EP0717826A1 - Chaudiere a vapeur - Google Patents

Chaudiere a vapeur

Info

Publication number
EP0717826A1
EP0717826A1 EP94926416A EP94926416A EP0717826A1 EP 0717826 A1 EP0717826 A1 EP 0717826A1 EP 94926416 A EP94926416 A EP 94926416A EP 94926416 A EP94926416 A EP 94926416A EP 0717826 A1 EP0717826 A1 EP 0717826A1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
boiler
furnace
steam
boiler according
back pass
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Granted
Application number
EP94926416A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Other versions
EP0717826B1 (fr
Inventor
Lennart Nordenberg
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Metso Fiber Karlstad AB
Original Assignee
Kvaerner Pulping Technologies AB
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Priority claimed from CA002105602A external-priority patent/CA2105602A1/fr
Application filed by Kvaerner Pulping Technologies AB filed Critical Kvaerner Pulping Technologies AB
Publication of EP0717826A1 publication Critical patent/EP0717826A1/fr
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP0717826B1 publication Critical patent/EP0717826B1/fr
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Lifetime legal-status Critical Current

Links

Definitions

  • the invention relates to boilers for the production of steam having a maximum capacity of 100 ton/hr or more, and more particularly to boilers capable of burning solid fuel.
  • Such boilers comprise a furnace and a back pass, wherein said furnace and said back pass are mounted in close relation to each other.
  • Such boilers are used as large power plants to produce superheated steam for driving steam-powered turbines.
  • the fuel burned in these boilers principally comprises bio ass, bark, deinking sludge and primary sludge as well as possible auxiliary fuels such as oil and gas.
  • boilers with a steam capacity of at least 100 tons/hr are very large and require hanging from a support structure, the price of said structure increasing steeply for a small increase in height and width of the structure.
  • steam generating boilers which may be considered as prior art for this invention, are generally constructed with a central furnace and one or more lower grates on to which fuel is fed for burning.
  • the walls of the furnace may comprise pipes for containing the water/steam which is to be passed, in a first stage, to the water/steam separation drum at the upper part of the furnace before proceeding on to a superheating stage.
  • the boilers of the prior art are expensive to construct due to the overall number of pipes, the type of pipes involved and due to the manner in which they are attached to various structural support members. Additionally, the systems for separating and later superheating the steam are complicated, difficult to design, difficult to manufacture and fit as well as being difficult to service.
  • the steam separation system which comprises a separation drum (e.g. a cyclone separator) normally requires several pipes each extending from the upper steam side of the drum all the way to the inlets for the superheater(s) , the superheaters being themselves positioned vertically in the furnace or the back draft.
  • the fitting of such a multiplicity of pipes is inconvenient and expensive, but has previously been found necessary if an even steam distribution along the drum is to be achieved.
  • Such an even distribution is however important in order not to disturb the moisture-removing function of the de-mister element which otherwise would produce detrimental effects on the turbine, such as deposits which cause unbalance in the rotor.
  • An object of the invention is thus to improve the overall structure and efficiency of a boiler by the novel construction of its various elements and/or their combination.
  • a boiler system may be provided which is, amongst other things, very compact, flexible with respect to its size and which results in low manufacturing, assembly, installation and maintenance costs.
  • the boiler according to the invention has a maximum capacity of 100 ton/hr or more and comprises a furnace having a substantially constant rectangular cross-section and a back pass with a substantially constant rectangular cross-section, wherein said furnace and said back pass are mounted in close relation to each other, means being provided for superheating said steam, said steam superheating means being positioned within said back pass, so that no means for superheating the steam is positioned within said furnace.
  • Fig.la shows a purely diagrammatical representation of a section of a power plant to which the invention relates, however with the back pass in line with the fuel feed (which is the conventional way of building such units) , and thus connected on a different wall than with the present invention, merely for ease of explanation
  • Fig.lb shows a side view in partial section through a boiler of the invention, many parts having been removed for simplicity
  • Fig.lc shows a longitudinal, partial sectional view through a boiler according to the invention, many parts having been removed for simplicity
  • Fig.2 shows a section of wall panel for a boiler according to the invention
  • Fig.3 shows a schematic view (not to scale) of the superheater connections
  • Fig.4 shows an enlarged section view (not to scale) of the upper part of the superheater of Fig.3 in which the middle section has been deleted
  • Fig.5 shows a section view taken along line V-V in Fig.4,
  • Fig.6 shows a section view taken along
  • Fig.4 shows a steam drum in accordance with the one aspect of the invention
