Improvements in Drying Kilns for Grain, Malt or Analogous Material.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 17th Aug., 1899-Accepted, 23rd Sept., 1899
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Drying Kilns for Grain, Malt or Analogous
Material.
I, FULTON ROBERT MORRIS, of 121, 17th Street, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United
States of America, Superintendent of Grain Elevators, 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:-
The object of my invention is to provide improved means for drying grain,
malt or analogous material. The drying kiln embodying my invention is
especially adapted for use in connection with a grain elevator alongside of which
the kiln may be located and into which kiln grain may be discharged from the
elevator.
The invention consists of the devices and apparatus in which the devices are
embodied, their parts, and combinations, as herein described and claimed or their
equivalents.
In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a vertical section of a fragment of a grain drying
kiln, in which my invention is embodied.
Fig. 2 is an elevation of the side of a bin in the kiln, in which my invention
is embodied, parts being broken away for convenience of illustration.
Fig. 3 is a horizontal section of the bin on line 3-3 of Fig. 2; only the
parts below and adjacent to the plane of the section being illustrated, the features
of the construction at a greater distance below the plane of the section being
omitted.
Fig. 4 is a horizontal section of a fragment of the lower portion of the dry
kiln, shown in vertical section in Fig. 1.
Fig. 5 is a vertical section longitudinally of an air passage or duct transversely
of one of the bins of the dry kiln.
Fig. 6 is a transverse section of the frame and walls of the duct or passage
shown in longitudinal section in Fig. 5.
Fig. 7 is a plan of parts of the piping for steam or hot air that may be employed
with my improved devices, the parts being broken away medially for convenience
of illustration.
As considerable heat is often required in a dry kiln of this character, it is
desirable to construct the building and apparatus in it, chiefly of non-combustible
material to obviate its destruction by fire.
In the drawings, 8, 8 are the side walls of the dry kiln in and with which my
improved devices and apparatus are constructed. Within the building one or
more large grain bins 9, 9 are provided in which the grain or malt or material
is held while being dried. In the drawings I have shown two of these bins in
a building though any number may be constructed in a building of a proper
size therefor. These bins are conveniently constructed with parallel vertical end
walls 10, 10, preferably of sheet steel, extending across the building from side
to side. The side walls 11, 11 of the bins are inclined inwardly downwardly near
the bottom forming a hopper-like construction provided with a discharging
aperture closed by a gate 12. These bins are supported in the building on any

page_text: suitable standards or framing F therefor. The construction and arrangement
of the bins in the building is such as to provide an air supply chamber 13, at
one end of each bin conveniently, formed between the wall of the building and
the end 10 of the bin, which therefor is carried over at the top to the adjacent
wall of the building thus closing the chamber 13 at the top, and an exhaust air
chamber 14 at the other end of the bin which in the case shown in the drawings
is the intermediate chamber between the two bins, the exhaust air chamber being
open upwardly for the passage of air therefrom.
Through each of these bins transversely from end to end thereof I provide a
number of conduits 15, 151 for the passage of air, the conduits extending from
end wall to end wall of the bin, the conduits 15 being open into the air supply
chamber 13 and closed at their other extremities, and the conduits 151 being open
through the end wall into the exhaust air chamber 14 and closed at their other
extremities. These conduits are preferably arranged in horizontal series one
series above another, the conduits 15 being preferably not in the vertical planes
of the conduits 15, that is to say the conduits of the two series are preferably
made to alternate with each other. These conduits are severally constructed
conveniently of a steel frame consisting of a ridge bar 16, sills 17, (each in two
members,) extending from end to end of the conduits, and ribs 18, one of which
is located at each extremity of the conduit, and others are located intermediate
thereof, in such number as are required for properly supporting the structure.
