EP4662291A1 - Process to produce a pyrolysis oil comprising liquid hydrocarbons from plastic material at high exergetic efficiency, and relative plant - Google Patents
Process to produce a pyrolysis oil comprising liquid hydrocarbons from plastic material at high exergetic efficiency, and relative plantInfo
- Publication number
- EP4662291A1 EP4662291A1 EP24702647.9A EP24702647A EP4662291A1 EP 4662291 A1 EP4662291 A1 EP 4662291A1 EP 24702647 A EP24702647 A EP 24702647A EP 4662291 A1 EP4662291 A1 EP 4662291A1
- Authority
- EP
- European Patent Office
- Prior art keywords
- heat transfer
- transfer fluid
- pyrolysis
- temperature
- solar
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Pending
Links
Classifications
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- C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
- C10—PETROLEUM, GAS OR COKE INDUSTRIES; TECHNICAL GASES CONTAINING CARBON MONOXIDE; FUELS; LUBRICANTS; PEAT
- C10B—DESTRUCTIVE DISTILLATION OF CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS FOR PRODUCTION OF GAS, COKE, TAR, OR SIMILAR MATERIALS
- C10B23/00—Other methods of heating coke ovens
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- C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
- C10—PETROLEUM, GAS OR COKE INDUSTRIES; TECHNICAL GASES CONTAINING CARBON MONOXIDE; FUELS; LUBRICANTS; PEAT
- C10B—DESTRUCTIVE DISTILLATION OF CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS FOR PRODUCTION OF GAS, COKE, TAR, OR SIMILAR MATERIALS
- C10B47/00—Destructive distillation of solid carbonaceous materials with indirect heating, e.g. by external combustion
- C10B47/18—Destructive distillation of solid carbonaceous materials with indirect heating, e.g. by external combustion with moving charge
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- C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
- C10—PETROLEUM, GAS OR COKE INDUSTRIES; TECHNICAL GASES CONTAINING CARBON MONOXIDE; FUELS; LUBRICANTS; PEAT
- C10B—DESTRUCTIVE DISTILLATION OF CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS FOR PRODUCTION OF GAS, COKE, TAR, OR SIMILAR MATERIALS
- C10B47/00—Destructive distillation of solid carbonaceous materials with indirect heating, e.g. by external combustion
- C10B47/18—Destructive distillation of solid carbonaceous materials with indirect heating, e.g. by external combustion with moving charge
- C10B47/26—Destructive distillation of solid carbonaceous materials with indirect heating, e.g. by external combustion with moving charge with the aid of hot liquids, e.g. molten salts
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- C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
- C10—PETROLEUM, GAS OR COKE INDUSTRIES; TECHNICAL GASES CONTAINING CARBON MONOXIDE; FUELS; LUBRICANTS; PEAT
- C10B—DESTRUCTIVE DISTILLATION OF CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS FOR PRODUCTION OF GAS, COKE, TAR, OR SIMILAR MATERIALS
- C10B53/00—Destructive distillation, specially adapted for particular solid raw materials or solid raw materials in special form
- C10B53/07—Destructive distillation, specially adapted for particular solid raw materials or solid raw materials in special form of solid raw materials consisting of synthetic polymeric materials, e.g. tyres
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- C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
- C10—PETROLEUM, GAS OR COKE INDUSTRIES; TECHNICAL GASES CONTAINING CARBON MONOXIDE; FUELS; LUBRICANTS; PEAT
- C10B—DESTRUCTIVE DISTILLATION OF CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS FOR PRODUCTION OF GAS, COKE, TAR, OR SIMILAR MATERIALS
- C10B57/00—Other carbonising or coking processes; Features of destructive distillation processes in general
- C10B57/02—Multi-step carbonising or coking processes
-
- C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
- C10—PETROLEUM, GAS OR COKE INDUSTRIES; TECHNICAL GASES CONTAINING CARBON MONOXIDE; FUELS; LUBRICANTS; PEAT
- C10G—CRACKING HYDROCARBON OILS; PRODUCTION OF LIQUID HYDROCARBON MIXTURES, e.g. BY DESTRUCTIVE HYDROGENATION, OLIGOMERISATION, POLYMERISATION; RECOVERY OF HYDROCARBON OILS FROM OIL-SHALE, OIL-SAND, OR GASES; REFINING MIXTURES MAINLY CONSISTING OF HYDROCARBONS; REFORMING OF NAPHTHA; MINERAL WAXES
- C10G1/00—Production of liquid hydrocarbon mixtures from oil-shale, oil-sand, or non-melting solid carbonaceous or similar materials, e.g. wood, coal
- C10G1/10—Production of liquid hydrocarbon mixtures from oil-shale, oil-sand, or non-melting solid carbonaceous or similar materials, e.g. wood, coal from rubber or rubber waste
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- C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
- C10—PETROLEUM, GAS OR COKE INDUSTRIES; TECHNICAL GASES CONTAINING CARBON MONOXIDE; FUELS; LUBRICANTS; PEAT
- C10G—CRACKING HYDROCARBON OILS; PRODUCTION OF LIQUID HYDROCARBON MIXTURES, e.g. BY DESTRUCTIVE HYDROGENATION, OLIGOMERISATION, POLYMERISATION; RECOVERY OF HYDROCARBON OILS FROM OIL-SHALE, OIL-SAND, OR GASES; REFINING MIXTURES MAINLY CONSISTING OF HYDROCARBONS; REFORMING OF NAPHTHA; MINERAL WAXES
- C10G9/00—Thermal non-catalytic cracking, in the absence of hydrogen, of hydrocarbon oils
-
- C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
- C10—PETROLEUM, GAS OR COKE INDUSTRIES; TECHNICAL GASES CONTAINING CARBON MONOXIDE; FUELS; LUBRICANTS; PEAT
- C10K—PURIFYING OR MODIFYING THE CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF COMBUSTIBLE GASES CONTAINING CARBON MONOXIDE
- C10K1/00—Purifying combustible gases containing carbon monoxide
- C10K1/04—Purifying combustible gases containing carbon monoxide by cooling to condense non-gaseous materials
-
- C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
- C10—PETROLEUM, GAS OR COKE INDUSTRIES; TECHNICAL GASES CONTAINING CARBON MONOXIDE; FUELS; LUBRICANTS; PEAT
- C10K—PURIFYING OR MODIFYING THE CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF COMBUSTIBLE GASES CONTAINING CARBON MONOXIDE
- C10K3/00—Modifying the chemical composition of combustible gases containing carbon monoxide to produce an improved fuel, e.g. one of different calorific value, which may be free from carbon monoxide
- C10K3/001—Modifying the chemical composition of combustible gases containing carbon monoxide to produce an improved fuel, e.g. one of different calorific value, which may be free from carbon monoxide by thermal treatment
- C10K3/003—Reducing the tar content
- C10K3/008—Reducing the tar content by cracking
Definitions
- the present invention concerns a sustainable process for producing a pyrolysis oil which comprises liquid hydrocarbons from plastic material, preferably waste material.
