Patent Application
20150275114
This invention relates to a process for the co-production of bio-energy and products by means of the integrated conversion of biomasses, municipal wastes and/or carbonaceous matrices.
Within this description of the invention and its field of application, the main terms are defined in WO2012/085880.
The conversion processes of municipal wastes, biomasses and/or carbonaceous matrices must comply with the prescribed requisites within the local and European normative framework. Directive 2008/98/EC prescribed in Art. 16 the “principles of self sufficiency and proximity” with the implementation, in conjunction with other Member States should this be necessary or appropriate, of appropriate measures for the creation of an integrated and appropriate network of systems for the disposal of wastes and systems for the recovery of unsorted municipal wastes coming from domestic collection, as well as the cases where such collection includes such wastes coming from other producers, taking into account the best available techniques (BAT) and the best environmental practices (BEP).
In Italy, the Decree of 29 Jan. 2007 prescribes the Guidelines for the identification and the use of the best available techniques on the subject of the management of wastes, for the activities listed in enclosure I of legislative decree of 18 Feb. 2005, no. 59. At the level of UNCCD (United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification—2012) the critical factors to prevent and mitigate desertification are also focused.
Within the State of the Technique the patents, the systems and the processes indicated below are significant.
In EP-A-1 354 172 it is mainly claimed a reactor equipped with screw into which thermically conductive bodies are sent together with the process carbonaceous matrix, designated as HALOCLEAN®. These bodies are metal, ceramic spheres and SiC. Mostly they have the function of keeping the internal surface of the reactor and the screw clean. The HALOCLEAN® process has been indicated as BAT for the conversion and/or decontamination of materials and wastes contaminated by PCBs (Italian Ministry of Environment with M.D. 29.01.2007). In its applications (i. e. WEEE, biomasses etc.) Haloclean® is considered the pioneer of “Intermediate Pyrolysis”.
In WO2009138746 A1 it is described a treatment process based upon biomasses and in particular algae.
In Patent Application TO2008A000394 it is described a system for the stabilisation of organic material coming from municipal solid wastes including a mixing silo for the homogenisation and a station for an aerobic digestion for the degradation in the absence of oxygen by the action of different groups of micro-organisms made almost exclusively by anaerobic and facultative bacteria with subsequent production of biogas.
PCT WO 2012/085880 A2 is focused upon a modular system where the base module is made of a rotating reactor with a fixed casing, an actuating system, the presence of thermally conductive bodies and a heating/cooling group. The base module is functionalised and configured in series or parallel to provide the required conversion operational conditions.
Patent Application ITTO20100192 describes a system including a frame and a horizontal drum supporting a triad of perforated cylindrical squeezing chambers open at their opposite ends for the separation by pressing extrusion of the wet fraction and the dry fraction deriving from solid municipal wastes.
Patent Application TO2011A000873 describes the specific use for the application on vegetable organisms (i.e. biomasses, fruit and/or ornamental plants, cereals, algae etc.) of which the growing conservation, protection and/or disinfection is promoted by a functionalised nanosponge, consisting of a reticulated cyclodextrine containing at least one functionalising agent such as a micro element, an active principle and/or a magnetic material.
Historically the disposal of solid municipal wastes has mostly taken place by dumping in controlled landfills. The normative evolution of the sector has stimulated new technological solutions based upon selective collection and recovery of materials as well the combustion by means of high temperature controlled incineration with the recovery of electric and thermal energy (reference Ministry of Environment Decree 29.01.2007).
An additional orientation is the valorisation of wastes with the transformation into SSF (Secondary Solid Fuels—UNI CEN/TS 41359) for use in industrial cycles such as, for example, cement factories (Report “Potentiality and benefits of Secondary Solid Fuels (SSF) in industries—NE Nomisma Energia Srl—December 2011).
Waste to energy plants are justifiable only for relatively large collection communities (basins) and they determine important logistic implications, use of the territory and environmental impact as well as significant CO2, micro pollutants emissions (i.e. POPs such as PCDD-Dioxins and PCDF-Furans etc.) and dusts, ashes and the production of solid residues (example up to 26% and beyond of the initial weight to be sent to landfills).
