An apparatus for processing and mixing and thus homogenizing a mass of a loose or incoherent material, which apparatus comprises:
- a. at least one trench silo having an inlet opening that is freely accessible from the outside for feeding raw, unprocessed material, two mutually parallel side walls, an end wall extending transversely to the sidewalls, and a number of partitions with specified spacings between the side walls distributed over a length of the trench silo between the inlet opening and the end wall, dividing the space bounded by the inlet opening, the side walls and the end wall into a number of compartments comprising an inlet compartment, at least one intermediate compartment and an end compartment, wherein the material is processed, mixed and homogenized in at least the intermediate compartments and the end compartment;
- b. discharge means abutting the end wall for discharge of processed and mixed material;
- c. displacement means for displacing material in steps in the displacement direction from the inlet compartment through all the intermediate compartments and through the partitions to the end compartment, and finally depositing of the processed and mixed material from the end compartment over the end wall consecutively on the discharge means, wherein mixing and homogenization occurs as a result of the displacement of the material, wherein the discharge means comprises a carriage, guide rails supporting the carriage in a longitudinal direction that corresponds with the displacement direction, and a displacement motor, that, when energized, moves the carriage along the guide rails in the longitudinal direction;
- d. a scraper extending transversely to the side walls of the trench silo and fitting between the side walls with some spacing, up and down pivotably supported by the carriage around a pivot axis effected by an active pivoting assembly comprising at least two hinges connected to at least two spaced apart support arms, and a lifting motor which, together with the hinges supports the support arms,
- wherein the scraper, moved with the carriage, every time consecutively scrapes a current top layer with a thickness associated with a vertical dimension of the scraper of a stack of material present in a compartment in the displacement direction and displaces the current top layer to the next compartment or the discharge means,
- wherein the pivot axis is located in the displacement direction downstream of the scraper, such that the scraping is executed by pulling from the current top layer each time, and
- wherein the scraper pivots partly under an influence of gravity and partly under an influence of the active pivoting assembly, wherein pivoting before the scraping in the displacement direction takes place at least partly under the influence of gravity, such that the scraper automatically substantially follows the shape of a free surface of the stack of material;
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- e. control means defining the operation of the apparatus and controlling the displacement means and the active pivoting assembly for the performance of the following steps to be performed in a suitable sequence:
- e1) moving and depositing in a specified pattern the raw or therein worked material deposited in the inlet compartment by repeatedly scraping off a top layer thereof via the first partition to the at least one intermediate compartment;
- e2) processing of said material in said at least one intermediate compartment by resting said material therein for a specified time and optionally treating said material with a liquid and/or gas;
- e3) scraping off the material deposited in the at least one intermediate compartment in the same way layer by layer and displacing it via the second partition to the next compartment, such that the at least one intermediate compartment is emptied;
- e4) re-depositing unprocessed material in the at least one intermediate compartment from the inlet compartment, and so on;
- e5) during continued operation of the apparatus consecutively refilling of a thus emptied compartment with a material from the previous compartment;
- e6) successively depositing of a mass of material in the end compartment and the displacement of said mass of material over the end wall after a period of processing to the discharge means;
- e7) each time successively returning of the scraper in the opposite direction with respect to the displacement direction to a specified position, which returning is executed by the displacement means in a raised position of the scraper, under influence of the action of the active pivoting assembly, such that the scraper is returned unimpeded to the specified position.