- the field of application is the pyrolysis of plastic material to produce a pyrolysis oil comprising hydrocarbons.
- This pyrolysis oil after further treatment, can be converted into monomers useful for producing polymers, thus closing the loop.
- it is increasingly strategic not only to recycle them, but also to be able to do it in a sustainable way.
- Patent US 4,415,339 of the Department of Energy teaches a method of producing with a solar reactor substantially hydrocarbon free product gases (syngas) from a carbonaceous material feed, which method includes directing solar energy directly into the reactor. Solar energy is delivered directly, i.e.
- US 4,582,590 discloses a method of pyrolyzing shale which includes the use of concentrated solar radiation.
- the solar radiation passes through a “solar window” reaching a ceramic honey-comb receiver, which is therefore heated at 350°C.
- WO 2010/103520 discloses a solar-powered device for converting sludge by pyrolysis which includes a pyrolysis reactor operable by solar energy. Such solar energy is concentrated and redirected to the receiver located inside the pyrolytic reactor by focused mirrors. The reactor is shut down when a sensor detects that the intensity of sunlight radiation falls below a threshold.
- WO 2017/055652 (Department of Energy) describes a hybrid power plant based on the use of solar energy comprising a molten salt solar receiver configured to heat molten salts by solar energy.
- a cold storage tank and a hot salt storage tank There is a cold storage tank and a hot salt storage tank, a steam generator, a condenser, and a reactor-exchanger salts- biomass to exchange heat between a stream of salts and the biomass.
- CN109207179 discloses a syngas production system through concentrated solar molten salt pyrolysis of carbonaceous material.
- the carbonaceous material can be, for instance, rice husk, cotton and corn straw residues, and urban domestic waste, and the temperature can be higher than 800°C, for instance 1000°C.
- WO/2020/150244 discloses the use of renewable energy in olefin synthesis.
- at least one of the furnaces is an electrified furnace, wherein at least 90% of heating is produced without combusting a fuel.
- None of the cited patents discloses a process to treat plastics material to produce a pyrolysis oil, by using a solar energy source. Moreover, in most cases the solar energy is used directly, e.g. by focusing the solar radiation directly to an absorbing surface which is located inside the reactor.
- Some patent applications disclose the use of a molten salt as heat carrier medium to produce syngas from biomass (such as urban domestic waste, cotton and corn straw, rice husk).
- Biomasses are chemically quite different than plastic materials, and the product (syngas) is completely different from pyrolysis oils. Therefore, the required operating conditions, such as temperature, is quite different (even over 1000°C).
- This process is typically unable to carry out the task of the present invention: for instance, as disclosed in cited CN109207179, the used molten salts melts at about 400°C. Generally, it is not safe to use molten salts near their melting point to avoid solidification of the salt mixture in the apparatus, meaning that it would not be possible to use that process for pyrolysis of plastics, which requires a temperature of 400-520°C.
- Pyrolysis of plastic materials is a highly desirable process as it allows to recycle mixed plastic waste materials, by breaking the polymeric chains into small organic molecules, which, after proper refining processes, can be used in the synthesis of polymers.
- Most of other recycle processes such as the so-called mechanical recycle (i.e. extrusion of waste plastics with virgin plastics so as to produce a blend) require the use of very pure plastic waste (that is, comprising only a specific polymer, for instance expanded polystyrene or linear low-density polyethylene or polyethylene terephthalate).
- a specific polymer for instance expanded polystyrene or linear low-density polyethylene or polyethylene terephthalate.
- different polymers are incompatible to each other, and as a result the blend of such polymer mixture with a specific virgin polymer dramatically reduces its performance.
- Pyrolysis of plastic materials has the key advantage that it is able to operate effectively with mixed plastic wastes, even in the presence of non-plastic waste materials such as paper; moreover, differently from other techniques, it has the capability to recycle mixed plastic waste unlimitedly, that is there are unlimited loops of: plastic production from monomers, use of the plastics, collection of its waste after use, and monomers production by pyrolysis of its waste; thus closing the loop. For this reason, such process is frequently dubbed “closed loop recycling”. However, this is a strongly endothermic process and therefore it requires a huge amount of thermal energy. Moreover, as the required pyrolysis temperature is rather high (>500°C), a high quality (i.e., at high exergy) heat is needed.
- this energy source is a gas heater (which burns natural gas and/or the incondensable gases produced by the pyrolysis process itself) or by direct electric heating via Joule effect.
- Electric energy has an extremely high exergetic content and it is not convenient to use it by Joule heating.
- both electric energy and gas heating considerably contribute to increase the carbon footprint, as the combustion of hydrocarbons produce large quantities of carbonic anhydride (CO2) and in most countries electric energy is produced by gas, petroleum or carbon combustion.
- CO2 carbonic anhydride
- due to the high temperature the use of heat pumps to pump heat from lower energy heat sources (such as steam or geothermal energy) is practically unfeasible.
