Oil shale sorting
OwnerHugh R. Rhysinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Sorting of bicarbonate containing ore particles from oil containing ore particles in a mixture of the two types of ore particles by treating the surface of the mixture with an aqueous medium and thereafter subjecting the ore particles, while wet, to microwave energy to heat the surface of the particles sufficiently to whiten the color of the bicarbonate containing particles and thereafter optically sorting the particles according to color.
Claims13
A process for sorting bicarbonate-containing ore particles from oil-containing ore particles in a mixture of the two ore particles, the process comprising:
- treating the surface of the mixture of ore particles with an aqueous medium;
- thereafter subjecting the ore particles, while wet, to directional microwave energy to heat the surface of the particles sufficiently to whiten the surface of the bicarbonate-containing ore particles;
- and
- optically sorting the ore particles according to color to sort the bicarbonate-containing particles from the oil-containing particles.
An apparatus for sorting bicarbonate-containing ore particles from oil-containing ore particles in a mixture of the two ore particles the apparatus comprising:
- means for treating the mixture of ore particles with an aqueous fluid;
- means for subjecting the mixture of oil containing ore and bicarbonate-containing ore particles to microwave energy for a period of time and at an energy level to heat the surface of the wet particles sufficiently to whiten the bicarbonate-containing particles;
- means for conveying the mixture of ore particles from the aqueous treating means to the microwave energy subjecting means while the particles are wet;
- means for optically sorting the particles according to color after the mixture has been subjected to the microwave energy to sort the bicarbonate-containing particles from the oil-containing particles.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.