Process and apparatus for reclaiming and regenerating spent solvent

Claim 1

Apparatus for reclaiming and regenerating spent solvent which is made up of a major portion of an oil phase and a minor portion of an aqueous phase and which has been used in a cleaning operation, which apparatus comprises: 1. a first vessel to hold spent solvent for a period of time sufficient to permit the spent solvent to separate into an upper aqueous phase and a lower oil phase, said first vessel having a liquid entry port to receive spent solvent and a liquid discharge port to discharge the liquid contents of the vessel; 2. an automatic liquid phase detector-transmitter connected in liquid relationship with the liquid discharge from the first vessel to generate an appropriate electrical signal indicating the presence or absence of the aqueous phase or the oil phase as either phase passes through the detector-transmitter, said detector-transmitter comprising an in-line electrical conductometric probe having two electrodes exposed to the liquid discharge stream from the first vessel; 3. a second vessel to hold the oil phase and having a liquid entry port to receive the oil phase; and 4. valve and conduit means, said valve means being controlled by a programming means which is actuatable by the electrical signal generated by the detector-transmitter, to conduct liquid from the liquid discharge port of the first vessel through the automatic liquid phase detector-transmitter and to direct the flow of oil phase into the liquid entry port of the second vessel and the flow of aqueous phase to waste, said apparatus further comprising means to regenerate the reclaimed oil phase, said means comprising a vessel containing fresh oil, an automatic valve and conduit means controlled by said programming means to conduct liquid from the fresh oil-containing vessel to the first vessel which is calibrated to hold a predetermined amount of solvent, a water reservoir, an automatic operating valve and conduit means controlled by said programming means to conduct water from the water reservoir through the automatic operating valve and into the second vessel which is calibrated to hold all the oil transferred from the first vessel and the amount of water equivalent to the amount of aqueous phase discharged to waste.