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US 4,563,151 AGranted
Method of and apparatus for treating granular material
AssigneeCosworth Research and Development Limited
InventorAlfredo Vogel
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AssigneeCosworth Research and Development Limited
InventorAlfredo Vogel
Estimating the term…
A method and apparatus for treating granular materials which require to be heated to drive off volatile constituents and which require to be cooled, for example foundry sand containing an organic binder. The method comprises the step of maintaining a mass of the material at a treatment temperature lying in the range 250.degree.-400.degree. C. for between four and thirty hours. The mass may be initially heated by virtue of a manufacturing process in which the mass has been previously used. Alternatively, the mass may be initially heated by a pre-heating step such as heating in a fluidized bed. Alternatively, the mass may be heated by being placed in heat transfer relationship with a second mass of the material which has been previously heated, for example, in a fluidized bed. Apparatus for performing the method is also disclosed.
An apparatus for reclaiming used foundry sand containing an organic binder comprising means for separating a mass of said sand from a casting, sand supply means to supply the separated sand to a heating station, a plurality of heating elements at the heating station to heat the sand to an elevated temperature, fluidizing means to introduce combustion supporting gas into the sand at the heating station at a plurality of locations to fluidize the sand while the sand is heated, sand passage means to pass the heated sand to a treatment station, gas feed means to feed combustion supporting gas to the sand at the treatment station so as to continue the reclamation of the sand utilizing heat applied to the sand at the heating station, and means for removing reclaimed sand from the treatment station.
A method of reclaiming used foundry sand containing an organic binder comprising the steps of separating a mass of said sand from a casting, supplying the separated sand to a heating station at which the sand is heated to an elevated temperature by a plurality of heating elements while the sand is fluidized with combustion supporting gas introduced at a plurality of locations, passing the heated sand to a treatment station at which the heated sand remains in the presence of combustion supporting gas so as to continue the reclamation utilizing heat applied to the sand at the heating station, and removing reclaimed sand from the treatment station.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.