Patent Application
20200181501
This invention relates generally to the field of pyrolytic oil and pyrolytic synthetic gas production in a pyrolysis system, and more specifically to a new and useful method for preventing clogs in a pyrolytic synthetic gas system integrated with a pyrolysis system.
The following description of the embodiment of the invention is not intended to limit the invention to these embodiments, but rather to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use this invention.
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The pyrolytic reactor 110 is configured to: convert rubber 105 extracted from waste tires 101 to reclaimed carbon black 195, pyrolytic synthetic gas 199, and pyrolytic oil 197 through thermal decomposition of the rubber 105 under vacuum (i.e., pyrolysis); capture and direct the pyrolytic synthetic gas 199 produced during pyrolysis to be condensed and filtered in a gas condensation system coupled to the pyrolytic reactor 110; and prevent clogs 155 caused by carbon carry-over and oil fouling on walls of the pyrolytic reactor 110 and exhaust gas channel 130, thereby reducing maintenance and reducing impingement of hot inflammable gases within the pyrolytic reactor 110 and yielding high-quality pyrolytic oil 197, pyrolytic synthetic gas 199, and reclaimed carbon black 195. Generally, the pyrolytic reactor 110 is configured to reduce velocity of pyrolytic synthetic gas 199 exiting the pyrolytic reactor no, thereby reducing carbon carry-over from the channel into the exhaust gas channel 130.
Generally, the system 100 can thermally decompose polymeric materials, like rubber 105, into carbonaceous byproducts. In particular, rubber 105—such as scrap tires 101, waste tires 101, industrial rubber, and/or other rubber products—can be input or conveyed into a pyrolysis channel within the pyrolytic reactor 110. A conveyor within the pyrolytic reactor 110 can translate the rubber 105 over a series of heating elements 112 (e.g., electric and/or gas heating coils) within the pyrolysis channel while the pyrolysis channel evacuates into a vacuum with a pressure less than atmospheric pressure and/or pumps an inert gas (e.g., Nitrogen or “N2”) into the pyrolysis channel. In this inert atmosphere, the rubber 105 progressively transforms into solid carbonaceous material 195 and pyrolytic synthetic gas 199 in vapor-phase as the rubber 105 translates along the length of the pyrolysis channel. The pyrolytic synthetic gas 199 can then exit the pyrolytic reactor 110 through an exhaust gas channel 130. An entrance of the exhaust gas channel 130 can be arranged at a location along the pyrolytic reactor 110 to limit carryover of solid carbonaceous material 195 into the exhaust gas channel 130. (Carryover of solid carbonaceous material 195 can accumulate on the walls of the exhaust gas channel 130, which can result in clogging of the exhaust gas channel 130. Clogs 155 can cause build-up of pressure of high-temperature and combustible pyrolytic synthetic gas 199.) Additionally, the exhaust gas channel 130 can be situated along the pyrolytic reactor 110 such that the pyrolytic synthetic gas 199 exits the pyrolytic reactor 110 at an exit velocity that limits carryover of solid carbonaceous material 195 into the exhaust gas channel 130. Over a length of the exhaust gas channel 130, a portion of the pyrolytic synthetic gas 199 can cool and condense onto walls of the exhaust gas channel 130, causing buildup of material on the walls, which can further cause clogs 155. To prevent clogging, the exhaust gas channel 130 can include a reamer 132 configured to, at a specified interval (e.g., every minute or every fifteen minutes), scrape walls of the exhaust gas channel 130 to remove buildup and prevent oil fouling. The exhaust gas channel 130 can be of a length corresponding to a desired residence time of the pyrolytic synthetic gas 199 within the exhaust gas channel 130. The residence time of the pyrolytic synthetic gas 199 is defined as a function of the length of the exhaust gas channel 130 and a time to cool the pyrolytic synthetic gas 199 to a particular temperature (e.g., from 800 degrees Fahrenheit to 500 degrees Fahrenheit) prior to exiting the exhaust gas channel 130. The time to cool is dependent on a velocity of the pyrolytic synthetic gas 199 across the length of the exhaust gas channel 130 and the composition of the pyrolytic synthetic gas 199 (e.g., Hydrogen, Carbon Dioxide, Methane, C2H4, C2H6, Carbon Monoxide, and/or C3H8). Then a portion of the pyrolytic synthetic gas 199 can condense—in a condenser 160—into liquid-phase oil (e.g., light oil 191 and/or heavy oil cuts of pyrolytic oil 197).
