Patents by Inventor John F. Bolles
John F. Bolles has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
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Patent number: 9422518Abstract: A reactor apparatus including: an internal mixing chamber including a first chamber section having a cross-sectional area expanding from a biomass inlet to the internal mixing chamber to the a second chamber section; the second chamber section having a substantially uniform internal cross-sectional area from the opposite end of the first chamber section to a discharge end of the mixing chamber; the biomass inlet is coupled to a source of pre-treated biomass external to the reactor vessel, and a rotating mixing device in the internal mixing chamber and coaxial with an axis of the first chamber section.Type: GrantFiled: October 14, 2011Date of Patent: August 23, 2016Assignee: Andritz Inc.Inventors: Bertil Stromberg, John F. Bolles, Thomas Pschorn, Peter Mraz
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Publication number: 20130224852Abstract: A reactor apparatus including: an internal mixing chamber including a first chamber section having a cross-sectional area expanding from a biomass inlet to the internal mixing chamber to the a second chamber section; the second chamber section having a substantially uniform internal cross-sectional area from the opposite end of the first chamber section to a discharge end of the mixing chamber; the biomass inlet is coupled to a source of pre-treated biomass external to the reactor vessel, and a rotating mixing device in the internal mixing chamber and coaxial with an axis of the first chamber section.Type: ApplicationFiled: October 14, 2011Publication date: August 29, 2013Applicant: Andritz Technology and Asset Management GmbHInventors: Bertil Stromberg, John F. Bolles, Thomas Pschorn, Peter Mraz
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Patent number: 7658818Abstract: A method for converting a vapor phase continuous digester to a hydraulic digester including the steps of: operating the vapor phase digester in a vapor phase mode wherein a chip slurry enters the vessel of the digester through a lower chip inlet port, moves up through a top separator, discharges from an upper chip discharge chute of the separator to an upper vapor region of the vessel and falls to a liquor filled region of the vessel; ceasing the flow of the chip slurry to the separator; establishing a chip slurry flow path to an upper portion of top separator, and filling the vessel with liquor and chips such that the chip discharge chute is immersed in liquor.Type: GrantFiled: March 19, 2007Date of Patent: February 9, 2010Assignee: Andritz Inc.Inventors: Keith P. Vogel, John F. Bolles, Patrick J. Sullivan, C. Bertil Stromberg
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Patent number: 7455749Abstract: A method for adding cooking liquor into a vapor phase continuous digester for producing chemical cellulose pulp from cellulose chips including: introducing a slurry of the cellulose chips from a feed system to an inverted top separator in a top vapor phase section of the digester; distributing the slurry of the cellulose chips from the top separator into the vapor phase section of the digester; passing liquor through a conduit included with the drive shaft assembly of the top separator, and introducing the liquor from the conduit into the slurry as the slurry flows through the top separator or is distributed from the separator into the vapor phase section.Type: GrantFiled: September 11, 2006Date of Patent: November 25, 2008Assignee: Andritz Inc.Inventors: C. Bertil Stromberg, Keith P. Vogel, John F. Bolles, Patrick J. Sullivan, Brian F. Greenwood
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Patent number: 7309401Abstract: A continuous digester for producing chemical cellulose pulp from cellulose chips including: a digester vessel with an upper section attached to a top separator and said vessel at least partially filled with the cellulose chips and a liquor; a top separator at least partially in said upper section having a lower chip inlet port, a chip conveyor, a screen adjacent the conveyor, an upper chip discharge chute, and a liquor outlet facing a side of the screen opposite to the conveyor, and a chip inlet conduit extending into the vessel and having a first operational mode in fluid communication with the chip inlet port and a second operational mode in which the chip inlet conduit discharges directly into the vessel.Type: GrantFiled: April 14, 2004Date of Patent: December 18, 2007Assignee: Andritz Inc.Inventors: Keith P. Vogel, John F. Bolles, Patrick J. Sullivan, C. Bertil Stromberg
