Patent Grant
9429362
The present invention relates to a drying apparatus for drying a material to be dried which has been charged into a vertical cylindrical drying vessel, by raising the material to be dried while pressing it against a heat-transmitting face of the inner wall of the drying vessel.
Conventionally, as this type of drying apparatus, apparatuses for drying a wide variety of materials to be dried, such as granular, powdered, liquid, and massive materials to be dried. Particularly, the present applicant has already proposed drying apparatuses which can implement ideal drying conditions on the basis of a unique blade called Cyclofin (for example, refer to Patent Documents 1 and 2).
In other words, with such drying apparatuses, a material to be dried which has been charged into a vertical cylindrical drying vessel is raised by revolution of a plurality of circular-arc vane sections constituting a rotating vane assembly mounted to a rotating axle, being pressed against a heat-transmitting face of the inner wall of the drying vessel in a thin film state by the centrifugal force, and in addition to this, with an action exerted by a subsequently raised material to be dried to push up a previously raised material to be dried upward, thereby the material to be dried being efficiently dried.
These drying apparatuses have been proposed to solve the problems faced by a drying apparatus having a vertical spiral rotation blade that had been proposed by the present applicant before these drying apparatuses (for example, refer to Patent Document 3), in other words, those of how to prevent a highly viscous material to be dried from adhering to and residing on the blade and the heat-transmitting face; how to prevent a solid substance from being bitten into the clearance between the circular-arc vane section and the heat-transmitting face; how to improve the efficiency of raising the material to be dried; how to effectively utilize the entire face of the heat-transmitting face for improving the drying efficiency; and the like.
Further, the rotating vane assembly is not limited to a single-stage one, and there has been disclosed a multi-stage rotating vane assembly which is configured so as to be arranged in a plurality of stages in a vertical direction. By thus configuring the rotating vane assembly to form a plurality of stages, the material to be dried is raised in sequence by the circular-arc vane section at each stage, while being pressed against the heat-transmitting face to be dried, and then being raised by the circular-arc vane section at the highest stage, thereby a material which has been dried being obtained. In other words, the multi-stage rotating vane assembly has been designed such that the material to be dried is continuously raised while being dried from a bottom portion to an upper portion of the drying vessel.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent No. 2840639
Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent No. 2958869
Patent Document 3: Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. H03-19501
The drying apparatuses disclosed in the above-mentioned Patent Documents 1 and 2 have been those which, by configuring the rotating vane assembly to form a multi-stage one, the drying efficiency can be further enhanced, however, there have newly occurred some problems which are attributable to configuring the rotating vane assembly to form a multi-stage one.
In other words, by continuously raising the material to be dried from the rotating vane assembly at the lowest stage to the rotating vane assembly at the highest stage, an extremely high drying efficiency on the basis of the advantage of the vertical type can be implemented, however, in order to raise the material to be dried at each of the stages in sequence, the spacing (clearance) between stages is extremely important, thereby there having occurred a problem that it is extremely difficult to set the spacing at a specific dimension.
The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problem of the prior art, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a drying apparatus with which, in the case where rotating vane assemblies are vertically arranged in a plurality of stages and a spacing (clearance) between stages is to be established depending upon a specific one of the various types of materials to be dried, always allows an optimum dimension to be easily provided, thereby an extremely high drying efficiency based on the advantage of the vertical type can be easily implemented.
The inventor et al. have carried out intensive studies about the drying apparatus, and have found that, with a drying apparatus equipped with a plurality of rotating vane assemblies in the internal portion of a vertical cylindrical drying vessel, in the case where the plurality of rotating vane assemblies have been formed in a plurality of stages which are vertically arranged, setting the spacing (clearance (F)) between stages at an appropriate value will allow an extremely high drying efficiency on the basis of the advantage of the vertical type can be implemented.
Being based on such a conclusion, the subject matters of the present invention to achieve the above object are disclosed in the following respective aspects of the present invention:
[1]. A drying apparatus, including a vertical cylindrical drying vessel, a material to be dried being charged thereinto; a heating means for heating a heat-transmitting face of the inner wall of the drying vessel; and a plurality of rotating vane assemblies, being mounted to a rotating axle provided in a central area of the drying vessel and extending in a vertical direction,
the plurality of rotating vane assemblies each being comprised of a plurality of circular-arc vane sections disposed so as to be arranged in a circumferential direction around the rotating axle; the plurality of circular-arc vane sections each providing a flat surface extending in a circumferential direction in a plan view, the flat surface being capable of placing the material to be dried thereon from one end part thereof and moving the material to be dried to the other end part thereof while raising the material to be dried, the flat surface being formed so as to extend obliquely upward from one end part thereof to the other end part thereof in a direction reverse to the rotating direction of the rotating axle;
the plurality of rotating vane assemblies being disposed in a plurality of stages vertically arranged along the rotating axle, and by revolution of the rotating axle, each of the plurality of circular-arc vane sections of each of the rotating vane assemblies forming a plurality of stages being rotated, thereby a drying process moving the material to be dried from one end part to the other end part of the flat surface of each of the plurality of circular-arc vane sections while raising the material to be dried, and pressing the material to be dried against the heat-transmitting face in a thin film state by the centrifugal force being executed;
the clearance between any two adjoining stages of the plurality of stages of the rotating vane assembly being a dimension from the uppermost end at the other end part of a particular circular-arc vane section of a rotating vane assembly to the lowermost end at one end part of a particular circular-arc vane section of the rotating vane assembly one stage thereabove, the dimension being set at 0 to 15% of the diameter of a circle connecting between the adjacent outermost peripheral edges of the flat surfaces of the circular-arc vane sections so as for the drying process to be repeated in a continuous manner in sequence from the rotating vane assembly at the lowest stage to the rotating vane assembly at the highest stage;
above the rotating vane assembly at the highest stage, there being disposed a receiving plate provided on the inner wall of the drying vessel for receiving the material to be dried being moved to above the rotating vane assembly at the highest stage while being pressed against the heat-transmitting face in a thin film state, and causing the material to be dried to be dropped down through the inside of the respective rotating vane assemblies,
the receiving plate being formed of a plate-like member, a face thereof vertically extending in a small width shape being disposed so as to be faced opposite to the rotating direction of the rotating vane assembly, two or more receiving plates being arranged with an equal spacing in a circumferential direction.