These ribs 18 extend upwardly from the sills and come together centrally above,
and the ridge bar 16 and the sills 17 are properly secured thereto forming the
conduit frame. Also it is preferable to provide transverse brace rods 19 extend-
ing across the conduit from sill to sill and holding it apart against being crushed
by the weight of grain thereon. These conduit frames are secured to the end
walls of the bin by bolts 20, 20. A grated or screen covering 21, preferably of
strong woven steel wire with fine mesh is placed over the top and sides of this
conduit frame and is secured thereto at its lower edges by being placed between
the two members of the sills 17, which are then bolted or riveted together thereby
clamping the cover of the conduit securely to the frame. The bottom of the
conduit is open. These conduit frames of which the ridge bars 16 and the sills 17,
are of steel bars, being thus securely fastened to the end walls of the bins hold
them securely in place, the conduit frames serving as stay rods and braces there-
for. The apertures through the end walls 10 opening into the exhaust con-
duits 15 are provided with hinged doors 22, 22 adapted to close or partially close
the apertures and thereby regulate the amount of air passing through them.
These doors are provided with a rod 23 extending to the top of the bin whereby
the doors can be readily opened or closed or partially opened as desired.
For supplying hot air to the chamber or chambers 13 and forcing it through
the contents of the bin one or more blowers or rotary fans are located near the
bottom of the chamber or chambers 13, conveniently at 24 and these blowers are
provided with a boxlike intake 25 in which are located coils of pipe 26 connected
to any suitable source of steam supply, and that being supplied with live steam,
heat the air that is drawn in past them through the intake 25, and the air is
discharged from the blowers upwardly through the flues 27 into the chambers 13,
the flues being made continuous into the chambers. From these chambers 13
the air passes into the conduits 15 and thence through their screen covers into the
grain or material in the bins and thence mostly escapes through the conduits 15¹
into the exhaust chamber or passage 14. A certain portion of the air will escape
upwardly through the grain or material in the bins and out at the top of the
bins which are open, but mostly it will escape through the conduits 15¹.
As the end walls 10, 10 of the bins are vertical, and as the conduits 15 & 15
respectively pierce these walls at little distances apart and these conduits are
also ventilating devices close up to the walls 10, 10 on the inside, there is no
opportunity for any grain or other material in the bins to lie much or for any
considerable time against these flat walls and to there become unduly heated or

page_text: liable to fermentation, but as the side walls 11, 11 of the bin are not thus
perforated by conduits, and as the lower portions of these walls 11 are inclined
inwardly downwardly, I prefer to provide air passages alongside these walls for
more surely drying any grain that might otherwise press against these walls and
fail to be properly ventilated and dried. To accomplish this I provide a lining 28
preferably of strong steel wire cloth or screen material having fine mesh, which
is secured to the walls 11, 11 on the inside at a little distance therefrom forming
an air space between this screen or perforated lining and the walls 11, 11. I
conveniently and advisably secure this screen lining 28 in place by means of
flanged bars or rails 29, 29 secured to the walls 11, 11 and to the lining 28, the
rails extending from the lower edges of the walls upwardly to the top of the
bin, and being in such number and at such distances apart as makes them a
strong and sufficient support for the wire screen or perforated lining 28; the
rails incidentally dividing the space between the lining 28 and the walls 11 into
upwardly extending ducts or air passages 30, 30 through which air escaping from
the grain or material in the bin into these passages may be discharged upwardly
at the top of the bin, the passages being open at the top therefor, conveniently
by turning the material of which the linings are made over on to the top of the
walls 11, 11 and securing it there.
