Wood Patents (Class 48/111)
  • Patent number: 4583992
    Abstract: An upright, cylindrical down draft gasifier has a rotatable grate which supports a quantity of pyrolyzing biomass materials. As the grate is turned, charcoal particles thus formed fall through apertures in the grate and into a collection chamber. Simultaneously a high quality combustible gas is continuously withdrawn. A number of stationary, horizontal rods are disposed above the grate to retard and mix the reactant in the column and force a portion of the charcoal particles through the apertures. Additionally, the rods, in conjunction with the grate, present a shearing action on larger charcoal particles until the latter are crumbled and consequently fall through the grate. As the speed of the rotable grate is increased, the quantity of combustible gas and high quality charcoal is enhanced such that the heating value of the final product is also greatly increased.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 4, 1984
    Date of Patent: April 22, 1986
    Assignee: Buck Rogers Mfg. Co., Inc.
    Inventor: Chester D. Rogers
  • Patent number: 4579654
    Abstract: An apparatus for the anaerobic digestion of organic waste material such as manure in liquid condition include bringing the waste material in an acidification space with a roof collecting gas generated thereby and one or more openings below said roof giving access from said space to a methane fermentation space so that the gas below the roof pushes the liquid to said latter space. A discharge of gas from below said roof to the outside allows liquid to flow back through said openings into the acidification space. Below said roof there may be a separate wall defining a hydrolysis space, into which the waste material is fed before flowing to the acidification space. The whole of the device or considerable parts of the walls and ducts thereof may be made of flexible gastight material so as to be easily folded or wound up for transport to the site of use so as to be inflatable to sustain its operating shape by a higher than atmospheric pressure of the gas therein.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 22, 1983
    Date of Patent: April 1, 1986
    Assignee: Corite Investments Ltd.
    Inventor: Hendrik M. Bremmer
  • Patent number: 4568457
    Abstract: An industrial waste anaerobic digester is disclosed having separate sections therein, in which the acid forming and gas forming phases of the digestion process can occur separately under conditions optimized for each phase. A rotating biological contactor is provided in each section for increasing the liquid/gas interface to facilitate the anaerobic reaction. A series of partitions is provided in each section to create zones in which the waste concentration is extremely high and on which the biota can react at maximal reaction rates. The CO.sub.2 produced in the acid forming phase is used in both acid and gas forming sections to mix and achieve pH adjustment, and the methane can be used in the gas forming sections for mixing. A thermophilic chamber in the center of the tank is surrounded by the mesophyllic chamber to minimize and utilize conductive heat loss.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 31, 1983
    Date of Patent: February 4, 1986
    Assignee: Envirex Inc.
    Inventor: Richard A. Sullivan
  • Patent number: 4561974
    Abstract: An apparatus for the anaerobic filtration of waste water includes a filter of filling material through which the waste water to be treated is passed from the bottom to the top. The filter includes upper and lower superposed layers of filling material separated by an intermediate layer of material. The lower layer is in the form of an ordered arrangement of the material thereof. The upper and intermediate layers each include a loosely packed arrangement of the material thereof.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 2, 1984
    Date of Patent: December 31, 1985
    Assignee: Degremont
    Inventors: Jacques Bernard, Jean-Marie Rovel, Roger Nicol, Claude Prevot
  • Patent number: 4534864
    Abstract: The solid particles 33' coated with a biological material are developed at the upper end of a bed 32 which is fluidized by a supply of water 3. The particles 33' are removed at 12 and decanted at 11 and then introduced through a pipe 20 at the upper end 22 of an auxiliary anaerobic fermentation column which converts the biological coating into a gaseous mixture which escapes at 27. The regenerated particles are withdrawn at 28 and conveyed at 30 to the purifying bed. Application in the biological purification of waste waters.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 17, 1984
    Date of Patent: August 13, 1985
    Assignee: L'Air Liquide, Societe Anonyme pour l'Etude et l'Exploitation des Procedes Georges Claude
    Inventor: Alain Rigouard
  • Patent number: 4514297
    Abstract: A reactor for the anaerobic digestion of organic sludge and for the production of methane gas, comprises an essentially horizontal cylindrical vessel provided with an agitator rotating around an essentially horizontal shaft, an inlet for introducing the sludge to be digested at one end of said vessel, at its opposite end an outlet for removing the digested matter from the vessel and in the upper portion of the vessel an outlet/outlets for the recovery of methane gas. For returning the solids settled on the bottom of the vessel from the outlet end of the vessel to the inlet end of the vessel, the vessel comprises a channel connecting the outlet end of the vessel with the inlet end of the vessel and a device for guiding the solids to the front of the return channel and for their transport through the return channel by means of gas.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 7, 1983
