Patent ID: 7521027

Claim:
A device for circulation of a gaseous fluid, a liquid fluid, or both, through at least one solid particle bed, said device comprising: at least one solid particle bed and at least one bypass device for bypassing the flow of gaseous fluid or liquid fluid through at least one part of a solid particle bed, said bypass device comprising: a pipe having a top end, which is positioned in an upper region above the upper surface of said solid particle bed, and a bottom end, which is positioned in a lower region below said upper surface of said solid particle bed, and a valve having a passage section for the flow of gaseous or liquid fluid, wherein said valve can be actuated into an open position, when the differential pressure through said solid particle bed is greater than a predetermined value, to permit the flow of gaseous or liquid fluid through said passage section, wherein said valve comprises: a widened tubular part containing said passage section, said widened tubular part having one orifice with the largest cross-section and another orifice with the smallest cross-section, and said orifice with the smallest cross-section is connected to the top end or the bottom end of said pipe of the bypass device, a movable piece mounted in said widened tubular part, wherein said movable piece can move between a closed position and a maximum open position, the positioning of the movable piece being dependent on the fluid flow rate in said widened tubular part, said movable piece providing automatic variation of the passage section in said valve based on the fluid flow rate, and a return means acting on the movable piece to move it toward the closed position in which the movable piece blocks the orifice of the widened tubular part with the smallest cross-section.