The devices and apparatus for drying the grain or material in a bin constructed
as described is ordinarily quite sufficient to thoroughly dry the grain or material
therein, but in some cases of exceedingly wet grain or material, or under certain
very damp conditions of the atmosphere, it is desirable to have extraordinary
means for heating the air used in these dry kilns. For this purpose I provide a
steam supply pipe 31 which runs up to such series of the conduits 15 in the bins
as it is desirable to take the steam to and preferably to the highest series of air
supply conduits 15, in front of which the pipe 31 is extended across in front of
the apertures to these conduits in the form of a header 32 from which a series
of smaller steam pipes 33, 33 run through the conduits 15 in that series, and
pass through the other end wall of the bin and are thence carried down to the
next series of air supply conduits 15 through which they extend to the opposite end
of the bin and thence down to the next series 15 of air supply conduits through
which they are carried to the other end of the bin, and thence again down to
the next succeeding series of air supply conduits 15 through which they pass in
the reverse direction continuing thus to the bottom of the bin, and thence into
a transversely disposed receiving pipe 34 from which a discharge pipe 35 runs o
past a drip trap 36 to a place of discharge.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:-
1. In a kiln for drying grain, the combination with a bin having opposite
vertical walls with an air-supplying chamber exteriorly at one side and an air-
exhaust chamber exteriorly at the other side, of a plurality of series of screen
covered air-supplying conduits extending from the air-supplying chamber through
the bin substantially horizontally to and closed at the distant wall adjacent to
the exhaust chamber, a plurality of series of air-exhaust conduits extending
from the air exhaust chamber through the bin substantially horizontally to and
closed at the opposite wall adjacent to the air-supplying chamber, the said air-
exhaust conduits of each series being disposed alternately above the series of
air-supplying conduits, a main heat-supplying pipe in the air-supplying chamber,
pipes leading from the main pipe through an upper series of air-supplying
conduits thence down to and through a series of air-supplying conduits below
an intermediate series of air-exhaust conduits, thence down to and through
another series of air-supplying conduits below an intermediate series of air-
exhaust conduits and ultimately into a general discharge pipe.
2. In a kiln for drying grain, the combination, of a bin of considerable height

page_text: having opposite vertical walls with an air-supplying chamber at one side and an
air-exhaust chamber at the other side, a plurality of series of screen-covered
conduits extending from the air-supplying chamber through the bin to and
closed at the opposite wall, a plurality of series of air-exhaust conduits extending
from the air-exhaust chamber through the bin to and closed at the opposite wall,
the air-exhaust conduits being arranged alternately above the several series of
air-supplying conduits, and doors at the discharging ends of the air-exhaust
conduits whereby the escape of the air into the exhaust chamber that had been
taken into the bin through the air-supplying conduits may be limited or prevented
and held to escape directly upwardly through the grain in the bin partially or
wholly.
3. An air conduit transversely of a grain bin, comprising a rigid frame secured
at its ends to the walls of the bin and having longitudinally disposed sills and
a ridge bar, a plurality of transverse bent ribs at distances apart secured to the
sills and converging and secured to the ridge bar, and a screen-like cover on the
sides and top of the frame, the conduit being wholly unclosed at the bottom and
the ribs and screen-like cover being so arranged as to form a slanted roof to the
conduit.
4. In a drying kiln, the combination with a bin having imperforate walls of
a screen or perforated lining at a little distance from and secured to the walls
of the bin providing an air space between the imperforate walls of the bin and
said lining into which air can escape through the lining from within the bin.
5. In a drying kiln, the combination with imperforate vertical and obliquely
disposed walls of a bin, of a screen or perforated metal lining on the inside of
said imperforate bin walls secured thereto at a little distance therefrom, and rails
serving as partitions and supports for said lining in the space between said walls
and said lining and forming upwardly extending exhaust air ducts in said space.
6. In a drying kiln, a bin comprising imperforate side walls, screen linings
at a little distance on the inside from but adjacent to said imperforate walls
forming air spaces between said imperforate walls and said linings, and trans-
versely disposed perforated intake air ducts across said bin and extending at one
end or the other through the end walls of the bin.
.
MARKS & CLERK
18, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C..
13, Temple Street, Birmingham, and
25, Cross Street, Manchester
A conta
MARKS & CLERK
18, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
13, Temple Street, Birmingham, and
25, Cross Street, Manchester
Amanta