Abstract: A mixing device for consistently mixing a primary fluid and at least a secondary fluid includes a primary fluid inlet in fluid communication with a first mixing orifice, and a secondary fluid inlet in fluid communication with a second mixing orifice. A mixing area receives the primary fluid and the secondary fluid via the first and second mixing orifices, respectively. A size of and thus flow through the first and second mixing orifices is variable based on a pressure of the primary fluid and the secondary fluid through the respective mixing orifices.

Abstract: A low emissions burner includes a diffusion burner surrounded by an annular array of premix burners. The diffusion burner operates at maximum swirl air flow and at a low constant fuel rate to reduce NOx emissions. The diffusion burner provides a stable swirling diffusion flame. An annular array of premix burners surrounds the diffusion burner and provides a non-swirling premix flame about the diffusion flame to advantageously provide a higher heat content about the periphery of the burner flame to facilitate industrial drying processes using the burner. The diffusion burner flame maintains the premixed flame stabilized. Water injection nozzles are provided each of the premix and diffusion burners.

Abstract: The silo includes at least three hoppers terminating in rectilinear discharge openings extending lengthwise transversely of a loading area below the discharge openings. Clam gates are movable between open and closed positions to discharge material. The discharge area at the bottom of the silo is increased, facilitating faster loading of trucks with the particulate material.

Abstract: The underwater electrical generator includes a stator core and counter-rotating turbine blades with permanent magnets in the hubs and windings in the core housing. When tethered by the nose of the housing, the water current rotates the turbine blades generating electrical current which is supplied for commercial use via the tether to a land-based utility. Ballast tanks are provided to maintain the generator at a predetermined depth. Small stator windings and permanent magnets are provided in the rotating hubs and core housing respectively to charge batteries in the hubs for altering the pitch of the blades such that the blades can be feathered for maintenance outages.

Abstract: A bag house is mounted on a portable trailer and has a tube sheet with depending filter bags in part defining a first plenum for receiving a gas stream with fines and a second plenum for receiving clean gas from the filter bags. The fines are collected in one or more hoppers below the filter bags. A screw conveyor in each hopper has reverse flighting adjacent opposite ends for conveying separated fines longitudinally along and from adjacent opposite ends toward a central location intermediate the length of the housing. An elevation conveyor having an inlet located in the central location conveys the collected separated fines out of the housing to an external outlet for discharge into a surge operator.

Abstract: A low emissions burner includes a diffusion burner surrounded by an annular array of premix burners. The diffusion burner operates at maximum swirl air flow and at a low constant fuel rate to reduce NOx emissions. The diffusion burner provides a stable swirling diffusion flame. An annular array of premix burners surrounds the diffusion burner and provides a non-swirling premix flame about the diffusion flame to advantageously provide a higher heat content about the periphery of the burner flame to facilitate industrial drying processes using the burner. The diffusion burner flame maintains the premixed flame stabilized. Water injection nozzles are provided each of the premix and diffusion burners.

Abstract: A low emissions burner includes a diffusion burner surrounded by an annular array of premix burners. The diffusion burner operates at maximum swirl air flow and at a low constant fuel rate to reduce NOx emissions. The diffusion burner provides a stable swirling diffusion flame. An annular array of premix burners surrounds the diffusion burner and provides a non-swirling premix flame about the diffusion flame to advantageously provide a higher heat content about the periphery of the burner flame to facilitate industrial drying processes using the burner. The diffusion burner flame maintains the premixed flame stabilized. Water injection nozzles are provided each of the premix and diffusion burners.

Abstract: A bag house is mounted on a portable trailer and has a tube sheet with depending filter bags in part defining a first plenum for receiving a gas stream with fines and a second plenum for receiving clean gas from the filter bags. The fines are collected in one or more hoppers below the filter bags. A screw conveyor in each hopper has reverse flighting adjacent opposite ends for conveying separated fines longitudinally along and from adjacent opposite ends toward a central location intermediate the length of the housing. An elevation conveyor having an inlet located in the central location conveys the collected separated fines out of the housing to an external outlet for discharge into a surge operator.