[2]. The drying apparatus according to [1], wherein the rotating vane assemblies forming a plurality of stages are disposed in such a manner that they are arranged along the rotating axle in the form of a multiple spiral staircase, with the respective circular-arc vane sections at any two adjoining stages being shifted in angular position by a prescribed angle in a plan view, extending in a direction reverse to the rotating direction,
the flat surface of each circular-arc vane section of the rotating vane assemblies extends in a small-width shape to a certain length within a circumferential range of 360 degrees in a plan view; the length being set to be a length with which the flat surfaces of the adjoining circular-arc vane sections arranged on the same circumference in a plan view of the rotating vane assembly at a particular stage other than the lowest stage will not be overlapped upon each other in a circumferential direction; and
with the rotating vane assemblies forming a plurality of stages, the circular-arc vane sections at any two adjoining stages are disposed in such a manner that they are arranged in the form of the multiple spiral staircase, one end part of the upper circular-arc vane section located the closest to the other end part of a particular lower circular-arc vane section in a direction reverse to the rotating direction being shifted toward the reverse direction by a prescribed angle so as for such end parts not to overlap one upon another in a plan view, and being located beneath an inclined plane formed by extending the flat surface at the other end part of the lower circular-arc vane section.
Next, the function on the basis of the means for solving the problem will be explained.
With the drying apparatus (10, 10A, 10B) in accordance with the present invention, it is the most important that the material to be dried is brought into contact with the heat-transmitting face (12) of the inner wall of the vertical cylindrical drying vessel (11, 11A, 11B), being pressed thereagainst in a thin film state in a circumferential and horizontal direction, and such contact is continuously repeated, while the material to be dried being raised in a vertical direction. Here, the contact in a circumferential and horizontal direction results from the centrifugal force generated by the revolution of the rotating vane assembly (21, 210, 31, 310) (pressing action), and the climbing of the material to be dried in a vertical direction is attributable to the angle of the circular-arc vane section in addition to the centrifugal force (raising action).
By the way, the type of material to be dried from which the moisture is to be removed with the present drying apparatus (10, 10A, 10B) varies, and the water content or weight of the material to be dried is not limited to a constant one. Further, at the beginning of the drying operation, even the same material to be dried has yet a high water content and a significant weight, causing the centrifugal force to be easily generated, and tending to be raised by inertia to a certain degree, however, as the moisture evaporation is progressed with the drying, the weight is decreased, the centrifugal force becoming difficult to be generated, and the climbing force in a vertical direction becoming insufficient. In view of such a fact, it has been an important problem how a wide variety of materials to be dried can be pressed against the heat-transmitting face (12) in a thin film state from the beginning of the drying operation to the last, and raised in a vertical direction.
If the spacing between any two adjoining stages of the stages of the rotating vane assemblies (21, 210, 31, 310) vertically arranged is fixed, the raising action for raising the material to be dried in a vertical direction is in a close relation to the number of revolutions (circumferential speed), which is dependent upon the diameter of the rotating vane assembly (21, 210, 31, 310), and even if such a correlation is slightly varied, the material to be dried can be easily raised to a level as high as ½ to ⅔ of the diameter of the rotating vane assembly (21, 210, 31, 310), provided that the pressing action is not particularly taken into account.
However, with such a degree of climbing alone, the area measured in a vertical direction of the heat-transmitting face (12) that is left not to have been contacted with the material to be dried is relatively large, which means that the entire face of the heat-transmitting face (12) is not effectively utilized, thereby improvement of the drying efficiency on the basis of the advantage of the vertical type having not been expected. Here, in order to further raise the material to be dried in a vertical direction, utilization of the centrifugal force by the revolution of the rotating vane assembly (21, 210, 31, 310) and devising an angle of the circular-arc vane section alone have provided a limitation.
Then, the inventor et al. conducted various experiments, and thus have found that, in order to further raise the material to be dried in a vertical direction, in other words, enhance the raising force, the clearance F between any two adjoining stages of the stages of the rotating vane assembly (21, 210, 31, 310) is important. In consideration of the initial moisture content of the material to be dried, and the gradual decrease in moisture content with the progress of the drying, resulting in the initial centrifugal force and inertia being gradually decreased, by setting the clearance (F) between any two adjoining stages as appropriate, the material to be dried could have been raised to a level as high as 3 to 4 times the diameter of the rotating vane assembly (21, 210, 31, 310).
However, it has been found that, if only the raising action for raising the material to be dried in a vertical direction is considered, and the pressing action for pressing the material to be dried against the heat-transmitting face (12) in a thin film state is not taken into account, the following problems occur. In other words, there have been found the facts that, even if the material to be dried can be raised high in a vertical direction, the material to be dried will not be brought into a thin film state with respect to the heat-transmitting face (12) at each stage; the material to be dried will be brought into a dumpling-like state in the course of drying rather than into a thin film state; and as the drying of the material to be dried is further progressed, resulting in the moisture being lost, the material to be dried is lowered down along the heat-transmitting face (12), resulting in the material to be dried being not effectively contacted with the heat-transmitting face (12), thereby the drying efficiency being lowered down to ½ to ⅓.
On the basis of the above verification, the inventor et al. have carried out intensive studies, and at this time have made it clear that, in order to achieve both optimum pressing action and raising action, setting the clearance (F) between any two adjoining stages of the stages of the rotating vane assembly (21, 210, 31, 310) at an optimum value is important, and this optimum value is 0 to 15% of the diameter of the rotating vane assembly (21, 210, 31, 310). If the value of the clearance F is in such a range, it is made possible that, at every stage from the rotating vane assembly (21, 31) at the lowest stage to the rotating vane assembly (210, 310) at the highest stage, the material to be dried is pressed against the heat-transmitting face (12) in a uniform thin film state, and also raised in an optimum time in sequence.
With the drying apparatus (10, 10A, 10B) according to the [1], which has been obtained as a result of the above-mentioned intensive studies, when the circular-arc vane sections (22, 220, 32, 320) of each of the rotating vane assemblies (21, 210, 31, 310) forming a plurality of stages are rotated, the respective flat surfaces (23, 230, 33, 330) raise the material to be dried, while pressing the material to be dried against the inner wall of the heat-transmitting face (12) of the drying vessel (11, 11A, 11B) in a thin film state for drying the material to be dried. With such a drying process, even if the material to be dried is highly viscous, it will not easily adhere to any particular circular-arc vane section (22, 220, 32, 320) or the heat-transmitting face (12), and if the material to be dried Should adhere thereto, it is raised by the pertinent circular-arc vane sections (22, 220, 32, 320) to thereby climb over the entire face of the heat-transmitting face (12) without staying.
