[0002] It is frequently desired to load catalyst pellets into drums either for the transportation or storage of said catalyst pellets. There are generally two locations where catalyst pellets are loaded into drums. The first is at the point of manufacture of the catalyst pellets and the other is adjacent to a reactor vessel that contains catalyst pellets which is being emptied either for work to be carried out on the reactor itself, or for treatment or replacement of the catalyst pellets.
[0003] At the point of manufacture of the catalyst pellets the drums are loaded using apparatus that is fixed in one position and which is not the subject of the present application. When drums are being loaded adjacent to a reactor vessel, the apparatus being used for loading said drums must in itself be portable. It would be economically very inefficient to have all the requisite apparatus for loading and unloading a reactor vessel permanently stationed adjacent to said reactor vessel.
[0004] Currently known apparatus for use in loading catalyst pellets into drums include a hopper, a hopper support frame, and optionally a roller conveyor. In operation, an empty drum is placed beneath the hopper either directly onto the surface supporting the apparatus (here after “the floor”) or, if one is being used, on the roller conveyor. The drum is open ended and the open end placed upmost and directly beneath the hopper. The drum is loaded from the hopper and the open end or mouth of the drum then sealed. The drum is then either man-handled from beneath the hopper or, if a roller conveyor is being used, is rolled out from beneath the hopper. The drum is then man-handled onto a pallet suitable for one or more drums and subsequently removed from the area of the hopper by a fork lift truck. This is unsatisfactory in that it requires manual labour to move the filled drums. Manhandling the drums endangers the people handling the drums because of the weight of the drums and, potentially, because of the drum contents and the danger of either contamination of the outside of the drum or the lid becoming unsealed from the drum during the handling process.
[0005] According to the present invention there is provided apparatus for the filling at least a pair of drums substantially simultaneously whilst minimising the manual handling of said drums.
[0006] According to the present invention there is provided a loading hopper, in which the hopper is provided with an inlet port, at least two outlet ports, and division means arranged to substantially divide a stream of pellets entering the hopper via the inlet port and direct the divided stream of pellets towards each outlet port.
[0007] The term ‘pellet’ includes particulate material, shaped or formed bodies, or the like.
[0008] The division means may include the walls of the hopper which are shaped and dimensioned to substantially divide a stream of pellets entering the hopper via the inlet port and direct a stream of pellets towards each outlet port.
[0009] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the hopper is provided with a pair of outlet ports. However, the apparatus of the present invention may be configured to operate equally effectively with other numbers of outlet ports, most preferably three or four outlet ports.
[0010] In a particularly preferred embodiment of the present invention the hopper is provided with two outlet ports and is so shaped and configured that the bisection of the stream of pellets is by way of the stream of pellets impacting an edge defined by the intersection of a pair of side walls of the hopper. Said side walls preferably intersect at an acute angle so presenting a bisecting edge which may be a substantially sharp edge to a stream of pellets entering the hopper via the inlet port. In this particular preferred embodiment of the present invention the side walls which define the bisecting edge also form a part of a substantially conical or pyramidal construction which narrows toward its vertically lower end to an outlet port. The substantially pyramidal or conical construction serves to direct the pellets to the first and second outlet ports of the hopper.
[0011] In an alternative embodiment of the present invention the stream of pellets may be bisected by one or more baffles or dividing plates located within the hopper. Said baffles or dividing plates are preferably supported in their correct position by being anchored or fixed to one or more side walls of the hopper.
[0012] Using baffles or dividing plates gives a designer of a hopper according to the present invention a degree of freedom over the design of the outer wall of the hopper.
[0013] In the most preferred embodiment of the present invention the stream of catalyst pellets enters the hopper with a substantially vertically downward direction. The pellets then travel under the force of gravity past the division or bisecting means and, thence, to the outlet ports.
[0014] Most preferably the catalyst pellets are transported to the hopper entrained with a conveying gas. The conveying gas is most preferably drawn out of said hopper not via the outlet ports, but rather via one or more conveying gas outlet ports. Each conveying gas outlet port is preferably located in such a position that it is very unlikely that any catalyst pellets entering the hopper would travel from the hopper inlet port to the conveying gas outlet port.
[0015] The conveying gas outlet ports are preferably attached, via ducting, to a means for inducing negative pressure relative to the pressure within the hopper, so causing conveying gas to exhaust from the hopper via the conveying gas outlet ports.
[0016] It is particularly preferred that the hopper is provided with at least one aperture adjacent to each outlet port.
[0017] Each aperture is sealed with a transparent sheet of material so as to form viewing windows in the hopper. These viewing windows allow an operator of said hopper to ascertain the conditions within the hopper and, in particular, how full or empty the hopper is.
[0018] Engaged with each outlet port is a reversible port closure means or valve to which, on the side remote from the hopper, there is attached a first end of a flexible hose or duct. Attached to the second end of each flexible hose or duct is a drum filling lid of known type. Each drum filling lid is essentially adapted to sealingly engage with the open mouth of a drum. The sealing engagement is adapted to be reversible so as to allow the removal of the drum filling lid once the drum is full.
