in that the introduction means (17, 23) are disposed exclusively in a section (19) of the conveying means (10) that, in the conveying direction, is remote from the material delivery means (11), and an exhaust means (20, 21) is connected to the material delivery means (11) for the withdrawal of the water vapor generated by the furnishing of water.

Full Text

Description The invention relates to a conveyor for hot material comprising a conveying means that is covered over at least a portion of its length by a housing, and that is connected to a material delivery means, whereby provided in the housing that covers the conveying means are introduction devices for applying water to the hot material that is disposed on the conveying means. A hot material conveyor having the aforementioned features is described in US 5,930,579. To the extent that such a hot material conveyor is used for the conveying and simultaneous cooling of directly reduced iron, especially in the form of pellets produced in a press, suitable measures prevent the hot material, i.e. the hot pellets, from coming into contact with air or oxygen, so that oxidation is prevented during the conveying and cooling process. For this purpose, US 5,930,579 proposes to supply water to the hot material over the entire length of the housed conveyor via suitable introduction devices, so that on the one hand the hot material is cooled off, yet at the same time evaporation of the applied water produces water vapor that in the housing that covers the conveying means forms an inert atmosphere for the hot material, so that an entry of air, and hence of oxygen, is avoided. The known hot material conveyor has the drawback that the supply of water to the hot material is effected over the entire length of the conveying means, therefore also in the immediate vicinity of the material delivery means, in other words at a location at which the hot material has its highest temperature. Due to the thereby occurring, shock-like cooling of the hot material via the water that Is applied immediately following the material delivery means, a mechanical stressing of the hot material results that can lead to impairment of the integrity of the individual constituents of the hot material, in particular of the pellets that are produced, which is a drawback with regard to the further processing of the material. A hot material conveyor having a combined air/water cooling is known from WO 96/23081, according to which, following a dust removal zone, which is connected to a dust withdrawal means, an air cooling zone is provided in which a cooling of the hot material is effected exclusively with the aid of cool air that is pressed by a blower, from below, through the conveyor belt, which for this purpose is permeable to gas, as well as through the hot material bed that is disposed thereon. Following the air cooling zone is a water cooling zone in which water is sprayed onto the hot material bed. To the extent that also in the water cooling zone additional cooling air is pressed from below through the hot material bed, the resulting water vapor rises and together with the cool air, is collected in a withdrawal hood and is withdrawn via a withdrawal means that is disposed at the end of the conveying and cooling section and has a cleaning device. Finally, US 2003/0019548 A1 describes a hot material conveyor having a combined water and water vapor cooling, according to which at the beginning of the cooling section initially only water vapor, and subsequently water as well as water vapor, are together conveyed to the hot material, whereby the water vapor that is introduced, and that additionally results from the spraying-on of the water, flows in the conveying direction of the material and is withdrawn at the end of the conveying and cooling section. It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a hot material conveyor of the aforementioned type that ensures a careful treatment of the hot material. The realization of this object, including advantageous configurations and further developments of the invention, result from the content of the patent claims, which follow this description. The basic concept of the invention is that the introduction means are disposed exclusively in a section of the conveying means that, in the conveying direction, is remote from the material delivery means, and an exhaust means is connected to the material delivery means for the withdrawal of the water vapor that is generated by the furnishing of water. Inasmuch as the supply of water, or also moistened air as a carrier of very finely divided water, to the hot material is effected only at a distance from the material delivery means, the water vapor that is initially produced at a distance from the material delivery means flows counter to the direction of conveying of the hot material upon the conveyor and thereby ensures a careful initial cooling of the hot material; this intentional water vapor stream is brought about by the exhaust means that is connected to the material delivery means or in any case to a region of the conveyor or the housing that directly adjoins the material delivery means. Since the initial cooling speed following the material delivery means is lower due to the poor heat exchange in view of the convective heat transfer in the region of the water vapor stream relative to the evaporative cooling in the region of the immediate water supply, greater temperature differences within the individual material particles or pellets are avoided, so that the material particles or pellets are prevented from breaking off or breaking apart. Pursuant to one embodiment of the invention, the