The most recent orientations formalised by the Summit Rio+20 (2012) on sustainable development and climate changes focus on Green Economy solutions in terms of technological, economical, environmental and social terms. The implementation of these guidelines find a support in the European projects “Horizon 2020” and at Italian level in actions oriented toward the development of “Smart Cities, Smart Communities & Smart Grids”.
In a global scenario of sustainability climate conditions must also be considered (i.e. temperate, extreme cold, extreme hot climates etc.) and a large variety of specific, social-economical and territorial characteristics (i.e. low density of inhabitants concentrated in small urban agglomerates, risks of erosion and desertification, water shortages, dryness etc.).
The single techniques and/or treatment processes of municipal wastes and biomasses do not solve the current criticalities lacking one or more requisites of sustainability.
The water contained by the waste and/or biomass is a precious resource to be valorised being always intrinsically available also in zones with a water deficiency (i.e. desert zones etc.) or under seasonal or permanent dryness conditions.
The geo-climatic and social-economical conditions are important variables to be considered since maximum and minimum temperatures, wind profile, nearby population density and other specific conditions are important factors for the characteristics of the initial wastes, the building and performance features of the conversion systems as well as the justification and the triggering promotion of virtuous circuits to fight dryness, erosion of soil and desertification for the local sustainable development servicing communities.
The wastes and biomasses produced by the local community must become a resource and an opportunity for the widespread sustainable development for the production of bioenergy and products in an efficient, economic, safe and socially acceptable manner, preventing smelly emissions and the NIMBY syndrome.
The object of this invention is to provide a co-production process of bioenergy and products deriving from the integrated conversion of biomasses, municipal wastes and/or carbonaceous matrices and a system for the operation of such process in a sustainable manner also for small sizes (≦25.000 t/y) facilitating social acceptability. This is achieved by basing upon highly integrated and flexible technologies and processes as described in the field of application, without the critical factors typical of the known systems and processes.
This object is achieved thanks to a process having the features indicated in claim 1 below. The favourite features of the process of the invention are indicated in the dependent claims 2 through 14.
In detail, this invention is embodied in a process for the recovery and valorisation of a substratum including biomasses, municipal wastes and/or carbonaceous matrices encompassing the following phases:
Profitably, the digestate obtained as by-product by the biogas generation system is fed to the press-extrusion system together with said substratum.
Profitably, the said purified water is used to irrigate cultivations in greenhouses thermally controlled by means of the thermal energy produced by the combustion of said biogas and/or synthesis gas.
Advantages and features of this invention shall be evident from the detailed description to follow, provided as a non-limiting example, with reference to the enclosed drawings where:
Shown below are listed, with a progressive numbering, the systems, apparatuses, devices and matrices to be converted, derived products and energy, of the system of the invention:
This invention relates to a process for the co-production of bio-energy and products deriving from the integrated conversion of biomasses, municipal wastes and/or carbonaceous matrices and a system for the performance of such process capable of maximising the quantity of energy, products and reusable substances recovered from the latter minimising, if not totally eliminating, the non-recoverable residue in compliance with what indicated in the field of application and in its object.
The integrated technological system of the invention is composed of integrated functional units arranged in series and parallel suitable for the performance of the subsequent operational phases required by the process as indicated in
This object is achieved thanks to a process formalised with specific standard operational procedures and a system having the characteristics listed in one or more of the claims to follow.
The process of the invention provides the advantages of being:
The system is focused in particular for different operational scenarios both at climatic type (temperate or extreme cold/hot) and in zones with a high risk for erosion and/or desertification.
Functional unit A is essentially composed, by way of non-limiting example, of what is indicated in functional unit A of
Functional unit B is essentially composed of, by way of non-limiting example, of what is indicated in functional unit A of
Functional unit C is essentially composed, by way of non-limiting example, of what is indicated in functional unit C of
Functional unit D is essentially composed, by way of non-limiting example, of what is indicated in functional unit D of
The Smart Farm constitutes a green zone for agricultural use functioning as a buffer zone for the systems where the products for bio-energetic use for the virtuous cycle and high added value products for the community and the market are produced. Likewise the Smart Farm can be a place where young people with a high professionalism are employed (Green Jobs) for a long term sustainable development of the territory.