  • Fig.8 shows a sectional view of the drum of Fig.7
  • a preferred embodiment
  • the boiler of this invention is of the large type i.e. having a capacity capable of producing steam at the rate of 100 tons per hour or more.
  • the boiler consists of two main sections, a furnace section 1 and one or more back pass (or back draft) sections 2, 20.
  • the first back pass 2 and the furnace 1 are separated from each other by means of a common dividing wall 3.
  • the furnace and the back pass could however be separated from one another by a certain distance, thus requiring individual opposing walls on each of the sections 1 and 2.
  • the fuel is fed from a feed unit 7, commonly a series of driven screw feeders 7' (see Fig.lc), onto a first sloping grate section 4 which is constructed as a bare-tube membrane floor having individual pipes connected to each other by "fins" of flat sheet metal.
  • the fins have a series of holes therein for the passage of air therethrough from the underside and are fitted with individual downstream- directed deflector plate sections (not depicted) , known as eyelids, covering the holes to prevent the ingress of material from above the grate and also to minimise fluidizing of the bed.
  • a second grate section 5 e.g. of the reciprocating type such as a Kablitz grate, is positioned downstream of the first grate section 4.
  • This section could for example comprise stationary and alternately interposed movable members.
  • the members are typically serrated and stepped, and the reciprocating movement occurs at low velocity automatically over a period of e.g. a few minutes. In this way, fuel will be fed down along the grate towards the final or dump grate 6 where the ash is discharged onto an ash conveyor 8 below.
  • the dump grate 6 may simply be a manually operated grate which is actuated whenever the operator feels that this is required due to the build up of ash, or an automatically operated device functioning on e.g. a time basis, for instance twice a day.
  • the wall 3 Whilst in the diagrammatic representation of Fig.la it is shown that the dividing wall 3 is above the dump grate, the wall 3 is in fact arranged on a side of the furnace which is parallel to the direction of feed on the grate section 4, 5, 6 as is clearly shown in Figs, lb and lc. In other words, the furnace is at an angle of 90° to the longitudinal section of the boiler. As a result of this arrangement the feeding means 7 has a direction of feed parallel with the wall(s) dividing the furnace from the back pass.
  • the design of the downcoming system as well as the distribution system can be significantly simplified since a smaller number of pipes is required compared to previous constructions.
  • the first back pass 2 for example, which contains the convection heating surfaces of the generating banks, can now be supplied by only two distribution pipes.
  • the arrows A, B and C in Fig. la denote the flow of primary, secondary and tertiary air respectively, which are input via suitable conduits from an air supply, e.g. a forced air supply from a fan.
  • an air supply e.g. a forced air supply from a fan.
  • a narrow throat or venturi section 12 is formed between the drying arch 10 and the burn-out arch 11 in order to allow a low amount of excess air to be used whilst still maintaining a low content of unburnt matter.
  • combustible gases and air are thus forced to mix.
  • improved burning can be effected by providing turbulence in this zone by means of tertiary air C being input at high velocity.
  • the furnace 1 presents an essentially constant rectangular cross-sectional area.
  • the back pass 2 has a cross-sectional area which is substantially rectangular and constant.
  • the ratio of the cross-sectional areas of the furnace to the back pass ideally lies in the range of 2:1 to 6:1. This fact is a major contributor which influences the overall cost effectiveness of the boiler, since it provides, in combination with the reduced total footprint (covered ground area) and the features of this high capacity boiler, a minimal use of pipes, ducts and supports.
  • both the furnace and back pass thus allow a great flexibility with respect to the choice of overall size of the boiler since the back pass and furnace can be constructed as modules which are easily fitted together to give the required size. Moreover, the size of both the back pass and furnace can be modified separately by further modular addition if this is required.
  • the overall structure of the boiler which in part relies on the position of the air inlets (whereby the majority of air inlets can be arranged on one side only (see later description) make such a modular structure and modification even more readily usable.
  • the air inlets supplying the furnace are able to be positioned, due to the compact structure and arrangement of the boiler (due to a large extent to the aforementioned 90° furnace/boiler arrangement) , such that the air supply (e.g. main fan duct) may be positioned in one corner of the housing such that only the supply conduits 74 for drying air and the supply conduit(s) 75 for secondary and tertiary air run from one vertically extending side of the boiler to the other.
  • the air supply e.g. main fan duct
  • the supply conduits for the secondary and tertiary air may if desired be joined in one joint conduit 75 which is divided by a separation wall 76 into two channels. Additionally, means for measuring the air-flow in said joint conduit may be provided, comprising one single unit which penetrates the separation wall 76 in said joint conduit.
