Qj Yi European Patent Office

^m^r 9 Office
europeen
des brevets
yi) Publication number: 0 0 3 1 0 9 8
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^ cur t ur t MI M KAItlMI APPLI CATI ON

Application number: 80107837.9
@ |nt. CI.3: F 23 J 1/ 02
Date of filing: 11.12.80
S)
Priority: 13.12.79 US 102722

Applicant: COMBUSTION
ENGINEERING, INC.
1000 Prospect Hill Road
_ , , ,.
Windsor, Connecticut
06095IUS)
) Date of publication of application :
01.07.81 Bulletin 81/26
Inventor:
Cozza, Anthony James
17 Rockwell Place
^
S? d
Contracting States:
West Hartford
Connecticut(US)
DE FR GB SE
@ Inventor: Singer, Joseph Gerard
28 Burnwood Drive
Bloomfield
Connecticut(US)

Representative: Patentanwalte
Henkel-Kern-Feiler-Hanzel
Mohlstrasse 37
D-8000 Munchen 80(DE)
S , 1 .......... ^uuni(,i yCUOOiapCI.
Apparatus for handling ash and slag produced in the
combustion of coal or other ash-bearing fuel in the furnace
(10) of a steam generator, including an ash hopper (14)
beneath the furnace into which the ash initially falls. Apair of
scraper conveyors (30,32) which are submerged in water are
located below the ash hopper (14) from which the ash is
continuously disposed of. Water nozzles (40) are located in the
ash hopper (14) for cooling and
moving the ash.
The i n v e n t i o n r e l a t e s t o an a s h - d i s p o s a l s y s t e m
f or a s h e s
d i s c h a r g e d
f r om a c o a l - f i r e d or o t h e r
a s h - b e a r i n g
f u e l -
f i r e d c o mb u s t i o n c h a mb e r .
In c o a l - f i r e d s t e a m g e n e r a t o r s ,
t he
ma nne r in whi ch t h e
ash i s h a n d l e d and
d i s p o s e d of i s
an i t e m of c o n s i d e r a b l e
i mp o r t a n c e .
The
e q u i p me n t
f or h a n d l i n g t h e . a s h c a n n o t o n l y
be c o s t l y , but i f i t
r e q u i r e s much ma i n t e n a n c e , i t can a l s o
l e a d t o u n t i me l y and l e n g t h y s h u t - d o wn s of t he e n t i r e s t e a m
g e n e r a t o r .
The i n v e n t i o n as c l a i me d i s i n t e n d e d t o p r o v i d e a r e me d y
by p r o v i d i n g an a s h - h a n d l i n g or a s h - d i s p o s a l s y s t e m
f o r
t he f u r n a c e s of s t e a m
g e n e r a t o r s , i n c l u d i n g a n
ash h o p p e r
b e n e a t h t he f u r n a c e i n t o whi c h t he ash and s l a g
i n i t i a l l y f a l l s . A p a i r of
s c r a p e r c o n v e y o r s
whi ch ar e s u b -
me r ge d in wa t e r ar e l o c a t e d bel ow t he ash
h o p p e r
from wh i c h
t he as h i s
c o n t i n u o u s l y d i s p o s e d of . Wat er n o z z l e s a r e
l o c a t e d i n t he ash h o p p e r f or
c o o l i n g and movi ng
t he a s h .
One
way
of c a r r y i n g out t he i n v e n t i o n i s d e s c r i b e d in d e -
t a i l be l ow wi t h r e f e r e n c e t o d r a wi n g s whi c h i l l u s t r a t e o n l y
one s p e c i f i c
e mbodi me nt in wh i c h :
F i g u r e
1 i s a c r o s s - s e c t i o n a l s i d e vi ew of t he ash h a n d l i n g
a p p a r a t u s
f or t he f u r n a c e of
a s t e a m g e n e r a t o r ;
a n d
F i g u r e
2 i s
a
vi ew t a k e n
on
l i n e 2-2 of
F i g u r e
1.
