Abstract: Incineration apparatus for incinerating a particulate material comprises a furnace housing (2), feeding means (7) for feeding material to be incinerated into said housing (2), and gas supply means (6a-c) for introducing a gas into the material in a lower part of said housing (2) so as to form a fluidised bed (8). Said gas supply means (6a-c) is spaced from the walls of said furnace housing (2) such that said walls are insulated from the fluidised bed (8) by an insulating layer of particulate material not in a fluidised state.

Abstract: A base material is thermally reclaimed from a mixture of the base material and a combustible substance, wherein the substance is incinerated in a fluidized bed, comprises the step of feeding the mixture after comminuting and dust from comminuting step directly into a lower part of the fluidized bed. The method is particularly suitable for the thermal reclamation of foundry sand or other base materials used in foundry processes.

Abstract: The invention relates to a method of reclaiming contaminated industrial sand including the steps of subjecting the sand to the influence of heat in a fluidizing bed, forcing sand fed to said bed to follow a flow path including a plurality of generally heightwise directed path portions including at least one generally upwardly directed path portion and at least one generally downwardly directed path portion. In an example of the invention, the heat is applied to the sand in a first group of path portions and the sand is cooled in a second group of path portions.