  • One or more oil and/or gas inlets 9 for supplying oil and/or gas are positioned in the furnace for the case that either should be required for assisting ignition start-up and/or to cope with very high loads or severe load swings.
  • the hot flow gas from the furnace passes through one or more openings in the upper part of the furnace wall 3 and is directed downwardly into the back pass 2.
  • a water/steam separator drum 13 (e.g. including a cyclone separator) having a single steam outlet 14 is positioned at the top of the boiler. This steam drum 13 will be described in more detail later. Depending on the size of the boiler, further drums 13 may also be fitted.
  • the water/steam mixture which collects on the water side of the drum 13 after separation is transferred back to the walls of the boiler by means of pipes called "downcomers" which are normally present in large numbers in prior art devices.
  • the downcomers may even be used to provide support for other parts of the boiler.
  • Two downcomers of such dimension are more expensive than the many smaller ones of the prior art. However their use directly results in a significant number of more important advantages, which reduce overall cost significantly.
  • downcomers provide support for the drum, they will also have to be mounted, directly or indirectly on to some sliding arrangement to account for boiler expansion.
  • the pipes which are part of the sidewalls of the grate section may also function as part of the downcoming system for partial supply of the furnace boiler tubes, these being fed via a small number of large diameter distribution branches 67', 67'' (see e.g Fig.lb) from the downcomers.
  • a secondary superheater stage 15 is arranged above a primary superheater stage 16, the inlet to the primary superheater being fed from the outlet 14 of the drum 13 into a header 49, 50 (see e.g. Fig.3).
  • a header 49, 50 see e.g. Fig.3
  • Efficiency of the superheating stage may be increased by using an attemperator 21 (known per se) for injecting water into the steam between the two superheating stages 15 and 16.
  • Reference 17 denotes a steam generation bank section which uses heat from the flow gas for supplying additional steam to the drum 13. Whilst only two banks are shown, it is clear that any suitable number may be used.
  • the generation bank 17 is preferably formed by convection boiler tubes which form a flag heater surface (i.e. in the shape of a flag) . Said boiler tubes may also be part of the wall which divides the boiler from the back draft 2 and thus provides support therefor.
  • the hot flow gas On arriving at a lower section of the back pass 2, the hot flow gas is diverted back upwardly before arriving at a second back pass 20, in which both an air heater 18 and one or more economizer banks 19 are positioned.
  • the air heater 18 is used for additional heating of the primary air A which is fed from the fan into the sloping bare-tube grate 4 in order to act as drying air, e.g. for wet bark, and may thus be capable of heating the air to 350°C or more. Additional means may also be provided for heating the primary air such as a steam coil air heater (not shown) .
  • the economizer banks 19 are used to extract remaining heat in the flow gas for initially heating the feed water used in e.g. the furnace walls.
  • the walls of the boiler comprise a series of panels, a portion of one of said panels being shown in Fig.2.
  • a panel consists of pipes 30, 30*' etc. for carrying the water/steam mixture in the boiler, said pipes being interconnected by fins 31 of metal plate which are double seam welded (i.e. seam welded on either side) onto one side of two respective pipes along diametrically opposed parts of each pipe as shown.
  • the construction of such panels and the widths of the fins 31 is of particular importance concerning the aspect of connecting the superheaters to the walls of the back pass which, as will be described below, occurs in an entirely new manner according to one aspect of the present invention.
  • the superheaters are positioned substantially horizontally in the back pass.
  • the superheaters are hung in the upper part of the furnace such that the superheater pipes extend vertically downwardly into the furnace.
  • a complicated design and fitting of various connection brackets is required between the individual pipes of the superheaters and the walls of the furnace to enable an adequately rigid structure to be produced capable of withstanding the thermal loads which would otherwise lead to bending and distortion of the tubes.
  • Fig.3 shows a partially schematic representation of one panel of a superheater 15 or 16 of Fig. la, located inside the back pass 2. Positioning in the back pass allows the superheater(s) to be shielded from flame, which not only guarantees a longer life, but also reduces the formation of deposits on the superheaters with direct flame action and thus maintains efficiency.
  • the temperature in the back pass is also less than in the furnace.
  • the walls of the back pass are made up of alternate pipes 45, 46 and fins 47, 48. This structure can be seen clearly in Figs. 5 and 6. As is shown, the pipes 40, 41, 42, 43 of the superheater are positioned between the steam header 50 and the steam header 49.
  • the pipes 40-43 are positioned horizontally and pass across substantially the total width of the back pass 2 between the vertical walls.
  • the free length of the pipes i.e. the self supporting length of the pipes
  • the pipes 40 to 43 might require only one, centrally-positioned, intermediate, vertical hanger support (not shown) giving a free length of approximately 3m for the pipes.
