US1779010A - Method of conditioning waste - Google Patents

Description

Oct. 21, 1930.

E. s.. PEARCE 1,779,010

METHOD OF CONDITIONING WASTE Filed June 7, 1928 .BAL/IVG pw Pans-.9

` am nys/fava E Mmmm *J ms f" g j: esiess f 2 :5231:: I 0 b I l fz?. '-3 -l) /6 INVENTOR //f gow/W /7 BY v fdff-M 3 ATTORNEYS Patented Oct. 21, 1930 S. PEABCE, 0F INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR TO RAILWAY SERVICE AND SUPPLY CORPORATION,

INDIANA OF INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA, A CORPORATION 0F METHOD oF CONDITIONING wAsTI:

Application led June .7, 1928. 'Serial No. 283,724.

This invention relates to a method forconditioning new waste for use as a carrier for 1 oil for the lubrication of railway car journals and the like. f

One grave objection to the use of waste'for supplying oil to the journal surface to bel lubricated is the danger of hot boxes',-due to failure of the waste to deliver the lubricant to the journal'surface. `For some time past it has been assumed that such failures of the waste have been caused by sand, grit, or metal particles or fragments collected by tlie waste during use or as part of its original composition, or by short worn fibres, any of'which may become compacted against the rotating surface and shield it from the lubricant. The waste was assumed to consist of relatively long wool and cotton fibres so completely interlaced as to form a yielding fibrous body to compel travel of the lubricant in all directions and hence to the journal bearing, and it was believed that these long fibres were broken or torn in use to smaller sizes having a tendency individually to lodge without motion in a given zone of the rotating surface and prevent its lubrication.

My investigation leads me to the conclusion that more serious and harmful results are produced and many hot boxes are caused by another ingredient of the waste heretofore not taken into consideration, to wit, the lint, which is very fine textile material, either wool or cotton, or both, including the very fine fibres and fibrous fragments, much smaller in size than the so-called short fibres and either l in lthe raw waste in the beginning or normally resulting from tear or wear ofthe longer more efficient fibres during use of the waste.

during use in Under a high powered microscope magnifying twenty or more diameters a single useful strand or fibre of waste appears in the field as a heavy solid line and the lint looks like the finest hairs spreading out from the strand in all directions and of very small diameter as compared with the strand itself. This fine lint is not firmly anchored and becomes detached and in the presence of lubricating oil the journal box it Hoats freely with-the liquid toward the surface to be lubricated and ultimately mats together like felt,

forming what might be referred to as an im- )enetrablejfilter bed, which blocks or undesirably retards lubricant flow by shutting off' the ability for capillary action from bre to fibre to develop. The result is to 'pile `up this filtering lint within the waste body or against the rotating journal with afailure of lubricacharring and burn` tion, rise in temperature, ing of the lint and nearby oil and waste, and the production of a tarry residue from the oil, these effects becoming cumulative until finally lubricant flow is completely shut off and a hot box develops. I have discovered that the tendency of the lint to move with the oil maybe taken advantage of in the removal of the lint by using the lubricant as a vehicle to remove the lint, as will appear.

Of course, in the preparation of waste for lubricating purposes, there isno objection to removing therefrom short fibres, sand, grit,

metal fragments, or other mechanical impurities, either from new unused waste, if such are present, or from used waste during the process of reclamation or renovation thereof. Their presence is objectionable, and efficient waste should be clean and of uniform texture.

ations and experience in practice the danger which dictates the removal of such materialsl lis over-shadowed by a greater necessity for eliminating, or at least reducing, the amount of lint Iinnew waste before it is supplied to its first bearing, as well as its subsequent removal, should it reappear for any reason, in any later renovation or cleaning after use. To that end the present invention' has for its object the provision Aof a method which eliminates or materially reduces the amount of the lint content in new waste intended for lubricating use as stated, and further, te provide a method of this kind which can be carried out at low cost, with simple forms of standard apparatus, and in a manner to largely do awaywith judgment by the operative, thereby to take advantage of low labor cost.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic view of one system or organization of apparatus for practicing the method; and Figs. 2 to 4 inclusive are detailviews more or less Nevertheless, according to my investiincludes either wool or cotton fibres or both.

washed and dried by the market drum or cylinder 1 in which the waste `isv air, is conducted or circulated by the fan 3, the,

It is usually produced from used fabrics containing various dyes and from mill strands.

