WO1993019848A1

WO1993019848A1 - Method and apparatus for mixing, comminuting and/or separating recyclable materials

Info

Publication number: WO1993019848A1
Application number: PCT/US1993/002815
Authority: WO
Inventors: Dan E. Reeter
Original assignee: Reeter Dan E
Priority date: 1992-04-06
Filing date: 1993-04-02
Publication date: 1993-10-14
Also published as: AU3935793A

Abstract

The present invention pertains to a method and apparatus for mixing, comminuting and/or separating materials, particularly recyclable materials. The invention provides at least one operating chamber (5) within which a high pressure vortex zone is created. High differential pressures are created at the upper (8) and lower fringes (11) of the vortex zone which apply a shearing force to materials as the materials pass through the operating chamber (5). By controlling the upper (8) and lower (11) pressure differentials, the functions of mixing, comminuting and/or separating can be performed.

Description

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MIXING, COMMINUTING AND/OR SEPARATING RECYCLABLE MATERIALS

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention pertains to the art of recycling materials and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for mixing, comminuting and/or separating recyclable materials.

2. Discussion of the Prior Art

From an environmental standpoint, recycling has many obvious advantages. However, although considerable efforts have been made in the art, the costs associated with recycling materials generally make such recycling economically unattractive.

In order to recycle materials, the materials generally have to be separated and comminuted. In this regard, it has heretobefore been proposed to break the recyclable materials into fine particles by various impact or crushing procedures utilizing machines that produce heat in such quantities that costly efforts have to be taken to prevent thermal distortion of the machine. In the case of machines which utilize moving parts to crush the material to be recycled, the moving parts, such as balls, hammers or blades, inherently wear and also can contaminate the output material due to the direct contact therebetween. In most cases, when wear becomes evident, product quality and operation efficiency will dramatically decrease.

A more efficient form of comminuting material has also been proposed in the prior art. These prior art arrangements utilize high pressure fluid flow to cause the recycling materials to impact one another within a confined chamber, thereby resulting in ground material that can be more efficiently broken down into a reusable form. One advantage of this type of system is that the recycled materials will not be contaminated by the communition system unless the material impacts the walls of the chamber. Along the same lines as the above described arrangement, additional comminuting assemblies are known which cause materials to be subject to abrupt pressure changes in a confined chamber thereby causing a substantially instantaneous breakdown of the materials.

Unfortunately, even these known arrangements have not provided a cost effective recycling process. One reason for this fact is that many require an auxiliary power source to force the material through the communition system. In addition, such systems have not been designed to also separate recyclable materials or to mix various materials if desired, thereby requiring multiple systems for these tasks.

Therefore, there exists a need in the art for an apparatus which can be used to both separate and comminute materials for recycling and other purposes. In addition, there is a need to provide such an apparatus which will make such operations cost effective. Also, there exists a need in the art for an apparatus that can mix multiple materials that can more effectively be used in a combined form.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for mixing, comminuting and/or separating materials, particularly recyclable materials, which overcomes the problems associated with the prior art discussed above. These and other objects of the invention are accomplished by providing an apparatus having at least one operating chamber, including an upper cylindrical portion and a lower conical portion defining a material output port at a lower end thereof, into which a high pressure fluid is tangentially channeled to define a high pressure vortex zone within the operating chamber into which the material to be"mixed, comminuted and/or separated flows. The flow rate of pressurized fluid into the operating chamber and the flow rate of pressure exhausted from within the chamber can be optimally controlled based on the specific material being modified and the desired operating function. The material is drawn through the operating chamber by gravity thereby alleviating the need for a separate means to force the flow of material. In addition, the material input port is located above the high pressure vortex zone at which a partial vacuum is created to aid in drawing the material into the operating chamber.

By this construction, when the material crosses the fringes, of the high pressure vortex zone, a shear force will be exerted on the material, the magnitude of which will depend on the regulated pressures. When used for mixing materials, the pressure in the vortex zone will be regulated such that the materials to be mixed can readily pass to the lower fringe of the vortex zone where the differing materials will be sheared and mixed. When used for comminuting materials, the apparatus of the present invention simply creates a pressure in the vortex zone higher than the tensile strength of the material such that, as the material crosses the fringes of the vortex zone, the differential pressure will cause the material to readily break apart. Finally, when used as a separator, an additional material outlet port is provided at the top of the apparatus such that when the materials cross the fringes of the .vortex zone, a lighter portion of the material will be drawn up and out the upper port and the heavier portion will flow through the operating chamber due to gravity. The present invention also covers a method for utilizing the above-outlined apparatus for mixing, comminuting and/or separating materials. These and other objects of the present invention will become more readily apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments thereof when taken in conjunction with the drawings, wherein like reference numerals are utilized to represent corresponding parts in the several views.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Figure 1 depicts a front perspective view of a first embodiment of the mixing, comminuting and/or separating apparatus according to the present invention.

