System for using flue gas heat

Abstract

A system including a pyrolysis unit for pyrolyzing organic material to produce at least pyrolysis oil and coke, a regenerator unit to combust the coke and produce a regenerator flue gas, and a mixer connected to the regenerator unit to mix the regenerator flue gas with air to produce a cooled flue gas. The system may further include at least one heat exchanger connected to the mixer to extract heat from the cooled flue gas, and a conveyer belt in thermal communication with the at least one heat exchanger and operably connected to the pyrolysis unit. The conveyer belt conveys a organic material in need of drying past the at least one exchanger to produce organic material suitable for use as a feed to the pyrolysis unit.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This patent application claims priority under 35 USC §119(e) to provisional patent application Ser. No. 61 / 537,467 filed Sep. 21, 2011, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0002]The present invention relates to the pyrolysis of organic material and combustion of coke, and more particularly to use of the resulting combustion gases to dry additional organic material. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to the cooling of combustion gas left over from a pyrolysis process to make the gas suitable for transfer to a heat exchange dryer.BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION[0003]Pyrolysis is a process of thermochemical decomposition of an organic material, such as biomass, at high temperatures and usually in the absence of substantial amounts of oxygen. Pyrolysis systems are useful because they are capable of taking a feed stream of raw organic material, and converting that material...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

This patent describes a process for preparing organic material for pyrolysis, which involves drying the material to remove any moisture that may interfere with the processing. The organic material can be dried using heat exchangers or drum dryers, with the use of heat exchangers being more efficient and environmentally friendly. The process also involves pyrolyzing the organic material to produce oil and coke, combusting the coke in a regenerator to produce flue gas, and then using the cooled flue gas to dry wet organic material using a heat exchanger. The technical effects of this process include improving the quality of the pyrolysis oil and reducing the formation of tar-like substances that can inhibit further processing.

Problems solved by technology

One problem with this arrangement, however, is that in some cases safety considerations prevent the transfer of the very high temperature regenerator flue gas to the heat exchangers in common gas lines, such as carbon steel gas lines.

This requirement adds additional cost since often the regenerator may be separated from the heat exchangers by up to several hundred feet or more.

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