Such material, with any desired or convenient proportions of wool and cotton, and of course ordinary laundry practices, Where necessaryr to remove dirt, is shredded or torn to reduce it to fine fragments and to open up and separate from each other the threads or fibres of the textile fabric so that its Weave entirely disappears. This step is performed in any suitable or desirable shreddingor tearing machine indicated. conventionally at A.

The product of this machine may be termed raw waste. It has been used heretofore for many purposes and is the product customarily employed without change for journal box lubrication by mixing therewith a proper quan-` tity of lubricating oil. By my invention I be- `egin to eliminate or remove the lint from this raw waste before it is used for lubricating purposes and all steps of the method are'directed with 'the two aims of removing lint and supplying proper lubricant.

The lint may be removed. by any suitable treatment or method or even by successive employment of different treatments. A certain proportion may be removed while the raw waste is in the condition in which it is deliv,- ered by the shredder. Such waste, of course, contains a certain amount of moisture largely depending upon the humidity of the air.` That moisture, as well as the dye later plays its part in preventing the lubricant from permeating the -wasteby interfering with libre absorption. It is therefore desirable to remove moisture at an early stage and keep it out so far as possible during later stages. I therefore first place the waste in a suitable agitating' dryer, where the waste is tumbled over and over or otherwise agitated with access' of drying air in any suitable manner to carry away moisture and some lint. This step may be performed by agitation in the open air, or in what is known as a drying tumbler, indicated conventionally at B, Fig. 1, and Standard machines for this purpose now on include a rotatable foraminous placed. and which rotates in a drying chamber 2 through which a suitable gas` such as air current passing over steam heating coils 4. The machine may be of the single pass type. in which atmospheric air is conducted directly to the heating coils, then through the drum. then to the fans and out to atmosphere,

or. a part of the air maybe re-circulated again and again to collect and carry away more molsture. The waste 1s tumbled over and bath of oil and content,

more or less in detail in Fig. 2.

over in the' drum and some lint is shaken out and passes throu h Ithe drum openings or foraminations an is collectedupon suitable screens or filtering devices 5.or is dischar ed to the outside atmosphere. Other am? ay 'r larger amount of lint in the waste is more or less freed for later removal by the oilv flushing operation which follows the tum-Ufff,.-v bling or agitating operation. This machine, therefore, tumbles the waste and loosens it 7;, up, separates and removes some lint, gets the rest in condition for removal, and removes a considerable portion if not all of the moisture, -1

The remaining lint in the waste, which cannot be removed by agitating the waste in drying air, can be removed by flus with the'same kind of lubricating oil which later is valuable for lubricating purposes in the journal box to which the waste is sups; plied. By merely plunging the waste into a oling it around and around, or by agitating it in a bath of oil in a suitable machine, such as an ordinary drum type washing machine, or by pouring'the oil on to or sm v by otherwise' supplyingit to the waste, the .lint becomes suspended or entrained in the oil, whereas the useful fibres of textile fabric will settle or can be collected. Th'e lint is so small that itwill even pass through fairly `05 fine filters. It is therefore suitable toremove the lint. from the waste by fiushing or washing with an excess of oil. One suitable apparatus for the purpose is an ordinary centrifugal extractor to'which oil may be continuously 1GO supplied and caused to pass through the load of waste. Such a machine is shown at C, Fig. 1 and in Fig. 3, and for example may be ofthe type illustrated in the patent of John f W. Bercaw, for centrifugal machine, granted m5 'August 28, 1928, No. 1,682,473, to which reference may be had for a tion if necessary.

