Patent ID: 7353621

Claim:
An apparatus for drying material comprising: an outer housing having a top portion with a material inlet therethrough; a drive assembly including a rotatable drive shaft within the outer housing; a flight assembly coupled to the drive shaft and rotatably driven thereby; a screen assembly coupled to the drive assembly and rotatably driven thereby and including a perforated screen located radially outwardly from the flight assembly; wherein material fed through the material inlet is centrifugally directed between the flight assembly and the screen assembly; wherein the screen assembly separates a fluid component of the material from a solid component; a solids outlet assembly coupled to the outer housing that receives and discharges the solid component; wherein the solids outlet assembly has at least one wall surface upon which the solid component accumulates to form an accumulated solid adhering thereto; and a cleaning apparatus coupled to the solids outlet assembly and comprising: a plurality of pulse nozzles adapted to discharge air and positioned relative to the at least one wall surface of the solids outlet assembly such that air discharged from each of the nozzles dislodges and removes the accumulated solid from the wall surface; an air source selectively in fluid communication with each pulse nozzle; a controller that controls a flow of air from the air source by providing a periodic flow of air to the plurality of nozzles; and wherein each nozzle is actuated by the periodic flow of air and delivers a corresponding periodic burst of air to the at least one wall surface of the solids outlet assembly.