Functional unit E is essentially composed, by way of non-limiting example, of what is indicated in functional unit E of
Functional unit F is essentially composed, by way of non-limiting example, of what is indicated in functional unit F of
The Smart Dome has a round or polygonal layout of a size suitable to include functional units A, B, C and F anticipated and has an aerodynamic shape that in the vertical section, as shown in
This example is focused upon the production of bio-energy and products from the conversion of municipal solid wastes (MSW) and provides the simplest, most economical, efficient, flexible and safe BAT/BEP solution for a typical city community of about 50,000 inhabitants (ref 540 kg/inh per year). The example solves the typical criticalities deriving from the typologies of selected collection and not better underlined in Examples 2 and 3. The solution is provided by an integrated system having a conversion capacity of 25,000 t/y fed by Unsorted Municipal Solid Wastes (UMSW) that shows the typical composition indicated in Table 1 with a calorific value of reference equivalent to 10,500 KJ/kg and humidity equivalent to about 33% in weight.
The conversion of the UMSW is carried out in functional units A, B, C, D, F which operate in an integrated manner as outlined in
The thermal energy is valorised in functional units C, D and F for thermal recovery and air-conditioning for the cultivation in intensified greenhouses, whereas the gas flow enriched with CO2 (production of CO2 equivalent to 630 g/KWhe—source ENEA) deriving from the fumes previously treated and equivalent to about 11,943 t/y of CO2 (equivalent to 0.44 t/tMSW) is sent to the greenhouses of functional unit D as nutrient for the intensification of the photo-synthetic process in the production of primary and/or algal biomass. The thermal energy, the water resource, the nutrients such as ashes and CO2 feed a Smart Farm equipped with a phytodepuration system of the process waters generated that amount to about 6,312 t/y, which allow the growth of selected vegetable species for the short rotation intensive cultivation of the species Tamarix with a yield up to an above 50 t/year per hectare in open fields in the zone nearby the systems zone and that constitutes the intercrops area. The zone occupied by the Smart Dome and the Smart Farm has a surface of about 5 hectares, where functional units A, B, C are arranged in a technological area of about 5,000 m2. The types of process characterised by a high processing speed prevent the criticalities created by smelly emissions together with compactness and the intrinsic confinement of the process zones make the system neutral and “environmentally friendly”. Outside the zone occupied by functional units A, B, and C, the buffer zone is located for the visual, functional and anti-wind protection as well as the enhancement of the green landscape aspect which is a key factor for the environmental sustainability and social acceptance. An educational and recreational path in the green with pause points and illustrative and/or inter-active totems seeks the involvement of the different generations at different levels (school, family, social). The Smart Farm, beyond the intercrops zone, provides for the radial presence of the above said intensified greenhouses with a semi-circular section (equivalent to 3 m radius) as modular sections made of advanced semi-transparent polymeric material for the cultivation of high added value products such as for example flowers and algal biomass in advanced photo-bio-reactors. In the intensified greenhouses is always available the water purified by the phytodepuration system possibly integrated by external sources for the dedicated cultivations. Also, the air-conditioned greenhouses are a confined ambient for the use of the CO2 enriched gaseous flow to intensify the production of the said cultivations. An electrical systems provides cycles of artificial lighting inside the greenhouses. In case local norms (i. E. European Directive 98/2008) prescribe as a priority factor the recovery and recycling of materials, the quality digestate can be used as agricultural amendment. In this instance there is an immediate marginal reduction of the production of energy against a correlated enhanced production of products and biomasses. For each ton of UMSW as is of reference, having for example a LHV of 10,500 KJ/kg bioenergy equivalent to 758 KWh electric is produced (total efficiency 26.0%) as well as 851 KWh thermal (total efficiency 29.2%). It is possible to scientifically anticipate that the performances can be enhanced at least 10-15% depending upon the typology of the wastes currently collected and the intensification and optimisation of the processes. A particular importance is the fact that these energy resources available provide the production of products with a high market value computable in at least 250 t/year. The water resource is recovered and valorised and out of about 8,250 t/y contained in the MSW as is (33% water on the as is) 6,272 t/y are recovered that is 76% in weight of the input water. This pragmatic solution in the political strategic scenarios offers the highest simplification and lower costs for the community of citizens taking advantage of all the benefits provided by the collection of unsorted wastes, that is the elimination of different containers and bags, with a lower visual, infrastructural and logistic impact, with different types of systems for the subsequent conversion, but most of all for the maximum valorisation of the bioenergy and products resources with the dynamic coverage at short, medium and long term according to the Guidelines at strategic, normative and political level.
