Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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This invention relates to a system for unloading a particulate
material from a vessel, the material being dispersible with a liquid to form
a slurry. This application is a division of Canadian patent application
Serial No. 220,358 filed February 18, 1975.
It is known to transport and handle bulk particulate material
such as mineral ores and the like on railroad cars by means such as dry
loading and unloading procedures. In United States Patent No. 3,799,620,
dated March 26, 1974, and assigned to the same assignee there is disclosed ; -
, a system for transporting bulk material of the type described on railroad cars
i 10 by~ procedures in which a slurry is formed with the particulate material. In ~
such a system the material is either dry loaded on the railroad car, or is - ;
; loaded in slurry form which is then decanted to form a settled mass for
transport to destination. At the destination an unloading and slurrying unit
is provided which includes a nozzle and slurry receiving sump adapted to move -
on a carriage into position underneath a discharge opening in the car. A -
liquàd stream jets from the nozzle as the latter is elevated through the
discharge opening to form a slurry with the material, and this slurry then
flows by gravity into the sump to a collection tank for subsequent handling
ant processing.
A system of the type described in the above United States patent
provides for the efficient and rapid unloading of material from the cars,
` but at the same time the system requires that relatively expensive equipment
! be provided at the unloading zone. In addition, a railroad car having a
material~containing vessel of specialized design is desirable for use in such
~ a system. In certain cases there is a need for material handling and trans-
; port system of the type described employing relatively less expensive and
complicated equipment at the unloading destination, and furthermore which may
employ railroad tank cars of the conventional design without major modifica-
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~` 30 This invention relates to the handling of bulk material or flowable
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~-` solids such as particulate matter or mineral solids (e.g. iron ore solids).
In particular, the invention relates to a handling system and apparatus of
the foregoing nature in which material loaded within a railroad tank car for
transport to destination is slurried and removed at a discharge station.
. It is a general object of the present invention to provide a
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system and apparatus for the handling of bulk material of the character des-
cribed which employs means carried within the vessel to form a slurry or
mixture of the material with a liquid such as water. The invention has parti-
.~
cular application to railroad transportation systems.
Another object is to provide a system and apparatus of the
characte~ described in which material slurrying and unloading equipment may ~-~
be used hith railroad tank cars of substantially conventional design capable
of being loaded through the upper inlet openings of the cars, and in which
relatively inexpensive and simplified equipment is employed at the discharge
station for unloading the material.
According to one aspect, the invention consists of a system for
,~ unloading a particulate material from a vessel, the material beinB dispersible
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~ith a liquid to form a slurry, including a vessel having a hollow interior
adapted to contain a load of the material, the vessel having an inlet opening
for receiving the material and a discharge opening for discharging the slurry,
. means for supporting said vessel for movement in a train over a railroad to a
discharge station, nozzle means carried in the vessel for directing a stream
of liquid into the material to disperse and suspend the material impacted by -
said stream to form a slurry, supply conduit means for directing liquid to
the nozzle means, the supply conduit means having an inlet end adjacent the
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inlet opening, a source of liquid under pressure at said discharge station,
distributor conduit means having an outlet end for directing liquid from said
~:x` source to the inlet end of said supply conduit means when the vessel is
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located at said discharge station, and collection means for receiving the
; 30 slurry which flows through the discharge opening of the vessel at the dis-
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charge station.
According to another aspect, the invention consists of apparatus
~;; for unloading flowable solids from a vessel mounted on a railroad car, the
vessel having a hollow interior, an upper portion of the vessel being pro-
; vided with an inlet opening and a lower portion of the vessel being provided
i with a discharge opening in substantially vertical register with the inlet
opening, the combination of a supply conduit oriented vertically along an
~; axis extending between said inlet and discharge openings, first bearing means
mounted within said inlet opening for supporting the upper end of said
, .... .
