US3393805A - Massecuite director for continuous centrifugal - Google Patents

Description

T. R. LAVEN 3,393,805

TOR FOR CONTINUOUS CENTRIFUGAL July 23, 1968 MASSECUITE DIREC FIG.2-

Filed June 13, 1966 ATTO EY United States Patent 3,393,805 MASSECUITE DIRECTOR FOR CONTINUOUS CENTRIFUGAL Thomas R. Laven, Hamilton, Ohio, assignor to The Western States Machine Company, Hamilton, Ohio, a corporation of Utah Filed June 13, 1966, Ser. No. 556,971 6 Claims. (Cl. 210-214) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A stream of massecuite falling freely from a spout orifice into a continuously rotating upwardly open centrifugal basket is guided constantly to a desired delivery location at the basket bottom by a rod fixed substantially on the axis of the orifice, extending downwardly into the basket inside the stream, and terminating above the basket bottom. The delivery location is variable by bending the guide rod or by turning it eccentrically. A perforated tube used as the guide rod serves also for introducing a treating fluid into the stream entering the basket.

The present invention relates to continuously operating centrifugal machines for separating liquid and solid components of a feed material. More particularly, this invention relates to an apparatus for guiding a stream of viscous liquid material pouring into a basket of a continuously rotating centrifugal machine of the type used in the manufacture and the refining of sugar.

In the use of such machines for extracting and cleansing sugar crystals, massecuite is continuously supplied to a rotating conical basket which is perforated to separate the mother liquor and wash liquid from the sugar crystals. Massecuite may be fed into a basket through a conduit extending therein, or poured into the upwardly opening end of a basket which rotates on a vertical axis. The extension of a feed conduit into a vertically oriented basket to direct the flow of material is unsatisfactory because of the difficulty of observing the flow therefrom and the possibili y of clogging. It is therefore desirable to pour material from an overhead spout having a discharge orifice directing the material into the basket.

As in the case of a conduit extension, it is necessary accurately to adjust the direction of delivery of the material with reference to the axis of rotation of the basket to assure that the stream of maierial being fed will strike the bottom of the rotating basket in an area which will effect its most efficient distribution in the basket. A common practice is to place a windage shield around and below the discharge end of an overhead spout to ameliorate the disturbing effect of windage in the basket on a free-falling s'ream as it traverses the space between the spout and the lower end of the basket. A shielding arrangement is disadvantageous in that it requires exact positioning of parts at the time of installation. Moreover, a shielding arrangement does not readily permit adjustments during a continuous operation should the fluidity of the material change. Changes in fluidity occur with changes of temperature, or because of variance of the consistency of the material, or change of the degree of crystallization of the massecuite being supplied.

For efficient operation massecuite should be delivered directly onto an imperforate lower portion of a basket so that it may be ini.ially accelerated before it flows onto the filtering portion of the basket over which it is moved by centrifugal action. From whatever cause, a change in fluidity effects erratic flow conditions. It causes change in the course or pah of the falling stream, change in the area of impact of the stream in a basket, and sometimes causes a stream of massecuite to come into contact with the interior of the windage shield and build up thereon suflficiently to overflow the top of the curb of the machine.

It is among the objects of the invention to control the pattern of material in a continuously flowing stream and the course or path of the stream in its descent from the discharge orifice of a feed pipe.

Another object is to provide means for directing a freely falling stream to a desired location in a centrifuging basket.

Another object is to provide readily accessible means for facilitating adjustment of the course of a free-falling stream during a treating procedure and thus avoid temporary stoppages of a machine.

According to the present invention, it has been discovered that the tendency of a free-falling stream of a viscous liquid material, such as sugar massecuite or the like, to wander, splash, or be blown away from the desired location of delivery of the material into a continuously rotating centrifugal basket can be overcome or greatly reduced, so as to keep the location of delivery substantially constant, by training the stream upon and along a substantially vertical guide rod located inside the stream at the origin thereof and having its lower end spaced above .and directed toward the desired delivery location in the basket.

Further, it has been found that the location of the delivery of the stream in the basket can be adjusted to a considerable extent, without need for any change of the relative positions of the spout orifice and the basket, by simply adjusting the position or inclination of the guide rod so as to have it lead the stream to the desired location.