Moreover, the flat surface (23, 230, 33, 330) of a particular circular-arc vane section (22, 220, 32, 320), which, to the material to be dried, imparts the raising action and the pressing action against the heat-transmitting face (12) by the centrifugal force, has an elongated shape along the heat-transmitting face (12), extending obliquely upward from one end part thereof to the other end part thereof, and therefore the material to be dried is not subjected to an impact alone, but effectively being raised and pressed against the heat-transmitting face 12.
Further, with the rotating vane assemblies (21, 210, 31, 310) being provided in a plurality of stages in a vertical direction, the material to be dried is raised at every stage, while being pressed against the heat-transmitting face (12) in a thin film state, in such a manner that the material to be dried which has been previously raised is raised to the stage one-stage above, being pushed up by the material to be dried which is subsequently raised. Thus, from the rotating vane assembly (21, 31) at the lowest stage to the rotating vane assembly (210, 310) at the highest stage, the material to be dried can be continuously dried, while being raised in sequence, thereby the entire face of the heat-transmitting face (12) provided for the inner wall of the drying vessel (11, 11A, 11B) in a vertical direction thereof is effectively utilized, and thus an extremely high drying efficiency on the basis of the advantage of the vertical type can be reliably implemented.
Here as described above, the clearance (F) between any two adjoining stages of the stages of the rotating vane assembly (21, 210, 31, 310) becomes important, however, by setting the value of such clearance (F) at 0 to 15% of the diameter of the rotating vane assembly (21, 210, 31, 310), it is made possible that, at every stage from the rotating vane assembly (21, 31) at the lowest stage to the rotating vane assembly (210, 310) at the highest stage, the material to be dried is pressed against the heat-transmitting face (12) in a uniform thin film state, and also raised in an optimum time in sequence. It is recommended that the value of the clearance (F) between any two adjoining stages of the stages of the rotating vane assembly (21, 210, 31, 310) be appropriately set in such a range in accordance with the specific type of material to be dried.
Assuming that the clearance (F) is smaller than an optimum value which is suited for a given type of material to be dried, the material to be dried will be too easily raised, thereby the time to spare for being pressed against the heat-transmitting face (12) of the inner wall of the drying vessel (11, 11A, 11B) in a uniform thin film state being eliminated, and thus at each stage, most of the material to be dried being immediately raised. Contrarily, if the clearance (F) is too large, the material to be dried will not be successfully transferred upward at every stage, resulting in the climbing being stopped on the way. Further, if the value of the clearance (F) is determined by half-measures, the entire drying vessel (11, 11A, 11B) cannot still be effectively utilized.
The material to be dried which is moved to above the rotating vane assembly (210) at the highest stage, being pressed against the heat-transmitting face (12) in a thin film state, is received by the receiving plate (30) provided on the inner wall of the drying vessel (11), thereby being prevented from taking its natural climbing course, and being caused to be dropped down through the inside of the respective rotating vane assemblies (210). Thereby, the process of drying the material to be dried is again performed from the rotating vane assembly (21) at the lowest stage, whereby the drying efficiency can be further enhanced.
Further, the relative arrangement of the circular-arc vane sections (22, 220, 32, 320) between any two adjoining stages of the stages of the rotating vane assembly (21, 210, 31, 310) is important, and specifically, as stated in the [2], the rotating vane assemblies (21, 210, 31, 310) forming a plurality of stages are disposed so as to be arranged along the rotating axle (20) in the form of a multiple spiral staircase, with the respective circular-arc vane sections (22, 220, 32, 320) at any two adjoining stages being shifted in angular position by a prescribed angle in a plan view, extending in a direction reverse to the rotating direction (R).
With such a special arrangement, the material to be dried which has been charged into the drying vessel (11, 11A, 11B) is dried, while being moved in sequence from the rotating vane assembly (21, 31) at the lowest stage toward the rotating vane assembly (210, 310) at the highest stage in such a manner that the material to be dried climbs a multiple spiral staircase in which the respective circular-arc vane sections (22, 220, 32, 320) are intermittently continued. Further, the material to be dried can be replenished with a climbing force and a centrifugal force through the revolution of the rotating vane assembly (210, 310) at the second and subsequent stages. In this way, the present invention allows effective utilization of the entire face of the heat-transmitting face (12) provided for the inner wall of the drying vessel (11, 11A, 11B) in a vertical direction thereof, whereby an extremely high drying efficiency on the basis of the advantage of the vertical type can be reliably implemented.
Further, since the flat surfaces (23, 230, 33, 330) of the respective circular-arc vane sections (22, 220, 32, 320) of the rotating vane assembly (21, 210, 31, 310) have a certain length within a circumferential range of 360 degrees in a plan view, being mutually independent, the clearance U between the outer peripheral edge of the flat surface (23, 230, 33, 330) of the respective circular-arc vane sections (22, 220, 32, 320) and the heat-transmitting face (12) is not contiguous, and therefore even if a foreign matter in the material to be dried is bitten in the clearance (U), it will immediately get out of the clearance (U), the biting being not continued.
Describing in detail about the special arrangement, with the rotating vane assemblies (21, 210, 31, 310) forming a plurality of stages, the circular-arc vane sections (22, 220, 32, 320) at any two adjoining stages are disposed in such a manner that they are arranged in the form of the multiple spiral staircase, one end part of the upper circular-arc vane section (220, 320) located the closest to the other end part of a particular lower circular-arc vane section (22, 220, 32, 320) in a direction reverse to the rotating direction (R) being shifted toward the reverse direction by a prescribed angle so as for such end parts not to overlap one upon another in a plan view in such a manner that the one end part of the upper circular-arc vane section (220, 320) is located beneath an inclined plane formed by extending the flat surface (23, 230, 33, 330) at the other end part of the lower circular-arc vane section (22, 220, 32, 320). Thereby, the material to be dried which is raised by the circular-arc vane section (22, 220, 32, 320) at a particular stage, and is moved obliquely upward can be reliably transferred to one end part 220a of the circular-arc vane section (220, 320) at the stage just thereabove.
With the drying apparatus in accordance with the present invention, in the case where rotating vane assemblies are vertically arranged in a plurality of stages and the spacing (clearance) between stages is to be set depending upon a particular one of the various types of materials to be dried, an optimum dimension can always be easily provided, thereby an extremely high drying efficiency based on the advantage of the vertical type can be easily implemented.
The material to be dried which is moved to above the rotating vane assembly at the highest stage is received by the receiving plate provided on the inner wall of the drying vessel, thereby being prevented from taking its natural climbing course, and being caused to be dropped down through the inside of the respective rotating vane assemblies, and thus, the process of drying the material to be dried is again performed from the rotating vane assembly at the lowest stage, whereby the drying efficiency can be further enhanced.