; 10 supply conduit for rotation about said axis, second bearing means mounted
~ within said discharge opening for supporting the lower end of said supply
t,~g conduit for rotation about said axis, and nozzle means carried by said supply
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conduit within said vessel for directing a stream of liquid within the vessel
in a direction extending laterally of said axis to disperse and suspend the
solids impacted by said stream to form a slurry which flows through the
~ discharge opening.
i Preferablr a vertical supply conduit is mounted for rotation with-
in the vessel by bearing means which is releasably mounted within the inlet
and tischarge openings of the discharge vessel. The slurry or mixture flows
by gravity through a grating in the discharge opening for collection in a ~ -
receptacle at the discharge station. A supply of high pressure liquid is
`~` preferably directed into a distributor unit which has a rigid conduit mounted
r~;~` to pivot toward and away from the vessel. A flexible hose carried on the
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`~` distal end of the rigid conduit has an outlet end connected with a rotary
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conduit, the lower end of which is adapted to be coupled in fluid-tight rotary
~- driving connection with the upper end of the supply conduit. A motor carried
.`~ on the distributor unit drives the rotary conduit which in turn rotates the
nozzle for directing the liquid stream through a circular path within the - ~-
vessel.
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~;~ 30 Additional features will appear from the following description in
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which a preferred embodiment of the invention has been set forth in detail in
conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
In the drawings,
r Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a railroad tank car within
which is mounted material unloading apparatus in accordance with the inven-
r' tion with the car shown in an unloading position at a discharge station along
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a railroad.
Figure 2 is an end elevation view of the car, apparatus and
station of Figure 1.
Figure 3 is an elevational section view to an enlarged scale taken
along the l me 3-3 of Figure 2.
Figure 4 is a sectional view to an enlarged scale taken along the
; line 4~4 o~ Figure 3.
In the drawings there is shown generally at 10 apparatus con-
structed in accordance with the invention for use in the transportation and
, handling of bulk particulate material or flowable solids which are character-
;~` lzed in being dispersible with a liquid such as water into a mixture or slurry.
Apparatus 10 is specially adapted for transporting the material over a railway
network, and may utilize railway tank cars of substantially conventional
design. The invention will ind application in the transportation of a cargo
; of mineral solids such as iron ore filtrates and concentrates or other
~` dressed mineral solids from a mining and ore dressing operation to an end use
facility, processing station or storage area. The cargo can be directly load-
ed into the tank cars at the mining operation, transported to destination
through a unit train, and unloaded at destination by apparatus and procedures
which involve a relatively short unloading time. Additionally, the invention
will find application for cleaning out the interior walls of railroad tank
cars which have been utilized to carry other cargoes such as potash, molasses,
sugar beet syrup or crude oil and the like.
'~ 30 The apparatus 10 incorporates a railroad tank car of the char-
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acter having a cylindrical tank or vessel 11 supported at opposite ends by
wheeled trucks 12, 13 riding on rails 14, 15. Suitable couplers, not shown,
are provided at opposite ends of the tank car for coupling a plurality of the
cars in a train. The section of track illustrated in the drawings is dis-
posed along a discharge station 17 which is constructed at the unloading
destination. While a single discharge station is illustrated, the invention
contemplates that a plurality, such as four, stations could be provided in
series along the track to permit the simultaneous unloading of four coupled
tank cars.
The illustrated vessel 11 is comprised of an elongate, hollow
~, cylindrical shell 18 closed at opposite ends by a pair of dome-shaped end
walls 19, 20. A plurality, shown as three, of inlet openings 22, 23 and 24
is ~ormed along the upper portion of the shell 18. An annular coaming 26, 27, -
28 extends upwardly from each inlet opening, and a removable cover plate 30,
~ 31 is secured by suitable fastener means across the top of each of the coamings.
.;~ The particulate material which is to be transported may be dry loaded through
.
~;; each of the inlet openings with the cover plates removedO The material may
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~lso be loaded as a slurry or mixture through the inlet openings, and in such
^ case the solids would be permitted to settle and the supernatant liquid
$ractions removed by decanting operations to leave a settled mass of solids
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;~ within the vessel.