Roughly 400 million tires enter landfills each year in the United States. Due to limited availability of recycling processes for these tires, landfills are filled with an ever-increasing number of tires. Existing tire recycling processes typically extract and recycle a small percentage of available recyclable products within tires 101. To facilitate recycling of tires 101 and limit overall waste generated as a result of recycling tires 101, the system 100 can implement the method S100 to extract and recycle carbonaceous materials (i.e., organic material that includes elemental carbon and/or hydrocarbons) from tires 101 and/or scrap rubber to pyrolytic synthetic gas 199 and/or pyrolytic oil 197. Pyrolytic oil 197 can be distilled into multiple cuts of oil, including a heavy-cut of oil 192 that can be used in marine turbomachinery applications and a light-cut of oil 191 that can be used for lubrication and/or fuel in turbomachinery applications.
The system 100 can also be implemented to control quality, quantity, and consistency of products output by the system 100 by controlling and implementing methods—like method 100—to control the composition of rubber 105 that enter the system 100 despite general variability in tire composition across the tire manufacturing industry. Generally, tires 101 include a mixture of rubber and other polymers, various grades of virgin carbon black, steel 103, nylon fiber 106, and other materials such as curing agents (e.g., zinc oxide), dispersion agents, and other rubber additives. Composition of tires 101 varies significantly amongst manufacturers, tire type (e.g., consumer tires, agricultural tires, mining tires, over-the-road (or “OTR”) tires), country of manufacture, and intended use condition (e.g., winter tires). For example, tires manufactured and sold in Europe tend to include higher silica (silicon dioxide or “SiO2”) content than tires manufactured and sold in the United States. Additionally, the shredding system can separate tire rubber from other components of the tire, such as steel 103 (i.e., “steel wire”) and nylon fiber 106. Due to bonding among the tire rubber 105, the steel 103, and the nylon fiber 106, residue of steel 103 and nylon may remain bonded to the tire rubber 105 and, thus, may enter the pyrolytic reactor 110 and remain present in the recovered carbonaceous material (“rCB”), pyrolytic synthetic gas 199, and/or pyrolytic oil 197 output by the pyrolytic reactor 110.
Some rubber additives may adversely affect the performance and/or applications of the pyrolytic byproducts, while the same rubber additives may positively affect performance and applicability other pyrolytic byproducts. For example, sulfur may negatively impact the use of pyrolytic oil 197 due to the strong smell of sulfur dioxide; however, sulfur may positively affect the performance of reclaimed carbon black in rubber applications that require short scorch and/or cure times. Therefore, the pyrolytic reactor no can be configured to preferentially deposit majority of sulfur extracted from the rubber 105 into the recovered carbonaceous material and remove excess sulfur from the pyrolytic oil 197 and/or pyrolytic synthetic gas 199.
Over long production times (e.g., 264 hours continuous operation), a large volume of rubber 105 passes through the pyrolytic reactor 110 (e.g., in excess of 2000 pounds per hour). As described below, the rubber 105 can vary in composition widely (up to 40% variation in composition by weight) across production duration. To maintain consistency of select pyrolytic byproducts (i.e., pyrolytic oil 197, pyrolytic synthetic gas 199, and/or reclaimed carbon black), the system can control processing parameters—such as temperature and pressure—as well as in-process mechanisms (e.g., wet and dry gas scrubbing, in-line centrifuging, filtration, and distillation) to control composition of final products output by the system.
During long production times include a startup (or “warmup”) period over which pyrolytic byproducts output by the system 100 may exhibit inconsistent quality, composition, and/or yield rate. Following shut down of the system, the system may be cleaned that may yield different conditions at startup than exist during steady state operation of the system. During the startup period, system conditions (including slight buildup of material on walls of the exhaust gas channel 130 and/or pyrolytic reactor 110, internal system pressure and temperatures, and internal gas composition) can gradually reach a steady state at which system can maintain control parameters to maintain system function through production.