[0019] In a most preferred embodiment of the present invention the drum filling lids adapted to be engaged with the outlet ports are all fixed to a support frame. In an alternative embodiment of the present invention each drum filling lid is independently fixed on its own support frame.
[0020] It is preferred that the drum filling lid is provided with means to create a negative pressure in the drum being filled when the drum filler lid is sealingly engaged with the drum mouth. Particularly preferred apparatus for inducing a negative pressure in the drum is provision of a dust line, or small bore pipe or duct, which provides communication for gas and dust between the inside of the drum, and either the inside of the hopper in the region of the conveying gas outlet port or ports, or directly into the duct or pipe connected with a conveying gas outlet port.
[0021] The apparatus of the present invention may further be provided with a hopper support frame. The hopper support frame preferably includes at least two support posts which may be either permanently or releasably fixed to the hopper. The support frame may, optionally, include one or more cross members fixing the support posts relative to each other.
[0022] It is particularly preferred that the support posts are telescopic so that the apparatus may be adapted for use with drums and/or pallets of different vertical heights.
[0023] The lower end of each support post is, preferably, fixed to a cross bar which, at either end of said cross bar, engages with ground engaging means. This provides stability to the hopper and the support frame. It is particularly preferred that the ground engaging means for each cross bar are rollers, endless belt tracks, wheels or the like, so allowing the apparatus of the present invention to be rolled, assuming the surface on which it is resting is sufficiently flat and smooth. In one particularly preferred embodiment of the present invention the orientation of the axis of rotation of the rollers is fixed and substantially parallel and substantially perpendicular to the orientation of the longitudinal axis of each cross bar.
[0024] The support frame or frames for the drum filling lids are mounted on the hopper support frame and are so constructed and configured that they allow movement of the drum filling lids either together or separately between a first retracted position and a second extended position. Both retracted and extended positions are at vertically lower levels than the hopper outlet ports, when the hopper is orientated for use, with the retracted position being at a vertically higher level than the extended position.
[0025] The attachment of the or each drum filling lid support frame to the hopper support frame results in the hopper support frame supporting the weight of the drum filling lids when they are not sealingly engaged with the mouth of a drum.
[0026] The hopper support frame is so dimensioned and configured that it supports the hopper in such a position that the level of the mouth of a drum when ready for filling whilst that drum is sitting on a pallet suitable for lifting with a fork lift truck is between the levels of the retracted and extended positions of the drum filler lids.
[0027] In use, the apparatus of the present invention having two outlet ports is transported by known means, such as a lorry, to a position adjacent to a reactor vessel. It is then connected with an appropriate, known, catalyst pellet transportation means.
[0028] An operator then checks that the outlet port closure means are in a closed position and that the drum filling lids are in the substantially retracted position. A fork lift truck is employed to place a pallet bearing two or four empty drums, their mouths all facing vertically upwards, between the support posts and cross bars of the hopper support frame. The support frame or frames for the drum filler lids are then manipulated to move the drum filler lids to engage with the mouth of an empty drum. The filling lids are sealed to the mouths of the drums. If necessary, the operator can adjust the telescopic legs (if present) of the hopper support frame to ensure that the drum filler lids may engage with the mouth of the drums.
[0029] The drums with which the filler lids are engaged are next placed under negative pressure by known means not discussed herein. The operator of the apparatus then opens the closure means to each outlet port causing catalyst to flow, both under the force of gravity and the pressure differential between the hopper and the drum, into the drum. Placing each drum under negative pressure relative to the hopper avoids needing to place an air lock or air vent in the drum filling lids.
[0030] When each drum is full, the operator closes the appropriate outlet port closure means and disengages each drum filling lid from the mouth of the now filled drum. The drum filling lids are then moved back to their retracted position and the mouths of the now full drums sealed.
[0031] If the pallet has four drums located on it, the apparatus of the present invention is next rolled so that the drum filling lids are vertically above the mouths of the two remaining empty drums and the process for filling the drums is repeated. The force needed for rolling the apparatus of the present invention between the filling positions may either be provided by a human, or by a motor, for instance an electric motor.
[0032] Once all four drums are full, a fork lift truck is employed to pick up the pallet bearing the full drums and to transport it to a position of storage or onto a vehicle for transportation. A fresh pallet bearing empty drums is then placed beneath the apparatus of the present invention and the above described actions repeated, with the exception of the initial setting up adjustments.
[0033] The apparatus of the present invention is particularly advantageous over currently known apparatus for drum filling both because of the minimalisation of the manual effort needed to handle the drums, and because of the increased loading rates for drums. The previously known apparatus only loaded one drum at a time, whereas the present apparatus loads at least two drums at a time. Furthermore, the present apparatus allows the use of bigger drums which would previously not have been usable because of the difficulty of handling said drums when full.
[0034] The apparatus of the present invention will be further described and explained by way of example with reference to the accompanying FIGURE which represents a schematic view of the apparatus of the present invention.
[0035] With reference to the FIGURE, a hopper (
[0036] Substantially vertically above bisecting edge (
[0037] Attached to each outlet port (
[0038] In communication with the mouth of each plate valve (
[0039] Both of the drum filling lids (
[0040] Hopper support frame (
[0041] The lower ends of posts (
[0042] In use, the apparatus of the present invention is used as described above.