Abstract: A car positioning device for dumping of random cars in a rotary car dumper, and a method for directly positioning cars within a rotary dumper, where the car positioning device, movable on a trackway parallel to a track portion carrying railroad cars, has a carriage base and a pivoted car positioning arm thereon, the car positioning arm being L-shaped with a long section extending parallel to the trackway and a short section carrying a coupling apparatus, transverse the track portion, such that the long section extends beyond the carriage and beyond the guideway for the carriage, with the short section of the arm positionable within the car dumping apparatus to directly position a car within the confines of the dumper.

Abstract: The dust collection units in a rotary railroad car dumper installation are mounted over the hopper pit along each side of the cylindrical, rotatable dumper frame so that dust ladened air can be sucked directly into the dust collection units without the need for duct work and the collected dust can be returned directly to the pit without the need for easily clogged screw conveyors and small chutes. The dust collection units also form with air shields mounted on the cylindrical dumper frame, a rotary valve which restricts flow such that ambient air is sucked into the hopper pit by the dust collection units at velocities which exceed the capture velocity of the dust clouds created by dumping of the contents of the car. The air shields include orthogonal pairs of planar members mounted on the rotary frame.

Abstract: A fixed bed gasifier has an annular series of spaced pokehole units thereabout, each unit of which is an outwardly and upwardly extending tapered tube with an end closure having an eccentrically positioned hole through which a poker may be inserted to pass through the unit for poking the fire zone of the gasifier. The tapered tube opens the gasifier vessel at the reduction zone. The hole at the end closure is closed when not in use by a movable closure that is opened only when the poker is to be inserted. The movable closure is connected with an air valve that admits atmospheric air from a manifold encircling the gasifier, at a pressure slightly above the internal pressure in the gasifier, to the interior of the unit as the movable closure is operated to expose the hole at the end of the unit, forcing hot gases in the unit back into the gasifier in the reduction zone, and permitting air only to blow out the end of the unit just before the poker may be inserted and until the pokehole is again covered.

Abstract: Fragile agglomerates with crushed rock fragments, such as fines which are subsequently agglomerated and which result in the crushing of rock fragments, such as oil shale prepared for retorting are mixed and delivered onto conveying means, such as a travelling grate by charging the rock fragments into a bin which delivers through a choke-feed onto the conveyor or travelling grate by introducing the agglomerates through a series of space conduits or tubes terminating inside the bin below the level of the lump material or fragments in the bin where the rock fragments have a downward travel such as to enable the aggregates to diffuse from the ends of the spaced pipes into and through the fragments and while so separated and diffused through the fragments move with the fragments onto the grate.

Abstract: A continuous process for extraction of bitumen from oil sand by a hydrocarbon solvent wherein the sand is classified so as to produce a major coarse fraction and a minor fines fraction, with both fractions contacted with solvent to wash miscella therefrom, and wherein the major coarse fraction is contacted with solvent by gravity percolation and the classification of the sand is effected to remove sufficient fine material to achieve a flooding rate in the gravity percolation of between 1 and 4 gallons per minute per square foot.

Abstract: A clamp for securing a railroad car in a rotary car dumper includes a guide pipe member mounted adjacent the section of track carried by the rotatable dumper frame, a clamp pipe member telescopically mated with the guide pipe member and a clamping jaw member extending laterally from the free end of the clamp pipe member toward the track section. Releasable coupling means in the form of a longitudinal slot in one pipe member which is engaged by a radially extending guide bar member tack welded or bolted to, or inserted in a slot in, the other pipe member permits the clamp pipe member to be extended and retracted relative to the guide pipe member by a coaxially mounted hydraulic cylinder while resisting rotational movement therebetween. If excessive torque is applied to the clamp pipe member, such as when the clamping jaw member is struck by a moving car, the guide bar member is sheared and the clamping pipe member rotates to swing the clamping jaw member out of the path of the car.