A discharge opening 32 is formed in the lower portion of the
yessel in vertical register with the central inlet opening 23. An annular
plate 33 is mounted about the discharge opening on the outer surface of shell
``~ 18, and a suitable discharge valve 34 is mounted below this plate to open and
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close the discharge openingO The discharge valve 34 is illustrated schemati-
; cally, and such valve may comprise a knife gate valve coupled with a suitable
linear air actuator 35 adapted to slide the gate valve back and forth across
the discharge opening. A short length discharge tube 36 is mounted in
depending relationship below valve 34 to direct the discharge flow downwardly.
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At the discharge station 17 means are provided for collecting
the discharge flowing from the tank car. The collection means preferably
comprises a receptacle 37, such as a fixed or retractable collection launder,
~: mounted below the track. The receptacle opens upwardly to receive the
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discharge flow which falls by gravity through the cross ties from the dis-
charge opening of an overlying tank car. From the collection receptacle the
~low may be directed to a suitable sump not shown, where it may be pumped to
a storage zone, processing station or into the hold of a ship, for exampleO
Within vessel 11 of the tank car a supply conduit 38 is mounted
for rotation about a vertical axis by means of upper and lower bearing
assemblies 39, 40 mounted within respective inlet and discharge openings 23,
32. The bearing assemblies are adapted for rapid mounting within and dis-
mounting ~rom the tank car. The upper bearing assembly 39 comprises a bushing
42 of a suitable low-friction material rotatably mounted about the upper end
of supply conduit 38 and positioned between the flanges of a pair of spaced-
apart bearing collars 43, 44 fixedly secured to the supply conduitO A
cy~lindrical bearing support 46 is mounted about bushing 42 and is centrally
positioned within coa~ing 27 by means of a plurality of flat, upstanding
support arms 47, 48 which extend radially inwardly from a support ring 49 of
a size commensurate with the inner diameter of the coaming. The support ring
49 is releasably secured to the coaming by suitable fasteners such as the
plurality~ of set screws 51 circumferentially spaced about the ring.
A liquid jet nozzle 52 is mounted at the lower end of supply
conduit 38. Preferably nozzle 52 is of a construction and operation as dis-
closed in United States Patent No. 2,749,314, issued to Robinson et al.,
dated July 31, 1973. Such a nozzle is specially characterized in being cap-
able of converting a high pressure source of liquid into a high velocity
liquid jet stream with high efficiency so that the jet stream is capable of
impacting upon compacted solids with high forces to break up and disperse the
solids into slurry formO The discharge outlet 53 of nozzle 52 is positioned
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to direct the liquid stream laterally of supply conduit 38 so that as the
; latter is rotated in a manner hereafter described the stream sweeps through a
circular path within the vessel.
The lower bearing assembly 40 is mounted about a pivot pin 54
which is secured to nozzle 52 and which extends downwardly along the axis of
supply conduit 38. A bushing 56 of a suitable low-friction material is
~otatably mounted on the end of pivot pin 54, and the bushing is supported by
an annular 6earing support 57 positioned centrally of the discharge opening.
The bearing support in turn is supported by a plurality of flat, upstanding
support arms 58, 59 extending radially inward from a support ring 61 which has
a diameter commensurate with the inner diameter of the discharge opening and -
annular plate 33. A circular rim 62 is formed about the lower end of support
ring 61 for locking engagement against plate 33 when discharge valve 34 is
unted in position by suitable means, such as a circle of bolts. With the
;
~ discharge valve removed the lower bearing assembly 40 may be dropped downwardly
'~ from the discharge opening and from pivot pin 54 to permit the supply conduit
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to be ~ithdrawn from the vessel. A grating 63, preferably comprising a
relatively large-mesh screen, is mounted across the upper end of support ring
z 61 about bushing 56. The grating functions to preclude the flow of solid
'~ 20 material above a given particle size through the discharge opening for prevent-
~` ing possible plugging and malfunction of the slurry transport system, such as
` the pumping apparatus.
