Patent ID: 8720082

Claim:
Apparatus for processing spent material having solids, residual moisture, and solvent therein resulting from a solvent extraction process, said apparatus comprising a housing having a plurality of spaced apart trays therein serially disposed in said housing and arranged along an upstream to downstream direction, means for conveying said spent material from tray to tray in said apparatus from an upstream entry to a downstream exit, means for directly contacting said spent material with heated water vapor as said spent material is conveyed through at least a portion of said housing, means for contacting said spent material with volatile solvent evaporating from said spent material, heating means cooperating with some of said plurality of trays for indirectly heating said spent material by contact of said spent material with heated surfaces of some of said plurality of trays, and a solvent recycling system including solvent recycle conduit means for providing removal of said solvent from said housing at a solvent exit and returning said removed solvent to said housing at a solvent entry.