Abstract: A inclined rotary drum mixer has flights for forming a veiling pattern of particles across the width of the drum for a substantial axial extent. The drum has a burner for flowing hot gases of combustion in heat transfer contact with the particle or aggregate veil. A diverter or interceptor is disposed in the drum for interrupting the cascading or veiling pattern to define a channel for flow of hot combustion gases free of heat transfer contact with the particles of the veiling pattern. By controlling the magnitude of the channel formed by the interceptor or diverter, the average exhaust gas temperature of the exhaust gases may be controlled.

Abstract: An inclined counterflow rotating drum mixer has a burner head intermediate an aggregate inlet at one end of the drum and an asphaltic concrete discharge at the opposite end of the drum. A fan supplies secondary air to the burner through a motive tube having an opening in communication with a mixing chamber between the burner head and the discharge end of the drum to aspirate gases from the mixing chamber for flow through the burner flame. The aspiration creates a negative pressure in the mixing chamber, causing a reverse flow of a portion of the combustion gases from the dryer chamber into the mixing chamber for preheating RAP input to the mixing chamber. RAP is also preheated by providing a preheat chamber adjacent the flame zone but segregated from direct contact with the flame to preheat the RAP. Hot and dried virgin aggregate is mixed with the RAP in the preheat chamber and valves are provided to prevent gases evolved from the RAP in the preheat chamber from flowing into the drying chamber.

Abstract: The contaminants in the material are volatilized in a drum having a burner. The volatilized contaminants are separated from material particulates in a separator and are preheated in a heat exchanger for flow into an afterburner. The afterburner burns the volatilized contaminants to provide a clean exhaust gas to the hot side of the heat exchanger, the clean exhaust gas being cooled in the heat exchanger and exhausted to a stack. To control the exhaust temperature of the afterburner to the heat exchanger, a bypass conduit from the afterburner flows exhaust gases through a water seal valve bypassing the heat exchanger. The level of water in the valve can be adjusted to modulate the flow of hot clean exhaust gases from the afterburner bypassing the heat exchanger, thereby to control the temperature at the inlet of the heat exchanger.

Abstract: The storage silo has a frustoconical discharge chute terminating in an annular outlet member having an inflatable bladder about its margin. A gate is movable horizontally and, when in the vicinity of the opening near its closing position, movable both horizontally and vertically into engagement with the margin of the cylindrical wall member. The bladder is then inflated to engage the gate sealing between the outlet and the gate. To open the outlet, the bladder is deflated to a location above the margins of the opening whereby the gate may be moved vertically downwardly and horizontally away from the opening to discharge material from the silo.

Abstract: Heated surrogate medium is placed in heat transfer relation with high moisture content waste material where water is evaporated to steam. By agitating the mixture of waste material and heated surrogate medium, particulate matter from the waste material is entrained in the steam. A separator separates the steam and dried waste material and supplies the dried waste material to a burner for heating the surrogate medium. The separated steam flows to a stack or to the surrogate medium and oversized waste material discharged through an outlet of the drying zone for flowing additional particulate material from the waste material flowing through the discharge outlet back into the drying zone. The discharged surrogate medium and the oversized waste material are separated and the separated surrogate medium is recycled into the heating zone.

Abstract: A materials-handling plant is convertible for producing asphalt by either batch or continuous drum mix processes or remediating soil. Common to each process is a rotary drum and burner system for heating the materials, a primary separator and a baghouse for separating particulate matter from exhaust gas streams. For asphalt production by a batch process, aggregate is dried in the drying section of the drum and discharged for combination with asphalt in a batch tower. In the continuous drum mixer mode of asphalt production, dried aggregate is discharged into a drum mixing section for mixing with asphalt and recycle asphalt and conveyed to a storage silo. In both cases, particulate dust is separated from the exhaust gas stream and combined with the resulting asphalt product. For soil remediation, the contaminants in the soil are volatilized in the drum by contact with the hot gases of combustion. Dust particles in the exhaust gas stream are separated and contaminants thereon volatilized in the baghouse.

