U.S. patent application number 11/617052 was filed with the patent office on 2007-05-10 for dross compression apparatus including a cooling system for cooling the compression head and cooling method.
Invention is credited to David J. Roth.
Application Number | 20070102853 11/617052 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 46123983 |
Filed Date | 2007-05-10 |
United States Patent
Application |
20070102853 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Roth; David J. |
May 10, 2007 |
DROSS COMPRESSION APPARATUS INCLUDING A COOLING SYSTEM FOR COOLING
THE COMPRESSION HEAD AND COOLING METHOD
Abstract
A cooling head for cooling material recovered from an industrial
process when the material is disposed in a material container. The
cooling head includes a downwardly projecting portion that is
shaped to engage the material. A plurality of ribs may extend
across a top of the cooling head.
Inventors: |
Roth; David J.;
(Downingtown, PA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
RENNER OTTO BOISSELLE & SKLAR, LLP
1621 EUCLID AVENUE
NINETEENTH FLOOR
CLEVELAND
OH
44115
US
|
Family ID: |
46123983 |
Appl. No.: |
11/617052 |
Filed: |
December 28, 2006 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
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10778456 |
Feb 13, 2004 |
7157042 |
|
|
11617052 |
Dec 28, 2006 |
|
|
|
60518547 |
Nov 7, 2003 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
266/259 |
Current CPC
Class: |
C21B 2400/022 20180801;
C21B 3/06 20130101; F27D 15/02 20130101; C22B 7/04 20130101; C22B
7/004 20130101; F27D 3/12 20130101; Y02P 10/20 20151101; Y02W 30/50
20150501; C21D 1/62 20130101; C22B 21/0069 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
266/259 |
International
Class: |
C21D 1/62 20060101
C21D001/62 |
Claims
1. A cooling head for cooling material recovered from an industrial
process when the material is disposed in a material container,
comprising a downwardly projecting portion that is shaped to engage
the material and a plurality of ribs extending across a top of the
cooling head.
2. The cooling head of claim 1, wherein the material is aluminum
dross.
3. The cooling head of claim 1, wherein the downwardly projecting
portion includes ribs on a lower surface thereof.
4. The cooling head of claim 1, wherein a lower surface of the
cooling head is configured to engage an upper edge of the material
container so as to rest thereon during cooling of the material.
5. The cooling head of claim 1, further comprising tubular members
configured to receive forks of a forklift truck for moving of the
cooling head.
6. A cooling system, comprising: the cooling head of claim 1; a
material container; and a lever arm moveable to lower the cooling
head onto the material container and lift the cooling head off of
the material container.
7. A cooling system, comprising: the cooling head of claim 1; a
material container, the cooling head disposed on the material
container; and a means for directing cooling air across the top of
the cooling head and between the ribs for cooling the cooling
head.
8. A cooling system, comprising: the cooling head of claim 1; a
material container having holes for draining a liquid component of
the material, the cooling head disposed on the material container;
and a collector pan disposed under the material container for
collecting the drained liquid component.
9. A dross compression apparatus, comprising: the cooling head of
claim 1; and a drive means for vertically moving the cooling head
and forcing the cooling head into material retained by a material
container to compress and cool the material.
10. The dross compression apparatus of claim 9, further comprising
a means for directing cooling air across the top of the cooling
head and between the ribs for cooling the cooling head.
11. The dross compression apparatus of claim 9, wherein the
material is aluminum dross.
12. A method of cooling material recovered from an industrial
process, comprising: placing the material into a material
container; and placing a cooling head with respect to the material
container so that a downwardly projecting portion of the cooling
head engages the material and heat is radiated from a plurality of
ribs extending across a top of the cooling head.
13. The method of claim 12, wherein the material is aluminum
dross.
14. The method of claim 12, wherein the downwardly projecting
portion includes ribs on a lower surface thereof.
15. The method of claim 12, wherein a lower surface of the cooling
head is configured to engage an upper edge of the material
container so as to rest thereon during cooling of the material.
16. The method of claim 12, wherein the cooling head is lowered
into contact with the material with a lever arm.
17. The method of claim 12, further comprising directing cooling
air across the top of the cooling head and between the ribs to cool
the cooling head.
18. The method of claim 12, further comprising collecting a liquid
component of the material that drains through holes of the material
container with a collector pan.