Generally, increased time and/or higher pyrolysis temperatures within the pyrolytic reactor no may yield overheated recovered carbonaceous material with little surface activity; additionally, increased time and/or higher pyrolysis temperatures may induce evaporation, yielding high-purity pyrolytic oil 197 with little sediment and/or particulate. Likewise, less time and/or lower pyrolysis temperatures within the pyrolytic reactor no may yield recovered carbonaceous material with increased surface activity and poorly-separated, highly viscous pyrolytic oil 197. However, the system can implement in-process steps to balance quality of pyrolytic oil 197 and recovered carbonaceous material and yield high-quality byproducts from the system. For example, the system 100 can maintain a pyrolysis temperature less than a maximum temperature (and maximum pressure) at which the carbonaceous material burns and greater than a minimum temperature at which pyrolytic synthetic gas 199 at which a target output percentage of pyrolytic synthetic gas 199 (e.g., 20% by weight of total mass output from the pyrolytic reactor 110) evaporates. Thus, the system 100 can control mass percentage of each output and, therefore, the system 100 can control the composition of each output stream.
Generally, to maintain high quality pyrolytic oil 197, the system maintains a consistent flow and composition of pyrolytic synthetic gas 199 through an oil separation system (including a spray tower 140, gas or “dry” scrubber 150, and condenser 160). Clogs 155 (or “build-up”) within the exhaust gas channel 130 can disrupt flow of pyrolytic synthetic gas 199, which can cause: the pyrolytic synthetic gas 199 to foul on the walls of the pyrolytic synthetic gas 199, inconsistent gas evaporation within the pyrolytic reactor 110, and inconsistent output of pyrolytic oil 197. Therefore, the system can be configured to prevent clogging and/or disruption of flow of pyrolytic synthetic gas 199 and pyrolytic oil 197 through the system 100.
Pyrolytic oil 197 and pyrolytic synthetic gas 199 are two products that can be extracted from tire rubber 105 during pyrolysis. Other materials that can be extracted and recycled from waste and/or scrap tires 101 can include reclaimed carbonaceous material (i.e., reclaimed carbon black), solvents, steel 103, nylon fiber 106, etc. Reclaimed carbonaceous material is a carbonaceous petroleum-derived material, like virgin carbon black, extracted from recycled rubber materials, such as car tires, truck tires, and/or other tires during pyrolysis.
Each tire and/or rubber segment that enters the pyrolytic reactor no can contain multiple grades of carbon black, wherein each grade is defined by the surface area of a particle of carbon black. For example, rubber 105 can include various grades of virgin carbon black, such as N100, N330, N660, N762, or N900. Each of these grades is defined by an average particle size of carbon within the virgin carbon black grade. Additionally, rubber 105 extracted from tires 101 can include other materials, such as Silica (i.e., Silicon Dioxide), zinc oxide, sulfur, desiccants, etc. These other materials can be carried over into the pyrolytic synthetic gas 199 and pyrolytic oil 197 output by the pyrolytic reactor 110. Therefore, composition of the rubber 105 that enters the pyrolytic reactor 110 can directly affect composition of products output by the pyrolytic reactor 110. In this manner, the system 100 can control the composition of tire rubber 105 in order to control the composition and performance characteristics of products output by the pyrolytic reactor 110.
While the systems and methods described herein relate to recycling of tire rubber 105, the method S100 can be implemented to recycle other polymeric materials, such as industrial rubber (e.g., industrial hoses, belts, commercial roofing), elastomers, and plastics (e.g., black or clear plastic bottle). Additionally, the system 100 can include any other components or systems configured to depolymerize polymeric materials, such as tire rubber 105, in addition to or in replacement of the pyrolytic reactor 110.