These and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments thereof and from the accompanying drawing, in which FIG. 1 is a fragmentary sectional view through the vertical axis of a centrifugal machine embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view of an alternative structure including a tubular guide rod whereby a treating fluid may be introduced into the stream of viscous liquid material being guided on the rod into the basket;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view of a mounting structure for a guide rod whereby the location and direction of the rod may be adjusted to vary the location in the basket to which the pouring stream of material will be delivered; and

FIG. 4 is a top view of part of the structure of FIG. 3.

As shown in FIG. 1, a centrifugal basket 10 having an upwardly opening perforated conical wall 11, a lower imperforate end structure 12, and a central hub 13 is mounted for rotation on a vertical axis. The hub 13 is connected to and is rotated by a shaft 14 journalled in a cylindrical housing 15. The housing supports bearings for the shaft and is itself supported from a stationary base plate (not shown) by a plurality of arms 16 which extend from the housing 15 to mountings on the base plate. A pulley 17 keyed to the lower end of the shaft 14 is driven by belts 18 to rotate the shaft and the basket.

The lower end structure 12 of the basket contains an annular lining member 19 which is removably attached thereto. The lining member extends annularly around the hub 13 and overlies the imperforate lower end of the basket to form an upwardly opening accelerating bowl or cup having a slightly conical inner surface 20 and an outwardly flaring lip 21 over which material passes from the cup onto a filtering screen (not shown) which has its lower end clamped by lip 21 and covers and lies over the perforate conical wall 11 of the basket.

As material leaves the accelerating cup 19 and ascends over the screen overlying the conical wall of the basket liquid is extracted into a chamber 22 surrounding the basket. The solids, such as sugar crystals, are discharged over the top rim 23 of the basket into a chamber 24 which is separated from the chamber 22 by a cylindrical partition 25. The different phases of the material are conducted away from the respective chambers by appropriate chutes as is Well understood.

The flow of material from the accelerating cup is caused by the centrifugal force developed on material pouring continuously into the cup from a spout 30 having a downwardly opening discharge orifice 31 above the basket 10. The orifice is defined by the inner circumference of a ring 32 removably supported by a ring 33 which is welded in place in the open end of the spout.

A pressure head is maintained in the spout 30 by a supply of the material contained in a tank 34. The material in the tank is replenished as needed to continuously deliver a stream S of material throughout a continuing centrifuging operation.

Variations of the pressure head in the spout affect the velocity of flow of the stream pouring therefrom. The velocity of the stream can be controlled by the operation of a gate valve 35 in the line between the source of supply and the spout 30. Any suitable system for controlling a valve, such as the one disclosed in United States Patent No. 3,223,283, may be used for maintaining a substantially constant pressure head conducive to a constant rate of flow.

According to the invention as illustrated in FIG. 1, a substantially vertical guide rod 36 is attached to the upper wall portion of the spout 30 and is suspended therefrom through the orifice of ring 32 and downwardly into the basket so as to extend inside and along the desired path of the stream S of viscous liquid material pouring from the orifice.

As shown, the rod 36 is welded to a bushing 37 in threaded engagement with a neck 38 extending upwardly from the spout at a location thereon from which the rod normally extends downwardly along or near to the axis of flow of material pouring through the orifice. The rod preferably is cylindrical but is long enough to reach into the accelerating cup 19 to a desired location spaced above the bottom 39 of the cup, where the rod terminates in a lower end that preferably is rounded.

The guide rod is positioned to direct the free-falling stream pouring from the orifice onto the bottom surface 39 of the accelerating cup at a location thereon where the desired even accelerating effect upon the inflowing material may be expected.

It has been found that the free-falling stream of viscous liquid material pouring downward along the guide rod 36 exhibits improved cohesion and stability against Wind currents and other disturbances as a result of the presence of the rod, and tends to cling to and follow the rod so that the direction of flow and location of delivery of the pouring stream can be influenced beneficially by the presence of the guide rod. The rod causes the stream to remain stable and to enter the basket at the desired location under conditions, such as variations of the basket windage, variations of the static head of the mass of supply material, or variations of its fluidity, which heretofore have resulted in troublesome splashing and misdirection of the flow of the falling stream.

