Improvements in Apparatus for Drying Grain and other Substances.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 19th June, 1889
Complete Specification Left, 19th Mar., 1890-Accepted, 26th Apr., 1890
PROVISIONAL DI ECIFICATION.
[Communicated from abroad by EDUARD THEISEN, of Sinzig, Rhine Province,
Prussia, in the Empire of Germany, Engineer.]
.
Improvements in Apparatus for Drying Grain and other Substances.
I HENRY EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 6 Bream's Buildings
Chancery Lane in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the
nature of this invention to be as follows:-
In many branches of industry, it is necessary to dry large masses or quantities of
materials. In many cases, the apparatus used for drying have a rotary motion
imparted to them, but those hitherto employed for this purpose have various defects;
amongst which may be named the excessive cost of installation; the expense of fuel
for driving, with only limited result; a considerable expenditure of power to rotate
the often unevenly loaded apparatus; and the employment of too many moveable
parts for the continuous airing or ventilation of the goods during the drying
operation.
The present invention consists in a novel arrangement of rotating drying apparatus
whereby in the smallest space, the greatest length of course is provided for the goods
to be dried to travel along, thereby utilizing, in the most advantageous manner, the
heat that is conveyed directly to the interior of the apparatus, and permitting of large
quantities of goods being dealt with. The apparatus is not expensive in construction,
and it has, beyond its own rotary movement, no movable parts to be driven for the
airing or ventilation of the goods, and it requires but comparatively little driving
power, because it is evenly loaded with the goods to be dried.
For the drying operation, hot air from any convenient source is used as the means
of drying, and this hot air is led through the apparatus either in the same direction as
the goods to be dried, or in the reverse direction thereto, and may be forced in or
sucked out by means of fans or blowers, exhausters, or a chimney. Parts of the
apparatus may also be heated externally by means of steam.
The apparatus consists of a number of cylinders or tubes for the reception and
transport of the materials to be dried, arranged either concentrically or parallel to
one another, and so that the material may pass in a zigzag course from one to the
other. When parallel, the various single tubes may be arranged also to rotate on
their own axes. Some or all of the cylinders or tubes may be divided up by suitable
partitions or ledges, which will serve to separate the grain or other substance into
small streams, which respectively come under the influence of the hot air. The grain
may be admitted at the top, the centre, or the bottom of the apparatus and withdrawn
at the centre or the bottom and the hot air is either made to travel through the
apparatus in the same direction as the grain, or in the reverse direction, as
desired.
The drying cylinders or tubes, which may be made with parallel or taper sides, may
be enclosed in an outer cylinder or case, to which rotary motion
given in any
convenient manner, and in some cases the cylinders themselves are made to rotate by
suitable gearing.
The cylinders or tubes may also be arranged with double walls to form a steam
jacket for the purpose of aiding in drying the goods or material passing through the
cylinders.
The grain to be dried is led from end to end of the apparatus in a zigzag path,
either from the centre to the periphery, or from the periphery to the centre, and is
delivered either from the bottom of the apparatus, or from the centre, as the case
may he

page_text: In some cases, the cylinders may be provided with valves, actuated by handles
suitably arranged for the purpose, whereby one or more of the cylinders may be
closed as and when required.
DLL 0LL
T
1000
NEWTON & SON,
Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Drying Grain and other Substances.
I, HENRY EDWARD NEWTON of the Office for Patents, 6 Bream's Buildings,
Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, 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 :-
In many branches of industry, it is necessary to dry large quantities of material
The apparatus hitherto in use for this purpose have several inconveniences, notably,
the high cost of erection and construction of the plant; the cost of fuel consumed
for a limite turn out of the apparatus; the necessity of a powerful motor, to rotate
the apparatus, which will practically be loaded on one side only, and the necessity of
many moving parts, in order to continuously raise or air the material under treatment
during the drying process.
The object of the present invention is to overcome these inconveniences by
producing a comparatively small and compact drying apparatus, in which a long path
of travel of the material to be operated upon is obtained, and in which the material is
in constant motion, thereby utilising in a most favorable manner the heat, which acts
in direct contact with the material under treatment.
With the apparatus constructed according to this invention, large quantities of
material can be readily dried. The apparatus is not costly in its construction and
mounting, and it has, besides its rotary movement, no movable parts for raising or
airing the material during the drying operation. It requires but little motive power
to move it, on account of its being evenly balanced in its main parts, and also being
equally loaded with material under treatment.
As the heating agent, hot air, or hot gases produced from any convenient source
may be used, and the heating agent may be conducted through the apparatus either
in coincidence with the travel of the material, or contrary to such travel, and the
heating agent may be either forced or drawn through by ventilator, exhauster, or
chimney.
If desired, the intermediate spaces in the apparatus, or the double walls of the
latter, or of the cylinders constituting the same, may be heated by steam in combined
action with the hot air, forced or drawn through the drying spaces.
