Kerr-mcgee Chemical, LLC

Kenneth L Ensley

Haywood A Perkins

Oliver W Moles

A nozzle and a method for spraying a liquid into a vessel opening through such a nozzle wherein the nozzle includes a casing assembly and a core. The casing assembly has a casing opening which extends through the upper end of the casing assembly and extends a distance through the casing assembly and a discharge nozzle opening formed through a central portion of the lower end of the casing assembly. The core has an upper and a lower end and an outer peripheral surface and the core is disposed and supported within the casing opening generally between the upper and the lower ends of the casing and spaced a distance above the discharge nozzle opening. The core has swirl openings formed through the core intersecting the upper and the lower ends of the core and being disposed generally near the outer peripheral surface of the core and a central opening formed through a central portion of the core. The central opening and the swirl openings are sized and spaced about the outer peripheral surface of the core and the number of swirl openings is determined so the liquid discharged from the nozzle forms a substantially full cone distribution spray pattern.

Nozzle for spraying a liquid into a vessel opening

In the hydrometallurgical treatment of metal-bearing ores and particularly the beneficiation of iron-containing titaniferous ores wherein the ore is subjected to leaching with a dilute aqueous acid solution in a digestion zone, there is provided an improvement which comprises initiating and maintaining the mixture of ore and acid in a state of boiling. Initiation and maintenance of the mixture in a state of boiling is accomplished through the venting of the digestion zone to remove process vapors substantially in the form of water vapor. Initiation of the boiling of the mixture of ore and acid solution in the digestion zone is commenced when the temperature of the mixture and consumption of the free acid solution in said mixture have reached predetermined values. The initiation and maintenance of the mixture in a state of boiling results in an increased rate of dissolution of the contaminant values in the metal-bearing ore.

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Mobile, AL, United States of America

Kenneth L Ensley