Separation of nahcolite from oil shale by infrared sorting
AssigneeThe Superior Oil Company
InventorJohn H. Knight
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Nahcolite-containing ore particles are separated from oil shale particles in a mixture of particles of nahcolite-bearing oil shale ore by irradiating the mixture of ore particles with electromagnetic energy in the infrared region of the spectrum and sorting the particles according to energy reflected at one or more selected wavelengths within that region to separate the nahcolite-containing ore particles from the oil shale particles.
Claims10
A process for separating nahcolite-containing ore particles from oil shale particles in a mixture of particles of nahcolite-bearing oil shale ore, comprising the steps of:
- irradiating the mixture of ore particles with infrared electromagnetic energy;
- sensing the intensity of the electromagnetic energy reflected from the particles at a selected wavelength between about 0.7 and about 40 microns;
- and
- sorting the particles responsive to the sensed reflected energy to separate the nahcolite-containing ore particles from the oil shale particles.
A process for separating nahcolite-containing ore particles from oil shale particles in a mixture of nahcolite-bearing oil shale ore particles having a greatest dimension of from about three-fourths inch to about eight inches, comprising the steps of:
- irradiating the mixture of oil shale ore particles with infrared electromagnetic energy in the wavelengths from about 0.7 to about 2.4 microns;
- sensing the intensity of the electromagnetic energy reflected from the particles at two selected wavelengths between 0.7 and 2.4 microns;
- and
- sorting the particles responsive to the ratio of the intensity of the energy reflected at one of the selected wavelengths with respect to the energy reflected at the other to separate the nahcolite-containing ore particles from the oil shale particles.
A process for separating nahcolite-containing ore particles from oil shale particles in a mixture of particles of nahcolite-bearing oil shale ore, comprising the steps of:
- irradiating the mixture of ore particles with infrared electromagnetic energy;
- sensing the intensity of the electromagnetic energy transmitted through the particles at a selected wavelength between about 0.7 and about 40 microns;
- and
- sorting the particles responsive to the sensed transmitted energy to separate the nahcolite-containing ore particles from the oil shale particles.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.