Apparatus for making granular material

An apparatus for recycling waste paper, comprising:

• (a) pulping means for producing a slurry from waste paper containing water, kaolin clay and fibers suitable for papermaking;
• (b) screen means for screening the slurry to produce a fiber stream containing fibers for papermaking and to produce a reject stream;
• (c) clarifier means for collecting solid material in the reject stream to form a stream of concentrated solid material;
• (d) press means for removing water from the stream of concentrated solid material to form a filter cake;
• (e) pin mixer means having a cylindrical shell and a rotatable shaft in the shell for forming granules from the filter cake;
• (f) conveyor means for conveying the filter cake from said press means to said pin mixer means;
• and
• (g) first dryer means for drying the granules from the pin mixer means.

In a secondary paper mill for making paper from waste paper of the type having pulping means for producing a slurry from waste paper containing water, kaolin clay and fibers suitable for papermaking and a device for cleaning and deinking the papermaking fibers before supplying the papermaking fibers to a papermaking machine, the improvement comprising:

• (a) screen means for screening the slurry to produce a reject stream, the screen means being between the pulping means and the cleaning and deinking device and including a semi-cylindrical screen and nozzle means for spraying the slurry tangentially onto the screen;
• (b) clarifier means for collecting solid material in the reject stream to form a stream of concentrated solid material;
• (c) press means for removing water from the stream of concentrated solid material to form a filter cake;
• and
• (d) size reduction means for breaking up the filter cake from the press means into irregularly shaped granular material.

An apparatus for recycling waste paper, comprising:

• (a) pulping means for producing a slurry from waste paper containing water, kaolin clay and fibers suitable for papermaking;
• (b) a screen for screening the slurry to produce a fiber stream containing fibers for papermaking and a reject stream;
• (c) nozzle means for spraying slurry from the pulping means tangentially onto the screen;
• (d) flotation clarifier means for collecting solid material in the reject stream to form a stream of concentrated solid material;
• (e) a belt press for removing water from the stream of concentrated solid material to form a wet filter cake, said belt press having an inlet and an outlet;
• (f) conduit means for conveying the stream of concentrated solid material from the flotation clarifier means to the inlet of the belt press;
• (g) pipe means for conducting water from the belt press to the pulping means;
• (h) conveyor means adjacent the outlet of the belt press for receiving the wet filter cake from the belt press, the conveyor means including a first conveyor section, a second conveyor section, a third conveyor section and a fourth conveyor section, wherein the conveyor means also provides for selectively conveying the wet filter cake to either the fourth conveyor section or the first conveyor section, wherein the first conveyor section receives the wet filter cake and the apparatus further comprising:
• (i) a first dryer to form dry granules, the first conveyor section being arranged to convey filter cake from the belt press to the first dryer;
• and
• (j) a mixing means, the second conveyor section being arranged to convey the filter cake to the mixing stage, and the third conveyor section being arranged to convey the dry granules from the first dryer to the mixing stage, whereby the dry granules from the first dryer can be mixed in the mixing stage with the wet filter cake from the belt press to produce a partially dry particle mixture as an absorbent material.