R e f e r r i n g t o F i g u r e 1, n u me r a l 10 d e n o t e s t he f u r n a c e b o t t o m
o p e n i n g of
a
c o a l - f i r e d s t e a m g e n e r a t o r , t h r o u g h
whi ch mo l t e n
ash and
s l a g ar e d i s c h a r g e d . A wa t e r s e a l 12
p e r mi t s
t h e r ma l
e x p a n s i o n
of t he
t o p - s u p p o r t e d f u r n a c e , wh i l e p r e v e n t i n g
e x p o s u r e
of t he i n t e r i o r of ash h o p p e r
14 t o t he a t mo s p h e r e .
Ash f a l l s i nt o t he ash hopper (Fi gure 2), s l i d i n g down the a n g l e d
f l oor to
one of - t he openi ngs 18, 20. These openi ngs can be cl osed
by
gat es 22, - 24 when ne c e s s a r y, as l a t e r de s c r i be d. This
hopper ma y or
may
not be r e f r a c t o r y - l i n e d and
may or may
not be wa t e r - c o o l e d .
The ash f a l l s t hrough the openi ngs 18, 20 i nt o
one or t h e
ot her of the l ongi t udi na l tanks 26, 28. Each tank cont ai ns a
s c r a p e r
conveyor
30, 32, the
upper runs
of which ar e' s ubmer ged, or l o c a t e d
beneat h the wat er l evel mai nt ai ned in each t ank. The
upper
runs o f
the
conveyors car r y
the c l i nke r s to the end of t he t anks , where
t h e y
can
be di s char ged i nt o t r ucks or onto mechani cal
conveyors
(not shown)
and t r a ns por t e d away.
A por t i on
of the wat er in the tanks is con-
s t a n t l y removed and r e pl e ni s he d to mai nt ai n the main body of wa t e r
at a t emper at ur e not exceedi ng
160F ( 7 1 C ) .
In normal ope r a t i on, the
conveyors are
in cons t ant
o p e r a -
t i on, c ont i nuous l y removing ash. When
one
of the
conveyors
need
r e pa i r , i t s cor r es pondi ng gat e val ve, for example 22, can
be c l o s e d ,
so
all of the ash is then di s char ged t hrough opening 20 i nt o tank 28.
Tank 26 can then be dr ai ned s o- t ha t the
conveyor
30, or ot her br oken
equi pment , can
be r epai r ed
wi t hout
n e c e s s i t a t i n g shutdown of the s t eam
g e n e r a t o r .
If both
conveyors
need
some
minor r e pa i r s s i mu l t a n e o u s l y ,
both gat e
val ves 22 and 24
can
be cl os ed. Water from the nozzl es 40
can
then be us ed. t o f i l l the ash hopper 14 to a g i v e n l e v e l , and t h e
ash can be t e mpor a r i l y st or ed in the ash hopper for
a
s hor t t i me
whi l e minor r e pa i r or
mai nt enance work is done to the
conveyor s.
An
over f l ow pipe
42 keeps the wat er at
a c ons t a nt l evel duri ng t hi s
t y p e
of o p e r a t i o n .
The water nozzl es 40 pr ovi de an
a ddi t i ona l f unct i on. Dur i ng
normal
ope r a t i on, they d i r e c t j et s or spr ays
of wat er onto the
f a l l i n g
ash, thus pr ovi di ng hydr aul i c f r a c t u r i n g and s l u i c i n g o f l ar ge as h
p a r t i c l e s , pr event i ng the openi ngs
18 and 20 from
becoming c l ogge d.
Al t e r n a t i v e l y , the
gat es can
be kept cl os ed, and the ash hopper n o r -
mally f i l l e d with wat er . The
gat es
could then be i n t e r mi t t e n t l y
opened to al l ow di s char ge of the as h.
