Waste Processing

Abstract

M&C PB 143543WO 22 31524653-1-abhimani ABSTRACT An apparatus and method for processing organic materials is provided comprising an elongate process tube ( 22 ) having an inlet for receiving the material and an outlet for processed material. A gas conveying system fluidically conveys the material through the processing tube, The gas conveying system comprises a supply of conveying gas which is a hot pressurised inert gas, connected to the processing tube ( 22 ) at its inlet end. A control system is configured to control the supply of the pressurised inert gas to the processing tube ( 22 ) so as to convey a batch of material through the tube ( 22 ) whilst simultaneously heating said it to cause the organic matter therein to gasify to produce process. The processing tube ( 22 ) has a plurality of sections, each separated by a closure ( 44 ), and the gas conveying means conveys the material from one section to the next.

1 . Apparatus for processing material such as organically coated waste and organic materials including biomass, industrial waste, municipal solid waste and sludge; the apparatus comprising:
 an elongate process tube having an inlet for receiving the material and an outlet for processed material;   a gas conveying system for fluidically conveying said material through said processing tube, said conveying system comprising a supply of conveying gas, comprising hot pressurised inert gas, connected to said processing tube at its inlet end; and   a control system configured to control the supply of said pressurised inert gas to said processing tube so as to convey a batch of said material through said tube simultaneously heating said material to cause any organic matter therein to gasify to produce process gas wherein   the processing tube comprises a plurality of sections, each separated by a valve, and wherein the gas conveying system is configured to convey the material from one section to the next.   
     
     
         2 . The apparatus of  claim 1  further comprising a separator configured to extract the process gas from the processing tube. 
     
     
         3 . The apparatus of  claim 1  wherein the gas conveying system includes a conveying gas inlet associated with each section for the supply of conveying gas to move the material therein into the next section. 
     
     
         4 . The apparatus of  claim 1  further comprising a conveying gas compressor for increasing the pressure of the conveying gas and wherein expansion of the conveying gas moves the material in the processing tube. 
     
     
         5 . The apparatus of  claim 4  wherein the conveying gas compressor comprises a compression chamber having a piston therein for receiving said conveying gas and an actuator for moving said piston in said chamber to compress the gas therein. 
     
     
         6 . The apparatus of  claim 5  wherein the compression chamber is sized such that one stroke of the piston in the chamber expels sufficient conveying gas to convey material from one section of the processing tube to be to another. 
     
     
         7 . The apparatus of  claim 4  wherein each section of the processing tube has a compressor associated with it. 
     
     
         8 . The apparatus of  claim 1  further comprising a fluid outlet in each section of the tube for draining fluid therefrom. 
     
     
         9 . The apparatus of  claim 5  further comprising a fluid outlet in each section of the tube for draining fluid therefrom and a fluid inlet in the conveying gas inlet conduit of each section for feeding fluid into said conveying gas. 
     
     
         10 . The apparatus of  claim 1  further comprising at least one thermal treatment chamber for thermally treating the process gas produced by the apparatus by heating it so as to breakdown any volatile organic compounds therein. 
     
     
         11 . The apparatus of  claim 10  further comprising an outlet conduit from at least one thermal treatment chamber for supplying hot process gas therefrom to the processing tube for use as said conveying gas. 
     
     
         12 . The apparatus of  claim 1  further comprising: a feed hopper for receiving and temporarily storing material to be processed, and a secondary hopper fed by the feed hopper wherein the secondary hopper is connected to the processing tube by a valve and wherein the secondary hopper has a conveying gas inlet at an upper end thereof. 
     
     
         13 . The apparatus of  claim 1  wherein each section of the processing tube has a process gas outlet towards its downstream end. 
     
     
         14 . The apparatus of  claim 1  further comprising sensors to sense the quality of the process gas and: if it does not meet a predetermined criteria, recirculating the process gas through the processing tube and, if it does meet the predetermined criteria extracting at least a part of the process gasses for storage or direct use. 
     
     
         15 . The apparatus of  claim 1  wherein the interior surface of the processing tube is provided with fixed agitators to promote the tumbling of material within said tube as it is conveyed therethrough. 
     
     
         16 . A method for processing material such as organically coated waste and organic materials including biomass, industrial waste, municipal solid waste and sludge; the method comprising:
 providing an elongate process tube having an inlet for receiving the material and an outlet for processed material;   providing a gas conveying system for fluidically conveying said material through said processing tube, said conveying system comprising a supply of hot pressurised inert gas connected to said processing tube at its inlet end; and   controlling the supply of said pressurised inert gas to said processing tube so as to convey a batch of said material through said tube thereby heating said material to cause any organic matter therein to gasify to produce process gas wherein   the processing tube comprises a plurality of sections, each separated by a valve, each section having a conveying gas inlet associated therewith for the supply of conveying gas; the method further comprising controlling the supply of conveying gas so as to convey the material from one section to the next.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16  further comprising separating the process gas from the processing tube. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17  further comprising compressing the conveying gas to increase its pressure and wherein expansion of the conveying gas moves the material in the processing tube. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claims 16  further comprising draining fluid from each section of the tube via a fluid outlet therein. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19  further comprising supplying fluid drained from the tube into the conveying gas upstream of the processing tube. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 20  wherein the temperature of the conveying gas is sufficient to vaporise the fluid added thereto, thereby increasing the pressure of said conveying gas. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claims 16  further comprising heating the process gases in a thermal treatment chamber to thermally breakdown any volatile organic compounds therein. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 22  further comprising supplying hot process gas from the thermal treatment chamber to the processing tube for use as said conveying gas. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claims 16  further comprising: providing a feed hopper for receiving and temporarily storing material to be processed; providing a secondary hopper fed by the feed hopper wherein the secondary hopper is connected to the processing tube by a valve; providing a conveying gas inlet at an upper end of the secondary hopper; feeding a batch of material to be processed from the feed hopper to the secondary hopper; passing gas through the conveying gas inlet and opening the valve such that the batch of material is conveyed from the secondary hopper into the processing tube. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claims 16  further comprising providing each section of the processing tube with a process gas outlet towards its downstream end and extracting process gas via said process gas outlets. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claims 16  further comprising sensing the quality of the process gas and: if it does not meet a predetermined criteria, recirculating the process gas through the processing tube and, if it does meet the predetermined criteria extracting at least a part of the process gasses for storage or direct use. 
     
     
         27 . The method of  claims 16  further comprising providing a waste material silo downstream of the processing tube for collecting the inert fully processed material. 
     
     
         28 . The method of  claims 16  further comprising agitating said material within the tube as it is conveyed there through. 
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 16  further comprising heating the process gases from initial sections of the processing tube in a first thermal treatment chamber, to thermally breakdown any volatile organic compounds therein, and recycling the treated gas as conveying gas. 
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 29  further comprising heating the process gases from final sections of the processing tube in a second thermal treatment chamber, to thermally breakdown any volatile organic compounds therein. 
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 16  further comprising determining the quality of the process gas and: if the process gas is below a predetermined quality threshold, passing the process gas through a first thermal treatment chamber to heat the gas so as to thermally breakdown any volatile organic compounds therein, and recycling the treated gas as conveying gas; and if the process gas is above a predetermined quality threshold, passing the process gas through a second thermal treatment chamber to heat the gas so as to thermally breakdown any volatile organic compounds therein.