Reactor for biomass processing
OwnerGriffin William Roberts, Robert K. Herrington +1inventors
InventorsGriffin William Roberts, Robert K. Herrington, Curtis S. Crawford
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Abstract
An system for processing biomass comprising a stator, a rotor having an axis of rotation, the rotor being disposed inside the stator and configured to rotate about the axis of rotation therein, a processing chamber defined between the rotor and the stator, an inlet in fluid communication with the processing chamber which is designed to introduce unprocessed biomass into the processing chamber, an outlet in fluid communication with the processing chamber which is designed to carry out processed biomass from the processing chamber and a pump operationally associated with the inlet and the outlet, wherein the pump is configured to pump the unprocessed biomass through the processing chamber.
Claims24
A system for processing biomass comprising:
- a stator;
- a rotor having an axis of rotation, the rotor being disposed inside the stator and configured to rotate about the axis of rotation therein, and the rotor having a smooth, tapered, outer surface;
- a processing chamber defined between the rotor and the stator;
- an inlet in fluid communication with the processing chamber which is designed to introduce unprocessed biomass into the processing chamber;
- an outlet in fluid communication with the processing chamber which is designed to carry out processed biomass from the processing chamber;
- and
- a pump operationally associated with the inlet and the outlet;
- wherein the pump is configured to pump the unprocessed biomass through the processing chamber.
A method for processing biomass comprising the steps of:
- providing an system for processing biomass comprising:
- a stator;
- a rotor having an axis of rotation, the rotor being disposed inside the stator and configured to rotate about the axis of rotation therein, and the rotor having a smooth, tapered surface;
- a processing chamber defined between the rotor and the stator;
- an inlet in fluid communication with the processing chamber which is designed to introduce unprocessed biomass into the processing chamber;
- an outlet in fluid communication with the processing chamber which is designed to carry out processed biomass from the processing chamber;
- and
- a pump operationally associated with the inlet and the outlet;
- wherein the pump is configured to pump the unprocessed biomass through the processing chamber;
- adding unprocessed biomass through the inlet into the processing chamber;
- adding water through the inlet into the processing chamber;
- and
- processing the water and the unprocessed biomass within the processing chamber by heating and pressurizing the water and the unprocessed biomass within the processing chamber while rotating the rotor about the axis of rotation creating a radial force.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.