Method and apparatus to facilitate recycling of at least one fraction of bitumen-containing materials. This can be accomplished by dissolving the at least one fraction, for example, maltenes or asphaltenes in roofing shingles, into at least one solvent. In one aspect, the apparatus comprises a dissolution vessel, a tumbler positioned therein, and at least one solvent distributor. The tumbler is configured to facilitate wetting the bitumen-containing materials with solvent. In a second aspect, a system comprises the apparatus, a solid-liquid separator, for example, a vibratory screen, and at least one solvent-fraction separator, for example, a flash drum. The at least one solvent can comprise one or more solvents useful to extract the at least one fraction. In a third aspect, a first fraction is extracted from the bitumen-containing materials with a first solvent composition, then a second fraction is extracted from the remaining bitumen-containing materials with a second solvent composition.

Dust produced by handling proppant during fracking or other mechanical operations can be a health and/or safety hazard. The dust can be eliminated or at least mitigated using a method of conducting a hydraulic fracturing or other mechanical operation on an oil or gas well including treating a proppant that has been transported to an end use site at a level sufficient to prevent the formation of dust during handling of the proppant.

A mixing apparatus for preparing mortar has a screw conveyor for conveying dry material, such as a mixture of sand and cement, from a storage vessel to a mixing chamber. The mixing chamber has an inlet end, adapted to receive dry material from an outlet end of the screw conveyor, an outlet end for dispensing wet mortar, and a water feed between the inlet and outlet ends for delivering a metered flow or quantity of water into the mixing chamber. A mixing device within the mixing chamber mixes the dry material and water and controls passage of material from the inlet to the outlet end. The outlet end is located above said inlet end so the dry material falls under gravity from the outlet end into the mixing chamber, maintaining separation between the dry material in the screw conveyor and the wet material in the mixing chamber.

A powder transfer bag includes a balloon or a membrane sealing its mouth. A connector to be used with the bags allows the bag to connect to a hydration device. A method of hydrating material in a powder transfer bag is provided.

Disclosed is a circulating kneading pulping system, including a pulping machine and a kneading tank; the pulping machine is provided with a powder feed port, a pulping chamber connected to the powder feeding port, and a slurry outlet communicated with the pulping chamber, and the screw rod of the pulping machine is provided in the pulping chamber; the slurry outlet of the pulping machine is connected with the kneading inlet of the kneading tank through a first pipeline, and the kneading tank is equipped with a liquid solvent inlet, and the kneading outlet of the kneading tank is connected with the circulation pulping inlet of the pulping machine through a second pipeline.

A hydration chamber for dry ingredients is disclosed. The chamber has a metered ingredients feed, a diverter that distributes the ingredients within the chamber, and a spray nozzle for hydrating the ingredients. The spray may be varied to achieve different levels of hydration, such as for the manufacture of dough, batter, or other compositions. Process parameters, such as volume flow rate of the dry ingredients and the spray pressure can be varied.

Disclosed is a block press and associated process, for dynamically forming a block mold, to produce a masonry block. In some embodiments, the block mold includes a plurality of mold elements, such as a lower impact plate, an upper impact plate, and a plurality of side plates, and can further include one or more block cores. In operation, one or more of the mold elements are moved to dynamically forming a block mold, which is then filled with product formula. The product formula is then compressed, to form a masonry block. One or more of the mold elements are then released, such as to release pressure on the formed masonry block, and to allow removal of the formed masonry block from the block press, wherein the formed masonry block can be moved to a curing area, and the block press can reform the block mold for subsequent production.

A gel production system and method, in which a powder configured for mixing with an aqueous solvent such as water to form a gel is metered into a pressurized air stream to fluidize the powder, and the fluidized powder is injected into a pressurized water supply. The fluidized powder is at a greater pressure than the water supply, helping to hydrate the fluidized powder in the water, and the water supply plus fluidized powder are subsequently mixed in a mixing chamber to form the gel.

The hydration apparatus includes an air augmentation feature that intersects the ingredients. The air augmentation inlet is positioned to cause turbulence in the ingredients prior to the ingredients passing a liquid discharge nozzle that hydrates them.

The present invention relates to a machine for mixing and conveying a road application mixture and to the methods of use thereof. A hopper has a top and bottom and contains a selected amount of solid material useful for melting snow and ice. An auger casing with a solid inlet is attached to the bottom of the hopper and is oriented in an inclined plane. A tank containing a liquid is connected to the auger casing at a liquid inlet. The hopper has a discharge at a distal end. An auger is contained within the auger casing for conveying the solid material and mixing it with the liquid material. The auger has a first flight section with a first pitch and a second flight section with a second pitch and with cross bars. The auger housing has a discharge. The auger can be started remotely.