Patent Application
20180141087
The invention relates to the methods and devices for air and liquid separation of granular materials. It can be used in food, chemical and other industries, as well as in agriculture for preparing seeds for sowing, for breeding purposes by cleaning, drying (if necessary), and for separating the mixture into individual fractions.
The known method of separation of granular mixture in a flowing medium consists in the gravity feed of the mixture particles in a separation zone, in an aerodinamic monotonically increasing effect on them at an acute angle to the vertical with the cascade of flat jets and extraction of finished fractions. In this case, such an aerodynamic effect is carried out in free alternating power scanning with increasing scan amplitude and scan angle. The device for such method of separation of granular mixture has a hopper with a vibrating chute, and installed under it the generator of air jets with flat nozzles arranged one under another and at an acute angle to the vertical, the height of cross sections, its step and installation angle of which increase upside down. In this case the generator is connected to the source of supplying air under pressure into it, and the generator is covered by side walls. The device also contains a fractions collector, installed under the nozzles [refer Patent UA No 45881 class B07B 4/02 published 15 Apr. 2002 bulletin No 4,2002].
In this mentioned method the separation of granular mixtures into individual fractions occurs due to the difference in the ratio of their weight and the force of aerodynamic drag. This method, thanks to its peculiarities of the action mode of air jets on the mixture particles is more accurate and stable over time than the usual passing of the mixture through the continuous flow of air, especially when the separation of particles of irregular shape takes place. This became possible due to the fact that the effect by the cascade of air stream allow multiple and different ways of impact, practically at every particle of the granular mixture.
However, despite the advantages, this method of separation of granular mixtures and this device for its realisation have some significant drawbacks, namely.
Alternating and free mode of expiration of the cascade of air jets inevitably leads to a periodic and unstable in time and space appearance in (in the cascade jets) zones of pressure and rarefaction with occurrence of the direct and reverse currents. In the zone of reverse currents the particles of the mixture are sucked (especially light) into the motion, the backward movement of the main stream of air, that leads to partial mixing of already separated material with this non separated. The instability of this phenomenon in time, in result, leads to the opening (rupturing) of the cascade of air jets in any random place, that further enhances the back-flow of air in this area and, as a consequence, intensificare mix what further enhances the back-flow of air in this area and, as a consequence, it intensificare mixing of the separated material with non separated. In addition, the opening of a cascade of the air stream contributes to the disruption of generation (cessation of the oscillatory process), that significantly reduces the quality of the separation process, and brings it closer in quality of separation to the ordinary blowing. The mentioned disadvantages of the known method of separation is determined due to the imperfect construction of the device, in particular, the construction of the generator of air jets.
These drawbacks are partially eliminated in other technical solutions, for example, in the described below method of separation of granular mixtures and in the device for its implementation, the essence of which consists in the following.
The method of separation of a granular mixture in a flowing medium, consists of the gravity feed of the mixture particles in a separation zone, of the aerodynamic monotonically increasing effect on the particles at an acute angle to the vertical with a cascade of flat jets, and of the output of finished fractions, in this case, the aerodynamic effect is carried out in the mode of self-oscillatory motion of each jet and of all cascade of jets at the frequency of the first harmonic oscillations. The device for this method of separation of granular mixture in a flowing medium contains a hopper with a vibrating chute, installed under it the generator of air jets, with arranged one under another and at an acute angle to the vertical flat nozzles, the height cross sections, the step and the installation angle of which increases from top to bottom, also the generator is connected with a source of supplying air under pressure and it is surrounded by lateral walls to prevent the seepage of air from the environment. The device also includes a separation chamber, under it the fractions collector is mounted, as well as the each pair of contiguous nozzles are equipped with a resonance chamber, that is connected with the space between the nozzles. The resonance chambers are equipped with a device to regulate their volume, and the ratio of the height of the nozzles cross section to the step of their installation is in the range of 0.2-0.25, and the ratio of the extreme upper and extreme lower corners of nozzle installation is 0.65-0.75 [see Pat. of Ukraine No. 60254 classes B07B 4/02, A01F 12/44 published 15 Jul. 2005 in bull. No. 7, 2005].
The main drawback of the known method of separation of granular mixtures is that it is performed with the usage of open system of flowing fluid medium to the separation process, in particular, air stream. In the known method the air stream is sucked into the generator of cascade jets from the environment, and then it returns to the environment after using it for separation of granular mixtures, however, the “exhaust” air stream returns saturated with the ordinary dust and volatile impurities of biological origin, that automatically generates a number of additional adverse drawbacks of the known method of separation, namely: the affaction of workers health, causing by contamination of the lungs, it contributes occurring of unwanted allergic reactions (medical drawback), it pollutes the environment and the room in which the device is operating (environmental drawback). Thus, despite the acceptable quality of the separation process, the commercial attractiveness of the known method of separation is reduced due to the constant presence of a dense dust cloud in the operating area of the device (an economic drawback), it can even ignites fires, that often leads to the destruction of premises, equipment and casualties among the workers due to the explosive air-dust mixture, when it reaches a critical concentration in the room. And this, in turn, forces to equip the room with a powerful ventilation system, all these increases the cost of the finished (separated) grain products, because of increasement of the total cost of technological equipment and improvement of energy consumption for realization of this method of separation.
