Pressurized vessel internal material conveying apparatus and method
A pressurized vessel configured to convey a material comprises a number of generally rectangular-shaped baffles, each having at least one curved edge coupled to an interior wall of the vessel along a length of the vessel. The pressurized vessel includes a plurality of generally triangular-shaped baffles that have at least one curved edge coupled to an interior wall of the vessel. The other edges of the plurality of generally triangular-shaped baffles are coupled to separate generally rectangular-shaped baffles that are oriented at a 45-degree angle from the generally triangular-shaped baffle. The coupling of the plurality of generally triangular-shaped baffles and plurality of generally rectangular-shaped baffles conveys material within the pressurized vessel, as the vessel is rotated.
The present invention generally relates to pressurized vessels and, more particularly, to an apparatus and method for conveying material within a pressurized vessel.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONAt least one method of generating electricity involves burning coal to generate heat, which transforms water to steam that is then routed under pressure through the turbines that produce electrical energy. After hydroelectric dams, coal-fired power plants represent one of the oldest methods of generating electricity.
The incineration of coal is not a perfectly efficient process, meaning that the effluent from a boiler where coal is burned typically contains chemical agents that are harmful to people and the environment. Agents such as ozone (smog), carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, NOx, such as nitrogen dioxide, lead, and particulate soot may be released into the environment through the coal-burning process. In recent years, governments have enacted laws to control and greatly reduce the amount of pollutants such as these that can be released into the environment.
Because of these changes in environmental laws, some types of coal have become disfavored or even barred as fuel options, as the chemical compositions of these coals are such that their incineration actually results in a higher concentration of undesirable chemical agents. For example, some types of coals contain high sulfur content levels, thereby resulting in a much higher release concentration of chemical pollutants such as sulfur dioxide when burned in a coal incinerator. Thus, some of these types of coals cannot be used for at least this reason. So the economic effect on coal mining industries in locations where such undesirable coal is found can be and in some instances has been catastrophic. There is a need then for a process to make these types of fuel available again for combustion in power generation and other applications.
Likewise, a similar issue exists with common garbage. Landfills throughout the world are filling at alarming rates with residential and commercial garbage. With exploding populations and decreasing landfill space, garbage disposal may soon reach crisis levels.
Additionally, disposal of garbage presents a host of environmental issues as well. Even common household garbage may contain harmful liquid and solid chemicals that can damage the environment once deposited in a landfill. Much of today's garbage takes a great amount of time to degrade. A substantial amount of garbage is not even biodegradable, which means that it will forever be in the landfill.
As one solution to the ever-increasing problem of garbage disposal, garbage incinerators have been developed to reduce the massive raw garbage to mere ashes for burial in a landfill. In theory, this concept solves at least the space issue with landfills, as garbage can be incinerated to a fraction of its original size. However, the same problem exists with garbage as with the coal discussed above, and perhaps even more so.
Garbage can be comprised of practically anything, which when burned may actually be more harmful to man and the environment than prior to incineration. Many compositions, whether liquid or solid, release harmful pollutants when burned, thereby limiting the type of materials that may be incinerated at a landfill. But the process of separating materials for incineration is usually difficult and time consuming, which increases the costs of garbage incineration to the point that it is not cost efficient anymore as compared to simply burying materials in the landfill. Plus, human operators may commonly misidentify certain materials for incineration so that harmful materials are unintentionally incinerated, which still results in the release of toxic chemicals, gases, and pollutants into the environment.
Solutions have arisen for treating coal, garbage, and other combustible materials prior to incineration so as to reduce the release of harmful agents during incineration. As one nonlimiting example, materials such as coal or garbage may be treated with chemical compounds under pressure. By mixing the compounds with the material under pressure, the material can be rendered combustible according to government restrictions.
However, a problem exists with vessels that mix the chemical compounds with the materials. Mixing the chemical compounds with the materials added to such vessels is accomplished under specific pressures and for specific durations. If materials are allowed to remain within the vessel for too long or too short a period of time, the resulting material output from the vessel may not posses the desired combustion qualities and characteristics that reduce harmful pollutants into the environment.
Moreover, if the material is not adequately mixed within the vessel, portions of the outputted material may be adequately treated while other portions may not. More specifically, if the material is not stirred or agitated so that all surface areas are exposed to the added chemical compounds, a substantial portion of the material may escape treatment. So there is a heretofore unaddressed need for an apparatus and method for conveying material within a pressurized vessel according to a predetermined manner to enable the treatment of materials therein.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGSMany aspects of this disclosure can be better understood with reference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principals, as disclosed herein. Moreover, the drawings like reference numerals that designate corresponding parts throughout the several views.
Briefly described, a pressurized vessel is disclosed that is configured to move a material internally along the length of the vessel. The pressurized vessel comprises a number of generally rectangular-shaped baffles, each having at least one curved edge coupled to an interior wall of the vessel along a length of the vessel. The pressurized vessel includes a plurality of generally triangular-shaped baffles that have at least one curved edge and are coupled to an interior wall of the vessel. The other edges of the plurality of generally triangular-shaped baffles are coupled to separate generally rectangular-shaped baffles that are oriented at a 45-degree angle (as a nonlimiting example) from the generally triangular-shaped baffle. The coupling of the plurality of generally triangular-shaped baffles and plurality of generally rectangular-shaped baffles moves material within the pressurized vessel as the vessel is rotated.