Figure 2 depicts a side view of the apparatus shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 shows another perspective view of a portion of the apparatus according to the first embodiment of the invention to clearly depict additional features thereof.

Figure 4 schematically shows an electrical control system for use in the present invention.

Figure 5 depicts a front perspective view of a second embodiment of the invention.

Figure 6 is a top view of the second embodiment shown in Figure 5.

Figure 7 depicts a front perspective view of a third embodiment of the invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring first to the embodiment shown in Figures 1-3, the apparatus for mixing, comminuting and/or separating materials according to the present invention includes an operating chamber 5 having an upper cylindrical portion 8 and a lower conical portion 11. Conical portion 11 includes an upper section 14 which is fixedly secured to or integrally formed with the lower end 15 of cylindrical portion 8 and a lower section 17 terminating in a material output port 20. As clearly shown in these figures, conical portion 11 tapers from its connection to cylindrical portion 8 to material output port 20. Operating chamber 5 is maintained in a fixed position by its connection to a support unit 23, including a bracket 27 attached to lower section 17 of conical portion 11.

An input assembly, generally indicated at 32, includes a material input port 35 which projects into a ring housing 38 of input assembly 32. Ring housing 38 is fixedly secured to an upper end of cylindrical portion 8. Any material which is to be mixed, comminuted and/or separated enters operating chamber 5 through material input port 35. As best shown in Figure 2, operating chamber 5 is fixedly mounted with respect to the vertical such that any material entering material input port 35 will tend to fall through material output port 20 due to gravity. The specific angle of which operating chamber 5 is mounted with respect to the vertical can be changed in order to alter the gravity induced flow rate. The angle of material input port 35 with respect to the horizontal may also be adjusted, within the range of approximately 5 to 45 degrees, depending upon the material placed in operating chamber 5 for the reasons which will be more fully discussed below. In addition, a hopper 44 may be attached to material input port 35 in order to aid in supplying and guiding material into operating chamber 5. The apparatus of the present invention further includes a fluid blower 49 having legs 52 which are mounted to a support platform 54. In the preferred embodiment, fluid blower 49 constitutes an electric blower which draws in ambient air and ejects high pressure air through an output duct 58. Output duct 58 extends adjacent to operating chamber 5 as best shown in Figure 2. A fluid input pipe 60 is joined to output duct 58 and projects tangentially into operating chamber 5 at cylindrical portion 8 (see Figure 3) . Blower 49 thereby supplies high pressure air into operating chamber 5 at a predetermined location thereby creating a vortex zone within operating chamber 5. The size and position of the vortex zone within operating chamber 5 can be adjusted in accordance with the present invention in a manner which will be more fully discussed below. At this point, it should be noted that fluid input pipe 60 projects within operating chamber 5 beyond the inner surface thereof as indicated at 63 in Figure 3 such that the vortex zone created is maintained radially inward of this inner surface.

A fluid flow regulator, generally indicated at 65, is provided for controlling the rate of fluid flow from blower 49 into operating chamber 5 (Figures 1 and 2 only) . Fluid flow regulator 65 includes a flow control valve 66 which, in a preferred embodiment, is in the form of a conventional butterfly valve. Flow control valve 66 is fixedly secured to a shaft 68 which extends outside fluid input pipe 60. Shaft 68 can be rotated in order to adjust the position of flow control valve 66 either manually or, in the preferred embodiment, by means of a rotary electric motor 70 which is fixed to fluid input pipe 60. Of course, a lever (not shown) could be fixed to shaft 68 in order to adjust flow control valve 66 by utilizing a linear actuator without departing from the spirit of the invention. Further in the preferred embodiment, a pressure sensor 73 is provided either at the connection location between fluid input pipe 60 and operating chamber 5 or within the vortex zone inside operating chamber 5 in order to sense the pressure therein so as to automatically control the position of flow control valve 66 as will be discussed in more detail with reference to Figure 3 hereinafter.

