Fluid bed reactor

Claim 1

An apparatus for carrying out reactions in a body of fluidized particles which comprises a vessel having sidewalls and a bottom and a gas outlet at its upper end, a perforated non-metallic grid extending between said sidewalls and separating said vessel into an upper portion defining a reaction chamber adapted to contain the fluidized bed above said grid and a lower plenum chamber below said grid for reception of an air stream for passage through said grid into said fluidized bed, means defining an inlet for said air stream in said plenum chamber, a plurality of refractory columns extending between the bottom of said vessel and the lower surface of said grid, said columns serving to support said grid radially inwardly of its periphery when said bed is at rest but said grid being susceptible of movement out of contact with said columns when air streams pass into said chamber and flow upwardly through said grid to fluidize said fluid bed at elevated temperatures, each of said columns having an internal axial bore and being defined by vertically superposed annular segments, at least one set of metallic conduit means for supplying fuel and reactant to said fluidized bed, at least some of the conduits passing axially through said bores in said refractory columns with sufficient clearance that the conduits can move freely in said bores in response to expansion and contraction forces brought about by temperature changes, said conduits thereby providing means for supplying reactants and fuel to the fluidized bed and simultaneously stabilizing the columns against displacement under reaction conditions.

Claim 2

An apparatus for carrying out reactions in a body of fluidized particles which comprises a vessel having sidewalls and a bottom and a gas outlet at its upper end, a perforated non-metallic grid extending between said sidewalls and separating said vessel into an upper portion defining a reaction chamber adapted to contain the fluidized bed above said grid and a lower plenum chamber below said grid for reception of an air stream for passage through said grid into said fluidized bed, means defining an inlet for said air stream in said plenum chamber, a plurality of refractory columns extending between the bottom of said vessel and the lower surface of said grid, said columns serving to support said grid radially inwardly of its periphery when said bed is at rest but said grid being susceptible of movement out of contact with said columns when air streams pass into said chamber and flow upwardly through said grid to fluidize said fluid bed at elevated temperatures, each of said columns having an internal axial bore and being defined by vertically superposed annular segments, at least one set of metallic conduit means for supplying fuel and reactant to said fluidized bed, at least some of the conduits passing axially through said bores in said refractory columns with sufficient clearance that the conduits can move freely in said bores in response to expansion and contraction forces brought about by temperature changes, said conduits thereby providing means for supplying reactants and fuel to the fluidized bed and simultaneously stabilizing the columns against displacement under reaction conditions.