    Date of Patent: April 30, 1985
    Assignee: A. Ahlstrom Osakeyhtio
    Inventor: Johan R. Enqvist
  • Patent number: 4507127
    Abstract: This invention is a system for recovering resources from sludge in which sludge including water of 90 to 70 percent is first supplied to a sludge concentrator invented by the inventor through a forced supply equipment where the sludge is concentrated to have water content up to about 60 percent; then is sent to a drying furnace having a fluidized sand bed.A product yielded in the said drying furnace is separated to gas and solid. After the separated gas is pressurized by a fan and is heated by a heat exchanger through a circulation passage, a required part thereof is supplied to the drying furnace as gas for drying and the remainder is sent to the said sludge concentrator. After the water content is removed from the gas concentrated and the gas yielded by the said sludge concentrator is used in the system as gaseous fuel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 8, 1982
    Date of Patent: March 26, 1985
    Assignee: Nippon Furnace Kogyo Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Yasuo Hirose
  • Patent number: 4498909
    Abstract: A process for continuously gasifying wood, wood chips, wood charcoal, or other low-ash biomass material in a mechanically-ashed gasifier using a fixed bed gasification system to obtain a gaseous product relatively rich in carbon monoxide and hydrogen. Product gas comprising carbon monoxide, hydrogen, and carbon dioxide, together with methane and other diluents, is withdrawn from the gasification chamber. Sufficient noncombustible, particulate, refractory material is fed to the gasifier to provide an adequately deep layer of noncombustible solids on a moveable grate which supports the fuel bed, the object being to prevent damage to the grate and the grate-actuating mechanism caused by overheating, when the ash bed becomes too thin. The product gases from the gasification chamber may be used as raw synthesis gas for the production of, for example, methanol or as furnace heating gases.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 2, 1982
    Date of Patent: February 12, 1985
    Assignee: DM International, Inc.
    Inventors: Geoffrey Milner, Michael F. Butler, Robert A. Ashworth
  • Patent number: 4497637
    Abstract: Biomass feedstock raw material is converted to synthesis gas by drying and sizing biomass raw material, pyrolyzing the processed biomass in intimate mixture with inert gases such as combustion products, thereby obtaining a product mixture of char, pyrolysis oil, and pyrolysis gas, and gasifying the char and some of the pyrolysis oil in the presence of steam and oxygen at a temperature sufficient to form the synthesis gas product substantially comprising carbon monoxide and hydrogen.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 22, 1982
    Date of Patent: February 5, 1985
    Assignee: Georgia Tech Research Institute
    Inventors: Kenneth R. Purdy, Charles W. Gorton, James A. Knight, Jr.
  • Patent number: 4493770
    Abstract: Heat can be recovered by biological generation of heat upon aeration of refuse, such as garbage or sludge, in an aeration vessel (11) by introducing oxygen-containing gas, such as air, in a closed cycle (11, 33, 31, 35) to thereby enrich gas withdrawn from the vessel with the oxygen, typically by reintroduction of gas withdrawn from an upper gas portion (43) of the vessel, after introduction of additional oxygen, for example controlled by a valve (65) into a lower portion of the contents of the aeration chamber. Control can be effected automatically, by a control unit (55, 55') through a valve (51, 51') or manually; automatic control can be effected, for example, by sensing oxygen or carbon dioxide concentration by suitable sensors (57, 59) within the vessel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 26, 1982
    Date of Patent: January 15, 1985
    Assignee: UTB Umwelttechnik Buchs AG
    Inventor: Guy Moilliet
  • Patent number: 4482458
    Abstract: Waste water to be treated is introduced into a filter including granular material for supporting the biomass resulting from an anaerobic treatment operation. During such treatment operation biogas is formed, and the waste water being treated and the granular material supporting the biomass are continuously circulated by injecting a portion of the biogas into a tube extending vertically upwardly through the filter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 22, 1983
    Date of Patent: November 13, 1984
    Assignee: Degremont
    Inventors: Jean-Marie Rovel, Claude Prevot, Roger Nicol
  • Patent number: 4459136
    Abstract: An apparatus for drying, pyrolyzing and possibly also gasifying of lump wood in a cylindrical vessel with a hearth case includes a vessel of a type which differs from prior art vessel units by a top cooling hood with an annular cooling duct and an outer annular air space for preheating suction air and an inner, likewise annular, gas space to discharge to some external destination the gas recovered from the predried wood. The air drawn from the outer annular space is fed to the hearth via an air chamber and nozzles. Condensate precipitated on the inside faces of the hood drops into an annular gutter and is subjected to evaporation in the further course of the process. A method for operating this apparatus is also provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 4, 1982
    Date of Patent: July 10, 1984
    Assignee: Fritz Werner Industrie-Ausrustungen GmbH
    Inventors: Hans Linneborn, Josef Weisz
  • Patent number: 4459135
