Granulation process and apparatus

1. A granulation process of a given substance in a fluid state, comprising the steps of:

feeding said fluid substance to a rotating prilling bucket, located inside a prilling tower, containing a given liquid mass of said substance and having a perforated side wall;

spraying said fluid substance from said prilling bucket into the prilling tower in the form of liquid jets through said perforated side wall; and

subjecting said liquid jets to a vibration according to the axial direction of the prilling tower, while the liquid mass contained in the bucket is kept substantially free from said vibration, and said vibration is imparted to the liquid jets by subjecting said perforated side wall to a vibrating action and isolating the remaining parts of the prilling bucket from said vibrating action.

2. The process according to claim 1 , wherein said given substance is urea.

3. An apparatus for the granulation of a fluid or semi-fluid substance, comprising a prilling tower and a rotating prilling bucket which is located inside said tower and connected to feeding means of said substance and to a rotating driving shaft, wherein the prilling bucket comprises a frame part and a perforated side wall, and is connected to suitable vibration imparting means, adapted to provide a vibrating action substantially according to the axial direction of said prilling tower, wherein said vibration imparting means are connected to said perforated side wall of the bucket, and said perforated side wall is vibrationally decoupled from the frame part of the same, so that the operation of said vibration imparting means results in a vibration of the perforated side wall, while the frame part of the bucket is kept substantially isolated from the vibrating action.

4. The apparatus according to claim 3 , comprising a suitable flexible connection between said perforated side wall of the bucket and said frame part of the same, said flexible connection being adapted to act as a mechanical filter for said vibrating action.

5. The apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein the frame part of the prilling bucket comprises a top plate and a bottom plate, and the perforated side wall is connected to said top plate by a first flexible connection, and is also connected to said bottom plate by a second flexible connection.

6. The apparatus according to claim 5 , wherein said first and second flexible connections are obtained through a first elastic ring, secured to a top fixing portion of the perforated side wall and to the top plate, and a second elastic ring secured to a bottom fixing portion of the side wall and to the bottom plate of the bucket.

7. The apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein said top fixing portion and bottom fixing portion of the perforated side wall are obtained through metal rings having a thickness greater than the side wall, and welded to the upper and lower rim, respectively, of the same side wall, to provide room for fixing screws between said elastic rings, top and bottom plate of the bucket and side wall of the same.

8. The apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein said first elastic ring and second elastic ring are made of an elastomer.

9. The apparatus according to claim 8 , wherein said first elastic ring and second elastic ring have a multi-layered structure.

10. The apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein said flexible connection(s) is (are) made with expansion joint(s).

11. The apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein said flexible connection(s) is (are) made with connecting element(s) having a suitable thickness to act as a filter for the vibrations.

12. The apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein said flexible connection between the perforated side wall of the bucket and the frame part of the same is substantially flexible in the axial direction of the bucket, but substantially rigid in the torsional direction, thus being suitable to transmit a rotational driving torque.

13. The apparatus according to claim 12 , wherein it further comprises a driving flange, connected to said rotating shaft and having a peripheral region fixed to the perforated side wall of the bucket.

14. The apparatus according to claim 13 , wherein said driving flange is elastically supported, according to said axial direction, at the bottom end of the rotating shaft, by elastic means.

15. The apparatus according to claim 13 , wherein said vibration imparting means are directly associated to said driving flange.

16. The apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein said vibration imparting means are pneumatic, fed through a compressed air duct coaxial to the rotating shaft.