All mentioned disadvantages of the known method of separation of granular mixture in a flowing medium take place due to the structural imperfection of the device, with the help of which it is implemented. In the construction of the device the node filter, that cleans the air stream, coming from the separation chamber, from impurities and dust, that form a hazardous airborne dust cloud around the device during its operation, doesn't exist. However, the equipment of the known device with the filter node of any known construction automatically increases the energy consumption of the separation process, due to the corresponding increasement of the drive power of suppling air to the generator, because such a filter element, according to its density, creates a tangible aerodynamic resistance to advancement of the air stream. For this reason, the equipment of the known device with the filter node is non-acceptable solution of the problem of cleaning the exhausted air from the point of economic energetical indicators.
The closest in essence and in achieved effect, that taken as a prototype, is a method of separation of granular mixture in fluid medium, which is based on the gravity feed of the particles of the mixture in a separation zone, on aerodynamic monotonically increasing effect on granular mixture at an acute angle to the vertical with a cascade of flat jets and on the extraction of the finished fractions, moreover, the lightest, solid and volatile fractions of impurities calibrates by their size into two independent fractions, and the smallest of them, along with for the major part of already used for the separation of air sream, are returned to the actuator of supplying air into the generator, in which the indicated minor fractions of solids impart are given acceleration for the mechanical impact on the separated piece of material, and also, the second impenetrable, larger fraction of volatile impurities, with the dust and the remaining exhaust stream of air is continuously removed into the environment. The device for implementing the above described method of separation of granular mixture in flowing medium, contains the hopper with a vibrating chute, mounted under them generator of cascade of flat jets, with installed in it one under another and at an acute angle to the vertical flat nozzles, the height of cross sections of which, their step and installation angle increases from top to bottom and which is connected with the actuator of supplying air under pressure into the generator that is covered by side walls, it has a separation chamber, under which the fractions collector is located, and the outlet of the separation chamber is covered by the filter element, made in the form of a rotating drum with a calibrating sieve on its surface, equipped with the cleaner impassable solid impurities outside, wherein the internal cavity of the rotating drum is connected with the drive, that supplies air under pressure into the generator of cascade flat jets (reverse path), and the purifier is made in the form of consecutive slotted confuser, ventilator and cyclone with a waste hopper installed so, that the filtered element adjacents to the entrance of slit of the confuser with a garanted gap, one of the edges of confuser is provided with a scraper made, for example, in the form of a simple manual brush. As a version of the device, the last chute of fractions collector, that is intended to collect the non-volatile waste of separation process and a hopper for fugitive waste, which gets out from the cyclone, can be combined together into one construction. [see us Pat. of Ukraine # 96814, classes B07B 4/02, A01F 12/44 published on 12 Dec. 2011, in bull. No. 23/2011].
The main disadvantage of the known method of separation of granular mixture in fluid medium is unpredictability of the quality of the process of separation of a mixture into separate fractions. The existance of this drawback is due to the lack of technical tools for alignment of the air stream at the outlet of the actuator, which supplies the air under pressure or in front of the generator of the cascade of air jets. It is known, that the air stream on the outlet of the actuator, in this case—a centrifugal ventilator (although the type of the drive does not have any matter), has an excessive turbulence structure with different pressure in the cross section (the largest in the center of the air stream). Such an unbalanced in pressure and expiration the air stream is supplied to the nozzles of the generator, and then into the separation zone. If we use for the separation an unbalanced cascade of air jets, it will be impossible to achieve a uniform aerodynamic effect on the particles of the mixture throughout the volume of the separation chamber. Therefore, the separation process flows uncontrolled and has a fairly low quality, because the different impact of air jets on the mixture automatically sends a certain amount of granular mixture particles to the wrong chutes of fractions collector, into which they were supposed to get with a stable process of separation. The availability of this technological disadvantage is due to the technical (constructural) imperfections of the device—their is no technical tools for aligning of a powerful air stream according to the pressure and laminarity of expiration on the area between the drive of air supply and the generator of the cascade of air jets.
The second major drawback of the known method of separation of granular mixture in fluid medium consists in the gradual decline of the quality of separated material due to its contamination with mineral dust and small volatile fractions of impurities of biological origin. The presence of this disadvantage is explained as follows. The only obstacle on the way of volatile impurities is the filter element. However, the small volatile impurities and dust, penetrating into it, and on the reverse path coming into the drive and from there, through the generator of the cascade jets,—into the zone of separation, where the dust and impurities are added to a new free-flowing portions of the mixture, that will be separated. Therefore, if dust and small volatile impurities once passed through the filter element, then nothing prevents them to pass again through the same filter and repeatedly. So over the time in a closed space of separation zone the total amount of flying dust and small impurities will rise. In the end, their mass exceeds a critical point (maximum acceptable), and the dust with impurities will begin to fall into a fractions collector, littering the separated material, that dramatically reduces the quality of the material. The presence of this technological disadvantage of known method is associated with technical imperfection of the device,—there is no technical tools in it for the periodical removal of extra amounts of dust and volatile contaminants from the closed system of functional units of the device. Besides, the excessive amount of dust and impurities in the closed system of the device can destabilize its the work, and thus—disturb the stability of the separation process of granular mixture in flowing medium, and an excessive amount of such dust, as it was noted before, is explosive.
