Rotating nozzle sparging system for suspension fertilizer tanks

• US 4,100,610 A
• Filed: 12/23/1975
• Issued: 07/11/1978
• Est. Priority Date: 12/23/1975
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: John Blue Company Division of Subscription Television Incorporated
• Original Assignee: John Blue Company Division of Subscription Television Incorporated
• Inventors: Johnston, Douglas, Jannen, Robert L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Stephan, Steven L.
• Application Number:
  US05/643,644
• Time in Patent Office: 931 Days
• Field of Search: 259/DIG. 17, 259/108, 259/95, 261/93, 137/403, 137/453, 137/454, 137/494, 137/505 B
• US Class Current: 366/102
• CPC Class Codes: A01C 3/026 with mixing or agitating devices
• CPC Class Codes: B01F 33/4021 the gas being introduced through the shaft of the stirring element
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 137/7796 Senses inlet pressure

Abstract

A storage tank for liquid suspensions is shown, requiring sparging or agitation to prevent settling or salting out of somewhat insoluble suspended solids wherein the agitation is provided by movable high energy jets produced by nozzles that direct streams of compressed gas toward and under the precipitated agglomerations of solid particles. The apparatus includes means for distributing the energy of the compressed gas evenly over the surface area upon which the precipitate is deposited whereby to apply the needed agitation to all areas covered by deposits. The invention includes structural aspects for mounting the sparging apparatus on the top of the tank and suspending the moving agitators to extend downwardly into the tank to a position over the floor of the tank upon which the salting out takes place.

Claims

1. A sparging means for use in a cylindrical tank having a top, containing liquids having insoluble suspensions therein that may tend to deposit or crystallize out of the solution on a surface if the liquid is not agitated from time to time, comprising a source for a compressed gas, a distributor means for directing jets of compressed gas periodically against the area to be sparged, said means including a movable header for sweeping said area, means carried on said tank top to rotate said header about a vertical axis cyclically over said area, said drive means including a motor and a hollow shaft connected to said compressed gas source and adapted to be rotatably driven and connected between the motor and the header, said header being supported at the lower end of said shaft and being connected thereto to receive the compressed gas supplied to the hollow shaft, conduit means to deliver compressed gas to said header, a plurality of nozzles on said header and communicating with the compressed gas delivered thereto, each of said nozzles directing jets of compressed gas against different but overlapping confined portions of said area respectively whereby to produce a periodic agitating action over all of the area to be sparged with each cycle that said header sweeps the area, said nozzles being sized progressively to have outlet orifices of 1/16 inch at the end of the header adjacent said axis and 7/32 inch at the end of the header, said compressed gas being supplied in the form of air compressed to a pressure of 150 pounds per square inch, said nozzles having automatically actuated valves therein adapted to close at a pressure of 25 pounds per square inch, and said nozzles project a gas jet having a velocity of 2000 feet per second.

2. A sparging system for agitating a body of liquid in a tank and for removing deposits which may have settled from the liquid on to the tank bottom comprising:

hollow vertical shaft means having an upper end and a lower end;

a fixed sleeve having a bore which surrounds an upper portion and forms therewith an annular chamber;

means above and below said chamber forming seals between said sleeve and said hollow shaft means;

a compressed gas supply pipe connected to said annular chamber so that said supply pipe is in communication with the bore of said hollow shaft;

a power-driven shaft disposed above and coaxial with said hollow shaft means and connected thereto;

a horizontal header carried by a lower portion of said hollow shaft means, said header being in communication with the bore of said hollow shaft means; and

a plurality of nozzles carried by said horizontal header in spaced-apart positions along the length of said header, each of said nozzles includes a hollow housing defining a chamber and having a nozzle outlet facing downwardly so as to direct jets of compressed gas against the bottom of the tank, a closure member mounted in said chamber for movement toward and away from said outlet and arranged to be biased toward said outlet by the pressure of the liquid in the tank, and mechanical biasing means applying a closing force on said closure member, said closure member being responsive to a predetermined high gas pressure in said chamber to move to an open position whereby the respective nozzle outlet does not become clogged with deposits when the system is not operating.

3. A sparging system as in claim 2 wherein said closure member is carried on one side of a diaphragm which forms a wall of said chamber, the other side of said diaphragm being exposed to the liquid in said tank and wherein said mechanical biasing means acts on said other side of said diaphragm.

4. A sparging system as in claim 2 wherein the outlets of said nozzles also face in the direction of rotation of said header.

5. A sparging system for agitating a body of liquid in a tank and for removing deposits which may have settled from the liquid on to the tank bottom comprising:

a hollow vertical shaft of length sufficient to extend from above the surface of the body of liquid to essentially the bottom of the tank, said shaft being mounted for rotation about its axis;

drive means for rotating said shaft about its axis;

means for supplying compressed gas to the interior of said shaft;

a horizontal header carried by said shaft at the lower end thereof and communicating with the interior of said shaft;

a plurality of nozzles carried by said header is spaced-apart positions therealong, each of said nozzles having an outlet facing downwardly and in the direction of rotation so as to direct jets of compressed gas on to the bottom of the tank, said nozzles being arranged so that their jet patterns sparge overlapping annular areas of the tank bottom during rotation of said hollow shaft, each of said nozzles including a hollow housing defining a chamber and having a nozzle outlet therethrough, a closure member mounted in said chamber for movement toward and away from said outlet and arranged to be biased toward said outlet by the pressure of the liquid in the tank, mechanical biasing means applying a closing force on said closure member, said closure member being responsive to a predetermined high gas pressure in said nozzle to move to an open position whereby the respective nozzle outlet does not become clogged with deposits when the system is not operating.

6. A sparging system as in claim 5 wherein said closure member is carried on one side of a diaphragm which forms a wall of said chamber, the other side of said diaphragm being exposed to the liquid in said tank and wherein said mechanical biasing means acts on said other side of said diaphragm.