Abstract: In a method and apparatus for opening barrels containing granular or powdered products and the like and for emptying said barrels of their content without polluting the environment; wherein the barrel is placed with the peripheral portions of one of its end walls in a fixed sealing contact with a supporting surface provided with a through-feed opening for dumping content of the barrel and that the said end wall is cut through by relative rotation of the supporting surface and a knife means acting from beneath via said through-feed opening along a circular, arcuate line subtending at most 360.degree. and causing the goods passing out through the broken end wall to fall down to a collecting point through a chute shielded from the surroundings.

Abstract: There is provided an apparatus for taking a sample-flow from a main suspension flow, said apparatus having a first chamber which is adapted to receive said main suspension flow and which communicates with a second chamber via weir means. The second chamber has at the lower portion thereof first and second opening means for dividing the suspension received from the first chamber into a sample-flow and a main residual flow, said first and second opening means communicating with a respective means for exerting on the suspension in the second chamber a counterpressure of such magnitude that the level of suspension therein is substantially the same as the level of suspension in the first chamber and that the speed at which the suspension flows into the first opening means is substantially equal to the speed at which the suspension flows into the second opening means.