Patent ID: 6162036
Filing Date: 2000-12-19
Classification: B01J

Abstract:
An apparatus for producing granules from a free-flowing viscous mass, comprising:a supply vessel including outlet openings for discharging the mass;a pair of front and rear rotary guide drums spaced on opposite sides of the supply vessel;an endless perforated belt extending around the guide drums and arranged such that a lower run of the belt travels from the front drum to the rear drum while passing across the outlet openings of the supply vessel to periodically open the outlet openings of the supply vessel, as perforations in the belt become aligned with respective discharge openings, whereby the viscous mass falls in the form of drops;a collecting device extending around at least a portion of an outer circumference of the rear guide drum whereby the belt travels between the rear guide drum and the collecting device, the collecting device including a collecting space extending beneath the rear guide drum for collecting residual mass falling from the belt; anda recirculation mechanism for recirculating the collected residual mass from the collecting space to a return area located adjacent the discharge openings, wherein the recirculation mechanism includes a bucket wheel for raising collected residual mass from the collecting space, and a channel arrangement for conducting the raised residual mass, by gravity, to the return area, the bucket wheel mounted for rotation about an axis of rotation of the rear guide drum, the bucket wheel and the rear guide drum being operably interconnected for simultaneous rotation about the axis, the bucket wheel arranged so that a lower portion thereof dips into the collected residual mass during rotation of the bucket wheel.