19. The method of claim 12, further comprising forcing the cooling
head into the material to compress and cool the material.
20. The method of claim 19, directing cooling air across the top of
the cooling head and between the ribs to cool the cooling head.
21. The method of claim 12, further comprising compressing the
material with a compression head of a compression apparatus before
placing the cooling head with respect to the material container.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 10/778,456, filed Feb. 13, 2004, which claims
the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/518,547,
filed Nov. 7, 2003, the disclosures of which are herein
incorporated by reference in their entireties.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] This invention relates to a dross compression apparatus and
more particularly to a cooling system and cooling method for more
effectively cooling the compression head of a dross compression
apparatus.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] Dross compression apparatus are commonly used to recover
non-ferrous metals, particularly aluminum, from dross which has
been skimmed from a furnace. Aluminum dross is a combination of
aluminum metal and aluminum oxides, as well as other possible
components such as various oxides, nitrates and carbides. Aluminum
dross is a by-product of an aluminum melting operation. Generally
the dross floats on top of the molten aluminum metal in the
furnace. Aluminum dross may contain anywhere from ten percent to
ninety percent aluminum depending on the particular processing
technique and the type of furnace. Therefore the dross in an
aluminum melting operation includes a significant amount of
aluminum metal which is considered a valuable resource to be
recovered.
[0004] The recovery of aluminum from aluminum dross must also
address the problem of the loss of aluminum metal in the dross due
to thermiting or thermite reaction, i.e., exothermic oxidation of
aluminum metal. It is generally known to provide the compression
head of the dross compression apparatus with air or water cooling
to reduce the thermiting action and thereby increase the amount of
aluminum recovered from the aluminum dross. However, there is a
continuing need to be able to remove heat more effectively from the
dross compression head to increase the capacity of the dross
compression apparatus in recovering aluminum from aluminum dross or
other non-ferrous metals from other drosses without the use of
water cooling.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0005] The compression head of the dross compression apparatus is
more effectively cooled in accordance with the present invention by
blowing cooling air across the top of the compression head during
the recovery of various non-ferrous metals including aluminum from
various types of dross.
[0006] In accordance with one aspect of the invention, one or more
air nozzles are provided for directing cooling air across the top
of the compression head.
[0007] In accordance with another aspect of the invention, one or
more air vents are provided in the dross compression apparatus for
venting the air after being directed across the top of the
compression head.
[0008] In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a
plurality of ribs may extend across the top of the compression head
in the direction of the air vents for directing the air out of the
air vents after being directed across the top of the compression
head.
[0009] In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the air
nozzles may direct air along and between the ribs on the top of the
compression head toward the air vents.
[0010] In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the air
nozzles may be movable in synchronism with the compression head
during vertical movement of the compression head toward and away
from the dross collector.
[0011] These and other objects, advantages, features and aspects of
the present invention will become apparent as the following
description proceeds.
[0012] To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the
invention, then, comprises the features hereinafter fully described
and particularly pointed out in the claims, the following
description and the annexed drawings setting forth in detail a
certain illustrative embodiment of the invention, this being
indicative, however, of but one of the various ways in which the
principles of the invention may be employed.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0013] In the annexed drawings:
[0014] FIG. 1 is a schematic front elevation view of the dross
compression apparatus of the present invention showing air vent
slots in a back wall of the apparatus.
[0015] FIG. 2 is a schematic fragmentary side elevation view of the
dross compression apparatus of FIG. 1 showing air nozzles connected
to an air manifold for blowing air across cooling ribs on the top
of the compression head and out air vent slots in a wall of the
apparatus.
[0016] FIG. 3 is a schematic top plan view of the compression head
and air manifold with air nozzles connected thereto of FIG. 2.
[0017] FIG. 4 is a front elevation view of the compression head of
FIGS. 2 and 3.
[0018] FIG. 5 is an enlarged schematic perspective view of the air
manifold and air nozzles of FIGS. 2 and 3.
[0019] FIG. 6 is a schematic side elevation view of one form of
dross compression apparatus of the present invention.
[0020] FIG. 7 is a schematic back elevation view of the dross
compression apparatus of FIG. 6.
[0021] FIG. 8 is a schematic top plan view of the dross compression
apparatus of FIG. 6.
[0022] FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a cooling system in
accordance with one exemplary embodiment of the present
invention.
[0023] FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a cooling system in
accordance with another exemplary embodiment of the present
invention.