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The upper end 64 of supply conduit 38 terminates at substantially
the elevation of the upper rim of coaming 27, and the conduit is formed at
this end with grooving, not shown, which cooperates with a suitable coupling
` 65, preferably of the type adapted to be quickly coupled and uncoupled, to
orm a fluid-tight seal with a rotary conduit 67. The rotary conduit is
inserted from above the tank car and is a part of a water distributor unit 68
located at the discharge station. The upper end of the supply conduit is also
provided with releasable drive transfer means, such as a key ~nd keyway
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structure, not shown, for transferring a torque force from rotary conduit
67 to rotate the nozzle in a manner to be described.
A liquid such as water under pressure is supplied at discharge
station 17 from a suitable water pump, not shown, feeding into manifold pipe
70~ A manually operated control valve 71 controls the water supply from the
manifold into distributor unit 68 through a suitable swivel joint 72 and into
a riser pipe 73. The swivel joint is adapted to provide a fluid-tight con-
nection while permitting the riser pipe to swivel about a vertical axis. A
pressure gage 74 is connected into pipe 73 to permit visual monitoring of the
~ater supply pressure. A rigid horizontal conduit 76 is connected to the
riser pipe through elbow 77 and is provided at its distal end with an upwardly
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turned elbow 78. The horizontal conduit is supported for pivotal movement
',?~,: about a vertical axis by a wire stay 79 mounted between a pivot connection 81
secured to a fixed support 82 and a bracket 83 secured to elbow 78. A length
~f flexible high pressure hose 84 is connected at one end to the elbow 78 and
is turned in a gooseneck configuration with its outlet end 86 facing down-
~ardly.
As best shown in Figure 3 a flanged adapter fitting 87 is connect-
ed at one end to the outlet end of hose 84 and at its other end to the upper
~ 20 end 88 of rotary conduit 67 by a suitable swivel joint 89 of the type adapted
X to provide a fluid-tight connection while permitting relative rotation between
the conduit and fitting. The lower end of rotary conduit 67 is provided with
a suitable drive transfer structure, such as a key and keyway, not shown,
~hich is adapted to interfit with the previously described drive structure
; formed at the upper end of the supply conduit. The lower end of rotary con-
duit 67 is also formed with grooving which cooperates with coupling 65 to
,h~:. form the previously described fluid-tight seal at the connection with the
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supply conduit.
. Actuating means comprising a drive motor 91 for rotating the
conduits and nozzle is carried on the distributor unit through a pivot connec-
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tion 92 on the outer end of an operating arm 93. The operating arm in turn
is pivotally connected to a bracket 94 depending from a collar 96 mounted
about the distal end of distributor conduit 760 The inner end of arm 93 is
provided with a suitable weight 97 for counterbalancing the weight of the
motor, rotary conduit 67, hose 84 and other components carried therewith.
The collar 96 is adapted for axial sliding movement along distributor conduit
76, and suitable locking means, not shown, may be provided to lock the collar
in a selected position on the conduit to permit a range of radial adjustment
~or moYing the lower end of rotary conduit 67 into proper position before it
~s coupled ~ith supply conduit 380 The foregoing arrangement accommodates
~or variations in the positioning of the cars at the discharge station~ and
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- for variations in the size and configurations of the carsO
Drive motor 91 preferably comprises an electric motor powered
rom electrical supply cables 98 extending along distributor unit 68 from the
adjacent station. The motor drives reduction gearing carried within housing
~, 99, and this gearing in turn drives conduit 67 through suitable means such as
a worm gear engaging a worm wheel secured about the conduit and carried within
housing 101.
