a2) ‘USO United States Patent Council et al. 3365536BL US 6,365,536 BL Apr. 2, 2002 16: (0) Patent No.: 45) Date of Patent: (54) (7) 3) © METHOD OF MAKING BLEACHING CLAY Inventors: Steven T. Counell, Downers Groves Mare A. Herpfer, Grayslake; Dov Shaked, Buffalo Grove, all of IL (US) Assignee: OWL-Dri Corporation of America, Chicago, IL (US) Notice: Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this, patent is extended or adjusted under 35 USC. 154(b) by 0 days, Appl. No. 09/566,111 Filed: May 5, 2000 Int. C1? BOLJ 21/16; BOLI 37/00 US. Cl. Field of Search 502 1; 502/80; 502/83 502/80, 81, 83, 502/85; 426/253; 554/191 References Cited US. PATENT DOCUMENTS 2941,959 A * 6/1960 Greene et al 4919818 A * 4/1990 Alexander 5008225 A + 4/1001 Taylor eta 5.749.955 A * 5/1008 Shaked ct al 5783511 A * 7/1998 Buanin eta 5.906.500 A * 6/190 Brooks etal 5.017.069 A * 6/190 Buck eta. 6.130.179 A * 102000. Sampson eta. FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS wo wo9902256 + 1/1999 * cited by examiner Primary Examiner—Steven P. Griffin Assistant Examiner—Christina lidebrando (74) Auorney, Agent, or Firm—Olson & Hierl, Lid. 6D ABSTRACT Ableaching clay having an enhanced bleaching performance in oils is produced by first beneficiating a raw clay to remove sand and thereafter conditioning and then concentrating the beneliciated clay with a pH modifier and a Lewis acid sal, 31 Claims, 3 Drawing Sheets cuay STARTING MATERA SLURRYING =] scueous Waste <¢—] FILTRATION ‘SLURRY 1 REWOWING woe |_ swwo BENEFICINTL SURRY D ¥ CONDONE amie j+— AceNT(S) ‘CONDITIONING pcwore conomToNeD SLURRY ¥ FLTRATE sOUDS/UUD ‘SEPARATION cur CONCENTRATE DRMING & SIZE REDUCTION LEACHING CLAY PRODUCTU.S. Patent Apr. 2, 2002 Sheet 1 of 3 US 6,365,536 BL CLAY STARTING MATERIAL ¥v MAKE-UP WATER ut i SLURRYING RECYCLE RECYCLE 5) paueous ‘SLURRY WASTE <¢——|_ FILTRATION ¥ REMOVING ‘SAND | SAND NEUTRALIZATION AGENT (OPTIONAL) {| BENEFICIATED SLURRY r y SLURRY CONDITIONING CONDITIONING [*——_AGENT(S) CONDITIONED SLURRY ACIDIC y FILTRATE SOLIDS/LIQUID ‘SEPARATION CLAY CONCENTRATE DRYING & ‘SIZE REDUCTION FIG. | v BLEACHING CLAY PRODUCTU.S. Patent Apr. 2, 2002 Sheet 2 of 3 US 6,365,536 BL RAW CLAY yv CRUSHER (SIZE REDUCTION) CLAY STARTING MATERIAL YING >} AQUEOUS SLURRY WASTE <¢—] FILTRATION y SAND REMOVAL | SAND NEUTRALIZING OPTIONAL AGENT “P| NEUTRALIZATION BENEFICIATED SLURRY , y ‘ALUMINUM SULFATE ‘CONDITIONING }—-— 7504 ‘CONDITIONED SLURRY ACIDIC y FILTRATE ‘SOLIDS/LIQUID ‘SEPARATION CLAY CONCENTRATE, y DRYING FIG, 2 BLEACHING CLAY PRODUCT