Apparatus for and method of comminuting solid materials

Claim 2

In the apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein each jet orifice for entry of the material into the grinding chamber is disposed immediately adjacent the confining sidewall of the grinding chamber with its axis so oriented with respect to the axis of its proximate fluid jet as to direct the feed jet of said material tangentially with respect to a circle in closely spaced concentric relation to said sidewall of the grinding chamber and outside of a circle substantially tangent to the axes of said fluid jets whereby to introduce said material into the outermost circular region of the vortex.

Claim 3

In the apparatus as defined in claim 1 which includes a pair of opposed plate members and an annular member secured in intervening position between the peripheral portions of said plate members to form said grinding chamber, at least one of said plate members being provided with a replaceable liner having an annular recess extending about its circumferential margin spaced inwardly of said annular member, the open end of said annular recess being sealed off by its associated plate member to provide an annular manifold into which the material to be pulverized is injected, the wall of said manifold opposite its said associated plate member being provided with said plurality of jet orifices through which said material issues in jet form for entrainment in the vortex of the gaseous energy fluid operating within said grinding chamber.

Claim 4

In apparatus as defined in claim 4 wherein each of said material injecting orifices in the aforesaid wall of said manifold is similarly oriented with its axis extending at an angle to the plane of wall and along a line coincident with a circle closely adjacent and concentric with respect to the outer circumferential wall of said manifold whereby said material is injected into the grinding chamber in a direction corresponding to the direction of rotation of the vortex in said chamber and within an area external of a circle tangent to the axes of said jets of the grinding fluid.

Claim 5

Apparatus for finely comminuting solid material in pulverulent state comprising in combination a circular chamber in closed communication with a source of pressurized gaseous fluid through a jet forming nozzle for establishing in said chamber an inwardly spiralling vortex of said fluid of high vortical velocity adapted to discharge from said chamber through a discharge outlet extending outwardly from the center region of the vortex, means for injecting the pulverulent material into the outer marginal portion of the vortex for movement inwardly thereof to and through said discharge outlet, and means in said outlet for reducing turbulence of the gaseous fluid and attendant pressure drop thereof in the region of its entry into said outlet to thereby maintain a high rotational speed of travel of the gaseous vortex in said chamber and utilization of the maximum amount of grinding energY available as the difference between the energy of the fluid supplied to the grinding chamber and that of the fluid contained within the chamber itself, said last-mentioned means comprising a spiderlike member fitted in said discharge outlet and having a plurality of angularly related vanes which provide a plurality of circumferentially spaced separated passages extending rectilinearly through said outlet in parallel relation to its central axis, said vanes extending freely beyond the intake end of said discharge outlet in intercepting relation to the gaseous fluid discharging from the center of the stream and moving radially inward across the peripheral edge of the intake end of said discharge outlet.

Claim 6

Apparatus according to claim 6 wherein the freely projecting ends of said vanes extend beyond the intake end of said discharge outlet a distance equal to from one-half to the full diametrical dimension of the outlet.

Claim 7

Apparatus according to claim 6 wherein the freely projecting ends of said vanes are respectively longitudinally and laterally curved to provide the same with corresponding concave surfaces for intercepting the gaseous fluid exiting from the central region of the vortex and effecting streamlined flow thereof into the discharge outlet.

Claim 9

Apparatus for the pulverization of material into finely divided form comprising a generally circular grinding chamber for the particles of material to be pulverized, means for injecting a pressurized gaseous grinding fluid into said chamber through a jet orifice in communication between a source of supply of said pressurized fluid and the interior of said chamber to establish therein a high velocity inwardly spiralling vortex of the gaseous fluid, means for injecting the material to be pulverized into said grinding chamber through a jet orifice in communication between a source of supply of said material and the interior of said chamber for entrainment of said particles of material in said vortex and movement therewith at a vortical speed of travel which is high as compared with the speed of movement of said particles radially inward toward a discharge outlet at the center of said vortex, said material jet orifice being located downstream of the fluid jet orifice in close proximity thereto and with its axis so oriented relatively to that of the fluid jet orifice that the axis of the jet of the material at its point of entry into the grinding chamber extends in nonintersecting relation to the axis of the gaseous fluid jet at the point of entry of the latter into the grinding chamber, and means in said discharge outlet for reducing the pressure of the gaseous energy fluid in the grinding chamber to thereby achieve a substantial increase in the vortical velocity and the grinding energy of said fluid, said pressure reducing means comprising a spiderlike member having a plurality of angularly related vanes to form a plurality of circumferentially spaced passages extending rectilinearly through said outlet parallel to its central axis, said vanes having end portions extending freely beyond the intake end of the discharge outlet to intercept and effect streamlined entry into the discharge outlet of the spent gaseous fluid exiting from the center of the vortex.