Patent ID: 7886915

Claim:
A method for processing a moving stream of particulized material, said method comprising the steps of: conveying a moving stream of particulized material downstream along a processing path having upstream and downstream ends; providing a bulk material analyzing system along said path upstream of said downstream end; dividing said moving stream into a series of dimensionally predetermined bulk sorting increments in abutting, end-to-end relation, each increment comprising a multiplicity of individual, unadhered fragments of particulized material disposed in multiple layers; employing said bulk material analyzing system to provide a real-time analysis of the bulk chemical composition of each dimensionally predetermined sorting increment in said stream, as the stream undergoes movement; providing a sorting location downstream of the bulk material analyzing system; maintaining and tracking said dimensionally predetermined sorting increments downstream of the bulk material analyzing system and up to said sorting location; and then sorting said dimensionally predetermined sorting increments on the basis of their respective bulk chemical compositions; the dimension, in a downstream direction, of each increment undergoing sorting being predetermined before that increment undergoes chemical analysis.