Rotary drum reactor

Claim 1

AN APPARATUS FOR PROCESSING A FLUID MIXTURE INCLUDING VOLATILE LIQUID AND SOLID COMPONENTS COMPRISING AN ELONGATED HORIZONTAL DRUM, MEANS CONNECTED TO SAID DRUM FOR ROTATING THE SAME ABOUT ITS LONGITUDINAL AXIS, A HOUSING FOR SAID DRUM HAVING AN INNER CYLINDRICAL WALL PORTION SPACED FROM THE SURFACE OF SAID DRUM, A PLURALITY OF CIRCUMFERENTIALLY SPACED APART PARTITION MEANS EXTENDING LONGITUDINALLY OF SAID CYLINDRICAL WALL PORTION AND PROJECTING RADIALLY INWARDLY TOWARD SAID DRUM SUBSTANTIALLY TO DIVIDE THE SPACE BETWEEN SAID DRUM AND SAID CYLINDRICAL WALL PORTION INTO A PLURALITY OF CHAMBERS, HEATING MEANS MOUNTED WITHIN SAID HOUSING ADJACENT SAID WALL PORTION AND ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE THEREOF WITH RESPECT TO SAID DRUM FOR HEATING THE CYLINDRICAL WALL PORTION, APPLICATOR MEANS IN ONE OF SAID CHAMBERS ADAPTED TO APPLY A LAYER OF FLUID MIXTURE TO THE SURFACE OF SAID DRUM, CONDUIT MEANS CONNECTED TO A SECOND OF SAID CHAMBERS FOR REMOVING A VOLATILE COMPONENT OF SAID FLUID MIXTURE, AND CONTACT MEANS PROVIDED IN A THIRD CHAMBER FOR REMOVING THE SOLID RESIDUE FROM THE SURFACE OF SAID DRUM.