Abstract: Coal devolatized and partially gasified in a travelling grate reactor is dropped into a shaft furnace to form a downwardly moving stack which moves then downwardly to and through a fixed bed gasifier, wherein it is burned to ash. A gas stream from the travelling grate reactor is down-drafted through the shaft furnace and a gas stream is up-drafted through the fixed bed gasifier, and the two streams combined are drawn through a heat exchanger and fed to a gas burner, combustion air for the gas burner being heated in the heat exchanger.

Abstract: An improved process for aqueous electrowinning of metals, using methanol (or another soluble fuel) added to the electrolyte, a catalytically active platinum mesh or platinum-plated titanium anode and periodic current reversal, in order to maintain a low anodic potential, and hence, a cell voltage and energy consumption lower than in conventional processes. Examples illustrate the electrowinning of zinc and copper from sulfuric acid-sulfate electrolytes, but the process applies to other metals. Also disclosed is the use of an ion-exchange membrane in combination with the above features, in order to decrease the loss of fuel from the anolyte and to minimize the effect at the anode of impurities present in the catholyte.