Slurry sampling device

Abstract: A slurry sampling device for sampling a slurry in which solid particles are dispersed, which is characterized in that the device comprises an upper (105) and lower (109) blocks , and a rotator (102) for collection which is rotatably held between the blocks, the rotator (102) being provided with a plurality of through holes (111) having a volume corresponding to the amount of sample to be collected, the upper (105) and lower (109) blocks being provided with a slurry conduit (101, 108) and a carrier conduit (107, 110) which can be communicated with the through holes (111) so that slurry and carrier fluid can flow therethrough, arc-shaped long grooves (113, 114) are provided on portions of the upper (105) and lower (109) blocks where an end of the slurry conduit (101, 108) comes into contact with the rotator (102), and at least one of the through holes (111) is thereby constantly in contact with the long grooves (113, 114). A method for sampling slurry in which a part of slurry is partially bypassed from a slurry tank (1) and returned to the slurry tank (1), the part of the slurry is sampled intermittently from the partially bypassed slurry and sent to an analyzer (6) so that the composition of the slurry is analysed.

Description: FIELD OF THE INVENTION AND RELATED ART STATEMENT The present invention relates to a device for sampling for analysis a liquid in which precipitating solid particles are suspended (hereinafter referred to as a slurry) and which is kept in a column or tank of an exhaust gas cleaning apparatus or waste water treating apparatus or the like which uses such slurry, and to a method for sampling such slury for analysis. A wet lime exhaust gas desulfurizer functions to clean an exhaust gas containing SO₂ or the like, such as boiler exhaust gas, through desulfurization with a slurry which is formed by suspending, for example, fine particles of limestone into water and which is kept in a column or tank. The analysis for the composition of the slurry in such an apparatus has been carried out by quantitative and manual sampling of a small amount of sample required for the analysis with a pipet, and pouring it into an analyzer. To automate the analysis, there has been adopted such a system as illustrated in Fig. 3, in which liquid in a column or tank is collected through a tube by means of a quantitative semimicropump 8, and quantitatively transferred into an analyzer 6. When an object to be collected is clarified liquid, the above system does not cause any trouble. In FR-A-2 250 111 is disclosed a device in which a piston operates to discharge outwardly from a loop a part of a circulating solution due to up and down motion of said piston. In FR-A-2 141 877 is disclosed a device for the introduction of a predetermined amount of a liquid into a continous flow of a buffer liquid, comprising an upper and a lower block provided with holes and grooves, and a rotator in which the flow of buffer liquid is not stopped and is essentially constant in time. OBJECT AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION However, if an object to be collected is a slurry in which precipitating solid particles are suspended, some solid particles precipitate and deposit in the sampling system, so that the following troubles have conventionally been observed. 1) Analytical accuracy deteriorates; 2) Stable and continuous analysis over a long period of time is impossible due to the clogging of pipes; 3) As a result, analytical data cannot be utilized for process control during the operation of an apparatus; and 4) Maintenance is troublesome. The purpose of the present invention is to solve the above problems and provide an automatic sampling device and a method for sampling capable of preventing solid particles from precipitating and sedimenting when the slurry is sampled from a column or tank in an "on-line" fashion, so that stable feed of the slurry into an analyzer becomes possible over a long period of time, and so that composition data on the slurry can be obtained and utilized for controlling the slurry composition or for use as control signals. The present invention provides a slurry sampling device for sampling a slurry in which solid particles are dispersed, comprising an upper and lower block provided with grooves, and a rotator for collection which is rotatably held between the blocks, the rotator being provided with a plurality of through holes : the through holes each have a volume corresponding to the amount of sample to be collected, the upper and lower blocks each being provided with a slurry conduit and a carrier conduit which can communicate with the through holes so that slurry and carrier fluid can flow therethrough, and arc-shaped long grooves are provided on portions of the upper and lower blocks where the ends of the slurry conduit arranged to communicate with the through holes come into contact with the rotator, at least one of the through holes is thereby constantly in contact with both of the long grooves. According to the present invention, by adopting the above-described constitution, a small amount of sample for the analysis of slurry can be automatically obtained with stability over a long period of time. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is a block diagram of a sampling device according to one example of the present invention; Fig. 1 (a) is a plan view, and Fig. 1 (b) is a side sectional view; Fig. 2 is a flow chart showing an embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 3 is a flow chart showing a conventional embodiment; Fig. 4 is a plan sectional view of a rotator with two through holes for collection according to the present invention; and Fig. 5 is a plan sectional view of a rotator with three through holes for collection according to the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Figs. 1 (a) and (b) illustrate a principle block diagram for an embodiment of the automatic sampling device of the present invention, and Fig. 2 illustrates a flow chart for the case in which slurry kept in a tank is sampled by an automatic sampling device and the sample thus obtained is introduced into an analyzer. First, as shown in Fig. 2, slurry kept in a slurry tank 1 is sampled by a slurry pump 2 and transferred to an automatic sampling device 3. The amount of the slurry forwarded by the slurry pump 2 is overwhelmingly larger than that required for the analyzer6,so that most of the slurry is continuously returned to the slurry tank 1 through a return pipe 4. Accordingly, the slurry is transferred as a uniformly dispersed slurry without the precipitation and sedimentation of the solid particles in the slurry. On the other hand, a small amount of the slurry collected by the automatic sampling device 3 is forwarded to an analyzer 6. Reference numeral 7 indicates a stirrer. In the following, the constitution and function of the automatic sampling device of this embodiment will be explained. As shown in Fig. 1, a slurry introducing pipe 101 provided in the main body of the sampling device is connected to a conduit for the slurry forwarded by the slurry pump 2 in Fig. 2, as indicated by the arrow mark A in Fig. 1 (b). The slurry flows into the main body from the lower part thereof for the removal of air bubbles in order to prevent precipitation in the slurry. Inside the main body, a slurry sampling rotator 102 is provided between an upper and lower block 105 and 109. The slurry sampling rotator 102 can be rotated by a driving gear 103 which is rotated in turn by an external motor (not shown) and through a rotation gear 104 fitted to the outer circumference of the slurry sampling rotator 102. A carrier introducing pipe 107 for the introduction of a carrier fluid 106 for analysis and a slurry discharging pipe 108 are connected to the upper block 105 of the main body. A carrier exhausting pipe 110 for exhausting a mixture 11 of the carrier fluid for analysis and a sample liquid, and the slurry introducing pipe 101 are connected to the lower block 109 of the main body. The rotator 102 for the collection of sample has a plurality of through holes 111, and is held between the upper block 105 and the lower bock 109, and can be rotated around a rotation axis 112. Reference numeral 116 indicates a fixing nut for the rotation axis 112. Also, the slurry introducing pipe 101 and the slurry exhausting pipe 108, as well as the carrier introducing pipe 107 and the carrier exhausting pipe 110, are arranged on respective vertical straight lines. In addition, a slurry inlet long groove 113 is provided on the surface where the opening of the slurry introducing pipe 101 in the lower block 109 comes into contact with the rotator 102 for the collection of sample, and a slurry outlet long groove 114 is provided on the surface where the opening of the slurry exhausting pipe 108 of the main body of the upper block 105 comes into contact with the rotator 102, so that the arrangement of these long grooves is symmetrical with respect to the rotator 102 for the collection of sample. In the long groove 114, the long groove angle α is set to be identical with the angle β between through holes, so that one of the through holes 111 is always within the range of the long grooves. Furthermore, the long grooves 113 and 114 are provided in the half portions on the side of the slurry inlet and outlet, if two or three through holes are provided as shown in Figs. 4 and 5. When the rotator 102 for the collection of sample is rotated to reach the position where the through holes 111 are brought into contact with the slurry inlet long groove 113, the slurry fed to the automatic sampling device flows out through the through