Apparatus and method for processing municipal waste into bio-ethanol
AssigneeEnergy From Waste Ltd.
InventorPhilip Lawrence Timothy Richard Hall
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A process and apparatus for recycling municipal domestic waste comprises subjecting the waste to steam at 150° C.-200°. After steam treatment, the resultant material is separated into constituent parts and biomass and/or plastics subjected to further treatment. The further treatment preferably produces bioethanol from the biomass and diesel from the plastics. As an alternative, some or all of the biomass may be gasified in order to produce hydrogen which may, in turn be fed to a fuel cell to produce an electrical output. The bio diesel or bioalcohol can also be used to produce electricity.
Claims21
An apparatus for extracting bio-fuel from solid waste material, the apparatus comprising:
- an inner drum (10) with an inlet for waste material to be introduced at one end and an outlet at the other end, wherein the inner drum is rotatable about its axis;
- and
- an outer drum (22) at least partially surrounding the inner drum (10) and rotatable thereabout, wherein the outer drum (22) is adapted to receive said waste material from the outlet of the inner drum and is provided with an outlet to output treated said waste material, characterised in that the apparatus comprises means (24) for introducing steam into the interior of the inner drum (10) and is configured so that in operation the interior of the drums is substantially at ambient pressure.
-30. (canceled)
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.