[0024] FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a multi-chamber cooling
system in accordance with another exemplary embodiment of the
present invention.
[0025] FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a cooling system in
accordance with another exemplary embodiment of the present
invention.
[0026] FIG. 13 is a front view of a cooling head in accordance with
an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
[0027] FIG. 14 is a front view of a cooling system in accordance
with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention where a skim
pot and a sow mold are shown in section.
[0028] FIG. 15 is a side view of a cooling head in accordance with
another exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0029] Referring now in detail to the drawings wherein like
reference numerals are used to indicate like parts, and initially
to FIG. 1, there is schematically shown one form of dross
compression apparatus 1 in accordance with the present invention
which may be generally of the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos.
5,397,104 and 5,669,957, the entire disclosures of which are
incorporated herein by reference. Such apparatus includes a
compression head 2 that may be driven vertically by a suitable
drive means such as a fluid piston/cylinder 3 toward and away from
a dross collector 4. Alternatively, the drive means may drive the
dross collector 4 toward and away from the compression head 2 or
drive both the compression head and dross collector toward and away
from one another. Any suitable drive means may be utilized for this
purpose including hydraulic, pneumatic, electrical or other drive
means.
[0030] Dross collector 4 may have a substantially hemispheric
shaped receptacle 5 and compression head 2 may be similarly shaped
to cooperate with the receptacle. The term substantially
hemispheric shaped as used herein is broadly defined to mean any
shape that is substantially similar in concept and function to the
shapes shown in the drawings and includes shapes that deviate from
the shapes shown such as flatter structures or more pointed
structures as well as structures that may have additional curved
surfaces.
[0031] The dross collector receptacle 5 is provided with one or
more openings (not shown) at the bottom of the receptacle to allow
molten aluminum (or other molten metal) to pass by gravity and
under the pressure of compression head 2 out from the collector
into a lower receptacle 6 which is referred to in the art as a sow
mold. Dross collector 4 may be provided with tubular members 7 for
receipt of the forks of a forklift truck for transporting the dross
collector 4 from a furnace to the dross compression apparatus and
removal therefrom.
[0032] The compression head 2 of the present invention may be made
of any suitable solid metal such as cast alloy steel to provide
sufficient mass for dissipating heat in the dross metal during the
recovery of various non-ferrous metals from various types of dross,
including particularly aluminum from dross which has been skimmed
from a furnace. Multiple ribs 10-12 may be provided on the top 15,
bottom 16 and sides 17 of the compression head as schematically
shown in FIGS. 2-4. As used herein, the term rib means broadly any
projection or shape which forms a projection, raised area, ridge,
corner or non-continuity on the compression head.
[0033] The ribs 11 and 12 on the bottom 16 and sides 17 of
compression head 2 extend into the dross in the dross collector or
skim box 4 during the recovery process to help dissipate the heat
in the dross metal. Also such ribs may help increase the
compressive force on the dross metal as disclosed in the
aforementioned U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,397,104 and 5,669,957.
[0034] The ribs 10 on the top 15 of compression head 2 also help to
remove heat from the compression head. To remove heat more
effectively from the compression head, cooling air may be blown
across the top of the compression head during and between relative
vertical movements of the compression head and dross collector
toward and away from each other. These ribs 10 extend generally in
the same direction, for example, from the front of the apparatus
toward the back, to help channel cooling air that is blown across
the top of compression head 2 out through air vent slots 18 (see
FIGS. 1-3 and 7) in a wall 19 of the dross compression
apparatus.
[0035] Cooling air may be directed along the peaks 20 and valleys
21 of ribs 10 by a plurality of vortex nozzles 22 supported by an
air manifold 23. If the compression head is mounted for vertical
movement, the air manifold 23 and associated air nozzles 22 may be
raised and lowered in synchronism with the raising and lowering of
the compression head 2 so that the air is always directed across
the top of the compression head and not onto the dross metal which
would cause the dross metal to oxidize.
[0036] Suitable slides or the like (not shown) may be provided on
the air manifold 23 for engagement with vertical rails or the like
on the frame of the dross compression apparatus for guiding the air
manifold during its vertical movement. Also a suitable mechanism
such as a piston/cylinder 25 that is used to move the air manifold
23 vertically may be controlled by the same controller 26 (see
FIGS. 7 and 8) that is used to control the vertical movements of
the compression head 2 for causing the air manifold and associated
air nozzles 22 to move in unison with the compression head.