An exhaust port 75 is provided above ring housing 38. Exhaust port 75 functions to permit a controlled amount of pressure within operating chamber 5 to be exhausted and has an exhaust pipe 78 attached thereto for ducting the exhaust pressure away. The remote end of exhaust pipe 78 may alternatively be coupled to a particle collection housing 82 for use in collecting a portion of a material introduced into operating chamber 5 for separation as will be discussed in detail below. If particle collection housing 82 is provided, housing 82 will be provided with at least one perforated portion 84 to permit pressure to still be exhausted from operating chamber 5. An exhaust flow regulator 87, including a relief valve 88 mounted to a shaft 89 within exhaust pipe 78, is provided for adjustably controlling the pressure relief provided. Exhaust flow regulator 87 is directly analogous to fluid flow regulator 65 and, in the preferred embodiment, is adjusted by means of a rotary electric motor 90 attached to shaft 89. Of course, as in the case of fluid flow regulator 65, relief valve 88 could be simply manually adjusted or shifted by a linear actuator (not shown) . In addition, motor 90 may be automatically controlled in response to output signals from an output pressure sensor 92 as will be more fully discussed with reference to Figure 4 hereinafter. Furthermore, since a low pressure area is present above the vortex zone, the material to be introduced through material input port 35 will actually be drawn into operating chamber 5.

, If the material to be operated upon within operating chamber 5 has a high liquid content and it is desired to extract this liquid, a decanter assembly 95 comprising an annular or semi-annular channel 97 is provided about cylindrical portion 8 below material input port 35. Decanter assembly 95 includes a fluid outlet pipe 100 connected to channel 97 for drawing the fluid from operating chamber 5 and either ejecting the fluid to the environment or to a separate container 102. As previously stated, the vortex zone created by the flow of fluid through input pipe 60 is radially spaced from an inner surface of operating chamber 5 due to the extension of fluid input pipe 60 therein. Therefore, when a high liquid content material flows into operating chamber 5 through input port 35,- the high mass water will flow radially outward within operating chamber 5 and be collected by decanter assembly 95. Of course, this radially outward flow of liquid will depend on the pressure generated in the vortex zone as controlled by fluid flow regulator 65 and exhaust flow regulator 87.

Figure 4 shows a schematic diagram of the control for rotary electric motors 70 and 90. Output signals from pressure sensors 73 and 92 are input, through lines 108 and 109 respectively, into a micro-controller 114. Micro¬ controller 114 then outputs control signals to electric motors 70, 90 through lines 117 and 119 to regulate the position of flow control valve 66 and relief valve 88 respectively. The outputs from micro-controller 114 can be adjusted by an operator by signals from an input keypad 120 which is used to indicate the type of material injected into operating chamber 5 so as to set the desired pressure differentials created therein.

The operation of the apparatus for mixing, comminuting and/or separating materials according to the present invention will now be described in detail. As previously stated, the high input pressure through fluid input pipe 60 creates a high pressure vortex zone within operating chamber 5. Since the upper portion of operating chamber 5 is open to atmosphere through exhaust port 75 and the lower end of conical portion 11 is open to atmosphere through material output port 20, extreme pressure differentials exist at the upper and lower fringes of the vortex zone. When a material flows into operating chamber 5 through input port 35, a high shear force is exerted on the material as the material crosses these fringes. It is these shear forces that are utilized by the present invention to mix, comminute and/or separate the material.

The pressure differential at the upper fringe of the vortex zone can be adjusted by regulating the flow of exhaust pressure through exhaust pipe 78 by means of exhaust flow regulator 87 along with regulating the input fluid flow. If the apparatus is to be used for mixing materials, flow control valve 66 and relief valve 88 will be controlled to minimize the pressure differential at this upper fringe. Therefore, a relatively low shear force will be exerted on the material entering operating chamber 5 through material input port 35 at this upper fringe, but as the material flows through the operating chamber 5 due to gravity, the high shear force present at the lower fringe will cause the material to be broken down and mixed. The pressure differential at this lower fringe is dependent upon both the fluid flow rate through fluid input pipe 60 and the diameter of material output port 20. In general, the diameter of material output port 20 is of the same magnitude of the diameter of material input port 35 and may be slightly adjusted depending upon the material to be used with the apparatus. Of course, the opening at material output port 20 must be of sufficient size to create the lower pressure differential since, with an extremely small sized material output port 20, substantially no pressure differential will be created.

