1. A method for producing a stucco slurry, the method comprising the steps of:
providing a mixer;
providing a supply of stucco needed to create a stucco slurry;
dividing the supply of stucco into a first portion of stucco and a second portion of stucco;
aerating andor wetting the first portion of the stucco prior to adding the first portion of stucco to the mixer;
adding the first portion of stucco to the mixer;
adding the second portion of stucco to the mixer without aerating andor wetting the second portion of stucco; and
producing the stucco slurry by mixing the first and second portions of the stucco with at least water.
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of supplying the first portion of stucco to a blender.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the aerating the first portion of the stucco comprises operating the blender to aerate the first portion of the stucco.
4. The method of claim 3, further comprising the step of introducing cold air into the blender.
5. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of providing a blender capable of being supplied stucco at a variable rate, wherein the first portion of stucco is aerated by passing the first portion of stucco through the blender.
6. The method of claim 5, further comprising the steps of providing at least one feed control mechanism and using the at least one feed control mechanism to control the rate that the first portion of stucco is supplied to the blender.
7. The method of claim 6, wherein the rate the first portion of stucco is supplied to the blender is about 10 tons per hour to about 19 tons per hour, or, alternatively, up to 50% of the supply of stucco.
8. The method of claim 5, wherein the at least one feed control mechanism comprises a first feed control mechanism that controls the rate the first portion of stucco is supplied to the blender and a second feed control mechanism that controls the rate the second portion of stucco is supplied to the mixer.
9. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of combining the first portion of stucco together with the second portion of stucco after the first portion of stucco is aerated and prior to adding the first and second portion of the stucco to the mixer.
10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
pretreating the first portion with water.
11. The method of claim 10, wherein pretreating the first portion with water comprises:
making a solid moving bed of the first portion of stucco;
applying a water spray to the top surface of the solid moving bed of stucco; and
agitating the solid bed of stucco, prior to aerating the first portion of stucco.
12. The method of claim 11, wherein making a solid bed comprises placing the first portion of stucco on a conveyor belt.
13. The method of claim 12, wherein the conveyor belt has a longtitudinal trough.
14. The method of claim 11, wherein applying a water spray is carried out through a plurality of nozzles above the moving bed.
15. The method of claim 11, wherein agitating the moving bed is carried out using roller bars along a conveyor belt.
16. The method of claim 15, wherein the roller bars are completely covered by the bed of stucco during operation.
17. The method of claim 15, wherein the roller bars have a parabolic shape.
18. The method of claim 15, wherein the roller bars are offset from the nozzles along the moving bed of stucco.
19. A method of producing a stucco slurry, the method comprising the steps of:
providing at least one mixer;
providing a supply of stucco;
providing at least one blender capable of being fed stucco at a variable rate;
supplying a first portion of the stucco to the mixer without having the first portion of the stucco pass through the blender, wherein the first portion of the stucco will make up one portion of the stucco needed to create a stucco slurry;
adding to the blender a second portion of the stucco needed to create the stucco slurry;
operating the blender to aerate the second portion of the stucco; and
supplying the first portion of the stucco, the aerated andor wetted second portion of the stucco, and at least water to the mixer to produce a stucco slurry.
20. The method of claim 19, wherein the blender has a diameter that is in the range of about 12 inches to about 24 inches.
21. The method of claim 19, further comprising the step of introducing cold air into the blender to cool the second portion of the stucco during the operation of the blender.
22. The method of claim 21, further comprising the steps of providing at least one feed control mechanism and using the at least one feed control mechanism to control the rate the second portion of stucco is supplied to the blender.
23. The method of claim 22, wherein the rate the section portion of stucco is supplied to the blender is about 10 tons per hour to about 19 tons per hour, or, alternatively, up to 50% of the supply of stucco.
24. The method of claim 22, wherein the at least one feed control mechanism comprises a first feed control mechanism that controls the rate the second portion of stucco is supplied to the second conveyor and a second feed control mechanism that controls the rate the first portion of stucco is supplied to the first conveyor.
25. The method of claim 19, further comprising the step of combining the first portion of stucco together with the second portion of stucco after the second portion of stucco is aerated andor wetted and prior to adding the first and second portion of the stucco to the mixer.
26. A system for manufacturing gypsum wallboard, the system comprising:
an impact mill that supplies stucco to the system;
a blender positioned in the system to receive a first portion of the stucco that will comprise the first portion of the stucco needed to create the stucco slurry; and
a mixer positioned in the system to receive a second portion of stucco without the second portion of the stucco passing through the one blender, wherein the second portion of the stucco will make up the other portion of the stucco needed to create the stucco slurry.
