摘要:
The disclosure describes a dryer for granular material provided with first and second successive zones to treat the material with heated gas under dehydrating conditions and a third zone connected therewith wherein the material is treated with incoming cool gas, characterized by passageways to conduct the flow of gas in opposite directions transversely through the first and second zones and means to combine the effluent gases from the second and third drying zones and supply heat thereto to form the heated gases used in the first and second zones. In one embodiment the granular material is passed successively through the first, second and third treating zones, the supply of cool gas is conveyed into the third zone to cool the dehydrated material therein, the effluent gases from the cooling zone are passed to a heating zone to form a portion of the dehydrating gas passed to the first and second zones while the effluent from the second zone is being recycled to the heating zone to be mixed with the effluent from the cooling zone and the effluent from the first zone is being exhausted from the system. In another embodiment the granular material is passed downwardly by gravity through perforated columns arranged in a vertical substantially parallel relationship, and a baffle system surrounds the columns to provide a division of the heated treating gas, between the first and second zones, whereby a portion of the gas is directed outwardly from between the columns in the second zone and then recirculated while the remainder of the gas is directed inwardly through the perforated columns of the first zone from which it is discharged as the effluent from the system. Other embodiments are disclosed including means to control the volume of recycled effluent from the second treating zone, e.g., the proportion of moisture laden gas sent to the heating zone for recirculation.