Improvements in Rotary Apparatus for Drying, Burning, and Roasting Lime, Cement, Plaster of Paris, Colours, Ores, Chemical Products, and other materials.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 27th Apr., 1892
Complete Specification Left, 27th Jan., 1893-Accepted, 18th Mar., 1893
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Rotary Apparatus for Drying, Burning, and
Roasting Lime, Cement, Plaster of Paris, Colours, Ores, Chemical
Products, and other materials.
We, JOHANN CHRISTIAN FELLNER and CARL ZIEGLER, trading in the name
of Fellner & Ziegler, of Bockenheim near Frankfort on the Main, Germany,
Manufacturers do hereby declare the nature of our invention to be as follows:-
Our invention relates to the drying burning and roasting of materials by means
of inclined rotary drums provided with appliances for heating them from the
outside and for introducing into the same an aeriform fluid either in cold or in
heated state.
The improvements consist in the particular combination with the drum, of a
heating-chamber and an accessory chamber, in the construction of the mechanism
for rotating the drum and altering its angle of inclination, in means for producing
tight joints between the drum and the walls of the said chambers, for causing the
material in the drum to be raised and allowed to drop again at intervals and at
different periods for different portions of the same, and for insuring a regular
eduction from the drum of the aeriform fluid introduced and controlling this
eduction. An inclined rotary drum, having its middle portion enclosed by a
heating chamber is mounted near its ends on rollers. The said heating chamber is
constructed to communicate by means of a flue at one end with a furnace whilst
the other end is connected by a channel to a heating stove comprising a closed
chamber containing a series of ribbed pipes, the ends of which communicate on
the one hand with said channel and on the other hand with a flue leading to the
chimney. Thus the combustion gases and products from the furnace may pass to
the heating chamber of the drum, thence through the ribbed heating pipes of the
stove underneath said drum and on to the chimney. The said heating stove, which
is for heating the gases or air to be subsequently introduced into the interior of
the drum, has an inlet for said gases or dir at one end and an outlet channel at the
other end communicating with an accessory chamber enclosing the open end of
the drum. Between the said accessory chamber and the heating chamber enclosing
the central portion of the drum a space is left, and that part of the drum lying in
this space is provided with the mechanism for varying the angle of inclination of
said drum and hereinafter more particularly described.
Previous to entering the heating stove the air or gases are preferably conducted
through an annex or shed adapted for the location of trucks and provided with
rails for said trucks to run on said annex communicating by a sloping shute with
the accessory chamber enclosing the open end of the drum and into which the dried
or wasted products fall from the drum down the shute and on to the trucks. By
this means the said gases are warmed previous to entering the heating stove, by
passing the trucks containing the hot and dry material and the latter simultaneously
cooled. The annex is provided with means for closing its ends whilst the gases
are passing through it. From the annex the said gases are passed through a
conduit to the heating stove, thence to the accessory chamber and drum whence
they issue by a funnel.
The material is fed into the drum at its upper end by an elevator or conveyor.
At its upper end projecting from the heating chamber, the drum is supported on
four rollers and with these is combined the mechanism for rotating the drum and
for allowing its angle of inclination to be altered whilst the rollers carrying the
drum at its lower end and the mechanism for producing the alteration of said angle

page_text: are located in the space between the heating chamber and the accessory chamber
as aforesaid. The rollers are mounted on a frame, having hollow trunnions resting
in open bearings so that the said frame, and with it the drum may be oscillated
without shifting the position of the rollers with regard to the drum. In order to
prevent the inclined drum from sliding lengthwise is is provided with a collar against
which bear rollers pivoted to standarts forming part of the aforementioned frame.
The drum is provided with peripheral teeth driven by a worm on a driving shaft
mounted centrally in the hollow trunnions of the frame so that the position of said
worm relatively to the peripheral teeth of the drum will remain unaltered by a
variation of the incline of said drum.
The variation of the incline of the drum is effected by altering the position of
the rollers supporting it at its lower end. Said rollers are mounted in blocks
adapted to slide in guide ways lying transversely to the axle of the drum. By means
of screw spindles mounted in lugs at the ends of said guide-ways the blocks of
the rollers may be shifted closer together thus raising the drum, or the screws may
be slackened out when the weight of the drum will push the rollers apart, thus
lowering the said drum.
In order to allow of the vertical adjustability of the drum, the apertures in
the walls of the heating and accessory chamber through which the ends of the
drum pass must be oblong and to close the space between the periphery of the drum
and the apertures, plates are provided which closely encircle. The drum and
bear against the respective walls of the chamber, said plates being moveable in
guides.
