Ogden Environmental Services

General Atomics, Inc.

Niles W Johanson

Glenn T Hong

Michael H Spritzer

Walter Egli

William S Rickman

Mark L White

Harry H Yip

James C Saeger

A system and method for treating feedstocks containing solids, sludges or slurries that contain organics includes introducing the feedstock into a desorption chamber. In the desorption chamber, the temperature and pressure of the feedstock are elevated to volatilize a portion of the feedstock and thereby separate the feedstock into a volatile portion containing organics and a residue portion. Steam, water or oxidants can be injected into the desorption chamber to aid in the volatilization process. From the desorption chamber, the volatile portion of the feedstock is transferred to a reactor for hydrothermal treatment to oxidize or reform the organics in the volatile portion. In the hydrothermal reactor, the volatile portion may be reacted with excess oxidant and auxiliary fuel at a temperature between approximately 1000&deg; F. and approximately 1800&deg; F. and a pressure of between approximately 20 atmospheres and approximately 200 atmospheres.

Process for hydrothermal treatment of materials

A method for incinerating contaminated soil or other material utilizing an incinerator, such as a CBC, which is operated below atmospheric pressure and apparatus for carrying out such decontamination by delivering the soil to be processed in desired particulate size to the incineration unit, e.g., to a recirculation loop through which separated solids are being returned from a cyclone to a CBC. The system for supplying the contaminated soil is isolated from the chute leading to the incineration unit by a feeder that forms an agglomerated plug which serves as a pressure seal and prevents any gas flow therepast. Illustrated are a pair of twin counterrotating screws which include shafts that extend past the ends of the screw flights to locations where rotary cutters having multiple blades are mounted. Soil being carried between the flights of the rotating screws continuously agglomerates to form a plug at the downstream end which continuously advances toward the cutter blades that slice it into chips of desired thickness, which then pass through all or a portion of a pug-mill before entering a chute leading to the incinerator. The screws and rotary cutters are advantageously mounted on common shafts so as to allow longitudinal adjustment of the distance between the cutter and the screw to vary the length of the plug.

Feed system for incineration of contaminated material

A method and apparatus for controllably removing heat from a high-temperature process wherein finely atomized liquid suspended in a stream of transport gas is used as a coolant pumped through a heat exchanger while remaining separated from the high-temperature process. The system pressure and flow rates are maintained at levels such that the temperature of the coolant exceeds the boiling point of the liquid component at the outlet of the heat exchanger. Means are provided to monitor continuously the temperatures of the process and of the coolant at the outlet of the heat exchanger and adjust the flow rates of the liquid and/or the transport gas as necessary to maintain the respective temperatures within predetermined ranges.

Method and apparatus for cooling high-temperature processes

Growing community of inventors

San Diego, CA, United States of America

Niles W Johanson