[0037] Suitable hoses 30 may connect the air nozzles 22 to the
plenum chamber 31 of the air manifold 23 as schematically shown in
FIG. 5. Air manifold 23 may be supplied with pressurized air
through a hose 32 from a suitable air supply such as compressed air
or air received from a blower at a remote site.
[0038] The number, size and location of the air vent slots 18 in
wall 19 of dross compression apparatus 1 should be such that
substantially all of the cooling air passing over the top of the
compression head is discharged through the slots to minimize
oxidation of the dross metal. Air vent slots 18 may all be of about
the same length and may match the peaks 20 and valleys 21 formed by
the ribs 10 on the top of compression head 2 in number and
location. If the wall 19 of dross compression apparatus 1 in which
the slots are provided contains a small door 35 used to provide
access for cleaning the compression head, the slots 18 may also
extend through portions of the door as schematically shown in FIG.
7 to aid in the venting of substantially all of the cooling air
from the dross compression apparatus after passing over the top of
the compression head.
[0039] In operation in accordance with the method of the present
invention, dross is collected from an electric furnace or the like
in the receptacle 5 of the dross collector 4 and then transported
to the dross compression apparatus 1. With the lower receptacle or
sow mold 6 in place, metal, particularly aluminum, is allowed to
decant through an opening in the lower end of the dross collector 4
into the sow mold. Then, after the main door 36 (see FIG. 8) of the
dross compression apparatus is closed, the compression head 2 is
moved toward the dross collector receptacle 5 to compress the
dross. At the same time, the ribs 11 and 12 on the bottom 16 and
sides 17 of the compression head 2 form grooves in the shell of
material between the compression head and the inner surface of the
receptacle as disclosed in the aforementioned U.S. Pat. Nos.
5,397,104 and 5,669,957 enabling the shell to be easily broken for
further processing such as by crushing.
[0040] The cooling air that is directed by the vortex nozzles 22
across the top of the compression head 2 during compression of the
dross will lower the temperature of the compression head and
maximize the cooling effect of the air on the compression head.
Removing the heat from the compression head while the compression
head is compressing the dross material during the recovery process
increases the capacity of the dross compression apparatus without
the need for water cooling. The cooling capacity of the compression
head of the present invention may be as much as four times that of
a standard compression head. For example, a dross compression
apparatus incorporating the compression head cooling system of the
present invention that normally presses three to four containers of
dross metal every three to four hours would be able to press three
to four containers of the dross metal every hour.
[0041] With reference to FIGS. 9 through 15, various exemplary
embodiments of a cooling system 37 are shown. The cooling system 37
may be used to cool a variety of materials including, for example,
aluminum dross, dross from other metal processing, salt cake and so
forth. The material may be residue obtain following the recovery of
molten aluminum from a recycling operation or from some other
industrial process, such as, without limitation, byproducts from a
magnesium processing system and chloride flux derived from a paper
pulp processing system. As will be appreciated, these materials are
preferably cooled prior to disposal or further processing.
[0042] The cooling system 37 includes a cooling head 38. The
cooling head 38 may be placed on a material container 39. The
cooling head 38 and material container 39 have corresponding
geometries to cooperate with one another in the manners described
herein. Depending on the application, the material container 39 may
be referred to as a dross collector (e.g., the dross collector 4 of
FIGS. 1 and 6-7), a skim pot, and so forth. The cooling head 38
and/or the material container 39 may be made from any appropriate
material, including cast alloy steel or grey iron. Grey iron may be
cheaper than alloy steel, but alloy steel may be more resistant to
surface checking and cracking and, as a result, have a longer
life-span. Allow steel also may more efficiently cool the
material.
[0043] The material container 39 may have a receptacle 40 for the
material to be cooled. In the embodiment of FIG. 11, the material
container 39 has plural receptacles 40. In one embodiment, the
receptacle 40 and/or a portion of the cooling head 38 that projects
into the receptacle 40 may be substantially hemispheric shaped. Of
course, other shapes are possible.
