Processed Biomass Pellets From Organic-Carbon-Containing Feedstock

Abstract

A renewable processed biomass pellet composition made with a pelletizing sub-system from a processed organic-carbon-containing feedstock made with a beneficiation sub-system is described. Renewable biomass feedstock passed through a beneficiation sub-system to reduce water content to below at least 20 wt % and water-soluble intracellular salt reduction of at least 60% from that of unprocessed organic-carbon-containing feedstock on a dry basis. The processed feedstock is introduced into a pelletizing sub-system to result in renewable processed biomass pellets having an energy density of at least 17 MMBTU / ton (20 GJ / MT) a water content of less than 20 wt %, and water-soluble intracellular salt content that is decreased by at least 60 wt % on a dry basis for the processed organic-carbon-containing feedstock from that of the unprocessed organic-carbon-containing feedstock, and made with 40% less energy than expended to make current biomass pellets.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application is a divisional application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14 / 623,430, filed Feb. 16, 2015, currently allowed, and now published as U.S. Pat. Publ. No. 2015 / 0361367 A1, which is a continuation-in-part of patent application Ser. No. 14 / 305,143, filed Jun. 16, 2014, currently pending, and now published as U.S. Pat. Publ. No. 2016 / 0097157 A1, both of which are herein incorporated by reference in their entirety.FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0002]The present invention relates generally to the production of solid biomass fuel from an organic-carbon-containing feedstock.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0003]The vast majority of fuels are distilled from crude oil or obtained from natural gas pumped from limited underground reserves, or mined from coal. As the earth's crude oil supplies become more difficult and expensive to collect and there are growing concerns about the environmental effects of coal other than clean anthracite coal, the world-wide deman...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0011]The invention is a processed biomass pellet that is a suitable clean coal substitute for devices that use coal as a feedstock to generate heat such as, for example, coal-fired boilers used to make electricity. The low salt content of the processed biomass pellets substantially reduces adverse corrosive wear and maintenance cleaning of the devices that is typical today. The uniform low water content and uniform, high energy density of the beneficiated organic-carbon-containing feedstock used to make the processed biomass pellets allow for a wide variety of renewable organic-carbon-containing feedstock to be used in pelletizing section of the process in a cost efficient manner. During the beneficiation section of the process, the substantial reduction of water-soluble salts reduces the adverse results that occur with the subsequent use of the processed organic-carbon-containing feedstock. In addition, energy needed to remove water from unprocessed organic-carbon-containing feedstock described above to a content of below 20 wt % and a substantial amount of the water-soluble salt with the invention is significantly less than for conventional processes. In some embodiments, the total cost per weight of the beneficiated feedstock is reduced by at least 60% of the cost to perform a similar task with known mechanical, physiochemical, or thermal processes to prepare renewable organic-carbon-containing feedstock for use in subsequent fuel making operations such as an oxygen-deficient thermal sub-system. In addition, processed biomass pellets can be made with 40% less energy than expended to make current unprocessed biomass pellets.

Problems solved by technology

As the earth's crude oil supplies become more difficult and expensive to collect and there are growing concerns about the environmental effects of coal other than clean anthracite coal, the world-wide demand for energy is simultaneously growing.

Over the next ten years, depletion of the remaining world's easily accessible crude oil reserves, natural gas reserves, and low-sulfur bituminous coal reserves will lead to a significant increase in cost for fuel obtained from crude oil, natural gas, and coal.

However, this feedstock typically contains too much water and contaminants such as water-soluble salts to make it an economical alternative to common sources of fuel such as coal, petroleum, or natural gas.

And, even if the plants were sun or kiln-dried, the natural and man-made chemicals and water-soluble salts that remain in the plant cells combine to create corrosion and disruptive glazes in furnaces.

Also, the remaining moisture lowers the heat-producing million British thermal units per ton (MMBTU per ton) energy density of the feedstock thus limiting a furnace's efficiency.

Thus, municipal waste facilities that process organic-carbon-containing feedstock, a broader class of feedstock that includes materials that contain plant cells, generally operate in an energy deficient manner that costs municipalities money.

Similarly, the energy needed to process agricultural waste, also included under the general term of organic-carbon-containing feedstock, for the waste to be an effective substitute for coal or petroleum are not commercial without some sort of governmental subsidies and generally contain unsatisfactory levels of either or both water or water-soluble salts.

The cost to suitably transport and / or prepare such feedstock in a large enough volume to be commercially successful is expensive and currently uneconomical.

Also, the suitable plant-cell-containing feedstock that is available in sufficient volume to be commercially useful generally has water-soluble salt contents that result in adverse fouling and contamination scenarios with conventional processes.

Attempts have been made to prepare organic-carbon-containing feedstock as a solid renewable fuel, coal substitute, or binders for the making of coal aggregates from coal fines, but these have not been economically viable as they generally contain water-soluble salts that can contribute to corrosion, fouling, and slagging in combustion equipment, and have high water content that reduces the energy density to well below that of coal in large part because of the retained moisture.

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