Abstract: A downflow hearth furnace includes a refractory-lined furnace lid. A burner is thermally coupled through the lid. A combustible material conveyor system communicates with an entry port. A variable speed motor driven rotatable combustible material disperser is positioned under the entry port and coupled to a rotation shaft. A refractory-lined furnace shell has a top edge mating with a bottom edge of the furnace lid and can be raised and lowered between an open position and a closed position. A bed of gas-permeable heat resistant material suspended on a layer of filter material defines a bottom end of a hearth disposed above a plenum. An outlet duct communicates with the plenum and has a horizontal outlet flange. A fixed scrubber input duct has an inlet flange positioned to mate with and form a seal with the outlet duct flange when the furnace shell is in the closed position.

Abstract: A device for roasting spent activated carbon, waste sludges, or other organic wastes, includes a downdraft bed furnace, a first adsorber fluidly coupled to the furnace including a closed tank of adsorber process solution, a venturi scrubber and a cyclone separator coupled to the tank such that gases are sucked through the venturi and the cyclone separator, liquid effluents from the scrubber and separator falling by gravity into the tank, a second adsorber fluidly coupled to the first adsorber including a closed tank of adsorber liquid, a venturi scrubber and a cyclone separator coupled to the tank such that gases are sucked through the venturi and the cyclone separator, liquid effluents from the scrubber and separator falling by gravity into the tank, the second adsorber configured to remove impurities not removed in the first adsorber; and an exhaust blower fluidly coupled to the second adsorber unit and configured to pull air into the furnace and through the first and second adsorbers.

Abstract: A device for roasting spent activated carbon, waste sludges, or other organic wastes, includes a downdraft bed furnace, a first adsorber fluidly coupled to the furnace including a closed tank of adsorber process solution, a venturi scrubber and a cyclone separator coupled to the tank such that gases are sucked through the venturi and the cyclone separator, liquid effluents from the scrubber and separator falling by gravity into the tank, a second adsorber fluidly coupled to the first adsorber including a closed tank of adsorber liquid, a venturi scrubber and a cyclone separator coupled to the tank such that gases are sucked through the venturi and the cyclone separator, liquid effluents from the scrubber and separator falling by gravity into the tank, the second adsorber configured to remove impurities not removed in the first adsorber; and an exhaust blower fluidly coupled to the second adsorber unit and configured to pull air into the furnace and through the first and second adsorbers.

Abstract: A milling jar has a jar body and a jar neck. The jar body has an internal surface and an external surface. Ridges with gently sloping slides, called “lifters,” are formed by indenting the surface of the jar wall so that the internal surface projects toward the center of the jar. Because the depressions (on the external surface) and the lifters (on the internal surface) are segmented, portions of the circumference of the jar remain cylindrical. The jar neck has a lid that secures the materials inside the jar when the lid is fastened.

Abstract: A heat exchanger includes a heat-exchange section including a first group of tubes and a second group of tubes alternating with the first group of tubes. The first and second groups of tubes are in contact with a heat-conductive medium. In one structure, a first inlet manifold at a first end of the heat-exchange section is fluidly coupled to first ends of the first group of tubes. A first outlet manifold is isolated from the first inlet manifold and is fluidly coupled to first ends of the second group of tubes. A second inlet manifold at a second end of the heat-exchange section is fluidly coupled to second ends of the second group of tubes. A second outlet manifold is isolated from the second inlet manifold and is fluidly coupled to second ends of the first group of tubes.

Abstract: A heat exchanger includes a heat-exchange section including a first group of tubes and a second group of tubes alternating with the first group of tubes. The first and second groups of tubes are in contact with a heat-conductive medium. In one structure, a first inlet manifold at a first end of the heat-exchange section is fluidly coupled to first ends of the first group of tubes. A first outlet manifold is isolated from the first inlet manifold and is fluidly coupled to first ends of the second group of tubes. A second inlet manifold at a second end of the heat-exchange section is fluidly coupled to second ends of the second group of tubes. A second outlet manifold is isolated from the second inlet manifold and is fluidly coupled to second ends of the first group of tubes.