Pyrolysis Reactor Gas Distribution and Segmented Bottom Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing pyrolysis reactors lack efficient control and monitoring of operating conditions, such as gas flow direction, speed, and temperature within the reactor chamber, especially when processing finely divided input materials, which affects the quality of pyrolysis products.
Innovation Solution
A reactor design with a fixed bottom that cannot be opened, featuring a central gas distribution pipe with multiple inlet units and outlet units, allowing for precise control and regulation of gas flow and temperature through independent regulation circuits, and a method for charging and emptying the reactor that optimizes operating conditions and minimizes pressure loss.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a reactor with openable bottom is used for charging and emptying, then ease of operation is improved, but control and monitoring of operating conditions deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The reactor bottom is segmented into a fixed base structure and a removable lower end-wall section. This segmentation allows the bottom to be opened for charging and emptying operations while maintaining a fixed, instrumentable base structure that enables precise control and monitoring of operating conditions during pyrolysis.
Solution Approach 2:
A robot arm with suction device acts as an intermediary mechanism between the operator and the reactor interior. This intermediary enables automated charging and emptying operations without requiring direct human access, thereby maintaining the fixed bottom structure needed for precise measurement and control while still allowing efficient material handling.
2Measurement precision
If a fixed bottom structure is used for precise control and monitoring, then measurement precision is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The bottom structure is divided into a fixed instrumented base and a removable lower end-wall section. This segmentation maintains the fixed structure needed for precise measurements while enabling operational access through the removable section.
Solution Approach 2:
Manual mechanical operations of opening the bottom and handling materials are replaced with automated robotic systems. The robot arm with suction device performs charging and emptying operations, eliminating the need for large openable bottom mechanisms while maintaining operational efficiency.
3Ease of operation
If containers with holes or perforations are used for charging and emptying, then ease of operation is improved, but gas flow control deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The mechanical container system with holes and perforations is replaced with a robotic suction system. This substitution eliminates the need for complex gas flow control through perforated containers, as the robot arm with suction device can handle materials without interfering with gas flow paths.
Solution Approach 2:
The robot arm serves as an intermediary that performs material handling without requiring physical containers with holes. This intermediary mechanism simplifies the gas flow control system by eliminating the need for complex perforated container designs and their associated flow control mechanisms.
4Ease of operation
If the bottom is opened for emptying, then ease of operation is improved, but reliability deteriorates due to heat loss and contamination
Solution Approach 1:
The bottom is segmented into a fixed thermally stable base and a removable lower end-wall section. This segmentation allows the majority of the bottom structure to remain fixed and thermally stable during operation, minimizing heat loss and contamination risks, while the removable section enables controlled emptying operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The robot arm with suction device acts as an intermediary for emptying operations, allowing the bottom to remain closed and thermally stable. The robotic system can access and remove materials without requiring the bottom to be opened, thereby maintaining process stability and preventing contamination while still enabling efficient emptying.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This design enhances the control and monitoring of pyrolysis process parameters, improves gas flow, and increases the quality of pyrolysis products by reducing contamination and energy consumption, while allowing efficient handling of small fragment-sized input materials.
Implementation Method 1
a robot arm 111, mobile at joints, that supports a suction device 122
Implementation Method 2
During pyrolysis, or dry distillation, organic input material is heated without the presence of oxygen whereby the material is not combusted but instead is converted to simpler components in the form of fluid and gaseous products
Implementation Method 3
The outlet is placed in connection with a condenser for the condensation of the pyrolysis gas that has formed to fluid-phase products
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2~5
Figure 3
AI summary
The invention concerns a reactor for pyrolysis and a method for charging and emptying such a reactor. A reactor according to the invention for the recovery of carbon and hydrocarbons from organic input material through pyrolysis, comprises a vessel (2) that extends along a vertical central axis (6) and demonstrates a chamber (3) that is limited outwardly by an outer surface (5) and by an upper and a lower end-wall section (7, 8), in which chamber it is intended that input material (4) in fragmented form is to be placed whereby the vessel has an opening (12) with a hatch (14) that when in a closed position forms a limit between the chamber and the surrounding atmosphere, an inlet (9) for the introduction of heated gas into the chamber, and an outlet (10) for the passage out from the chamber of gas that has passed through the input material that has been placed in the chamber. In order to control and monitor the pyrolysis treatment of finely divided input material, the inlet (9) comprises a number of inlet units (35:1-35:n) arranged in regions in the chamber (3) that for the leading of gas into the chamber are in gas-transfer communication with a gas-emitting source through an inlet pipe (30:1-30:n) that belongs to each inlet unit, and the outlet (10) that comprises a number of outlet units (50:1-50:n) arranged in regions throughout the chamber that for the leading of gas out from the chamber are in gas-transfer communication with a separate outlet pipe (51) that belongs to each outlet unit.