In one implementation shown in
In particular, the system 100 can include a conveyor configured to deliver a feed of (waste) tires 101 (i.e., the set of tires 101) to a primary shredder 107. The set of tires 101 can include a proportioned mixture of car tires, truck (i.e., commercial, over the road, or “OTR”) tires, and other tires, such as agricultural tires and mining tires. Generally, tires 101 include organic (or carbonaceous) materials and inorganic (or non-carbonaceous) materials. The organic materials can include carbon black and polymer(s) from the tire rubber 105. In particular, carbon black in the volume of rubber 105 can include a multitude of carbon black grades varying in surface areas, particle diameters, and particle distributions. For example, the volume of rubber 105 can include a set of carbon black grades extracted from tire treads (e.g., N100), from tire sidewalls (e.g., N660), and from tire carcasses (e.g., N900). The inorganic materials can include a set of rubber additives, such as zinc oxide, sulfur, silicon dioxide (i.e., Silica) curing agents (e.g., TBBS, MBS), dispersion agents, etc. extracted from different parts of the tire, each part of the tire including different concentrations of the foregoing rubber additives.
In one implementation, the set of tires 101 can be selected to include a proportioned mixture (or “ratio”) of car tires, truck tires, and other tires defining a feed of tire rubber 105 with a particular (composition) ratio, such as carbon to sulfur content ratio. In this implementation, the ratio of carbon to sulfur content can be optimized to yield pyrolytic oil 197 that includes less than a threshold percentage of sulfur (e.g., less than fifteen percent by weight). Generally, in oil applications, sulfur can yield an unpleasant smell and can be regulated by government entities to avoid air pollution when combusted. To avoid said smell, sulfur content can be limited. In one example, the system 100 can shred the proportioned mixture of tires 101 including five passenger tires 101 and one truck tire into the volume of tire rubber 105. In this example, the proportioned mixture can be selected to limit sulfur content that enters the pyrolytic reactor 110 in the volume of rubber 105 to less than 20% of the pyrolytic output of the pyrolytic reactor by weight, thereby limiting the sulfur content of the pyrolytic oil 197 output by the pyrolytic reactor 110, as described below. In another example, the system 100 can shred the set of tires 101 including two passenger tires and one truck tire to produce a higher sulfur content recovered carbonaceous material that may be desirable in rubber applications in which a lower scorch time is desirable. In another implementation, the set of tires 101 can be selected from the group including the agricultural tire, the commercial tire, and the passenger tire according to a tire ratio defined by a threshold percentage (e.g., 1%, 5%, 15%, or 20%) of inorganic materials (e.g., zinc oxide, sulfur, silica, and other non-carbonaceous materials) within the (end-product) pyrolytic oil 197 and/or gas output by the pyrolytic reactor 110. For example, truck (“OTR”) tires typically contain low silica content (<5% by weight); and passenger car tires can include either low silica content (e.g., 10% by weight) or can include high silica content (e.g., ˜15% by weight) to reduce rolling resistance and improve vehicular efficiency and gas mileage. In this example, a set of tires 101 can be selected to limit silica content within the volume of rubber 105 to less than 5%. Due to the variability in silica content of the feedstock, the pyrolytic reactor 110 is configured to accept and process varying amounts of silica. The set of tires 101 can be selected by any other means and for any other desired effect. Generally, composition of the set of tires 101 directly impacts chemical composition of the solid carbonaceous material 195, the pyrolytic oil 197 and/or the pyrolytic synthetic gas 199.
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Additionally or alternatively, the primary shredder 107 can also cleave the rubber 105 into pieces of a target size configured to break down within pyrolytic reactor 110. For example, the primary shredder 107 can cleave the set of tires 101 into granules, strips, and/or chips with a maximum width of one inch, a maximum height of one inch, and a maximum length of one inch. However, the primary shredder 107 can splice the volume of rubber 105 into splices of any particular volume, maximum dimension, and/or surface area.
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The volume of rubber 105 can then be dispersed into a magnetic separator shown in FIGURE ii, which can separate magnetic materials (e.g., steel 103) from non-magnetic materials (e.g., rubber 105). The magnetic separator can function to limit introduction of steel 103 and other inorganic, magnetic materials to the pyrolytic reactor 110. Magnetic materials extracted from the rubber 105 fed into the magnetic separator can be fed back into the shredding system and/or can be distributed into a steel 103 cleaner, which can further clean the steel 103 and extract remaining rubber 105 residue from the steel 103. The rubber 105 residue can then be fed into the pyrolytic reactor 110 or back into the shredding system for secondary and/or tertiary shredding.
