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US 5,989,486 AGranted
Apparatus for removal of the mercury from granulated materials
AssigneeSummit Valley Equipment and Engineering, Inc.
InventorsCharles H. Washburn, Charles O. Gale
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An apparatus for retorting granulated material containing mercury such as ores and precipitates wherein the granulated material is stirred by means of a plurality of paddles while under vacuum and at high temperature within a drum of the apparatus. The vaporized mercury is drawn from the drum and condensed for recovery thereof. Multiple retorting apparatuses can be used for a continuous retorting operation.
Claims6
A retorting device for recovery of mercury from individual batches of a particulate material, the device comprising:
- a closeable container having an uppermost closeable opening for filling the container with a batch of the particulate material and a lowermost closeable opening for emptying the batch of the particulate material from the container, said container being sealable to simultaneously withstand internal pressure below atmospheric and temperatures above the vaporization temperature of mercury;
- means for heating said container and the batch of the particulate material within the container;
- means for evacuating said container to sub-atmospheric pressure;
- and
- means for stirring the batch of the particulate material within said container while heated and evacuated.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.