The net investment financial requirement is about 20,000,000.00 corresponding to about 800.00
/t capacity. When simulating the scenario with the said characteristics in a provincial context in Turin, it is possible to convert and valorise 567,057 t/y that still represent the UMSWs (datum 2010) in electric energy equivalent to 430,005 MWh/y and thermal energy equivalent to 482,448 equivalent to a thermo electrical cogeneration station of about 55 MW of electric power (operational availability 7,800 hours/y). This example is a dynamic and flexible response to the evolution of the scenarios in which sorted collection does not and cannot reach in future the only theoretical target of 100%.
The application of this invention is effective also in a much more heterogeneous Italian scenario in which 32,000,000 t/y are produced (source ISPRA 2009) and in which sorted collection is far from reaching satisfactory levels. Similarly the system is able to satisfy the requirements of different global operational scenarios also under extreme climate conditions (cold/hot) as well as fighting phenomena of poverty, dryness and desertification also when external water and energy resources are scarce. The conversion solution into bioenergy and products of UMSWs provides an answer to what comes out from the comparative analysis of the best practices in Europe where it is demonstrated how a high level of energy recovery is necessary to abate the squanders correlated with the delivery to landfills that is the total energetic loss accompanied by the increment of environmental criticalities. Additional and decisive benefits derive from the emission of CO2, with respect to the direct consumption of fossil fuels, besides the possibility of offering progressive reductions of the rates in total terms for individual citizens, being the costs for the management of MSWs almost totally covered by tariffs (or local taxes) resting on individual families.
This example demonstrates the surprising advantages offered by this virtuous cycle which is sustainable under the technical, energetic, economic, financial, environmental, landscape and social profiles as well as toward social acceptability by the communities and for the stakeholders.
This example is focused upon the production of bio-energy and products from the conversion of the organic fraction of municipal solid wastes (OFMSW) deriving from the sorted collection of MSWs and provides the simplest, most economical, efficient, flexible and safe BAT/BEP solution for a typical city community of about 330,000 inhabitants (ref 75 kg/inh per year). The solution is provided by an integrated system with the conversion capacity of 25,000 t/y fed by OFMSWs having the following typical composition: organic fraction 89.30%, plastics 5.70%, ferrous and non-ferrous metals 2%, glass and inerts 3% with a calorific power of reference equivalent to about 5,500 KJ/Kg and a humidity equivalent to about 65% in weight. The system for the conversion of the initial material has the same engineering configuration indicated in Example 1 demonstrating the surprising operational flexibility being able to convert effectively with easy adaptations both UMSWs and OFMSWs. The initial OFMSW material is received in functional unit A and subject to a high pressure press-extrusion (with a low specific electrical consumption equivalent to 7 kWh/t of OFMSW) to produce two fractions: organic liquid equivalent to about 85% and solid (EDF) equivalent to 15% in weight. The OLF and EDF fractions are converted in functional units B, C, D, E as described in example 1 with the mass/energy balances indicated in
This example is focused toward the co-production of bioenergy and products from the conversion of municipal solid wastes (MSW) in the typical territorial scenario in which incinerators are present in the sorting and collection chain as well as systems for the production of compost from OFMSWs, demonstrating the synergic integration capability.
