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US 2022/0136083 A1Published application
Mercury collection system
AssigneeMercury Clean Up, LLC
InventorPaul Milton Clift
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A system for collecting mercury from feed material that can be tailings comprises: a water inlet for forming a slurry containing the tailings; at least one screen for separating tailings from the slurry to form a screened slurry; a rotatable collection chamber containing at least one plate, a drive for rotating the collection chamber for collecting mercury on the plate to provide a discharge material comprising water and treated tailings, the treated tailings containing less mercury than in the feed material.
Claims31
Apparatus for collecting mercury from a feed material containing mercury, the apparatus comprising:
- a) a rotatable collection chamber having a wall and a longitudinal axis;
- b) a feed material inlet for introducing the feed material into the chamber;
- c) a drive for rotating the chamber;
- d) at least one plate in the chamber, the plate having an exterior surface formed of a collection material for collecting mercury from the feed material, the plate being in a plane intersecting the longitudinal axis, wherein the collection material is selected from the group consisting of copper, silver, gold, and combinations thereof;
- e) an outlet from the chamber for having feed material from which mercury has been collected removed from the chamber;
- f) a plurality of weirs extending inwardly from the chamber wall;
- and
- g) a feed chamber upstream of the collection chamber and connected to the collection chamber to rotate with the collection chamber.
- wherein the apparatus is inside an enclosure and the apparatus is removable from the enclosure for removing mercury from the plate.
6 more elements
Apparatus for collecting mercury from a feed material containing mercury, the apparatus comprising:
- a) a rotatable collection chamber having a wall and a longitudinal axis;
- b) a feed material inlet for introducing the feed material into the chamber;
- c) a drive for rotating the chamber;
- d) at least one plate in the chamber, the plate having an exterior surface formed of a collection material for collecting mercury from the feed material, the plate being in a plane intersecting the longitudinal axis, wherein the collection material is selected from the group consisting of copper, silver, gold, and combinations thereof;
- and
- e) an outlet from the chamber for having feed material from which mercury has been collected removed from the chamber.
3 more elements
Apparatus for collecting mercury from a feed material containing mercury, the apparatus comprising:
- a) a rotatable collection chamber having a wall and a longitudinal axis;
- b) a feed material inlet for introducing the feed material into the chamber;
- c) a drive for rotating the chamber;
- d) at least one plate in the chamber, the plate having an exterior surface formed of a collection material for collecting mercury from the feed material, the plate being in a plane intersecting the longitudinal axis, wherein the collection material is selected from the group consisting of copper, silver, gold, and combinations thereof;
- e) an outlet from the chamber for having feed material from which mercury has been collected removed from the chamber;
- and
- f) a feed chamber upstream of the collection chamber and connected to the collection chamber to rotate with the collection chamber.
4 more elements
Apparatus for collecting mercury from a feed material containing mercury, the apparatus comprising:
- a) a rotatable collection chamber having a wall and a longitudinal axis;
- b) a feed material inlet for introducing the feed material into the chamber;
- c) a drive for rotating the chamber;
- d) at least one plate in the chamber, the plate having an exterior surface formed of a collection material for collecting mercury from the feed material, the plate being in a plane intersecting the longitudinal axis, wherein the collection material is selected from the group consisting of copper, silver, gold, and combinations thereof;
- and
- e) an outlet from the chamber for having feed material from which mercury has been collected removed from the chamber.
- wherein the apparatus is inside an enclosure and the apparatus is removable from the enclosure for removing mercury from the plate.
4 more elements
A method for collecting mercury from a feed material comprising the steps of:
- a) providing an apparatus for collecting mercury from the feed material containing mercury, the apparatus comprising:
- i) a rotatable collection chamber having a wall and a longitudinal axis;
- ii) a feed material inlet for introducing the feed material into the chamber;
- iii) a drive for rotating the chamber;
- iv) at least one plate in the chamber, the plate having an exterior surface formed of a collection material for collecting mercury from the feed material, the plate being in a plane intersecting the longitudinal axis, wherein the collection material is selected from the group consisting of copper, silver, gold, and combinations thereof;
- v) an outlet from the chamber for having feed material from which mercury has been collected removed from the chamber;
- and
- vi) a feed chamber upstream of the collection chamber;
- b) feeding the feed material into the feed chamber of the apparatus through the feed material inlet;
- c) rotating the feed chamber with the collection chamber with the drive;
- d) collecting mercury on the exterior surface of the plates thereby producing a discharge material containing less mercury than the feed material;
- and
- e) withdrawing the discharge material from the collection chamber through the outlet.