Alternatively, the system 100 can accept tire chips (i.e. a volume of tire rubber 105) shredded on a different site by an offsite manufacturer. In this variation, the system 100 may fail to closely control the composition of the volume of rubber 105 as the system 100 accepts only the volume of rubber 105 selected by the offsite (third-party) manufacturer. In this variation, the volume of rubber 105 may include a random or proportioned mixture of various types of tires 101—the composition of which the system 100 exerts little control. However, the volume of rubber 105 may not be optimized to yield a particular composition or performance of the pyrolytic oil 197 derived from the volume of rubber 105 when implemented in rubber 105 or plastics applications. For example, the offsite manufacturer may select tires 101 according to a specified ratio of commercial to agricultural tires. However, the offsite manufacturer may fail to consider, test, or select other elements critical to the composition of the (resulting) carbonaceous material, such as silica content, carbon black grades included in the tires 101, etc. Therefore, chemical composition and performance of the pyrolytic oil 197 may vary (positively or negatively) according to the composition of the volume of rubber 105 selected by the offsite manufacturer. To control chemical composition and performance of the pyrolytic oil 197, the system 100 may preferably splice whole tires 101 into the volume of rubber 105 in order to verify a feedstock composition that yields a pyrolytic oil 197 with a particular chemical composition and/or performance. Generally, a composition of the volume of rubber 105 can be selected to yield any other composition of carbonaceous material following pyrolysis.
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In particular, rubber 105 can enter a pyrolysis channel within the pyrolytic reactor 110. A conveyor within the pyrolytic reactor 110 can translate the rubber 105 over a series of heating elements 112 within the pyrolysis channel while the pyrolysis channel evacuates into a vacuum with a pressure less than atmospheric pressure and/or an inert gas (e.g., Nitrogen or “N2”) is pumped into the pyrolysis channel. In this inert atmosphere, the rubber 105 progressively transforms into solid carbonaceous material 195 and pyrolytic synthetic gas 199 in vapor-phase.
In one implementation, the volume of rubber 105 can be fed into the pyrolytic reactor 110 at a particular feed rate (e.g., 2000 pounds per hour) defined by a threshold capacity of the pyrolytic reactor 110 (e.g., a maximum feed rate, volumetric capacity of the pyrolytic reactor 110), a desired production rate (e.g., 600 liters of pyrolytic oil 197 produced per hour or 800 liters of pyrolytic synthetic gas 199), and/or a desired composition of the solid carbonaceous material 195 and/or pyrolytic oil 197.
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Additionally or alternatively, the pyrolytic reactor 110 can include a batch pyrolytic reactor 110 configured to accept the volume of rubber 105 and pyrolyze the volume of rubber 105 over a time window at a stationary location as shown in
The pyrolytic reactor 110 can also output pyrolytic oil 197 and pyrolytic synthetic gas 199. The pyrolytic oil 197 and the pyrolytic synthetic gas 199 can include concentrations of sulfur and other materials extracted from the tire rubber 105 during pyrolysis. In one implementation, the pyrolytic synthetic gas 199 can include residual carbonaceous material that can be carried over into a gas extraction system that can be coupled to the pyrolytic reactor no. Due to high velocities of the volume of gas upon exiting the pyrolytic reactor 110, some carbonaceous material can be blown or otherwise carried into the gas extraction system by high-velocity pyrolytic synthetic gas 199. To prevent clogging of the gas extraction system due to build-up of carbonaceous material within the gas extraction system, the gas extraction system can include a filter situated between the pyrolytic reactor 110 and the gas extraction system as described below. The filter can be configured to capture residual carbonaceous material before the carbonaceous material enters a main body of the gas extraction system downstream from the filter. The filter can be changed and/or cleaned at intervals to prevent clogging of the filter. If the filter were to clog, a clog 155 would limit the volume of gas from escaping the pyrolytic reactor no, causing a buildup of combustible gas (and pressure) within the pyrolytic reactor no. Similarly, the volume of oil can include residual carbonaceous material be carried over into an oil extraction system that can be coupled to the pyrolytic reactor no. The oil extraction system can include a filter configured to capture carbonaceous material prior to entry into a downstream portion of the oil extraction system, which can include an oil condensation system with spray nozzles as described below.
