Patent · US Expired

Apparatus and method for in-situ treatment of a medium

US5275513A · kind A · utility

11Cited by
10References
19Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateJun 22, 1992
Grant dateJan 4, 1994
Priority date
Expiry dateJun 22, 2012

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC E)Fixed Constructions
  • CPC primaryE02D3/126
  • WIPO fieldCivil engineering
  • WIPO sectorOther fields

Abstract

An apparatus for treating a medium in situ includes counter-rotating shafts and intermeshed blades arranged on the shafts in a helical array to define mixing zones along the length of the shafts. Reagent supply conduits are disposed in a housing surrounding the upper ends of the shafts for introducing reagents into the mixing zones. The housing is attached to a mobile excavator which moves the shafts horizontally and vertically. The shafts are lowered into the medium by the excavator and are counter-rotated to cause the blades to pump the medium and the reagents along the shafts. Once at the desired operating depth, the shafts are moved below the surface of the medium in the horizontal direction generally perpendicular to the plane of the axes of the shafts to define a volume in the medium. The medium and the reagent are mixed vertically and laterally in the mixing zones and are further mixed horizontally as the mixing zones traverse the medium in the horizontal direction, thereby mixing the reagent and the medium in the volume in both the vertical and the horizontal direction to stabilize and homogenize the medium. The shafts are then withdrawn from the medium and the process is r…

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.