  • the pipes diverge downwardly as substantially vertical sections 40'- 43' and then back horizontally to the superheater header 50.
  • double seam-welded fins 51 are arranged between each of the pipes 40-43 to act as the support means to resist the deformation forces of thermal loading at this point.
  • the thermal load on the fins 51 results from the temperature of the flue gas at this point which may be around 800°C for example.
  • the steam in the pipes 40 to 43 is at a lower temperature and, due to the fact that the fins 51 are connected to the pipes along a large portion thereof by continuous double seam welds, the fins 51 are thus effectively cooled by the effect of the steam.
  • the distance between the pipes 45 and 45' in the back pass wall, as shown in Fig.5, which determines the width of the fins 47 which span this distance, is such that the diameter of the pipes 40 to 43 is less than the distance between two adjacent pipes 45, 45'.
  • the horizontal pipes 40 to 43 may pass through the fin 47 of the wall panel without involving the complications of bending the various pipes, as required by vertical superheaters.
  • This larger dimensioning of the fin width between pipes 45 and 45', to accommodate the pipes 40-43, is made possible due to the fact that the superheater is positioned in the back pass where lower temperatures occur.
  • the back pass wall closest to, or in common with, the furnace is formed by alternating pipes 46, 46' and fin sections 48, 48' and 48'' similar to the other wall of Fig.5.
  • the vertically extending portion 40' of the superheater (see also Fig.4) is supported against sideways movement by its position between the pipes 46 and 46' and the use of a pin 90 connection with associated sealing cap 91 (see Fig.6).
  • no bracket or clamp of any type is required to secure the part 40' to the fin 48, which results in significantly easier installation and maintenance compared to prior art installations.
  • Sootblowing means 80, 81 such as steam lance means, are positioned in the back pass 2 and act to clean the surfaces of the various elements such as the superheaters. Due to the arrangement of the boiler the steam lances, including (where required) further sootblowing means for the generator banks etc. , may be placed in the back pass sections without requiring any extra space in the building which houses the boiler, than that provided already.
  • Figs. 7 and 8 show a steam drum 60 with a steam outlet 61, corresponding respectively to drum 13 and pipe 14 in Figs.la to lc.
  • the steam drum may have a diameter of about 2 metres, some 80mm wall thickness and about 100mm end face thickness.
  • Access doors 63 and instrument connections 64 are located at either end of the drum and two downcomers 67 support the drum from below.
  • a steam demister 65 of a per se known type which is the final separation point of any water from the steam which is present in the drum having been inlet through the vapour/water inlets 66.
  • a further manner of arriving at the same effect as described above is to have a plurality of equal diameter pipes 62a to 62f feeding into one single saturated steam pipe 61.
  • the steam connection pipes 62a to 62f are then provided with throttling means which would be either preset or variable, but arranged so that a substantially quadratic relationship of pressure drop between the outlet connections 62a to 62f is achieved. In this way, the distance between the pipes may be made constant, in addition to them having the same internal diameter.
  • fuel such as wet bark for example
  • feed unit 7 After start-up of the boiler, fuel, such as wet bark for example, is fed in from feed unit 7.
  • the amount of fuel fed into the furnace depends on the prevailing load conditions.
  • the fuel is first dried on the sloping bare-tube grate 4 by primary, high-temperature (e.g. above 100°C or even more than 350°C) drying air A coming from below the grate 4. Due mainly to gravity, the fuel passes down the grate 4 on to the reciprocating grate 5 (e.g. a Kablitz grate) where it is transported by reciprocal motion along the grate while being fired before it has become ash to be discharged from the dump grate 6.
  • the reciprocating grate 5 e.g. a Kablitz grate
  • the heat output of the boiler can be increased by supplying more air and more fuel, and assisted by supplying auxiliary fuel via inlets 9, connected to fuel and air sources.
  • the heat energy produced heats the water/steam mixture which is present in the furnace walls such that steam passes to the drum 13 for further separation.
  • the hot gas flow proceeds onward downstream to the back pass 2 after passing through the dividing wall 3, heating the various surfaces in its path.
  • the steam which has entered drum 13, 60 via inlets 66 passes through the cyclone separator unit(s) in order that water will be separated from the steam.
  • This separated water is passed back to the boiler walls via the downcomers 67 which feed the water partly into branch distribution pipes such as 67'and 67''.
  • the steam passes through demister 65 and into the various outlets 62a-f into the pipe 61 which feeds into the primary superheater 16.
  • the steam flows through these pipes and is further heated by the flow gas passing thereover.
  • the steam passes through an attemperator 21, which e.g. injects water and cools it, and then into the secondary superheater 15.
  • the steam is then heated as it passes through the superheater 15 and is then finally used to drive a turbine.

