Apparatus for cooling or drying bulk material

摘要

The bulk material cooler/dryer apparatus of the present invention utilizes an oscillating spreader assembly in conjunction with a reciprocating discharge grate structure to achieve uniform distribution of in-flowing bulk material within a main processing chamber and also to achieve uniform and efficient discharge of the material from the chamber once processing is complete. This uniform distribution of bulk material within the processing chamber is accomplished via a spreader assembly which is mounted to the top of the chamber and which moves along two orthogonal axes. Motion with respect to each of the axes is facilitated by a pair of linear actuators, the actions of which are controlled so as to cause the stream of in-flowing material that is issued therefrom to oscillate in a sinusoidal type pattern when observed from a point above the spreader assembly. The result of such oscillation of the spreader assembly and the material issuing therefrom is the generally uniform distribution of the material within the processing chamber. The material falls through the chamber and is processed eventually reaching the lower boundary of the chamber about which is disposed the reciprocating discharge assembly. This reciprocating discharge assembly is responsible for establishing the rate at which material is permitted to leave or be discharged from the processing chamber. The discharge assembly is comprised of a stationary or fixed baffle assembly which is located adjacent a lower reciprocating grate assembly.