Patent Application
20100043246
Traditional biomass particulate dryers employ external heat sources, such as gas-fired burners, to heat biomass particulates within a metal drum to a temperature sufficiently high to evaporate water from the particles. The water vapor is drawn out of the drum as steam. To ensure that the particulate biomass material is continually exposed to the heat, such dryers can include paddles or a helical screw auger that continuously stirs the biomass within the drum. Alternatively, the drum may be rotated to agitate the particulates. Using such systems, it is possible to dry wet sawdust from a moisture content of up to 90%, achieving a moisture content as low as about 10%. However, considerable fuel is burned to provide the heat for drying the particulate biomass in a conventional drum dryer, and more energy is required to rotate the drum or the internal agitating mechanism. Unless the heat applied is waste heat from some other productive process, the drying of particulate biomass materials can be a relatively expensive process, particularly due to the increasing cost of fossil fuels.
Conventional dryers implement what can be characterized as a batch drying process. The drum of a conventional dryer is typically loaded with a charge of wet biomass particulate material and the heat from the external source is applied until the desired moisture content of the material being dried is achieved. One type of biomass material that must be dried is wet sawdust, which may be produced at a lumber mill as logs are sawn into lumber, rail ties, or some other type of wood product. Lumber mills process logs on a continuous basis while in operation, so the sawdust that is a byproduct of the sawing operation is produced continually. Ideally, it would be desirable to dry the sawdust on a continuous basis so that the resulting dried wood particles used to make wood pellet fuel and animal bedding, pressed wood logs, and other products is also being produced on a continuous basis. Accordingly, it will be evident that it would be more desirable to provide a biomass drying system that can dry biomass particulates on a continuous basis, producing an output stream of dried wood particles for further product production. The speed and efficiency of the drying process would thus be greatly enhanced by providing a continuous feed process biomass dryer.
Another characteristic of conventional biomass drum dryers is that they are typically installed as fixed systems and are sized to handle batches of biomass material of a desired volume. Accordingly, for applications in which there is a need for a portable biomass dryer, the conventional systems are typically not practical. Also, the amount of biomass material that must be processed can sometimes be variable. For example, if the source of biomass material produces volumes of the wet material that vary substantially, it can be even less efficient to run a relatively smaller charge of the material through a conventional externally heated drum dryer when the volume to be processed is smaller than the design volume of the drum. Thus, another benefit of a continuous processing biomass dryer would be that the processing might simply be halted once the available mass of biomass material has been dried.
Furthermore, drum dryers are not suitable for drying some of the waste streams produced by various industries. Specifically, waste materials having a characteristic small particulate size cannot normally be processed in drum dryers. These materials include sludge from waste water treatment plants, spent grains from ethanol productions facilities, wet waste paper from paper mills, waste pulp, and a host of other similar materials. It would therefore be desirable to provide a dryer that can be employed to dry such materials, so that they can be used as alternative fuels instead of being put in land fill or burned wet with the added heat provided by a secondary fuel source. Because a suitable dryer is not available, many of the producers of these waste streams are putting them in land fills at a substantial expense to themselves, and causing an adverse impact on the environment.
Since the conventional biomass dryers are unable to overcome the problems noted above, it would clearly be desirable to develop a biomass dryer that operates in a substantially different manner that is able to provide continuous batch processing and is more portable. While the amount of biomass material that is to be processed is less of an issue in a continuous processing system, it would still be desirable to provide a continuous process biomass dryer that can readily be sized for almost any desired throughput rate, so that the processing capability can be generally matched to the maximum required throughput rate. The biomass dryer should also be generally portable, so that it can readily be moved to a site where there is a need for the dryer.
Accordingly, a novel approach has been developed for reducing a moisture content of a biomass material that is relatively wet. One aspect of this new approach is directed to an exemplary apparatus that includes a prime mover, such as an electric motor or fuel powered combustion engine, while other types of prime movers can alternatively also be used. The apparatus further includes an elongate housing extending between a proximal end and a distal end and having an inlet disposed adjacent to the proximal end for receiving the relatively wet biomass material. An outlet through which the biomass material passes after being dried to a substantially lower moisture content is disposed adjacent to the distal end. A generally helical screw shaft is disposed within the elongate housing and is drivingly coupled to the prime mover so as to be rotated thereby about a longitudinal axis of the shaft. The direction of rotation of the shaft is selected so that helical screw threads formed on the shaft force the biomass material entering through the inlet to move through the housing, toward the distal end, and then out through the outlet of the housing. The biomass material is compressed as it is moved through the elongate housing forcing moisture from the wet biomass material. In addition, friction resulting from the compression and movement of the biomass material through the housing heats the biomass material sufficiently to drive out most of the moisture remaining in the biomass material, thereby substantially drying it.