holes 111 and the slurry outlet long groove 114 and the slurry exhausting pipe 108. Next, when the rotator 102 for the collection of sample is rotated to reach the position where one of the through holes 111 and the carrier introducing pipe 107 and the carrier exhausting pipe 110 are fully communicated with each other, the slurry stored in the through holes 111 is carried by an analytical carrier fluid to be sent to the analyzer 6 through the carrier fluid exhausting pipe 110. At that time, since a plurality of the through holes 111 are provided in the rotator 102 for the collection of sample so that another through hole 111 is always within the regions of the slurry inlet long groove 113 and the slurry outlet long groove 114, the slurry forwarded by the slurry pump 2 flows through the return pipe 4 without stagnation. It becomes thus possible to prevent the solid particles in the slurry from precipitating or depositing. The rotator 102 for the collection of sample may comprise a plurality of through holes which are suitably arranged, and an angle between the through holes should be set to a suitable value. For example, the rotator may have at least two through holes as shown in Fig. 4, or three through holes as shown in Fig. 5. Thus, while a large quantity of slurry constantly flows because of the slurry pump 2, a small quantity of slurry for analysis can be automatically sampled continuously and stably for a long period of time by the rotation of the rotator 102 for the collection of sample. Also, it is preferable to set the flow rate of the slurry, which flows through the slurry inlet long groove 113 and the through holes 111 and the slurry outlet long groove 114 and the slurry exhausting pipe 108 via the slurry introducing pipe 101, to a flow rate value of 0.2 m/sec or more, so that the precipitation and deposition of the solid particles may be prevented. Using the sampling device shown in Fig. 1, continuous automatic analysis of absorbent slurry in a wet type exhaust gas desulfurizer was carried out. When desulfurization is carried out with a slurry formed by suspending pulverized limestone particles into water by bringing the slurry into gas-liquid contact with an exhaust gas containing SO₂, it is essential to control and maintain the concentration of the limestone particles (calcium carbonate: CaCO₃) at a predetermined value in operating the wet type exhaust gas desulfurizer. As shown in Fig. 2, the slurry was automatically sampled from the slurry tank 1 containing the absorbent slurry through the slurry pump 2 by means of the automatic sampling device 3, and the excess amount of the slurry was returned to the slurry tank 1 through the return pipe 4. Simultaneously, the collected sample was forwarded to the carbonate analyzer 6 together with the analytical carrier fluid 5, and the concentration of CaCO₃ particles contained in the absorbent slurry could be detected stably and with high accuracy over a long period of time. Using the signals thus obtained for the process control of the exhaust gas desulfurizer, it was possible to obtain excellent operation results without troubles.

Claims: A slurry sampling device for sampling a slurry in which solid particles are dispersed, comprising an upper (105) and lower (109) block provided with grooves (113, 114) and a rotator (102) for collection which is rotatably held between the blocks, the rotator being provided with a plurality of through holes (111): the through holes (111) each have a volume corresponding to the amount of sample to be collected; the upper (105) and lower (109) blocks each being provided with a slurry conduit (101, 108) and a carrier conduit (107, 110) which can communicate with the through holes (111) so that slurry and carrier fluid can flow therethrough; arc-shaped long grooves (113, 114) are provided on portions of the upper (105) and lower (109) blocks where the ends of the slurry conduit (101, 108) arranged to communicate with the through holes come into contact with the rotator (102); and at least one of the through holes (111) is thereby constantly in contact with both of the long grooves (113, 114).

Inventors: ARAI TOKUMA C O MITSUBISHI JUK, NAKAMURA TSUMORU C O HIROSHIMA, OKINO SUSUMU C O HIROSHIMA TEC, SHIRAISHI YOSHIHIRO, TAKASHINA TOORU C O HIROSHIMA, TATANI ATSUSHI C O HIROSHIMA T, UKAWA NAOHIKO C O HIROSHIMA TE, ARAI, TOKUMA, C/O MITSUBISHI JUKOGYO K.K., NAKAMURA, TSUMORU, C/O HIROSHIMA TECHNICAL INST., OKINO, SUSUMU, C/O HIROSHIMA TECHNICAL INSTITUTE, SHIRAISHI, YOSHIHIRO, TAKASHINA, TOORU, C/O HIROSHIMA TECHNICAL INST., TATANI, ATSUSHI, C/O HIROSHIMA TECHNICAL INSTITUTE, UKAWA, NAOHIKO, C/O HIROSHIMA TECHNICAL INSTITUTE
Applicants: MITSUBISHI HEAVY IND LTD, MITSUBISHI JUKOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
Application year: 1991
Main classification: G01N1
IPC codes: G01N1