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Patent number: 7105076Abstract: A continuous digester is disclosed for producing chemical cellulose pulp from cellulose chips, comprising: a continuous digester vessel having a lower section filled with the cellulose chips and an upper gas filled section; an inverted separator at least partially in said upper section which introduces chips and liquid into said digester vessel and separates some of the liquid from the chips, wherein said separator includes a drive shaft connected to a conveyor, and a liquid discharge port proximate to the drive shaft and arranged proximate to a chip discharge of the separator.Type: GrantFiled: November 26, 2002Date of Patent: September 12, 2006Assignee: Andritz Inc.Inventors: C. Bertil Stromberg, Keith P. Vogel, John F. Bolles, Patrick J. Sullivan, Brian F. Greenwood
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Publication number: 20040226670Abstract: A continuous digester for producing chemical cellulose pulp from cellulose chips including: a digester vessel with an upper section attached to a top separator and said vessel at least partially filled with the cellulose chips and a liquor; a top separator at least partially in said upper section having a lower chip inlet port, a chip conveyor, a screen adjacent the conveyor, an upper chip discharge chute, and a liquor outlet facing a side of the screen opposite to the conveyor, and a chip inlet conduit extending into the vessel and having a first operational mode in fluid communication with the chip inlet port and a second operational mode in which the chip inlet conduit discharges directly into the vessel.Type: ApplicationFiled: April 14, 2004Publication date: November 18, 2004Applicant: Andritz Inc.Inventors: Keith P. Vogel, John F. Bolles, Patrick J. Sullivan, C. Bertil Stromberg
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Patent number: 6673201Abstract: A top separator assembly for a digester is disclosed comprising: a rotatable shaft for the top separator; a packing for the shaft; and a sealing ring operatively mounted to the shaft and having a nominal clearance with the pack box, said sealing ring mounted so that up lifting of said shaft provides a substantially fluid tight seal between said pack box and a side of said ring (in the digester) opposite the pack box.Type: GrantFiled: November 8, 2002Date of Patent: January 6, 2004Assignee: Andritz, Inc.Inventors: Keith P. Vogel, John F. Bolles, C. Bertil Stromberg
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Publication number: 20030209335Abstract: A method is disclosed for extracting liquor from a cellulose slurry for a continuous digester comprising the steps of: providing the cellulose slurry of liquor and chips of cellulose fiber material to a separator; extracting a first stream of liquor from the separator; extracting a second stream of liquor from the separator, where the second stream has an effective alkali (EA) concentration greater than the EA concentration of the first steam; outputting the first stream from the separator and outputting the second stream from the separator separately from the second stream, and outputting a condensed slurry from the separator to a digester vessel.Type: ApplicationFiled: May 21, 2003Publication date: November 13, 2003Applicant: Andritz Inc.Inventors: Kaj O. Henricson, C. Bertil Stromberg, Richard Laakso, John F. Bolles, Keith P. Vogel, Patrick J. Sullivan
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Patent number: 6641336Abstract: A conduit extends laterally through a rotor of a high pressure feeder to relieve any unequal pressures acting on opposite ends of the rotor. The conduit allows slurry under extraordinarily high pressure at one end of the rotor, to flow laterally through the rotor, and be released through the opposite end of the rotor into the rotor housing.Type: GrantFiled: March 17, 2003Date of Patent: November 4, 2003Assignee: Andritz Inc.Inventor: John F Bolles
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Publication number: 20030201213Abstract: A separation device is disclosed for a cellulose fiber processing system comprising: a particle separation tank having an axis, an upper tangential stream inlet, and a lower particle outlet; an inline drainer column extending at least partially down into the tank and said drainer, wherein the drainer has an inlet within the tank and aligned with the axis of the tank, and the drainer has a clear fluid outlet and an outlet for a mixture of fluid and cellulose fiber.Type: ApplicationFiled: April 26, 2002Publication date: October 30, 2003Inventors: John F. Bolles, Keith P. Vogel, Erkki Pulkkinen