introduction means are embodied as spray nozzles disposed in the housing for direct sprayed-in water. Altematively, the introduction means can be embodied as short feed pipes disposed in the housing for the introduction of a water/air mixture. If pursuant to an embodiment of the invention the material delivery means is integrated into the housing of the hot material conveyor, the entry of air or oxygen is also reliably prevented in this region. Pursuant to one embodiment of the invention, the exhaust means comprises a blower that is connected via an exhaust line to the material delivery means, whereby a dust collector can be disposed upstream of the blower in order to increase the operational reliability of the blower. shown in the drawing are embodiments of the invention, which will be described subsequently. The drawing shows: Fig. 1 a schematic illustration of a conveyor for hot material having hot material feed and material cooling, Fig. 2 shows another embodiment of the subject matter of Figure 1. As can be seen from Figure 1, a conveying means 10 is provided, with the front end of which is associated a material delivery means 11, while a material discharge means 12 is provided at the rear end thereof. The conveying means 10 is covered over its entire length by a housing 13, whereby the material delivery means 11 is integrated into the housing by an inlet housing 14 that is connected to the housing 13. The inlet housing 14 directly adjoins a press or extruder 15, ahead of which is disposed a supply hopper 16 for the material that is to be conveyed, or the hot material. Pellets 25 are pressed in the press 15, for example from directly reduced iron, and the pellets are carried away via the conveying means 10 that is disposed at the outlet end. Provided in a section 19 of the housing 13 that is remote from the material delivery means 11 are spray nozzles 17 for spraying water, so that in the rear region 19 an evaporative cooling is provided by the sprayed-on water. To the extent that water vapor results in this section 19, this water vapor flows in a direction toward the material delivery means 11 via the portion 18 of the conveying means 10 that is disposed upstream of the section 19, whereby this water vapor stream is produced in that connected to the inlet housing 14 of the material delivery means 11 is an exhaust or withdrawal line 20 in which is disposed a blower 21 for producing the required exhaust vacuum. A dust separator or collector 22 is disposed between the inlet housing 14 and the blower 21. The embodiment illustrated in Figure 2 differs from the previously described embodiment only in that instead of the spray nozzles 17, nozzles or short feed pipes 23 are provided in the housing 13 to which are connected conduits via which a water/air mixture is introduced into the housing 13. The water constituents contained in the mixture come into contact with the hot material in the same manner as described in conjunction with Figure 1, so that also with this embodiment water vapor is accordingly generated that produces the desired inert atmosphere in the housing 13. The features of the subject matter disclosed in the preceding description, the patent claims and the drawing can be important individually as well as in any desired combination with one another for realizing the various embodiments of the invention. WE CLAIM : 1. A conveyor for hot material comprising a conveying means that is covered over at least a portion of its length by a housing, and which is connected to a material delivery means, whereby provided in the housing that covers the conveying means are introduction means for furnishing water to the hot material that is disposed on the conveying means, characterized in that the introduction means (17, 23) are disposed exclusively in a section (19) of the conveying means (10) that, in the conveying direction, is remote from the material delivery means (11), and an exhaust means (20, 21) is connected to the material delivery means (11) for the withdrawal of the water vapor generated by the furnishing of water to produce a water vapor stream that is counter to the conveying direction of the material and is directed toward the material delivery means (11). 2. The conveyor for hot material as claimed in claim 1, wherein the introduction means are embodied as spray nozzles (17) disposed in the housing (13). 3. The conveyor for hot material as claimed in claim 1, wherein the introduction means are embodied as short feed pipes (23) disposed in the housing (13) for the introduction of a water/air mixture. 4. The conveyor for hot material as claimed in any one of the claims 1 to 3, wherein the material delivery means (11) is integrated into the housing (13) of the hot material conveyor. 5. The conveyor for hot material as claimed in one of the claims 1 to 4, wherein the exhaust means comprises a blower (21) that is connected via an exhaust line (20) to the material delivery means (11). 6. The conveyor for hot material as claimed in claim 5, wherein a dust collector (22) is disposed upstream of the blower (21).

Documents:

1944-chenp-2005 abstract duplicate.pdf

1944-chenp-2005 abstract.pdf

1944-chenp-2005 claims duplicate.pdf

1944-chenp-2005 claims.pdf

1944-chenp-2005 correspondence-others.pdf

1944-chenp-2005 correspondence-po.pdf

1944-chenp-2005 description (complete) duplicate.pdf

1944-chenp-2005 description (complete).pdf

1944-chenp-2005 drawings duplicate.pdf

1944-chenp-2005 drawings.pdf

1944-chenp-2005 form-1.pdf

1944-chenp-2005 form-18.pdf

1944-chenp-2005 form-26.pdf

1944-chenp-2005 form-3.pdf

1944-chenp-2005 form-5.pdf

1944-chenp-2005 pct.pdf

1944-chenp-2005 petition.pdf