Patent ID: 7775466

Claim:
Apparatus for the production of a glass powder from a stream of post-consumer waste glass containing non-frangible items, comprising: equipment for pulverizing the stream in a manner such that glass in said stream is reduced to fragments of an average maximum size of ⅛ inch or less, while non-frangible items are not reduced to said size, equipment for performing a size-based separation of said reduced glass fragments from said non-frangible items; equipment for washing said reduced glass fragments so as to remove plastic and paper fragments and organic contaminants thereform; equipment for drying the washed glass fragments to a moisture content of no more than about 2% by weight; and equipment for grinding the dried glass fragments into a powder, said equipment for grinding comprising a mill for reducing the particles in size and a size-based classifier in a continuous milling and size-based classification process, wherein the glass fragments having been ground into particles are withdrawn from said mill and conveyed to said size-based classifier, with a portion of said particles returned to said mill for further grinding, and the remainder of said particles being separated so as to form a powder, such that at least about 60% of the particles of said powder are of no more than 325 mesh particle size.