With a view to insure a regular eduction from the drum of the aériform fluid
introduced at its lower end, the same is provided at the upper end with a head
plate, having a number of orifices arranged round its central feeding aperture, said
orifices communicating on the inside with elbow tubes bent contrary to the direction
of the drum so that when the drum rotates the material fed into it will be pushed
aside by the back of the elbows and the apertures through which the aeriform fluid
is to pass out, will remain unobstructed.
On the outside, the head plate is provided with an adjustable register plate,
having holes corresponding to the orifices of the former, and which may be turned
on said head plate, with a view to diminishing the size of the orifices and thus
varying the rate of passage through the drum, of acriform fluid.
In order that all portions of the material under treatment in the drum may be
exposed uniformly to the action of the air, gas or vapour introduced, it requires to
be thoroughly stirred during its passage downward. This is accomplished by means
of peripheral rows of longitudinal ledges preferably of bars of iron having
a Ushaped section and fixed to the drum, the length of said ledges being but a
fraction of that of the drum, and spaces being left between their ends, so that the
material is stirred by being raised and allowed to drop again periodically, while in
the intervals it rests on the heated surface of the drum. For some purposes it is
advantageous to shift the ledges of each peripheral row i.e. to place each ledge of
one row lengthwise, opposite to a space between those of the peripheral rows next
to the former whereby different portions of the material are raised and allowed to
drop again in succession.
Dated the 27th dex of Annil 10001

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Rotary Apparatus for Drying, Burning, and
Roasting Lime, Cement, Plaster of Paris, Colours, Ores, Chemical
Products, and other materials.
We, JOHANN CHRISTIAN FELLNER and CARL ZIEGLER trading in the name
of Fellner and Ziegler of Bockenheim near Frankfort-on-the-Main Germany
Manufacturers do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner
the same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement :-
Furnaces, or heating apparatus employed for drying, burning, and roasting, raw
or crude, and other like products, or materials, requiring to be submitted to an
elevated temperature; such, for example, as lime, cement, plaster of paris, colours,
ores, chemical products, and the like, are to a great extent dependent, for the
efficient carrying out of the operation, upon the amount of care and skill bestowed
upon them. In order to produce a given change in the physical, or chemical,
properties of a substance, or material, without waste, a number of processes, or
methods of treatment, have been used or proposed but they cannot be controlled,
or regulated, by mechanical agency alone. Moreover the application of such
agency is frequently of limited character and great difficulties have to be contended
with when it is necessary to regulate the time occupied in the treatment in
accordance with the temperatures at which a given process can be most advan-
tageously conducted. This is more particularly the case in obtaining the conversion
of a raw material, or substance, solely by the action of gases, or vapours, the
quantity, and nature, of which have to be regulated in accordance with the effect to
be produced. Under these conditions the proper continuous, or uninterrupted,
working of a heating apparatus is seldom possible and, when very powerful action
is required, the construction of an apparatus capable of working without requiring
frequent repairs becomes even more difficult.
The apparatus hereinafter described and illustrated by the accompanying
drawings is constructed with a view to enabling the requisite conditions to be
properly complied with but the invention is not limited to the precise details
illustrated in the drawings as they are susceptible of modification and some of them
may be omitted in certain cases as will be apparent from the following description.
The external and internal heating arrangements in particular may be used either
separately, or in combination, or external heating arrangements other than those
shewn can be used and for treating the materials with gases or vapours or mixtures
thereof as hereinafter described these may be produced in generators or producers
provided for the purpose or in any other convenient way.
•
Importance is attached to the arrangements being such as to render the means
employed for externally heating the raw materials separate from or independent of
the means for treating the said products or materials inside the cylinder, drum or
heating chamber and to the provisions for enabling the time and method of passing
the materials through the said cylinder drum or heating chamber and the inlet and
outlet of the gases or vapours employed to be regulated at all times and in treating
certain materials or in certain processes importance is also attached to the
arrangements for varying the inclination of the said cylinder drum or chamber
during the working process all as hereinafter fully set forth.
Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings represents in longitudinal vertical section
an example of apparatus constructed according to this invention.
Figure 2 illustrates the apparatus partly in section taken on the line X X
(Figure 1).
Figure 3 represents the apparatus in transverse section on the line y z (Figure 2).
Kioures 4 to 7 illustrate arrangements for importing roters motion to and

page_text: adjusting the angle or inclination of, the cylinder containing the materials unuer
treatment. Figures 4 and 7 represent in side elevation partly in section and in
transverse section respectively the gear provided at one end of the cylinder and
Figures 5 and 6 illustrate in side elevation and transverse section respectively the
⚫arrangement at the other end of the cylinder.