In the accompanying drawings, Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section and Fig. 2 a cross
section, of a simple form of apparatus; the remaining figures shew modifications,
which will be more particularly referred to hereafter.
a is a cylinder, the hollow axles of which rest on loose rollers cc, which may be
driven in any convenient manner, thereby transmitting rotary motion to the cylinder a.
Instead of the hollow axles, a solid axle may be employed, provided with stuffing
boxes, and working in bearings of any ordinary kind.
Within said cylinder a, a convenient number of short concentric cylinders, such
as d, e, f, are arranged in such a manner as to form a zigzag passage for the material.
The spaces between the cylinders may be divided by radial partitions, as seen in
figure 2, provided with fixed parts or ledges for raising, turning, or airing the
material under treatment. These parts may be of any desired or convenient shape
or position, but should always be so arranged as to prevent an accumulation of
material under treatment on the lowest point of the cylinders a, d, e, f, when the
apparatus is not working.
The right hand end of the cylinder is partly closed by a disc of such a diameter as

page_text: to leave an annular recess or opening, through which the exhaust tube g. projects into
the apparatus.
Inside the apparatus this tube is secured to an annular disc , which does not
partake in the rotary movement of the apparatus, but which covers the above
imentioned annular recess or opening.
The disc h is held in position by means of the brackets i, which are fixed to the
frame k, or elsewhere, and project through the aforesaid opening.
At the opposite side of the apparatus, a tube is fixed, entering into the rotating
cylinder f, said tube communicating with the hot air pipe m, and with the fresh air
pipe n, and carrying the hopper o, which is secured against admission of air, and
provided with suitable damper. At this end of the apparatus, the inner wall q is of
smaller diameter than the apparatus, to leave a space for the exit of the dried material
to the shoot or spout p. All the admission and outlet pipes may be provided with
valves or dampers for regulating purposes. When it is desired to work, the apparatus
is caused to rotate, the hot air is admitted through pipe m, and the material to be
treated, from the air tight hopper o into the cylinder f. By the rotation of said
cylinder, the material will be caused to move to the opposite end, where it drops into
the cylinder 6. The material will distribute itself into the several chambers or
compartments through which it travels, dropping at the opposite end into the
cylinder d. Finally, the material arrives in the cylinder a, from which it passes by
the shoot or spout p. During this whole period, the fixed parts in each chamber
have raised or turned over the material, in consequence of the rotary motion of the
apparatus, so as to expose the same as much as possible to the influence of the hot
air current. Any excess of hot air may be reduced by partly closing the damper
in m, or by partly opening the damper in the fresh air pipe n, or by increasing or
diminishing the action of the exhauster or chimney. As all the chambers or
compartments, and the fixed parts therein, are always equally loaded, the entire
weight in the apparatus is advantageously distributed, thereby reducing the expense
in motive power.
For many kinds of materials to be dried, hot air acting during the long passage
will suffice for drying.-The cylinder walls may, however, be made double, as indicated
at d and f in fig. 3, and steam be admitted thereto, the products of condensation being
carried away by a suitable pipe into and through a steam trap, so as to always allow
steam to heat the cylinder walls.
A modification of the apparatus is shown in the longitudinal section fig. 4, in which
the outlet of the heating agent is arranged in the hollow axle r opposite to the
entrance of same, so that the hot air current, with the products of evaporation, will
issue at , after having passed through the cylinders. The dotted arrows denote
the course of the material, and the drawn arrows that of the heating agent.
In many cases, the cylindrical shape of the parts a, d, e, f, will suffice for the purpose
in hand, especially if the transport of the material under treatment is assisted by the
hot air current flowing in the same direction with said material. In case the material
should require a fall or incline, as, for instance, if the hot air current runs contrary to
the travel of the material, the cylinders may all, or several of them, be conical shaped
and arranged with the taper in opposite directions.
In this instance, the material to be dried is introduced by the hollow axle by
means of a screw (or it may fall free), and is conducted or directed by a plate
to the outer cylinder a, in which it is raised by the rotation of the same, and
delivered to the next inside cylinder d, and so on, until it issues through the right
hand side of the innermost cylinder f, where the hot air enters somewhat in the
manner illustrated in figure 5. The travel of the material opposite the current of hot
air may be also arrived at in the apparatus constructed according to figure 1, by
allowing the hot air current to enter at g and to issue at l, whereas the material enters
at o and issues at p.
Instead of arranging cylinders concentrically to each other, the apparatus inay
be composed of cylindrical or conical tubes, arranged parallel to each other, as indi-
cated in figures 5 and 6 which represent respectively a longitudinal and transverse
4

page_text: The
section. The cylindrically or conically shaped tubes extend with their ends to the
terminating plates u fixed in the outer cylinder or cone a, and the hollow space
formed by the terminating plates and by the tubes, may be heated by steam.
material enters by the hollow axle 8, and is directed by the plate t downwards to the
outer tubes, and as the apparatus rotates, the material will be delivered at the
opposite end into the inner tubes by means of deflectors or shoots v, which project
into said tubes, the latter delivering it into the central tube f. These tubes may be
provided internally with fixed parts or ledges for turning, raising, or airing the
material, when passing through said tube. A still more efficacious movement in the
material, and still more intense action of the hot air upon said material, will be
obtained, if the tubes of the entire system are individually rotated, in addition to the
rotary motion of the system, as indicated with reference to figure 5.