    Abstract: Organic materials are separated and retrieved by mixing them with a liquid medium which is solid at room temperature and which is at atmosphere pressure. The material and medium are pumped by an electromagnetic pump while creating turbulence and then the velocity of the medium is decreased while heat is applied. Gases generated during the application of heat are collected. The medium is then cooled and returned to the pool at atmospheric pressure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 20, 1982
    Date of Patent: July 10, 1984
    Inventor: Alan Glasser
  • Patent number: 4455153
    Abstract: Processes and apparatus for storing solar energy in synthetic fuels are disclosed. The disclosed processes include the steps of introducing steam and carbonaceous material such as coal, lignite, peat, solid organic wastes, or heavy oils into a molten gasification medium such as one or more molten salts and supplying sufficient solar heat to the gasification medium to maintain it in the molten state at a temperature at which the carbonaceous material and steam react to produce a synthesis gas product including a synthetic fuel gas or gases. Disclosed processes include the step of adding solar absorptivity enhancing dopant material to the gasification medium. Disclosed processes include the step of supplying solar heat to the gasification medium by directing concentrated solar radiation onto the gasification medium, rather than directing the solar radiation onto a separate body of material for indirectly heating the gasification medium.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 4, 1979
    Date of Patent: June 19, 1984
    Inventor: Douglas Y. Jakahi
  • Patent number: 4452611
    Abstract: A downdraft channel gasifier for the efficient conversion of biomass materials to usable heat energy, which includes at least two generally triangularly shaped air ducts positioned longitudinally across an enclosed housing defining a combustion chamber. The air ducts have sloping sides which downwardly converge towards one another to define at least one open-botton V-shaped channel, the sloping sides primarily supporting the biomass fuel which will be combusted to derive producer gas. The air ducts are hollow and are in fluid communication with a high pressure air source at one end, and with the gasification chamber through air jet openings near their apexes. The high pressure air exits out air jet openings along the top edges of the air ducts, providing primary air for gasification of the biomass in the channels. The producer gas passes down between the channels and horizontally to an exit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 24, 1982
    Date of Patent: June 5, 1984
    Inventor: Clarence B. Richey
  • Patent number: 4448588
    Abstract: An integrated apparatus for the gasification of coal alone or with other carbon-containing materials such as solid municipal wastes, biomass and sewage sludges, wherein the endothermic heat required by the gasification reaction is supplied at least in a significant part by the exothermic reaction of CaO in the form of calcined lime or dolomite with carbon dioxide. The CO.sub.2 is recycled to provide a high CO.sub.2 vapor pressure for the exothermic reaction. The calcium carbonate formed in the reaction is decomposed in a combustor to produce the CaO which is recycled to the gasification stage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 20, 1982
    Date of Patent: May 15, 1984
    Inventor: Shang-I Cheng
  • Patent number: 4445910
    Abstract: A gas generating system deriving useful BTU products from cellulosic waste material and comprising a conical shell to which the waste material is fed at the bottom and moved upwardly by an auger to permit the expanding walls of the cone to loosen the material by sintering action in the upper portion of the shell in a combustion zone located above the level of a row of air inlet ports substantially midway of the shell, the shell also having a gas accumulating chamber in the top thereof and a gas discharge device leading from the chamber to gas purifying and cooling mechanism including spray devices, a settling tank and liquid storage tank operating in a manner to re-use liquid incident to the operation of the spray devices. Operation of the controlled air delivery to the nozzles and cone also can be regulated to produce desirable amounts of charcoal and mechanism is included to remove the same from the cone.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 9, 1982
    Date of Patent: May 1, 1984
    Inventor: Edwin H. Zimmerman
  • Patent number: 4435188
    Abstract: The disclosed fermentation installation includes a tank for processing solid materials, a tank for processing diluted substrates, devices for the admission of substrates, product recovery means and interconnecting pipes between the tanks.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 17, 1981
    Date of Patent: March 6, 1984
    Inventors: Jean-Marie Dedenon, Denis Rassak
  • Patent number: 4428308
    Abstract: A biomass gasification method and apparatus employs a rectangular design and linear injection of feedstock to allow compact modular design to accommodate a wide variety of energy demands with a single-size production unit which can be stacked with others for different energy output demands. The method and construction make use of a long and narrow grate in combination with an air supply system and producer gas return system which uses a down-draft technique to restrict and control by-products and to improve the efficiency of the energy conversion system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 30, 1981
    Date of Patent: January 31, 1984
    Assignee: Georgia Tech Research Institute
    Inventors: Jerry L. Birchfield, Albert P. Sheppard, Jr.