Abstract: Hot oil depleted shale from an indirect oil shale retorting process is charged into the top of a vertical shaft furnace together with sufficient oxygen to combust the residual carbon in the shale. Recycle process gas is fed into the bottom of the furnace for direct heating by the spent shale. The heated recycle process gas and combustion gases are withdrawn from the furnace separately to minimize dilution of the high BTU process gas. A selected quantity of coarse, cooled spent shale discharged from the bottom of the furnace is recycled to the top to moderate the temperature of combustion.

Abstract: Recycle gas for the indirect retorting of oil shale, is heated after the oil has been recovered from the gas, utilizing the residual carbon in hot oil depleted shale. The hot oil depleted shale is charged into a vertical shaft furnace where it is combusted by the introduction of air into the upper portion of the furnace. The heat so generated is recovered from the lower part of the furnace for heating the recycle gas and cooling the spent shale. A portion of the coarse fraction of the cooled spent shale discharged from the bottom of the furnace is recycled to the top to regulate the temperature of combustion. The recycle gas may be heated directly by countercurrent contact with the hot, spent shale in the lower portion of the furnace or indirectly in a heat exchanger by an inert gas which is circulated through the lower portion of the furnace.

Abstract: In the indirect method of retorting oil shale highly heated gases produced out of contact with flames in a heat exchanger are introduced into the retort and release oil vapor and high-value, high BTU gas and oil vapor from the shale which mix with the hot gas so introduced into the retort. Instead of burning the heat value gas of pipeline quality in the heat exchanger which is the present procedure, this invention fires the heat exchanger with abundant, cheap, low-value gas which for example is produced underground in-situ at or near the retort, thereby preserving the high value gas, after condensation of the oil vapor, partially for recirculation through the heat exchanger and retort and for in-plant operations, such a hydrogenation of the extract shale oil to produce refinable crude or for pipeline use.

Abstract: In a continuous process for the extraction of crude refinery stock from oil-bearing sand, miscella produced earlier in the process is returned and mixed with oil-bearing sand to provide a feed slurry which, after heating, is separated into two streams, one of which is comprised predominantly of the coarser sand particles in the feed sand and miscella and the other of which contains most of the fine sand particles in the feed slurry. Miscella extracted by hot solvent from one of these streams is recycled to produce at least part of the miscella returned to produce the feed mix, and the other stream is processed to remove at least most of the sand and yield a miscella which is then distilled to separate the solvent for recycle to the extraction stages. Generally stated, a decantation step involving countercurrent extraction of the feed slurry will be used with sands which are comprised largely of fine particles.

Abstract: A process for the dewatering of fine granular material is disclosed. During compression of the material, fluid is expressed and a small percentage of the material is intentionally permitted to escape through a self-cleaning opening in the apparatus. By maintaining the smallest dimension of the opening in the range of one to five times the diameter of the largest particle in the material, the opening remain essentially clear of any material which could cause plugging.

Abstract: There is disclosed an improved wheel housing assembly comprised of a wheel, a wheel axle and an axle housing wherein the wheel axle is formed of wheel and housing shaft portions with the axis of the wheel shaft portion being parallel to and slightly displaced or offset from the axis of the housing shaft portion whereby rotation of the housing shaft portion within a housing member permits the wheel shaft portion to be rotated about the axis of the housing shaft portion thereby to permit elevational adjustment of the wheel of the wheel assembly with respect to the horizontal.

Abstract: A process and apparatus for the essentially complete recovery of heat, process fluid and yellowcake (U.sub.3 O.sub.8) dust particles normally lost during the drying of yellowcake slurry. The off-gases, consisting of noncondensable gases vaporized fluid, and entrained yellowcake particles, produced in a yellowcake slurry dryer are directed into a condenser in which the off-gases are cooled and condensed by fluid sprays, preferably water. The condensate spent spray fluid and entrained yellowcake particles are collected in the condenser sump. A stream of the condensate and yellowcake particles from the sump is directed into a thickener for the recovery of the yellowcake in the underflow therein and its eventual recombination with the yellowcake slurry being fed to the dryer. A second stream of the spent spray is circulated to the fluid sprays while a third stream is cross-circulated into a bleed chamber.