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Generally, length of the exhaust gas channel 130 can also correspond to a target residence time (or duration) of the pyrolytic synthetic gas 199 within the exhaust gas channel 130 prior to entry into a condensation system. Residence time depends on the (average) velocity of the pyrolytic synthetic gas 199 within the exhaust gas channel 130, a target exit temperature (e.g., <500 degrees Fahrenheit) of the pyrolytic synthetic gas 199 when the pyrolytic synthetic gas 199 exits the channel, and the threshold carryover limit of solid carbonaceous material 195.
To prevent clogging due to buildup of solid carbonaceous material and/or viscous liquid—derived from byproducts of pyrolysis—within the pyrolytic reactor 110 and/or exhaust gas channel 130, the system 100 can implement the method S100 to reduce carryover of solid material into the exhaust gas channel 130, reduce buildup of accumulated solid material (e.g., plaques) on walls and at crucial junctions within with system 100, increase filtration of the pyrolytic synthetic gas 199, and/or improve access to internal channel modules for cleaning. Generally, buildup of solid and/or viscous liquid material on walls of the exhaust gas channel 130 and/or in the pyrolytic reactor no can cause constriction, impingement, and/or blockage of high-temperature (e.g., greater than 800 degrees Fahrenheit) and combustible pyrolytic synthetic gas 199. If the exhaust gas channel 130 is blocked, pressure of the pyrolytic synthetic gas 199 can rise to a state in which walls of the exhaust gas channel 130 can fail. Exothermic reactions between the (combustible) pyrolytic synthetic gas 199 and ambient air (with oxygen) can occur. Furthermore, constriction of flow paths within the exhaust gas channel 130 can cause increases in velocity of the pyrolytic synthetic gas 199 within the exhaust gas channel 130, which can increase carryover of solid carbonaceous material 195 within the exhaust gas channel 130 and reduce residence time of the pyrolytic synthetic gas in the exhaust gas channel 130. Reduced residence time may lead to insufficient time for the pyrolytic synthetic gas 199 to cool prior to entry into a condensation system and/or flare (i.e., combustor 170), which may damage downstream components of the system (e.g., the condenser 170).
In one implementation shown in
In another implementation, the system 100 can include a filter (and/or set of filters) positioned within the exhaust gas channel 130 to catch solid material and limit transfer of solid material downstream from the filter. Solid material and/or condensed pyrolytic oil 197 can deposit onto walls of a constricted junction within the exhaust gas channel 130 with limited cleaning access. Therefore, the filter can remove a portion of the solid material upstream from the constricted junction to slow clogging of the junction. The filter can be a manual mesh and/or wire filter of a particular guage (e.g., 40 gauge), which can be manually inserted into the exhaust gas channel 130 and removed intermittently (e.g., every two hours) for manual cleaning. To avoid disruption of production, a second filter can replace the (first) filter during cleaning. Additionally or alternatively, the filter can be an automatic filter, configured to self-clean.
In one variation, a filter heating element can be coupled to the filter to heat central portions of the filter to prevent cooling of the pyrolytic synthetic gas 199 as the pyrolytic synthetic gas passes through the filter. When the pyrolytic synthetic gas 199 cools during passage through the filter, waxes (e.g., paraffinic wax and/or napthalenic wax) and/or viscous pyrolytic oil 197 can condense and deposit on the filter mesh, causing the filter to become blocked prematurely—prior to becoming filled and/or covered with solid carbonaceous material 195, such that the solid carbonaceous material 195 limits and/or prevents liquid and/or gas materials like pyrolytic synthetic gas 199 from passing through the filter. Filter heating elements can heat material passing through the filter to limit condensation of the pyrolytic synthetic gas 199 as it passes through the filter and/or keep the pyrolytic synthetic gas 199 in gas and/or liquid phase.
In one variation, gas-system heating elements can be interspersed along a length of the exhaust gas channel 130 to heat the walls of the exhaust gas channel 130 and prevent deposition and/or condensation of pyrolytic oil 197 on the walls of the exhaust gas channel 130.