Abstract: The portable soil remediation unit includes, on a wheeled flatbed truck, a rotary drum having a burner at one end and an inlet at its opposite end for flowing contaminated soil in counterflow relation to the hot gases of combustion for volatilizing the contaminants. Also mounted on the vehicle is a baghouse. The hot remediated soil is discharged into the baghouse for screw conveyance along the bottom of the baghouse to a baghouse discharge. The particulate-laden gases from the drum enter the baghouse at the opposite end and are separated into particles and clean exhaust gas. The hot remediated soil is in heat transfer contact with the particles and the particles release residual contaminants. The particles flow to the bottom of the baghouse for combination with the remediated soil in the screw conveyor. The hot remediated soil is additionally screened in the baghouse for large and small gradations, the large gradations being discharged from the baghouse for reprocessing.

Abstract: The remediation apparatus includes a pair of heating units, e.g., rotary drum dryers, each having a contaminated material inlet and a burner at opposite ends whereby the contaminated material and hot gases of combustion are in heat exchange, preferably counterflow relation. Material-bearing hydrocarbon contaminants are heated in the first drum to volatilize the low boiling fraction. The soil is conveyed to the second drum and heated to a higher temperature to volatilize the intermediate and high boiling fractions. The volatilized contaminants from the second drum are returned to the burner of the first drum for at least partial oxidation and reduction of the higher fractions to lower fractions. The dust and gases exiting the first drum flow to a baghouse for separation into dust and volatilized contaminants. The dust is returned to the soil. The volatilized contaminants are further eliminated, e.g., by oxidation.

Abstract: A soil remediation unit includes a counterflow drum for burning off volatile hydrocarbons and delivery to a cooler drum. Particulate-laden gases of combustion flow through a separator wherein the particle stream is delivered to the cooler drum and the gas stream delivered to a heat exchanger. The gas stream flows to a thermal oxidizer, the exhaust gas from which lies in heat exchange relation with the gas from the separator. Portions of the exhaust gas are passed into the separator in counterflow relation to the particles for remediating the particles.

Abstract: The rotary drum dryer includes a plurality of circumferentially spaced flights in each of a plurality of axially spaced flight sections. A radially inwardly directed dam is interposed between each flight section and serves as a pivotal mount for the flights of each section. The dams are provided with arcuate slots having a plurality of detent positions arranged about mounting holes for pins secured to the flights and forming the pivot axis therefor. The angular position of the flights is adjustable by locating bolts on the flights in selected detented positions in the arcuate tracks. The combination of pivotally mounted flights and dams affords more uniform veiling across the drum interior and provides efficient heat transfer to the aggregate from the hot gases of combustion.

Abstract: An industrial burner has a burner housing having a burner head mounted therein and connected to an air pipe. A low pressure high efficiency blower is mounted in the housing adjacent an opening in the housing for drawing air into the burner housing and around the burner head into the combustion chamber. A high pressure turbo blower is located in the housing and connected to draw intake air entering the housing and direct the air under a greater pressure to the burner head through the connecting air pipe and into an industrial dryer. The high pressure blower is driven by an electric motor which also is connected by a belt to a pulley through a portion of the primary air conduit to drive the low pressure blower. The air intake for the housing has air control dampers mounted therein for controlling the flow of the air.

Abstract: A solid fuel burner apparatus is provided having a combustion chamber surrounded by a housing and having a solid fuel and primary air nozzle attached to the combustion chamber and located in the housing for directing pulverized solid fuel and air into the combustion chamber. A solid fuel and primary air input is connected through the housing to the solid fuel and primary air nozzle for directing solid fuel thereinto. A secondary air input is connected to the housing for directing air under pressure into the housing and from the housing into the combustion chamber. The housing is divided between first and second compartments and a proportioning damper system divides the input secondary air between the first and second compartments of the housing. Dampers are used to proportion secondary air between first and second compartments from an inlet plenum and diffusion vanes direct the primary and solid fuel into the combustion chamber with a predetermined pattern to control the flame.