Not applicable.
Not applicable.
The present invention relates to the pyrolization of waste. More particularly, the present invention relates to pyrolization process whereby the heat for the pyrolization is obtained from an external combustion chamber. Additionally, the present invention relates to processes for the pyrolization of waste in which the various components of pyrolized waste can be recovered and reused in an economic and efficient manner.
The pyrolization of organic materials is not a new art. There are various U.S. patents which disclose various destructive distillation, pyrolysis or cracking processes. These patents are identified as U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,777,449, 1,898,326,2,025,384, 2,160,341, 2,238,367, 2,757,129,2,897,146, 3,110,663, 3,186,923, 3,207,675, 3,362,887, 3,617,469, 3,639,111, 3,702,039, and 3,761,586. In these pyrolization processes, organic and other waste is delivered to a combustion chamber whereby the heat of combustion is directed to the waste material so as to convert the waste into gases and liquids. Ultimately, the residue wastes from the combustion chamber are removed from the combustion chamber and delivered elsewhere for disposal. In each of these pyrolization process, it is necessary to obtain an extremely high heat of combustion in order to properly effectively vaporize the organic wastes into their constituent components. Ultimately, each of these processes produces a relatively large amount of waste gases. In certain circumstances, these waste gases are discharged to the atmosphere, thereby producing undesirable environmental effects. In other circumstances, these waste gases are transported elsewhere for storage and reuse. Ultimately, throughout the history of the pyrolization of waste, it has been extremely difficult to economically dispose of waste in this manner. The cost of feed gasses, combustion liquids, and other materials tends to exceed the overall value of the constituent components produced from the process. In other circumstances, environmental regulations cause extreme financial difficulties for pyrolization institutions. The cost of environmental compliance is extremely expensive and effectively offsets the financial benefits gained from the pyrolization of waste.
Ultimately, it is very desirable to pyrolyze waste. Most importantly, the pyrolization of waste greatly minimizes the amount of landfill required for such waste. Additionally, by elevating the temperature of the waste to extremely high temperatures, any pathogens and toxic components of the waste are effectively destroyed. Ultimately, the pyrolization of waste can result in an extremely clean, pathogen-free and vector-free residue. The gases that are produced from the pyrolization process are combustible and usable under other circumstances. As such, the production of such gases can significantly offset the cost of fuel.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,038,152, issued on Jul. 26, 1977 to L. D. Atkins, teaches one type of process and apparatus for the destructive distillation of waste material. This patent describes an insulated seal distillator compartment which is provided with a plurality of conveyor stages for transporting waste material through the sealed compartment while subjecting the material to a plurality of increased zones of temperature in order to completely pyrolyze the material and evolve pyrolysis gases. An auger feed apparatus supplies a continuous supply of material to the sealed distillator, while an auger discharge apparatus removes a continuous supply of solid carbonaceous residue from the distillator. The residue can be classified and separated into usable products. The evolved gases are converted into crude oil and natural gas.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a pyrolization process that effectively pyrolyzes waste material.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a pyrolization process in which an external combustion chamber provides the heat component to the pyrolization chamber.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a pyrolization process whereby the gaseous components of the process are recycled or used as heat-generating components of the process.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a pyrolization process which re-circulates flue gases so as to provide precise control of external combustion and for nitrogen oxide emissions control.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a pyrolization process which rapidly cools the hot gas from the pyrolytic chamber so as to minimize production of undesirable pyrolitic products.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a pyrolization process which relies primarily upon radiant heat for the destructive distillation process.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a pyrolization process which utilizes waste heat recovery for power generation and for cost minimization.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a reading of the attached specification and appended claims.
The present invention is a process for the pyrolization of waste. In particular, the process of the present invention utilizes a pyrolization chamber and a combustion chamber. The pyrolization chamber includes a waste inlet whereby wastes may be introduced into the interior of the pyrolization chamber. The chamber also includes a residue solid outlet located at the bottom thereof. The pyrolization chamber also includes a pyrolized gas outlet and a radiant gas inlet and outlet.
The combustion chamber utilizes fuels produced from the pyrolization process, along with fuels introduced external from the process. These fuels can be gases and liquids that are mixed with air so as to achieve maximum heating value. The hot gas outlet of the combustion chamber communicates with the radiant tubes through a tubular header in the pyrolization chamber. As a result, the combustion gases will flow in a closed system so as to create heat transfer to the waste materials within pyrolization chamber. Ultimately, a portion of the cooled gases from the heating tubes within the pyrolization chamber are recirculated to the combustion chamber for reheating and heat exchange.
