Apparatus for drying materials

Claim 1

An apparatus for uniformly drying material comprising: a generally rectangular drying chamber including side walls, a top wall, a bottom wall, front and rear walls; said front and rear walls having horizontally extending openings forming a lined entrant and exit opening between the front and rear walls of said chamber to define a pathway therebetween for the passage of the material to be dried therethrough; an upstanding partition mounted in the drying chamber between said side walls; a plurality of spaced parallel panels mounted transversely between said upstanding partition and one of said side walls to form a plurality of compartment means; a plurality of fluid supply means mounted in said drying chamber and being in fluid communication with each of said compartment means; and means forming a plurality of drying zones in said chamber and spaced along said pathway, each drying zone including at least a pair of spaced parallel conduits positioned above and below said pathway; said conduits being mounted horizontally in said drying chamber and being in fluid communication with said compartment means; a plurality of fluid supply openings of predetermined size and spacing in said conduits and said openings facing the pathway to provide a uniform distribution of fluid to the entire surface of the material to be dried in said chamber; means forming a fluid heating chamber between the side walls and extending the length of the drying chamber and beiNg in fluid communication with said compartment means and said pathway; means placing said fluid heating chamber in communication with each of said fluid supply means; heat exchanger means disposed in said fluid heating chamber for heating and conditioning the fluids to be distributed through the fluid supply means; means forming an exhaust passageway being in fluid communication with said pathway to conduct the exhaust fluid through said fluid heating chamber so that the heat exchanger means will uniformly heat the fluid prior to distributing the heated fluid through said fluid supply means; a partition in said heating chamber extending from said rear wall and stopping just short of said front wall for directing all of the fluid from the exhaust passageway to the front of said heating chamber; a further partition in said heating chamber extending from said front wall and stopping just short of said rear wall for directing all of the fluid from said heating chamber to one end of a fluid distributing plenum formed between said further partition and said upstanding partition to distribute heated fluid to said plurality of compartment means.

Claim 2

An apparatus for uniformly drying material comprising: a generally rectangular drying chamber including side walls, a top wall, a bottom wall, front and rear walls; said front and rear walls having horizontally extending openings forming a lined entrant and exit opening between the front and rear walls of said chamber to define a pathway therebetween for the passage of the material to be dried therethrough; an upstanding partition mounted in the drying chamber between said side walls; a plurality of spaced parallel panels mounted transversely between said upstanding partition and one of said side walls to form a plurality of compartment means; a plurality of fluid supply means mounted in said drying chamber and being in fluid communication with each of said compartment means; and means forming a plurality of drying zones in said chamber and spaced along said pathway, each drying zone including at least a pair of spaced parallel conduits positioned above and below said pathway; said conduits being mounted horizontally in said drying chamber and being in fluid communication with said compartment means; a plurality of fluid supply openings of predetermined size and spacing in said conduits and said openings facing the pathway to provide a uniform distribution of fluid to the entire surface of the material to be dried in said chamber; means forming a fluid heating chamber between the side walls and extending the length of the drying chamber and beiNg in fluid communication with said compartment means and said pathway; means placing said fluid heating chamber in communication with each of said fluid supply means; heat exchanger means disposed in said fluid heating chamber for heating and conditioning the fluids to be distributed through the fluid supply means; means forming an exhaust passageway being in fluid communication with said pathway to conduct the exhaust fluid through said fluid heating chamber so that the heat exchanger means will uniformly heat the fluid prior to distributing the heated fluid through said fluid supply means; a partition in said heating chamber extending from said rear wall and stopping just short of said front wall for directing all of the fluid from the exhaust passageway to the front of said heating chamber; a further partition in said heating chamber extending from said front wall and stopping just short of said rear wall for directing all of the fluid from said heating chamber to one end of a fluid distributing plenum formed between said further partition and said upstanding partition to distribute heated fluid to said plurality of compartment means.