In at least one embodiment, the baffles are oriented 45 degrees from each other so that the baffles stretch internally along the interior length of the pressurized vessel 10. As discussed herein and as one of ordinary skill in the art would know, the relationship with the various baffles may be orchestrated at various angles and constructs. More specifically, this disclosure is not limited to the embodiment wherein the baffles are oriented within a relationship of 45 degrees to each other. As discussed in more detail below and as an additional non-limiting example, the baffles may be set at a greater or lesser angle with respect to each other (i.e., 30° or 60°) so as to achieve a different movement operation within the interior space of pressurized vessel 10.
As shown in
The generally rectangular baffle 21 is coupled to a triangular baffle 23. (Baffle 23 is not visible in this diagram; however, please refer to
Baffle 25 is thereafter coupled to generally triangular baffle 27, which is similar to baffle 23 but which is not visible in
Generally triangular baffle 31 is coupled to the generally rectangular baffle 33. This baffle 33 has edge 34 that is coupled to the rounded inner wall of pressurized vessel 10.
As similarly described above, baffles 38 and 43 are generally rectangular-shaped baffles and baffles 35, 41, and 45 are triangular-shaped baffles, which are similar to baffle 31. As also described above, edge 44 on baffle 43 and edge 47 on the generally triangular baffle 45 are coupled to the inner rounded surface of the pressurized vessel 10.
As shown in
As shown in
As stated above, the internal area of the pressurized vessel 10 includes various generally rectangular and generally triangular shaped baffles coupled to each other so as to form a thread or screw for conveying material within the vessel, as the vessel 10 is rotated. For this reason, the various rectangular and triangular-shaped baffles are coupled to each other at their respective end-sections in an angled fashion so as to create a continuous wall surface within the interior of pressurized vessel 10 that pushes material laterally along the length of pressurized vessel 10.
This 45-degree angle between the baffles 31 and 28 is depicted in a top surface view in
As indicated above, one of ordinary skill in the art would know that the angled relationship of baffles 28 and 31 (and all additional baffles of the pressurized vessel of
As a non-limiting example, the amount of time to treat coal within the pressurized vessel 10 may be a different for treating another material, such as garbage. For this reason, moving material within the pressurized vessel 10 may be done at different rates, which may be accomplished by increasing or decreasing the angled relationship between the baffles, as shown in
Generally triangular baffle 74 is coupled to a generally rectangular baffle 75, which is again turned 45 degrees from the orientation of the baffle 74. More specifically, the visible surface of generally triangular 74 and the visible surface of generally rectangular baffle 75 have a 225-degree angular relationship, which reflects the 45-degree turn, as also depicted in
In like fashion as described above, baffle 75 is coupled to generally triangular baffle 77, which is coupled to rectangular baffle 79, which itself is further coupled to generally triangular baffle 82. At this point, the internal baffles of pressurized vessel 70 constitute approximately one rotation along the length of the outer shell 71.
From there, generally triangular baffle 82 is coupled to a generally rectangular baffle 84, which is itself also connected to a generally triangular baffle 85. Baffle 85 is then coupled to generally rectangular baffle 88. Generally triangular baffle 91 is coupled to the generally rectangular baffle 88 and also generally rectangular baffle 94. Generally triangular baffle 97 is coupled to generally rectangular baffle 94 and completes a second rotation within the length pressurized vessel 70.
Generally rectangular baffles 101, 107, and 111 are coupled by generally triangular baffles 105 and 109 to constitute at least a portion of a third rotation along the interior length of pressurized vessel 70. Thus, this view shown in
Pressurized vessel 118 of
In
In
By rotating the entire pressurized vessel with the baffles coupled to the interior walls of the vessel 118, material may be conveyed laterally within the pressured vessel along the length from one end to the other without any internal moving parts. During this of lateral movement of material 125, material 125 may be saturated or otherwise treated with various chemicals and other reagents so as to change the chemical properties of material 125 for further operations, such as incineration as described above.
It should be noted, however, that the relationships of the various baffles within pressurized vessel body 118 may be altered or constructed at different angled relationships so as to move the material 125 along the lateral length of pressurized vessel 118 at different rates per rotation. As also described above, various materials 125 may result in different baffled orientations due to the time desired for chemical reaction between material 125 and other inserted compounds.
It should be emphasized that the above-described embodiments of the present disclosure, particularly, any “preferred” embodiments, are merely possible examples of implementations, merely set forth for a clear understanding of the principles disclosed herein. Many variations and modifications may be made to the above-described embodiment(s) of the disclosure without departing substantially from the spirit and principles of the invention. All such modifications and variations are intended to be included herein within the scope of this disclosure and protected by the following claims.