When the apparatus of the present invention is used to comminute material, the same procedure applies as discussed above with respect to using the apparatus for mixing materials, except that only one type of material is introduced through material input port 35. In this case, however, the pressure differential at the upper fringe may also be increased if the material will not break down at this location into particles which are so light that they will be drawn up into exhaust pipe 78. For instance, if the apparatus is used to break a bottle into small particles, a pressure differential can be created at the upper fringe portion of the vortex zone which will cause the bottle to crack or perhaps break into rather large pieces and a high pressure dif erential can be created at the lower vortex fringe to cause these pieces or the bottle to shatter.

The apparatus can be used in two different manners in order to separate materials. In one form of the invention, the pressure differentials at the vortex fringes, particularly the lower fringe, are controlled such that the material introduced into operating chamber 5 is separated by permitting the heavier portions of the material to first flow out material output port 20 due to gravity while the remainder of the material is retained in the vortex flow. The pressure in the vortex zone can then be reduced to permit the next heaviest portion of the material to pass therethrough and so on.

Since the above described form of using the apparatus according to the present invention to separate materials requires rather concise controls of the pressures within operating chamber 5, a preferred separating form of the invention comprises shearing a portion of the material introduced through material input port 35 at the upper fringe. This portion of the material will then be drawn up through exhaust pipe 78 and collected in particle collection housing 82 while the heavier remainder of the material will flow through the vortex zone and will be comminuted or mixed as discussed above. For example, if a plastic bottle having a paper label is introduced into operating chamber 5, the paper can be sheared from the bottle at the upper fringe of the vortex zone, will flow out exhaust pipe 78 to be collected in particle collection housing 82 and the bottle itself can be shattered at the lower fringe of the vortex zone by creating a high pressure differential there.

If the apparatus of the present invention is to be used for one or more of the mixing, comminuting and separating functions with a particular material, the pressure differentials developed at the fringes of the vortex zone can be set to an appropriate level depending on the particular material and then not be further regulated. If, however, the apparatus is used for various functions with a wide variety of materials, the pressures will have to be adjusted for each use depending upon the particular function and material chosen. In these situations, the computer controlled regulation system is extremely beneficial.

If the apparatus is to be used to comminute rather heavy articles such as rocks, it has been found advantageous to provide a radially inwardly projecting annular flange indicated at 124 in Figure 1 about the inside surface of cylindrical portion 8 so that the heavy articles can develop rotational momentum before falling into the vortex zone by the gravitational force. The use of an annular flange 124 thereby enables the speed at which the heavy articles travel through operating chamber 5 to be reduced to a level which enables the apparatus to perform the communition function.

In .some situations, it may be desired to provide a source (for example, water) of ll^uiα/into operating chamber 5 to be mixed with the material introduced therein. These situations occur when a certain consistency of the output flow through material output port 20 is necessary. In these situations, water can be pumped, by means of a fluid pump (not shown) , into a liquid inlet 129 (see Figure 2) provided below decanter assembly 95 which will then be mixed with the introduced material at the lower fringe of the vortex zone.

It should be noted that the position of the vortex zone can be adjusted within operating chamber 5 in various ways. For instance, the back pressure above the vortex zone can be increased to lower the position of this zone. The lower the vortex zone is shifted, the higher the rotational flow rate therein due to the shape of conical portion 11. This back pressure is controlled through exhaust flow regulator 87. In addition, the vortex zone can be shifted radially inward by increasing the pressure therein by means of regulator assembly 65. Higher air pressures shifts the zone toward the center of operating chamber 5 and lower air pressures cause the zone to move radially outward.

In addition, it should be noted that the angle of the material input port 35 with respect to the horizontal can be changed, as previously stated, depending upon the material introduced into operating chamber 5. For instance, if a high fluid containing material is introduced, an angle of approximately 5 to 10 degrees is preferred so that the material will gradually flow close to the inner side wall surface of operating chamber 5 and the liquid can be more readily decanted by decanter assembly 95. If a soft material is introduced, an angle of approximately 30 degrees has shown best results. With hard materials, an angle close to 45 degrees is formed between material input port 35 and the horizontal so as to cause the material to be injected closer to the middle of operating chamber 5. In practice, it has been found that increasing this angle greater than 45 degrees results in a decrease in operating efficiency. The angle that operating chamber 5 is fixed at with respect to the vertical can also be adjusted depending upon the material used. With heavier materials, it has been found beneficial to increase this angle so as to decrease the gravitational affect on the material.