- the Applicant has surprisingly found a process to produce at least a pyrolysis oil from essentially plastic materials which comprises the steps of: a) Heating a first heat transfer fluid F1 to a temperature T1 comprised between 400°C and 520°C by means of solar radiation; b) Heating a second heat transfer fluid F2 to a temperature T2 higher than temperature T1 by means of solar radiation; c) Heating a first pyrolysis reactor R1 by means of the heated first heat transfer fluid F1, which is therefore cooled in the operation; d) Heating a second pyrolysis reactor R2 by means of the heated second heat transfer fluid F2, which is therefore cooled in the operation; e) Feeding the first pyrolysis reactor R1 with at least an essentially plastic material M1; f) Keeping said essentially plastic material M1 in said first pyrolysis reactor for a residence time RT1 which is at least 2 minutes and anyway sufficient to produce a fluid in the gaseous state M2 containing hydrocarbons
- the process disclosed and claimed in the present invention has the following advantages when compared to the processes known in the prior art: - Closed loop recycling ready: The disclosed process is able to produce liquid hydrocarbons that, after further treating (e.g. by cracking and/or refining processes), can be used to produce polymers. After use, the articles made by such polymers can be fed again to the disclosed process. The process can be repeated unlimitedly. As a result, the plastic materials can be recycled virtually an infinite number of times.
- - GHG emissions free the heat required to the pyrolysis process is obtained without direct and/or indirect production of harmful greenhouse gases (such as carbon anhydride, CO2).
- the heat transfer fluid which preferably consists of molten salts
- the heat transfer fluid is the same both in the solar system and in the pyrolysis system, so that the same fluid can flow in both systems. Therefore, there is no need of expensive heat exchangers.
- Maximized use of solar energy solar energy is a precious source, especially when heat at high temperature is required. In fact, in this case a high concentration factor is required, which in turns means that a large area of incoming solar radiation has to be reflected to a relatively small heating area.
- the special synergic process configuration disclosed in the present application is able to address this very specific issue, as the solution provided is able in fact to reduce the required average concentration factor, as it will be shown hereafter.
- the process is fed by mixed plastics waste materials, therefore little or no preprocessing is required, and there is no need to feed single-material sources such as essentially pure polyethylene. Even more preferably, the process is fed by the residual plastics after the selection process has already selected and extracted the single-materials (especially polymers that can be reused as such when contaminations are low, such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and low-density polyethylene (LDPE)). Such feed is sometimes called “Plasmix” (from plastic mix).
- PET polyethylene terephthalate
- LDPE low-density polyethylene
- the essentially plastics material that can be fed to the process can contain minor quantities of non-plastic materials such as wood, paper, concrete, metals and biomass.
- Plastics comprising inorganic fillers and halogens (such as polyvinyl chloride) can be fed and processed as well.
- halogens such as polyvinyl chloride
- - Fouling free The process is free from fouling and carbon build-up, clogging, even when the essentially plastic material which is fed is rich of high carbon- to-hydrogen plastics such as polystyrene or oxygen-rich polymers such as polyethylene terephthalate.
- the present invention discloses and claims also a plant to produce at least a pyrolysis oil from essentially plastic materials which comprises: A) A first pyrolysis reactor (70) which has at least one inlet where an essentially plastic material is fed, an outlet where at least one gaseous effluent is removed, and a jacket and/or coil, provided with at least one inlet and one outlet for a heat transfer fluid; B) A second pyrolysis reactor (71) which has at least one inlet where at least a gaseous stream from the first pyrolysis reactor (70) is fed, an outlet where at least one gaseous effluent is removed, and a jacket and/or coil, provided with at least one inlet and one outlet for a heat transfer fluid; C) A first solar collector assembly (61) comprising a first solar receiver, preferably consisting of a tube receiver, the first solar receiver comprising at least one inlet and one outlet for the heat transfer fluid, where said solar collector assembly is able to deliver concentrated solar radiation to said first solar receiver that in turns is configured to
- the act of maintaining a certain parameter (for example the pressure) within an indicated range means that operations are actively performed so that this parameter falls within the range, for example by checking that the measured value falls within the indicated range, and/or by regulating the parameter by means of a feedback regulating system in which a value of this parameter is set within the indicated range.
- essentially plastic material a composition of one or more plastics, optionally comprising up to 30 wt%, based on the weight of the essentially plastic material, of non-plastic materials, is meant.
- plastic material a generic polymeric material that may contain other substances to improve performance and/or reduce costs is meant, as per the IUPAC definition (Pure Appl. Chem. Vol. 84 n.2, pp. 377-410, 2012).
- hydrocarbons having a standard boiling point not below 25°C means that such hydrocarbons have, individually, a standard boiling point, as defined by IUPAC, of at least 25°C (that is, equal to or greater than 25°C).
- the act of condensing, totally or partially, the gas exiting said second pyrolysis reactor R2 so as to form at least a liquid which comprises hydrocarbons having a standard boiling point not below 25°C does not exclude that such liquid can comprise also hydrocarbons having boiling point below 25°C, and non- hydrocarbon compounds.
- pyrolysis vapours the gaseous phase which is produced in the pyrolysis of the essentially plastic material is meant, such as the effluent in the gaseous state of the first pyrolysis reactor.
- This latter contains the product of the pyrolysis, but also the compounds that are in the gaseous state at the pressure and temperature conditions of the pyrolysis, that were already present in the essentially plastic material subjected to the pyrolysis or added or already present in the first pyrolysis reactor (for instance, in the inerting gas), such as nitrogen, water or low boiling point plasticizers.
- the content of hydrocarbons is typically more than 50 wt%.
- pyrolysis oil the liquid formed by partial or total condensation of the pyrolysis vapours, and which comprises hydrocarbons that have a standard boiling point not below 25°C, is meant.
- the content of hydrocarbons is typically more than 50 wt%.
- pyrolysis residue or equivalently, by char
- the product which is in the liquid, solid, or liquid and solid state (that is, semi-solid) in the first pyrolysis reactor, or which is in the liquid and/or solid state under the conditions of temperature, pressure and composition in the pyrolysis is meant.
- heat transfer fluid a solid, liquid, gaseous or also multiphase fluid that is used to transfer heat from one system to another, in particular from a heat source to other heat demands (heat duties), is meant.
- heat transfer fluids are fluids specifically manufactured for the purpose of transmitting heat and that are stable (that is, do not degrade rapidly) in the used process conditions.
- the first heat transfer fluid does not need to be compositionally different from the second heat transfer fluid, however preferably they have different temperatures.
- SCA the solar collector assembly is meant, which generally comprises reflectors (mirrors, such as the Fresnel reflectors, or parabolic mirrors in the case of parabolic troughs), the metal support structure, the receiver tube(s), and optionally the tracking system that includes the drive, sensors, and controls.