[0044] In some configurations, the material container 39 may be
provided with one or more openings 41 (best shown in FIG. 14) at
the bottom of the receptacle 40 to allow molten aluminum (or other
flowable material) to pass by gravity and/or under the pressure
from the cooling head 38. The substance passing through the
openings 41 mat be collected in a collector pan 42 disposed under
the material container 39. Depending on the industrial application,
the collector pan 42 may be referred to as a drain pan or a sow
mold.
[0045] The material container 39 and/or the collector pan 42 may
include passages 43 that accept forks of a forklift truck for
transporting the material container 39 and/or collector pan 42. In
one embodiment, the cooling head 38 may include tubular members 44
for receipt of the forks of a forklift truck for transporting the
cooling head 38 and/or positioning the cooling head 38 on the
material container 39. In another embodiment, the cooling head 38
may be wider than the material container 39 and the forks of the
forklift truck may move and/or position the cooling head 38 by
engaging portions of the cooling head 38 that overhand the material
container 39. In yet other embodiments, the cooling head 38 may be
moved and/or positioned with respect to the material container 39
using a hoist or crane. The cooling head 38 may include a hook(s),
ring(s) or other member for facilitating coupling of the cooling
head 38 to the hoist or crane by way of, for example, a rigid
member, a cable, a chain, a hook, and so forth. In one embodiment,
such as the embodiment shown in FIG. 12, the cooling head 38 may be
coupled to a lever arm 45. The lever arm 45 may be raised and
lowered (and possibly swung) to position the cooling head 38 with
respect to the material container 39. In the illustrated
embodiment, the elevation of the lever arm 45 is controlled by a
hydraulic piston, but other mechanisms for positioning the lever
arm 45 are possible. The lever arm 45 may connect directly to the
cooling head 38 or may connect to the cooling head 38 by way of a
rigid member, a cable, a chain, a hook, a ball joint, a spring
and/or some other member. The lever arm 45 may be mounted to a
stationary frame.
[0046] The cooling head 38 may have a downwardly projecting
protrusion 47. As illustrated, a plate-like member that forms an
upper portion 48 of the cooling head 38 has a depression, or well,
that forms the protrusion 47 by protruding downwardly for making
thermal contact with the material. The upper surface of the upper
portion 48 may be depressed so that the lower surface of the
protrusion 47 is convexly curved and is disposed below the
surrounding flange-like members formed by the upper portion 48. In
some embodiments, the protrusion 47 may be substantially
hemispheric shaped. When the cooling head 38 is positioned on the
material container 39, the protrusion 47 may enter the receptacle
40 though an open top of the material container 39 and the
protrusion 47 may contact the material contained in the material
container 39. The cooling head 38 may include multiple protrusions
47, such as a protrusion 47 for each receptacle 40 of a
multi-receptacle 40 material container 39 (e.g., the cooling head
38 and the material container 39 of FIG. 11).
[0047] Heat from material contained in the material container 39
may be transferred to the protrusion 47. A substantial amount of
the transferred heat may be conveyed to the upper portion 48 of the
cooling head 38. In one embodiment, the upper portion 48 of the
cooling head 38 may be a plate that surrounds the protrusion 47. In
the illustrated embodiments, the upper portion 48 is open so that a
recess formed by the protrusion 47 is open to the environment. This
open recess, or well, creates surface area for efficient heat
transfer and provides a lighter cooling head 38 relative to a
cooling head 38 that has a solid protrusion 47 or a covered
protrusion 47. The surface of the well (which is the upper surface
of the protrusion 47) may be relatively smooth as shown or have
structural elements (e.g., ribs).
[0048] The lower surface of the protrusion 47 may be relatively
smooth as shown in FIGS. 9 through 12. Alternatively, the lower
surface of the protrusion 47 may have structural elements, such as
ribs 49 as shown in FIGS. 13-15. Again, as used herein, the term
rib means broadly any projection or shape which forms a projection,
raised area, ridge, corner or non-continuity on a surface. Ribs
also may be referred to as fins or flanges. Similar to the ribs
11-12, the ribs 49 may extend into the material in the material
container 39 to help dissipate and/or transfer the heat in the
material. Also, such ribs may help increase the compressive force
on the material. In the exemplary embodiments of FIGS. 9-15, the
cooling head 38 is placed on the material container 39 and any
compression of the material in the material container 39 is
achieved solely by the weight of the cooling head 37 acting on the
material. In other embodiments, downward force may be applied to
the cooling head 38 to achieve compression of the material. Such
downward force may be applied, for example, using a press assembly,
such as the above-described dross compression apparatus 1. In other
embodiments, downward force may be applied by a forklift truck or
the lever arm 45 used to move the cooling head 38.