The next significant drawback of the known method of separation of granular mixture in flowing medium is the limited area of its usage (for example, the separation of seed crops). The seeds of granular mixture of cereals have certain size and weight. In this method, a granular mixture, irrespectively from its kind, is served gravitationally into the separation zone. Moreover, the distance from the edge of vibraliting chute to the first jet of air, that appeares from the upper nozzle of the generator of cascade jets, is always the same, due to the immobility of the hopper that is installed above the generator jets. Therefore, if serve seeds into the separation zone, such as a poppy seeds, the grains of which are small in size and weight, or the seeds of grass crops (which tends to grip to each other), so they need to have a large kinetic energy of fall, so they can manage to delaminate during the time of free falling (it is possible if the distance between the hopper and the entrance to the separation chamber is large enough). Otherwise, they will just be blown out from the separation zone by the first (upper) air stream, if the capacity of the device increases. If we share the small seeds in a free flight, they will be qualitatively separated by a cascade of jets into separate factions and fall into appropriate chutes of the fractions collector. However, if other seeds are served to the separation zone, such as corn, the grains of which are large in size and has big weight, so they, while having a large kinetical energy of falling (if the distance between the hopper and the separation chamber is big), the first (upper) air stream (or several upper jets) the seeds will just “slip” without the separation and won't be completely divided into separate factions by the rest air streams (the remaining jets do not have time for efficient separation of the grains into fractions because there is no sufficient number of them), and they will get into the chutes of a fractions collector without good separation into the corresponding to them fractions. Therefore, for such seeds it is necessary to reduce the kinetic energy of falling, for example, by proximity of the hopper to the inlet of the separation chamber. As it was already mentioned, the presence of this shortcoming is due to the immobility of the bunker, that does not allow to adjust the distance between the vibrating chute and before the first air jet, in other words it doesn't allow to regulate the kinetic energy of the falling grains. In addition, the device, in particular, its hopper can not take into account the form of granular mixture (its roughness, humidity, ability to form arches), therefore, it cannot guarantee the stability of submission of the mixture to the vibrating chute, that is its main drawback. Thus, the known method and the device for its implementation is not universal, that limits their technological capabilities.
Another disadvantage of the known method of separation is its inability to ensure the continuity of the process of separation of granular mixtures, due to the fact that it is delivered to the hopper without preliminary preparation, that consists in the removal from the mixture the overly large impurities of mineral and biological origin (e.g., rocks, root systems of plants, etc.). If the large mentioned impurities fall into the separation chamber, they can damage the equipment or “drown out” some of his ladders, and it will lead to the violation of the stability of the separation process with an unacceptable decrease of the quality of final separated product. Consequently, the absence of technical means of preliminary preparation of the granular mixture in the process of separation in this device, is its drawback, that negatively affects on the continuity of the process of separation of granular mixture.
The fifth disadvantage of the known method of separation of granular mixture in flowing medium is its insensitivity to the conditions changes, against which the quality of the separation process depends on. To such conditions the abrupt changes in the quantity (the volume per unit time) of gravitational subbmition of the granular mixture in the separation zone can be included, as well as changes in the parameters of the electrical network, for example, the voltage or current frequency. If such deviations occur, the device is unable to respond on it, because it does not provide an automatic power changes of the drive, that supplies the air to the generator, and is its significant drawback, because while the conditions change, the separation process will still occur at pre-configured settings, and this will inevitably lead to the worsening of the quality of the separated products.
The sixth disadvantage of the known method of separation of granular mixture in flowing medium is that it does not consider the continuously changing conditions of separation, that is explained as follows. The part of the air stream is removed outside the device, together with the impurities through the extraction fan. As a result, to the reverse path not full air stream comes back, and the lack of the air stream that returns to the drive, cannot create such pressure that was involved in the process of separation at the beginning Moreover, the lack of air in the reverse path gradually increases, that automatically changes the conditions of the separation of granular mixture. The absence of technical means in the device, that compensation the part of the volume of the lost air is its structural disadvantage, that affects on the quality of the final (separated) product. In addition, in implementation of the known method, sometimes an opposite situation takes place—when the pressure in the separation zone increases and becomes higher than necessary. This situation occurs when the filtered element is clogged, due to that, its air capacity, that is returned to the reverse path diminishes. However, the known method does not provide the regulation of the pressure in the separation zone, for example, through the periodical automatic reset of excess pressure. Another factor in the destabilization of the separation process are external, natural or artificial conditions that may occur unpredictably. We are talking about the environment, particularly, about weather phenomena such as wind, rain—if the device is operated outdoors or drafts—if the device is operated indoors. To protect the separation process from the influence of these negative phenomena is possible by providing the full protection of the zone of separation from them. But most important is that the mentioned changes of separational conditions, cannot be controlled visually, because the device is made of opaque material, that forces constantly to take samples of the separated material and to judge on its quality indirectly about the changed conditions, in which the process of separation occurs, and if necessary, to change manually the parameters of the separation process.
The seventh discharge of the known method of separation of granular mixture in flowing medium is, that the finished (separated) final product is removed into the chutes of fractions collector, from which it is overloaded mainly to the unstable packages (bags). Firstly, it is not convenient, since/by the separation of granular mixture into many fractions, the bags must be established close to each other, and in the process of filling them with the grains, due to the expansion of such (unstable) type of the package, the bags will wedged between each other, so they must be somehow “pulled out” under the device, secondly, it is needed quite often to remove some fraction (or fractions), into a special zone without loading it into the container. The impossibility of withdrawal of the final product to any wished distance is the significant discharge of the known device, due to the imperfection of the design of its fractions collector.
The eights disadvantage of the known method of separation of granular mixture in flowing medium is is the limitation of its functional posibilities, for example, this method cannot be applied for drying of cereal seeds. Although it is possible to change the mode of “purge” of granular mixtures for its drying, but this drying will be prevented by some device nodes, for example, there is no sense in the filter element that only creates an obstacle to the free passage of air along the reverse path, that also returns the humidified air to the initial position to the generator, in the cyclone, that in this case is advisable to be replaced by a usual sedimentary camera, in the collectors of fractions, because there is no such an aim to separate the granular mixture into the fractions during its drying, while in the construction of the device, there are no tools to control the humidity of the air, in terms of which the quality of the finished (dried) product can be evaluated.
