Patent ID: 8864365

Claim:
An apparatus, comprising: a portable support skid, the support skid having a platform; a mixing tank having an inlet and an outlet, the mixing tank mounted to the support skid; means for introducing a liquid into the mixing tank; a tubular conveyor assembly having a first end and a second end, the tubular conveyor assembly supported by the support skid with the second end sealably connected to the inlet of the mixing tank and the first end laterally offset from the second end, the conveyor assembly including a tubular body housing an auger extending from the first end to the second end of the conveyor assembly; and a portable hopper defining a chemical storage chamber and having a sealable inlet and a sealable discharge conduit, the portable hopper supported by the platform of the support skid with the discharge conduit being detachably and sealably connected to the first end of the conveyor assembly such that a solid chemical contained in the chemical storage chamber of the portable hopper may be transported within the portable hopper from a remote location and conveyed from the portable hopper to the mixing tank without exposing the area surrounding the mixing tank to the solid chemical, wherein the first end of the conveyor assembly has a seal assembly that seals about the discharge conduit automatically upon the portable hopper being positioned on the platform of the skid, wherein the seal assembly comprises: an air bladder positionable between a retracted condition wherein the discharge conduit may pass to and from the first end of the conveyor assembly and an expanded condition wherein the air bladder forms a seal about the discharge conduit; and a switch operably connected to the air bladder, the switch supported by the support skid in such a way that upon positioning the portable hopper on the platform of the support skid, the portable hopper contacts the switch thereby causing the air bladder to be positioned in the expanded condition.