Additionally or alternatively, the exhaust gas channel 130 can include a lubricious coating (e.g., polytetrafluoroethylene) and/or exposed internal material that limits buildup of material on walls of the exhaust gas channel 130.
Additionally or alternatively, the system 100 can include a gas centrifuge 180 interspersed at a location along the length of the exhaust gas channel 130. The gas centrifuge 180 can be configured to spin the pyrolytic synthetic gas 199 at a high angular velocity and/or acceleration; centrifugal and centripetal forces induced through angular rotation can cause higher density materials (e.g., solids) to deposit out of the pyrolytic synthetic gas 199, reducing content of solid material within the pyrolytic synthetic gas 199.
As shown in
Additionally or alternatively, the spray tower 140 can cause separation of solid materials (e.g., solid carbonaceous material 195) from liquid and/or gaseous materials due to condensation of materials within the pyrolytic synthetic gas 199 at disparate rates depending on their material properties (e.g., heat transfer coefficient, boiling point, flash point, density, etc.).
Generally, the spray tower 140 can be configured to induce mass and/or heat transfer between hot pyrolytic synthetic gas 199 and pyrolytic oil 197 (i.e. pyrolytic oil output by the system and recycled back to nozzles of the spray tower 140). Additionally or alternatively, the spray tower 140 can be configured for gas absorption to remove pollutants (e.g., sulfur) from the pyrolytic synthetic gas 199. The spray tower 140 can include multiple stages configured to treat and decontaminate the pyrolytic synthetic gas 199 sequentially in conjunction with other filtration and/or cleaning methods described below. In one example, the spray tower 140 can be configured to desulfurize the pyrolytic synthetic gas 199 in a first stage and/or remove other pollutants (e.g., nitrogen dioxide or hydrofluoric acid) in a second stage following the first stage. The spray tower 140 can include a venturi scrubber and/or any other type of wet scrubbing mechanism configured to substantially remove particulates (e.g., solid carbonaceous material 195) and/or gases from the system 100. Additionally or alternatively, the spray tower 140 can be configured to cool and/or condense the pyrolytic synthetic gas 199 to recover water carried over within the pyrolytic synthetic gas 199 and prepare the pyrolytic synthetic gas 199 for condensation and distillation to form distilled cuts of pyrolytic oil 197.
In one implementation, the spray tower 140 can include a set of spray nozzles that discharge fluid (i.e., end-product pyrolytic oil 197 recycled through the system 100 following condensation and filtration as described below) into droplets in a particular spray pattern, such as a hollow cone spray pattern and/or full cone spray pattern. The particular spray pattern can be selected to yield a target heat transfer percentage between the droplets and gas within the spray tower 140 (i.e., smaller droplets of a particular volume of fluid yield more heat transfer than larger droplets of the particular volume due to a larger surface area to volume ratio). The droplets can be of a particular droplet diameter (e.g., between 500 and 1000 micrometers) defined by the orifice size of the spray nozzle, back pressure of the fluid within the nozzle, droplet spray pattern, and fluid exit velocity. The particular droplet diameter can correspond to a desired heat transfer percentage (e.g., 20% reduction in temperature). Additionally or alternatively, the droplet size can correspond to a spray nozzle orifice size that limits clogging of the nozzle orifice over the runtime of the spray nozzle (e.g., 100 hours of continuous operation).
Additionally, the spray nozzles can be configured to direct fluid spray toward a center of the spray tower 140 to limit discharge of fluid onto interior walls of the spray tower 140. When droplets of pyrolytic oil 197 hits the walls of the spray tower 140, the pyrolytic oil 197 can foul due to rapid cooling of the pyrolytic oil 197.
The system 100 can include a dry gas scrubber 150 (and/or a plurality of gas scrubbers 150 in series) configured to further remove particulate and particular gases (e.g., acidic gases such as Sulfur dioxide and hydrochloric acid) from the pyrolytic synthetic gas 199. The gas scrubber 150 can follow the spray tower 140 in the exhaust gas channel 130 as shown in
As shown in
Alternatively, the in-line centrifuge 180 can be coupled (i.e., connected) to the exhaust gas channel 130 following the first gas scrubber 150 and/or the second gas scrubber 150.
