Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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Horizontal and Continuous Carbonizing Device
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a horizontal continuous carbonizing
apparatus,
specifically relating to a horizontal continuous carbonizing apparatus that
can continuously
generate the desired type of fuel by transferring massive forest residues
horizontally and
going through sequential pyrolysis processes.
TECHNICAL BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Trees are preferred to other forest biomasses because they are infinitely
produced and
contain high energy. For example, wastes as well as stems and branches cut
from trees can be
used as fuel that generates energy second to charcoal if pyrolyzed and
processed into a pellet
form. In one example, Korean Publicized Patent Publication No.2012-0027069 and
Korean
Registered Patent Publication No.0994207 disclose related apparatuses.
The former discloses an apparatus carbonizing forest residue chips, etc. into
fuel
comprising the dual structural body including the outer and inner shells; a
transfer screw that
rotates in the inner shell and transfers fuel downward; an exhaust pipe that
is connected to
several points of the inner shell and induces gas exhaustion; and a burner
that is installed at
the bottom of the outer shell and sends hot air toward the inner shell. It
requires a small space
for installation, thereby improving the spatial efficiency, and burns fuel in
the vertical
direction, thereby reducing the working time.
However, while the abovem, itioned apparatus, which is a vertical structure,
requires
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a small space for installation and is suitable for miniaturization, enormous
driven load occurs
at the bottom where density is high when processing massive forest residues,
often causing
large power consumption or shutdown.
The latter discloses an apparatus comprising a body that heats and carbonizes
raw
materials by transferring the heat in the heat insulating case in the inner
part; a feeding part
that is installed on a side of the heat insulating case and feeds raw
materials into the body;
and a gas house that covers the end of the body, emits the charcoal that is
generated in the
body through the outlet at the bottom and collects combustion gas through the
pipeline at the
top. It has a lightweight body, thereby reducing energy consumption and costs.
However, the abovementioned apparatus has a structure suitable not for woods
but
for hulls, cobs and straws and requires heating materials after feeding the
set volume and then
emit them through the outlet. This makes continuous production impossible and
thus limits
the improvement of productivity.
DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
TECHNICAL CHALLENGE
As an apparatus invented to solve the abovementioned problems, the present
invention relates to a horizontal continuous carbonizing apparatus that can
continuously
generate the desired type of fuel by transferring massive forest residues
horizontally and
going through sequential pyrolysis processes.
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TECHNICAL SOLUTION
As an apparatus carbonizing forest residues to achieve the abovementioned
purpose,
the present invention comprises a combustion tube that has a partition plate
between the inner
and outer shells, a transfer screw in the inner shell and several height-
adjustable legs, some of
which have a buffer; several burners, each of which is installed in the
heating space divided
by the partition plate; and a cooling box that is connected by installing an
exhaust pipe at the
downstream layer of the combustion tube, performs cooling during the transfer
to the transfer
screw and has a discharge tank that is used to convert the fuel generated in
the downstream
layer into the desired type of pellets.
In the present invention, the combustion tube forms three heating spaces by
using
two insulated partition plates.
In the present invention, the cooling box has a cooling ring with ring-shaped
flow
path, a nozzle that is installed in the cooling ring and a spray controller
that controls the spray
status of cooling media through the nozzle.
The interpretation of the terms and the words used in this specification and
the patent
claims should not be limited to usual or dictionary definitions but they
should be interpreted
as meanings and concepts that comply with the technical ideas of the present
invention based
on the principle that the inventor can define the concept of terms properly to
explain the
invention in the best way. Therefore, the working example of the present
invention given in
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this specification and the configuration indicated in the drawings is merely
one of the most
desirable examples, not representing all the technical ideas of the present
invention.
Therefore, it is required to understand that there may be various equivalents
and
modifications that can substitute these examples at the point of the patent
application.
BENEFIT FROM THE INVENTION
As stated above, the present invention is a horizontal continuous carbonizing
apparatus that can continuously generate the desired type of fuel by
transferring massive
forest residues horizontally and going through sequential pyrolysis processes.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a configuration drawing that shows the carbonizing system of the
present
invention.
FIG. 2 is a configuration drawing that shows the carbonizing system of a
modification of the present invention.
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF WORKING EXAMPLES OF THE INVENTION
Based on the attached drawings, the details of the working examples of the
present
invention are as described below.
The present invention relates to an apparatus carbonizing forest residues such
as
stems or branches cut from trees. Carbonization means a pyrolysis process
conducted to
remove residual moisture and gas from raw materials 100, i.e., waste woods
such as forest
residues that are cut into small pieces.
In the present invention, a combustion tube 10 that contains a transfer screw
22 in the
inner shell 11 has a partition plate 14 between the inner shell 11 and the
outer shell 12. The
inner shell 11 and the outer shell 12 are placed on the horizontal axis and
there is formed a
heating space between the shell 11 and the outer shell 12. The heating spaces
of the
combustion tube 10 are divided by the partition plates 14, and a hopper 16 is
connected to the
inner shell 11 in the upstream layer. The hopper 16 may have a cutter (drawing
omitted) that
cuts raw materials 100 into chips. The transfer screw 22 installed
horizontally in the inner
shell 11 is connected to a motor 24 with a decelerator 26 installed on one
side.
It is recommended to form three heating spaces of the combustion tube 10 by
using
two insulated partition plates 14. Dividing the heating spaces of the
combustion tube 10 into
the upstream layer, the middle layer and the downstream layer helps to
pyrolyze massive raw
materials 100 sequentially in a short time. The partition plates 14 not only
support the inner
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shell 11 and the outer shell 12 but also maintain the temperature and the
upstream layer, the
middle layer and the downstream layer independently in the heating spaces by
the insulation
function.