~` The use and operation of the apparatus disclosed herein will now
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be described in relation to the transportation of a mineral ore comprising,
for example, dressed iron ore concentrate. A plurality of railroad tank cars
of the type described herein are fitted with the nozzle structure of the
invention by first removing the cover plate from the central inlet opening
and by dismounting valve 34 from the discharge opening. Lower bearing support
40 is then inserted within the discharge opening with outer ring flange 62
engaging the inner edge of plate 33. Discharge valve 34 is then remounted
onto plate 33 to capture the lower bearing assembly in place. The supply
conduit 38 carrying upper bearing assembly 39 is then lowered through coaming
27 and guided downwardly so that pivot pin 54 drops into bushing 56 of the
lower bearing assemblyO The set screws 51 are then advanced outwardly to
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secure outer ring support 48 in position with the coaming. The vessel is then
loaded with the material through the inlet openings by suitable dry loading
procedures, or alternatively in the form of a slurry followed by successive
decanting operations to form a settled mass of solids within the vessel. The
; three cover plates are then replaced, and the tank car is transported to
~` destination~
At the destination the train of cars is shunted onto a spur track
.;~ along which are located one or more of the discharge stations 17. For example,
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where four such stations are constructed in series along the track, the first
group of ~our loaded tank cars in the train are moved by a switching
locomotive into position along the stations with the discharge openings of
each car aligned over a respective collection receptacle 37. The central
cover plate is then removed and distributor unit 68 is pivoted outwardly over
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the car. As required, collar 96 is moved along the length of distributor
~- conduit 76 so that rotary conduit 67 is centrally positioned over coaming 27.
Operating arm 93 is then pivoted to move the lower end of rotary conduit 67
into abutting relationship with upper end 64 of the supply conduit. The
~luid-tight coupling 65 is then completed at the juncture of the two conduits.
Discharge valve 34 is then opened by energizing actuator 35, flow control
~` 20 Yalve 71 is opened, and electric motor 91 is energized. With manifold 70
~" supplying water under a pressure head in the range of 250-350 psi, water is
directed through the conduits and flexible hose of distributor unit 68 and
into rotary conduit 67 and supply conduit 38 from which it jets laterally
through nozzle 52.
~ The high velocity water stream pulps the material into a slurry
;` by causing the compacted solids to disperse, break up and become suspended
in the water. This slurry flows by gravity through grating 63 in the dis-
` charge outlet and falls into collection receptacle 37 from which it flows to
a sump`for subsequent pumping and handling. During the slurrying operation
motor 91 drives rotary conduit 67 to rotate supply conduit 38 and the nozzle
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: which is capable of turning about a vertical axis within the mass of materialO
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This causes the water stream to move through a circular path within the vessel.
The water stream impacts upon a portion of compacted solids and causes it to
disperse and break up, and to become suspended in the water as a slurry. As
; the nozzle rotates, preferably within the speed range of from 1/4 r.p.m. to
:;
. 6 r.p.mO, the stream moves away from the region of impact to an adjacent
;~ region~ The freshly formed slurry left behind is simultaneously removed as
,.. .
it ~lows through the discharge opening to avoid the formation of any standing
;; water. The cutting action of the water stream is thus undiminished in
` 10 impacting the compacted solids. Continued movement of the stream undercuts
and re ves material over an area which continues to increase until the over-
..... . .
l~ing material collapses and is successively removed. The pulping and slurry-
ing action is continued until the complete load of material is discharged.
APter the cargo is completely unloaded valve 71 is closed, motor 91 is de-
energized and discharge valve 34 is closed. Coupling 65 is then released
and rotary~ conduit 67 pivoted upwardly from the inlet opening. Distributor
unit 68 is then swung away from the tank car. With all four cars in the group
unloaded in the manner described, the next group of four cars are moved along
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` the rails into position along the unloading stations and the foregoing opera-
- 20 tions are repeated until the complete train is unloaded.
` While the foregoing embodiments are at present considered to be
; ~referred it will be understood that numerous variations and modifications may
be made therein by those skilled in the art.
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