  • Patent number: 4415339
    Abstract: Coal (or other carbonaceous matter, such as biomass) is converted into a duct gas that is substantially free from hydrocarbons. The coal is fed into a solar reactor (10), and solar energy (20) is directed into the reactor onto coal char, creating a gasification front (16) and a pyrolysis front (12). A gasification zone (32) is produced well above the coal level within the reactor. A pyrolysis zone (34) is produced immediately above the coal level. Steam (18), injected into the reactor adjacent to the gasification zone (32), reacts with char to generate product gases. Solar energy supplies the energy for the endothermic steam-char reaction. The hot product gases (38) flow from the gasification zone (32) to the pyrolysis zone (34) to generate hot char. Gases (38) are withdrawn from the pyrolysis zone (34) and reinjected into the region of the reactor adjacent the gasification zone (32). This eliminates hydrocarbons in the gas by steam reformation on the hot char.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 6, 1981
    Date of Patent: November 15, 1983
    Assignee: The United States of America as represented by the Department of Energy
    Inventors: William R. Aiman, David W. Gregg
  • Patent number: 4401441
    Abstract: Digester for producing organic material having a reaction chamber through which organic material is allowed to flow from an inlet opening to an outlet opening, having means for heating the organic material in the reaction chamber, and having means for collecting the fuel gas which is generated within the reaction chamber. The reaction chamber is located in a housing which has a continuous concrete wall within which is located a core of thermal insulating material to form a continuous insulating envelope around the reaction chamber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 3, 1981
    Date of Patent: August 30, 1983
    Assignee: Chase Precast Corp.
    Inventor: Gregory J. Chase
  • Patent number: 4394136
    Abstract: A system for and method of recovering methane gas from liquid waste which is stored within a pit is disclosed herein. The methane gas is produced by causing the liquid waste to undergo anaerobic fermentation. Therefore, it is necessary to close the pit in an air tight fashion. This is carried out using a cover sheet which is fixedly disposed over the pit in an air tight but readily disengagable fashion. The liquid waste within this air tight pit is preferably agitated intermittently during its storage therein whereby to increase the amount of methane gas produced.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 4, 1982
    Date of Patent: July 19, 1983
    Assignee: United International California Corporation
    Inventor: Dietrich W. Grabis
  • Patent number: 4388082
    Abstract: A device for obtaining large amounts of combustible gas from carbonaceous materials, such as wood chunks and other wood waste material, by gasification of such wood material resulting in partial combustion thereof has a gas-tight combustion chamber having a rectangular cross section and having a material charging device and an ash discharge device respectively disposed at upper and lower portions thereof. The chamber has a number of gas removal lines connected thereto and has a number of air nozzles uniformly disposed in longitudinal walls of the chamber in at least one plane as well as a number of uniformly spaced air supply lances which extend to a central interior portion of the chamber for supplying air for aiding combustion of the material therein. The device may be subdivided into a number of individual chambers by partitions disposed in the chamber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 3, 1981
    Date of Patent: June 14, 1983
    Assignee: Klockner-Humboldt-Deutz AG
    Inventors: Friedrich W. Guttmann, Horst Weigel
  • Patent number: 4385905
    Abstract: A system is disclosed for the conversion of solid carbonaceous fuels to combustible gases having a high energy content. The system utilizes a two-stage reaction system where a particulate fuel is entrained in a high velocity, hot gas stream emanating from a fixed-bed char reactor, the particulate fuel delivered to a gasification reactor by the hot gas stream while being rapidly heated (fast pyrolized). The gases produced are drawn a fixed distance through a bed of char at the bottom of the gasification reactor, after which they are withdrawn from the reactor and cooled. To promote methanation, the generated gases, after passing through the fixed bed of char in the gasification reactor, exit the reactor through a dip leg within the reactor filled with a catalyst which promotes methanation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 20, 1981
    Date of Patent: May 31, 1983
    Assignee: Everett Metal Products, Inc.
    Inventor: Gordon H. Tucker
  • Patent number: 4365974
    Abstract: Methane is produced from peat by solubilizing the phenolic polymers therein, and oxidizing the solute to produce short chain molecules. The short chain molecules are fermented to produce a gas that this scrubbed to remove CO.sub.2 to produce methane. Solubilizing takes place in a vertically oriented pressurized vessel that is circular in cross-section and divided into a number of regular vertically elongated compartments, each comprising a circular sector in cross-section, and extending the majority the height of the vessel. Slurried peat is fed into the top of one compartment while another compartment is being emptied from the bottom, the compartment being filled or emptied being progressively changed in response to rotation of a central shaft in the vessel. Oxidation of solubilized peat takes place in a structure that transports the solubilized peat in a substantially vertical wave path from an inlet to an outlet with oxygen being introduced at the bottoms of segments of the wave path, and CO.sub.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 28, 1980
    Date of Patent: December 28, 1982
    Assignee: Kamyr, Inc.
