Handling of granular solids

Claim 1

A PROCESS FOR THE CONVEYANCE OF GRANULAR SOLIDS WHICH COMPRISES FLOWING SOLIDS TO BE CONVEYED INTO AN UPPER SOLIDS SURGE ZONE, FLOWING SOLIDS BY GRAVITY FROM SAID UPPER SURGE ZONE DIRECTLY AND IN ROTATION INTO EACH OF A PLURALITY OF PRESSURING ZONES, FLOWING SOLIDS BY GRAVITY FROM EACH OF SAID PLURALITY OF PRESSURING ZONES IN ROTATION DIRECTLY INTO A LOWER SURGE ZONE, MAINTAINING SAID LOWER SURGE ZONE AT A HIGHER PRESSURE THAN SAID UPPER SURGE ZONE, SUCCESSIVELY DEPRESSURING EACH OF SAID PRESSURING ZONES TO THE UPPER SURGE ZONE PRESSURE PRIOR TO RECEIVING SOLIDS THEREFROM AND PRESSURING EACH OF SAID PRESSURING ZONES TO THE LOWER SURGE ZONE PRESSURE PRIOR TO DISCHARGING SOLID THEREINTO ACCORDING TO A PREDETERMINED TIME CYCLE TO MAINTAIN A RELATIVELY CONTINUOUS REMOVAL OF SOLIDS FROM SAID UPPER SURGE ZONE AND A RELATIVELY CONTINUOUS DISCHARGE OF SOLIDS INTO SAID LOWER SURGE ZONE, FLOWING GRANULAR SOLIDS FROM SAID LOWER SURGE ZONE AT A HIGH PRESSURE RELATIVE TO SAID UPPER SURGE ZONE, DETECTING THE VARIATION IN POSITION OF A SOLIDS LEVEL WITHIN SAID UPPER SURGE ZONE, AND VARYING THE FLOW RATE OF GRANULAR SOLIDS THROUGH SAID ZONES IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE VARIATIONS IN