Patent ID: 6126014
Filing Date: 2000-10-03
Classification: B03B,B03D

Abstract:
A method for recovering a concentrated carbon product from fly ash, comprising the steps of:mixing fly ash derived from the combustion of coal and comprised primarily of a carbon constituent and an inorganic mineral matter constituent with a hydrocarbon solvent having a density that is less than water and selected from the group consisting of pentane, hexane, heptane, and cyclohexane to form a solvent mixture;pumping the solvent mixture into a separation column containing an aqueous solution in such a manner that said mixture enters the column at a column base point so that as the less dense mixture rises it will transgress a major portion of the column of aqueous solution;employing mechanical means to agitate the solvent mixture and the aqueous solution within the separation column to disperse the solvent mixture as droplets within the aqueous solution, whereby the inorganic mineral matter concentrates in the aqueous solution and the carbon constituent agglomerates in the hydrocarbon solvent droplets;allowing the less dense carbon containing solvent droplets to accumulate at a top portion of the column in a coalescing zone;removing the carbon containing droplets from the coalescing zone;recovering the aqueous solution containing the inorganic mineral matter from the lower part of the column;recovering a concentrated carbon product from the hydrocarbon solvent droplets; andrecycling the substantially carbon-free droplets of hydrocarbon solvent to again mix with the fly ash.