- the length of the receiver tubes does not need to be equal to the length of the reflector, as several receiver tubes can be connected in series to form a longer receiver tube (such that also a length of even more than 200 m can be obtained), which in turn can receive the sunlight radiation from multiple mirrors/reflectors in series.
- the solar collector assembly generally comprises a plurality of mirrors/reflectors and relative absorber tubes, preferably combined in series, in parallel, and in series-parallel combinations.
- molten salt (or, equivalently, molten salts) a salt which is solid at standard temperature and pressure but enters the liquid phase due to elevated temperature is meant.
- Molten salts can be composed by a single component (e.g. sodium nitrate alone) or a mixture of salts (e.g. mixture of sodium and potassium nitrate).
- loaded device any device that is heated by means of the heat transfer fluid is meant. Examples of “loaded device” are the first and second pyrolysis reactors, the coker, the preheater.
- fluid loop heat transfer fluid loop
- hot loop hot loop
- warm loop the process by which the heat transfer fluid is substantially entirely recirculated in the process are meant.
- substantially entirely recirculated it is meant that the heat transfer fluid is not generated or consumed in the process, so there are no net inlet or outlet streams; however, conveniently, the fluid may be spilled or slowly replaced, in particular because it is known that most heat transfer fluids degrades over time at high temperature.
- a substantially entirely recirculated fluid has a total inlet or outlet mass flow that is less than 1% of the recirculating mass flow, even more preferably less than 0.1%.
- FIGURES show a process scheme illustrative of an embodiment of the present invention, characterized by three heat transfer fluid reservoirs and two pyrolysis reactors.
- Figure 2 shows a process scheme illustrative of an embodiment of the present invention, characterized by the addition of a plastic preheater (such as an extruder or screw device).
- Figure 3 shows a process scheme illustrative of an embodiment of the present invention, characterized by the addition of an additional device (“coker”) which further treats the liquid/solid/semi-solid residuum (char) effluent of the reactor.
- Figure 4 shows a process scheme illustrative of an embodiment of the present invention, characterized by both the presence of said coker which further treats the liquid/solid/semisolid residuum (char) effluent of the reactor, as well as the plastic preheater (such an extruder or screw device).
- Figure 5 shows a process scheme illustrative of an embodiment of the present invention, characterized by the fact that the condensation of the pyrolysis gas is carried out in more than one unit, and where in the first of such units said pyrolysis gas is cooled by the heat transfer fluid before entering the cold reservoir, thus realizing a heat recovery.
- Figure 6 shows a process scheme illustrative of an embodiment of the present invention, characterized by the fact that the heat transfer fluid coming from the warm reservoir is delivered to the first pyrolysis reactor and the preheater device in semi-series by means of a weir device 78 before returning to the cold reservoir.
- Figure 7 shows a process scheme illustrative of an embodiment of the present invention, characterized by the fact that the heat transfer fluid coming from the hot reservoir is delivered to the coker device and the second pyrolysis reactor in semi-series by means of a weir device 79 before returning to the cold reservoir.
- Figure 8 shows a process scheme with a dual heat transfer fluid loop, corresponding to Example 1 (inventive).
- Figure 9 shows a process scheme with a single heat transfer fluid loop, corresponding to Example 2 (comparative).
- Figure 10 shows a process scheme illustrative of an embodiment of the present invention, characterized by the fact that the first heat transfer fluid and relative heat transfer fluid loop is not fluidly in connection with the second heat transfer fluid and relative heat transfer loop.
- Figure 11 shows a process scheme illustrative of some embodiments of the present invention, characterized by the fact that it is shown the position of the additional power sources in three different positions (66A for parallel, 66B and 66C for series arrangement)
- Figure 12 shows a process scheme illustrative of an embodiment of the present invention, characterized by the use of three reservoirs, and which focuses to show the hot and warm loops and their distinction.
- Figure 13 shows a process scheme illustrative of an embodiment of the present invention, characterized by the use of four reservoirs and two completely independent loops, which focuses to show the hot and warm loops and their distinction.
- Figure 14 shows a process scheme illustrative of an embodiment of the present invention, characterized by the three reservoirs and two completely independent or partly independent loops.
- the process to produce at least a pyrolysis oil from essentially plastic materials is characterized by the fact that the fluids F1 and F2 are substantially entirely recirculated.
- a first embodiment of the present invention is shown in Figure 1.
- ⁇ In said first solar collector assembly (61) comprising a first solar receiver, the first heat transfer fluid F1 is heated to a temperature T1 comprised between 400°C and 520°C by means of solar radiation (process step a); ⁇ In said second solar collector assembly (62) comprising a second solar receiver, the second heat transfer fluid F2 is heated to a temperature T2 higher than temperature T1 by means of solar radiation (process step b); ⁇ A jacket and/or coil is provided with at least one inlet and one outlet for molten salts, comprised in said first pyrolysis reactor (70) (element “A”), and carries out the heating of said first pyrolysis reactor (70) (or R1) by means of the heated first heat transfer fluid F1; ⁇ A jacket and/or coil is provided with at least one inlet and one outlet for molten salts, comprised in said second pyrolysis reactor (71) (element “A”), and carries out the heating of said first pyrolysis reactor (70) (or R1) by means of the heated
- a fluid connection may comprise devices that are sandwiched or anyway positioned in between, such as, for instance, pumps and valves.
- an electronic connection includes any non-mechanical and non-thermal mean to transmit information, such as by a flow of electrons (electric current) or flow of photons (light transmission, such as by optical fibers) or electromagnetic waves (e.g. WiFi transmission).
- the essentially plastic material is fed at (51) to the first pyrolysis reactor (70) which is heated by the heat transfer fluid at medium temperature (33) coming from the warm reservoir (64).
- the heat transfer fluid coming out of the first pyrolysis reactor (70) (therefore at lower temperature) is brought to the cold reservoir (63).
- Pyrolysis gases developed in reactor (70) are delivered to the second pyrolysis reactor (71), which is at higher temperature than the first pyrolysis reactor (70), while the solid or semi- solid residuum (like char) is recovered at (53). In some embodiments, also a part of the liquid comprised in the reactor (70) can be recovered from (53).
- the second pyrolysis reactor (71) the pyrolysis gas coming from the first reactor (70) is further heated to a higher temperature by means of the heat transfer fluid (37) coming from the hot reservoir (65). In the second reactor (71), the gases are therefore further pyrolyzed.