    Inventors: Carl L. Elmore, Erwin D. Funk, Ted M. Poulin
  • Patent number: 4363638
    Abstract: The present disclosure is directed to a biomass gas producer having a tiltable gassifier in which the gassifier for performing endothermic chemical reactions of solid material having combustible gas forming and liquifiable constituants has a top charging end and an ash discharge end. A platform support means is provided for the gassifier. An adjustable support means is carried by the platform for supporting the gassifier for tilting from a substantially vertical endothermic reaction or firing mode to a low height inclined charging mode for introducing the material to be fired. A tilt means is connected to the adjustable support means to incrementally tilt the major axis of the gassifier between a firing mode position and a loading and waste discharge mode position. The gassifier also has means for directing the burnable gas produced therein to operate a prime mover for example a boiler, internal combustion equipment or turbine to drive power take off shafts to perform useful mechanical tasks.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 22, 1981
    Date of Patent: December 14, 1982
    Inventor: Eliseo O. Mariani
  • Patent number: 4352676
    Abstract: Garbage to be converted is fed into the upper end of a vertical chamber. A gas collection chamber is provided around the upper end of the chamber and a blower is used for lowering the pressure in this gas collection chamber. The lower pressure causes a draw within a combustion zone defined at the lower end of the garbage chamber. The draw promotes combustion of garbage in the combustion zone much in the same manner that the draw by a pipe smoker will promote combustion within the bowl of his pipe. The gas collected in the gas chamber is delivered through a water filled cleaner or filter. The gas discharged from the upper end of the filter is ready for use in a power device or a furnace, or it may be collected and compressed or even liquified, into a storage container, for easy mobility and later use.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 11, 1981
    Date of Patent: October 5, 1982
    Inventor: David T. Szloboda
  • Patent number: 4349355
    Abstract: Apparatus for generating methane from degradable organic material, the apparatus consisting of a tank containing the material in a liquid slurry and gas collector slidably mounted in its upper portion, the gas collector having rods which extend downwardly through a slotted retainer into the organic material for agitating the organic material within the liquid slurry.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 29, 1981
    Date of Patent: September 14, 1982
    Inventors: Banadakoppa T. Lingappa, Yamuna Lingappa
  • Patent number: 4348211
    Abstract: A gas generating system utilizing cellulosic waste, such as sawdust and the like, of a low BTU rating, which is partially dried on the closed top of, and then fed to the bottom of a conical generator into which a limited air supply is delivered to the upper portion of the generator where a combustion zone occurs to sinter the material and form steam and wood gas (methane) which passes to and through a heat exchange coil in an after-cooler tank in which water is heated incident to cooling the gas which successively passes through several cyclone units which successively remove dust, ash, creosote and other condensates, a blower also being included to induce a low rate of suction in the system to insure movement of the gas through the system which finally preferably is passed through a scrubber to clean the gas product of any appreciable impurities and the scrubbing water is recirculated to absorb more impurities after being stratified to remove heavy condensates and other solids.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 6, 1981
    Date of Patent: September 7, 1982
    Inventor: Edwin H. Zimmerman
  • Patent number: 4342568
    Abstract: Disclosed is a refuse disposal apparatus in which refuse fed into a fermenting vat can be disposed by subjecting the refuse to methane fermentation, the fermenting vat including a heating device for heating the refuse in the fermenting vat to a proper temperature for accelerated methane fermentation, and the refuse being agitated by an agitating device in the fermenting vat, so that methane produced in the fermenting vat by the methane fermentation may be externally collected by means of a gas collecting pipe for use as an everlasting heat source, and that sludge produced by the methane fermentation of the refuse in the fermenting vat may be discharged to the outside through a discharge pipe for use as fertilizer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 16, 1980
    Date of Patent: August 3, 1982
    Assignee: Tokyo Shibaura Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Koichi Taniguchi, Kiyomi Niwa, Tadaaki Siraisi
  • Patent number: 4337066
    Abstract: Apparatus for thermally decomposing and gasifying either liquid or solid combustible material in a single reactor filled with working medium in a high active fluidization, said reactor being provided with two partitions, one of which is extended downwards up to the lower portion of the reactor, while the other is vertically extended at the lower and middle portions thereof substantially at a right angle to the first partition, whereby the reactor is divided into two sections, that is, thermal decomposition and gasification section and combustion and heating section, so that thermal decomposing and gasifying are performed by way of supplying the combustible raw material into the downwardly travelling working medium and at the same time supplying steam thereinto for generating and maintaining the high active fluidization of the working medium in the thermal decomposition and gasification section, while burning and heating are performed by way of supplying air or steam mixture gas of oxygen and steam into the up
