Thermofuel process pyrolysis chamber

The core technology of the Thermofuel process is the catalytic reaction tower (or catalytic converter, Figure 15.7). The catalytic reaction tower contains a system of plates made from a special catalytic metal alloy. The metal plates are positioned so that the hot pyrolytic gases must travel a tortuous path, in order to maximize contact area and time. The catalyst chamber is heated to 220°C using the exhaust gases (not pyrolysis gases) from the furnace of the pyrolysis chamber. 

The catalyst chamber is the heart of the Thermofuel process and is directly responsible for the high quality of the output fuel from this process. The technology in and around this unit is highly proprietary since competitive processes do not have this type of longlife catalytic converter. Many other pyrolysis processes add zeolite catalysts directly to the pyrolysis chamber, however, these are expensive and quickly become fouled and deactivated. 

In the Thermofuel process the first reaction occurs in the pyrolysis chamber where the plastic is thermally pyrolyzed, causing random scission of carbon chain lengths. While secondary reactions occur in the catalytic converter (i.e. catalyst tower) where shorter carbon chains are reformed and further cracking of longer carbon chains occnrs such... 

In the Thermofuel process, carbon and coke deposits formed during the pyrolysis are continuously scraped from the pyrolysis chamber walls and reduced to a free-flowing black powder. Inorganic additives such as cadmium pigments from the plastics also end up in the char stream. The carbon matrix has a metal fixing effect and binds up the metal ions so that no leaching occurs after disposal. 

ThermoFuel (1) A process for making diesel fuel from waste plastic. Preferred plastics are polyethylene and polystyrene. The plastic is first melted in an extruder and then pyrolyzed continuously in a cylindrical chamber at 370°C-420°C, giving a Cg to C g hydrocarbon mixture having a peak at C,g. An important feature is the incorporation of a catalytic reaction tower after the main pyrolysis reactor, which incorporates metal plates made from a proprietary catalytic metal alloy. Distillation yields an average of 930 L of diesel per ton of waste plastic. Developed by Ozmotech, Australia, and now offered by EnviroSmart Technologies of Roosendaal, the Netherlands. In 2006, there were plans for 31 installations in Europe to be made over the next 4 years. 

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