Further, by devising a relative arrangement of the circular-arc vane sections at any two adjoining stages, the material to be dried can be smoothly raised between any two adjoining stages in sequence, whereby an extremely high drying efficiency on the basis of the advantage of the vertical type can be reliably implemented.
Hereinbelow, various embodiments representing the present invention will be explained with reference to the drawings.
As shown in
The cylindrical inner wall of the drying Vessel 11 provides a heat-transmitting face 12 which transmits heat from a heat-supplying means to the material to be dried. The heat-supplying means includes, for example, a jacket 13 which is formed so as to surround the outer periphery of the drying vessel 11, and a boiler (not shown) which is connected to this jacket 13, and delivers steam into the inside of the jacket 13. The jacket 13 is provided with a steam inlet 13a which leads steam into the jacket 13, and a steam outlet 13b which discharges the steam to the outside of the jacket 13.
Alternatively, the heat-supplying means may be configured such that, instead of steam, hot air is fed into the jacket 13, or it may be constituted by a heat medium housed inside of the jacket 13, and an electric heater disposed around the outer periphery of the jacket 13; in this scheme, the heat from the electric heater is transmitted to the heat-transmitting face 12 through the heat medium, and if this scheme is to be further simplified, the heat from the electric heater disposed around the outer periphery of the jacket 13 may be directly transmitted to the heat-transmitting face 12. Thus, the heat-supplying means is available as those of various schemes.
The scheme for supplying a material to be dried to the inside of the drying vessel 11 or discharging the dried material to the outside thereof can vary, and for example, it is recommended that a supply opening (not shown) which can be opened and closed be provided in a part of a top cover 14 of the drying vessel 11, and from this supply opening, the material to be dried be charged into the inside. On the other hand, it is recommended that a discharging port (not shown) which can be opened and closed be provided in the vicinity of a bottom plate 15 of the heat-transmitting face 12, and from this discharging port, the dried material be discharged to the outside. With such a scheme, batch type processing is performed, in which the material to be dried is not supplied or discharged on the way until all the processes are completed.
Or alternatively, like a later-described drying apparatus 10A according to a second embodiment as shown in
Further, in a central area of the drying vessel 11, there is disposed a rotating axle 20, which extends in a vertical direction. This rotating axle 20 is pivotally supported so as to pass through the centers of the top cover 14 of the heat-transmitting face 12 and the bottom plate 15. In the middle of the rotating axle 20, rotating vane assemblies 21, 210 are mounted, being vertically arranged to provide a plurality of stages. The lower end part of the rotating axle 20 is power-transmittably connected to an electric motor 18, which is disposed on the outside of the bottom plate 15 of the drying vessel 11, and with the electric motor 18 being run, the rotating axle 20 is rotated, thereby the rotating vane assemblies 21, 210 forming a plurality of stages being synchronously rotated.
The rotating vane assemblies 21, 210 are each comprised of a plurality of circular-arc vane sections 22, 220, which are disposed so as to be arranged in a circumferential direction around the rotating axle 20, and in the present embodiment, the number of circular-arc vane sections 22, 220 is three. Of the rotating vane assemblies 21, 210 forming a plurality of stages, the rotating vane assembly 21 at the lowest stage and the rotating vane assembly 210 at the other stages are different from each other in the length of the circular-arc vane section. In other words, the circular-arc vane section 22 of the rotating vane assembly 21 at the lowest stage is formed longer than the circular-arc vane section 220 of the rotating vane assembly 210 at the other stages. Hereinbelow, the configuration of the rotating vane assembly 21, which is considered to represent the rotating vane assemblies 21, 210, will be explained in detail.
As shown in
More particularly, the flat surface 23 of each circular-arc vane section 22 extends in a fixed width to a certain length within a circumferential range of 360 degrees in a plan view, the outer peripheral edge of the flat surface 23 being formed in an arc along a cylindrical geometry of the heat-transmitting face 12. Between the outer peripheral edge of this flat surface 23 and the heat-transmitting face 12, there is formed a clearance U (refer to
Further, only with the rotating vane assembly 21 at the lowest stage, the other end part 22b of the respective circular-arc vane sections 22 is configured such that it is located higher than one end part 22a of the other circular-arc vane section 22 which is adjacent thereto in a direction reverse to the rotating direction R, being overlapped thereupon in a plan view. In other words, the length of each circular-arc vane section 22 is provided as a length covering an angle range of approx. 120 degrees in a plan view that is given by dividing 360 degrees into approximately three equal parts. On the other hand, the configuration of each circular-arc vane section 220 in the rotating vane assembly 210 at the stages other than the lowest stage is basically the same as that of the each circular-arc vane section 22, however, the length of the circular-arc vane section 220 is set to be shorter than that of the circular-arc vane section 22.
With the rotating vane assembly 210 at the other stages, the flat surface 230 of each circular-arc vane section 220 extends in a small-width shape to a certain length within a circumferential range of 360 degrees in a plan view; the length being set to be a length with which the flat surfaces 230 of any adjoining circular-arc vane sections 220 arranged on the same circumference in a plan view will not be overlapped upon each other in a circumferential direction in any portion from one end part 220a thereof to the other end part. 220b thereof. In the present embodiment, any circular-arc vane section 220 has a length covering an angle range of approx. 60 degrees in a plan view, the length being ⅔ or so of the length of the circular-arc vane section 22. The number of the circular-arc vane sections 22, 220 is not limited to 3 as mentioned above, and may be adapted to be two or four or more. The specific value of the length or lateral width of each circular-arc vane section 22, 220 is also a design matter which can be appropriately determined.
Further, one end part 22a of each circular-arc vane section 22 of the rotating vane assembly 21 at the lowest stage is connected to the distal end of a radial spoke 24, which is fixed to the rotating axle 20 in a radial manner. Here, three radial spokes 24 are provided in accordance with the number of circular-arc vane sections 22, each of the radial spokes 24 being disposed so as to be developed on a plane orthogonal to the axial direction of the rotating axle 20, supporting the circular-arc vane section 22 which is relevant.
In the present embodiment, the circular-arc vane section 22 and the radial spoke 24 are those which have been integrally formed, being configured by cutting a single metal plate and bending it. In other words, the radial spoke 24 is plate-like, extending in a fixed width as with the circular-arc vane section 22, providing a member which linearly extends from the rotating axle 20 in a radial direction. To the distal end of this radial spoke 24, one end part 22a of the circular-arc vane section 22 which is relevant is integrally continued.