The scenario for example for the Province of Turin points out with the data relative to the year 2010 in which the production of Municipal Solid Waste reaches 567,057 t/y (246 kg/inhab per year) whereas the waste from sorted collection is equivalent to 560,365 t/y (243 kg/inhab per year) for a total collection of 1,127,422 t/y (equivalent to 490 kg/inhab per year) with a percentage of sorted collection reached 49.7%. The organic fraction amounts to 142,293 t/y (equivalent to 12.6% of the total MSW) whereas grass cuttings and vines from pruning (residual biomass) reach 53,568 t/y (equivalent to 4.8% of the total MSW). The latter components make up the Organic Fraction of Municipal Solid Waste (OFMSW). The conversion of OFMSW as indicated in Example 2, currently shows criticalities in terms of: capacity of conversion, quality of the compost for agri-food use, demand and relevant market value practically nil. The subject solution, in fact, can make a complementary opportunity for the current project that shall be running in January 2014 (development delay equivalent to about 48 months) in Turin referred to the new incinerator TRM—Trattamento Rifiuti Metropolitano—Metropolitan Waste Treatment—www.trm.to.it—for the combustion of 421,000 t/y of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) residual from sorted collection and special waste comparable to municipal wastes. It must be noted that the TRM plant does not include the collection of unsorted municipal waste nor least of all, the organic fraction (OFMSW) plus biomasses deriving from sorted collection. The net financial requirement is about 503,000,000.00 (Project Financing data 2008) corresponding to 1,195.00
/t capacity (referred estimated data 2008 with the final balance data 2013 that includes a substantial increment). The TMR plant fed with materials carried by 40 lorries and 1 train with 16 carriages per day converts this material equivalent to 421,000 t/y into electric energy equivalent to 350,000 MWh/a (efficiency 21.8%) and thermal 170,000 MWh/y (operational availability 7800 h/y). The electric power of the plant is equivalent to about 45 MWe. To ensure the minimal operational conditions the installation of auxiliary natural gas burners is planned for an estimated requirement of 1,600,000 Sm3/y (3.8 SM3natural gas/twaste).
The TMR incinerator has high landscape impacts due to large structures (i.e. a 120 m tall smokestack, 100,000 sq m of land occupied) and infrastrucures as well as significant environmental impacts due to the concentration in one single point of the conversion of MSW deriving from a very large collection basin. It is not absolutely negligeable the requirement for industrial water equivalent to 1,000,000 t/a (2.37 twater/twaste) and the production of residual solids is equivalent to 110,723 t/y (26.3% of the feeding waste) with the following typical ratio of composition: 210 g/Kg slag, 18.5 g/Kg ferrous, ashes 20 g/Kg, dusts 15 g/Kg. The average market conventional rates for traditional disposal of municipal wastes are referred to controlled landfills of municipal wastes at about 100.00 /t (data 2011) for OFMSW at about 90.00
/t (data 2011), for the dry fraction from sorted collection to be delivered to the TMR incinerator of Turin has been established in 2008 at 97.50
/t (the delivery conventional rate shall have a substantial increment when the plant shall run in 2014). In comparative terms, the dry fraction from sorted collection to be delivered to the IREN incinerator in Parma has been established at 168.00
/t (to be completed within 2012 and started in 2013).
The comparative Table 3 below summarizes the evaluation factors both in quantitative and qualitative terms between the various conversion technologies for Municipal Solid Wastes.
800*
250+
300+
1,200**
1,465***
In relation with the evaluation factors indicated in the comparison table it is pointed out how the system subject of the invention satisfies the BAT/BEP requisites in terms of technical reliability, environmental cost/benefit ratio, reasonable costs at industrial level. Also, the high flexibility (waste from unsorted or sorted collection) and the high energetic efficiency (up to 32.7% in the case of OFMSW) of the system of the invention for the production of bioenergy and products deriving from the conversion of the various typologies of municipal wastes and biomasses generated by the community itself under various operational scenarios and with a low visual and environmental impact is demonstrated.
In particular it is evident that the efficiency is maintained also for small size systems (25,000 t/y or less) with reference to the State of the Art of the sector, thus it constitutes a valid solution also for small communities. The solution is economically competitive with an investment financial requirement per ton for the alternatives up to 40% lower with respect to incinerators and a conversion rate at least 10-15% lower with respect to the currently applied market rates. A virtuous circuit is created thanks to the complete valorisation of all the potential resources available of the waste (i.e. water for irrigation of dedicated cultivations, drinking water, CO2 present in exhaust fumes, valorisation of nutrients and thermal energy etc.).
The examples list some illustrative, but not limiting, results of the possible operational scenarios for the conversion of municipal solid wastes as described in the field of application and in its scope.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| TO2012A000894 | Oct 2012 | IT | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/EP2013/071320 | 10/11/2013 | WO | 00 |