The elongate housing includes an adjustable section disposed adjacent to the distal end. This adjustable section includes a plurality of adjacent longitudinally extending segments that are disposed circumferentially around the helical screw shaft and which together define a general cylindrical shape bore with an internal diameter that can be adjusted at the distal end of the elongate housing. The annular clearance between an interior surface of each segment and the helical screw shaft is adjusted by forcing the segments to move radially inwardly or outwardly at the distal end of the housing, thereby varying the internal diameter of the cylindrical shape formed by the segments. Thus, the extent to which the biomass material is compressed as it moves through the adjustable section is variable to achieve a desired moisture content in the biomass material exiting through the outlet.
The adjustable section includes a jackscrew that extends between a fixed member and a rotatable ring that extends circumferentially around the segments. The rotatable ring includes a plurality of spaced-apart rotatable wheels that roll on ramps to apply a radial force against the segments that varies as the wheels roll up or down the ramps, depending on a direction in which the jackscrew is rotated. The varying radial force alters the internal diameter of the cylindrical shape formed by the segments, which varies the compression of the biomass material.
In another exemplary embodiment, each of the segments includes tabs extending radially outward and running longitudinally along opposite edges of the segment, adjacent to distal ends of the segment. Threaded fasteners couple the tabs on adjacent sections together and are tightened or loosened to achieve a desired radial compression of the plurality of segments, to variably adjust an internal diameter of a cylindrical bore shape defined by the segments. This embodiment further includes helical springs on the threaded fasteners to provide a biasing force that radially compresses the segments more when the threaded fasteners are tightened and releases the radial compression as the threaded fasteners are loosened.
The helical screw shaft can include a distal portion having threads that are finer and more closely spaced than threads provided on a proximal portion of the shaft. Also, the helical screw shaft can include helical threads of varying width over at least a portion of its length, and/or helical threads of differing densities along its length.
In one exemplary embodiment, the helical screw shaft is directly coupled to a drive shaft of the prime mover. The prime mover and elongate housing can be mounted on a portable base to enable the apparatus to be portable and readily movable to a site where the apparatus is to be used for drying the wet biomass material.
Means can be provided for adjusting an extent to which the biomass material is compressed before it exits through the outlet, in consideration of at least one characteristic, such as an initial moisture content of the wet biomass material that enters the inlet of the elongate housing; a particulates size of the wet biomass material entering the inlet of the elongate housing; a desired moisture content of the biomass material exiting the outlet of the elongate housing; one or more characteristics of a specific type of the wet biomass material that is to be dried with the apparatus; and, a desired temperature range for the biomass material exiting the outlet of the elongate housing. The means for adjusting can be disposed adjacent to the distal end of the elongate housing and can include a plurality of longitudinally extending segments that are circumferentially disposed around the helical screw shaft. The means for adjusting can further include means for varying a radial force applied against the segments so as to vary a gap defined between the segments and the helical screw shaft.
The inlet can be configured and the prime mover operated so as to enable a continuous processing of a stream of the wet biomass material, so long as the wet biomass material is continually supplied through the input.
Another aspect of this novel approach is directed to a method for drying a wet biomass material to reduce its moisture content. The steps of the method are generally consistent with the functions implemented by the components of the apparatus discussed above.
The present biomass dryer has been tested for drying waste streams comprising many of the small particulate materials that cannot be dried in conventional drum dryers and was found to be successful at reducing the moisture content to a level sufficiently low to enable these materials to be used as a high quality commercial or domestic fuel. The costs involved in drying small particulate materials with the present technology has been demonstrated to be significantly less than those associated with traditional drying methods.
This Summary has been provided to introduce a few concepts in a simplified form that are further described in detail below in the Description. However, this Summary is not intended to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.
Various aspects and attendant advantages of one or more exemplary embodiments and modifications thereto will become more readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
Exemplary embodiments are illustrated in referenced Figures of the drawings. It is intended that the embodiments and Figures disclosed herein are to be considered illustrative rather than restrictive. No limitation on the scope of the technology and of the claims that follow is to be imputed to the examples shown in the drawings and discussed herein.