A transport deck is provided within the pyrolization chamber so as to transport the waste therethrough in a desired manner. In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the transport deck includes at least one conveyer which serves to pass the waste from the waste inlet through the interior of the pyrolization in heat-exchange relationship with the conveyor support decks therein. As a result, a heat exchange relationship will occur between the conveyor support decks and the wastes located on the conveyers. In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, multiple conveyers are located on multiple layers within the pyrolization chamber. Baffles are provided on the interior of the chamber so as to direct waste from one level or layer of the conveyers to another level or layer. The radiant heating tubes will be located on opposite sides of the transport deck so as to direct heat toward the top and the bottom of the waste passing along the conveyer. Additional heating tubes can be provided interior of the conveyers.
The present invention includes a flue gas recirculation means for emissions control. Ultimately, the hot gases from the pyrolization chamber are passed outwardly therefrom to a hot gas scrubber and to a quenching tower. A fuel gas compressor then serves to recirculate the gases for fuel in the radiant gas combustion chamber and other users of the produced gas. Various gases can also be removed by conventional means from the pyrolized waste so as to produce fuels for later use. The heated water from the quenching tower can then be cooled and recirculated throughout the system.
The pyrolized waste from the pyrolization chamber can then be passed to another location for disposal. The waste heat from the combustion process and also from the pyrolization process can be utilized elsewhere, potentially in association with turbines and generators.
Referring to
In the present invention, the process can include a pyrolization process 12 which is separate from the combustion chamber 14. The pyrolization chamber 12 includes a waste inlet 24 generally positioned along an upper surface thereof. The waste inlet 24 includes an auger system for delivering the waste into the interior of the pyrolization chamber 12. As can be seen in
The pyrolization chamber 12 has a transport decking arrangement 46 therein. The transport decking arrangement 46 includes conveyors 48 and 50 therein. There can be a plurality of conveyors decks, usually ranging between one and four decks. Conveyor 48 is positioned above conveyor 50. Suitable baffles 52 and 54 are provided so as to direct the waste which travels along the conveyors 48 onto the top surface of conveyor 50. Ultimately, the conveyor 50 has a discharge end 56 positioned above a residue solid outlet 58 located at the bottom of the pyrolization chamber. As the waste is pyrolized, the residue solids will pass through the residue solid outlet 58 and onto an auger-type screw conveyor 20 for discharge into vehicle 22. Suitable cooling lines, as desired, can be associated with the residue solids outlet 58 and the screw conveyor 20 so as to reduce the temperature of the residue solids as they are discharged into vehicle 22. Vehicle 22 will serve to transport the residue solids for disposal elsewhere.
The combustion chamber 14 is illustrated as separated from the pyrolization chamber 12. Ultimately, hot gases will travel along line 62 so as to introduced into heating tubes 64 and 66 located within the pyrolization chamber 12. Heating tubes 64 and 66 comprise an array of tubes that are positioned on opposite sides of the conveyor 48 and are positioned above the conveyor 50 within the interior of the pyrolization chamber 12. The heating tubes 64 and 66 will serve to pass the extremely hot gases in close proximately to the waste passing along the conveyors 48 and 50 so as to effectively pyrolize the waste thereon. The residual heat passing as gases through the heating tubes 64 and 66 will then be passed outwardly through a radiant gas outlet 68 to heat recovery system 70. The heat recovery system can be in the nature of a steam generator whereby electricity can be produced in turbines and can be used for other purposes. The radiant gases flow through the decks before going to the waste heat recovery system.
The combustion chamber 14 utilizes fuel from fuel line 72 and air from air line 74 so as to generate the hot gases. Initial start-up fuel can be passed along line 76 into the interior of the combustion chamber 14. When the fuel-air mixture is ignited within the combustion chamber 14, the ignited gases will then pass along line 62 into the heating tubes 64 and 66 within the pyrolization chamber 12. The combustion chamber 14 is designed to use produced gas, pyrolytic liquids and supplemental fuel as required for startup.
The pyrolized gases produced from the waste of the pyrolization chamber 12 are passed through pyrolized gas outlets 78 and 80 to a hot gas scrubber 82. Hot gas scrubber 82 will serve to remove particulates from the hot gas stream. Ultimately, line 84 will serve to pass the scrubbed hot gases immediately to a quench tower 86. The quench tower 86 will cool the hot gases so as to produce a liquid component and a gaseous component therefrom. The gases produced from the quench tower 86 will pass along line 88 to a fuel gas compressor 90 and then back along line 92 to the combustion chamber 14 for recycling and reuse in the combustion process. Liquids will pass along line 94 from the quench tower 86 to a multi-phase separator 96. Multi-phase separator will separate hydrocarbon and pyrolytic liquids from non-combustible liquids. The non-combustible liquids will be passed along line 98 to water treatment tank 100 and then along line 102 to a treated water storage tank 104. The hydrocarbon liquids are passed outwardly of the multi-phase separator 96 along lines 106 and 108 for hydrocarbon liquid storage 110 or for reuse in the system along line 112. The hydrocarbon liquids can serve as fuels for passing along lines 72 to the combustion chamber 14 or for recycling through the pyrolization chamber 12.