10 more elements
A method for collecting mercury from a feed material comprising the steps of:
- a) providing an apparatus for collecting mercury from a feed material containing mercury, the apparatus comprising:
- i) a rotatable collection chamber having a wall and a longitudinal axis;
- ii) a feed material inlet for introducing the feed material into the chamber;
- iii) a drive for rotating the chamber;
- iv) at least one plate in the chamber, the plate having an exterior surface formed of a collection material for collecting mercury from the feed material, the plate being in a plane intersecting the longitudinal axis, wherein the collection material is selected from the group consisting of copper, silver, gold, and combinations thereof;
- and
- v) an outlet from the chamber for having feed material from which mercury has been collected removed from the chamber;
- wherein the apparatus is inside an enclosure and the apparatus is removable from the enclosure for removing mercury from the plate;
- b) feeding the feed material into the chamber of the apparatus through the feed material inlet;
- c) rotating the chamber with the drive;
- d) collecting mercury on the exterior surface of each plate, thereby producing a discharge material containing less mercury than the feed material;
- e) withdrawing the discharge material from the chamber through the outlet;
- f) removing the apparatus from the enclosure;
- and
- g) after step (f), removing mercury from the plates.
12 more elements
A method for collecting mercury from tailings comprising the steps of:
- a) forming a slurry comprising the tailings and water, wherein the tailings in the formed slurry, and wherein the tailings in the slurry contain a first percentage by weight of mercury;
- b) introducing the slurry into a rotatable collection chamber containing at least one plate, the plate having an exterior surface with a collection material thereon, the collection material selected from the group consisting of gold, silver, and copper, each plate having mercury on an exterior surface;
- c) rotating the chamber wherein mercury collects on the plate providing a discharge material comprising water and treated tailings, the treated tailings containing substantially no mercury or a second percentage by weight of mercury, the second percentage being less than the first percentage;
- d) discharging the discharge material from the chamber;
- and
- e) separating the water from the treated tailings.
3 more elements
A method for collecting mercury from tailings comprising the steps of:
- a) forming a slurry comprising the tailings and water, wherein the tailings in the formed slurry, and wherein the tailings in the slurry contain a first percentage by weight of mercury;
- b) introducing the slurry into a rotatable collection chamber in an enclosure, the collection chamber containing at least one plate, the plate having an exterior surface with a collection material thereon, the collection material selected from the group consisting of gold, silver, and copper, the plate having mercury on an exterior surface;
- c) rotating the chamber wherein mercury collects on the plate providing a discharge material comprising water and treated tailings, the treated tailings containing substantially no mercury or a second percentage by weight of mercury, the second percentage being less than the first percentage;
- d) discharging the discharge material from the chamber;
- e) separating the water from the treated tailings;
- f) removing the chamber from the enclosure;
- and
- g) after step f), removing mercury from the plate.
5 more elements
A system for collecting mercury from tailings, the tailings containing a first percentage by weight of mercury, the system comprising:
- a) a water inlet for forming a slurry containing the tailings;
- b) at least one screen for separating tailings from the slurry to form a screened slurry;
- c) a rotatable collection chamber having a longitudinal axis and containing at least one plate, the plate extending in a direction to intersect the longitudinal axis;
- d) a collection chamber inlet for introducing the screened slurry into the chamber;
- e) a drive for rotating the collection chamber for collecting mercury on the plate to provide a discharge material comprising water and treated tailings, the treated tailings containing substantially no mercury or a second percentage by weight of mercury, the second percentage being less than the first percentage;
- f) an outlet from the collection chamber for discharging the discharge material from the collection chamber;
- and
- g) a separation system for separating the treated tailings from the water in the discharge material.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.