A method of processing organic material

Abstract

A method of processing organic material, comprising: mixing an organic material slurry with a catalyst and a base within a pressure vessel; heating to at least 140 ℃ and pressurising to at least 300 k

Claims

1. A method of processing organic material, the method comprising the steps of: mixing an organic material slurry with a catalyst and a base within a pressure vessel;heating the pressure vessel to at least 140 degrees Celsius and pressurising the pressure vessel to at least 300kPa;maintain the pressure vessel at at least 140 degrees Celsius and at least 300kPa for at least 15 minutes;adding an acid to the pressure vessel; and leaving the acid in the pressure vessel for at least 10 minutes.

2. The method of processing organic material of claim 1, wherein the base is a strong base.

3. The method of processing organic material of claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the basecomprises one or more of sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide, magnesium hydroxide, ammonium hydroxide and sodium borate.

4. The method of processing organic material of any preceding claim, wherein the base is mixed with the organic material slurry in a quantity sufficient to bring a pH of the organic material slurry to at least 8.

5. The method of processing organic material of any preceding claim, wherein the catalyst comprises one or more of aluminium oxide, cerium oxide, ferrous oxide, magnesium oxide, strontium oxide, titanium dioxide and zinc oxide.

6. The method of processing organic material of any preceding claim, wherein the acid is a strong acid.

7. The method of processing organic material of any preceding claim, wherein theacid comprises one or more of phosphoric acid, sulphuric acid, nitric acid, hydrochloric acid, citric acid and boric acid.

8. The method of processing organic material of any preceding claim, wherein the acid is added to the pressure vessel in a quantity sufficient to bring a pH within the pressure vessel to below pH 7.

9. The method of processing organic material of any preceding claim, wherein adding the acid to the pressure vessel is carried out while the pressure vessel is still at a pressure of at least 300kPa.

10. The method of processing organic material of any preceding claim, further comprising comminuting an organic material to produce a comminuted organic material for use in the organic material slurry.

11. The method of processing organic material of claim 10, further comprising ensuring a minimum water content of the comminuted organic material to produce the organic material slurry.

12. The method of processing organic material of claim 11, wherein ensuring a minimum water content of the comminuted organic material comprises adding water to the comminuted organic material.

13. The method of processing organic material of any preceding claim, further comprising heating the organic material slurry to at least 90 degrees Celsius prior to the mixing.

14. The method of processing organic material of any preceding claim, further comprising removing lipids from the organic material slurry prior to the mixing.

15. The method of processing organic material of claim 14, wherein removing lipids from the organic material slurry comprises removing lipids with a density less than that of water from the organic material slurry by allowing the organic material slurry to settle and skimming the lipids with a density less than that of water from a surface of the organic material slurry.

16. The method of processing organic material of claim 14 or claim 15, further comprising burning the lipids to provide energy for use in at least one step in the method of processing organic material.

17. The method of processing organic material of any preceding claim, wherein energy released by an exothermic neutralisation of the acid and base is provided for use in at least one step in the method of processing organic material.

18. The method of processing organic material of any preceding claim, further comprising venting off gas from pressure vessel, wherein said venting off the gas from pressure vessel occurs at least 10 minutes after the acid is added to the pressure vessel.

19. The method of processing organic material of any preceding claim, further comprising adding a neutralising dry material to a resultant mixture from the pressure vessel to form a paste.

20. The method of processing organic material of claim 19, further comprising granulating the paste to form granules; drying the granules.Application No: GB2410906.8Examiner:Dr Sophie BrownClaims searched: 1-20Date of search: 27 January 2025Patents Act 1977: Search Report under Section 17Documents considered to be relevant:Category Relevant to claims Identity of document and passage or figure of particular relevance X 1-20 CN 112811941 A (XINING ANIMAL DISEASE PREVENTION AND CONTROL CENTER) see especially: para. [0003], [0007]-[0010]; Examples 1-3 X 1-20 CN 117816719 A (ZHONGGUANCUN HEXIANG BIOLOGICAL WASTE HARMLESS TREAT RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CENTER) see especially: [0004]-[0010]; Embodiments 1-2 X 1-20 US 2003 / 0040651 Al (WILSON et al.) see especially: para. [0030]-[0033], [0039], [0097] X 1-20 WO 02 / 102420 Al (WASTE REDUCTION BY WASTE REDUC) see especially: para. [0011], [0021], [0025]-[0028] X 1-20 KR 101340071 Bl (STI CO LTD) see especially: para. [0006]-[0011], [0020], [0022]-[0031]Categories:X Document indicating lack of novelty or inventive step A Document indicating technological background and / or state of the art. Y Document indicating lack of inventive step if P Document published on or after the declared priority date but combined with one or more other documents of same category. before the filing date of this invention. & Member of the same patent family E Patent document published on or after, but with priority date earlier than, the filing date of this application.Field of Search:Search of GB, EP, WO &US patent documents classified in the following areas of the UKCX :Worldwide search of patent documents classified in the following areas of the IPC_____________B09B; C05F____________________________________________________The following online and other databases have been used in the preparation of this search report SEARCH-PATENT, SEARCH-NPL, INTERNETInternational Classification:Subclass Subgroup Valid From C05F 0001 / 00 01 / 01 / 2006 C05B 0017 / 00 01 / 01 / 2006 B09B 0003 / 70 01 / 01 / 2022

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