Thermal Processing Plant with Adjustable Gas and Material Diverters
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current thermal processing systems for materials like ores and minerals lack flexibility to adapt to varying material compositions and product requirements, leading to inefficient processing and high equipment costs due to the inability to operate drying and thermal treatment stages separately.
Innovation Solution
A system with a single hot gas generator that feeds a hot gas stream to either the thermal treatment device or the drying device via adjustable diverters, allowing for flexible operation and reuse of exhaust gases to optimize processing conditions, reducing equipment needs and costs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If a system uses separate drying device and thermal treatment device that cannot be operated independently, then the structure is simpler, but the adaptability to different material requirements deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces adjustable diverters (material diverter and gas diverter) that enable dynamic routing of material flow and gas flow between different process paths. This allows the system to switch between combined operation (drying + thermal treatment) and separate operation (drying only or thermal treatment only), providing adaptability without requiring completely separate fixed systems
Solution Approach 2:
The thermal treatment device is designed to serve multiple functions: it can perform thermal treatment when combined with drying, or operate independently for pure thermal treatment processes. The hot gas generator similarly provides hot gas for both drying and thermal treatment functions, making the system versatile for different material processing requirements
2Adaptability or versatility
If the drying device and thermal treatment device are separated and operated independently, then the adaptability to material properties improves, but the equipment outlay increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the drying device and thermal treatment device into a single integrated system that shares common components (hot gas generator, exhaust gas handling, structural framework). This merging reduces overall equipment outlay compared to completely separate systems, while the adjustable diverters maintain the flexibility to operate the functional stages independently when needed
3Manufacturing precision
If different material layers require different thermal processing, then the product quality improves, but the process complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies different thermal processing conditions to different material streams through the adjustable diverters. Material that needs only drying can be routed through the drying device, while material requiring thermal treatment is routed through the thermal treatment device. This allows tailored processing for different material layers or batches without complex multi-stage sequencing
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables tailored thermal processing of materials with reduced investment, operating, and maintenance costs, while maintaining product quality by allowing for separate or combined drying and thermal treatment processes, and improving energy efficiency by recycling heat.
Implementation Method 1
a hot gas generator (1) for generating a hot gas flow (2)
Implementation Method 2
a thermal treatment device (3) which is connected to the hot gas generator (1) via a hot gas line (17)
Implementation Method 3
a drying device (4) which is connected to the exhaust gas outlet (3a) of the thermal treatment device (3)
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
AI summary
The plant according to the invention for thermally processing a flow of material consists essentially of - a hot-gas generator for generating a flow of hot gas, - a thermal treatment device, which is connected to the hot-gas generator via a hot-gas line and has a material inlet for charging the flow of material to be thermally treated, a material outlet for carrying away the thermally treated flow of material and an exhaust-gas outlet, - a drying device, which is connected to the exhaust-gas outlet of the thermal treatment device and has a material inlet for charging a flow of material to be dried, a material outlet for carrying away the dried flow of material and a dryer exhaust-gas line, - an adjustable material diverter with an input and at least a first and a second output, wherein the input of the material diverter is connected to the material outlet of the drying device and the first output of the material diverter is connected to the material inlet of the thermal treatment device, and the second output of the material diverter serves to carry away the dried flow of material, - and an adjustable gas diverter with an input and at least a first and a second output, wherein the input of the gas diverter is connected to the hot-gas generator and the first output of the gas diverter is connected to the thermal treatment device and the second output of the gas diverter is connected to the drying device.