Abstract: Apparatus for cooling a bed of pyroprocessed particulate material such as lime received from a source such as a kiln, the cooler including a shaft with one or more underlying hoppers through which the material flows as cooling air is forced upwardly therethrough. The invention embodies hoppers with uniform slopes at any given elevation, dual hopper slopes with one being extremely steep, internal flow guiding means, as well as an octagonal or partially octagonal wall configuration and matching scalloped octagonal hoppers. Also included is the concept of providing substantially equal areas of draw in any angular segment about the vertical center line of discharge from a hopper or cluster of hoppers. The resultant is more uniform flow of material down through the cooler and correspondingly more efficient cooling. Alternative embodiments include hopper transition pieces in lieu of the cooling shaft being constructed in an octagonal or partially octagonal configuration.

Abstract: Apparatus for minimizing dust in a kiln system for pyroprocessed particulate material such as lime received from a source such as a kiln. A suction nozzle is located in close proximity to the underside of a stream of falling particles discharging from a kiln where fines are noted to be characteristically concentrated and another suction nozzle is located under an underlying grate immediately adjacent the stream of falling particles channeled through the grate and in the zone of highest concentration of fines. By thus locating the nozzles in the zones of maximum concentration of fines significant quantities of dust can be removed by utilizing only a small fraction of the air and power required with other dust removal systems.

Abstract: Apparatus for cooling a bed of pyroprocessed particulate material such as lime received from a source as a kiln, the cooler including a shaft with one or more underlying hoppers through which the material flows as cooling air is forced upwardly therethrough. Each of the hoppers has an associated air inlet assembly comprising compactly stacked air inlet rings concentric with and symmetrically shaped to the hopper entry. The air inlet rings are supplied with air from ducts which are provided with dampers by which the amount of air fed to each horizontal cross sectional segment of the hopper can be controlled. A deflector ring formed of an inclined particle flow deflector surface equalizes the rate of draw above by modifying the relative areas affected.

Abstract: Apparatus for cooling a bed of pyroprocessed particulate material such as lime received from a source such as a kiln, the cooler including a shaft with one or more underlying hoppers through which the material flows as cooling air is forced upwardly therethrough. The invention embodies hoppers with uniform slopes at any given elevation, dual hopper slopes with one being extremely steep, internal flow guiding means, as well as an octagonal or partially octagonal wall configuration and matching scalloped octagonal hoppers. Also included is the concept of providing substantially equal areas of draw in any angular segment about the vertical center line of discharge from a hopper or cluster of hoppers. The resultant is more uniform flow of material down through the cooler and correspondingly more efficient cooling. Alternative embodiments include hopper transition pieces in lieu of the cooling shaft being constructed in an octagonal or partially octagonal configuration.

Abstract: A rotary kiln and cooling apparatus for pyroprocessing and cooling of pieces of matter and particularly calcined lime pebbles, the kiln being provided with sized discharge openings near its end for discharge of the product into a cooling unit. The discharge openings are sized to discharge particles in an acceptable range while oversized pieces are passed on and discharged out the end of the kiln into a disposal region, thus segregating the particles without the usually required grates and manual labor and permitting handling of hotter materials.