Landscapes

  • Control Of Steam Boilers And Waste-Gas Boilers (AREA)
  • Combustion Of Fluid Fuel (AREA)

Abstract

L'invention concerne une chaudière de production de vapeur présentant une capacité maximum de 100 tonnes/h ou plus et comprenant un foyer de section rectangulaire pratiquement constante ainsi qu'un passage de retour de section rectangulaire pratiquement constante. Le foyer et le passage de retour sont montés près l'un de l'autre, et des moyens de surchauffage de la vapeur sont prévus dans le passage de retour. Ainsi, aucun surchauffeur n'est installé dans le foyer.
EP94926416A 1993-09-07 1994-08-24 Chaudière à vapeur Expired - Lifetime EP0717826B1 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
CA2105602 1993-09-07
CA002105602A CA2105602A1 (fr) 1993-09-07 1993-09-07 Chaudiere a vapeur
PCT/SE1994/000761 WO1995007437A1 (fr) 1993-09-07 1994-08-24 Chaudiere a vapeur

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0717826A1 true EP0717826A1 (fr) 1996-06-26
EP0717826B1 EP0717826B1 (fr) 1999-06-23

Family

ID=4152267

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP94926416A Expired - Lifetime EP0717826B1 (fr) 1993-09-07 1994-08-24 Chaudière à vapeur

Country Status (5)

Country Link
EP (1) EP0717826B1 (fr)
AT (1) ATE181592T1 (fr)
BR (1) BR9407396A (fr)
DE (1) DE69419257T2 (fr)
FI (1) FI111751B (fr)

Non-Patent Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Title
See references of WO9507437A1 *

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
FI111751B (fi) 2003-09-15
BR9407396A (pt) 1996-11-05
ATE181592T1 (de) 1999-07-15
EP0717826B1 (fr) 1999-06-23
FI961050A0 (fi) 1996-03-07
FI961050L (fi) 1996-03-29
DE69419257D1 (de) 1999-07-29
DE69419257T2 (de) 2000-02-03

