Imperial Chemical Industries Limited

Frank A Kirk

Peter J Davidson

Raymond Oliver

John F Davidson

Leslie J Ford

Alan James Hall

Peter M Paxton

Alan M Patterson

Nicholas W Anderton

Donald L Ralph

Pellets which are formed by extruding and cutting may be squashed in the latter operation. Squashing is reduced by passing a strand of extruded material downwardly under the influence of gravity and cutting the strand horizontally with a blade, preferably supporting the strand against the cutting blade by blowing gas against it when cutting.

Apparatus and method for forming pellets

Shaped articles, especially ones containing a plurality of fine through passages, are made from a composition containing a refractory particulate material by extrusion, cutting the extrudate, while vertically hanging or suspending into lengths while in the green deformable state by a high velocity water jet, and then calcining to bind the refractory particles together. Depending on the nature of the refractory material, the articles are of use as catalyst supports or precursors, adsorbents, or absorbents. The extrudate is extruded horizontally and allowed to sag into a gap between the extrusion die and a transport device, which is driven positively to maintain the degree of sag within predetermined limits, and the frequency of cutting depends on the rate of movement of the transport device.

Method of making refractory shaped articles by cutting vertically

A process (and apparatus therefor) for carrying out thermally-initiated chemical reactions or physical changes by heating a particulate substrate in a fluidized bed having hotter zone(s) and cooler zone(s) between which the fluidized particles circulate, the dwell time in the hotter zone(s) being sufficiently short so as to prevent the particles undergoing an undesirable thermal transformation before the particles move into the cooler zone(s). The fluidized bed is applicable, for example, to a process for the polymerization of a low molecular weight poly(ethylene terephthalate).

Modified fluidized bed

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York, United Kingdom

Frank A Kirk