Refuse incinerating process and apparatus

Claim 1

AN IMPROVED INCINERATING APPARATUS, SAID APPARATUS COMPRISING, IN COMBINATION, A GENERALLY VERTICAL HOLLOW INCINERATOR COLUMN, INCLUDING A LOWER COMBUSTION CHAMBER HAVING REFUSE RETAINING MEANS AND A PLURALITY OF FLAMELESS TREATING CHAMBERS ADAPTED TO RETAIN REFUSE FOR DRYING, DISTILLING AND CARBONIZING WITHOUT COMBUSTION, AND DISPOSED IN GENERALLY VERTICALLY STACKED RELATION ABOVE SAID COMBUSTION CHAMBER, HORIZONTALLY RETRACTABLE REFUSE HOLDING MEANS COMPRISING THE FLOOR OF EACH OF SAID TREATING CHAMBERS, MEANS FOR INTRODUCING REFUSE INTO THE UPPERMOST OF SAID TREATING CHAMBERS WHILE RESTRICTING GAS FLOW THERETO, MEANS FOR WITHDRAWING COMBUSTION GASES ONLY FROM SAID UPPERMOST OF SAID TREATING CHAMBERS, MEANS FOR MIXING SAID WITHDRAWN COMBUSTION GASES WITH A CONTROLLED CONCENTRATION OF OXYGEN-CONTAINING GAS AND FOR RETURNING THE RESULTANT MIXTURE TO SAID COMBUSTION CHAMBER BELOW SAID REFUSE RETAINING MEANS, AND MEANS FOR WITHDRAWING A CONTROLLED CONCENTRATION OF EXCESS COMBUSTION GASES FROM SAID COMBUSTION CHAMBER ABOVE SAID REFUSE RETAINING MEANS AND BELOW SAID TREATING CHAMBERS AND FOR PASSING SAID WITHDRAWN EXCESS COMBUSTION GASES FROM SAID APPARATUS.