US2141116A - Gas producer - Google Patents

Description

v Dec- 20., 1938 P. VAN ACKERENv 2,141,116

GAS PRODUCER Filed 001;. 30, 1936 22 aunar NEEM/V5 01E OUTLET PIPE Patented Dec. 20, 1938 UNITED STATES GAS PRODUCER Paul van Ackercn, Essen, Germany, assigner, by

mesne assignments,

to Koppers Company,

Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Delaware Application October 30, 1936, Serial No. 108,483 In Germany November 1, 1935 4 Claims.

The invention relates to a gas producer for the production of fuel gases from solid fuels such as coke by treating the fuel with a mixture of air and steam and in particular to those gas 5 producers in which the air-steam mixture is preheated (superheated) before entering the fuel charge of the gas producer.

It is well known that the quality of the fuelgas made can be improved by superheating the l0 air-steam mixture to be introduced into the gasproducer charge. In many cases contrivances have been tried for superheating the steam-air mixture by the utilization of the sensible heat of the fuel-gas made in the gas producer. The l-f superheaters suggested for this purpose have hitherto been arranged beside the gas producer and connected with same in such a Way, that the hot producer gases upon leaving the shaft, rst of all iiow through the superheater transmitting therein their heat to the steam-air mixture. The gas producer itself is often arranged as a steam producer in that its shell is equipped as a water chamber or the like up to the height of the gasifying zone in which the heat is developed. Above g5 the gasifying Zone the gas producer shell was hitherto mostly lined With a refractory ceramic material in order to protect the metal body of the shell against the influence of the hot gases.

Recent practical experiences have shown, that the advantages to be obtained by superheating the air-steam mixture are diminished by the increase in the invested capital which is caused by the arrangement of a special superheating device beside the gas producer. For this reason, the

superheating of the steam-air mixture has prac'- tcally nearly always been avoided.

The main object of my present invention is to provide such improvements in the said gas producers, that an effective superheating of tne 4g steam-air mixture can be attained without having to arrange superheating equipment beside the gas producer.

The present invention is based upon the idea of utilizing inside the gas-producer shaft the ..13 sensible heat of the hot producer gases for superheating the steam-air mixture. For this reason I have designed the upper part of the gasproducer shell, which hitherto has been lined with refractory material as a superheater, situated above thatl part forming the cooling chamber. Said superheater is connected with the steam collector of the Water chamber and also with the blast pipeline, leading to the producer grate.

Preferably, said part of the gas producer serving as a superheater is formed as a double shell, in the interior of which a row of transverse Walls is arranged in such a Way, that the steam-air mixture passes in a zig-Zag way through the cylindrical interior of the superheating chamber and thus comes into intimate contact with its hot inner Wall.

The principal advantage of the invention consists in that the steam-air mixture can be superheated in such an arrangement forming a part of the gas producer itself and which is built up by using parts of the shell which has to be provided in every gas producer. The execution of the invention does not therefore result in any appreciable increase in the initial costs for the gasproducer installation.

The superheating of the steam-air mixture according to my invention has further a favourable influence upon the reduction of the temperature in the upper part of the gas-producershaft, so that the fuel charging equipment situated in this part is kept comparatively cool. Finally, with the arrangement according to my invention, the danger of the formation of explosive gas-air mixtures is minimized which with the well-known pipe superheaters situated beside the gas producer is rather considerable. If for instance for any reason the inner wall of the superheater according to my invention becomes leaky, and so air enters the top part of the gas-producer shaft, such air will be quickly burnt with the hot gases present in the shaft dome. This combustion can easily be inspected through the inspection openings in the gas-producer roof, through which the fuel bed and the gasifying process are supervised. Itis therefore easily possible to trace any leakages and ignitions, and upon discovery of such leakage suitable remedies also can be easily made for eliminating the leakage trouble, whereas in the priorvv well-known superheating apparatus an effective supervision or inspection of the regions of the gas leakages is practically out of question.

Still further objects of my invention may be taken from the following description fof a preferred embodiment of my invention on the lines of the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a side view and partly in vertical section of the gas-producer according to my invention.

Figure 2 is a section through the gas producer on line II-II.

The gas producer shaft I is formed by a double shell made of sheets of a suitable metal, for instance sheet iron. The shell consists of the cylindrical walls 2, 2a, and 3, 3a, arranged coaxially of each other.

The lower part Ia of the producer-shaft shell is separated from the upper part Ib by means of a partition wall .I, extending between the walls 2, 3 and 2a, 3a.. The lower part la is arranged for water-cooling and reaches up to the same height as the gasifying or fire zone inside the gas-producer shaft. The cooling water is delivered through the pipeline and discharged through the pipeline 5.

The gas outlet 'I is arranged in the upper part Ib of the shell and is in connection with the usual gas treatment apparatus, not shown on the drawing. The hot gases developed in the re zone of the gas producer ow along the walls of the upper part of the shell, before they are discharged through the outlet 'I. In this way the upper part of the shell is heated to a comparatively high temperature.