The machine shown in, Fig. 3 comprises a suitable stationary curb or casing 8 in which 1:0 is a rotatable basket or containeryadapted to receive a charge of the waste and provided with a 'perforated or foraminous outer wall. Along the central axis of the basket are two perforated cylinders in telescopic or nested 31.5 relation, the outer one 10 being stationary and the inner one 11 being adjustablyrotatable to produce more or less registration of the openings in the two cylinders, and which cylinders form a distributor for the oil su plied to the waste, which is delivered to t e machine b 'the pipe 12. In this extractor basket is p aced, for removal ofits remaining content, a charge of waste as it comes from the air drying device.- livered to the waste before the machine is started, although this is not always essential, butin any event, after the basket yis rotating oil is supplied to the central distributor and rises in the same to its top, centrifugal force 130 more complete descrip ng it out 'i Some oil may be dewhich are relatively adjusted in accordance with the speed of rotationl andthe viscosity of thev oil, to produce the proper supply. The

oil mayand should be heated to reduce its viscosity and increase its ability to penetrate the Waste and wash out lint. is continued for a proper period and during the treatment the oil penetrates-the Waste and by centrifugal force is caused to travel through `the same, taking up the lint in suspension and carrymg it outthrough the perforation's or foraminations of the basket merely to insure retarded flow of the oil to.

-a degree as possible,

Wall. In this Way practically all of the lint is Washed out lof the Waste. The supply of oil is now shutoff andthe extracting operation is cont-inued to remove as much of the lint-carrying oil as possible. lVith an extractor, the oil is notonly removed to as low but the removal ci the oil is uniform, which is quite important. l

The .purpose Iof the cylinders 10, 11 is the Waste so as to build up a quantity of oil in said cylinders and supply oil to the upper layers of Waste in the extractor as Well as to the bottom, and obviously the oil may be y supplied to the extractor directly from a hose or nozzle or other supplying device and played over the Waste While the basket is rotating. y l In the oil vflushing or washing step it is necessary to set the lint free and suspend or entrain it in the oil ina vmobile condition so that it will flow with it. Experience shows that Lif a given vbatch of Waste is treated with a given charge of oil and the latter is aplied to the Waste again and again, such as y repeated circulation, the oil body collects more and more lint until finally the proportion of lint in the oi'lprobably reaches a maximum, after which further -re-circulation or continued treatment seems to be lintremoving without benefit. Oil used to treat waste containing a `small quantity 'of lint might well collect a definite maximum quantity of lint from suchvwaste by re eated circulation and find its level or stab e value lof i lint content, but the saine oil used on such Waste might collect additionallint if used for treating Wastecontaining a higher lint content. The present invention contemplates any repeated applicaton of oil to waste, such as by recirculation or otherwise, to a useful degree, but aims to avoid re-use of the oil for lint removal after it has collected its maximum quantity. of lint under any" lven conditions or, in other words, to avoi any use of the lint laden oil upon Waste vvhich might permanently restore to the Waste some extracted lint, the whole purpose of the invention being to remove the lint and permanently keep it out. Where to stop recirculation or repeated oil treatment depends The feed of oil rather,

upon several factors, such as the viscosity of the oil, its temperature, the physical charactei' of the Waste, the total lint content, the relative volumelof oil bath to Waste being treated, etc. .Y

The oil that has been used for treating waste by a flushing or Washing step, so as to reduce the lint content of the Waste to as low a value as possible, isnot again applied to waste unless there is the possibility of removing additional lint from such waste, but, is iirst suitably treated to remove its lint content and therefore renew its lint collecting ability, or on the other hand, may sometimes be used for other industrial purposes Where lint content is not objectionable.

Removal of the lint fromthe oil may be carried out in any manner, such as by the method of reclaiming or renovating mineral lubricating oils described in an application l[Serial No. 74,949, filed December 12, 1925, tiycn reference may be. had for a more complete discription of theprocess desired. For the present it is sufficient to say that by said Grisbaum method theyoil to be cleaned or renovated and containing dirt, grit and lint in-emulsilied form or in suspension is treated with a. solution ol caustic soda, usually While heated, the effect of which is to break down or destroy part of the lint, such as the woolenor animal fibres, and precipitate the remainder, such as cotton or vegetable fibres. Washing with cold Water removes the /soluble or broken material and throws down the undissolved lint with the sludge. rlhe clear oil remaining floats on top'of the water and is removed and heated with the application of a suction or vacuum effect, which dehydrates the oil Without the creation of any emulsion, leaving the oil lint-free and in .as by supplying it to the extractor oil feed pipe 12.