In the present invention, each burner 31 is installed in the heating spaces
that are
divided by the partition plates 14. The drawings herein show only one burner
31 in each
heating space, but it is also possible to use multiple burners. The
temperature of the upstream
layer is maintained approximately at 200-600 C, desirably at 250-400 C to
evaporate
moisture as the previous stage of pyrolysis. The temperature of the middle
layer is maintained
approximately at 400-900 C, desirably at 500-700 C to perform the primary
pyrolysis
process. The temperature of the downstream layer is maintained approximately
at 300-800 C,
desirably at 400-600 C to perform the secondary pyrolysis process. The
temperature of each
heating space depends on the type, temperature and water content of raw
materials 100 and
may be adjusted by using a hot air inducer 33 installed closely to the burner
31. The hot air
inducer 33 has a structure that prevents the direct contact of flammables with
raw materials
100 and changes the hot air volume.
The heating spaces (upstream layer, middle layer and downstream layer) of the
combustion tube 10 have several sensors that measure temperature, which are
omitted from
the drawings.
The inner shell 11 has exhaust pipes 18 that emit gas from several points to
the
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outside. The exhaust pipes 18 are composed of several independent pipes or one
integrated
pipe system.
In the present invention, a cooling box 40 that performs cooling during the
transfer to
the transfer screw 42 is connected with the combustion tube 10 with exhaust
pipes 28
installed in the downstream layer. The exhaust pipes 28 are connected from the
bottom of the
downstream layer of the combustion tube 10 to the top of the upstream of the
cooling box 40.
Like the combustion tube 10, the cooling box 40 also contains the transfer
screw 22 that
transfers raw materials 100. The transfer screw 42 is connected to the motor
44 with a
decelerator 46 installed on one side. The cooling box 40 uniformly cools the
carbides of
approximately 400 C discharged in powder form from the combustion tube 10.
The detailed configuration of the present invention is as follows. The cooling
box 40
has a cooling ring 51 with ring-shaped flow path, a nozzle 52 that is
installed in the cooling
ring 51 and a spray controller 56 that controls the spray status of cooling
media through the
nozzle 52. The cooling ring 51 that is installed on the outer surface of the
cooling box 40 has
several nozzles 52 on the inner surface. Cooling media basically use water and
may contain
slightly viscous liquid and air. The cooling ring 51 is connected to the spray
controller 56
with the cooling tube 54 is installed. The spray controller 56 controls the
volume and pressure
of sprayed water through the nozzle 52. Raw materials 100 flow in from the
upstream layer
of the cooling box 40 at approximately 400 C and flow out from the downstream
layer at
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approximately 150 C.
If the length of the cooling box 40 is long, it is possible to use multiple
cooling media
50. In this case, it is possible to see that the nozzle 52 at the upstream
layer sprays water or
slightly viscous liquid-containing water, while the nozzle 52 at the
downstream layer sprays
air. It is also possible to spray a viscosity-maintaining ingredient or a
combustion-promoting
ingredient if using other raw materials than water or air.
The cooling box 40 may have a discharge tank 48 at the downstream layer to
convert
fuel into the desired type of pellets. The discharge tank 48 has the function
to discharge
carbides in circular or angular form and cut them in a certain length. After
passing the
discharge tank 48, carbides are converted into pellets of approximately 70-120
C (desirably
80-100 C).
As shown in FIG.2, which shows a modification of the present invention, the
cooling
box 40 may have several height-adjustable legs 35, some of which have a buffer
37. In the
present invention, the horizontal combustion tube 10 is advantageous to
operate the transfer
screw 22. However, if the outer shape is bigger, the burden on the motor 24 is
greater.
Considering this problem, it is desirable to install several height-adjustable
legs 35 at the
bottom of the combustion tube 10. The height-adjustable legs 35 are installed
by using
height-adjustable jacks or simple bolts. Especially, it is recommended to use
a buffer 37 for
the height-adjustable legs in the middle layer, except the upstream and
downstream layers. A
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simple spring may be used for the buffer 37, which reduces vibration that
occur from the
combustion tube 10.
Like the combustion tube 10, it is also possible to install height-adjustable
legs 35 at
the bottom of the cooling box 40. In any case, flexible pipes are included in
the exhaust pipes
28 for the relative motions between the combustion tube 10 and the cooling box
40.
The operating procedure is as follows. Raw materials 100 flow into the
upstream
layer of the inner shell 11 through the hopper 16 and go through 3-phase
pyrolysis processes
while transferred by the transfer screw 22 at the designated speed. They are
then discharged
into the cooling box 40 in carbide form (energy-generating fuel) through the
exhaust pipes 28
and converted into pellets, etc. while transferred again by the transfer screw
42 at the
designated speed.
As described above, fuel is generated continuously in the discharge tank 48 of
the
cooling box 40 after sequential pyrolysis processes although raw materials 100
are put in the
hopper 16 continuously. Since the length of the combustion tube 10 may range
from a few
meters to 30m or longer, the present invention is advantageous to process raw
materials 100
of massive forest residues efficiently.
There are other working examples of the present invention besides the given
example,
and it is obvious to a person with common knowledge in the field of this
technology that the
present invention is variously modifiable and transformable without deviation
from the idea
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and the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the examples of such
modifications and
transformations fall into the scope of patent claims for the present
invention.
DESCRIPTION OF CODES
10: Combustion Tube 11: Inner Shell
12: Outer Shell 14: Partition Plate
22, 42: Transfer Screw 24, 44: Motor
28: Exhaust Pipe 31: Burner
33: Hot Air Inducer 35: Height-Adjustable Leg
37: Buffer 40: Cooling Box
48: Discharge Tank 50: Cooling Media
51: Cooling Ring 52: Nozzle
54: Cooling Tube 56: Spray Controller
100: Raw Material
