US1540662A - Retort - Google Patents

Description

June 2, 1925. 1,540,662

' E. G. STONE RETORT Filed sept, 22, 1924 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 jiu/061W l' June .2, 1925.

E. G. STONE RETORT Filed Sept. 22, 1924 MAQMA lllt June z, 1925. 1,540,662

E.y c;A STONE RETORT Filed Sept. '22 1924 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 In n 'for I. Sfr) )1 Mar I l f other Iso ' suitable mechanism,

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adapted to be heated for Patented June 2, 1 925.

`EIIDW-ARD GILES STONE, OF DEVONPORT, TASMiANIA, ASTRALIA.

RETORT.

To all lwhom z't may concern.:

Be it known that I, EDWARD Gines STONE, a subject of the King of Great Britain and Ireland, residing at Devonport, Tasmania, Commonwealth of Australia, havel invented certain new and useful Improvements in Retorts, of which the following is especificato `retort apparatus the purpose of distilling ground shale,whereby hydrocarbon oil gases contained inthe shale may be volatilized and conducted from the retort a aratus to a suitable condenserand a scruber to` recover incondensible gases as well as products to be derived from the shale. Though the invention is intended primarily for treating ground shale, it is to be understood that it is also applicable for use in the retortin of other substances. Thev invention will, owever, be described in connection with the retorting of ground shale. Referrin to the accompanying ldrawings inwhich te invention is illustrated;

a longitudinal sectional view of the entire apparatus.

This invention relates F ig. 2 is a similar enlarged viewA of-'the/ lower end portion of oneof the retorts.

Fig. 3 is a similar view ofthe upper end portion of one of the retorts. i

-Fig. 4 is a side view of one end portion of one of the retorts with certain parts omitted.

F ig. 5 is an end view of the same.

Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional view of onel ofthenretorts,

illustrating av portion -of' the mechanism forcleaning the same.

)Vhen the shale has it is fed by means of a suitable hopper l to the upper retort -2 of a `series of inclined retorts. Preferably there are three inclined retortsI 2, 3 and r4, each being arranged above and inclined toward the others, whereby material may be :ted by gravity from one retort to the other.

`The retorts are rotatably carried on rollers or other suitable bearings and they may be' rotated by any preferred means, end thrust rollers being also provided.-

It .is necessary, however, in connection with certain rotor-ting operations that the ends of' the retorts be furnished with gas tight joints. For this purpose, the upper ends of the retort tubes may be provided with apertured end plates 7 sr-Vering flared .take-offs 7d relatively to the retorts,

vbetween the flanges 'l'a and 7c ldriven from any of the Application mea september a2, im. serial No. 739,167.

flanges 7v bolted thereto, and the lower ends of the retorts may be provided with closure sleeves 7". The flanges 7 contact with flanges 7*.on the va or take-offs 7d, while the sleeves 7*" extendp into annular grooves in lower end plates 8. The flanged vapor and end plates 8 form closure means for the. ends of the tubes and these parts are carried by movable trucks 5 and 6, which hold'the parts Fand '8 stationary during the rotation of the retorts.

The upper end trucks 5 are adjustable and the flange 7 of the uppermost Vapor talrefoff 7d is prof vided with a chute 9, whereby ground shale may be fed to the interiori of the retort 2.

n oil gas receiving channel ll, is

of each retort, and such oil-gasv may be withdrawn from saidv channel to an outlet pipe 12- (provided on the said trucks 5) by any suitable exhausting apparatus and be thereby transferred to a condenser and a scrubber (not shown), from which incondensible gases are conveyed to a receiver.

The constructions of the reinovableadjustable trucks 6 (see Fi 2) for the lower ends of the retorts is ifferent from the trucks 5, as the lower end trucks cooperate with the closure plates 8 to seal the lower ends of the retorts'. Located near 'zo a formed each of the lower end trucks 6 and car- Y to the chute 15 of the next lower retort. The

be rotated by any worm-conveyor 14 may suit-able means and said means may consist, as shown in Figs. 4 and retorts and gear connected to a spindle 47, which in turn is gear connected to the spindle of the conveyor 14. To permit the trucks 5 'and '6 to be adjusted relatively to the parts 7d and 8 and to ensure gas-tight joints, a series of spiraly springs 42 may be arranged between each truck and the member 7d or 8 which it carries (see Figs. 2 and 3). The retorts may be rotated by instance by gearing connected to the spur wheels 43. The lower end trucks 6 may be held in position by means o adjustable clamps 44 adapted 4to grasp the rails 45.

If the ground shale which is being re- 5, of a spindle'46l any suitable means, for

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torted is not required to be further retorted, it maybe fed from .the lower retort of the' inclined series direct to a hopper or the like. Should it be desired, however, to subject the shale to further retorting, it may`b'e fed to a horizontally disposed trough, or chamber 16 having a rotatable worm-conveyor 17.

