METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR HANDLING AND TRANSPORTING HOT ASH AND PARTICULATE MATERIAL AND CONTROLLING THE BED OF A FLUIDIZED BED APPARATUS

摘要

A system for transporting and cooling boiler ash includes (or is operable with) a fluid bed boiler (10) for a power plant. The boiler (10) requires an ash bed in which a prescribed volume of ash is maintained. As ash builds up in the bed toward the upper limit of the prescribed volume, ash is discharged from a boiler ash outlet (14). A particulate material metering and transporting apparatus (36) is coupled to the boiler ash outlet (14) to pump or drive ash away from the boiler (10) at a rate consistent with the ash removal needs of the boiler (14). The metering apparatus (36) includes a pair of moving walls (such as the walls of a pair of rotating disks), between which ash or other particles bridge and are thereby driven at a rate dependent upon the rate of the wall motion. The metering apparatus (36) has an outlet coupled to the inlet end of a rotary drum cooler.