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 3, 1980
    Date of Patent: June 29, 1982
    Inventor: Daizo Kunii
  • Patent number: 4336131
    Abstract: A continuous gasification furnace and method of operation. The charge is fed into the furnace chamber between two rolls at least one of which is driven. The furnace chamber can be sealed from the ambient atmosphere. The bed of the furnace contains three zones from top to bottom, these zones are; a volatilization zone, a char reaction zone and an ash zone. Additionally, there can be a drying zone above the volatilization zone. Fuel, air, and steam enter the lower portion of the furnace through strategically located inlet ports. Fuel is used to start up the burning bed while carefully controlled steam to air ratio is used during continuous operation of the furnace. Simultaneously controlled steam cooling effects and exothermic reactions occur in the char reaction zone whereby all or controlled amounts of the oxygen is consumed so that pyrolysis can occur in the volatilization zone without the danger of combustion in that zone or combustion of the fumes leaving the bed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 1979
    Date of Patent: June 22, 1982
    Assignee: Midland-Ross Corporation
    Inventors: H. Dean Schmidt, Peter M. Eckstrom
  • Patent number: 4309195
    Abstract: Apparatus for effecting the conversion of solid fuels (including solid organic waste materials having a fuel valve) by high temperature gasification into clean-burning and uniform gaseous fuel called "producer gas." The apparatus comprises a two-section, stacked double-shell gasifier reactor defining sequentially descending, drying, distillation, oxidation and reduction reaction zones through which a continuously fed column of the solid fuel descends during its conversion to a gaseous fuel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 2, 1980
    Date of Patent: January 5, 1982
    Assignee: Energy Recovery Research Group, Inc.
    Inventor: Franz Rotter
  • Patent number: 4308034
    Abstract: Apparatus for incinerating and gasifying biomass material by employing a flight conveyor having an upper run traversing a horizontal, perforated upper grate and a lower run traversing a perforated lower grate which is parallel to and beneath the upper grate, the material being continuously deposited on the upper grate and urged continuously across it by the upper run in a bed wherein the material is pyrolyzed into char and combustible gas and then being deposited on the lower grate in a bed continuously urged by the lower run over a source of air beneath the lower grate so that the char is continuously oxidized by air from the source producing hot products which pass upwardly from the lower grate through the bed on the upper grate, filtering particulates from the products and providing heat for the pyrolysis, and then sequentially over a source of steam beneath the lower grate so that the char continuously reacts with steam from the source to generate water gas which is collected substantially unmixed with ot
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 19, 1980
    Date of Patent: December 29, 1981
    Inventor: Dinh C. Hoang
  • Patent number: 4308103
    Abstract: Apparatus for effecting the pyrolytic treatment of solid carbonizable materials, such as coal, shredded scrap-tires, comminuted municipal waste, sawdust and wood shavings, and the like. The treatment takes place in a cylindrical, horizontally-disposed reactor vessel including a material conveying device which transports the carbonizable materials through the vessel as a moving bed. A heating chamber is arranged coaxially around the reactor vessel and is configured as an annulus of substantially uniform inner diameter and of decreasing outer dimension from its forward end adjacent the materials outlet end of the reaction vessel, to its rearward end, adjacent the materials inlet end of such vessel. The material passing through the reaction vessel is subject to an indirect heat transfer relationship with a burning air-fuel mixture spirally swirling within the heating chamber and moving in a direction generally counter-current to the material passing through the reaction vessel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 2, 1980
    Date of Patent: December 29, 1981
    Assignee: Energy Recovery Research Group, Inc.
    Inventor: Franz Rotter
  • Patent number: 4306506
    Abstract: Apparatus for the conversion of solid fuels and solid organic waste materials by high temperature gasification into gaseous fuel called "producer gas." The apparatus comprises a stacked two-section gasifier defining sequentially descending drying, distillation, oxidation and reduction reaction zones through which a column of the solid fuel descends during its conversion to the gaseous fuel. The lower reactor section is of double-shell construction and defines the lower oxidation and reduction reaction zones. Means are provided for drawing air into the oxidation zone for burning reaction with carbonized fuel passing therethrough and for thereafter drawing reaction gases downwardly through the lower reduction zone of the gasifier and then through the annular space defined by the double-shell structure of the lower section in indirect counter-current heat exchange relationship with the fuel column portion in the oxidation and reduction zones.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 2, 1980
    Date of Patent: December 22, 1981
    Assignee: Energy Recovery Research Group, Inc.