More particularly, the radial spoke 24 is bent so as to be obliquely inclined in a crosswise direction in accordance with the inclination of the flat surface 23 of the circular-arc vane section 22, being inclined at a prescribed angle with respect to the bottom plate 15 of the drying vessel 11 as shown in
Further, as shown in
Here, the radial spoke 240 and the circular-arc vane section 220 are also that which have been integrally formed, being configured by cutting a single metal plate and bending it. However, unlike the radial spoke 24, as shown in
Further, although the illustration is not given, it is recommended that the other end part 22b, 220b of each of the circular-arc vane sections 22, 220 be also connected to the distal end of a support arm fixed to the rotating axle 20 in a radial manner. Here, the support arm particularly need not serve for scraping as with the radial spoke 24, and may be designed in any way, provided that it has a design which simply provides supporting and reinforcing, however, it is recommended that the support arm be configured to be the smallest possible like a small bar, or the like, so as not to interfere with the operation of raising the material to be dried.
As shown in
Regardless of the number of stages, the clearance F between any two adjoining stages is important. As this clearance F, it is specified on the basis of the above-described consideration that the dimension from the uppermost end of the other end part 22b, 220b of each circular-arc vane section 22, 220 of a particular rotating vane assembly 21, 210 to the lowermost end of one end part 220a of each circular-arc vane section 220 of the rotating vane assembly 210 provided one stage thereabove is 0 to 15% of the diameter of a circle connecting between the adjacent outermost peripheral edges of the flat surfaces 23, 230 of the circular-arc vane sections 22, 220 (hereinafter, to be simply referred to as the diameter). Further, it has been confirmed that, if the above-mentioned dimension is in the range of 0 to 9%, a more excellent effect can be expected.
Here, the clearance F between any two adjoining stages need not be uniformly identical, provided that it is in the range of 0 to 15% of the diameter of the circular-arc vane sections 22, 220. For example, as shown in
As a specific value of the clearance F between any two adjoining stages, if the diameter is 2000 mm, for example, it is set in the range of 0 to 300 mm. Here, the diameter varies depending upon a specific inner diameter of the drying vessel 11, and in accordance with such inner diameter of the drying vessel 11, the diameter and the clearance F between any two adjoining stages are specifically set. Further, at what value in the range of 0 to 300 mm the clearance F between any two adjoining stages is to be set will be appropriately determined, depending upon the type of the material to be dried.
For example, in the case where the material to be dried is dewatered sludge from a sewage treatment plant, the water content is 80 to 85%, and when the evaporation of the water in the material to be dried is progressed to a water content of 65 to 70%, the viscosity is greatly increased, resulting in a part of the material to be dried becoming massive. According to such a characteristic, if the clearance F between any two adjoining stages is particularly set at a value in the range of 100 to 180 mm, which is within the range of 0 to 300 mm, a stable high drying efficiency can be achieved. Such a numerical value will vary depending upon the inner diameter of the drying vessel 11, and for example, in the case where the diameter is 1000 mm, the clearance F between any two adjoining stages will be appropriately set in the range of 50 to 9.0 mm.
In the case where the material to be dried is sludge from a sewage treatment plant, being not yet dewatered, the water content is 95 to 98%, which means that the material to be dried is in the liquid state, and thus even when the evaporation of the water in the material to be dried is progressed to a water content of 65 to 70%, as with the case described above, the volume of a solid substance is extremely low. According to such a characteristic, if the clearance F between any two adjoining stages is set at a value in the range of 30 to 120 mm, which is still narrower within the range of 0 to 300 mm, the efficiency of contacting with the jacket 13 can be enhanced even when the viscosity is high. Further, in the case where the diameter is 1000 mm, the clearance F between any two adjoining stages will be appropriately set in the range of 15 to 60 mm. The clearance F between any two adjoining stages for other types of material to be dried will be described later, however, in any case, it will be specifically set in the range of 0 to 15% of the diameter.
The critical significance of the numerical limitation of that the clearance F between any two adjoining stages should be in the range of 0 to 15% of the diameter is as described above (refer to par. 0021 to 0023). In other words, by setting the clearance F between any two adjoining stages at a value in such a range, it is made possible that, at every stage from the rotating vane assembly 21 at the lowest stage to the rotating vane assembly 210 at the highest stage, the material to be dried is pressed against the jacket 13, i.e., the heat-transmitting face 12 in a uniform thin film state, and also raised in an optimum time in sequence.
In the case where the clearance F between any two adjoining stages is under 0% of the diameter, in other words, even a part of the circular-arc vane section 22, 220 at a particular stage is overlapped upon that at an adjoining stage in a vertical direction, unnecessary turbulences are generated, mutually interfere with one another, thereby the raising action being diminished. On the other hand, if the clearance F between any two adjoining stages is increased to over 15% of the diameter, the material to be dried will not be successfully transferred upward at each stage, regardless of the type of material to be dried, thereby the climbing being stopped in the middle, which has been confirmed through a number of experiments conducted by the inventor et al. The lower limit of the clearance F between any two adjoining stages is as described above, and in addition to this, it has been confirmed that there is an optimum value according to an actual material to be dried, which is a numerical value over 0% of the diameter.
Furthermore, the relative arrangement of the circular-arc vane sections 22, 220 at any two adjoining stages is as important as the clearance F between any two adjoining stages. Also about such an arrangement, the inventor et al. have carried out intensive studies, and have found that, by adopting the following special way of arrangement, an extremely high drying efficiency can be realized. Specifically, as shown in
More specifically, as shown in
Further, with the rotating vane assemblies 210 at the second and subsequent stages, the respective circular-arc vane sections 220 have the same geometry, and the circular-arc vane sections 220 at any two adjoining stages are disposed in the same manner as described above, one end part 220a of the upper circular-arc vane section 220 located the closest to the other end part 220b of a particular lower circular-arc vane section 220 in a direction reverse to the rotating direction R being shifted toward the reverse direction by a prescribed angle (a distance B in
According to such an arrangement, as shown in
Further, in the present embodiment, above the rotating vane assembly 210 at the highest stage, there is disposed a receiving plate 30, which is provided on the inner wall of the drying vessel 11 for receiving the material to be dried which is moved to above the rotating vane assembly 210 at the highest stage, and causing it to be dropped down through the inside of the respective rotating vane assemblies 210. The receiving plate 30 is formed of a plate-like member a face of which vertically extends in a small width shape is disposed so as to be faced opposite to the rotating direction R of the rotating vane assembly 210, two or more receiving plates 30 being arranged with an equal spacing in a circumferential direction. In the present embodiment, there are provided with three receiving plates 30, however, the specific geometry and arrangement of such receiving plate 30 are design matters which can be appropriately determined; it is recommended to provide at least two receiving plates 30, and in accordance with the inner diameter of the drying vessel 11, for example, as the inner diameter is increased, the number of receiving plates 30 is increased.