Similar Documents

Publication Publication Date Title
EP0253112B1 (fr) Générateur de vapeur et méthode pour opérer un générateur de vapeur utilisant des circuits séparés pour des fluides et des circuits combinés pour des gaz
EP2361148B1 (fr) Chaudière à lit fluidisé circulant
WO2012113985A1 (fr) Chaudière à lit fluidisé circulant
US3863606A (en) Vapor generating system utilizing fluidized beds
EP0072028B1 (fr) Chaudière pour chauffer un liquide en refroidissant des gaz chauds de combustion
RU2391602C1 (ru) Конструкция испарительной поверхности котла с циркулирующим псевдоожиженным слоем и котел с циркулирующим псевдоожиженным слоем с такой конструкцией испарительной поверхности
CN201437986U (zh) 一种特种废物流化床焚烧炉
US3823693A (en) Fluidized bed heat exchanger
US5460127A (en) Steam boiler
US4444154A (en) Steam generator with fluidized bed firing
KR100685074B1 (ko) 화석연료를 사용하는 연속 유동 증기 발생기
US3665893A (en) Vapor generator tube arrangement
US5755187A (en) Steam boiler with externally positioned superheating means
EP0717826B1 (fr) Chaudière à vapeur
KR19990071571A (ko) 복수의 노 출구를 갖춘 순환유동상 반응로
JPS5837403A (ja) 主ボイラと流動床炉を有する蒸気発生器
JP2551561B2 (ja) 化石燃料燃焼の蒸気発生炉
US20060124077A1 (en) Continuous steam generator with circulating atmospheric fluidised-bed combustion
RU2131080C1 (ru) Водотрубный котел
EP4259969B1 (fr) Chaudière à lit fluidisé circulant
US1859858A (en) Boiler
US3971345A (en) Coal fired package boiler
US3978822A (en) Vapor generator
US4058087A (en) Boiler
US3368536A (en) Bottom supported steam generator

Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
PUAI Public reference made under article 153(3) epc to a published international application that has entered the european phase

Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: 0009012

17P Request for examination filed

Effective date: 19960326

AK Designated contracting states

Kind code of ref document: A1

Designated state(s): AT DE ES FR PT SE

17Q First examination report despatched

Effective date: 19970611

GRAG Despatch of communication of intention to grant

Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: EPIDOS AGRA

GRAG Despatch of communication of intention to grant

Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: EPIDOS AGRA

GRAH Despatch of communication of intention to grant a patent

Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: EPIDOS IGRA

GRAH Despatch of communication of intention to grant a patent

Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: EPIDOS IGRA

GRAA (expected) grant

Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: 0009210

AK Designated contracting states

Kind code of ref document: B1

Designated state(s): AT DE ES FR PT SE

PG25 Lapsed in a contracting state [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo]

Ref country code: SE

Free format text: THE PATENT HAS BEEN ANNULLED BY A DECISION OF A NATIONAL AUTHORITY

Effective date: 19990623

Ref country code: ES

Free format text: THE PATENT HAS BEEN ANNULLED BY A DECISION OF A NATIONAL AUTHORITY

Effective date: 19990623

REF Corresponds to:

Ref document number: 181592

Country of ref document: AT

Date of ref document: 19990715

Kind code of ref document: T

RTI1 Title (correction)

Free format text: STEAM BOILER

REF Corresponds to:

Ref document number: 69419257

Country of ref document: DE

Date of ref document: 19990729

PG25 Lapsed in a contracting state [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo]

Ref country code: PT

Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF FAILURE TO SUBMIT A TRANSLATION OF THE DESCRIPTION OR TO PAY THE FEE WITHIN THE PRESCRIBED TIME-LIMIT

Effective date: 19990923

ET Fr: translation filed
PLBE No opposition filed within time limit

Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: 0009261

STAA Information on the status of an ep patent application or granted ep patent

Free format text: STATUS: NO OPPOSITION FILED WITHIN TIME LIMIT

26N No opposition filed
PGFP Annual fee paid to national office [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo]

Ref country code: AT

Payment date: 20030729

Year of fee payment: 10

PGFP Annual fee paid to national office [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo]

Ref country code: DE

Payment date: 20030805

Year of fee payment: 10

PGFP Annual fee paid to national office [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo]

Ref country code: FR

Payment date: 20030813

Year of fee payment: 10

PG25 Lapsed in a contracting state [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo]

Ref country code: AT

Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF NON-PAYMENT OF DUE FEES

Effective date: 20040824

PG25 Lapsed in a contracting state [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo]

Ref country code: DE

Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF NON-PAYMENT OF DUE FEES

Effective date: 20050301

PG25 Lapsed in a contracting state [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo]

Ref country code: FR

Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF NON-PAYMENT OF DUE FEES

Effective date: 20050429

REG Reference to a national code

Ref country code: FR

Ref legal event code: ST