As shown in
The portion of the pyrolytic synthetic gas 199 that condenses first yields a so-called “heavy oil” characterized by a high density and low flashpoint. A portion of the pyrolytic synthetic gas 199 that condenses later yields a so-called “light oil” characterized by a low density and higher flashpoint. Generally, the pyrolytic synthetic gas 199 can be condensed (or distilled) incrementally at discrete locations along the length of the exhaust gas channel 130 to yield differentiated cuts of oil, such as heavy oil from the light oil.
In one implementation shown in
Additionally or alternatively, the system 100 can include a second condenser 160 configured to condense a first portion of the vapor-phase synthetic gas form a cut of light oil in liquid-phase.
In one implementation, a decanter 187 can decant water from the cut of light oil to increase the purity of the light oil. Water within light oil will evaporate before light oil when a mixture of light oil and water is heated; this can cause corrosion (e.g., rusting) of machinery and/or containers in which the mixture is contained. Thus, the decanter 187 remove water from the light oil due to differences in density between light oil and water. Water may appear within the pyrolytic synthetic gas 199 following pyrolysis if small amounts of oxygen are present during pyrolysis (feasible if the pyrolysis channel is under an imperfect vacuum).
The system 100 can include also a compressor configured to compress the pyrolytic synthetic gas 199 into gas tanks. The compressor can be coupled to the exhaust gas channel 130 at an outlet of the exhaust gas channel 130 (i.e., following the gas scrubbers 150, the wet scrubber 140, and the centrifuge 180).
As shown in
Additionally or alternatively, the pyrolytic synthetic gas 199 can enter a gas-powered turbine and/or other machine that transforms chemical energy of the pyrolytic synthetic gas 199 into mechanical work and/or electrical current, such as to power the reamer 132, conveyor of the pyrolytic reactor 110, and/or other mechanisms within the system 100.
The system 100 can additionally or alternatively include a combustor 170 (or flare 170) configured to combust a remaining portion of vapor-phase gas.
Additionally or alternatively, the system 100 can include pyrolytic oil 197 post-processing steps to alter the chemical makeup and/or performance of the pyrolytic oil 197 in certain applications after the pyrolytic oil 197 is condensed and cooled. For example, pyrolytic oil 197 can be post-processed to increase flashpoint, reduce sulfur content, modify composition, and/or reduce solid deposits within the pyrolytic oil 197 for improved performance (e.g., increased turbomachinery efficiency and/or lubrication) and/or use in particular applications.
The systems and methods of the embodiments can be embodied and/or implemented at least in part as a machine configured to receive a computer-readable medium storing computer-readable instructions. The instructions can be executed by computer-executable components integrated with the application, applet, host, server, network, website, communication service, communication interface, native application, frame, iframe, hardware/firmware/software elements of a user computer or mobile device, or any suitable combination thereof. Other systems and methods of the embodiments can be embodied and/or implemented at least in part as a machine configured to receive a computer-readable medium storing computer-readable instructions. The instructions can be executed by computer-executable components integrated by computer-executable components integrated with apparatuses and networks of the type described above. The computer-readable medium can be stored on any suitable computer readable media such as RAMs, ROMs, flash memory, EEPROMs, optical devices (CD or DVD), hard drives, floppy drives, or any suitable device. The computer-executable component can be a processor, though any suitable dedicated hardware device can (alternatively or additionally) execute the instructions.
As a person skilled in the art will recognize from the previous detailed description and from the figures and claims, modifications and changes can be made to the embodiments of the invention without departing from the scope of this invention as defined in the following claims.
This Application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/778,214, filed on 11 Dec. 2018, which is incorporated in its entirety herein by this reference. This Application is related to U.S. application Ser. No. 16/658,049, filed on 19 Oct. 2019, which claims benefit to: U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/748,230, filed on 19 Oct. 2018; and U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/778,208, filed on 11 Dec. 2018, all of which are incorporated in their entireties herein by this reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62778214 | Dec 2018 | US |