- the effluent of the second reactor (71) is cooled and condensed by means of condenser (72).
- the gases that are not condensed are recovered at (55).
- the condensate forms the pyrolysis oil which is collected in reservoir (73) and recovered at (56).
- Reservoir (73) can be integrated in the condenser (72).
- the heat transfer fluid which exits from the second pyrolysis reactor is brought to the warm reservoir (64).
- Optional bypasses (B1) to (B4) are useful to refill reservoirs one another, without the need to pass through the heating system and duties (for maintenance and/or to decouple flow rate from heat duty).
- the medium temperature solar collector assembly (SCA) (61) heat up the heat transfer fluid (31) from the cold tank (63), while the high temperature solar collector assembly (62) heat up the heat transfer fluid (35) from the warm tank (64).
- the heat transfer fluid is brought to the warm reservoir (64), while from the high temperature solar collector assembly (62) the heat transfer fluid is brought to the hot reservoir (65).
- the heat transfer fluid in one loop is heated by at least one solar collector assembly, and is cooled, releasing its heat, in at least one pyrolysis reactor, before returning to the solar collector assembly (possibly passing through a heat transfer fluid reservoir).
- the fluids F1 and F2 are substantially entirely recirculated.
- the process of the present invention is a dual- loop process (or, alternatively, “two-loop process”).
- the heat transfer fluid F1 is heated from a low temperature to a “warm” temperature by means of a first (lower temperature) solar collector assembly.
- This fluid is used in the first pyrolysis reactor and optionally other devices as taught in the disclosure of the present invention.
- the heat transfer fluid F2 is heated from a “warm” temperature to a “hot” temperature by means of a second solar collector assembly. This fluid is used in the second pyrolysis reactor and optionally other devices as taught in the disclosure of the present invention.
- the recirculation of fluid F1 forms a first heat transfer fluid loop (“warm loop”)
- the recirculation of fluid F2 forms a second heat transfer fluid loop (“hot loop”).
- the dual-loop process it is possible that the molten salt fluids of the two loops mix at some point (typically, in the warm reservoir).
- the essential feature that characterizes the dual-loop process from the single-loop process is that the heat transfer fluid is at least partly withdrawn from at least two points of the solar collector assembly(ies) (F1, F2) at different temperatures (T1, T2), and used at least in part separately to heat the pyrolysis devices (such as the reactors) at different temperatures.
- said first heat transfer fluid F1 and said second heat transfer fluid F2 are of the same composition, but at a different temperature.
- fluids F1 and F2 can mix at a certain point, preferably when they have substantially the same temperature.
- said first heat transfer fluid F1 and said second heat transfer fluid F2 are of the same composition, but at different operating temperature (T1 and T2), and mix at a single point, preferably in a reservoir (such as the “warm reservoir”).
- FIG 12 A simplified view of this embodiment is shown in Figure 12, which is provided to clearly show the flow of the heat transfer fluid in each loop.
- Figure 12 it is seen that in the “warm” reservoir (64) the two loops mix together, however the two loops are kept substantially distinct as there is only one point of contact.
- a dotted box has been placed around the coker (76) and the preheater (74), to show that they are optional.
- the dashed lines in the reservoirs show the direction of the flow inside the reservoir.
- the cold, hot and warm reservoirs optionally can comprise some mixing feature, such as an internal recirculation pump, or a stirrer, for instance an anchor stirrer, turbine stirrer, or pitched blade impeller.
- Such mixing means improve homogenization of the temperature in the reservoir, and especially at start-up it can be particularly useful.
- the flow of the heat transfer fluid from inlets to outlets and natural convection contribute to a certain degree of internal recirculation and mixing in the reservoirs. Therefore, said dashed lines, especially in the warm reservoir, are symbolic representations of the flow directions of the heat transfer fluid inside the reservoirs, but they should not be intended as the only flows that can occur inside the reservoirs.
- the process to produce at least a pyrolysis oil from essentially plastic materials additionally comprises the steps of: j) Storing the first heat transfer fluid F1 coming from step c) in a reservoir (“cold reservoir”) before of its use in step a); k) Storing the second heat transfer fluid F2 heated in step b) in a reservoir (“hot reservoir”) before of its use in step d).
- the heat transfer fluid F1 is compositionally the same as the heat transfer fluid F2.
- the process of the present invention to produce at least a pyrolysis oil from essentially plastic materials additionally comprises the step of: l) Storing the first heat transfer fluid F1 heated in step a) before its use in step c), and the second heat transfer fluid F2 cooled in step d) before its use in step b), in a reservoir (“warm reservoir”).
- the scheme comprises the same devices of Figure 1, except the warm reservoir 64 which is split into two separate reservoirs 64A and 64B: -
- the first “warm” reservoir (“warm reservoir A”,64A) collects the heat transfer fluid coming from the first solar collector assembly (61).
- the first “warm” reservoir (64A) delivers the heat transfer fluid to the pyrolysis devices which require lower temperatures, such as the first pyrolysis reactor (70) and optionally the preheater or heat exchangers with organic heat transfer fluids.
- the second “warm” reservoir (“warm reservoir B”, 64B) collects the heat transfer fluid coming from the devices which require higher temperatures, such as the second pyrolysis reactor or the coker.
- the second “warm” reservoir (64B) delivers the heat transfer fluid to the second solar collector assembly (62).
- FIG. 13 A simplified view of the same embodiment is shown in Figure 13, which is provided to clearly show the flow of the heat transfer fluid in each loop.
- a process to produce at least a pyrolysis oil from essentially plastic materials which additionally comprises the steps of: m) Storing the first heat transfer fluid F1 heated in step a) before its use in step c) in a reservoir (“warm reservoir A”); n) Storing the second heat transfer fluid F2 cooled in step d) before its use in step b), in a reservoir (“warm reservoir B”).
- the heat transfer fluid loops can be fully separated, therefore it is possible to use different fluids for the hot loop and for the warm loop.
- molten salts having a lower melting temperature for such loop. It is generally advantageous to use low melting point molten salts as it means that it is possible to run the plant safely at lower temperatures (generally, it is advisable to run the plant so as that in the coldest point the molten salts have a temperature at least 50°C higher than their melting point), and because restarts after prolonged stops take less time.