27. The system of claim 26, wherein the blender has a water jacket attached to its bottom half and at least one vortex tube and at least one air nozzle attached to its top half, wherein the at least one vortex tube and one air nozzle introduces cold air into the blender.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. An apparatus for determining information on an amplitude error of a transmit signal, the apparatus comprising:
a transmit path circuit configured to generate a high frequency transmit signal based on a baseband transmit signal;
a feedback receive path circuit configured to generate a baseband feedback signal based on a high frequency feedback signal derived from the high frequency transmit signal;
an error determining circuit configured to determine an error signal indicating information associated with an amplitude error of the high frequency transmit signal based on the transmit signal and the baseband feedback signal, wherein the error determining circuit comprises a feedback loop, wherein the feedback loop of the error determining circuit comprises a feedback loop processing circuit configured to generate a feedback loop output signal based on a feedback loop input signal and the baseband transmit signal; and
a loop control circuit configured to activate or deactivate an adaptation of an amplitude of the high frequency transmit signal based on the error signal.
2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the feedback loop processing circuit comprises a combiner circuit configured to generate a combined output signal based on the feedback loop input signal and the baseband transmit signal.
3. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the combiner circuit is configured to combine the feedback loop input signal with a baseband signal comprising information on the baseband transmit signal in the baseband domain to generate the combined output signal.
4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the error determining circuit comprises a first comparing circuit configured to compare and remove the feedback loop output signal from a baseband signal comprising information on the baseband feedback signal to generate a first comparing circuit output signal.
5. The apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the error determining circuit comprises a second comparing circuit configured to determine a sum or an integral of succeeding samples of the first comparing circuit output signal.
6. The apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the error determining circuit comprises a first calculation circuit configured to calculate a square of a baseband signal comprising information on the baseband feedback signal to generate a first calculation circuit output signal.
7. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the feedback loop processing circuit comprises a second calculation circuit configured to calculate square of the combined output signal to generate a second calculation circuit output signal.
8. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the baseband transmit signal is an amplitude signal of a polar modulated baseband transmit signal.
9. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the baseband feedback signal is an amplitude signal of a polar modulated baseband feedback signal.
10. The apparatus according to claim 1, comprising a control circuit configured to control an amplitude of the high frequency transmit signal based on the error signal.
11. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the control circuit comprises a combiner circuit configured to combine the baseband transmit signal with a baseband signal comprising information on the error signal to generate an amplitude adapted baseband transmit signal, wherein the high frequency transmit signal is based on the amplitude adapted baseband transmit signal.
12. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the control circuit comprises a feedback gain compensation circuit configured to generate a feedback gain compensated error signal based on an addition of a baseband signal comprising information on the error signal and a feedback gain signal or a subtraction of a baseband signal comprising information on the error signal from a feedback gain signal.
13. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the control circuit comprises a signal generation circuit configured to generate a corrected error signal based on an addition of a baseband signal comprising information on the error signal and a reference signal or a subtraction of a baseband signal comprising information on the error signal from a reference signal.
14. The apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the signal generation circuit comprises a reference digital root-mean-square circuit configured to generate the reference signal.
15. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the control circuit comprises a loop gain multiplier circuit configured to generate a gain adapted error signal based on a baseband signal comprising information on the error signal and a loop gain control signal.
16. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the control circuit comprises a comparing circuit configured to determine a sum or an integral of succeeding samples of a baseband signal comprising information on the error signal to generate an integrated error signal.
17. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the loop control circuit is configured to deactivate the adaptation of an amplitude of the high frequency transmit signal, if a current power of the high frequency transmit signal is below a predefined power threshold.
18. The apparatus according to claim 1, comprising a directional coupler configured to derive the high frequency feedback signal from the high frequency transmit signal.
19. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the error determining circuit is located in the digital domain.
20. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the error determining circuit generates the error signal without a signal divider.
21. An apparatus for determining information on an amplitude error of a transmit signal, the apparatus comprising:
means for generating a high frequency transmit signal, using a transmit path circuit, configured to generate a high frequency transmit signal based on a baseband transmit signal;
means for generating a baseband feedback signal, using a feedback path receive circuit, configured to generate a baseband feedback signal based on a high frequency feedback signal derived from the high frequency transmit signal; and
means for generating an error signal, using an error determining circuit, configured to determine an error signal indicating information associated with an amplitude error of the high frequency transmit signal based on the baseband transmit signal and the baseband feedback signal, wherein means for generating an error signal comprises a feedback loop, wherein the feedback loop of the means for generating an error signal comprises means for generating a feedback loop output signal configured to generate a feedback loop output signal based on a feedback loop input signal and the baseband transmit signal; and
means for activating or deactivating an adaptation of an amplitude of the high frequency transmit signal, using a loop control circuit, based on the error signal.
22. A method for determining information on an amplitude error of a transmit signal, the method comprising:
generating a high frequency transmit signal based on a baseband transmit signal using a transmit path circuit;
generating a baseband feedback signal based on a high frequency feedback signal derived from the high frequency transmit signal using a feedback receive path circuit;
determining an error signal indicating information associated with an amplitude error of the high frequency transmit signal based on the baseband transmit signal and the baseband feedback signal using an error determining circuit; and
generating a feedback loop output signal based on a feedback loop input signal and the baseband transmit signal using a feedback loop processing circuit within a feedback loop of the error determining circuit; and
activating or deactivating an adaptation of an amplitude of the high frequency transmit signal, using a loop control circuit, based on the error signal.
23. A machine readable non-transitory storage medium including program code, when executed, to cause a machine to perform the method of claim 22.