Patent ID: 8371041

Claim:
An apparatus for upgrading coal comprising: (a) a coal intake bin; (b) a baffle tower; (c) coal intake tubing; (d) an inlet plenum; (e) an exhaust plenum; (f) a spool discharge; (g) two first flow regulators; (h) a splitter; (i) two second flow regulators; and (j) two cooling augers; wherein the coal intake bin is situated on top of the baffle tower; wherein a portion of the coal intake tubing is situated inside of the coal intake bin, wherein the coal intake bin and baffle tower each comprises one or more side walls; wherein each side wall has an outer face; wherein a portion of the coal intake tubing runs alongside the outer face of a side wall of the coal intake bin and a side wall of the baffle tower; wherein the coal intake tubing connects to a splitter located near the bottom of the baffle tower; wherein coal that enters the coal intake bin either enters the coal intake tubing or enters the baffle tower; wherein the coal that enters the coal intake bin also enters the splitter; wherein the splitter causes the coal that enters the splitter to be divided into two parts, one of which enters one of the two second flow regulators and the other of which enters the other second flow regulator; wherein coal is discharged into the cooling augers from the two second flow regulators upstream of the first flow regulators; wherein the baffle tower comprises a plurality of alternating rows of inverted v-shaped inlet baffles and inverted v-shaped outlet baffles; wherein all of the rows of inlet baffles are parallel to one another, and all of the rows of outlet baffles are parallel to one another; wherein the rows of inlet baffles are perpendicular to the rows of outlet baffles; wherein the inlet plenum is affixed to the outer face of one of the side walls of the baffle tower; wherein the exhaust plenum is affixed to the outer face of one of the side walls of the baffle tower; wherein process gas enters the baffle tower from the inlet plenum via baffle holes in one of the side walls of the baffle tower; wherein the process gas that enters the baffle tower from the inlet plenum dries the coal that enters the baffle tower and becomes process exhaust gas; wherein the process exhaust gas exits the baffle tower into the exhaust plenum via baffle holes in one of the other side walls of the baffle tower; wherein the coal that enters the baffle tower descends by gravity downward through the baffle tower and enters the spool discharge; wherein the spool discharge causes the coal that enters the baffle tower to be divided into at least two parts, one of which enters one of the two first flow regulators and another of which enters the other first flow regulator; wherein coal is discharged into the cooling augers from the two first flow regulators downstream of the second flow regulators; and wherein the dried coal from the baffle tower is mixed with non-dried coal from the coal intake tubing in the cooling augers.