While the example of the biomass drying system shown in
As shown more fully in the exploded view of
The wet biomass material that enters input hopper 26 falls through an opening 58 that is formed in upper housing 40 (
It must be emphasized that it is not necessary to provide heat from an external source to achieve the desired drying of the biomass material. The compression and heat of friction produced in the rotary biomass dryer reduce the moisture content of the biomass material passing through the outlet by 30% to 40%. At least some of the moisture included in the wet biomass material leaves orifices formed in the housing of the rotary biomass dryer as liquid water, while much of the moisture is evaporated, forming clouds of steam 54, as shown in
A compression adjustor 52 can be rotated or otherwise moved so as to adjust the level of compression applied by variable compression nozzle 44, and to thus achieve a desired parameter in dry biomass material 48. For example, it may be desirable to control the moisture content of the dry biomass material to a specific level, so that the dry material can be more readily pressed into pellets for pellet wood stove fuel, or pellets for livestock bedding, or into pressed logs that can be burned in a fireplace. Each of these uses may require a different level of moisture content in the dry biomass material being produced by the rotary biomass dryer. In other applications in which the biomass material is not wood sawdust or chips, as an alternative to moisture content, the desired characteristic or parameter of the dry biomass material produced by the dryer may relate to a desired density or a desired friability (or compressed state) of the dry biomass material. These are only a few of the characteristics and parameters that may be of interest and for which control of the compression provided by variable compression nozzle 44 can be adjusted. It will therefore be understood that other parameters can be controlled by adjusting the extent of the compression of the biomass material effected by variable compression nozzle 44, simply by rotating compression adjustor 52.
The characteristics of the dried biomass material or of the wet biomass material can also be a basis for determining the extent of the compression applied to the materials. For example the following characteristics can affect the compression applied: an initial moisture content of the wet biomass material that enters the inlet of the elongate housing; a size of particulates comprising the wet biomass material entering the inlet of the elongate housing; a desired moisture content of the dried biomass material exiting the outlet of the elongate housing; one or more characteristics of a specific type of the wet biomass material that is to be dried with the apparatus; and, a desired temperature range for the dried biomass material exiting the outlet.
As shown in the exploded view of
The cross-sectional view shown in
The adjustment of compression adjustor 52 can be carried out manually by simply providing an appropriate end on the compression adjustor that can be engaged by a rotatable tool, such as a square or hex shaped end that is engaged by a wrench or socket and then using the tool to rotate the compression adjustor in the direction appropriate to achieve a desired increase or decrease of the compression provided by variable compression nozzle 44. A power rotary drive tool, such as a power drill, might also be used for this purpose. It should also be understood that other mechanisms for adjusting or varying the amount of compression applied to the biomass material being conveyed through the rotary biomass dryer can alternatively be used. One such alternative mechanism is discussed below.
Sensor 122 will be selected to detect the level of the desired parameter or characteristic of the dried biomass material. For example, if the parameter being controlled is the moisture content of the dried biomass material, sensor 122 will be a moisture sensor, e.g., a sensor that determines the conductance of the dried biomass material as an indication of its moisture content. If the parameter to be sensed is density, a densitometer can be used for sensor 122. Similarly, any other parameter or characteristic to be controlled will dictate the appropriate type of sensor 122 to be used to monitor the condition of the dried biomass material.
In
While it might be possible to apply an automated control of variable compression nozzle 140 using a plurality of actuators that are applied to each threaded fastener 148, such an approach is considered less efficient, compared to the jackscrew-type adjustment of variable compression nozzle 44. However, variable compression nozzle 140 is included, since it at least represents an alternative variable compression nozzle, which was in fact used on an earlier exemplary embodiment of the rotary biomass dryer.
As noted above, the input signal from sensor 122 can be a digital signal or an analog signal indicating the state of the biomass material that is output from the rotary biomass dryer. If an analog signal is produced by the sensor, it may be necessary to convert the analog level to a digital value, so that the processor can determine if the current value of the parameter, such as the moisture content in the dried biomass material is less than or greater than a desired value. If the biomass material that leaves the outlet is too wet, the processor can produce a control signal that controls actuator 126, causing it to increase the level of compression applied by the variable compression nozzle, and conversely, if drier than necessary, can reduce the level of compression using the actuator. A different type of sensor 122 can be employed to detect other parameters of the dried biomass material, such as its density, friability, etc., which can be controlled to achieve a desired value by the processor automatically adjusting the degree of compression of the biomass material applied by the variable compression nozzle.
Although the concepts disclosed herein have been described in connection with the preferred form of practicing them and modifications thereto, those of ordinary skill in the art will understand that many other modifications can be made thereto within the scope of the claims that follow. Accordingly, it is not intended that the scope of these concepts in any way be limited by the above description, but instead be determined entirely by reference to the claims that follow.
