Patent ID: 6519870
Filing Date: 2003-02-18
Classification: B29B,F26B

Abstract:
A method of heating a bulk material, said method comprising the steps of:supplying the bulk material to a heating vessel through a material inlet and withdrawing bulk material from the vessel through a material outlet at a throughput rate based on consumption of the material in a subsequent processing step; introducing a heat transfer gas through a gas inlet into said heating vessel and passing the heat transfer gas through the heating vessel in contact with the bulk material; said heat transfer gas being introduced into said vessel at a constant temperature; and regulating the rate at which said heat transfer gas is passed through said vessel in response to the temperature of the bulk material supplied through said material inlet and to the throughput of said bulk material through said vessel such that the bulk material withdrawn through said material outlet has a temperature corresponding to a target temperature value; wherein the rate at which said heat transfer gas is passed through said vessel is regulated in response to a temperature measurement from a temperature sensor which measures the temperature of said bulk material in a lower region of said vessel through which the heat transfer gas does not pass.