Next, the function of the drying apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment will be explained.
From the supply opening provided in the top cover 14 of the drying vessel 11, the material to be dried is charged into the drying vessel 11. Then, the electric motor 18 is driven to rotate the rotating axle 20 in the direction of R. At the same time, steam is introduced into the jacket 13 from the boiler for heating the heat-transmitting face 12. With the revolution of the rotating axle 20, the rotating vane assemblies 21, 210 are rotated, the material to be dried is put on the flat surface 23, 230 from one end part 22a, 220a of each of the respective circular-arc vane sections 22, 220, being moved toward the other end part 22b, 220b thereof.
At this time, the material to be dried is subjected to an upward directing force, being raised, and is pressed against the heat-transmitting face 12 by the centrifugal force P (refer to
In addition, the material to be dried is not raised by a single continuous blade in the drying vessel 11, but is raised in sequence by the respective circular-arc vane sections 22, 220, while being pressed against the heat-transmitting face 12. Therefore, even if the material to be dried has a high viscosity, it will not adhere to the heat-transmitting face 12, and also not stay in a specific place on the heat-transmitting face 12. Further, since the respective circular-arc vane sections 22, 220 have a certain length within a circumferential range of 360 degrees in a plan view, being mutually independent, the clearance U between the outer peripheral edge of the flat surface 23, 230 of the respective circular-arc vane sections 22, 220 and the heat-transmitting face 12 is not contiguous, and therefore, even if a foreign matter in the material to be dried is bitten in the clearance U, it will immediately get out of the clearance U, the biting being not continued.
Particularly, each circular-arc vane section. 22 of the rotating vane assembly 21 at the lowest stage has a long dimension, compared to each circular-arc vane section 220 at the other stages, thereby being Able to apply a still greater raising force to the material to be dried, which tends to stay in the bottom portion of the drying vessel 11 at the beginning. Thus, the material to be dried can be smoothly moved from the bottom portion of the drying vessel 11 to the respective upper stages. Further, the radial spoke 24, which supports the relevant circular-arc vane section 22 at the lowest stage, is inclined with respect to the bottom plate 15 as shown in
Further, there are provided the rotating vane assemblies 21, 210 in a plurality of stages in a vertical direction, and thus the material to be dried is raised at every stage, while being pressed against the heat-transmitting face 12 in a thin film state, in such a manner that the material to be dried which has been previously raised is raised to the stage one-stage above, being pushed up by the material to be dried which is subsequently raised. Thus, from the rotating vane assembly 21 at the lowest stage to the rotating vane assembly 210 at the highest stage, the material to be dried can be continuously dried, while being raised in sequence, thereby the entire face of the heat-transmitting face 12 provided for the inner wall of the drying vessel 11 in a vertical direction thereof is effectively utilized, and thus an extremely high drying efficiency on the basis of the advantage of the vertical type can be reliably implemented.
As shown in
The material to be dried which has been moved to the evaporation face is exposed to the air, resulting in the moisture evaporation being further progressed. Further, at the same time when the material to be dried is moved from the heat-transmitting face 12 to the evaporation face, the material to be dried is raised along the heat-transmitting face 12 in such a manner that, as a result of the raising action of each circular-arc vane section 22, 220, the material to be dried which has been previously raised is intermittently pushed up by the material to be dried which is subsequently raised. In other words, the material to be dried is moved from the heat-transmitting face 12 to the evaporation face, while being raised along the heat-transmitting face 12, thus being dried while climbing. Such a drying process is repeated at each stage in sequence.
Here as described above, the clearance F between any two adjoining stages of the stages of the rotating vane assembly 21, 210 becomes important. By setting the value of such clearance F at 0 to 15% of the diameter of the rotating vane assembly 21, 210, it is made possible that, at every stage from the rotating vane assembly 21 at the lowest stage to the rotating vane assembly 210 at the highest stage, the material to be dried is pressed against the heat-transmitting face 12 in a uniform thin film state, and also raised in an optimum time in sequence. It is recommended that the value of the clearance F between any two adjoining stages of the stages of the rotating vane assembly 21, 210 be appropriately set in such a range in accordance with the specific type of material to be dried.
Specifically, for example, kitchen garbage, such as cooking residues, and expired foods, contain scraps of vegetables at a very high percentage, having much fibers as a whole, thereby being poor in stickiness. With the drying apparatus 10 adapted for mainly handling of materials to be dried having such a characteristic, the value of the clearance F between any two adjoining stages of the stages of the rotating vane assembly 21, 210 is varied depending upon the inner diameter of the drying vessel 11, however, the value of the same is set at 0 to 15% of the diameter of the circular-arc vane sections 22, 220 in accordance with the inner diameter, namely, approx. 20 to 120 mm. Thereby, the kitchen garbage as the material to be dried can be maintained in a good state for drying, being contacted with the entire face of the heat-transmitting face 12 provided along a vertical direction of the inner wall of the drying vessel 11.
Further, in the case where a perishable, such as fish or a shellfish, is handled, the perishable loses its viscosity as the drying is progressed, being brought into a dried-out state, thereby the perishable tends to be changed into an extremely thin film with respect to the heat-transmitting face 12. With the drying apparatus 10 adapted for mainly handling of materials to be dried having such a characteristic, the value of the clearance F between any two adjoining stages of the stages of the rotating vane assembly 21, 210 is varied depending upon the inner diameter of the drying vessel 11, however, the value of the same is set at approx. 50 to 200 nm. Thereby, the perishable as the material to be dried can be maintained in a good state for drying, being contacted with the entire face of the heat-transmitting face 12 provided along a vertical direction of the inner wall of the drying vessel 11.
Further, in the case where waste liquid is handled, the waste liquid has a high water content, while having an extremely small amount of solid substances. With the drying apparatus 10 adapted for mainly handling of materials to be dried having such a characteristic, the value of the clearance F between any two adjoining stages of the stages of the rotating vane assembly 21, 210 is varied depending upon the inner diameter of the drying vessel 11, however, the value of the same is set at approx. 100 to 250 mm. Thereby, along the entire face of the heat-transmitting face 12 of the drying vessel 11, the material to be dried can be efficiently raised, and can be reliably contacted with the entire face of the heat-transmitting face 12.