    Inventor: Franz Rotter
  • Patent number: 4291636
    Abstract: Process for solid refuse disposal in which a vertical shaft furnace is maintained at 30-250 psia, part of the recycle-condensate is filtered to form liquid waste a portion of which is incinerated with a minor part of the product gas to form hot exhaust gas used to heat feed water in steam boiler zone, and energy from the resulting steam is recovered as part of the process energy requirement.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 29, 1980
    Date of Patent: September 29, 1981
    Assignee: Union Carbide Corporation
    Inventors: Victor E. Bergsten, Edward P. Eardley, Theodore F. Fisher
  • Patent number: 4274838
    Abstract: Organic wastes, such as animal manure, are fed into an elongated digester tank at one end thereof in slurry form. The slurry slowly moves to the other end of the tank for subsequent disposal. During the residence time in the tank decomposition of the waste occurs yielding methane gas and carbon dioxide. A cover over the digester collects the gas generated. A heat exchange arrangement causes transverse stirring of the slurry as it passes through the tank enhancing the decomposition process. Scum suppressors on the surface of the slurry prevent interference with the formation and release of the methane gas. The settling of solids is controlled by the use of gas jets disposed along the bottom of the tank.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 1, 1979
    Date of Patent: June 23, 1981
    Assignee: Energy Harvest, Inc.
    Inventors: Eugene M. Dale, Jerry A. Malstrom
  • Patent number: 4268275
    Abstract: The apparatus includes a pyrolytic reactor in which an initial charge of charcoal is located. An inlet is provided for introduction of the organic material and an exit is provided for the resulting gases and ash products. The reactor is arranged to permit a continuous flow of organic material volatiles, and char through the reactor, resulting in continual replenishment of organic material in the pyrolizing portion of the reactor, and replenishment of the charcoal bed portion by the char produced from the pyrolysis reaction. The reactor vessel is heated to the correct temperatures by means such as electric heating coils or hot air/flame jackets.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 7, 1979
    Date of Patent: May 19, 1981
    Assignee: Pyrenco, Inc.
    Inventor: Donald E. Chittick
  • Patent number: 4268274
    Abstract: Apparatus for progressively burning biomass material comprising a retort defining a chamber, a linearly moving grate bed enclosed within the chamber with a space below and a space above for respectively supplying primary air to the lower side of the grate and for collecting gases generated by progressive distillation of the biomass material at the upper side of the grate. Primary air is supplied to the underside of the grate bed at different pressures lengthwise of the grate by a distribution chamber extending lengthwise of the grate of V-shaped cross section containing at its bottom a Venturi opening through which air is delivered to the distribution chamber from successive longitudinally-arranged plenum chambers which, in turn, are supplied with air through conductors connected to a primary air source, each of which contains a damper. The grate may be horizontal or inclined.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 9, 1979
    Date of Patent: May 19, 1981
    Assignee: Forest Fuels, Inc.
    Inventor: Robert A. Caughey
  • Patent number: 4258005
    Abstract: A novel thermal reactor or incinerator of a fluidized bed type is provided wherein residua which have descended to the bottom of the fluidizing bed are transferred to a discharge opening by a plurality of hollow cylindrical rotors disposed above the bottom plate of a vessel of the reactor or incinerator, each of the rotors being provided with a plurality of perforations in the cylindrical wall through which gas or air is injected into inert solid or sand particles to form the fluidized bed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 31, 1979
    Date of Patent: March 24, 1981
    Assignee: Ebara Corporation
    Inventors: Kanichi Ito, Yoshio Hirayama, Yoshiki Kuroda
  • Patent number: 4248972
    Abstract: A compact vertical array of concentrically stacked and interfaced anaerobic digestion modules which comprise an anaerobic digestion sub-system. Each individual digestion module is an open-ended reaction vessel having an external flange on each end. Each pair of adjacent reaction vessels has a suitably sloped plate positioned at their interface and fastened to the bottom flange of the upper vessel and the top flange of the lower vessel. In this manner, each plate creates two individual digestion modules by serving as a bottom for the reaction vessel immediately above it and as a top for the reaction vessel immediately below it. Suitable openings are provided between adjacent digestion modules for transfer of digesting slurry from the module above to the module below. Each such opening is provided with a suitable valve for closing the opening during normal anaerobic digestion operations.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 8, 1979
    Date of Patent: February 3, 1981
    Assignee: Universal Research and Development Corp.
    Inventors: David J. Fischer, Richard M. Narske, John C. Thomas, Edward J. Worthington, Jr.
  • Patent number: 4243489
    Abstract: A solid carbonaceous material is pyrolyzed in a descending flow pyrolysis reactor in the presence of a particulate source of heat to yield a particulate carbon containing solid residue. The particulate source of heat is obtained by educting with a gaseous source of oxygen the particulate carbon containing solid residue from a fluidized bed into a first combustion zone coupled to a second combustion zone. A source of oxygen is introduced into the second combustion zone to oxidize carbon monoxide formed in the first combustion zone to heat the solid residue to the temperature of the particulate source of heat.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 13, 1978
    Date of Patent: January 6, 1981
    Assignee: Occidental Petroleum Corp.
