Patent ID: 6994497

Claim:
A method of conveying particulate material containing reaction products of a high pressure reactor, from a supply vessel at a high pressure to a receiving vessel at a considerably lower pressure, said method comprising the steps of: (a) providing a supply vessel that discharges particulate material supplied by a high pressure reactor; (b) providing a collecting vessel that collects the particulate material discharged from the supply vessel and selectively discharges the particulate material; (c) providing a receiving vessel that receives the particulate material discharged from the collecting vessel; (d) pneumatically conveying the particulate material discharged from the supply vessel, via a conveyor line, to the collecting vessel using a gas exiting the reactor as a carrier gas, the particulate material being conveyed from the supply vessel to the collecting vessel at essentially at the same pressure as is prevailing in the supply vessel; (e) discharging the carrier gas from the collecting vessel through a discharge conduit; (f) controlling the rate at which the carrier gas is discharged from the collecting vessel to control the flow rate of the particulate material in the conveyor line; (g) further controlling the rate at which the carrier gas is discharged from the collecting vessel to control the pressure in the collecting vessel; and (h) conveying the particulate material directly from the collecting vessel to the receiving vessel at essentially the same pressure as is prevailing in the receiving vessel.