- typically molten salts having lower melting point have also a lower thermal stability, so they cannot be used for the hot loop which requires very high temperature. According to this embodiment, it is therefore advantageous to use a heat transfer fluid for the warm loop which is different from the heat transfer fluid of the hot loop.
- the heat transfer fluid of the warm loop has a lower melting point than the heat transfer fluid of the hot loop, more preferably the heat transfer fluid of the warm loop has a melting point that is at most 180°C, even more preferably at most 150°C.
- heat transfer fluid the so-called Hitec fused salts (sodium nitrate 7 wt%, potassium nitrate 53 wt%, sodium nitrite 40 wt%) or the ternary mixtures of lithium nitrate, sodium nitrate and potassium nitrate, for instance the eutectoid mixture having composition 25.9 wt% lithium nitrate + 20.6 wt% sodium nitrate + 54.1 wt% potassium nitrate.
- Hitec fused salts sodium nitrate 7 wt%, potassium nitrate 53 wt%, sodium nitrite 40 wt
- the eutectoid mixture having composition 25.9 wt% lithium nitrate + 20.6 wt% sodium nitrate + 54.1 wt% potassium nitrate.
- the quaternary mixture of sodium nitrate, potassium nitrate, lithium nitrate and calcium nitrate for example the mixture composed by 9.5 mol% sodium nitrate, 52.8 mol% potassium nitrate, 27.6 mol% lithium nitrate and 10.1 mol% calcium nitrate, having a melting point of only 98.3°C.
- the warm reservoir (64) is split into two reservoirs (64A) and (64B), as per the embodiment of Figure 13, however the two reservoirs (64A) and (64B) are inside the same container (such as a tank) and are separated by a weir (64C).
- the weir (64C) let one heat transfer fluid to overflow in the other reservoir in the event the level becomes too high.
- the weir (64C) comprises at least one opening (64D), preferably in the bottom part of the weir, which allows to equilibrate the levels of the two reservoirs (64A) and (64B).
- the separation of the fluids in the two reservoirs (64A) and (64B) is not complete. Therefore, when the opening is large, the scheme in Figure 14 corresponds to the scheme in Figure 12, as the contact surface where the fluids of the two reservoirs are in touch is large. Oppositely, when the opening is small, the scheme in Figure 14 corresponds to the scheme of Figure 13, as the contact surface is minimal, or even zero. It is therefore an embodiment of the present invention the process to produce at least a pyrolysis oil from essentially plastic materials which additionally comprises the steps of m) and n) characterized in that said warm reservoir A and warm reservoir B are comprised in the same container and are preferably separated by a weir.
- said weir comprises at least one opening that allows the fluid in said warm reservoir A to flows in said warm reservoir B and vice versa.
- the essentially plastic material comprises compositions of different plastics.
- said compositions of different plastics comprise at least polymers with a high H/C ratio, such as for example polyethylene, polypropylene, polyamides, polymethyl methacrylate, and polymers with a low H/C ratio, such as polystyrene, polycarbonate, polyethylene terephthalate.
- said different plastics compositions include high carbon index polymers such as polyethylene (including LDPE, LLDPE, HDPE), polypropylene, polystyrene, elastomers and low carbon index polymers such as polyamides, polymethyl methacrylate, polyethylene terephthalate, polyvinyl chloride and cellulose.
- high carbon index polymers such as polyethylene (including LDPE, LLDPE, HDPE), polypropylene, polystyrene, elastomers and low carbon index polymers such as polyamides, polymethyl methacrylate, polyethylene terephthalate, polyvinyl chloride and cellulose.
- H/C ratio H/C index
- said essentially plastic material is characterized by a carbon index equal to at least 55, preferably between 65 and 95, more preferably between 75 and 90.
- the carbon index is proportional to the ratio of the total mass of carbon atoms to the total mass of all atoms present in the essentially plastic material, and is calculated using the following formula:
- C arbon Index 100 ⁇ ⁇ ⁇ ⁇ ⁇ h ⁇ ⁇ ⁇ ⁇ ⁇ ⁇ ⁇ ⁇ ⁇ h ⁇ ⁇ ⁇ ⁇ ⁇ ⁇ ⁇ ⁇ ⁇ where “weight of ALL atoms” corresponds to the weight of the essentially plastic material.
- said essentially plastic material contains at least one non-plastic material in an amount ranging from 0.01% to 10% by weight with respect to the weight of the essentially plastic material, more preferably in an amount ranging from 0.05% to 7.5%, even more preferably in an amount ranging from 0.2% and 5%.
- Said non-plastic material preferably comprises at least one of the following materials: paper, cardboard, wood, compost (as defined by IUPAC in “Terminology for biorelated polymers and applications (IUPAC Recommendations 2012)”, Pure Appl. Chem., Vol. 84, No 2, pp. 377–410, 2012, DOI 10.1351/PAC-REC-10-12-04), metallic materials such as aluminum and iron, and/or inert materials.
- said essentially plastic material contains inorganic fillers such as for example silica, titanium oxide, talc, coke, graphite, carbon black, calcium carbonate.
- said essentially plastic material contains brominated and chlorinated additives used to make the plastic material fireproof or in any case to impart flame propagation retardant properties. Examples of said additives are hexabromocyclododecane, decabromodiphenyloxide, polybrominated diphenyl ethers, and bromine-containing polymers such as brominated styrene-butadiene copolymers or brominated polystyrene.
- said essentially plastic material contains non-halogenated additives used to make the plastic material fireproof or in any case to impart flame propagation retardant properties, such as compounds of phosphorus and nitrogen.
- said essentially plastic material is recycled material, such as waste material or secondary raw material.
- said essentially plastic material also contains halogens (typically, from polyvinyl chloride) in an amount ranging from 0.01% to 10% by weight of halogens with respect to the weight of the essentially plastic material.
- said essentially plastic material is obtained from a plastic material sorting process. Still more preferably said essentially plastic material is the essentially plastic material residual material, i.e.
- the essentially plastic material fraction which remains after having recovered some plastics, or after having selectively extracted some plastics from the essentially plastic material fed to the selection process.
- Selective extraction consists in the essentially homomaterial extraction (i.e. as a monoplastic) of certain plastics.
- a selection process sorting
- substantially pure plastic i.e. as a monoplastic
- the essentially plastic material residual material is therefore the material which results after the extraction of said substantially pure plastics.
