Grid plate

Abstract

A grid plate for the transporting and cooling of very hot materials leaving a furnace is provided. The plate includes cavities of rectangular shape, the largest dimension being perpendicular to the direction of advance of the materials. The cross section of these cavities being triangular with a fin-shaped bottom terminating in a turned-up end of reverse slope, the slope () of the cavities being between 10 and 45, preferably between 20 and 30, to the horizontal and the reverse slope () of the turned-up end making an angle equal to or up to 6 less than the angle of the slope of the cavities. The flow of material under gravity through the air injection slits is interrupted. Any contact of the material with the framework and with the mechanism of the equipment is avoided.

Claims

1. A grate plate for conveying and cooling very hot materials leaving a furnace, said grate plate comprising cavities of rectangular shape, the largest dimension being perpendicular to the conveying direction of the material, the cross section of these cavities being triangular with a fin-shaped bottom ending in a turned-up end with a reverse slope, the slope () of the cavities being comprised between 10 and 45 to the horizontal, and the reverse slope () of the turned-up end having an angle equal to or up to 6 less than the angle () of the slope of the cavities, the grate plate having in the bottom of each cavity one or more cooling air injection slits opening into the lowest part of each of the cavities, these slits being oriented so as to inject the air parallel to the bottom of the cavities, these slits being obtained by means of an excess thickness of material arranged on the lower surface of the constituent elements of the grate plate so as to locally narrow the space located between two successive fins.

2. The grate plate according to claim 1, characterized in that the turned-up end of the fin has a length of at least 20 mm.

3. The grate plate according to claim 1, characterized in that the grate plate also comprises, on the front face, one or more air injection slits.

4. The grate plate according to claim 3, characterized in that the slits of the front face of the grate plate have the same length as the slits opening into the bottom of the cavities.

5. The grate plate according to claim 3, characterized in that the slits of the front face of the grate plate are arranged at a distance comprised between 5 and 40 millimeters from the plane of the upper surface of the grate plate.

6. A grate cooler comprising a grate plate according to claim 1.

7. The grate plate according to claim 1, wherein the slope (a) of the cavities being comprised between 20 and 30 to the horizontal.

8. The grate plate according to claim 1, wherein each cavity has an intersection along a straight line with the plane of the grate.

9. The grate plate according to claim 1, wherein each cavity has bottom surface defining a straight line, the straight line intersecting with the plane of the grate without curvature.

10. A grate plate for conveying and cooling very hot materials leaving a furnace, said plate comprising a plurality of cavities of rectangular shape, the largest dimension being perpendicular to the conveying direction of the material, wherein the cross section of each cavity of the plurality of cavities is triangular and includes a bottom surface defining a straight line, the straight line intersecting with the plane of the grate without curvature, and wherein each cavity of the plurality of cavities further includes a fin-shaped bottom ending in a turned-up end with a reverse slope, the slope () of each cavity of the plurality of cavities being comprised between 10 and 45 to the horizontal, and the reverse slope () of the turned-up end having an angle equal to or up to 6 less than the angle () of the slope of the cavities.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

(1) FIG. 1 is a three-dimensional view of the grate plate according to the invention.

(2) FIG. 2 shows an assembly of grate plates of a conveying line.

(3) FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the grate plate according to the invention.

(4) FIG. 4 is a detailed cross-sectional view of the grate plate according to the invention with the alpha and beta angles.

(5) FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of several grate plates arranged on a conveying line of a grate cooler.

KEY TO FIGURES

(6) 1. Grate plate 2. Cavity 3. Fin 4. Turned-up end 5. Slits for injecting cooling air into the cavity 6. Slits for injecting cooling air onto the front face of the grate plate.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(7) The present invention concerns a constituent element of a cooling system intended to cool efficiently and economically a bulk material being initially at a high temperature, generally higher than 1000 C. Such a cooling system provides for a moving bed of very hot material at a regular rate on aerated grate plates whilst blowing cold air intended to cool this material.

(8) The parameters which must be strictly controlled are the following: moving speed of the bed of material to be cooled; cooling efficiency; regularity of the cooling air injection; cooling of the system supporting the bed of material; control over the wear of the elements; better protection of the under-frame and mechanism of the system against possible attacks coming from the material to be cooled.

(9) The researched construction and the design of these supporting elements, called grate plates, are of prime importance.

(10) In the present invention, it is proposed to control in a particularly efficient manner the moving bed of material to be cooled through the use of several pockets or cavities (2) whose fin-shaped bottom (3) is inclined according to a rising slope in the conveying direction of the material to be cooled, the cross section of the cavity (2) being globally triangular-shaped, which means that each cavity has an intersection along a straight line with the plane of the grate and hence a gentle transition in the conveying direction of the material. There is no rim, no rib, bar or any other obstacle tending to slow down the conveying of the material. This design allows an efficient and regular conveying of the material to be cooled.

(11) The choice of the number of cavities and of the slope angle of the bottom of the pockets is determined by the desired flow rate.

(12) The cooling air is injected through the space comprised between two successive fins in the bottom of the cavities, this space being locally narrowed just before opening into the bottom of each cavity by means of an excess thickness of material solely concentrated on the lower surface of the upper fin and so that the air is injected via one or more slits. This cross section reduction is carried out on a very limited portion of the passageway so as to reduce the pressure loss. When it opens into the cavity, the passageway has the appearance of a slit of 2 to 10 millimeters in width and of 20 to 280 millimeters in length.

(13) In use, for various reasons, the supply of cooling air may be suddenly accidentally interrupted. The material to be cooled located on the grate and filling the cavities must then be prevented from flowing by gravity through the air injection slits, which would have the effect of either filling the lower part of the grate and would compromise the re-starting of the air injection, or of coming into contact with the under-frame and mechanism of the equipment, which would have the effect of damaging them. To this end, the lower end of each fin forming the bottom of a cavity is inclined so that it forms with the horizontal an angle that is equal or up to maximum 6 less than the angle of the bottom of the cavity but with a reverse slope, i.e. descending in the conveying direction of the material to be cooled. This portion with reverse slope must be of a sufficient minimum length in order to efficiently interrupt the possible flow of material through the air injection passageway. This length is generally greater than 15 mm, preferably greater than 20 mm.

(14) With the aim of limiting the wear rate of the grates, not only must the material be cooled, but the grates themselves must be cooled when in use. To this end, it is provided for that the air be injected into the bottom of the cavities of the grate, by respecting a sufficient flow rate and speed, but also according to a flow, the direction of which is parallel to the bottom of the cavities so that the constituent wall of the bottom of the cavity is efficiently swept by the air and cooled.

(15) The lifetime of the grate plate is determined by the fact that, beyond a certain wear translating into a reduction in the thickness of the constituent elements and walls of the grate subjected to phenomena of oxidation and abrasion due to the passage of the material to be cooled, the grate does not properly fulfil its function and must be dismounted, which requires the complete stoppage of the installation, which is extremely penalising since it implies to give the complete installation the time to cool sufficiently to allow servicing. To reach this objective, the phenomenon of abrasion must be combatted by strictly limiting the surfaces of the grate plate which are directly exposed to the hot material, and the phenomenon of oxidation must be combatted by ensuring that these surfaces are efficiently cooled.