From the above, i t
can
be
seen t hat in normal o p e r a t i o n ,
the ash is c ont i nuous l y removed by both of the
s cr aper c onve yor s .
Fal l i ng ash from f ur nace 10 s t r i ke s s ur f ace 16 of the ash hopper ,
pr event i ng damage to the
conveyors 30, 32. The drop from the a s h
hopper bottom to the
conveyors
is r e l a t i v e l y shor t
compared to t he
hei ght of the ash hopper. When r epai r work is
r equi r ed on one of
the
conveyor s,
the ash is removed by the ot her
one. This i s
accompl i shed
wi t hout the
ne c e s s i t y
of
moving the tank and
conveyor
and al so wi t hout s hut t i ng down the steam
gener at or .
In a d d i t i o n ,
minor mai nt enance can
be done to both of the
conveyors
while t he
ash is t e mpor a r i l y st or ed in the ash
hopper 14. Cer t ai nl y, t he
l engt h of time of t hi s oper at i on is l i mi t ed
by the ash
s t o r a g e
c a pa c i t y of the hopper
14.
1. An a s h - d i s p o s a l s y s t e m
f or a s h e s
d i s c h a r g e d f r om
a
c o a l - f i r e d or o t h e r a s h - b e a r i n g
f u e l - f i r e d c o mb u s t i o n c h a mb e r
( 10) , i n c l u d i n g an ash h o p p e r (14) p o s i t i o n e d b e n e a t h t h e
c o mb u s t i o n c h a mb e r (10) i n t o w h i c h t h e as h f a l l s ,
s p r a y
n o z z l e s (40) f o r d i r e c t i n g wa t e r j e t s o n t o t he f a l l i n g a s h ,
a p a i r
of
o p e n i n g s ( 18, 20) i n o p p o s i t e wa l l s of t he a s h
h o p p e r (14) a d j a c e n t t o t h e b o t t o m t h e r e o f , a p a i r
of t a n k s
( 2 6 , 2 8 ) l o c a t e d b e n e a t h t he ash
h o p p e r ( 14) , each b e i n g
b e n e a t h t he
r e s p e c t i v e
ash
h o p p e r o p e n i n g s ( 1 8 , 2 0 ) , me a n s
f or
m a i n t a i n i n g a g i v e n l e v e l of wa t e r i n e a c h t a n k ( 2 6 , 2 8 ) ,
and
c o n v e y o r
means ( 30, 32) l o c a t e d i n e a c h t a n k b e n e a t h t h e
wa t e r l e v e l f or r e mo v i n g
ash f r om t he t a n k s ( 2 6 , 2 8 ) .
2. The a s h - d i s p o s a l s y s t e m
of Cl a i m 1, i n c l u d i n g a
p a i r
of
g a t e
v a l v e s ( 22, 24) a s s o c i a t e d wi t h t he
a s h - h o p p e r
o p e n i n g s ( 1 8 , 2 0 ) .
3. The a s h - d i s p o s a l s y s t e m
of Cl a i m 2, i n c l u d i n g me a n s
f o r m a i n t a i n i n g a g i v e n wa t e r l e v e l i n t he as h
h o p p e r ( 14)
when b o t h
g a t e v a l v e s ( 22, 24) a r e
i n t h e i r c l o s e d
p o s i t i o n s .
4. The a s h - d i s p o s a l s y s t e m s e t f o r t h i n Cl a i m 3 ,
i n c l u d i n g wa t e r s e a l means (12) b e t we e n t he c o m b u s t i o n
c h a mb e r (10) and t he as h
h o p p e r ( 14) , and b e t we e n t he a s h
h o p p e r (14) and t h e t a n k s ( 2 6 , 2 8 ) , so t h a t t he dr y as h f i n e s
c a n n o t
e s c a p e
t o t he
a t mo s p h e r e ,
and a t mo s p h e r i c a i r c a n n o t
e n t e r t h e c o mb u s t i o n c ha mbe r ( 1 0 ) .