Havin removed some lint by a current of drying a1r in a. drying tumbler, such as at B, and having removedv all or substantially all of the remainder by flushing or Washing with lubricatingfoil in suitable apparatus such as the extractor C, the now lint-free waste is ready for shipping' or transportation to the place of content reduced to a minimum, intov an ordinary baling press, indicated conventionally at D, Where it is baledy and tied in the usual manner of materials of this kind. The baling, of course, protects, all of the internal fibres and prevents the access of moisture to anything except thev outer layer which, of course, may also be protected with a suitable impervious Wrapper, so that the waste, lintfreeand with little oil, may be ship ed to the place of use and there mixed wit the de- 'red/quantity of clean lubricating oil in any use. It may be charged, with its oiljV Leonard D. Grisbaum, to Which applicarelative motion is` produced between the v 5.1;* "ome or all of the necessary oil, but which the amount required nated with a :may be of the form this impregnator press includes a cylindrical tank or chamber 15 open at its top and containing a removable piston 16 capable of being drawn downwardl by the vacuum or suction eii'ect producedY in the chamber beneath it by a source of suction communicating with a pipe 17 extending up within the chamber and entering a hollow extension 18 of the piston.v The wasteto be impregnated, in definite or measured quantity, is placed in -the chamber and a proper measured quantity of oil is added to it, either above orbe- The suction eifect is now; applied to cause the iston to vmove down, all air leavin' the cham er so that the oil flows into the finest intersties and crevices, not only between the fibres, but actually withinthem.

This vacuum impregnation has the further l ,-advantageof removing any last traces of moisture that may be present, because the oil is usually hot, and the waste may also be hot, and at the higher temperature, say 190 F.- or so, the moisture boils oli as vapor and 'is thereby removed. At the same time the mass is compacted and in a sense is baled and cap be removed and packaged 4as finished lubricating waste ready for use in a journal box.

rlf'he. chief attribute of the invention, of course, is the removal of lint from new or raw waste, before its'use in a journal box,

the removal occurring both as the result of `a dry tumbling or similar operation, wherein waste and drying lair so as to carry away v:se

'moisture and some-lint, and 'by flushing or washing the waste with oil, again to carry away the remaining lint, coupled withwhich I may be the partial or whole impregnation of the line-free waste with lubricating oil for use in the journal-box, the product being a compact mass of ,lint-free wastecontaining 1n any event is free from llint and therefore reduces liability of-hot boxes when 'itis used in journal boxes for lubricating purposes. no

What' I claim is:

from the` f In testimon both mediums collecting and removing from said Waste the lint thereof. f

2. The method of conditioning -unoiled` journal box packing, con- Waste for use in sisting of the step of subjecting said waste to a moisture collecting gaseous medium, with consequentremoval rfrom the waste of moisture and some lint, and the subsequent step of subjecting said waste to a lubricating oil medium, with consequent more complete lint removal from the waste, the removal of moisture from the waste by said first step permit# tinfr better access' and penetration of the oil medium to the parts of the waste in said subsequent step.

3. The method of conditioning unoiled waste for use in journal box packing, consisting of the step of simultaneously agitatinfr said waste and subjectin it to a oraseous medium, and the subsequent step of subjecting said waste to a li uid medium, said first step effecting the ilu g or loosening u of said -Waste, with consequent removal ,y om the waste of somelint, and said subsequent step effecting more complete'removal of lint from the waste, the liuling or loosening u of ter access and penetration of the liquid medium to the parts of the waste in said subsequent step.

4. The method of conditioning unoiled `waste for use in journal box packing, conslsting of the step of simultaneously agitatingv said waste and subjecting it to a moisture-collectinggaseous medium, and the subsubjecting. said waste to a sof waste and the removal of moisture therefrom by said rststep .permitting better access and penetration of the lubricating oil 4medium to the parts ofthe waste in said subsequent step. w y v whereof I hereby ailix my signature. -f S. PEARCE.

yL f'The method of conditioning unoiled4 .l Waste for use irl-journal box packing, con-A sisting of the step of subjecting said waste to a gaseous medium Aand the to a liquid medium,

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