Further, in the case where a fruit is handled, the fruit has a relatively high water content, and a large amount of sugar, and therefore, as the moisture therein is evaporated and the ratio of the solid content is increased, the adhesion rate the fruit is increased. Due to such a characteristic, the fruit tends to be easily raised to the upper portion in a vertical direction of the inner wall of the drying vessel 11, thereby a spacing being produced in the lower portion or the intermediate portion thereof, and being poor in contact, and difficult to be uniformly changed into a thin film, however, by setting the value of the clearance F at 80 to 150 mm, the material to be dried can be reliably pressed, in a thin film state, against the entire face of the heat-transmitting face 12 provided along a vertical direction of the inner wall of the drying vessel 11.
Further, in the case where a food containing a lot of carbohydrate, such as rice, udon (wheat noodle), or soba (buckwheat noodle), is handled, the food has a low water content, however, heating it will change its state into a state like a softened rice cake, the stickiness thereof being extremely increased. It has been the that such a food containing a lot of carbohydrate cannot be dried with a conventional drying apparatus, however, with the present drying apparatus 10, by setting the value of the clearance F at 0 to 80 mm, the food containing a lot of carbohydrate as the material to be dried can be maintained in a good state for drying, being contacted with the entire face of the heat-transmitting face 12 provided along a vertical direction of the inner wall of the drying vessel 11.
Further, the internal organs of a squid have an extremely high water content, a high fat content, and a low solid content, and when the evaporation is progressed, resulting in the moisture having been removed, the squid internal organs are brought into a mushy slurry state due to the fat contained. With the drying apparatus 10 adapted for mainly handling of materials to be dried having such a characteristic, by setting the value of the clearance F at 30 to 150 mm, the material to be dried can be reliably pressed, in a thin film state, against the entire face of the heat-transmitting face 12 provided along a vertical direction of the inner wall of the drying vessel 11, whereby a dried substance having a good quality can be produced.
Further, in the case where a residue of an animal food, or minced meat of a butchered animal, or the like, is dried, such a substance has a lot of fat, and therefore if the moisture is evaporated, is changed into a mixture of a solid content and a lot of fat. With the drying apparatus 10 adapted for mainly handling of materials to be dried having such a characteristic, by setting the value of the clearance F at 80 to 180 mm, the material to be dried can be maintained in a good state for drying, being contacted with the entire face of the heat-transmitting face 12 provided along a vertical direction of the inner wall of the drying vessel 11.
Furthermore, in the case where a green tea extraction residue, or the like, is dried, it is in the dewatered state, thereby having a low water content and exhibiting no viscosity, and therefore, by setting the value of the clearance F at 0 to 60 mm, the material to be dried can be efficiently raised in a vertical direction, being reliably contacted with the entire face of the heat-transmitting face 12. As another example, in the case where a material to be dried which has a water content as low as 30 to 50%, such as powder, is dried, it has a low viscosity, and therefore, by setting the value of the clearance F at 0 to 30 mm, the material to be dried can be efficiently raised in a vertical direction, being reliably contacted with the entire face of the heat-transmitting face 12.
For any of the above-described great variety of materials to be dried, if the value of the clearance F is not in the range of 0 to 15% of the diameter of the circular-arc vane sections. 22, 220, the efficiency of climbing in a vertical direction is low, the efficiency of contacting with the heat-transmitting face 12 being deteriorated, thereby the drying time required, which is one of the important performance characteristics of the drying apparatus 10, being extremely increased. Particularly, that the efficiency of climbing in a vertical direction is low means that it is impossible to utilize the advantage of the vertical type of being capable of employing the entire face of the heat-transmitting face 12 provided along a vertical direction of the inner wall of the drying vessel 11. Accordingly, the value of the clearance F between any two adjoining stages of the stages of the rotating vane assembly 21, 210 is important.
Further, as important as the value of the clearance F is the relative arrangement of the circular-arc vane sections 22, 220 between any two adjoining stages of the stages of the rotating vane assembly 21, 210. With such an arrangement, as shown in
With such a special arrangement, the material to be dried which has been first scooped up from the bottom portion of the drying vessel 11 by the circular-arc vane section 22 and radial spoke 24 at the lowest stage is then scooped up by one end part 220a of the circular-arc vane section 220 at a second stage that is located the closest thereto in a direction reverse to the rotating direction R, while being pressed against the heat-transmitting face 12 in a thin film state by the centrifugal force. Then, the material to be dried which has been raised by the circular-arc vane section 220 at a second stage is scooped up by one end part 220a of the circular-arc vane section 220 at a third stage that is located the closest thereto in a direction reverse to the rotating direction R, while being pressed against the heat-transmitting face 12 in a thin film state in the same manner.
In other words, the material to be dried which has been charged into the drying vessel 11 is dried, while being moved in sequence from the rotating vane assembly 21 at the lowest stage toward the rotating vane assembly 210 at the highest stage in such a manner that the material to be dried climbs a multiple spiral staircase in which the respective circular-arc vane sections 22, 220 are intermittently continued. Further, the material to be dried can be replenished with a climbing force and a centrifugal force through the revolution of the rotating vane assembly 210 at the second and subsequent stages. In this way, the present invention allows effective utilization of the entire face of the heat-transmitting face 12 provided along a vertical direction of the inner wall of the drying vessel 11, whereby an extremely high drying efficiency on the basis of the advantage of the vertical type can be reliably implemented.
Particularly, each circular-arc vane section 22 of the rotating vane assembly 21 at the lowest stage is formed long, compared to each circular-arc vane section 220 at the other stages, and this each circular-arc vane section 22 at the lowest stage is disposed such that the other end part 22b thereof is located higher than one end part 22a of the other circular-arc vane section 22 which is adjacent thereto in a direction reverse to the rotating direction R, being overlapped thereupon in a plan view. Thus, a still greater raising force can be applied to the material to be dried, which tends to stay in the bottom portion of the drying vessel 11 at the beginning, whereby the material to be dried can be smoothly moved from the bottom portion of the drying vessel 11 to the respective upper stages. Further, in the present embodiment, the radial spoke 24 serves to positively scrape the material to be dried which is staying on the bottom plate 15.
Further, as shown in
Further, each circular-arc vane section 220 at the second and subsequent stages has a certain length extending in a circular arc shape in the range of a prescribed angle around the rotating axle 20, and the flat surfaces 230 of the circular-arc vane sections 220 which adjoin each other in a plan view within a circumferential range of 360 degrees can be easily disposed such that they are shifted in angular position from each other by a prescribed angle so as not to be overlapped upon each other in a circumferential direction. One end part 22a, 220a of each circular-arc vane section 22, 220 is connected to the distal end of the radial spoke 24, 240 which is relevant, being fixed to the rotating axle 20 in a radial manner, however, if there is provided a configuration in which the other end part 22b, 220b thereof is also connected to the distal end of a support arm fixed to the rotating axle 20 in a radial manner, a sufficient supporting strength can be also obtained.