- the essentially plastic material is preheated before being fed to the first pyrolysis reactor (70) in a preheat device (74).
- the heat transfer fluid (33) is fed from the warm reservoir to the heating jacket of the first pyrolysis reactor (70).
- the heat thermal fluid exiting the pyrolysis reactor jacket is sent to the jacket of said preheat device (74).
- the heat thermal fluid exiting the preheat device (34) is returned to the cold reservoir.
- the solid, semi-solid or liquid material from the first pyrolysis reactor (70) is delivered to the “coker” treatment device (76).
- a separator (77) (which can be integrated into the coker device) allows the gaseous phase (53E) to be recycled back into the process (for instance, in the first pyrolysis reactor as depicted in Figure 3), while the non-gaseous phase is collected in flow (53D).
- the char-feeder device (75) can be a pumping device, which moves the solid, semi-solid or liquid material from the first pyrolysis reactor to said coker device, allowing at the same time a physical separation between the two devices.
- An example of such device is a gear pump.
- the char-feeder device (75) can be a valve, such as a rotary valve, gate valve or butterfly valve.
- the heat thermal fluid coming from the hot reservoir (37) is delivered first to said coker device (76) and then, at (53B), to the second pyrolysis reactor (71), before returning to the warm reservoir (38).
- said char-feeder device (75) can be heated by the heat transfer fluid (34A) exiting the heating jacket of the first pyrolysis reactor (70), before returning to the cold reservoir.
- both embodiments shown in Figure 2 and Figure 3 are combined together.
- the essentially plastic material is preheated in said preheater (74) and the solid, semi- solid or liquid material from the first pyrolysis reactor (70) is delivered by means of the char-feeder device (75) to the “coker” (76).
- the heating of such devices is carried out by means of the heat transfer fluid coming from the hot and warm reservoirs as described before in the explanation of the embodiments of Figure 2 and 3.
- said material is heated to a temperature from 500°C to 1200°C, preferably from 600°C to 1000°C, more preferably from 700°C to 900°C, for a time of at least 5 minutes, preferably between 15 and 180 minutes, more preferably between 30 and 120 minutes.
- the char is purified, in particular the more volatile components are separated and collected in the gaseous phase, and the char is further pyrolyzed, producing a solid product that has a lower H/C ratio and higher carbon index, and with a better health safety environment (HSE) profile.
- HSE health safety environment
- any device that can carry out such operation is suitable.
- such coker is a device comprising a rotating screw.
- the process to produce at least a pyrolysis oil from essentially plastic materials additionally comprises the step of: o) Heating the liquid, solid or semi-solid residue of the pyrolysis of step f) (the char) by means of the heated second heat transfer fluid F2 and optionally also by a gas heater, by means of electric resistance (Joule effect), or combinations thereof.
- step o) said char is heated to a temperature from 500°C to 1200°C, preferably from 600°C to 1000°C, more preferably from 700°C to 900°C, for a time of at least 5 minutes, preferably between 15 and 180 minutes, more preferably between 30 and 120 minutes.
- the condensation of the pyrolysis gas exiting the second pyrolysis reactor is split in more than one unit (e.g. unit (72A) and unit (72B)).
- the pyrolysis gas (54) exiting the second pyrolysis reactor (71) passes through a first condenser (72A), at “high-temperature”, and a first separator (73A), which separates the condensed liquid (56A) from the non-condensed vapours (55A).
- Said non-condensed vapours (55A) are then passed through a second condenser (72B) at “low temperature”, and a second separator (73B), which separates the condensed liquid (56B) from the non-condensed vapours (55).
- the cooling of the first condenser (72A) is carried out by means of the heat thermal fluid (33E) already used to heat the first pyrolysis reactor (70), before entering the cold reservoir (63).
- the heating of the first pyrolysis reactor (70), the char-feeder device (75) and the preheater (74), in the same range of temperature can be carried out by using the heat transfer fluid (33) coming from the warm reservoir (64).
- All the other ancillary and miscellaneous devices and parts that link such devices can be heated as well with the same heat transfer fluid.
- the distribution of the heat transfer fluid to such devices can be carried out in series, in parallel or in semi-series.
- the heat transfer fluid coming from the warm reservoir (64) is first fed to the pyrolysis reactor and then to the other devices, such as the preheater (74) or the char-feeder device (75). More preferably, the order is: first pyrolysis reactor (70), then (if present) the preheater (74) and then (if present) the char-feeder device (75).
- such series includes also said first condenser, and preferably in said order the last element is said first condenser.
- the order is: first pyrolysis reactor (70), then (if present) the preheater (74), then (if present) the char-feeder device (75), and last (if present) the first condenser (72A).
- Semi-series configurations are combination of series and parallel configurations which allows to get both the advantages of the series and of the parallel mode. An embodiment of a semi-series configuration is depicted in Figure 6 and Figure 7.
- FIG. 6 shows a weir device (78) which receives the heat transfer fluid coming from the warm reservoir (64) and delivers such fluid to the first pyrolysis reactor (70) and to the preheater (74), finally releasing such fluid to the cold reservoir (63).
- the weir device comprises a first chamber, where the oil coming from said warm reservoir is sent.
- a first pump (66B) which delivers the heat transfer fluid to the first pyrolysis reactor (70).
- the heat transfer fluid exiting the first pyrolysis reactor enters in the same chamber.
- a weir which can be for instance a Bazin weir, ensures that there is enough head (net positive suction head) to avoid cavitation in the pumping of the heat transfer fluid to the first pyrolysis reactor (70), as well as entrainment of the gaseous phase.
- This weir forms also the containment wall of said first chamber, so that the fluid inside the chamber is recirculated. This ensures uniformity in the fluid temperature inside the chamber, as well as high resilience to instabilities in the flow rate of the fluid incoming from the warm reservoir. The excess heat transfer fluid overflows from the weir, thus entering in the subsequent chamber.
- the last chamber includes another pump to deliver the heat transfer fluid to the cold reservoir (63). Start and stop of such pump can be handled automatically by means of a level switch, so that the pump starts only when the level of the last chamber is above a given height.
- the weir device (78) makes it possible to deliver different flow rates of heat transfer fluid to each device.
