Project Details

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Gravity Preheater for Aggregate

Company: ZAP Engineering & Construction Services, Inc. 1

Major(s):
Primary: EGEE
Secondary: ME
Optional: ED

Non-Disclosure Agreement: NO

Intellectual Property: NO

One current typical design for an aggregate preheater is a cassette style preheater in which the preheater is a series of rock boxes that allow hot air to flow through the material and a series of hydraulic rams that push the material out of the bottom of the rock boxes into the kiln. This design is effective, but may provide an opportunity for and alternative approach in which a gravity feed system is used with a series of vertical grates that collect material and preheat it. At several stages the material will build up to the angle of repose and use gravity to overflow to the next grate setup. The grates will allow for hot air to flow through the material and as it progress downward in the system it will increase in temperature until it falls into the kiln for processing. This design will decrease the energy consumption of the system as the use of gravity replaces the need for hydraulic rams to move the material. Ideally, the pressure drop in the system will also be reduced as the open area and head of material may be able to be reduced with decreases the power on the fan flow. The project will incorporate the preliminary design of the system taking into account the basic mechanical design of the overall system and calculations for the heat transfer, pressure drop and material flow properties. A potential model of the system can be created to show the material flow from the top of the tower to the inlet to the kiln to verify the gravity flow of the material.