Distillation of oil-bearing minerals

Claim 1

IN THE METHOD OF DISTILLING OIL-BEARING MINERALS OF THE TYPE OF OIL SHALE IN THE FORM OF A DENSE TURBULENT BED OF SUBDIVIDED SOLIDS FLUIDIZED IN A DISTILLATION ZONE BY AN UPWARDLY FLOWING GAS WHEREIN THE HEAT REQUIRED FOR DISTILLATION IS GENERATED BY A COMBUSTION OF RETORTED SHALE IN THE FORM OF A TURBULENT SOLIDS-IN-GAS SUSPENSION MAINTAINED IN A SEPARATE COMBUSTION ZONE, THE IMPROVEMENT WHICH COMPRISES PASSING SAID FLUIDIZED SOLIDS IN THE ABSENCE OF SOLID COMBUSTION RESIDUE DOWNWARDLY THROUGH A PLURALITY OF SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL VERTICAL ELONGATED DISTILATION ZONES HAVING A RATIO OF LENGTH-TO-DIAMETER BETWEEN ABOUT 30:1 AND 100:1, PASSING SPENT OIL-BEARING MINERALS HIGHLY HEATED BY SAID COMBUSTION UPWARDLY THROUGH A SERIES OF VERTICALLY SPACED HEATING ZONES IN EACH OF WHICH SPENT SHALE IS MAINTAINED IN THE FORM OF A DENSE FLUIDIZED TURBULENT MASS ABOVE WHICH EXISTS A DILUTE PHASE SEPARATING SAID DENSE MASS FROM THE NEXT HIGHER DENSE MASS, SAID VERTICAL DISTILLATION ZONES BEING IMBEDDED IN SAID SERIES OF HEATING ZONES, THEREBY SUPPLYING SUBSTANTIALLY ALL OF SAID REQUIRED HEAT TO SAID SOLIDS IN THE DISTILLATION ZONES BY INDIRECT COUNTERCURRENT HEAT EXCHANGE WITH SAID HEATED SPENT OIL-BEARING MINERALS, MAINTAINING SAID SOLIDS AT A RELATIVELY LOW TEMPERATURE IN THE PORTIONS OF SAID DISTILLATION ZONES ADJACENT TO THE FEED POINT OF FRESH OIL-BEARING MINERALS, AND MAINTAINING SAID SOLIDS AT A RELATIVELY HIGH TEMPERATURE IN THE BOTTOM PORTIONS OF SAID DISTILLATION ZONES ADJACENT TO THE DISCHARGE POINT OF SPENT OIL-BEARING MINERALS FROM SAID DISTILLATION ZONES.