Batch pyrolysis system

Abstract

Disclosed is a scaleable pyrolysis system for batch processing of waste vehicle tires and other waste to provide pyrolysis products. The core pyrolysis system includes one or more batch reactors, heating units, solids processing units, gas/liquid processing units and control units. In operation, the temperature gradients internal to the reactor are controlled by preferential channeling of heat to provide pyrolysis products that are of high quality, and hence commercially advantageous, while facilitating high throughput.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0001] The present invention relates to continuous batch pyrolysis systems for continuous recovery of carbon, hydrocarbons and other materials from waste vehicle tires. [0002] Waste vehicle tires are a major environmental problem. Waste tires in the past have often been discarded in disposal and landfill sites. Sites for storage or land fill of waste tires, however, are becoming less available. Many existing sites for waste tires are reaching capacity with an estimated 3 billion waste tires discarded in sites in the United States. New sites are difficult to open because of increasingly stringent government regulations and public concerns about the environment. Most states now have laws prohibiting the dumping of waste tires in disposal sites. [0003] Tire sites are not only unsightly but they present a risk of being set on fire. When tire sites are set on fire, the burning of tires is environmentally harmful since tire combustion produces dangerous substan...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0021] The present invention is a scaleable pyrolysis system for batch processing of waste vehicle tires and other waste to provide pyrolysis products. The core pyrolysis system includes one or more batch reactors, heating units, solids processing units, gas / liquid processing units and control units. In operation, the solids processing units introduce waste tires, or other waste materials, into the reactor and, after pyrolysis processing, the solids processing units extract the solid residue from the reactor. During the pyrolysis processing, the gas / liquid processing units process the pyrolysis gases to extract pyrolysis gas and oil products. A pyrolysis control operates to insure that the sequence of heating and cooling during the pyrolysis processing is optimized for production of pyrolysis products both as to quality and throughput. The reactor design is such that the temperature gradients internal to the reactor are controlled by preferential channeling of heat to provide pyrolysis products that are of high quality, and hence commercially advantageous, while facilitating high throughput.

Problems solved by technology

Waste vehicle tires are a major environmental problem.

Sites for storage or land fill of waste tires, however, are becoming less available.

New sites are difficult to open because of increasingly stringent government regulations and public concerns about the environment.

Tire sites are not only unsightly but they present a risk of being set on fire.

When tire sites are set on fire, the burning of tires is environmentally harmful since tire combustion produces dangerous substances such as sulfur-containing acids and other pollutants.

The water and air pollution from fighting fires at tire dumps is very hazardous to the environment.

None of these recycling programs has proved to be commercially and environmentally satisfactory.

Tire shredding or crumbing has had limited success and is not expected to make significant reductions in the national waste tire inventory.

Tire incineration burns tires as a fuel source for co-generation and other energy needs, but incineration has not proven to be efficient and environmentally satisfactory for producing energy.

Tire incineration plants are expensive to construct because of the environmental problems associated with emissions from burning rubber.

However, emissions from these plants often generate local opposition and controversy and the cost of reducing pollution renders the burning as economically questionable.

The use of disposed tires as fill material has proven to be of questionable value due to the fire hazards and resulting air and water pollution resulting when fires do occur.

Pyrolysis products have historically yielded poor returns as the prices obtained for the recovered pyrolysis products have failed to fully justify pyrolysis process costs.

Although more than 30 major pyrolysis projects have been proposed in the past few years, none are believed to have been commercially successful in the United States.

Although attempts at continuous pyrolysis processes have been made in order to increase the throughput over time of the pyrolysis systems, such continuous pyrolysis processes have not been able to produce pyrolysis products of sufficient quality to be able to achieve economic feasibility.

Continuous pyrolysis processes tend to suffer from air leaks that introduce oxygen into the pyrolysis chamber and hence reduce the quality of the pyrolysis products.

However, batch pyrolysis processes have been more difficult to scale to larger sizes in order to increase the throughput over time of the batch pyrolysis systems.

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