Reference will now be made to Figures 5 and 6 in describing a second embodiment of the invention. As shown in these figures, a second operating chamber 137, directly analogous to operating chamber 5, is provided in parallel with operating chamber 5. In addition, output duct 58 of fluid blower 49 is provided with an extension duct 141 into which a second fluid inlet pipe 144 opens. Second fluid inlet pipe 144 projects into second operating chamber 137 in a manner directly analogous to fluid input pipe 60 into operating chamber 5. In all other respects, the construction and operation of second operating chamber 137 is identical to that described above with reference to the first embodiment of the invention and therefore these specifics will not be repeated here. With this construction, a single blower 49 can be used to create vortex zones in multiple, parallel arranged operating chambers. As best shown in Figure 5, an exhaust duct 150 associated with second operating chamber 137 is connected to a common particle collection housing 82 with operating chamber 5. With this arrangement, when similar materials are introduced into the first and second operating chambers 5, 137 for separation, a first portion of the material will be collected in the common collection housing 82 and the other portions will flow through the respective material output ports.

The Figure 7 embodiment depicts operating chamber 5 in series with another operating chamber 157. The fluid flowing into, operating chamber 157 can again be arranged in parallel with the output from blower 49 to operating chamber 5 or a separate blower (not shown) could be provided as is true with the Figures 5 and 6 embodiment. The remainder of the construction of the Figure 7 embodiment is again the same as that described in detail with reference to the first embodiment. The Figure 7 embodiment is particularly adapted to separate various portions of a material by separately controlling the pressure differentials created in operating chambers 5 and 157. For example, if a plastic bottle having a body portion, a plastic base attached thereto and a paper label, as commonly found in today's market, is introduced into operating chamber 5, the paper label can be separated from the remainder of the item as discussed above with reference to Figures 1-3. The bottle with the plastic base will then flow into second operating chamber 157. These material portions can then be sheared at the upper fringe of the vortex zone in operating chamber 157 causing the lighter base to flow up through the exhaust pipe associated with operating chamber 157 and the bottle will come out the outlet port of chamber 157.

In separating materials having small metal particles therein, such as some rocks with this embodiment, operating chamber 5 can be used to pulverize the rock into small particles which will then flow into operating chamber 157. In order to separate the metal particles in accordance with the present invention, an ionizer unit 167, connected to a power source indicated at 169, is mounted within lower section 17 of conical portion 11 so as to charge the particles as the particles flow therethrough. A concentrator unit 173 is also provided within a particle collection housing 174 which includes a plurality of plates 175 which create a reverse polar field at the input area to operating chamber 157 so as to attract the metal particles. The charge on the plates 175 which creates the reverse polar field can later be reversed so that the particles will fall off plates 175 and can be collected. Although described with respect to particular embodiments of the invention, it is to be understood that various changes and/or modifications can be made to the present invention without departing form the spirit of the invention. In general, the invention is only intended to be limited by the scope of the following claims.

Claims

I CLAIM:

1. An apparatus for mixing, comminuting and/or separating materials comprising: at least one operating chamber comprising a cylindrical portion having an upper end and a lower end and a conical portion, said conical portion having an upper end joined to the lower end of said cylindrical portion and a lower end defining a material output port, said conical portion tapering from the upper end to the lower end thereof; means for supplying a source of high pressure fluid tangentially into said at least one operating chamber to create a high pressure vortex zone, having upper and lower fringes, within said at least one operating chamber, said upper and lower fringes defining high pressure differential shear areas within said at least one operating chamber; a fluid exhaust port opening into said at least one operating chamber adjacent the upper end of said cylindrical portion; and a material input port for supplying materials to be mixed, comminuted and/or separated, said material input port projecting within said at least one operating chamber adjacent said cylindrical portion, whereby the material adapted to be supplied into said at least one operating chamber is drawn through at least one of said shear areas, is sheared by the high pressure differential, and exits said at least one operating chamber through said material output port.

2. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, further comprising means for regulating the flow of fluid from said fluid supply means to said at least one operating chamber.

3. An apparatus as claimed in claim 2, further comprising means for regulating the flow of fluid through said exhaust port.

4. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said material input port projects into said at least one operating chamber at an angle within the range of 5 to 45 degrees with respect to horizontal.

5. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, further including a hopper leading into said material input port.

6. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, further including decanting means located in said cylindrical portion.

7. An apparatus as claimed in claim 3, further including decanting means located in said cylindrical portion.

8. An apparatus as claimed in claim 7, further comprising means for supplying a flow of liquid into said at least one operating chamber, said liquid supply means opening into said at least one operating chamber vertically below said decanting means.

9. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said material input and output ports have substantially equal diameters.

10. An apparatus as claimed in claim 2, further comprising means for sensing the pressure within said vortex zone and controlling said means for regulating the flow of fluid from said fluid supply means based on the sensed pressure.

11. An apparatus as claimed in claim 3, further comprising means for sensing the pressure at said exhaust port and controlling said means for regulating the flow of fluid through said exhaust port based upon the sensed pressure.

12. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, further comprising an annular flange secured to and projecting radially inwardly from an inner surface of said cylindrical portion above said vortex zone.

13. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a material collecting assembly being connected to said at least one operating chamber above said cylindrical portion and adapted to collect a portion of the sheared material.

14. An apparatus as claimed in claim 13, further comprising an ionic charging device associated with said material collecting assembly for aiding in the collection of a portion of the sheared material.

15. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein first and second operating chambers are provided.

16. An apparatus as claimed in claim 15, wherein said second operating chamber is located in parallel with both said fluid supply means and said first operating chamber.

17. An apparatus as claimed in claim 15, wherein said second operating chamber is located in series with at least one of said fluid supply means and said first operating chamber.

18. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the fluid delivered by said fluid supply means comprises air.

19. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said at least one operating chamber is at an acute angle with respect to the vertical.

20. A method of mixing, comminuting and/or separating materials through an operating chamber, having an upper cylindrical portion and a lower conical portion defining a material output port at a lower end thereof, into which high pressure fluid is tangentially channeled to create a high pressure vortex zone within the operating chamber which defines shear areas at the upper and lower fringes thereof comprising: controlling the rate of fluid channeled into the operating chamber so as to control the pressure in the vortex zone and creating pressure differentials within the operating chamber at the upper and lower fringes of the vortex zone; delivering material to be mixed, comminuted and/or separated into the operating chamber adjacent said cylindrical portion; and causing the material to flow vertically in the operating chamber due to gravity such that shear forces act on and break down the material as the material passes through the fringes of the vortex zone.

21. The method as claimed in claim 20, further comprising delivering the material into the operating chamber at an angle of 5 to 45 degrees with respect to horizontal.

22. The method as claimed in claim 21, including providing a means to decant the material delivered to the operating chamber.

23. The method as claimed in claim 22, comprising lowering the delivery angle of the material relative to horizontal to increase the degree of decanting.

24. The method as claimed in claim 20, further comprising controlling the rate of fluid exiting an exhaust port located above the cylindrical portion.

25. The method as claimed in claim 24, including controlling the rate of fluid channeled into the operating chamber and controlling the rate of fluid exiting the exhaust port so as to reposition the vortex zone with the operating chamber.

26. The method as claimed in claim 24, further comprising sensing the input fluid pressure to the operating channel and the output fluid pressure through the exhaust port, and controlling at least the rate of fluid channeled into the operating channel in response to the sensed pressure signals.

27. The method as claimed in claim 23, further comprising providing a particle collection assembly that opens into an.upper portion of the cylindrical portion for collecting a portion of the sheared material.

28. The method as claimed in claim 27, further comprising providing an electromagnetic charge in said operating chamber to assist in collecting a portion of the sheared material in the particle collection assembly.

29. The method as claimed in claim 22, further comprising supplying a flow of liquid into the operating chamber below said decanting means.

30. The method as claimed in claim 20, further comprising arranging multiple operating chambers in series to mix,, comminute and/or separate predetermined portions of the delivered material in each operating chamber.

31. Comminuting apparatus comprising: an operating chamber having as cylindrical upper end and a lower end for outputting material therefrom; means for supplying a source of high pressure fluid tangentially into said cylindrical upper end of said operating chamber to create a high -pressure vortex zone, said high pressure vortex zone having upper and lower fringes within said cylindrical operating chamber, said upper and low fringes defining upper and lower high pressure differential comminuting areas within said cylindrical operating chamber, means for adjusting the pressure of said high pressure fluid according to the material to be comminuted; a fluid exhaust port opening into and adjacent the upper end of said cylindrical operating chamber; and a material input port for supplying materials to be comminuted, said material input port projecting within said cylindrical operating chamber, whereby the material to be comminuted is drawn through the upper one of said high pressure differential comminuting areas, is comminuted by the high pressure differential comminuting areas, and exits said operating chamber through said lower end.