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US 4,540,471 AGranted
Solvent distillation unit with adjustable scrapers
AssigneeProgressive Recovery, Inc.
InventorDonald G. Fluchel
Life of this patent
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AssigneeProgressive Recovery, Inc.
InventorDonald G. Fluchel
Estimating the term…
A solvent reclaiming unit has a still for distillation of contaminated solvents to recover clean solvent from the solvent vapor. The still has a tapered or conical bottom heat exchange surface surrounded by a heat source. The still has scrapers which wipe the heat exchange surface to prevent scaling of the heat exchange surface. The scrapers are driven during the distillation process by an external motor and reducer. The contact of the scrapers with the heat exchange surface is adjustable from outside of the still to maintain wiping contact. The wiping portion or blades of the scrapers may be formed of brass or other soft material attached to a harder material, such as a spring stainless steel. A safety stop is provided in the interior of the vessel so that the blades may not be adjusted to the point that the harder steel comes in contact with the heat exchange surface.
A solvent distillation unit comprising a vessel into which contaminated solvent is introduced, said vessel having a heat exchange surface for heating said solvent, scraper means internally of said vessel for preventing excessive accumulation of solids on the internal surface of said heat exchange surface during distillation, drive means for operating said scraper means to scrape said heat exchange surface during distillation, and means for adjusting externally of the vessel the contact between the scraper means and the heat exchange surface without the need for access inside the vessel.
A solvent distillation unit comprising a vessel into which contaminated solvent is introduced, said vessel having a heat exchange surface for heating said solvent, at least a portion of said surface at the bottom of said vessel being conical, scraper means internally of said vessel for preventing excessive accumulation of solids on the internal surface of said conical heat exchange surface during distillation, said scraper means having blades conforming to the conical surface, a vertical drive shaft extending downwardly through the top of the vessel, means for mounting said blades to said drive shaft for rotation about a vertical axis, drive means for rotatably driving said shaft to rotate said scraper blades during distillation, and means for vertically adjusting said shaft externally of said vesel to thereby adjust the contact of said scraper blades with said conical heat exchange surface without the need for access inside the vessel.
A solvent distillation unit comprising a vessel into which contaminated solvent is introduced, said vessel having a heat exchange surface for heating said solvent, at least a portion of said surface at the bottom of said vessel being conical, scraper means internally of said vessel for preventing excessive accumulation of solids on the internal surface of said conical heat exchange surface during distillation, said scraper means having blades conforming to the conical surface, a vertical drive shaft, means for mounting said blades to said drive shaft for rotation about a vertical axis, drive means for rotatably driving said shaft to rotate said scraper blades during distillation, and means for vertically adjusting said shaft externally of said vessel to thereby adjust the contact of said scraper blades with said conical heat exchange surface without the need for access inside the vessel.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.