Claims
- 1. An apparatus for cooling hot material including fines, said apparatus comprising:
- a. a cooler inlet grate for supporting said material and having cooling air openings and cleaning air openings separate from said cooling air openings;
- b. a low pressure cooling air supply for supplying cooling air to said cooling air openings; and
- c. a selectively operable high pressure cleaning air supply, separate from said low pressure cooling air supply for supplying cleaning air to at least one of said cleaning air openings separately from the cooling air at a pressure sufficiently high enough to dislodge accumulation of the fines on the hot material.
- 2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said cooler inlet grate comprises a stepped surface further comprising at least one tread portion and at least one riser portion.
- 3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said cooling air openings are provided in said at least one tread portion, and said cleaning air openings are provided in said at least one riser portion.
- 4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein said cleaning air openings are aligned to direct said cleaning air outward from said at least one riser portion in a generally horizontal direction.
- 5. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein said cooler inlet grate further comprises a plurality of removable grate plates.
- 6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said high pressure cleaning air supply comprises at least one air cannon.
- 7. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein said at least one air cannon supplies said cleaning air to said cleaning air openings in blasts of less than 1 second in duration, at a pressure of between approximately 50 and 100 psi, at a velocity of between approximately 330 and 660 ft./sec., and at a flow rate of between approximately 40 and 60 ft.sup.3 /sec.
- 8. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein said cooler inlet grate is segregated into at least two zones and said high pressure cleaning air supply further comprises a number of cleaning air supply conduits, each of said conduits supplying cleaning air from said at least one air cannon to one of said zones.
- 9. An apparatus for cooling hot material including fines, said apparatus comprising:
- a. a cooler inlet grate segregated into at least two zones for supporting said material and having cooling air openings and cleaning air openings separate from said cooling air openings:
- b. a low pressure cooling air supply for supplying cooling air to said cooling air openings; and c. a high pressure cleaning air supply for supplying cleaning air to said cleaning air openings separately from the cooling air comprising at least one air cannon and a number cleaning air supply conduits, each of said conduits supplying cleaning air from said at least one air cannon to one of said zones, and wherein said at least one air cannon is remotely operable to supply said cleaning air to one or more of said zones.
- 10. The apparatus of claim 9 further comprising monitoring means for viewing said hot material and allowing a selective application of said cleaning air to one or more of said zones.
- 11. The apparatus of claim 8 further comprising a timing means for operating said at least one air cannon to supply said cleaning air to one or more of said zones.
- 12. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein said cleaning air is supplied in blasts having intensities which can be selectively varied by varying the number of said cleaning air openings.
- 13. A method for cooling hot material including fines in a cooler, said method comprising:
- a. providing a grate within said cooler, the grate being provided with a cooling air opening and a separate cleaning air opening;
- b. feeding said hot material onto the grate within said cooler;
- c. discharging cooling air into said cooler from a low pressure cooling air supply through the cooling air opening in the grate to cool said material; and
- d. applying cleaning air from a separate selectively operable high pressure cleaning air supply through the cleaning air opening in the grate to said material in blasts of less than 1.2 second in duration, at a pressure of at least 50 psi, and at least a velocity of 330 ft/sec sufficient to shock or jar the hot material and to thereby dislodge said fines from said material.
- 14. The method of claim 13 wherein said cleaning air is supplied in blasts of less than 1 second in duration, at a pressure of between approximately 50 and 100 psi, at a velocity of between approximately 330 and 660 ft./sec., and at a flow rate of between approximately 40 and 60 ft.sup.3 /sec.
- 15. The method of claim 14 wherein said cleaning air is directed outward from the grate in a generally horizontal direction.
- 16. The method of claim 13 further comprising applying said cleaning air to one or more zones of said grate.
- 17. A method for cooling hot material including fines in a cooler, said method comprising:
- a. feeding said hot material onto a grate within said cooler;
- b. discharging cooling air into said cooler from a low pressure cooling air supply to cool said material;
- c. applying cleaning air to one or more zones of said grate from a high pressure cleaning air supply through the grate to said material to dislodge said fines from said material; and
- d. monitoring said material within said cooler and selectively applying said cleaning air to said one or more zones of said grate.
- 18. The method of claim 17 further comprising the selective variation of the intensity at which said cleaning air is applied.
- 19. The method of claim 16 wherein said application of cleaning air to said one or more zones of said grate is controlled by a timing means.
- 20. An apparatus for preventing accumulation of fines within a cooler for cooling cement clinker, said apparatus comprising:
- a. means for monitoring said cooler to detect the location of any accumulation of fines within said cooler;
- b. a cleaning air supply system within said cooler for delivering blasts of cleaning air to the cooler; and
- c. means for segregating said cleaning air supply system into at least two zones and permitting the delivery of said blasts of cleaning air to only those zones where the accumulation of fines is observed.
- 21. The method of claim 13, further comprising isolating the cleaning air from the cooling air until the cleaning air is applied to the material.
- 22. An apparatus for cooling hot material including fines, said apparatus comprising:
- a. a stepped grate comprising at least one generally horizontal tread and at least one generally vertical riser said grate supporting the hot material and transporting a portion of the hot material in a first direction;
- b. a low-pressure air system for cooling the hot material, said low-pressure air system delivering cooling air at a first pressure to at least one opening, provided in said at least one generally horizontal tread of said grate; and
- c. a high-pressure air system for dislodging accumulations of the fines on the hot materials, said high-pressure air system delivering bursts of air at a second pressure through a high-pressure plenum to at least one opening provided in said at least one generally vertical riser of said -rate,
- wherein said high-pressure plenum prevents the bursts of air delivered by said high-pressure air system from mixing with the cooling air delivered by said low pressure air system until the bursts of air and the cooling air are introduced into the hot material.
- 23. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein said second pressure is at least 50 psi.
- 24. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein said high-pressure air system comprises at least one air cannon.
- 25. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein said stepped grate is segregated into at least two zones, and wherein said high-pressure air system comprises at least two high-pressure plenum segments, each zone of said grate being delivered bursts of air through an associated high-pressure plenum segment.
- 26. The apparatus of claim 25 further comprising monitoring means for observing said hot material and allowing a selective application of the bursts of air from one or more of said high-pressure plenum segments to one or more of said zones.
Parent Case Info
This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 08/573,222, filed Dec. 15, 1995, now abandoned.
US Referenced Citations (16)
Continuations (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
573222 |
Dec 1995 |
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