Fluidized bed treatment apparatus

Claim 1

In an apparatus for producing a treatment bed consisting of solid particles which are simultaneously subjected partly to a fluidization action and to an at least horizontal circulatory movement therein, said apparatus comprising a fluidization container, intake means and a distributor for the fluidization agent which supplies only part of the bed, and means for setting up vibrations in the container in a substantially rectilinear manner at an angle of 0 to 80 degrees to the horizontal, the improvement wherein the fluidization agent distributor consists of a plate comprising a plurality of rows of upwardly directed vents arranged alternating with a plurality of rectilinear unvented strips, the rows of vents and the strips being parallel to the vertical plane in the direction of the vibrations, and wherein said plate is undulated at right angles to the direction of the rows of vents and the strips and rows of vents are positioned substantially at the top of the undulations, said apparatus, in operation, establishing therein non-fluidized zones of particles adjacent and rectilinear unvented strips, the balance of the particles being fluidized and said non-fluidized zones of particles moving longitudinally in a direction opposite said fluidized particles.