Patent ID: 7875192

Claim:
A slurry dividing apparatus, comprising: a main flow channel including a slurry inlet opening, an inlet zone in fluid communication with, and extending from, the inlet opening, and a deceleration zone in fluid communication with, and extending upward from, the inlet zone toward an upper end of the main flow channel, the deceleration zone having a cross-sectional area that increases with an increasing elevation of the deceleration zone; a flow divider terminating the upper end of the main flow channel; a first branch flow channel and a second branch flow channel, each of the branch flow channels in fluid communication with the main flow channel and extending upward from the flow divider; one or more weirs extending across an upper portion of the first branch flow channel and an upper portion of the second branch flow channel, the one or more weirs being at the same vertical elevation in both the first and second branch flow channels; and a first discharge flow channel and a second discharge flow channel, the first and second discharge flow channels in fluid communication with the first and second branch flow channels, respectively, and extending downward from the weir of the corresponding branch flow channel, the slurry inlet opening being at an elevation below the one or more weirs.