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Publication number: 20030145963Abstract: A continuous digester is disclosed for producing chemical cellulose pulp from cellulose chips, comprising: a continuous digester vessel having a lower section filled with the cellulose chips and an upper gas filled section; an inverted separator at least partially in said upper section which introduces chips and liquid into said digester vessel and separates some of the liquid from the chips, wherein said separator includes a drive shaft connected to a conveyor, and a liquid discharge port proximate to the drive shaft and arranged proximate to a chip discharge of the separator.Type: ApplicationFiled: November 26, 2002Publication date: August 7, 2003Inventors: C. Bertil Stromberg, Keith P. Vogel, John F. Bolles, Patrick J. Sullivan, Brian F. Greenwood
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Patent number: 6589391Abstract: A top separator assembly for a digester is disclosed comprising: a rotatable shaft for the top separator; a packing for the shaft; and a sealing ring operatively mounted to the shaft and having a nominal clearance with the pack box, said sealing ring mounted so that up lifting of said shaft provides a substantially fluid tight seal between said pack box and a side of said ring (in the digester) opposite the pack box.Type: GrantFiled: October 29, 2001Date of Patent: July 8, 2003Assignee: Andritz Inc.Inventors: Keith P. Vogel, John F. Bolles, C. Bertil Stromberg
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Patent number: 6582554Abstract: A method is disclosed for extracting liquor from a cellulose slurry for a continuous digester comprising the steps of: providing the cellulose slurry of liquor and chips of cellulose fiber material to a separator; extracting a first stream of liquor from the separator; extracting a second stream of liquor from the separator, where the second stream has an effective alkali (EA) concentration greater than the EA concentration of the first steam; outputting the first stream from the separator and outputting the second stream from the separator separately from the second stream, and outputting a condensed slurry from the separator to a digester vessel.Type: GrantFiled: May 13, 2002Date of Patent: June 24, 2003Assignee: Andritz Inc.Inventors: Kaj O. Henricson, C. Bertil Stromberg, Richard Laakso, John F. Bolles, Keith P. Vogel, Patrick J. Sullivan
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Publication number: 20030062139Abstract: A top separator assembly for a digester is disclosed comprising: a rotatable shaft for the top separator; a packing for the shaft; and a sealing ring operatively mounted to the shaft and having a nominal clearance with the pack box, said sealing ring mounted so that up lifting of said shaft provides a substantially fluid tight seal between said pack box and a side of said ring (in the digester) opposite the pack box.Type: ApplicationFiled: November 8, 2002Publication date: April 3, 2003Applicant: Andritz, Inc.Inventors: Keith P. Vogel, John F. Bolles, C. Bertil Stromberg
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Publication number: 20020121745Abstract: A shaft outlet assembly for a digester is disclosed that includes: a rotatable shaft extending from the outlet assembly into a pressurized of the digester; a pack box mounted on the digester and having packing around the shaft, and a sealing ring mounted on a movable assembly inside of the pressure vessel, the sealing ring encircling the shaft, said movable assembly having a first position providing a nominal clearance between the sealing ring and shaft, and a second position at which the sealing ring is against the shaft and pack box to provide a substantially fluid-tight seal between said pack box and the shaft.Type: ApplicationFiled: February 13, 2002Publication date: September 5, 2002Inventors: Keith Vogel, John D. Weston, John F. Bolles
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Publication number: 20020074101Abstract: A top separator assembly for a digester is disclosed comprising: a rotatable shaft for the top separator; a packing for the shaft; and a sealing ring operatively mounted to the shaft and having a nominal clearance with the pack box, said sealing ring mounted so that up lifting of said shaft provides a substantially fluid tight seal between said pack box and a side of said ring (in the digester) opposite the pack box.Type: ApplicationFiled: October 29, 2001Publication date: June 20, 2002Inventors: Keith P. Vogel, John F. Bolles, C. Bertil Stromberg
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Patent number: 5690341Abstract: Apparatus and a method allow shaft packings and bearing assemblies to be serviced for a shaft penetrating a pressurized vessel without requiring the vessel to be emptied.Type: GrantFiled: June 17, 1996Date of Patent: November 25, 1997Assignee: Ahlstrom Machinery Inc.Inventors: J. Robert Prough, William A. Kerpka, John F. Bolles