Figures 8 and 9 illustrate in longitudinal section and transverse section
respectively an arrangement for regulating the escape of gases at the charging end
of the cylinder which may also be utilized for stirring the materials fed into the
cylinder.
Figures 0 to 15 illustrate special arrangements for closing the orifices provided
for the escape of gases vapours or air from the cylinder. Figures 10 and 12
representing one end of the cylinder in longitudinal section and plan respectively
and Figure 11 illustrating the end of the cylinder in transverse section (on the
line cd Figure 10 and viewed from the right). Figure 13 represents the chamber
at the end of the cylinder in transverse section (viewed from the left on the line a-b
Figure 10). Figures 14 and 15 illustrate in transverse section modifications as
hereinafter described. Figure 15 being a transverse section on the line e
f
Figure 15 which Figure 15 is a horizontal section taken on one side of the end of
the cylinder.
Figures 16 and 17 illustrate in horizontal and transverse section respectively an
arrangement of scoops or agitators in the interior of the cylinder.
The apparatus is constructed with a cylinder A (Figure 1) to which rotary
motion can be imparted into which cylinder the materials to be treated are
introduced at B which may be effected by the aid of an elevating apparatus a or
by other suitable means. This cylinder A is provided internally with scoops or
shelves e preferably U or trough or scoop shaped in transverse section. These
scoops or shelves may extend from one end of the cylinder to the other and they
produce a continuous movement, mixing and shaking up of the materials which are
caused to travel from one end of the cylinder to the other at a rate capable of
being regulated as hereinafter explained and may be discharged at the outlet
end by means of a shoot into any suitable place for example into a truck at d
(Figure 3).
The shelves or scoops we generally prefer to arrange parallel with the axis of
the cylinder and in order to enable the gases vapours or air in the cylinder to act
more effectually upon the materials which fall from the said shelves or scoops we
prefer to make the said shelves or scoops not of a continuous form but in short
lengths with intervals between them and they may be arranged alternately or in
different lines or in the same lines as shewn in Figure 16.
When the cylinder A is heated externally it is enclosed in a chamber or furnace ?",
as illustrated in Figures 1, 2 and 3, in which the said cylinder is exposed to the
action of gases generated in a furnace, or combustion chamber E, (Figures 2 and 3)
and passing through a passage i to the chamber . These heating gases circulate
about the cylinder A and descend a passage from which they are preferably
caused to pass through the heating tubes of an air heater D whence they
are discharged into a flue or chimney h¹. This provision for external heating is
not necessary for all the processes and operations for which the apparatus may be
employed.
The chamber in which the products of combustion act on the exterior of the
cylinder is closed at each end by sliding plates t fitting round the cylinder and
working in vertical guides so as to move with the cylinder when its inclination is
altered. To enable the said plates to accommodate themselves to the varying
inclinations of the cylinder we make them in two parts overlapping each other at
their mid portions so that they can move relatively to each other as it will be
evident that the greater the inclination of the cylinder the longer will be the
vertical axis of the opening in the said plates. The compartment or accessory
chamber C, at the delivery end of the cylinder for the reception of the gases to be
passed into the cylinder is likewise provided with sliding plates t. Instead of the

page_text: sliding plates of course any other suitable device acting in the same way as an
obturator such as a box shaped sliding lid or cover may be used.
The materials introduced into the cylinder A at the end B are exposed during
their passage through the cylinder to the action of the gases vapours or air
introduced at the opposite end of the cylinder in quantity and quality or kind
according to the effect to be produced on the said materials. In all cases where
hot air is employed to heat the interior of the cylinder (as in burning gypsum for
example) the air which may be supplied by a fan F is first caused to pass through
a side passage f Figures 2 and 3 (through which the products are removed) where
it is utilised for cooling the hot products discharged from the cylinder and at the
same time is heated being at the same time enriched if required by the gases
escaping from the materials under treatment. The air then passes downwards into
passages and 1 (Figures 1, 2 and 3) into the air heater D in which the temperature
of the said air is considerably elevated and the air afterwards passes along the
passage m into the chamber C and from this chamber it passes into the cylinder A
and after acting on the materials contained therein escapes at the end B into a
chambers arranged to act as a dust collector, if required, and from which it is
discharged into a chimney, or funnel, at n, Figures 1 and 3. When the elevator a
is arranged in the dust collecting chambers Figure 1 the materials are heated by
the escaping gases before the said materials enter the cylinder A.
