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Method and Device to Compact Biomass

a technology of biomass and compacting device, applied in the direction of presses, manufacturing tools, presses, etc., can solve the problems of inability to compact such biomass materials in one stage, high cost of pressing, and slow action, so as to prevent short-circuiting

Inactive Publication Date: 2009-07-30
LIU HENRY +3
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  • Summary
  • Abstract
  • Description
  • Claims
  • Application Information

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0048]Based on this invention, we use a rotary feeder to provide initial or prep compaction, and then use a hydraulic press aided by a toggle mechanism, to do the final compaction. This makes both the pre-compaction and the final compaction practical and cost-effective. This invention also includes the design of a special revolving compactor (machine) to accomplish the aforementioned two-stage compaction. The compactor uses three vertical molds to accomplish three steps of biomass compaction: (1) pre-compaction, (2) final compaction, and (3) ejection of logs. The three molds are arranged around the circumference of a circle, 120° apart. They revolve in steps of 120°, so that the materials in each mold will go through two stages of compaction in steps 1 and 2, and then will be ejected from the mold in step 3 to form a compacted biomass log.

Problems solved by technology

Such a press will be very expensive, and besides, it will act slowly, due to the long time needed to traverse a long stroke.
Therefore, it is not practical to compact such biomass materials in one stage.

Method used

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Embodiment Construction

[0054]The current invention uses a two-stage compaction process to produce biomass logs from fluffy (loose) biomass materials such as leaves, grass, corn stovers, bushes, etc. In stage 1, the fluffy biomass material is fed into a mold (vertical cylinder) on the top of which is mounted a rotary feeder that continuously pushes the biomass into the mold, causing pre-compaction. The feeder will pre-compact the material to a density 20% to 60% of the final density of the log. After this initial stage of compaction, the biomass material in the mold is now ready for final compaction which can be done more easily due to the much shorter biomass column in the mold caused by pre-compaction. To further aid in rapid and efficient final compaction, a toggle mechanism, such as that used for holding and opening injection molds, is used here. The toggle mechanism is most suited for this type of compaction because it matches the load-versus-displacement curve for the compaction of fluffy biomass mat...

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Abstract

The biomass log fuel has not been commercialized due to difficulties in mass-producing the logs at low cost. The current invention solves this problem by introducing a three-step compaction process: pre-compaction, final compaction, and ejection. While a rotary feeder / compressor is used to perform pre-compaction, a ram driven by a toggle mechanism performs final compaction rapidly and efficiently. A press implementing the three-step compaction is designed and described. This invention should improve the cost-effectiveness of biomass solid fuel or feedstock.Biomass materials such as yard waste, corn stover and switchgrass are compacted at high pressure to form dense “biomass logs” without binder or heat. Biomass logs serve as a solid fuel for heating buildings, and as feedstock for bio-reactors for liquefaction or gasification. Densifying the uncompacted fluffy biomass reduces space needed for storage, decreases the number of vehicles needed to transport biomass, and increases the energy density of fuel.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]A related separate application, entitled “Method to feed biomass tablets and logs into burners,” (inventors Henry Liu and Yuyi Lin), USPTO Application Ser. No. 11 / 382,988, is pending.STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT[0002]This invention is the result of a research project, entitled “Biomass Log Fuel for Heating Farm Buildings”, supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), under its Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I Program, Project No. 2007-00233. According to the Bayh-Dole Act of 1980. the rights to this invention belong to the Small Business Grantee (Freight Pipeline Company), whereas the USDA retains limited non-exclusive right.REFERENCE TO SEQUENCE LISTING, A TABLE, OR A COMPUTER PROGRAM[0003]Not ApplicableCURRENT U.S. CLASS: Class 425, subclass 344BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION1. Field of Endeavor[0004]This invention deals with compacting biomass materials, and hence should be in ...

Claims

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Application Information

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Patent Type & Authority Applications(United States)
IPC IPC(8): C10L5/40C10L5/36
CPCB30B1/16B30B11/10B30B15/304Y02E50/30C10L5/44C10L5/48Y02E50/10C10L5/365
Inventor LIU, HENRYLIN, YUYIHARBY, DONALD WADEHAYNES, KIRK LAWTON
Owner LIU HENRY
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