The guide rod may be simply a solid metal rod or bar, for example, one of /2-inch diameter corrosion resistant steel, that is sufficiently rigid to retain the position given to it in relation to the spout orifice and the centrifugal basket. Such a rod may be mounted in place substantially as shown in FIG. 1, and if desired, it may be bent or deformed somewhat away from a true vertical position, as by applying a suitable force by hand to its free lower end portion, to vary the position of its lower end and thus select a desired location for the delivery of the stream guided by the rod.

According to an alternative embodiment of the invention, the guide rod can be in the form of a substantially rigid tube connected at its upper end with a source of a treating fluid, for example, water or steam serving to dilute or to heat the molasses content of the material pouring into the basket. The tube is provided with one or more outlet openings below the spout orifice for delivering the treating fluid into the pouring stream. A tube 40 of the character described is illustrated in FIG. 2. The tube is attached to the upper wall portion of a spout 41 and is suspended therefrom through the discharge orifice 42 of the spout and downwardly into a basket. Its lower end is located to direct a free-falling stream S of material onto the bottom surface 43 of an accelerating cup 44.

The tube is connected to a conduit 45 through which a treating fluid may be fed to the tube for delivery therefrom through any number of openings in the tube as may be required to accomplish the treatment desired. A number of perforations 46 are shown for illustrative purposes, but it is to be understood that their size, number and arrangement along and around the tube are dependent upon the nature of the treating fluid and the distribution thereof desired. For some operations the delivery of a treating fluid can be limited to the lower end of an openended tube. The use of a heated fluid to increase the temperature and fluidity of the feed material will often improve the separating effects of the centrifugal machine. Water may be continuously introduced for the purpose of diluting the liquid component of the material undergoing processing.

A modified mounting for a guide rod is illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4, where the rod 47 is shown fixed eccentrically to a cap 48 mounted on a neck 49 above the discharge orifice of the spout 50. Since the rod supported to one side of the center of the cap, the position of the lower end of the rod in the centrifugal basket can be adjusted by changing the position of the cap 48 on neck 49, without resort to a bending of the rod itself. Bolts 51 or other suitable fasteners for the cap can be released to enable a change of the cap and rod position, and then refastened.

While the principle of the invention and a preferred way of putting it into practice have been described hereinbefore, it will be evident to those skilled in the art that various alterations and substitutions may be made without departing from the substance of the invention, which is intended to be defined in the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for directing a stream of viscous liquid material such as massecuite from a source of supply thereof into a continuously rotating upwardly open centrifugal basket, comprising a spout communicating with said source and having a downwardly opening discharge orifice from which a free-falling stream of the material pours continuously into the basket and means including a substantially vertical guide rod mounted on said spout and extending through said orifice inside and along the path of flow of said stream therethrough for training said stream below said orifice to a substantially constantly positioned pour path leading to a desired location at the bottom of the basket, said rod extending downwardly from said orifice into the basket in the direction toward said location, and inside said stream, and terminating in a lower end portion thereof spaced above the basket bottom at said location.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1, there being means on a part of said spout spaced above said orifice for holding said rod suspended freely through said orifice substantially on the axis of the flow of said material therethrough.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1, said rod being sufficiently rigid to retain a given position yet being deformable by forcible displacement of said lower end portion so as to vary the location of the delivery of said stream into the basket.

4. Apparatus according to claim 1, and means eccentric to the lower portion of said rod for holding said rod suspended freely through said orifice, said eccentric means being turnable relative to said spout about a substantially vertical axis for adjustment of the position of said lower portion so as to vary the location of the delivery of said stream into the basket while the basket is rotating.

5. Apparatus according to claim 1, said orifice being circular and said guide rod being cylindrical, being positioned substantially on the axis of said orifice, and having a rounded lower end.

'6. Apparatus according to claim 1, said guide rod being a substantially rigid tube connected with a source of a fluid for treating said viscous liquid material, and having at least one outlet opening through the side wall thereof for delivering said fluid continuously into said stream.

6 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,839,941 1/1932 Zelezniak 210377 X 3,207,627 9/1965 Dietzel et al. 210-380 X 3,283,910 11/1966 Grieselhuber et a1. 210377 X FOREIGN PATENTS 1,316,550 12/ 1962 France.

1,383,840 11/ 1964 France.

OTHER REFERENCES Newell, L. C., Experiments in Practical Chemistry, Heath and Company, New York, 1923, p. 7.

SAMIH N. ZAHARNA, Primary Examiner. J. DE CESARE, Assistant Examiner.

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