When it is desired to modify the chemical nature of the materials under treatment,
air mixed with suitable gases or vapours or gases and vapours alone are supplied to
the cylinder A from generators or other source of supply communicating with the
passage or a continuation thereof in case the gases or vapours are to be employed
in a heated condition. When little or no heating of the gases is required the air
heating arrangement is not used and the gases employed in the interior of the drum
are conducted direct from the generator or source of supply to the chamber C.
As the action of the air gases or vapours upon the materials in the cylinder
depends upon the nature and form or condition of the materials, the period of
contact, and the rate at which the materials are supplied to, or pass through, the
apparatus, and as these conditions are subject to change during the course of the
operations we provide the following arrangements with a view to complying with
these varying conditions.
(a) Arrangement for modifying the rate at which the materials pass through
the apparatus, firstly by increasing or decreasing the inclination of the cylinder
and secondly by partially reducing the said rate without adjusting the cylinder.
(b) Arrangement for regulating the quantity of air gases or vapours by means of
valves or closing devices provided at the outlet for the said air gases or vapours.
The adjustment of the inclination of the cylinder is obtained by an arrangement
such as that illustrated in Figures 4 to 7. In this case the cylinder A is supported
at its delivery end (illustrated in Figures 4 and 7) upon rollers u u whose bearings
are carried by a strong frame o². This frame is supported on blocks o', rounded on
their underside which rock in correspondingly recessed bearings or supports o
enabling the cylinder to rock upon the axis p of a worm pl employed to transmit
the rotary motion to the cylinder as indicated in Figure 7. Rollers u' are provided
which bear against a flange on the cylinder and prevent it from sliding end ways.
At the other extremity (and also at an intermediate point or points if required) the
cylinder is supported upon rollers 9 Figures 5 and 6. The inclination of the
cylinder is regulated by displacing the rollers 9 in a horizontal direction by suitable
mechanical appliances such as screws gl so as to raise or lower that end of the
cylinder which they support (Figure 6).
According to the arrangement illustrated in Figure 4 the materials under
treatment are supplied to the cylinder from a hopper B by means of a worm or
creeper r.
In cases where different materials in a reduced or pulverised condition are
required to act upon one another being at the same time heated or acted upon by
gases or vapours it is sometimes desirable to cause the different materials to react

page_text: upon one another more powerfully at certain times and also to cause the heat or the
gases or vapours or both the heat and gases or vapours to act more energetically at
• certain periods or stages of the operation than at others.
In this case the second modification of the first arrangement under (a) is
With the object
employed. This modification is illustrated in Figures 16 and 17.
of modifying the rate at which the materials pass through the cylinder the shelves
or scoops e inside the said cylinder are not continuous but are made in short lengths
with intervals between them (Figure 16). In a cylinder twelve metres long for
instance_scoops about sixty centimetres long can advantageously be employed
arranged at distances of about sixty to one hundred and twenty centimetres apart
and preferably arranged to alternate, or stand out of line with one another,
although they may be in line if desired as shewn in the drawing.
By these means the materials are lifted mixed propelled and brought into
intimate contact with the air gases or vapours on all sides by the action of the
shelves or scoops but in those parts of the cylinder which are unprovided with
shelves or scoops the materials are slowly rolled over and over and the parts are
rubbed together whilst the outer surface of the layer only is exposed to the action
of the gases.
According to the second arrangement (6) the outlet for the gases or vapours is
constituted by elbow pipes or tubes G, Figures 8, 9 and 11. The inner ends of
these elbow pipes are directed in the opposite direction to that in which the
cylinder rotates and are cut at an angle square (Figure 9) or inclined to their axis
(Figure 11). This arrangement enables the eduction pipes or openings to be
arranged near to the periphery of the cylinder which is an advantage in assisting
to stir or loosen the freshly introduced materials and at the same time provides for
the eduction of the gases or vapours even from the lowest layers in the cylinder
without danger of the orifices being choked or the materials escaping through the
said orifices.
To enable the escape of gases from the said elbow pipes to be regulated or
controlled it is preferable to provide means for closing the openings in the end or
head H of the cylinder or for varying the area of the said openings. This is
effected by means of an annular slide H Figures 10 and 13 provided with holes
corresponding with the openings of the pipes G and capable of being moved
relatively to the head H so as to close, partially close, or leave free, the said
openings communicating with the pipes G. In place of this annular slide H¹ the
head H of the cylinder may be provided with a plate H³ (Figure 14) capable of
completely closing any desired number of the openings at a time.
