Hot water extraction cell containing two or more deflection baffles

Claim 1

In a hot water process separation cell suitable for recovering bituminous froth from tar sands comprising; a. a tank; b. a rotatable center shaft running on the vertical axis of the tank from the top toward the bottom of the tank; c. a means for rotating said shaft; d. middlings outlets connected to the side and communicating with the interior of the tank for withdrawing middlings from the cell; e. a tar sands pulp inlet means to the tank, said means having an inlet at one end and communicating with the exterior of said cell and a discharge outlet located within said tank at the opposite end of said inlet means and having a feed well at its discharge end; f. a sand discharge outlet at the bottom of the tank for withdrawing sand tailings from the cell; g. an overflow means connected at the side of the tank and positioned adjacent to the tank to receive bituminous froth; h. a sand rake connected to said center shaft to rotate with the shaft and positioned to move settled sand toward said sand discharge outlet; the improvement which comprises i. and inverted saucer shaped baffle affixed immediately above said sand rakes and extending from and concentric with said shaft and having a skirt affixed to the outer periphery of said baffle and extending downward to a point between said baffle and the bottom of said tank; and ii. a second inverted saucer shaped baffle extending from said shaft and concentric therewith located immediately below the outlet of said feed well.