Abstract: A traveling grate consisting of individual pallets each supported on four wheels and independently connected to continuous side walls so that the pallets can pivot down away from and back toward the continuous sidewalls as the rear wheels follow a depressed portion of the trackway in the discharging zone of a retort. The wheels travel in a tunnel which is isolated from the processing zone of the grate retort but is in fluid communication with the charging and discharging zones. The processing zones are also separated from the remainder of the retort by transverse seals formed by false windboxes. Gas leakage from the processing zone is minimized by the tunnel-encapsulation of the retort's processing zone.

Abstract: A roller adjustment apparatus provides for the independent adjustment of spacing between any two adjacent rigidly spaced apart rollers without affecting the spacing of any of the other rollers in a roller screen conveyor. A support block of the apparatus, which rotatably supports an end of the roller and is slidably mounted on the conveyor frame, has two oppositely extending threaded bores oriented normal to the axis of rotation of the roller and parallel to the longitudinal axis of the conveyor. A threaded adjusting bolt, having oppositely threaded ends, is placed intermediate adjacent support blocks and engages the confronting threaded bores therein such that rotation of the adjusting bolt either increases or decreases the spacing between adjacent rollers. Threaded studs and a threaded adjusting sleeve are alternate corresponding forms for adjusting the roller spacing.

Abstract: A burner for the flash oxidation of particles of metal concentrates has three downwardly directed, concentrically mounted tubes each having a venturi nozzle on the discharge end thereof. Finely divided metal concentrates introduced into the annular space between the inner tube and the intermediate tube are accelerated by high pressure oxygen introduced through the inner tube to substantially the velocity of an oxidizing gas introduced into the annular space between the intermediate tube and the outer tube. Means are provided for adjusting the extent that the nozzles on the ends of the inner tube and intermediate tube extend into the nozzles on the ends of the intermediate and outer tubes respectively.

Abstract: A coke oven battery servicing apparatus includes a coke catching and collecting bucket movable from a first position adjacent the oven to a second position clear of the oven and a coke guide cage having an opening therein which is complementary to the bucket. When in the first position the bucket collects coke spillage during oven door extraction and door jamb cleaning. When the coke guide is positioned for pushing, the bucket is moved into a third position in which the bucket is removably inserted into the aforementioned opening to become integral with the coke guide cage. The collected coke spillage is then pushed together with the coke from the oven through the guide means for disposal in a quenching receptacle or car.

Abstract: Fragile agglomerates with crushed rock fragments, such as fines which are subsequently agglomerated and which result in the crushing of rock fragments, such as oil shale prepared for retorting are mixed and delivered onto conveying means, such as a travelling grate by charging the rock fragments into a bin which delivers through a choke-feed onto the conveyor or travelling grate by introducing the agglomerates through a series of space conducts or tubes terminating inside the bin below the level of the lump material or fragments in the bin where the rock fragments have a downward travel such as to enable the aggregates to defuse from the ends of the spaced pipes into and through the fragments and while so separated and diffused through the fragments move with the fragments onto the grate.

Abstract: In a process for the removal of fines from a bed of oil bearing shale in a travelling grate retort, a fluid such as air, inert gas or process gas is drafted through the bed in order to entrain in the fluid substantially all of the fines in the bed. The fines are then evacuated from the bed thus increasing the permeability of the bed and substantially decreasing the fines in the retorted shale oil.

Abstract: An automatic rail clamp is provided with an indicator for visibly showing the extent of wear of the replaceable clamping jaw inserts together with a fulcrum shaft having opposed eccentrics about which the jaws rock. As wear of the inserts develops, rotation of the fulcrum shaft is effected in measured increments which, in turn, progressively shifts the eccentrics relative to the axis of rotation of the fulcrum shaft to thereby move the centers about which the jaws pivot. This operates to maintain the arc through which the jaws rock within a constant range, thus allowing the rail clamp mechanism to operate at smaller, more efficient toggle angles by keeping the toggle angle safe. A differential hand screw is provided for moving the jaws in the event of failure of the automatic mechanism for opening and closing the jaws to ease the manual effort required to turn the hand screw, particularly to release the jaws when the clamp is set by spring pressure into clamping engagement with the rail.