This disclosure describes methods to separate solids from liquids in a production facility. A process separates components in the process stream by applying non-condensable media to create density differences and then using a mechanical device to separate the solids from the liquids based on the density difference. The process produces the liquids and solids, which may be further processed to create valuable animal feed products.

A washing apparatus comprises a screening apparatus having a first screening deck located below a second screening deck, wherein the first screening deck passes material that is larger than the material passed by the second screening deck. A liquid delivery system delivers liquid onto the first screening deck to wash material on the first deck. Material that passes through the first deck is conveyed upwards and delivered onto the second deck for dewatering. The apparatus is able to wash and dewater aggregate material in a single unit with a relatively small footprint and relatively high throughput.

A washing apparatus comprises a screening apparatus having a first screening deck located below a second screening deck, wherein the first screening deck passes material that is larger than the material passed by the second screening deck. A liquid delivery system delivers liquid onto the first screening deck to wash material on the first deck. Material that passes through the first deck is conveyed upwards and delivered onto the second deck for dewatering. The apparatus is able to wash and dewater aggregate material in a single unit with a relatively small footprint and relatively high throughput.

A soil remediation facility includes a first screen apparatus including a vibratory screen, a drum mixer apparatus mixing the contaminated soil with a diluent, a saturated steam and hot water, a scrubbing apparatus including a mixing container and an impeller, a second screen apparatus including a vibratory screen. The facility further includes a floatation apparatus which adds a chemical agent for generating bubbles to the soil mixture, injects an air into the soil mixture to desorb contaminants from the soil mixture, and separates the desorbed contaminants by causing the desorbed contaminants to float. The facility further includes a hydro-cyclone apparatus which swirls substances contained in the soil mixture to sort the substances depending on a particle size and a desilter which swirls substances in the soil mixture at a higher angular velocity than an angular velocity in the hydro-cyclone apparatus to sort the substances.

Fine coal is cleaned of its mineral matter impurities and dewatered by mixing the aqueous slurry containing both with a hydrophobic liquid, subjecting the mixture to a phase separation. The resulting hydrophobic liquid phase contains coal particles free of surface moisture and droplets of water stabilized by coal particles, while the aqueous phase contains the mineral matter. By separating the entrained water droplets from the coal particles mechanically, a clean coal product of substantially reduced mineral matter and moisture contents is obtained. The spent hydrophobic liquid is separated from the clean coal product and recycled. The process can also be used to separate one type of hydrophilic particles from another by selectively hydrophobizing one.

An apparatus for the wet attrition of particulate material comprising an attrition scrubber; a dewatering screen comprising a deck and a sump beneath the deck, the dewatering screen being mounted upstream of the attrition scrubber whereby oversize material from a downstream end of the deck of the dewatering screen passes into the attrition scrubber; and a hydrocyclone wherein an underflow, containing a coarser fraction of the feed slurry, passes out of a lower outlet of the hydrocylone while an overflow, containing a finer fraction of the feed slurry and most of the water, passes out of an outlet at the upper end of the hydrocyclone, a pump being provided for pumping material from the sump of the dewatering screen to the inlet of the hydrocyclone, wherein the underflow from the hydrocyclone is passed into the attrition scrubber.

An apparatus for processing aggregate material comprising an inclined trough having a pair of shafts rotatably mounted therein, the shafts having staggered blades arranged pass between one another during rotation of the shafts and angled to carry material towards an upper end of the trough, excess water and any floating trash passing over a weir adjacent a lower end of the trough onto the deck of a first vibratory screen, and a second vibatory screen being mounted adjacent the upper end of the trough for receiving particulate material from the upper end of the trough, the second vibratory screen having at least one deck for grading the material, wherein water collected in a sump of the first vibratory screen is arranged to pass into a sump of the second vibratory screen.

An apparatus for processing aggregate material comprising an inclined trough having a pair of shafts rotatably mounted therein, the shafts having staggered blades arranged pass between one another during rotation of the shafts and angled to carry material towards an upper end of the trough, excess water and any floating trash passing over a weir adjacent a lower end of the trough onto the deck of a first vibratory screen, and a second vibatory screen being mounted adjacent the upper end of the trough for receiving particulate material from the upper end of the trough, the second vibratory screen having at least one deck for grading the material, wherein water collected in a sump of the first vibratory screen is arranged to pass into a sump of the second vibratory screen.

The present disclosure relates to a green method for producing and exploiting multiple nano-carbon polymorphs from coal commonly known as anthracite, meta-anthracite, and semi-graphite. The method disrupts the prevalent environmentally unfriendly practices of burning coal with poor profitability and sustainability because the method yields an unexpectedly rich mixture of high-performance nano-materials, comprising carbon nano-fibers, carbon nano-tubes, carbon nano-onions, nano-graphite-plates, and nano-graphene-disks, by simply mechanically-comminuting coal to nano-size, with minimal sorting efforts. The resulting total-yield of nano-carbon polymorphs is over 50% by weight from properly selected coal. Innovative means are added to the prevalent comminution and sorting practices to further reduce energy and chemical consumption. More importantly, the method also refines the comminution and sorting details for producing the best custom-made formulations. This holistic engineering approach eliminates unnecessary separation and sorting steps because a custom-made formulation typically requires blending the sorted components. Formulations with mixed nano-carbon polymorphs are engineered as new and high-valued-added composite ingredients to critically raise the performance of cement-based, polymer-based, and metal-based composites.

A process for refining sand for use as frac sand includes the steps of passing the sand through a first fines separation stage to remove fine particles of contaminant from the sand, reducing the water content of the sand (such as to less than 20%), passing the sand into an attrition scrubber unit containing moving blades to delaminate clay and other contaminants from the sand grains, passing the sand from the attrition scrubber unit through a second fines separation stage to separate fine contaminants from the sand, and dewatering the resulting sand product in a further dewatering stage.