In certain cases it may be desirable to rovidemeans whereby the material treated in the retorts may by also the stirring means inner walls of the retorts may be cleaned and kept free from material adhering thereto. The stirring means may consist of angle plates 32a fixed to the inner surface ,of the retorts, and the cleaning means may consist of a steam cylinder 83 (see Fig. 2) litt-ing the lower end trucks 6. The steam cylinders for each of the retorts outlets 33a and 33h respectively and each carries a piston 3ft having a piston rod 35 to which is swivel-connected a spindle 36 which has fixed thereon a series of arms 37 ada ted to act as Scrapers 32' an the inner surface of the retort tubes. The scrapers 37 and'their carrying spindles 36 rotate with the retortsand said Scrapers may be reciprocated when steam` is admitted to the steam cylinder' 33 to operate the pistons 34, rods 35 and spindles 36.

. Theinclined retorts may he heated in any suitable manner.

hey are preferably carried in a chamber 38 to which hot gases are admitted from a flue 4l, the said hot gases being preferably directed around the retorts by baffles 39 as indicated by the arrows in Fig. l. Certain of the incondensible gases derived from the shale may be utilized for supplying fuel for heating the retorts and it is preferred that the lowest one of the retorts be arranged to receive the greatest amount of heat, the retort 3 a less amount and the retort 2 a still less amount.

What l claim and desire to secure by Letters-Patent is;

l. Retorting apparatus comprising a rotatable element adapted to have heat com'- municated thereto and inclined in such manner that material fed thereto at one end will pas.- by gravity to an exit opening at the lother end thereof, means within such element for stirring the contents thereof, means whereby volatile constituents derived from the material healed in said element may be vapor take-oli for said element carried by truck, said oil-taire being movable tod and a way from the truclr, and resilient "ied by the, truck for forcing the 5,-' from' the truck and against if end of the rotatable element iigl'ier end. apparatus comprising a rotatable element adapted to be heated and inbe agitated and where-l as weil as the' have steam inlets and for the plates discharged from the, latter, a truckarranged at the higher end of the element,"

clincd in such manner that material fed into its higher end will flow therethrough by gravity/means for stirring the, contents of said element, means for discharging volati'e constituents from the element, a truck arranged at the higher end of said element, a vapor take-off carried by he truck and movable toward and away fiom the latter, and resilientmeans for forcing said take-off toward the higher end of the rotatable element/'for closing said end, said high fr end of the rotatable element and said take-olf including a channel into which the volatile constituents from the rotatable element may collect .and be discharged through the means for discharging volatile constituents from the element.

3. Retorting apparatus comprising a rotatable element adapted to be heated and inclined in such manner that material fedv thereto will flow through the same by gravity, means for stirring the contents of the element', means for discharging volatile constituents from the element, a truck arranged at the lower end of the rotatable element, an end plate arranged between the truck and Athe lower end of the rotatable element for closing the lower end of the rotatable element, said end plate being movable toward and away from the truck, resilient means carrier by the truck for forcing the'end plate toward the rotatable element, and means for clamping `said truck in position relatively to said rotatable element.

4. Retorting apparatus including a rotatable tube provided on its inner i surface' with longitudinally extending bars Alined to rotateI with the element, AScrapers I arranged in the tube and adapted to slide along, the inner surface of'pthe latter for cleaning said inner surface and said bars` an axially lmovable and rotatable shaft conlnected to said Scrapers, an actuating rod for said shaft. swivel means connecting the rod and shaft, and means for reciprocating said rod. v

5. Retortiug apparatus asi claimed in claim l in which the means for reciprocating said rodvincludes a cylinder arranged at one end of the tube, a pist-on mounted in the cylinder and connected to said rod, and means for introducing a. pressure mediuininto the cylinder and fordischarging the pressure medium from said cylinder.

6. Retin-ting apparatus including a chamber provided with internal baffles for direct- ,f ing a rising heating gas vin a zig-zag path means at one .end of said chamber for in/I trmlucing a heating gas into the same, a superposed series of torts extending through the. chamber and having their ends arranged exteriorly of the chamber, closure means Afor each end of fe/ach retort, a truck arranged at the end inclined rotatable rel of each retort and carrying the closure `means at that end of the retort, resilient," retort for discharging volatile constituents fr neans for forcing the closure Ameans to-l from each retort, and means for feeding the ward the ends ofthe'retorts, means for feedmaterial to be treated into the upper end 1U ing'the material treated, from the lower end of the: uppermost retort.

of each' retort to the upper end of the re, In testimony whereof I hereunto ax tort immediately below the same, means carmy signature.

trieti byvt-hetruck at the upper end of each EDWARD GILES STONE.

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