APPARATUS FOR SEPARATING SOLID PARTICLES FROM A GAS AND FOR INJECTING THE SO-SEPARATED PARTICLES INTO A REACTION VESSEL

摘要

An apparatus for separating solid particles contained in a flow of gaseous products and for injecting the separated particles into a reactor vessel. This apparatus has a cyclone separator provided with a tangential entry port through which the flow of gaseous products is fed, an axial exhaust conduit through which the gaseous products fed into the separator exit from the same, a collection hopper in which fall the solid particles separated from the gaseous products by centrifugation and gravity within the separator, and a discharge conduit having an inlet within the collection hopper and an outlet opening into the reactor vessel. It also has a gas injector for injecting a gas stream into the discharge conduit so as to cause the solid particles falling into the collection hopper to flow continuously out of the hopper through the discharge conduit and be fed into the reaction vessel in spite of any pressure differential that may exist between the collection hopper and the reactor vessel. This apparatus is typically used in combination with and within a fluidized bed reactor for the gasification of carbona-ceous solids. The incorporation of this apparatus permits to achieve a high efficiency of separation as a result of a high velocity of entry of the gaseous products to the cyclone separator and the continuous removal of the solid particles from the collection hopper of the cyclone separator through the discharge conduit, which advantageously penetrates deeply into the fluidized bed.