The main disadvantage of the device of separation of granular mixture in flowing medium, which realizes the above mentioned method, is that its control panel is mounted directly on it. And it limits the viewing area of running of the device by the operator, that makes his job dangerous due to the steady presence near the device.
Another disadvantage of the known device for separation of granular mixture is that it has a coherent construction that cannot be dissembled into separate blocks (modules). This shortcoming significantly hampers the maintenance work, and if necessary to replace quickly the individual units, its complicate the transportation to a remote distance, especially large quantities of devices to the customers, it is difficult to complete (create) blocks of such constructions of the device that will meet the needs of the customer and perform the necessary technological challenges.
The third disadvantage of the known device is that the actuator of air supply is rigidly connected to the electric motor, which forces it to be near the actuator. Of course, this affects the working conditions of the electric motor, because it is located inside the device (no refrigeration) it also difficult to substitute it for another in the case of necessity, but if a replaceable electric motor will have a connection site (shaft) of another size of construction, than it is provided for this type of actuator of air supply (fan), that usually occurs at the use of imported electric motors at the place of foreign customers, so it can't be managed to connect without any prior changes of construction of the connecting node of the fan (or electric motor), also this change of the connecting nodes is almost impossible to do in nonstationary conditions of the device usage, due to the lack of (in such conditions) necessary equipment, for example, turning, milling, drilling machines. In addition, different customers, often foreign, can have different parameters of the electrical network, for example, voltage, power phase, current frequency than the manufacturer of the devices has. Therefore, the use of external electric motor with a flexible connectivity will allow to connect it to any type of actuator (fan) of air supply, it can be replaced quickly into needful, without any design changes of the device units.
A number of disadvantages of the known device is associated with the imperfection of its fractions collector, including rotating shutters, the upper ends of which hurts the grain material, sometimes even cut grains. In addition, the nozzles of exit chutes are fixed, that forces to rearrange the chutes in order to change the direction of the nozzle (direct or indirect fractions) and there are no units for products that may remove the final product at a certain distance from the device to the specified area. Another minuse is the fact, that the fractions collector is made in the form of chutes, the design of which cannot be changed (except the turning rotate), for example, by volume. There is no sense in such chutes when we use the device for drying grains.
Another significant disadvantage of the known device is its limited technical capacity of independent movement to a new technological positions, as well as in its construction there is no means for automatical loading of granular mixture and discharging of finished products, that makes its technically imperfect, so it forces to attract for its service, additional labor and technical resourses.
The presented critical analysis of the known technical solutions are categorically convinced in the disadvantages, that are peculiar to the known method of separation of granular mixture in flowing medium are in a causal relation with the structural disadvantages of the device, with the help of which it is carried out.
The basis of the invention is to remedy the above mentioned disadvantages through a fundamental change in the method of separation of granular mixture in flowing medium and to improve the device, by expanding their techno-functional posibilities and customer's properties, by adding to the separation process new engineering operations, that will positively influence on the quality of the separation process of a mixture into a separate fractions, and it will be equipped with the new constructive and technical means, in particular, partial construction changes of existing nodes in its structure, and the introduction of additional nodes that will obtain these new properties of the method, that will cause the high-quality results of separation or drying of granular mixture and new capabilities of the device, including the expantion of their use.
The solution of the stated problem is achieved in that method of separation of granular mixture into lowing medium consists in the gravitational submission of the particles of the mixture that are to be separated, aerodynamic monotonous increasing effect on them at an acute angle to the vertical with a cascade of flat jets, and the output of finished fractions and the greater part of the air stream for the separation returns back by the reserve path to the actuator that supplies air to the generator and the failing fraction of volatile impurities, together with the dust and the remaining air stream is continuously discharged into the environment through a dedicated node, made for example in the form of a cyclone, according to the proposal, before submitting of a granular mixture into the hopper, the preliminary preparation by removing the overly large contaminants of biological and mineral origin is carried out for further continuity of the separation process and a cascade of jets is formed from the pre-aligned by the pressure and laminarnety of the continuously flowing air stream and with the gravity flowing of granular mixture in the separation chamber the optimally required kinetic energy of the fall with simultaneously forced stabilization of the volume of the mixture, continuously supplied to the separation, in an unpredictable changes of the quantity or volume of gravitational submission of the granular mixture in the separation zone or changes of the preferences of the electric network, in particular voltage, frequency and other external factors, that affects on the quality of the separation process, automatically changes the capacity of the cascade jets, for example, by appropriate regulation of the mode (power) of the drive, that supplies air to the generator. In addition, the air stream that returns back through the reverse path is constantly supplemented with an additional volume of air in order to compensate the loss of air in the removal part of the air stream together with dust into the environment, besides, in the separation chamber, if necessary, continuously or periodically the excess air is removed in order to maintain the constant conditions of the process of separation of granular mixture and the separation zone of the granular mixture is as much as possible protected from the influence of the environment on the separation process, particularly weather and other external conditions—rain, wind, drafts, etc., in addition, the all separation process—from the loading of the granular mixture to the discharge of the finished fractions—if necessary, can be controlled visually, moreover the finished fractions can be removed at any distance from the fractions collector in the desired area, provided by the technological tasks.
