Fluidized drying apparatus

Claim 1

A fluidized drying apparatus of the type having a generally cylindrical casing, a single annular integral plate provided in said casing and extending transversely across the entire extent of the casing for dividing said casing into an upper solid fluidizing chamber adapted to receive finely divided material to be dried and a lower windbox chamber into which a drying gas is adapted to be introduced, said integral plate being formed with a plurality of closely spaced perforations extending radially from the center of said plate to the outer periphery thereof, with each perforation providing unimpeded communication between the upper fluidizing chamber and the lower windbox chamber and being inclined to the axis of the casing at an angle to direct said gas passing therethrough, during operation, in a direction at an acute angle to the surface of the plate, and a rotatable breaker member extending diametrically substantially across the entire extent of the annular plate, said breaker member comprising first and second spaced apart members disposed above said single perforated plate with at least one of said members mounted for rotation about the longitudinal axis of said casing, and drive means adapted to drive said one of said breaker members from a side of of said perforated annular plate opposite the side on which said first and second breaker members are located, and outlet means communicating with the upper chamber for discharging dried material.