In order to obtain a suitable cooling of the upper part of the shaft shell Ib, and to utilize the heat of the hot gases, the upper part of the shell is formed as a pre-heater or superheater for the steam-air mixture which is blown into the fuel charge of the gases through the grate I 2. The upper part of the shaft being lined outside with a heat insulation 3b, as may be seen from Figure 2, is sub-divided by a vertical partition wall 8. Near to the partition wall the pipe 9 enters the shell for the delivery of the cold steam-air mixture and a pipe II) is connected on the-other side of the partition wall 8 leading to the space II underneath the grate I2.

The steam-air mixture reaching the upper part of the shaft shell through the pipe 9 flows over the whole area of the gas producer shell, as indicated in Fig. 2 by the arrows I3. The steam-air mixture is thus heated and the shaft walls are simultaneousli7 cooled down.

Furthermore, there are provided staggered baffles I4 in the upper part of the shaft, whereby `is obtained a multiple change in the ow direction of the steam-air mixture inside the superheater Ib. In this way the heat exchange between the inner wall tube 2a and the steam-air mixture flowing along same is improved.

The steam required for the gasifying process is taken from the evaporator I5 which is connected .to the water-pipelines 5 and leading to the lower part of the gas-producer shell. The hot water produced in the shell fiows into the evaporator I5 without separation from the vapour bubbles which may have been formed, the water and steam being separated inside the vessel I5. The Water flows back through the pipeV 5 into the gas producer shell. A safety valve I6 limits the pressure in the vessel I5. The steam generated flows through the pipeline I controlled Vby a valve I'I into a nozzle I, which is arranged inside the tube 9, which latter is also connected to an air blower, not shown on the drawing.

The steam-air mixture then enters the superheater Ib. The producer roof E@ Which is suitably lined with a refractory material 2I and provided with inspection holes, not shown on the drawing, is equipped with a rotary charging hopper 23, movable on the rollers 22. This charging hopper reaches into the interior of the gas producer and runs into several outlets 25, which for instance are formed by cast-iron bodies.

As usual, the shaft I is sealed by a rotary ash pan 26, rotating on rollers 25. The grate I2 is fastened on the ash pan.

I have now described my present invention on the lines of a preferred embodiment thereof, but my invention is not limited in all its aspects to the mode of carrying it out as described and shown, since it may be variously embodied within the scope of the following claims.

I claim: Y

1. Gas-making apparatus comprising a gasmaking chamber provided with a shell therefor, and having a supporting grate therein, a lower primary-air blast-inlet-means for inflow of the primary-air blast upwardly through the bottom of the grate, and an upper gas offtake-means and having the lower portion of the shell adjacent the fire zone of the fuel bed constituted of a double-wall metallic water-cooled jacket provided with means for inflow of cooling water, and the upper portion of the shell adjacent the gas oitake-space constituted of a separate double- Wall metallic air-cooled jacket adjacent to and surrounding the gas oi-take-space and adapted for ow of the primary-air blast through the jacket to cool the gas and preheat the air by indirect heat exchange with the gas in the offtakespace, and in which the air inlet and outlet connections for the cooling air for the upper air cooled jacket comprise conduits adapted to accommodate the primary-air disposed entirely outside the gas-making chamber and the upper and lower jackets and in which the outlet connection is ccmmunicably connected with the primary-air blast inlet means for the fuel bed.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim Yl and in which the air-cooled jacket is partitioned radially by an upwardly directed partition extending substantially throughout the height of the air-cooled jacket to separate the air inlet and air outlet therefor from each other and in which the air inlet and air outlet communicate with the jacket close to the position 4so as to cause circumferential flow of the air from the inlet to the air outlet.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 and in which the air-cooled jacket is partitioned radially by an upwardly directed partition extending substantially throughout the height of the air- Cooled jacket to separate the air inlet and air outlet therefor from each other and in which the air inlet and air outlet communicate with the jacket close to the partition so as to cause circumferential flow of the air from the inlet to the air outlet, and in which the walls of the doublewall air-cooled jacket are provided with radially directed upwardly extending baies with the baffles on one wall staggered relative to the baffles on the other wall.

4. Gas-making apparatus comprising a gasmaking chamber provided with a shell therefor, and having a supporting grate therein, a lower primary-air and steam mixture-blast-inlet means for inflow of the primary-air and steam mixtureblast upwardly through the bottom of the grate, and an upper gas oftake-means and having the lower portion of the shell adjacent the re zone of the fuel bed constituted of a double-wall metallic Water-cooled jacket provided with means for inflow of cooling water, and the upper portion of the shell adjacent the gas offtake-space constituted of a separate double-wall metallic aircooled jacket adjacent to and surrounding the gas oiftake-space and adapted for ow of the primary-air and steam mixture-blast through the jacket to coolthe gas and preheat the air and steam mixture by indirect heat exchange with the gas in the oitake-space, and in which the air inlet and outlet connections for the cooling air for the upper air-cooled jacket comprise conduits adapted to accommodate the primary-air and steam mixture, with means for introducing steam produced by the lower Water-cooled jacket into the air inlet, al1 disposed entirely outside the gas-making chamber and the upper and loWei` jackets and the said outlet connection being communicably connected with the primary-air and steam mixture-blast inlet means for the fuel bed. 5

PAUL VAN ACKEREN.

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