The given task is achieved in, that the device for separation of granular mixture in flowing medium, contains a control panel, a loading hopper with vibrating dude with generator of cascade of flat jets under it, and with located under each other at an acute angle to the vertical flat nozzles, and which is associated with the drive of air supply under pressure, and also covered with the side walls, the fractions collector, made in the form of a frame with a set of sliding trays for the removal of direct and inverse fractions, above the side walls of which the rotary shutters of separation chamber are located, the output of which is blocked by a filter element, made in the form of a rotating drum with a calibrating screen on its surface, and is equipped with the purifier from the outside, and the internal cavity of the rotating drum is aerodynamically tied with the reverse path, that unites it with a drive of air supply into the generator of cascade of flat jets and also the cleaner of the calibration sieve is made in the form of successively arranged slit nozzles, the exhaust fan and the device for output of impurities into the environment, made, for example, in the form of a cyclone with a waste hopper, located so that the calibration sieve adjacents with the gap in the confuser, one of the edges of which is equipped with a scrapper, according to the proposal, above the hopper a mechanical tool for preliminary preparation of the granular mixture is located, which is made in the form of inclined vibrating chute of flat or cylindrical construction through which it falls into the hopper, and between the actuator and the generator of cascade of flat jets the technical means is installed for equalization of stream according to the pressure and laminarity of the expiration on the section, made in the form of one or more retractable bars, and the loading hopper is installed with the possibility of its regulation in height according to the top nozzle of the generator jets, and with the possibility of changing the angle of inclination, besides, the hopper has an agitator to break down the arches of the mixture and a hemispherical shutter to regulate the amount of mixture suppling into the vibrating chute, in addition, the rotary shutters of the fractions collector have an aerodynamic profile and are made of elastic or other material with the upper ends of the streamline shape or covered with non resilient coating from brushed woven/non woven material, in the form of cilia, brushes, etc, so that the technical means for damping the kinatic energy of the falling particles of granular mixture colliding with the ends of the rotary shutters to prevent the injury, deformation and fracture of particles of separated pieces of granular mixture, and the nozzles of output chute holes of a fractions collector are installed with the possibility of turning them to an any angle with the possibility of the removement of separated material in any desired area and/or nozzes are mechanically connected to the sleeves (units for products) of required length for the possibility of diversion of finished fractions at a certain distance from the device, which are attached to the nozzles by means of flanges or other fastening elements, moreover, the control panal of the device is made portable or remote, and the device itself is modular with the possibility of disassembling it into separate blocks for ease of preventive maintaince, fast changes of the individual blocks, if necessary, and ease in transportation, particularly of large batches of devices to the customers and the drive of air supplyment to the generator is made in the form of a centrifigal or other type of fan, for example, of the impeller, with the electric motor, kinematically connected with the working body of the fan by means of a flexible transmission, for example, belts, moreover, the drive air supply is provided with a damper to regulate the flow volume of air flowing into the actuator, as well as autoregulation of the mode of operation of the device is accomplished with the help of frequency regulator or other similar technical tools.
In addition, in the method of separation of granular mixture in flowing medium, when it is applied for drying of granular mixtures, according to the proposal, the maximum possible aerodynamic capacity of the cascade of flat jets is used, and the dried granular mixture is collected in one place (without separation into fractions), and if necessary determined by the moisture characteristics of air at the outlet of the separation chamber, is redirected to the internal position for gravity submission for repeated exposure on a mixture of cascade of powerful air jets (final drying), besides, the exhaust moist air from the separation camera is discharged directly into the environment without returning it in drive by the reverse path.
As the possible embodiment option the drying of the granular mixture may be heated and dried by a flow of air sucked into the drive from the external environment in summer, when it is hot, or forcibly heated with a heater installed in front of the actuator (the heater can be mounted in any convenient location), and in the presence of reverse path the moist air is returned through it to the actuator, passing through the mentioned heater, that adsorbs the extra moisture. Or it dries the air from a reverse path with the method of sublimation (freezing of moisture), or condensation of the moisture from the air stream, that's why the appropriate technical means are installed into the device, for example, the sublimator or air conditioner.
In addition, in the device for separation of granular mixture in flowing medium, depending on the type and the condition of garnular mixture and the separation tasks, according to the proposal, the flat nozzles of the generator of cascade flat jets may be formed by a parrallel plates of the same or different widths or profiles, for example, by corners, or in the form of other mechanical means that allows to create a longitudinal slits in the generator and the generator itself is made extendable for the possibility of rapid change one design to another and the separation chamber is maximum isolated from the penetration of the natural environment factors into it, that could have a negative influence on the separation process and on the environment.
In addition, in the device for separation of granular mixture in flowing medium when it is used as a dryer according to the proposal, the output from the separation chamber is made open, without a filter element in order to ensure free existance of moistened air into the environment and, in addition, in this case, the device operates without bars that minimizes the resistance of the passage of air from the actuator to the generator of the cascade jets, and the humidity of the used air is controlled with the appropriate technical means (e.g. hygrometer), on indicators of which the degree of dried (ready) granulate mixture is being assessed and in front of the drive of air supply the heater is mounted for forced air heating sucked either from the environment or from the reverse path, in case of its presence in the construction of the device.
In addition, the device for separation of granular mixture in flowing medium, according to the proposal, is placed on a chassis with a driven or not driven swiveled wheels to allow the maneuvering of the device without the involvement of additional vehicles in the operating position, for example, in warehouses, grain elevators and in the transportation to a new location, and also is equipped with an automatic loading hopper of the granular mixture, for example, a screw and bucket lifts and automatic discharge tools of the separated or dried material (finished product) in the desired zone.
