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US 4,398,076 AGranted
Product recovery method and system for hydrocarbon materials
OwnerLester Hansoninventor
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OwnerLester Hansoninventor
Estimating the term…
A process and system for producing and utilizing to advantage vapors and gases from a hydrocarbon feedstock such as crushed oil shale, a coal and shale mixture, or straight coal. A prime mover driven by steam generated in the system produces electrical energy for supplying electrical power to the microwave oven employed. The prime mover is steam driven, such steam being supplied by a boiler. The boiler is, in turn, provided with a series of heat sources taking the form of the hot, spent shale, and/or coke from the coal, passing through such oven as well as perhaps portions of condensate or residue and portions or all of the gases generated in the system. The system thus reduces and in some cases may even eliminate power requirements otherwise imposed on an external electrical power source. Principally, however, the system generates sufficient energy as to be a major supplement to the energy requirement of an external power source. While magnetron tubes may preferably be employed in connection with the microwave oven used, other types of tubes or other electro-magnetic microwave generating means can be employed, this of a power requirement and wave length sufficient to heat the incoming feedstock. The feedstock itself is preheated by solids' heat exchangers, themselves raised in temperature by steam produced as well as the vapors and gases generated.
Structure for processing feedstock materials comprised of at least one of the following, oil-shale and coal, for recovering, from a combustion-suppressant-gas-protected microwave oven, useful vaporized hydrocarbon materials and gases and for subjecting to combustion discharged solid materials of the so-processed feedstock coming from said oven, whereby to provide combustion energy to steam-driven means for providing electrical power to a load including said microwave oven, said structure including, in combination;
Apparatus for processing in a combustion-suppressant environment hydrocarbon-containing feedstock materials such as coal and/or oil shale, for producing hydrocarbon gases and vapors and also heated materials comprising a residual solid fuel for said apparatus, said apparatus including, in combination:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.