Reactor for recovery or recycling of hydrocarbon products from hydrocarbon-containing material by decomposing and gasifying the material in a reactor housing, comprising a gas/particle separator device arranged to separate solid particles accompanying the gas and to return these particles directly to the reactor housing in the opposite direction to axially flowing gasified hydrocarbon products, and/or comprising a rotor shaft with axially running channels which are in flow communication with a coolant, and/or comprising a radial play formed between the periphery of a rotor and the inside of the reactor housing and amounting to at least 3 cm and at most 6 cm.

A shredding rotor rotatably coupled to a support frame is configured to remove plant leaves from plant stems fed into an aperture in the support frame. The shredding rotor includes many flexible shredding strands attached to a rotor axle. The shredding strands are sufficiently flexible to strip leaves from all sides of the stems without breaking the stems into pieces. Shredding strands are spaced far enough apart from one another to prevent plant material from becoming lodged between the strands. A destemming and shredding apparatus including two shredding rotors separates an incoming stream of plant materials into an output stream of shredded leaves and another output stream of essentially intact stems. A shredding apparatus having no more than one shredding rotor receives destemmed leaves at an inlet aperture and outputs shredded leaf fragments.

A shredding rotor rotatably coupled to a support frame is configured to remove plant leaves from plant stems fed into an aperture in the support frame. The shredding rotor includes many flexible shredding strands attached to a rotor axle. The shredding strands are sufficiently flexible to strip leaves from all sides of the stems without breaking the stems into pieces. Shredding strands are spaced far enough apart from one another to prevent plant material from becoming lodged between the strands. A destemming and shredding apparatus including two shredding rotors separates an incoming stream of plant materials into an output stream of shredded leaves and another output stream of essentially intact stems. A shredding apparatus having no more than one shredding rotor receives destemmed leaves at an inlet aperture and outputs shredded leaf fragments.

A method for detecting wear in crushers, having a wearing part (2) mounted on a drive shaft (1), during idle operation is described in which downtimes that impair crusher productivity can be eliminated and nevertheless reliable wear detection is made possible with low risk of injury to machine operators. The drive shaft (1) is accelerated from a starting angular speed (oil) to an end angular speed (ω2) with a specified acceleration, and the drive energy required for this is ascertained, whereupon the wear of the wearing part (2) is ascertained as the value assigned to the required drive energy in a specified wearing-part characteristic curve (3, 4, 5).

A method for detecting wear in crushers, having a wearing part (2) mounted on a drive shaft (1), during idle operation is described in which downtimes that impair crusher productivity can be eliminated and nevertheless reliable wear detection is made possible with low risk of injury to machine operators. The drive shaft (1) is accelerated from a starting angular speed (oil) to an end angular speed (ω2) with a specified acceleration, and the drive energy required for this is ascertained, whereupon the wear of the wearing part (2) is ascertained as the value assigned to the required drive energy in a specified wearing-part characteristic curve (3, 4, 5).

A method of providing for a manually insertable bushing in a spherical joint. By forming slots, strategically located and sized, the bushing may be inserted manually into the race, then rotated into position in the race. The bushing may be disallowed from exiting via the slots by engaging the bushing to a shaft, or by a keeper affixed to cover the slots.

Various embodiments of a hammermill system, hammer, and methods are disclosed. A hammermill hammer comprises a metal composite comprising a plurality of inserts and a body portion disposed between each of the plurality of inserts. The composition of the plurality of inserts is different than composition of the body portion. The material of the plurality of inserts has a greater abrasion resistance than the material of the body portion and the material of the body portion has a greater impact resistance than the material of the inserts. The hammers produced have improved wear resistance and longer useful life compared to conventional hammermill hammers.

Various embodiments of a hammermill system, hammer, and methods are disclosed. A hammermill hammer comprises a metal composite comprising a plurality of inserts and a body portion disposed between each of the plurality of inserts. The composition of the plurality of inserts is different than composition of the body portion. The material of the plurality of inserts has a greater abrasion resistance than the material of the body portion and the material of the body portion has a greater impact resistance than the material of the inserts. The hammers produced have improved wear resistance and longer useful life compared to conventional hammermill hammers.

An apparatus for destroying data storage devices comprises a shredder assembly, a hammer mill assembly, a chute mounted in an open communication with an interior of the shredder assembly and with an interior of the hammer mill assembly, the chute sized and shaped to transfer shredded remnants from the shredder assembly into the hammer mill assembly, a power drive assembly coupled to each of the shredder assembly and the hammer mill assembly, and a control assembly configured to operate the shredder assembly and the hammer mill assembly.

An apparatus for destroying data storage devices comprises a shredder assembly, a hammer mill assembly, a chute mounted in an open communication with an interior of the shredder assembly and with an interior of the hammer mill assembly, the chute sized and shaped to transfer shredded remnants from the shredder assembly into the hammer mill assembly, a power drive assembly coupled to each of the shredder assembly and the hammer mill assembly, and a control assembly configured to operate the shredder assembly and the hammer mill assembly.