Patent GB-190220079-A (GB)
Title: Improved Process of and Apparatus for Filtering and Washing Brewers' Mash and Similar Mixtures.
Inventor: LAPP VALENTIN
Filed: 1902-09-13
Granted: 1903-01-29
Abstract: 20,079. Lapp, V. Sept. 13. Filtering and washing brewer's mash &c. Relates to a continuous process for filtering and washing brewer's mash &c. in centrifugal machines. The mixture is fed to the drum of the machine, the liquid portion is thrown off, leaving on the wall the solid portion which is then washed and afterwards removed, all while the drum is in motion. A layer of the solid material may be left on the wall to act as a filtering-medium, and the drum may have two concentric filtering-surfaces, the inner to retain the coarser solids and the outer, the finer. The operation is carried on in an airtight casing. In one arrangement, the solid material is removed by a vertical or inclined scraper or stripper extending the whole length of the drum and composed of a spirally-coiled sheet of metal, the free edge of which may be adjusted, to operate the layer to the required depth, by means of a handle at the upper end. The material removed drops into an annular trough, in the bottom of the drum, at one point in which are a series of openings covered by a sliding door. When it arrives opposite a discharge shoot in the surrounding casing, the door is moved sideways, to uncover the openings and allow the discharge of the material. The door is opened and closed by the contact of a projection formed thereon with adjustable deflecting-bars. The bottom of the casing is held up by ropes and counterweights, to permit it to be lowered when desired, and the drum is driven by disc-and. roller friction gear. In another arrangement, Figs. 6, 7, and 9, the solid material is removed from the wall in strips by a scraper movable along the wall ; the scraper is formed by the square mouth of a tapering tube 7, which is supported above the drum, in a socket 40 of the frame 41<a> by sleeves 38, 39, in such a manner that the distance between its free end and the wall 2 of the drum may be regulated by a worm and wheel 41, 42, while it is moved up and down by means of a mangle-rack 47. The material removed passes up through the pipe 7, the upper end of which communicates by means of an extensible pipe 100 with a downtake 21. The pinion 48 for operating the rack 47 is secured to a spindle 49, which is driven by worm gearing from a spindle 51. The continuously-rotating vertical shaft 55 drives, by means of a wheel 56, a bevel pinion 54 loose on the spindle 51 and formed integrally with one member 58 of a cone clutch. The other member 59 of the clutch is operated to connect the pinion to the shaft, when it is required to set the stripper in action, by means of a hydraulic cylinder 60, the valve of which is controlled by a hand-lever 74. The same hand-lever serves to operate valves in the mash pipe 10 and in the pipe 67 for the washing water, its spindle 73 being coupled by levers and links 75 to the spindle 70 by which the mash valve is worked, and by levers and links 78 to the stem 76 of the water valve. For the automatic actuation of these valves, three pairs of wheels, one for each valve, are mounted on a spindle 82 ; two of these pairs 83, 85 and 84, 86 are bevelwheels geared together by pinions 90, 89, of which 90 is mounted on a driving-spindle 91 ; the third pair 87, 88 consist of discs formed on the adjacent bevel-wheels. The wheels of each pair rotate in opposite directions, and each carries a dog, adjustable in an annular groove, adapted to throw over one arm or the other of a double lever to open or close the corresponding valve. Fig. 9 shows the drum surrounded by deflecting-rings 34 ; the casing 12 may be lowered by screw-and-nut mechanism to afford access to these rings and to the drum. A modified form of stripper consists of a nest of tubes, the mouths of which extend in proximity to each other from the top to the bottom of the drum. In another arrangement of drum, with two concentric filtering-surfaces, an additional pipe is provided for the introduction of a filtering-medium upon the outer surface, and the material deposited upon this surface is removed by a vertically-reciprocating stripper consisting of a flat blade with inclined ribs. The material deposited on the inner wall is removed by drawing upwards a false bottom fitted in the drum. In another arrangement, the inner drum flares outwards from the bottom to the top, and another form of stripper is used. Fig. 17 shows a double-drum arrangement in which the two surfaces rotate at different speeds. The outer drum 2, connected to the hub 121 on the shaft 15, is capable of being moved upwards for cleaning purposes. The inner drum 1, on the hollow shaft 123, carries the stripper for the outer drum in the form of screw blades 124, and is itself stripped by blades 125 on the hub 121. The hub is divided into annular chambers 130, 131, 132, through which the filtering-material, the mash, and the water are introduced. A gauze may be fitted in the casing, to indicate the height at which the liquid is being thrown off from the drum.