Patent ID: 6361025
Filing Date: 2002-03-26
Classification: B01F,F28C,Y10S

Abstract:
A direct contact steam injection heater comprising:a heater body having a steam inlet, a flowing stock inlet and a heated stock discharge outlet, the flowing stock inlet and the heated stock discharge outlet being aligned so that the flowing stock flows through the heater body generally in an axial direction; a Mach diffuser that receives the flow of steam into the heater body and discharges the steam into the stock flowing axially through the heater body, wherein the Mach diffuser contains a plurality of steam diffusion holes through which the steam is discharged into the stock flowing through the heater body, and the Mach diffuser is mounted transverse to the axial direction that the stock flows through the heater body, and an adjustably positionable cover that selectively obstructs the steam diffusion holes contained in the Mach diffuser, the cover being rotatable relative to the Mach diffuser to selectively expose one or more of the steam diffusion holes in the Mach diffuser and modulate the amount of steam discharged through the Mach diffuser into the stock flowing through the heater body.