Process and appratus for waste treatment
AssigneeSterecycle Ltd.
InventorsDuncan John Grierson, Philip James Campion
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present invention relates to processes and apparatus for improving municipal waste treatment in autoclave processes. Improvements relate to the use of air-waste stream treatment, indirect heating with thermal fluid, forced steam transfer, autoclave design, waste treatment of contaminated air,classifiers for better separation of fibres from glass or grit and processing. The improvements allow more efficient, safer and environmentally friendly processing, and better end products.
Claims48
Process to treat municipal solid waste in two or more vessels, which are used in an alternating fashion comprising the steps of,
- (1) feeding waste material into a pressure vessel;
- (2) agitating the vessel while having steam pressure in the vessel;
- (3) depressurizing the vessel, and applying vacuum to the vessel;
- (4) discharging the vessel;
- and
- (5) classifying the treated waste.
Process according to claim 42, wherein the vacuum pump is an eccentric-rotary vacuum pump.
Process according to claim 42, wherein the vacuum pump has a capacity sufficient to reach a vacuum of 0.5 bar (abs) in a vessel of about 10 cubic meter or more in about 15 min or less.
Process according to claim 42, wherein the exhaust gas is cleaned in a scrubber.
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Apparatus for treating municipal waste comprising
- (1) a feeding unit;
- (2) at least two autoclaves;
- (3) a connection between the autoclaves for transporting steam from one autoclave to another;
- and
- (4) a classification section comprising a screen and an air classification device, wherein the connection for transporting steam comprises a compressor.
Apparatus for treating municipal waste according to claim 13, wherein the air classification device is configured to treat the fibre containing product, contaminated with glass and grit particles, comprising a tilted vibrating screen and an air supply capable of creating air flow from the bottom of the screen.
Integrated power plant and waste treatment plant, wherein the waste treatment plant comprises municipal waste treatment apparatus comprising:
- (1) a feeding unit configured to feed waste material into a first pressure vessel, wherein the first pressure vessel is configured to be agitated while receiving steam pressure;
- (2) a connection between the first pressure vessel and a second vessel;
- wherein the connection is configured to transport steam from the first pressure vessel to the second vessel to depressurize the first pressure vessel, and wherein the connection comprises a compressor;
- and
- (3) wherein the first pressure vessel is further configured to discharge treated waste after depressurization;
- and
- (4) wherein the apparatus is configured to classify treated waste, and wherein the treated waste comprises a fibre that is used as a fuel source to produce the steam pressure.
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Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.