Patent Application
20130067802
U.S. Cl. 48/197 R; 585/240; 585/242; 585/603; 423/439; 423/566.2; 423/428.2
There was no federally sponsored research and development of this herein disclosed invention.
Not Applicable
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to processes and systems that use renewable biomass or carbon based waste material for the generation of power in the form of electricity or heat, for producing liquid, gaseous, and solid value-added byproducts, and reducing environmental pollution.
2. Description of the Related Art
The Applicant is well aware that quite extensive research, development, and experimentation has been recently developed to convert biomass or waste material into biogases and biofuels. Most of the prior art teaches of gasification using a fluidized bed chamber or a plasma arc chamber. The applicant is using two types of chambers for separately controllable thermal chemical reactions to occur to form carbon byproducts, biofuels and useable energy in the form of heat and/or electricity. One type of chamber is a pyrolysis chamber and the other type is a thermal oxidation chamber. The combination of multiple modular chambers and a single or multiple thermal oxidation chamber establishes the invention as different from prior art.
The invention is a bioenergy and/or waste-to-energy process. The invention is a process using controlled pyrolysis reactions to convert biomass and carbon based waste material into carbon byproducts, biofuels and useable energy in the form of heat and/or electricity. The invention proposes a process which is unique in four ways.
Firstly, the process may convert any carboneous material, such as biocrops, animal waste, used tires, into bioproducts and biofuels.
Secondly, the carbonization process is accomplished with no oxygen (02) or combustion in the carbonization chambers.
Thirdly, the modular arrangement of the process components allow easy adaptability to diverse process requirements.
Fourthly, the mobility of the process material containers allows easy loading, transport, and unloading of the process material; and greatly reduces material handling requirements.
The process includes one or more pyrolysis reaction chambers and a thermal oxidizer. Hot, oxygen-free exhaust gases from the thermal oxidizer are modulated through the pyrolysis reaction chambers to sustain the pyrolysis reaction. In this document, the term oxygen-free signifies the absence of or negligible amounts of oxygen (O2). The exhaust gases along with the pyrolysis gases are drawn from the pyrolysis reaction chambers and routed to the thermal oxidizer. Combustion air is modulated into the thermal oxidizer through one or more ports to control combustion of the pyrolysis gases. After combustion, exhaust gases are recirculated to the pyrolysis reaction chambers to sustain the cycle.
The present invention will become more clearly defined as the disclosure of the invention is made with reference to the accompanying drawings. The system can be set up for one of two options for heat delivery. These options will be referred to as “Heat Injection” and “Heat Transfer”. In the drawings:
In
In
A process and system for generating biopower and/or waste-to-energy power, producing solid, liquid, and gaseous carbon based byproducts using biomass or environmental wastes is described in detail herein with reference to
The art of carbonization of biomass and carbon waste material such as wood waste has been well established in history. Using fixed bed and firebox contained chambers or kilns for gasification of wood to produce charcoal is the primary example for this art. Prior to the petroleum and chemical revolution, the gasification and condensation of this gaseous produced marketable gases, tars, liquids, and charcoal for the world. This process will bring back the old art of producing byproducts and generating electricity from acetylene plus low BTU biogases. Storable calcium carbide fuel is one of the most value added products for fuel cell technologies.
The system can be set up for one of two options for heat delivery. These options will be referred to as “Heat Injection” and “Heat Transfer”. With the “Heat Injection” option, heat is directly injected into the pyrolysis reaction chambers. The heat supply gases and the water vapor and pyrolysis gases are drawn out together. With the “Heat Transfer” option, heat is transferred through exchangers within the pyrolysis reaction chambers. The heat supply gases remain separated from the water vapor and pyrolysis gases.
In
The process starts by preheating the thermal oxidizer 101 with an auxiliary fuel burner. Once the thermal oxidizer 101 has reached the target temperature, hot, oxygen-free exhaust gases are circulated as heat supply gas through the heat supply duct 201.
When a chamber 106 or line of chambers 106A is in the drying phase, heat supply gases from the heat supply duct 201 are routed through the input duct 207A, and injected into the pyrolysis reaction chambers 106A. These heat supply gases are modulated by control valves in the docking stations to maintain the chamber temperature at a sufficient level to cause evaporation of moisture from the material. The heat supply gases with the water vapor are drawn out of the chambers, through the output duct 208A, into the vapor return duct 204, and routed to a heat exchanger/condenser 103. In the heat exchanger/condenser 103 the gases are cooled, the water vapor is condensed and the heat is exchanged into the combustion air duct 205. After cooling the gases may be vented or directed into the cooling supply duct 203.