    Inventor: Norman W. Green
  • Patent number: 4235676
    Abstract: An elongated tube is maintained at a temperature of about 1100.degree. F. throughout its length. Organic waste material such as shredded rubber automobile tires or industrial plastic waste or residential trash which preferably has metal and inorganic matter removed therefrom, is moved through the tube at a uniform rate of speed in the absence of air and/or oxygen, with the material being churned or tumbled as by means of a screw conveyor. The vapors and gases which are produced and/or liberated within the tube are quickly removed therefrom by means of a vacuum of from about four inches to about six inches of mercury, with the vapors being condensed and the gases separated therefrom. The char or residue which is a black, powdery, carbon-type material is also recovered.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 16, 1977
    Date of Patent: November 25, 1980
    Assignee: Deco Industries, Inc.
    Inventor: R. William Chambers
  • Patent number: 4221571
    Abstract: A solar heated anaerobic digestor is provided, adapted to utilize organic material capable of decomposing to produce methane gas and a liquid fertilizer. The sealed anaerobic digestor is wrapped with a layer of heat absorptive material followed by a series of abutting removable panels of insulative material. Insulative panels may be temporarily removed to expose the heat absorptive material to solar radiation and may be replaced when the solar radiation diminishes. A layer of transparent material wrapped in outwardly spaced relation around the insulatng panels is capable of transmitting solar radiation while providing protection against environmental elements. Additional heating means extending into the digestor provide auxiliary heat as required.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 13, 1978
    Date of Patent: September 9, 1980
    Inventor: Don Rhoades
  • Patent number: 4209303
    Abstract: A method and apparatus is disclosed for recovery of combustible gas formed from combustible refuse or vegetable matter in an enclosed space from which the combustible gas is collected. Water can be injected into the apparatus and the decay process initiated and promoted by activating a heating element projecting upwardly from the base of the apparatus into the material undergoing decomposition. The combustible gas contains a substantial proportion of methane.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 8, 1978
    Date of Patent: June 24, 1980
    Inventor: Jay W. Ricks
  • Patent number: 4204842
    Abstract: Biodegradable organic wastes are crushed and then fed to a first cell A of a treatment unit in which they are mixed with liquid recirculated from the discharge end of that unit to form a sludge. After oxygenation in cell A, and following the establishment of an anaerobic atmosphere in that cell by the introduction of carbon dioxide, part of the sludge passes by gravity into a lower-level second cell B for prefermentation with evolution of carbon dioxide. Subsequently, part of the contents of cell B is transferred -- again by gravity -- to a third cell C, at a still lower level, where fermentation with generation of methane takes place. The methane production is continued thereafter in a fourth cell D at the lowest level, the latter containing a potash solution in which the accompanying carbon dioxide is dissolved while the methane is recovered.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 10, 1979
    Date of Patent: May 27, 1980
    Inventors: Pierre Morel, Yasmine Ortega, Claudette Jullien, Antonin Jullien
  • Patent number: 4187672
    Abstract: The invention is concerned with novel apparatus and process for converting crude carbon such as coal, carbonaceous wastes and the like into valuable chemical products and/or energy. A mass of solid crude carbonaceous fuel is fed into a high temperature liquid which acts as a solvent for carbon at a temperature sufficient to carbonize the mass and by which the carbon is separated from impurities. Volatile fractions are removed from the mass which acts as a distillation column. Air, or another oxygen source, is introduced into the reactor wherein it reacts with the carbon dissolved in the liquid therein, which may preferably be iron to form a hot fuel gas. The hot fuel gas is then used to produce useful energy, generally via a stepwise procedure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 17, 1977
    Date of Patent: February 12, 1980
    Assignee: Rasor Associates, Inc.
    Inventor: Ned S. Rasor
  • Patent number: 4169712
    Abstract: A solar energy collection and utilization system includes a reservoir having a heat transfer fluid stored therein, and a platform supported by the fluid. A solar energy collector is carried by the platform, the system further including a fluid conductor in the collector for receiving energy collected from solar radiation and heating the heat transfer fluid passing therethrough. Appropriate piping is provided between the reservoir and the fluid conductor such that the fluid heated by the collector is stored in the reservoir for subsequent use for heating applications, including methane generation in a separate facility.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 10, 1977
    Date of Patent: October 2, 1979
    Inventors: James R. Boyce, Erich A. Farber
  • Patent number: 4164397
    Abstract: A method of manufacturing fuel gas from lignocellulose material such as wood. Wood is converted to fuel gas in a descending bed reactor which encloses a descending bed of wood material. Gas produced in the reactor travels upwardly through and thence out from the top of the descending bed, with a portion of the gas being recirculated and introduced as reflow gas, together with air, to a combustion zone established at the base of the descending bed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 16, 1978
    Date of Patent: August 14, 1979
    Inventors: Herbert H. Hunt, Harold S. Worcester