Hydraulic and earth engineering – Subterranean waste disposal – containment – or treatment
Reexamination Certificate
1999-08-07
2001-10-09
Bagnell, David (Department: 3672)
Hydraulic and earth engineering
Subterranean waste disposal, containment, or treatment
C405S128500, C405S129250, C405S263000, C210S170050, C210S747300, C209S010000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06299380
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND
Bulk material removed from the bottom of bodies of water generally has water content exceeding 80 percent. The bulk material frequently carries with it gross or oversize organic material such as telephone poles, rotted pilings, abandoned and sunken vessels, metallic materials such as anchors, engine blocks, transmissions and nonmetallic material such as concrete blocks and portions of demolished structures.
At present the major disposal route for such dredged detritus is by truck to a nearby, or not so nearby, landfill. Such landfill disposal entails the considerable costs of transportation and tipping without the prospect of any economic return. However, there is a substantial and growing need for materials which can be employed for the reconstruction of abandoned mines and areas subject to erosion by wind or water. To effectively employ the dredge detritus for this purpose it must first be conditioned for transportation by forming a first mixture, then it must be conditioned for the final application by forming a second mixture.
OBJECTIVES
Therefore it is an object of the invention to provide an economical process for handling and treating dredge and other types of detritus and waste having a high water content and oversize organic materials, into material that meets transportation specifications and can be carried in transportation vehicles such as trucks or railway cars.
It is a further objective to provide such a process in which the oversize organic materials are pulped and added to the bulk of the watery material.
It is a further objective to provide a process which employs pozzolanic waste materials, such as fly ash and otherwise useless wastes such as bottoms, or ash from furnaces fired by coal or trash, which bottoms or ash materials otherwise would have to be disposed of in landfills, as additives for the purpose of conditioning the dredge detritus for transportation in a vehicle.
It is a further objective to provide a process in which the mixing of the ingredients is carried out in the transportation vehicle.
It is a further object to provide a machine which is adapted to mix the components within the transportation vehicle.
It is a further object to provide such a process where the ingredients are mixed within the transportation vehicle by a mixing machine whose entire mixing machine body fits and mixes within the vehicle while supported by wheels positioned outboard of the machine.
It is a further objective to provide a process in which the transported product is transformed into a second product by the addition of and mixing with a pozzolanic material; where this second product is suitable for application to a pit bench or shaft in a mine, or erosion reclaim process.
It is a further object to employ the same machine construction for in-place mixing the final ingredients at the mine bench as was employed for the in-car mixing prior to transportation to the site of utilization.
It is a further objective to improve the mixing machine by providing it also with rolling and compacting capability.
It is a further object to provide a process in which the dredge detritus loaded into a barge by the dredge and is simultaneously ground and mixed with a viscosity raising agent within the barge.
It is a further objective to provide such a process in which pozzolanic and conditioning agents are added to the ground and conditioned detritus and the mixture is further ground and mixed in a pugmill before being transported to and applied to an area to be reclaimed.
It is a further objective to provide a process in which oversized material is removed from the original barge carrier of the detritus by a raking process.
It is a further object to provide such a process in which the residue after raking is further prepared for final application by screening to remove yet unremoved oversized material, the undersized material being combined with a combination of pozzolanic materials and finally ground and mixed by processing through a pugmill.
Further objectives will become apparent as the nature and functioning of the process and the construction and application of the machine are disclosed in detail.
PRIOR ART
No patents or literature are known related to or describing a process for handling and treating dredge and other types of detritus and waste having a high water content and oversize organic materials, into a first material that meets transportation specifications and can be carried in trucks or railway cars and into a second material applicable to mine reconstruction.
High power grinding and mixing machines, resembling the novel mixing machine disclosed and employed in carrying out the objectives of the invention, are manufactured by the CMI Corporation of Oklahoma City, Okla. However, these machines all have wheels which are inboard of the cutting/mixing mandril and none have combined mixing and rolling/compacting capability. Grinders capable of being used in vessels such as barges are manufactured by Lang Tool Company of Beaverton, Mich.
Pugmills are manufactured by Pugmill Systems, Inc. Of Columbia, Tenn.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention provides several economical processes for handling and treating dredge and other types of detritus and waste having a high water content and oversize organic materials, into material that meets transportation specifications and can be carried in trucks or railway cars and applied to polluted and other areas to be reclaimed.
One process comprises the steps of:
1. Receiving detritus comprising about 80 percent of “undersize” material having a high water content with a predetermined maximum solids size and comprising 20 percent or less of oversize organic material having dimensions greater than the limit for undersize;
2. Separating the oversize from the undersize bulk;
3. Grinding the oversize to pulp having solids size no greater than the size of the solids in the undersize bulk;
4. Adding the pulp to the undersize bulk;
5. Adding binder to the bulk;
6. Conveying the bulk with the added pulp and binder to a carrier car having a top edge;
7. Positioning the carrier car under a wheeled mixing machine, the wheels of the mixing machine being positioned at substantially the level as the top edge of the carrier car, the mixing machine having a mixing mandril substantially the full width of the carrier car and having means for lowering the mandril to the bottom of the car and raising the mandril to clear the top edge of the car;
8. Operating the mandril to mix the bulk with the added ingredients while moving the mandril relative to the car length until the mandril has traversed substantially the entire length of the car; thereby preparing a first mixture having properties suitable for transportation;
9. Raising the mandril to clear the top edge of the car, thereby allowing the car, now bearing the mixed ingredients, to be moved and allowing another car to take its place under the mixing machine;
10. Conveying the mixture to the site of application and spreading it on the application site
11. Adding a pozzolanic material to the aggregate;
12. Mixing the first product with the pozzolanic material at the application site to form a second product, employing the same machine construction as employed for the in-car mixing.
13. Rolling and compacting the second product employing the dual function mixing machine.
A second process comprises the steps of:
1. Grinding the detritus within the original detritus conveyor, typically a barge, thereby reducing the size of the oversize material and simultaneously mixing the detritus with a viscosity improver as a transporation conditioner.
2. Transporting the ground and conditioned detritus to the place of use and there storing and, as needed, further conditioning the detritus with pozzolanic material and mixing and further grinding the mixture in a pugmill, the pugmill output being delivered to the site of application.
A third process includes the steps of:
1. Separating the grossly oversized material from the detritus while it is in the transportation barge by an industrial rake and sending the over
Bagnell David
Kramer Daniel
Lee Jong-Suk
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