When a chamber 106 or line of chambers 106B is in the pyrolysis phase, heat supply gases from the heat supply duct 201 are routed through the input duct 207B, and injected into the pyrolysis reaction chambers 106B. These heat supply gases are modulated by control valves in the docking station to maintain the chamber temperature at a sufficient level to drive the pyrolysis reaction. The heat supply gases and the pyrolysis gases are drawn out of the chamber, through the output duct 208B, and into the pyrolysis gas return duct 202. Some of the gases can be condensed into liquid in the gas to liquid condenser 105. The remaining gases are routed to the thermal oxidizer 101.
When a chamber 106 or line of chambers 106C is in the cooling phase, cool, oxygen-free gases from the cooling supply duct 203 are routed through the input duct 207C, and injected into the pyrolysis reaction chambers 106C. The cooling supply gases and residual heat are drawn out of the chambers, through the output duct 208C, into the vapor return duct 204, and routed to a heat exchanger/condenser 103. In the heat exchanger/condenser 103 the gases are cooled; and the heat is exchanged into the combustion air duct 205. After cooling, the gases may be vented or recirculated into the cooling supply duct 203.
Combustion air is modulated into the thermal oxidizer 101 to precisely control temperature and combustion ratios. The thermal oxidizer can be set up with multiple combustion air inlets at different points along the gas stream. These inlets can be modulated to control distinct temperature and combustion zones within the thermal oxidizer 101. Multiple outlet ports may be included to draw out useful biofuels from the distinct combustion zones. Internal dividers and baffles may be included to separate and individually control gas streams. The combustion air can preheated by routing it through heat exchangers/condensers 103 and 102 to conserve waste heat and increase efficiency.
In
The process starts by preheating the thermal oxidizer 101 with an auxiliary fuel burner. Once the thermal oxidizer 101 has reached the target temperature, hot, oxygen-free exhaust gases are circulated as heat supply gas through the heat supply duct 201.
When a chamber 106 or line of chambers 106A is in the drying phase, heat supply gases from the heat supply duct 201 are routed through the input duct 207A, and drawn through heat exchangers in the pyrolysis reaction chambers 106A. These heat supply gases are modulated by control valves in the docking stations to maintain the chamber temperature at a sufficient level to cause evaporation of moisture from the material. The heat supply gases are drawn out of the heat exchangers, through the output duct 208A, into the vapor return duct 204, and routed to a heat exchanger/condenser 103. The water vapor is drawn out of the chambers, through the output duct 209A, into the vapor return duct 204, and routed to a heat exchanger/condenser 103. In the heat exchanger/condenser 103 the gases are cooled, the water vapor is condensed and the heat is exchanged into the combustion air duct 205. After cooling the gases may be vented or directed into the cooling supply duct 203.
When a chamber 106 or line of chambers 106B is in the pyrolysis phase, heat supply gases from the heat supply duct 201 are routed through the input duct 207B, and drawn through heat exchangers in the pyrolysis reaction chambers 106B. These heat supply gases are modulated by control valves in the docking station to maintain the chamber temperature at a sufficient level to drive the pyrolysis reaction. The heat supply gases are drawn out of the heat exchangers, through the output duct 208B, and into the vapor return duct 204. The pyrolysis gases are drawn out of the chamber, through the output duct 209B, and into the pyrolysis gas return duct 202.Some of the gases can be condensed into liquid in the gas to liquid condenser 105. The remaining gases are routed to the thermal oxidizer 101.
When a chamber 106 or line of chambers 106C is in the cooling phase, cool, oxygen-free gases from the cooling supply duct 203 are routed through the input duct 207C, and drawn through heat exchangers in the pyrolysis reaction chambers 106C. The cooling supply gases and residual heat are drawn out of the chambers, through the output duct 208C, into the vapor return duct 204, and routed to a heat exchanger/condenser 103. In the heat exchanger/condenser 103 the gases are cooled; and the heat is exchanged into the combustion air duct 205. After cooling, the gases may be vented or recirculated into the cooling supply duct 203.
Combustion air is modulated into the thermal oxidizer 101 to precisely control temperature and combustion ratios. The thermal oxidizer can be set up with multiple combustion air inlets at different points along the gas stream. These inlets can be modulated to control distinct temperature and combustion zones within the thermal oxidizer 101. Multiple outlet ports may be included to draw out useful biofuels from the distinct combustion zones. Internal dividers and baffles may be included to separate and individually control gas streams. The combustion air can preheated by routing it through heat exchangers/condensers 103 and 102 to conserve waste heat and increase efficiency.
