Method and apparatus for the recovery of solvent vapors

Claim 1

A PROCESS OF RECOVERING A VAPOR PRODUCED BY A VOLATILE ORGANIC LIQUID WHOSE BOILING IS ABOVE AMBIENT TEMPERATURE AT THE EXISTING BAROMETRIC PRESSURE, COMPRISING THE STEPS OF ENCLOSING A MATERIAL FOR ADSORBING SAID VAPOR IN A CONFINED CHANNEL, PASSING THROUGH SAID CHANNEL TO THE ADSORBING MATERIAL A GAS COMPOSED PRINCIPALLY OF AIR AND OF A TEMPERATURE NOT SUBSTANTIALLY IN EXCESS OF AMBIENT TEMPERATURE, AND INTERMITTENTLY ADMITTING TO SAID CHANNEL A GAS CONTAINING A RELATIVELY HIGH PERCENTAGE OF SAID VAPOR AND THEREBY SUDDENLY HEATING SAID ADSORBING MATERIAL ABOVE AMBIENT TEMPERATURE, THE AMOUNT OF AIR CONTAINED IN THE TOTAL VOLUME OF GAS PASSING TO THE ADSORBING MATERIAL BEING SUFFICIENT TO MAINTAIN THE MEAN TEMPERATURE OF THE ADSORBING MATERIAL SUBSTANTIALLY AT AMBIENT TEMPERATURE AND TO COUNTERACT THE RISE IN TEMPERATURE OF SAID ADSORBING MATERIAL AFTER THE VAPOR RICH GAS HAS PASSED THERETO.