For this purpose, the tubes are mounted loosely within the terminating plate u, and
are carried by pivots or axles fixed within the tubes, said pivots or axles resting in
bearings provided for them in the front walls of the apparatus, which walls connect
the central pipe f and cylinder a. Outside the front walls, spur wheels w may be
fixed on said pivots or axles, and on the frame k, a ring w', provided with teeth
on its outer and its inner periphery, may be fixed, so that the spur-wheels of the
outer series of tubes take into the teeth of the outer periphery, and the spur wheels
of the inner series of tubes take into the teeth of the inner periphery of said
ring. If rotary motion is given to the central tube f and the cylinder a, and the
entire system of tubes by gear or strap, the spur wheels w will be caused to rotate
on the fixed ring w¹, and will so cause an individual revolving motion of each tube
around its axle, thereby a very advantageous movement being created within the tubes
to the material under treatment, for the drying operation of the same.
Fig. 7 is a cross section of a cylinder, shewing slight modifications in the
arrangement of the tubes or compartments: the upper half of said figure shews the
apparatus provided with polygonal compartments, the lower half, an apparatus with a
multitude of tubes.
In drying very wet material, it may be found advantageous to carry away, or to let
off, the hot air at the end of each cylinder, for which purpose the arrangement of
Here the
apparatus, as illustrated in Figs. 8 and 9, may be found convenient.
cylinders or cones a b d e f are placed within each other concentrically, and the
apparatus is mounted on rollers c c, as in Fig. 1. The cylinders or cones bands are
closed at left hand by partitions, whereas the cylinders or cones ad and f extend to
the fixed tube l, to which the hot air pipe m, and the fresh air pipe n, are connected.
Within the pipe 1, two pieces or lengths of pipes are placed concentrically to each
other, so that three channels for the hot air are created, of which the inner one coin-
municates with f,the middle one communicates with the annular space between e and d,
and the outer one with the annular space between b and a, the entrance openings of
the annular channels being made adjustable by corresponding and suitable valves or
dampers x y z.
At
The hopper o enters 12, to introduce the wet material first into the cylinder f. This
cylinder may be divided into compartments, and provided with fixed parts for raising
or airing said material, which is exposed to the current of hot air admitted at l³.
the end of the cylinder f, the hot air, with the products of evaporation, is drawn off
by an exhauster or chimney in connection with the fixed or stationary pipe 8, whereas
the material at this end off tumbles through a suitable opening into the cylinder e,
which, for the more rapid passage of the material to its other end, is not divided into
compartments, and not provided with fixed parts for raising the material; this
cylinder, however, may be provided with a screw, or with spiral blades, for the quick
At the opposite closed end of e, the material passes through
passage of the material.
the side openings e¹ into the cylinder d, which is divided into chambers or compart-
ments, and here hot air is again admitted through . At the opposite end of d, the
used hot air and the vapors are drawn off through the apertures provided in f, into l*,
and the material tumbles or drops into the cylinder b, which is not divided into com-
partments, and at the opposite end of which the material issues through the side

page_text: openings 6' into the cylinder a, divided into compartments; here again hot air is
admitted through 7, which is drawn off with the vapors at the opposite end through 1,
as shown by the full drawn arrows. The dried material will be then raised by means
of the scoop a (participating in the rotary motion), and be delivered by it into a
pipe a'. From this pipe it passes into a horizontal pipe a (also partaking in the
rotary motion), in which latter a screw may be fixed for excluding the air at this side,
which screw assists in propelling the dried material into the fixed pipe or shoot a',
which directs the material to suitable receptacles.
It will be understood that the travel of the material, and the apparatus itself, may
be increased by additional concentrically arranged cylinders or cones, and by additional
admissions of hot air. In Figs. 5 and 6, the admission of the hot air into the material
may be arranged in the manner just described.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondent, I declare that what I claim is :-
1. A rotary drying apparatus in which a serpentine path for the passage of material
to be dried is created by means of a number of concentric or parallel cylinders, cones, or
tubes (a de f), of varying sections, and having solid walls, and in which the material
is dried by means of a current of hot air or gas, which passes either in its entirety
through the apparatus in the same direction as the material (Figs. 1, 2 and 4), or in
an opposite direction (Figs. 5 and 6), to the full extent of the distance traversed by
the material, or as a divided current in one direction only of the travel of material
(Figs. 8 and 9), whether such direction be the same as, or opposed to such travel as
set forth.
2. The rotary drying apparatus constructed, arranged and operating as herein
shown and described.
Dated this 18th day of March 1890.