Claims
1. A pressurized vessel configured to convey a material within the vessel, comprising:
- a plurality of generally rectangular-shaped baffles having at least one curved edge coupled to an interior wall of the vessel such that the length of the generally rectangular-shaped baffles at least partially extends laterally along a portion of the length of the vessel; and
- a plurality of generally triangular-shaped baffles each having at least one curved edge coupled to an interior wall of the vessel, the other edges coupled to separate generally rectangular-shaped baffles that are oriented at a 45 degree angle from the generally triangular-shaped baffle, wherein the coupling of the plurality of generally triangular-shaped baffles and plurality of generally rectangular-shaped baffles conveys material within the pressurized vessel as the pressurized vessel is rotated.
2. The vessel of claim 1, wherein each generally triangular-shaped baffle is positioned perpendicularly to the length of the vessel.
3. The vessel of claim 1, wherein each generally rectangular-shaped baffle includes a flat bar section on a non-curved portion that is perpendicular to the remaining portion of the generally rectangular-shaped baffle.
4. The vessel of claim 1, wherein the pressurized vessel includes a door proximate to an end of the pressurized vessel and a first generally rectangular-shaped baffle within the pressurized vessel coupled to an opposite side of the interior wall of the pressurized vessel from the door.
5. The vessel of claim 4, wherein material deposited into the pressurized vessel is initially moved by the first generally rectangular-shaped baffle toward an end of the pressurized vessel opposite from the door.
6. The vessel of claim 4, wherein the first generally rectangular-shaped baffle is coupled to a first generally triangular-shaped baffle positioned at an angle of 45 degrees from the orientation of the first generally rectangular-shaped baffle, and wherein the first generally triangular-shaped baffle is coupled to a second generally rectangular-shaped baffle positioned at an angle of 45 degrees from the orientation of the first generally triangular-shaped baffle.
7. The vessel of claim 1, wherein the plurality of generally triangular-shaped baffles and plurality of generally rectangular-shaped baffles are constructed of steel.
8. The vessel of claim 1, wherein the curved edge of each of the plurality of generally rectangular-shaped baffles is an arc.
9. The vessel of claim 1, wherein the curved edge of each of the plurality of generally triangular-shaped baffles is an arc.
10. A method for transferring a material within a pressurized vessel from a first end of the pressurized vessel to a second end of the pressurized vessel, comprising the steps of:
- loading a material into an interior portion of the pressurized vessel proximate to the first end;
- rotating the pressurized vessel about an axis extending along a length of the pressurized vessel so that a first of a plurality of generally rectangular fins positioned on an interior surface of the pressurized vessel along a portion of the length of the pressurized vessel moves the material in a direction toward the second end of the pressurized vessel;
- rotating the pressurized vessel so that a first of a plurality of generally triangular fins coupled to the a first generally rectangular fin contacts the material, the first generally triangular fin positioned at a 45 degree angle respective to the first generally rectangular fin; and
- rotating the pressurized vessel so that the material is moved toward the second end of the pressurized vessel according to an alternating sequence of generally triangular fins and generally rectangular fin coupled at 45 degree angles to the interior surface of the pressurized vessel.
11. The method of claim 10, wherein each of the plurality of generally triangular fins are coupled to the interior surface of the pressurized vessel at an angle that is perpendicular to the length of the pressurized vessel.
12. The method of claim 10, wherein each of the plurality of generally rectangular fins includes an arced edge that is coupled to the interior surface of the pressurized vessel.
13. The method of claim 12, wherein each of the plurality of generally rectangular fins are positioned to the interior surface at an angle that is not perpendicular to the length of the pressurized vessel.
14. The method of claim 10, wherein each of the plurality of generally triangular fins includes an arced edge that is coupled to the interior surface of the pressurized vessel.
15. The method of claim 10, wherein each of the plurality of generally rectangular fins includes a flat bar coupled to a straight edge of the generally rectangular fins forming a tee.
16. A pressurized vessel system configured to convey a material within the vessel, comprising:
- a cylindrical vessel having a closable opening configured to receive material;
- a plurality of generally rectangular baffles having an arced edge and positioned at various points on an interior surface of the cylindrical vessel at angles not perpendicular to the length of the cylindrical vessel; and
- a plurality of generally triangular baffles having an arced edge positioned at various points on the interior surface of the cylindrical vessel perpendicularly to the length of the cylindrical vessel, wherein one or more of the plurality of generally triangular baffles is coupled to a generally rectangular baffle at a first straight edge and a another generally rectangular baffle at a second straight edge so that the first and second generally rectangular baffles are oriented at the same angle respective to a plane of the one or more of the plurality of generally triangular baffles.
17. The method of claim 16, wherein the first and second generally rectangular baffles are oriented at an angle 45 degrees respective to a plane of the one or more of the plurality of generally triangular baffles.
18. The method of claim 16, wherein the first and second generally rectangular baffles are oriented at an angle 60 degrees respective to a plane of the one or more of the plurality of generally triangular baffles.
19. The method of claim 16, wherein the first and second generally rectangular baffles are oriented at an angle 30 degrees respective to a plane of the one or more of the plurality of generally triangular baffles.
Type: Application
Filed: Mar 2, 2005
Publication Date: Sep 7, 2006
Inventor: Jimmy Freeman (Jasper, AL)
Application Number: 11/070,524
International Classification: F23G 5/02 (20060101);