The melter includes a vessel and structure for introducing waste material into the vessel. Waveguide structure is provided for introducing millimeter wave electromagnetic radiation into the vessel to heat the waste material. A gyrotron is a preferred source for the millimeter wave electromagnetic radiation.
A rotating heat regenerator is used to recover heat from the syngas at it exits the reactor vessel of a waste or biomass gasifier. In some embodiments, three or more streams are passed through the heat exchanger. One stream is the dirty syngas, which heats the rotating material. A second stream is a cold stream that is heated as it passes through the material. A third stream is a cleaning stream, which serves to remove particulates that are collected on the rotating material as the dirty syngas passes through it. This apparatus can also be used as an auto-heat exchanger, or it can exchange heat between separate flows in the gasifier process. The apparatus can also be used to reduce the heating requirement for the thermal residence chamber (TRC) used downstream from the gasification system.
The problems of the prior art are overcome by the apparatus and method disclosed herein. The reactor vessel of a plasma gasifier is operated at high pressure. To compensate for the negative effects of high pressure, various modifications to the plasma gasifier are disclosed. For example, by moving the slag, more material is exposed to the plasma, allowing better and more complete processing thereof. In some embodiments, magnetic fields are used to cause movement of the slag and molten metal within the vessel. An additional embodiment is to add microwave heating of the slag and/or the incoming material. Microwave heating can also be used as an alternative to plasma heating in a high pressure gasification system.
C10J 3/18 - Continuous processes using electricity
F02C 3/28 - Gas-turbine plants characterised by the use of combustion products as the working fluid using a special fuel, oxidant, or dilution fluid to generate the combustion products the fuel or oxidant being solid or pulverulent, e.g. in slurry or suspension using a separate gas producer for gasifying the fuel before combustion
The present invention relates to a plasma gasification system and a method that converts organic materials into syngas and operates at pressures over 2 atmospheres. The system includes a processing chamber having a material inlet port, a gas inlet port, a molten glass drain port and ports to introduce electrodes. The system also has seals for effectively sealing the electrodes and the ports to the processing chamber in order to avoid expulsion of products through the ports.
An improved active grate consisting of at least two elongated rockers positioned parallel to one and another, each rocker having a lower surface and an upper surface and configured to rotate back and forth about their longitudinal axis. Each individual rocker is further configured to rotate in the opposite direction of the adjacent rockers such that any pair of adjacent rockers alternately forms a void allowing material to pass through active grate when rotating in one direction into a first position, and closes the void when rotated in the opposite direction in a second position. The active grate finds particular utility in a combined gasification/vitrification waste treatment system, where it is used to pass partially oxidized materials from a gasification chamber to a vitrification chamber. The rockers include a coolant loop through the longitudinal axis of the rockers.
H01M 8/06 - Combination of fuel cells with means for production of reactants or for treatment of residues
C01B 3/36 - Production of hydrogen or of gaseous mixtures containing hydrogen by reaction of gaseous or liquid organic compounds with gasifying agents, e.g. water, carbon dioxide, air by reaction of hydrocarbons with gasifying agents using oxygen or mixtures containing oxygen as gasifying agents
C10J 3/46 - Gasification of granular or pulverulent fuels in suspension
B02C 7/04 - Crushing or disintegrating by disc mills with coaxial discs with concentric circles of intermeshing teeth
B02C 13/20 - Disintegrating by mills having rotary beater elements with two or more co-operating rotors
B02C 1/08 - Jaw crushers or pulverisers with jaws coacting with a rotating roller
An optimized gasification/vitrification processing system having a gasification unit which converts organic materials to a hydrogen rich gas and ash in communication with a joule heated vitrification unit which converts the ash formed in the gasification unit into glass, and a plasma which converts elemental carbon and products of incomplete combustion formed in the gasification unit into a hydrogen rich gas.
An optimized gasification/vitrification processing system having a gasification unit which converts organic materials to a hydrogen rich gas and ash in communication with a joule heated vitrification unit which converts the ash formed in the gasification unit into glass, and a plasma which converts elemental carbon and products of incomplete combustion formed in the gasification unit into a hydrogen rich gas.
C10J 3/00 - Production of gases containing carbon monoxide and hydrogen, e.g. synthesis gas or town gas, from solid carbonaceous materials by partial oxidation processes involving oxygen or steam
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