In addition, in the device for separation of granular mixture if flowing medium according to the proposal, the fractions collector is made in the form of a solid case with movable inside (movable or removable) partitions that divide evenly, or unevenly the internal part of the case into the chutes of collection of the direct and inverse fractions and the chutes can be made of transparent or opaque woven or polymeric material and can have a valve for sampling fractions and the chutes can have an unstable form and minimal height that is enough to install them to the frame of the fractions collector.
In addition, in the device for separation of granular mixture in flowing medium, to enable visual control of all process of separation or drying according to the proposal, one of the side surfaces of the whole device or its individual units are made of a transparent material, including the chutes and the reverse path.
A distinctive feature of the proposed method of separation of granular mixture in flowing medium is that due to the invected technological operations there is a real opportunity to stabilize completely and automatically adjust all the parameters and the time and also irrespective of any internal and external factors, the whole process of separating a mixture into individual fractions or drying of granular material while by a heated and dried aerodynamic flow of the air.
A distinctive feature of the device for separation of granular mixture in a flowing medium is that due to the introduced structural changes it has become a multi functional, the scope of its application is expanded, it becomes convenient in servicing and in transporting, it allows to control the process of separation or drying at any stages, and the most important is that it can automatically responds to any changes in the network, environment, the source material, and quickly changes in accordance with the technological challenges of impact on the granular mixture.
The technical result of the invention is to provide a new process of qualitative separation or drying of the grain material (granular mixture) due to the stabilization in time of exposure on the mixture of air stream at all indicators on which the device automatically responds due to the introduction of relevant structural changes in it, as well as the convenience and security of service and the redeployment of the device, without polluting of the environment. While the quality of separation of granular mixture at multifractional aerodynamic separation by weight, density or specific gravity has not worsened, but rather has increased.
Therefore, a change of the principle of separation of granular mixture in a stable cascade of air jets, protected from the exposure on them artificial and any natural factors, entails a corresponding increase of technical exploitation features and the customer's properties of the device.
Thus, all the essential features inherent in the proposed technical solution, obtained due to the introduction of appropriate technological and structural changes in the process and the device, achieve a positive technical result that is stated in the setting aims.
Further essence of the proposed technical solutions is explained with the illustrative material, which shows a drawings of the proposed device for carrying out the mentioned method of separation of granular mixture in flowing medium, a side view with a partial section for better demonstrating of the construction and the separation process. The single arrows indicate the air stream in the device, double arrows—return of the part of air stream to the generator for the reforming from it the cascade of flat jets for separation.
The proposed device for separation of granular mixture 1 in flowing medium includes a loading unit that consists of a mechanical means for the prior preparation of granular mixture 1, that is made, for example, in the form of inclined vibrating screen 2 of a flat construction (for this purpose can be used another constructions of similar usage, for example, vibrating tables, rotating screens of a drum type). This mechanical tool enables to withdraw from the granular mixture 1 a large impurities of mineral and biological origin and to send it into a specially designed capacity 3. Under the vibrating screen 2 the hopper 4 is installed with vibrating chute 5 for gravitational feeding of granular mixture 1 into the separation zone. In the hopper 4 the rotaring agitator 6 is mounted, that is intended for the destruction of grain vaults in the hopper 4. The amount of output granulate mixture 1 from the hopper 4 on the vibrating chude 5 is regulated by a hemispherical shutter 7. The hopper 4 is installed with the possibility of adjusting its height and an angle of inclination with a simple screw mechanism 8 (the mechanism is given as an example, other ones can also be used for this purpose, such as pantograph, the “Nurembergal scissors”, etc). The described loading unit of the proposed device is located on the vertical column 9.
In column 9 a retractable generator 10 of cascade jets is integrated, it is a closed contour volume with a set of a number of flat nozzles 11 for forming a cascade of flat air jets and which are located one under another and at an acute angle to the vertical. The height of cross sections of the nozzles 11, their step and their angle of installation are increasing from top to bottom. In the case of technological necessity, the type and condition of granular mixture 1, the jet generator 10, as a whole, or its nozzle 11 can have another construction, for which the generator is made extendable for the efficiency of replacement it into the necessary part. The jet generator 10 is aerodynamically controlled with the actuator 12 (e.g. with centrifugal fan), that feeds an air stream under the pressure and is kinematically connected (e.g. with a belt transmission 13) with electric motor 14, that sets it in action. In front of the actuator 12 the flap 15 is mounted (made of, for example, in the form of a diaphragm or of another design—it does not matter) for the regulation of the air volume, flowing into the actuator 12, as well as at the entrance of the actuator 12, the radiator 16 is located for heating and drying of humid air. This is necessary in case, when the device is used as a dryer in order to accelerate and improve the efficiency of the drying process of the grains. If you are using another principle of the dehydration of the air stream that is for drying of granular mixture 1, before entering into the device 12 of the air stream supply the submisstionor or air conditioner can be arranged (not shown, because of the notoriety). These technical means of heating and dehydration of the air stream can be installed at any other convenient place.