Figure 15 illustrates an arrangement in which the chamber K at the end of the
cylinder (Figure 15A) is provided with a plate H³ having a smaller number of
orifices than the number in the end of the cylinder so as to enable alternate orifices
of the elbow pipes or tubes to be completely or partially opened or closed.
From the chamber K Figure 10 or the chamber Figure 1 a flue n leads into the
atmosphere. This flue is provided with a valve or damper which for many
applications of the apparatus is sufficient to enable the period during which the
air, gas or vapour is allowed. to remain in the cylinder to be regulated in the
usual way.
Figures 10 and 12 also illustrate an arrangement in which the materials are
supplied to the cylinder from a hopper B through an inclined shoot J.
The drawings are partly diagrammatical and partly show the details of con-
struction of the apparatus as will be readily understood.
The apparatus is capable of wide application in practice whenever it is necessary
to convert raw or intermediate products into new or finished products and especially
when a continuous action is required and the products require to be modified
with regard to their physical or chemical properties by contact with air, gases,
vapours, or mixtures thereof, the raw material being exposed whilst in motion to a
regulated stream of the air, gases or vapours.
The principal advantages of the arrangements according to our invention are

page_text: that the expensive operation of mixing by hand is obviated and the mixing is
more efficiently performed; that mechanism with parts having reversed motion
or moving in opposite directions which cause choking and damage to the apparatus
is dispensed with; that the heat may be transmitted without bringing any products
of combustion into contact with the materials and that there can be simultaneous
treatment by agents acting physically or chemically and supplied in regulated
quantities; and the progress of the materials can be regulated by devices
adjustable from the exterior and further a closed conveyer can be employed for
the introduction of the materials through the outlet chamber for the aeriform
products or agents and the heat of the latter is partially utilised immediately
on the introduction of the materials into the heating apparatus.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is :-
1. In apparatus for drying burning and roasting lime, cement, plaster of paris,
colours, ores, chemical products or other materials an inclined rotary cylinder or
drum working upon rollers the rollers at one end of the drum being supported by a
frame rocking on bearings and the rollers at the other end being capable of
adjustment so as to alter the inclination of the cylinder or drum substantially
as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 4 to 7 of the accompanying
drawings.
2. In apparatus for the purposes indicated moveable obturators or sliding plates
on the cylinder or drum for enabling the inclination of the said cylinder or drum
to be adjusted without allowing the heating gases to escape substantially as
hereinbefore described with reference to Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings.
3. In apparatus for the purposes indicated a compartment or accessory chamber
for receiving the air, gases or vapours to be admitted to the cylinder or drum
the discharging end of which extends into this compartment or accessory chamber
through an opening of sufficient size to admit of regulating the inclination of the
cylinder or drum and which is closed around the cylinder or drum by a moveable
obturator or sliding plates the said compartment or accessory chamber being
capable of being placed in communication with a reheating apparatus if desired
as and for the purpose herein before described with reference to Figures 1, 2 and 3
of the accompanying drawings.
4. In combination with the rotary cylinder or drum capable of rocking upon its
driving shaft p (Figures 1, 4 and 7) the scoops or shelves e (Figures 6, 16 and 17)
in the interior of the cylinder or drum arranged as described so that the air gases,
or vapours act on a number of small masses of the materials elevated by the
revolution of the cylinder or drum substantially as hereinbefore described with
reference to the accompanying drawings.
5. In combination with the rotary adjustable cylinder or drum referred to in
the first claiming clause the employment at the charging end of the said cylinder
or drum of a cover or head provided internally with tubes or pipes for the escape
of the air, gases and vapours the said tubes or pipes having a direction opposite to
that in which the cylinder or drum rotates for the purpose of taking the gases and
vapours from the lower layers and at the same time assisting to agitate the
materials without allowing them to escape substantially as herein before described
with reference to Figures 8 to 11 of the accompanying drawings.
6. In the apparatus such as is hereinbefore described and claimed the arrange-
ments for regulating the current of air, gases or vapours by partially or completely
closing either or all of the orifices of the bent or elbow pipes referred to in the
preceding claiming clause or a certain number thereof substantially as herein-
before described, with reference to Figures 13, 14 and 15 of the accompanying
drawings.
7. The arrangements and combinations of parts constituting the apparatus for
drying burning and roasting lime, cement, plaster of paris, colours, ores, chemical

page_text: products and other materials substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated
in the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 27th day of January 1893.
J. H. JOHNSON & CO.,
Agents.