[0049] To assist in dissipating and/or radiating heat from the
material to the environment, the cooling head 38 may include
structural elements on the upper surface of the upper portion 48.
For instance a series of ribs 50 may be present. The tubular member
44, if present, also may serve to assist in dissipating and/or
radiating heat. In effect, the ribs 50 and/or other elements on the
top of the cooling head 38 may help to remove heat from the cooling
head 28. To enhance the removal of heat from the cooling head 38,
cooling air may be directed across the top of the cooling head 38.
For instance, as shown in FIG. 10, a blower 51 or other ventilation
system may draw air across the top of the cooling head 38 as
graphically portrayed by arrow 52. In other embodiments, the air
may be blown across the top of the cooling head 38. Plural cooling
systems 37 may be arranged in close proximity to each other such
that air may be directed across multiple cooling heads 38 to assist
in cooling material that is dispensed into multiple corresponding
material containers 39.
[0050] The ribs 50 on the cooling head 38 may extend generally in
the same direction, such as from the front of the cooling head 38
toward the back of the cooling head 38 (e.g., as shown in FIGS.
9-10 and 12-15) or from one side to another side (e.g., as shown in
FIG. 11). The directionality of the ribs may help channel cooling
air that is directed across the top of the cooling head 38. For
instance, cooling air may be directed along the peaks 53 and
valleys 54 of the ribs 50 as best illustrated in FIGS. 13 and 14.
Any suitable nozzle assembly, blower, manifold, fan or air
circulator may be used to create an air flow to assist in removing
heat from the cooling head 38. If the cooling head 38 is mounted
for vertical movement, such as when used as a compression head for
a compression apparatus, the air directing mechanism may be raised
and lowered in synchronism with the raising and lowering of the
cooling head 38.
[0051] A lower surface of upper portion 48 may be configured to
engage an upper edge of material container 39. The interface (or
closure) between the cooling head 38 and material container 39 may
reduce the flow of gasses into the receptacle and reduce oxidation
of the material in the material container 39 during cooling. As
indicated, edge portions of the upper portion 48 may overhang the
material container 39. Overhanging portions 55 may be bent downward
to enhance the sealing effect, to divert air flow and/or to provide
a lip to assist in stabilizing the cooling head 38 in embodiments
where a forklift is used to lift the underside of the cooling head
38. The downwardly bend overhanging portions 55 may be present on
any combination of the front edge, the rear edge, the left side
edge and the right side edge.
[0052] The well formed by the protrusion 47 may be filled with a
material to assist in weighting the cooling head 38 and/or
adjusting the cooling behavior of the cooling head 38. For
instance, sand, metal shot, plates or a conforming metal insert may
be placed in the well. Also, a cooling apparatus may be placed in
the well. In other embodiments a coolant (in addition to or instead
of the above-described air) may be directed across the surface of
the recess and/or the ribs 50. For instance, water or oil may be
circulated with respect to the cooling head 38.
[0053] In an exemplary industrial application to process aluminum
dross, a compression apparatus (e.g., the compression apparatus 1)
may be used to compress dross in a time period of about an hour or
less. Then, the container in which the dross was compressed may be
moved from the compression apparatus and a cooling head (e.g., the
cooling head 38) may be placed on the moved dross and dross
container to further cool the dross for a period of time, such as
about one hour to about two hours. This allows for increased use of
the compression apparatus for compression, which leads to increased
throughput and process efficiencies.
[0054] Although the invention has been shown and described with
respect to certain embodiments, it is obvious that equivalent
alterations and modifications will occur to others skilled in the
art upon the reading and understanding of the specification. In
particular, with regard to the various functions performed by the
above described components, the terms (including any reference to a
"means") used to describe such components are intended to
correspond, unless otherwise indicated, to any component which
performs the specified function of the described component (e.g.,
that is functionally equivalent), even though not structurally
equivalent to the disclosed component which performs the function
in the herein illustrated exemplary embodiments of the invention.
Also, all of the disclosed functions may be computerized and
automated as desired. In addition, while a particular feature of
the invention may have been disclosed with respect to only one
embodiment, such feature may be combined with one or more other
features as may be desired and advantageous for any given or
particular application.
* * * * *