Between the actuator 12 and the generator 10 of a cascade of flat jets, the technical means is setted, it is used to equalise the air stream according to the pressure and its laminarity of expiry in a cross-section, made in the form of one or more retractable grids 17, the spatial orientation of which in relation to the generator 10 can be changed by permutation of them in the corresponding slots 18. To the generator 10 from the nozzles 11 the separation chamber 19 is adjacented, which represents a closed volume, formed by the side and top walls. At the end of the separation chamber 19, that is, from the opposite side from the jet's generator 10, a filter element having a form of a rotating cylindrical drum 20 with a calibration sieve 21 (directly the filter) on its cylindrical surface is arranged. The drum 20 at one site is kinematically associated with the drive of rotation (not shown because of the notoriety). The second end of the drum 20 is open and duct 22 is adjacented to it, the opposite end of which is adjacented to the drive 12 in order to supply air under pressure to the jet generator 10. The purifier of the air stream from the impassable fractions through the calibrational sieve 21 of the impurities is made in the form of successively arranged slit nozzles 23, the fan air exhaust 24, and of the cyclone 25 with a hopper 26 for collecting the products of cleaning of the air stream. The slot of the confuser 23 adjacents with an ensured clearance directly to the calibrational sieve 21 of the rotating drum 20. One of the edges (no matter which one) of the slit nozzle 23 is provided with a scraper 27, that is made, for example, in the form of a conventional manual brush with the bristles.
Under the separation chamber 19, a fractions collector 28 with chutes 29 for collection of direct and inverse fractions of the separated material is situated. Through the trays 29 of opposite fractions the lacking volume of air from the environment, is sucked in order to compensate the lost air during the abstraction of the impurities with the help of nozzles 23 with an exhaust fan 24. The turning shutters 30 of the fractions collector 28 has an aerodynamic profile and are made of an elastic material with the streamline shape of the upper ends or are covered with non-elastic platings or with a brushed woven/nonwoven material, in the form of cilia, brushes, etc., that is, the technical means for damping the kinetic energy of the falling particles of granular mixture 1, that faces with ends of the rotary shutters 30, in order to prevent the injury, deformation and the destruction of separating particles of granular mixture 1. The shutters 30 may have a straight or another shape, they can be made of metal, wood, etc., if there is a technological need. The nozzles 31 of the outlets of the chutes 29 of fractions collector 28, are installed with the possibility of rotation at any angle, that is, with the possibility of rotation around its axis. For the possibility of diversion of the separated material in any desired zone, the nozzles 31 are mechanically connected to the sleeves 32 (units to assign the products) of necessary length in order to allow extraction of the finished fractions at a certain distance from the device, which are connected to the nozzles 31 by flanges or other fastening tools. The control panel 33 of the device is made portable or remote, and is connected electromagnatically with the control unit 34 of the device and it is fixed on the column 9, for example.
The device, in general, is made module with the possibility of dismantling it into separate blocks for the convenience of preventive maintenance, for fast replacement of individual blocks, if necessary, for easy transportation, particularly of large batches of devices to the customers. The device is mounted on a frame 35, if necessary, it also can be installed on a chassis with a driven or non-driven rotatable wheels 36, for the possibility of easy maneuvering of the device, without involving additional vehicles, while changing the operating position, for example, in warehouses, at grain elevators and during the transportation to a new place. However, the wheels 36 are not a mandatory device node. In some cases, for example, when the device is installed in a stationary production line, it just leans on the frame, so the wheels in this case are not necessary. The device, if necessary, can be equipped with an automatic loading hopper of granular mixture 1, for example, screw or bucket lift and with an automatic discharges of the separated or dried material (finished products) in the necessary zone (not shown because of their notoriety).
The proposed method of separation of granular mixture in fluid medium, with the help of the proposed device, operates as follows (on the example of the separation of the grain material).
Before the usage, the device is to be setted up (usually it is done by the manufacturer): according to the kind of granular mixture 1, the modes of air suppling to the generator 10 are choosen, the height and the angle of rotation of the hopper is determined, then the grids 17 are installed in the needful location (the stabilizers of the air stream), a set of 10 generators with a variety of nozzles 11 is prepared(according to the type and condition of granular mixture 1, the different designs of nozzles 11 are used, that affects on the efficiency of the device, and on the power of drive 12 for the energy optimization of the device), etc. These device settings are carried out in advance for various kinds of granular materials and these settings of parameters are passed to the consumer together with the set of required generators 10 and with a supporting documentation.
The grain material (granular mixture 1) is served as a continuous stream to the natone vibrating screen 2, where it is separated from the large impurities of mineral and vegetable origin. These impurities are removed in the intended for them capacities 3, and the purified grain material passes (wakes up) through the cells of inclined vibrating screen 2 and get into the hopper 4 and the vibrating chute 5, in which the agitator 6 destroys the grain vaults in the event of their occursion, and they move up the inclined bottom to the outlet of the hopper 4. The quantity of the grain material that gets into the vibrating chute 5, is regulated by a hemispherical shutter 7. Next comes the gravitational submission of the granular mixture 1 into the separational chamber 19 from the side of the nozzle 11. On the grains of the granular mixture 1, that are in a free falling and that have a specific kinetic energy of the fall, impacts under an acute angle to the vertical with a cascade of flat jets in their fully developed turbulence, that occurs due to the curvature in the generator 10 of the jets, during their expansion in the nozzles 11. At the outlet of the separation chamber 19, the polluted with dust and mechanical impurities of different shape, the air stream is abuted into the rotating drum 20, which almost completely covers the output of the separation chamber 19, because it is practically equal to the width of the chamber. The air stream comes through the calibration sieve 21 into the internal cavity of the rotating drum 20, and the impassable on the size solid particles remain outside the drum 20, on the surface of the calibrating sieve 21. That happens the cleaning of the air stream from the impurities and partially from the dust. Through the calibration sieve 21 the passing small impurities fall together with a portion of the air stream inside the rotating drum 20. This part of the air stream together with small impurities enters the air duct 22 and through it returns to the drive 12, almost forcibly, by sucking the air from the air duct 22 with the help of the actuator 12. As the drum 20 rotates, its surface (the calibration sieve 21) is continuously cleaned from the failing mechanical impurities with the help of a scraper 27. All the waste from the separation process and from the pollution come into the slotted confuser 23, thanks to their suction of the air stream, that is created by the fan 24, then they come into the cyclone 25, where they are separated from the air and then fall into the hopper 26, that is made to collect the waste. From the cyclone 25, totally cleaned air is returned to the environment with a weak power, almost imperceptible stream, and therefore it doesn't create draughts around the working device.