Referring to
The cool gases from the quench tower 86 can be passed to a heat exchanger 138, to a scrubber 140, and then to compressor 90. Compressor 90 will compress the gas suitably so as to be used in various forms of combustion. The fuel can be used for engine generator 144 or for other uses of the fuel such as a steam generator, co-generation systems, etc.
At the start of the process, the waste is initially delivered by the truck 38 so as to reside in a pile 40. The bulldozer 42 will serve to pass the waste 40 into a collection pit 148. The shredder 32 will shred the waste after the waste has passed along a conveyor 34 thereto. After shredding, conveyor 26 will then pass the waste into the pyrolization chamber 12.
After thermal decomposition within the pyrolization chamber 12, the residue is passed through the residue solid outlet 58 of pyrolization chamber 12 to conveyor 20. The residue is cooled during this process. Conveyor 20 will then dump the waste into a suitable container, such as located on truck 22. Truck 22 can then transport the residue to landfill 150.
The hot quench liquids from the quench tower 86 are then passed by pump 152 to an air cooler 154. This cooled liquid is then passed to the multi-phase separator 96 so as to separate the water components from the hydrocarbon components. Hydrocarbon components are then passed by pump 156 back to the storage 158 for recycling back to the combustion chamber 14. The water components are then passed through pump 160 back to treated water storage unit 104. Hydrocarbons produced by the process can be stored in hydrocarbon storage 110.
In
Initially, the auger-type screw conveyor 28 delivers the wastes through the solid inlet 24 onto the top surface of conveyor 48. Conveyor 48 will move the solids below the array tubes of 64 toward a discharge end 232. Baffles 233 and 54 will serve to move the waste residing at the discharge end 232 of conveyor 48 onto the end 234 of the conveyor 50. The waste material will then flow in direct proximity to the underside of the array of radiant tubes 66. Ultimately, conveyor 50 has a discharge end 236 which serves to discharge the residue solids through the residue solids outlet 58 and ultimately into the screw-type auger conveyor 60. The pyrolized gases will pass through pyrolized gas outlet 238 so as to be utilized within the system as described hereinbefore.
The combustion chamber 14 will deliver heated gases through line 262 to the upper radiant coil array 64 and the lower coil radiant array 66. The heated gases will also pass through the upper transport deck 48 and the lower radiant deck 50. The heated gases from the decks 48 and 50 then pass along line 264 as hot gases back to the air preheater 256, or to other heat recovery devices.
The present invention is a significant improvement over prior processes for the pyrolization of waste. In the present invention, the radiant heat input to the pyrolytic destructive distillation unit is accomplished by utilizing an external combustion chamber instead of individual burner radiant tubes. The external combustion chamber is designed to use gaseous fuel produced in the process, combustible liquids produced in the process, and external fuel sources as start up and supplemental fuel, if required. Flue gas recirculation is incorporated to provide precise control of the external combustion and for emissions control of nitrogen oxides. The present invention serves to recycle liquids produced by the process back to the pyrolytic distillation unit. The hot gas from the pyrolytic distillation unit is rapidly cooled in a quench tower so as to minimize the production of undesirable pyrolytic products. The hot gases from the external combustion chamber are distributed into a tubular header, then into multiple pipes inside the pyrolytic distillation unit, in order to provide radiant heat for the destructive distillation process. Hot gases also flow through the decks used for the transport of the feed solids. This provides additional heat input into the feed and improves system efficiency. The pyrolytic distillation unit can have one, two or more levels of exposure to the radiant heat in a single pyrolytic distillation unit. Waste heat recovery and/or air preheat is utilized depending on the power generation method. The solids transport decks have variable speed drives to control exposure time within the pyrolytic distillation unit.
The foregoing disclosure and description of the invention is illustrative and explanatory thereof. Various changes in the details of the described method or in the illustrated system can be made within the scope of the present invention without departing from the true spirit of the invention. The present invention should only be limited by the following claims and their legal equivalents.
The present application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/540,192, filed on Jan. 30, 2004, and entitled “Process for the Pyrolization of Waste”.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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60540192 | Jan 2004 | US |