Integrated waste conversion system and method

A process for treating and converting waste, comprising

• receiving a stream of waste which comprises at least a portion that is organic waste,
• introducing the stream of waste or at least a portion thereof into a wetting and mixing section and wetting and mixing the waste,
• transferring the stream of waste from said wetting and mixing section into a continuous-flow steam explosion reactor and subjecting it to steam explosion treatment,
• directing the stream of waste treated in said steam explosion reactor to a separation unit, and separating the stream of waste into at least a component comprising fat and/or oil, a component comprising aqueous slurry of organic matter, and a component comprising wet solid organic material,
• introducing said component comprising fat and/or oil into a biodiesel production unit, and generating biodiesel from said component comprising fat and/or oil,
• introducing said component comprising aqueous slurry into a digestion and/or fermentation unit and digesting and/or fermenting said component comprising aqueous slurry through anaerobic digestion and/or fermentation, and
• introducing said component comprising wet solid organic material into a composting unit,
• wherein said step of separating in the separation unit comprises feeding said stream of waste treated in said steam explosion reactor into a separation tank of an oil or fat separation section, delivering microbubbles to said separation tank, removing fat or oil that accumulates on a liquid surface within said separation tank, and feeding said component comprising aqueous slurry from said separation tank to a liquid-solid separator, feeding from said liquid-solid separator said component comprising wet solid organic material to said composting unit, and said feeding component comprising aqueous slurry of organic matter to said anaerobic unit of fermentation unit.

A waste conversion system, comprising

• at least one pre-treatment unit for receiving a stream of waste of which at least a portion thereof being organic waste, said at least one pre-treatment unit comprising a continuous-flow steam explosion reactor;
• at least one separation unit, for receiving a stream of pre-treated waste from said at least one pre-treatment unit, the at least one separation unit comprising at least one conditioning section and at least one separation section for the separation of conditioned waste into at least one fat/oil component, at least one aqueous component, and solid organic material;
• at least one biodiesel production unit, for generating biodiesel from the at least one fat/oil component;
• at least one digestion unit, for anaerobic digestion and/or fermentation of the at least one aqueous component;
• and
• at least one composting unit, for the generation of compost from said solid organic material,
• wherein said continuous-flow steam explosion reactor comprises a high-pressure retention section and a pressure relief section and wherein said high-pressure retention section comprises at least one adjustable-speed conveyor for transporting said stream of waste through said high-pressure retention section, and wherein said continuous-flow steam explosion reactor comprises a rotational feed valve at an entrance of the high-pressure retention section for feeding said stream of waste into the section and comprising a rotational discharge valve for discharging material from said high-pressure retention section.

A waste conversion system, comprising

• at least one pre-treatment unit for receiving a stream of waste of which at least a portion thereof being organic waste, said at least one pre-treatment unit comprising a continuous-flow steam explosion reactor;
• at least one separation unit, for receiving a stream of pre-treated waste from said at least one pre-treatment unit, the at least one separation unit comprising at least one conditioning section and at least one separation section for the separation of conditioned waste into at least one fat/oil component, at least one aqueous component, and solid organic material;
• at least one biodiesel production unit, for generating biodiesel from the at least one fat/oil component;
• at least one digestion unit, for anaerobic digestion and/or fermentation of the at least one aqueous component;
• and
• at least one composting unit, for the generation of compost from said solid organic material,
• wherein said at least one biodiesel production unit comprises a continuous-flow biodiesel reactor, adapted to receive a continuous flow of said at least one fat/oil component and thereby generate a continuous flow of biodiesel, wherein said continuous-flow biodiesel reactor comprises a plurality of contact plates coated on one side with esterification and/or transesterification catalyst, whereby alternating two coated sides face each other and two non-coated sides face each other and said at least one fat/oil component flows between the coated sides of the contact plates while a thermal media for temperature control of reactants flows between the non-coated sides of the contact plates.

A waste conversion system, comprising

• at least one pre-treatment unit for receiving a stream of waste of which at least a portion thereof being organic waste, said at least one pretreatment unit comprising a continuous-flow steam explosion reactor;
• at least one separation unit, for receiving a stream of pre-treated waste from said at least one pre-treatment unit, the at least one separation unit comprising at least one conditioning section and at least one separation section for the separation of conditioned waste into at least one fat/oil component, at least one aqueous component, and solid organic material;
• at least one biodiesel production unit, for generating biodiesel from the at least one fat/oil component;
• at least one digestion unit, for anaerobic digestion and/or fermentation of the at least one aqueous component;
• and
• at least one composting unit, for the generation of compost from said solid organic material,
• wherein said at least one composting unit comprises an initiation section and an incubation section, said initiation section comprising at least one screw conveyor for transporting substrate from the initiation section to the incubation section, the at least one screw conveyor having an increase in diameter along the conveying direction in the range of about 20-50%, enabling addition of bulking material during the transport of said solid organic material from the initiation section to the incubation section.

A waste conversion system, comprising

• at least one pre-treatment unit for receiving a stream of waste of which at least a portion thereof being organic waste, said at least one pretreatment unit comprising a continuous-flow steam explosion reactor;
• at least one separation unit, for receiving a stream of pre-treated waste from said at least one pre-treatment unit, the separation unit comprising at least one conditioning section and at least one separation section for the separation of conditioned waste into at least one fat/oil component, at least one aqueous component, and solid organic material;
• at least one biodiesel production unit, for generating biodiesel from the at least one fat/oil component;
• at least one digestion unit, for anaerobic digestion and/or fermentation of the at least one aqueous component;
• and
• at least one composting unit, for the generation of compost from said solid organic material,
• the system further comprising a rendering unit upstream of the at least one pre-treatment unit, wherein said rendering unit is configured to separate from said stream of waste at least a portion of a fat/oil component of said stream of waste, and directing said portion of fat/oil component to said at least one biodiesel production unit bypassing said at least one pre-treatment unit.

A process for treating and converting waste, comprising

• receiving a stream of waste which comprises at least a portion that is organic waste,
• introducing the stream of waste or at least a portion thereof into a wetting and mixing section and wetting and mixing the waste,
• transferring the stream from said wetting and mixing section into a continuous-flow steam explosion reactor and subjecting it to steam explosion treatment,
• directing a stream of waste treated in said steam explosion reactor to a separation unit, and separating the pre-treated waste stream into at least a component comprising fat and/or oil, a component comprising aqueous slurry of organic matter, and a component comprising wet solid organic material,
• introducing said fat and/or oil component into a biodiesel production unit, and generating biodiesel from said fat/oil component,
• introducing said component comprising aqueous slurry into a digestion and/or fermentation unit and digesting and/or fermenting said component through anaerobic digestion and/or fermentation,
• introducing said component comprising wet solid organic material into a composting unit, wherein said step of introducing said component comprising wet solid organic material into said composting unit comprises feeding said component at a temperature in the range of about 40-50° C. to an initiation section of said composting unit to accelerate the process by subjecting the substrate directly to thermophile digestion and bypassing mesophilic stage composting, further comprising transferring said wet solid organic material from said initiation section to a second stage incubation section of said composting unit with addition of bulking material such as wood chips, aerating said wet solid organic material in said incubation section with forced aeration and humidifying said wet solid organic material, and incubating the material in said incubation section for a period of time in the range of about 24-96 hours.