The returned to the actuator 12 part of the air stream, with a small solid impurities falls on the grats 17, where the air stream is cleaned from impurities, is aligned according the pressure and is transferred into the laminar flowing mode. In this form, the air stream enters the generator 10 of jets and is served into the nozzles 11. During the impact of air jets, the grains of granular mixture 1, are divided into separate fractions and fall into the appropriate for them chutes 29 of fractions collector 28. From the trays 29, the final product is removed by product ducts 32 into the allowed area, that is selected by the rotation of the nozzles 31 and is defined by the length of the product ducts 32. During the technological breaks, the grids 17 are removed and cleaned of accumulated stains on them, the large impurities from the container 3 is also removed. If there is a need to move the device to a new position, it is autonomously transported on its own wheels 36. If necessary, the generator 10 of the jets can be changed to another one, in accordance with new technological challenges.
In the case, when the device is used for drying grain material, previously, the filter node, vibrating screen 2, a fractions collector 28 must be removed, because there are not necessity in them, the cyclone 25 may be replaced by normal sedimentary camera, that allows to minimize aerodynamic resistance to the movement of air in the separation chamber 19. In this case, the hygrometer is setted, and the mode of drive power 12 of air supply at the maximum allowable for this type of granular mixture (grain material) is changed, the heater is turned on 16 (if necessary) and so the device is being prepared to be used as an aerodynamic dryer. During the drying of granular mixture 1, the process of influence of the cascade of jets on the mixture has the similar effects, as at the process of separation.
If one side of all units of the device made of a transparent material, it becomes possible to visually see the whole process of separation (drying), watch it, and modify it timely. For sampling of grains material into the product ducts 32, the respective pockets can be made, and the trays 29 can be made of any material, including an unstable form.
A significant difference of the proposed technical solutions from the prior known, consists of a complete stabilization of process of separation of granular mixture, due to preliminary preparation of the source material, the stabilization according to the pressure, and air stream expiration, in automatic response to changes in the environment, in the possibility of autonomous relocation of the device into the new technological positions, as well as the possibility of withdrawing of finished product in any desired area, the usage of the process and the device as aerodynamic dryer with heated/not heated dehydrated air. All these differences, allow to qualitatively separate granular mixture into separate fractions, regardless of any external and internal factors, allow to expand the sphere of the device usage: as for separation, and as for drying, the device is convenient to maintain and relocate it to a new position. None of the known methods of aerodynamic separation and the devices for their implementation can not have the specified properties, because they do not contain all the essential features, that inherent in the proposed technical solution.
The proposed technical solutions were tested in practice. The device consists of the usual components and units, the method of separation does not contain activities or processes that would be impossible to reproduce on the modern stage of development of science and technology, particularly, in agricultural engineering, which means, that they are industrially applicable. In the known sources of patent, scientific-technical and other information the similar methods of separation of granular mixture in fluid medium is not revealed, as well as, devices for their implementation of similar purpose with these great essential features and advantages, therefore, it corresponds to the criterion of “novelty” and therefore considered, that they can get legal protection.
Since the set of essential features that are contained in the proposed technical solutions do not and can't be mentioned in the existing prior art, and the claimed technical solutions are deemed to be named “the inventive level”.
The technical advantages of the proposed technical solutions in comparison with the prototype are the following:
The social effect from implementation of the proposed technical solutions in comparison with the prototypes, is got through improving working conditions, ease of maintenance and the transportation of the device, the improving of quality and increasing output of finished products, due to the reduction of waste (destroyed and damaged grains).
The economic effect from the implementation of the proposed technical solutions in comparison with the prototypes, is obtained by increasing the commercial attractiveness of the device, which will increase sales, but also due to the use of only one device to solve two fundamentally different problems—separation and drying of the granular mixture.
After the description of the proposed method of separation of granular mixture in fluid medium and device for its implementation, specialists in this field should be apparent that all of the above mentioned is an illustrative character, but not limiting, while being represented by this particular example. The numerous possible modifications of the device, in particular, its constructive elements and units, principles of parameter settings and methods of using, of course can vary, depending on the type and condition of raw materials, external and internal factors, the volume of production, technological problems, etc., and of course, are within one of the conventional and natural approaches in this field of knowledge and are so considered in such a way, that are within the volume of the proposed technical solutions. The set of essential features inherent in the proposed technical solutions obtained through the introduction of appropriate structural and technological changes, that enabled it to acquire the proposed method of separation and the device for its implementation the above mentioned and other benefits. The introduction of any incremental changes and additions to the proposed items of equipment will naturally limit the range of their advantages, and therefore it cannot be considered as new technical solutions in this field of knowledge, because other similar to the described method of aerodynamic separation of granular mixture in fluid medium and device for its implementation, will not require any creativity from the designers, technologists and engineers, and therefore can not be considered as results of their creative activities or new intellectual property and appropriate protection of security documents in accordance with applicable law.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| A 2015 05268 | Jun 2015 | UA | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/UA2016/000030 | 3/3/2016 | WO | 00 |
