Pressure valve processing
AssigneeApalta Patents OÜ
InventorSharon Samjitsingh
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A valve assembly wherein the inner wall of the valve body comprises at least one opening for the entry of a liquid under pressure following output of a slurry or liquid from a tube or pipe. The valve assembly is particularly useful in maintaining a semi-continuous or continuous pressurized flow of biomass from an extruder and extending the reaction zone downstream from the extruder. An advantage of having an extended reaction zone allows for a complete treatment of materials without further wear on the extruder and also allows manipulation of the upstream treatment of materials in the tube or pipe.
Claims20
A system for pretreating a biomass comprising:
- (a) an extruder comprising one or more screws, wherein an internal plug of the biomass is formed due to action of the one or more screws, thereby forming an upstream end of a pressurized reaction zone for pretreatment of the biomass;
- and
- (b) a valve assembly attached at an output end of the extruder, wherein the valve assembly forms a downstream end of the reaction zone and adds a liquid to the reaction zone,
- wherein the valve assembly comprises:
- a valve body having a chamber that connects an input end and a discharge end of the valve body, and comprising a large circular section at the discharge end, an intercalary conical section, and a small circular collar at the input end containing one or more nozzles for adding the liquid, wherein the small circular collar is smaller in inner diameter than the large circular section;
- a valve needle axially displaceable within the chamber of the valve body;
- and
- a housing attached to the discharge end of the valve body and enclosing the valve needle when the valve needle is disengaged with the valve body.
A method of pretreating a biomass, the method comprising:
- (a) conveying the biomass through an extruder from a feeder zone of the extruder to a reaction zone of the extruder, wherein the feeder zone and the reaction zone are separated by a biomass plug formed downstream of the feeder zone and upstream from the reaction zone;
- (b) adding steam and/or a chemical to the biomass in the reaction zone to partially treat the biomass;
- (c) conveying the partially-treated biomass into a valve assembly attached to an output end of the extruder, and treating the partially-treated biomass in the valve assembly, thereby producing a pretreated biomass,
- wherein the valve assembly forms a downstream end of the reaction zone and adds a liquid to the reaction zone,
- wherein the valve assembly comprises:
- a valve body having a chamber that connects an input end and a discharge end of the valve body, and comprising a large circular section at the discharge end, an intercalary conical section, and a small circular collar at the input end containing one or more nozzles for adding the liquid, wherein the small circular collar is smaller in inner diameter than the large circular section;
- a valve needle axially displaceable within the chamber of the valve body;
- and
- a housing attached to the discharge end of the valve body and enclosing the valve needle when the valve needle is disengaged with the valve body;
- and
- (d) discharging the pretreated biomass through the valve assembly.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.