Mobile non-polluting cleaning and processing apparatus and method

• US 4,227,997 A
• Filed: 12/14/1978
• Issued: 10/14/1980
• Est. Priority Date: 12/14/1978
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Vactor Manufacturing Incorporated (Federal Signal Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Peabody Myers Corporation
• Inventors: Shaddock, Roland E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Hill, Ralph J.
• Application Number:
  US05/969,325
• Time in Patent Office: 670 Days
• Field of Search: 209/3, 209/21-23, 209/28-31, 209/36, 209/37, 209/250, 209/246, 209/312, 209/315, 209/318, 209/420, 209/421, 209/414, 209/412, 209/409
• US Class Current: 209/250
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 8/00 Chemical or physical processes in general, conducted in the presence of fluids and solid particles; Apparatus for such processes
• CPC Class Codes: B07B 9/00 Combinations of apparatus for screening or sifting or for separating solids from solids using gas currents; General arrangement of plant, e.g. flow sheets

Abstract

A mobile vehicle having self-contained apparatus for classifying, cleaning and reconstituting granular or pelletized materials, such as catalysts used in chemical plants, without polluting the surroundings, is adapted to travel from plant to plant over conventional highways and quickly placed in operating condition to remove contaminated granular materials from their beds or towers in chemical plants even when hot and process the materials to remove dust and undersized particles, to classify the granules into batches of different sizes for reuse and to filter out pollutants to protect the surrounding atmosphere. The apparatus includes cyclone and bag filters, classifying screens, power driven equipment for creating airstreams picking up the contaminated granular material from its source to propel it through the cyclone separator and convey the separated dust particles through a bag filter before releasing the filtered air to the atmosphere while the separated granular material is fed by gravity to classifying screens from which the different sized screenings are discharged into bins while an airstream pulls dust particles from the screens through another bag filter before discharging the air. The vehicle stores some of the apparatus in a compact low level position and has a crane for setting up the stored apparatus in upright operating position. Bins for the cleaned and classified granular materials are arranged for nesting together during transportation and are easily positioned by the crane for receiving the granular materials from the classifying screens. A second vehicle may be provided to transport the nested bins.

Claims

1. A mobile machine for treating granular materials at a use site for reuse at the site without polluting the atmosphere which comprises, an apparatus equipped vehicle adapted to travel over conventional highways with the apparatus in compact stored condition, said apparatus including a power unit, a blower driven by said unit having a suction side and a discharge side open to the atmosphere, a motor, a fan driven by said motor, a low pressure bag filter unit having an inlet and an outlet, a high pressure bag filter unit having an inlet and an outlet, a moveable cyclone separator section having a top air and materials inlet, a bottom materials outlet, and a suction outlet, a moveable multiple discharge valve section having a top valve receiving materials from the bottom materials outlet of the cyclone separator section, a bottom valve spaced from the top valve and providing a chamber between the valves, and a bottom outlet, a swingable extensible boom assembly adapted to move said cyclone separator and discharge valve sections from a compact stored position on the vehicle to an upstanding operating position with the bottom materials outlet of the cyclone separator section discharging to the top valve of the multiple discharge valve section, a multiple screen classifying screen unit positioned to receive granular material from the bottom outlet of the multiple discharge valve section when in operating position and having a plurality of separate discharge outlets for different size screenings, an inlet conduit positioned by said boom and cable assembly to feed granular material into the top inlet of the cyclone separator section, conduit means connecting the suction side of the blower with the outlet of the high pressure bag filter unit, additional conduit means connecting the inlet of the high pressure bag filter unit with the suction outlet of the cyclone separator section to pull air through the inlet conduit and the high pressure bag filter unit to filter the air before reaching the discharge side of the blower, additional conduit means communicating with the classifying screen unit and the inlet of the low pressure bag filter unit, conduit means connecting the outlet of the low pressure bag filter unit with the intake of said fan for discharging filtered air to the atmosphere, and conveyors for moving the different size screenings from the separate discharge outlets of the classifying screen unit to spaced positions alongside the machine.

2. The machine of claim 1 including a surge chamber between the bottom materials outlet of said cyclone separator and the inlet of said discharge valve section.

3. The machine of claim 1 including inter-fitting pin and socket means for mounting the scaffold frameworks in superimposed relation.

4. The machine of claim 1 wherein the conduit means having the inlet adapted to overlie the source of granular material is flexible.

5. The machine of claim 1 wherein the blower maintains an airstream with a suction conveying rate of about 5 to 15 inches of mercury.

6. The machine of claim 1 wherein the fan maintains a high velocity aspirating airstream.

7. Apparatus adapted for the cleaning and classifying of granular catalyst materials which comprises first and second airstream conduits, each having an inlet and an outlet, a blower for maintaining a high pressure air flow through said first airstream conduit, a fan for maintaining a low pressure air flow through said second airstream conduit, said inlet of said first airstream conduit adapted to receive granular catalyst material from a source, a cyclone separator in said first airstream conduit receiving the granular material from said inlet and separating the granules from dust, a first bag filter unit in said first airstream conduit receiving dust laden air from said cyclone separator, silencer means receiving filtered air from said blower, a multiple screen classifying unit in said second airstream conduit receiving air from the atmosphere, said classifying unit having an inlet receiving granular material from said cyclone separator and a plurality of outlets discharging classified granular materials, a filter in said second airstream conduit receiving dust laden air from said classifying screen unit, and said fan discharging filtered air from said filter unit in said second airstream to the atmosphere.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the first airstream conduit is separated from the second airstream conduit by an air lock between the cyclone separator and the screen classifying unit.

9. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the multiple screen classifying unit has a separate outlet for each screen receiving granular catalyst material retained on the screen.

10. The apparatus of claim 7 including an eccentric drive for shaking the multiple screen classifying unit.

11. A mobile machine sized for highway travel adapted to be quickly set up for operation at the site of a source of granular catalyst material to clean and classify the material for reuse at the site which comprises a tractor, a trailor propelled by said tractor, a cyclone separator, an air lock, a pair of bag filter units, a classifying screen unit, a blower, a power plant driving said blower, a fan, and a crane mounted on said trailor, scaffold framework for said cyclone separator, scaffold framework for said air lock, scaffold framework for said classified screen unit, means for locking said separator framework and said air lock framework in compact position on said trailor, means for mounting said air lock framework on said classifying screen framework, means for mounting said separator framework on said air lock framework, means for operating said crane to move the separator and air lock frameworks from stored position on said trailor to superimposed operating position on said screen framework, said cyclone separator having a tangential inlet, a top air outlet, and a bottom solids outlet, conduit means having an inlet adapted to overlie a source of granular material and an outlet communicating with said tangential inlet of the separator, conduit means connecting the air outlet of the separator with one of said bag filter units, conduit means connecting said one bag filter unit with the suction side of said blower, silencer means connecting the discharge side of said blower with the atmosphere, conduit means connecting said screen unit with the other of said bag filter units, conduit means connecting the said other bag filter unit with the suction side of said fan, said air lock receiving solids material from the bottom of said separator, said screen unit receiving the granular material from the air lock, mechanism for vibrating said screen unit, said screen unit having a plurality of discharge outlets each discharging material from a screen in said unit, and conduit means connecting said discharge outlets with said conduit means to said other filter unit.

12. The machine of claim 11 including pin and socket means for securing said frameworks in superimposed relation.

13. A mobile plant for cleaning and classifying granular material such as catalysts which comprises first and second vehicles sized for highway travel, said first vehicle having an apparatus thereon creating a first airstream receiving granular materials from a source, a separator in said first airstream, a first filter unit in said first airstream, a classifying screen unit receiving granular materials from said separator for classifying the materials into batches of different sizes, means for maintaining a second airstream through said classifying screen unit, a second filter in said second airstream, said classifying screen unit having a plurality of outlets for discharging granular materials of different sizes, said second vehicle having a plurality of nested together bins mounted thereon, and a crane on said first vehicle for transferring said bins from the second vehicle to positions around the first vehicle for receiving the classified granules from the outlets of the screen unit.

14. The plant of claim 13 wherein said bins have detachable legs and removable lids.

15. The plant of claim 13 wherein said bins have hopper bottoms with discharge outlets and slides control said outlets.

16. The plant of claim 13 wherein said first and second filter units are bag filter units.

17. The plant of claim 13 wherein the separator is a cyclone separator.

18. A machine for treating granular materials which comprises first means pulling air for maintaining a first airstream, second means pulling air for maintaining a second and independent airstream separate from said first airstream, a centrifugal separator in said first airstream centrifugally separating fines from granular material, an air lock device receiving said granular material from said centrifugal separator, filter means for said fines in said first airstream discharging filtered air to the atmosphere, a housing encased classifying screen unit in said second airstream receiving granular material from said air lock device, a filter in said second airstream receiving air from said classifying screen unit and discharging filtered air to the atmosphere, said screen unit having a plurality of discharge outlets for the classified granules, conveyors moving the granular materials from said outlets away from the machine, bins spaced around said machine receiving granular material from the conveyors, and hoses connecting the discharge ends of the conveyors with the second airstream pulling dust into said second airstream to prevent discharge of dust to the atmosphere as the material is deposited into the bins.

19. A machine for treating granular materials which comprises first means pulling air for maintaining a first airstream, second means pulling air for maintaining a second and independent airstream separate from said first airstream, a centrifugal separator in said first airstream centrifugally separating fines from granular material, an air lock device receiving said granular material from said centrifugal separator, filter means for said fines in said first airstream discharging filtered air to the atmosphere, a housing encased classifying screen unit in said second airstream receiving granular material from said air lock device, a filter in said second airstream receiving air from said classifying screen unit and discharging filtered air to the atmosphere, said screen unit having a plurality of discharge outlets for the classified granules, said machine mounted on a highway vehicle and having the separator and air lock transferrable from horizontal travel positions to upstanding operating positions on the vehicle, and a crane on the vehicle to transfer the separator and air lock from travel to operating positions.

20. The method of cleaning and classifying granular material which comprises pulling granular material from a source into a high pressure airstream, centrifugally separating the granular material from dust in said airstream, filtering the dust in said airstream, classifying the separated granules into a plurality of batches of different sizes, pulling dust from the granules being classified into a second and lower pressure airstream, filtering the dust from the second airstream, and aspirating air from the separated batches of the granules to avoid pollution as the granules are discharged.