Abstract:
Pure polymer, such as polyester used in photographic film and in plastic walls of drink bottles or polycarbonate used in high-quality plastic beverage bottles, is separated from thin saran and like coating layers of a multi-layer film or sheet in a dry process. The coating layer is typically 1/2% or less of the total sheet or film thickness. The dry abrasion process in one form comprises rotating and mixing a volume of dry plastic chips of said film or sheet with about two volumes of small, hard abrasive particles such as quartzite aggregate, glass cullet, or the like, for a time just sufficient to abrade the thin coating layer from the film or sheet. The abrasive particles and the coating dust are separated from the pure polymer by air classifiers. The resulting polymer chips are clean and dry and are immediately available for pelletizing and reuse. Polymer may also be recovered from the dust, as by electrostatic separation.
Abstract:
The present invention is directed to a method and apparatus for the detoxification of polymeric film chip materials which have been contaminated with cyanide compounds during the process for the reclamation of their silver content. The present invention includes the steps of providing within a substantially impervious container a quantity of polymeric film chip materials containing a cyanide compound, and then submerging the cyanide containing polymeric film chip materials in a solution containing hypochlorite ion at a pH of approximately 9.5 to 10.5 until the cyanide in the polymeric film chip material is substantially converted into cyanate. In preferred alternative embodiments the treatment solution is replaced with a second treatment solution containing hypochlorite ion and having a pH of approximately 7.5 to 8 until the cyanate is substantially converted into carbon dioxide and nitrogen gases. Mixing means in the form of influent and effluent means are provided in such apparatus.
Abstract:
A polymer layer of polyester or polyvinyl chloride is recovered from a multilayered scrap or waste chip material by contacting the chip material with an aqueous solution containing a base metal hydroxide and a reagent selected from the group consisting of a salt, an amine, and an oxidizing agent. The removal process is accelerated by using, either singularly or in combination, an alkyl dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride, heat, or agitation. Thereafter the polymer layer is isolated and recovered.
Abstract:
Garbage and waste of all types that includes or comprises organic matter, particularly including medical waste, plastics, paper, food waste, animal by-products, and the like, can be economically recycled into petroleum products, including oil. Machinery performs a method that mimics natural processes but accomplishes the task in minutes, at rates of about 15 tons per day in a typical processing machine, rather than taking hundreds of thousands of years in nature. The process and apparatus of the invention may chop the waste into small pieces, under negative pressure if appropriate, and then pass the waste into first and then second augers for compression and heating. Destructive distillation occurs, in which large molecular weight hydrocarbons and petrochemicals are heated by hot oil passing through the hollow shaft and by circulating hot, dense, hard material, such as steel balls or fragments or hard rock pieces and such, under pressure with steam, to produce low molecular weight hydrocarbons. The volatile hydrocarbons are released through a pressure relief valve, into a column of catalyst material, and then to a heat exchanger, which cools the gases to condensation temperatures of water and oil. Gases remaining, such as methane, are passed to a furnace or other use, and the water and oil are separated. The hot items used to put heat into the compressed material in the first stage auger are retrieved after processing is completed and then reheated and cycled back into the first stage auger.
Abstract:
Pure polymer, such as polyester used in photographic film and in plastic walls of drink bottles or polycarbonate used in high-quality plastic beverage bottles, is separated from thin saran, metal, and other coating layers of a multi-layer film or sheet when the film sheet is wet, as from silver recovery and like processes. The coating layer is typically 1/2% or less of the total sheet or film thickness. The abrasion process in one form comprises rotating and mixing a volume of wet plastic chips of said film or sheet with about three to five volumes of hot (160 to 300 degrees F) small, hard abrasive particles such as quartzite aggregate, glass cullet, or the like, for a time sufficient to dry the chips and also to abrade the thin coating layer from the film or sheet. The abrasive particles and the coating dust are separated from the pure polymer by screens or air classifiers. The resulting polymer chips are clean and dry and are immediately available for pelletizing and reuse.
Abstract:
Silver is removed from polymeric film chips such as photographic and X-ray film in a caustic treatment bath which dissolves or separates the saran and gelatin layer from the polymer, particularly polyester, layer. The silver is captured for recovery in a diatomaceous filter medium through which the treatment bath liquid is passed. Preferably liquid passed to the filter is silver-rich liquid skimmed from the top of the treatment bath. Chips and other debris are seived or screened from the liquid before filtering.
Abstract:
The present invention is directed to a method and apparatus for the detoxification of polymeric film chip materials which have been contaminated with cyanide compounds during the process for the reclamation of their silver content. The present invention includes the steps of providing within a substantially impervious container a quantity of polymeric film chip materials containing a cyanide compound, and then submerging the cyanide containing polymeric film chip materials in a solution containing hypochlorite ion at a pH of approximately 9.5 to 10.5 until the cyanide in the polymeric film chip material is substantially converted into cyanate. In preferred alternative embodiments the treatment solution is replaced with a second treatment solution containing hypochlorite ion and having a pH of approximately 7.5 to 8 until the cyanate is substantially converted into carbon dioxide and nitrogen gases. Mixing means in the form of influent and effluent means are provided in such apparatus.
Abstract:
An apparatus for opening plastic bags containing recyclable materials includes a feed conveyor for transporting the plastic bags from a receiving area to a sorting area, and a plurality of bag opener units positioned along the feed conveyor. Each of the bag opener units includes a flexible line connected to a rotating head. Free ends of the whirling lines shred and open the plastic bags as they are rotated by the rotating heads and as the plastic bags are transported along the feed conveyor.
Abstract:
An oil filler funnel and cap are adapted for permanent mounting upon an engine to connect to the usual oil filler passage. The oil filler funnel and cap replaces the normal filler cap, by means of a bar and a sealing gasket. A pipe, which can be routed to avoid other engine parts, extends generally gravitationally upwardly to an enlarged funnel form. The top of the funnel is closed by a sealing cap or lid. The funnel is enlarged in cross section, to allow a car owner to easily fill the engine with oil without spilling same and without the use of auxiliary devices.
Abstract:
An oil-spreading squeegee for roadway maintenance uniformly spreads oil sprayed onto a roadway surface to be maintained or upgraded. The squeegee assures a surprisingly uniform surface, particularly by filling cracks and moderate depressions in the roadway surface not filled by mere levelling of the liquid oil after a spraying operation alone. The squeegee is towed behind the oil spraying truck, extending across the roadway surface and being maintained on rollers a selected height above the existing pavement. The squeegee pools the oil ahead of its blade while forming a uniform coating on the roadway surface over which the blade has passed. The pool of oil fills cracks and moderate depressions in the roadway surface directly, and thus avoids loss of uniformity in the height of the top of the oil coating. Aggregate is then spread over the roadway and tamped or rolled into the oil, which hardens about the aggregate to form a new, smooth roadway surface.