The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Aug. 18, 2009
Filed:
Aug. 10, 2006
André Peter Steynberg, Gauteng Province, ZA;
André Peter Steynberg, Gauteng Province, ZA;
SASOL Technology (Proprietary) Limited, Gauteng Province, ZA;
Abstract
A method is provided for introducing or reintroducing a gas into a slurry vessel holding a slurry comprising a liquid and solid particles and having a gas distributor for injecting a gas into the slurry, where the gas distributor includes a sparger device comprising an apertured sparger portion inside the slurry vessel, an inlet portion leading into the slurry vessel and an outlet portion leading from the slurry vessel, and a valve, external of the slurry vessel, operable to allow or deny flow from the sparger portion out through the outlet portion of the sparger device. The method comprises operating the valve to allow flow through the outlet portion of the sparger device, flushing the sparger device through the outlet portion to remove settled material which may be present in the sparger device, operating the valve to deny flow through the outlet portion of the sparger device, and introducing or reintroducing the gas into the slurry vessel through the sparger device.