In
Next, a second embodiment will be explained with reference to
The clearance F between any two adjoining stages of the stages of the rotating vane assembly 21, 210 and the relative arrangement of the circular-arc vane sections 22, 220 between any two adjoining stages are the same as those in the first embodiment, and thus a duplicated explanation will be omitted. In the present embodiment, there is provided a configuration in which a feed tube 16 is connected to a wall surface in the vicinity of the drying vessel 11 for supplying the material to be dried to the bottom portion of the drying vessel 11 by means of a feed screw 16a, while, by connecting a delivery tube 17 to a wall surface in the vicinity of the top cover 14 of the heat-transmitting face 12 for discharging the material which has been dried to the outside by means of a delivery screw 17a.
With such a drying apparatus 10A, batch type processing, in which the supply of the material to be dried is divided for intermittently obtaining the material which has been dried, may be performed, or continuous type processing, in which the material to be dried is continuously supplied, and the material which has been dried is continuously discharged may also be adopted. In the present embodiment, it is presupposed that the continuous type processing is also performed, and thus the receiving plate 30 is omitted.
Next, a third embodiment will be explained with reference to
The rotating vane assemblies 31, 310 are comprised of a plurality of circular-arc vane sections 32, 320, respectively, which are arranged in a circumferential direction around the rotating axle 20, and in the present embodiment, the rotating vane assemblies 31, 310 include six circular-arc vane sections 32, 320, respectively. The rotating vane assembly 31 at the lowest stage and the rotating vane assembly 310 at the other stages are different from each other in length of the circular-arc vane sections 32, 320, respectively. In other words, the circular-arc vane section 32 of the rotating vane assembly 31 at the lowest stage is formed longer than the circular-arc vane section 320 of the rotating vane assembly 310 of the other stages.
As shown in
The flat surface 33 of each circular-arc vane Section 32 is formed so as to extend obliquely upward from one end part 32a thereof to the other end part 32b thereof in a direction reverse to the rotating direction R, being configured so as to place the material to be dried on the relevant circular-arc vane section 32 to raise it, while pressing it against the heat-transmitting face 12 by the centrifugal force for drying the material to be dried.
The length of the respective circular-arc vane sections. 32 is within a circumferential range of 360 degrees in a plan view, and the other end part 32b of the respective circular-arc vane sections 22 is configured such that it is located higher than one end part 32a of the other circular-arc vane section 32 which is adjacent thereto in a direction reverse to the rotating direction R, being overlapped thereupon in a plan view. As is the case with the rotating vane assembly 21, the circular-arc vane section 32 and the radial spoke 34 are those which have been integrally formed, being configured by cutting a single metal plate and bending it.
As shown in
The circular-arc vane sections 320 each have the same geometry, each providing a flat surface 330 which extends short in a circumferential direction in a plan view, being capable of placing the material to be dried thereon from one end part 320a thereof and moving it to the other end part 320b thereof, while raising it. As is the case with the flat surface 33 of the above-described circular-arc vane section 32, the flat surface 330 of each circular-arc vane section 320 is formed so as to extend obliquely upward from one end part 320a thereof to the other end part 320b thereof in a direction reverse to the rotating direction R, being configured so as to place the material to be dried on the relevant circular-arc vane section 320 to raise it, while pressing it against the heat-transmitting face 12 by the centrifugal force for drying the material to be dried.
The length of the respective circular-arc vane sections 320 is within a circumferential range of 360 degrees in a plan view, being set such that the flat surfaces 330 of the adjoining circular-arc vane sections 320 will not be overlapped upon each other in a circumferential direction in any portion from one end part 320a thereof to the other end part 320b thereof. As is the case with the rotating vane assembly 210, the circular-arc vane sections 320, the radial spokes 340, and the small disc portion 340a are those which have been integrally formed, being configured by cutting a single metal plate and bending it.
In the present embodiment, any of the circular-arc vane sections 32, 320 is formed shorter than the circular-arc vane sections 22, 220, respectively. Thus, the circular-arc vane section 32, 320 is lower in profile due to the shorter length, thereby being not bulky in a vertical direction, as compared to the circular-arc vane section 22, 220, and therefore even if the number of stages is increased, the overall height of the drying vessel 11 can be suppressed to the lowest possible one. The number of circular-arc vane sections 32, 320 are not limited to six, as described above, and the specific length and lateral width thereof are also design matters which can be appropriately determined.
Also in the present embodiment, as shown in
Further, as shown in
Heretofore, the embodiments of the present invention have been described with reference to the drawings, however, the specific configuration is not limited to that of the above-described embodiments, and various changes and modifications may be included in the present invention, so long as they do not depart from the spirit and scope thereof. For example, in the respective embodiments, the rotating vane assemblies 210, 310 at the stages other than the lowest stage, excluding the rotating vane assembly 21, 31 at the lowest stage, are all constituted by a plurality of circular-arc vane sections. 220, 320 having the same geometry and the same degree of inclination, however, when required, they may be adapted so as to be different.
For example, the rotating vane assembly 21, 31 and the rotating vane assembly 210, 310 may be disposed such that they are alternately arranged from the lowest stage. In other words, the length of the circular-arc vane sections 22, 220, 32, 320 of the rotating vane assembly 21, 210, 31, 310 forming at least any one stage of the rotating vane assemblies 21, 210, 31, 310 forming a plurality of stages may be adapted to be different from the length of the circular-arc vane sections 22, 220, 32, 320 of the rotating vane assembly 21, 210, 31, 310 at any other stage, which is not limited to the lowest stage. In this way, the configuration of the circular-arc vane sections 22, 220, 32, 320 can be provided by selecting appropriate configurations and combining them, depending upon the characteristic, quantity, and the like, of the material to be dried which is charged into the drying vessel 11, 11A, 11B.
The drying apparatus in accordance with the present invention can handle a great variety of materials to be dried, including liquid ones, and particularly, it can be widely utilized as a drying apparatus which can efficiently dry even materials to be dried containing a solid substance or semi-solid one, and highly viscous materials to be dried.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012-115882 | May 2012 | JP | national |
| 2012-240301 | Oct 2012 | JP | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2013/063904 | 5/20/2013 | WO | 00 |
| Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| WO2013/176072 | 11/28/2013 | WO | A |
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| Number | Date | Country |
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| 2853848 | Apr 2015 | EP |
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| 20150153103 A1 | Jun 2015 | US |
