Patent ID: 8082860

Claim:
An orifice plate for improving particle distribution within a coal piping system comprising: a) a plate body defining a single central orifice therethrough bounded by an inner periphery of the plate body, wherein the plate body is configured and adapted to be affixed between end flanges of adjacent pipes in a coal piping system so as to generally align the single central orifice with an internal flow passage through the coal piping system; and b) flow disruption features defined in the inner periphery of the plate body, wherein the flow disruption features are configured and adapted to disrupt a flow of air and particles flowing through the single central orifice to provide a more uniform distribution of particles downstream of the plate body than upstream, wherein the flow disruption features include a circumferentially segmented portion and define an inner periphery geometry that is substantially symmetrical about only one axis of symmetry in a plane defined by the single central orifice for orientation of the segmented portion along a portion of adjacent coal pipes where a coal rope tends to flow nearest adjacent pipe walls, and wherein the flow disruption features are all defined in the inner periphery of the same single central orifice through the plate body.