- the weir device makes it possible to deliver a heat transfer fluid at higher temperature to the device which requires higher temperature and higher relevance (i.e., in order to have a constant temperature on the heat transfer fluid if compared to the temperature of the successive chambers). Therefore, the weir device allows greater flexibility and effectiveness if compared to standard parallel or series configurations.
- such device can be located inside the warm reservoir itself, so that the pump delivering the heat transfer fluid to the weir device is not required any longer.
- the warm, cold and hot reservoirs can be located in the Solar field, while the pyrolysis plant can be located at a certain distance from the Solar field.
- a buffer reservoir is required to avoid that any problem in the delivery of the heat transfer fluid determines a failure in the pyrolysis process.
- the weir devices can act also as a buffer reservoir. It has to be understood that there are many different other customizations of the weir device, e.g. allowing more chambers for managing more devices to be heated by the heat transfer fluid.
- all devices that receives the heat transfer fluid are placed at different height levels so that the minimum number of heat transfer pumps are required.
- the first device which receives the heat transfer fluid from the pumps 66 is located at the maximum height level, and the devices which receive the heat transfer fluid exiting the first device are located at a lower height level, so that the fluid can flow into the device by gravitational force. Doing so, there is no need of additional pumps.
- This is advantageous as any moving part on fluid at high temperature, which can show also high melting temperature, is particularly delicate and can requires special measures to start properly and to maintain in case of failure.
- the pressure of the heat transfer fluid in said devices can be atmospheric, simplifying the design and reducing the cost of the devices. Last but not least, being not in pressure, an accidental breakage of the heat jacket is much safer as the spill from the breakage is reduced.
- the preheater (74) can be any device where the essentially plastic material can be heated up and, preferably, partly or totally melted.
- Example of such devices are mono-screw extruders, twin- screw extruders, or, more generally, screw devices that are able to deliver a plastic material and that have a jacket or equivalent means where the heat transfer fluid can flow.
- the heat transfer fluid flows also inside the screw, thus improving the efficacy of the device.
- such device is able to be almost gas-tight so that the gases in the first pyrolysis reactor (70) do not exit the pyrolysis reactor (70).
- a means to obtain such result is to use the same plastics melt which flows between the screws and the barrels as a mean to obtain gas tightness.
- Said preheating equipment can be equipped with a degassing device for the evacuation of water vapour and any other gases produced, such as hydrogen chloride (HCl) in particular.
- HCl hydrogen chloride
- additives are preferably compounds of the elements of group IA and IIA. Even more preferably they are the oxides, hydroxides, carbonates, silicates and aluminosilicates of group IA and IIA.
- the preheating temperature can be between 120°C and 430°C, preferably between 150°C and 320°C, more preferably between 180°C and 220°C.
- the residence time in said preheating apparatus is preferably less than 20 minutes, more preferably less than 4 minutes, in particular less than one minute. It is therefore an embodiment of the present invention a process to produce at least a pyrolysis oil from essentially plastic materials, which additionally comprises the step of: p) Heating the essentially plastic material before step e) by means of the heated first heat transfer fluid (F1).
- the essentially plastic material is brought to a temperature between 120°C and 430°C, more preferably between 150°C and 320°C, even more preferably between 180°C and 220°C, and where the average residence time of step p) is preferably less than 20 minutes, even more preferably less than 4 minutes, in particular less than one minute.
- the first pyrolysis reactor (70) can be any reactor which is able to receive an essentially plastic feed and to bring it to pyrolysis conditions (temperature and pressure). Said first pyrolysis reactor for the pyrolysis of essentially plastic material can be operated both in batch mode, in continuous mode, and in semi-continuous mode.
- the essentially plastic material is loaded continuously, the vapours generated are extracted continuously, but any solid residue is kept inside the pyrolysis reactor.
- the amount of solid residue inside the reactor rises above a certain threshold, or at predefined time intervals, for example with a frequency ranging from 2 to 10 days, the said solid material contained in the reactor is removed.
- the reactor is operated in continuous or semi- continuous mode, more preferably in semi-continuous mode.
- the pyrolysis process of the present invention is not limited by a particular type of reactor. In particular, horizontal or vertical, stirred or non- stirred reactors, kiln reactors, or screw reactors can be used. Fluidized bed reactors are not preferred.
- CSTR continuously stirred reactors
- PFR Plug flow reactors
- stirred reactors it is possible to use totally filled reactors (meaning that there is no essentially gaseous phase over the treated plastic melt and products of reaction such as char) and reactors with a separation of the gaseous phase from the phase, including the liquid and other possible phases such as the solid char produced, i.e. reactors in which there is a free surface.
- the reactor is a stirred reactor with a free surface.
- the residence time of the essentially plastic material (M1) in said first pyrolysis reactor is at least 2 minutes and anyway sufficient to produce a fluid in the gaseous state (M2) that contains hydrocarbons.
- M1 the residence time shall be enough to produce a fluid in the gaseous state, and that this time can be more than 2 minutes.
- This time can be different depending on the composition of the essentially plastic material fed to the reactor, but in case no gases are produced, the expert of the art has no difficulty to increase the residence time so that this condition is met.
- the temperature of the material in the pyrolysis reactors can be measured by any method known in the art.
- thermocouples with a facing membrane aligned with the internal surface of the reactor so as to reduce fouling
- thermowell thermocouples for a more precise measurement inside the reactor
- thermocouples that measure the temperature of the metal near the surface of the reactor wetted by the polymer or non-contact measuring systems, for example infrared devices.
- Multiple systems can be used simultaneously for improved reliability.
- the temperature can be regulated by acting on the thermal power introduced into the reactor. Thermal power is obtained by the flow of said heat transfer fluid in the reactor.
- the parts in contact with such heat transfer fluid are separated from the parts in contact with the process fluids (plastics inlet, liquified plastics, char, gas produced by pyrolysis etc.).
- the heat transfer fluid flows in a jacket.
- the heat transfer fluid flows also inside the stirrer, so as to heat the stirrer too.
- the heat transfer fluids F1 and/or F2 are molten salts. Any molten salt can be used for the present invention.
- the heat transfer fluid may be a low melting temperature alkaline metals of (III)A, (IV)A and (V)A-group (that is metal alloys where elements belongs from (III)A to (V)A groups of the periodic table) and (III)A, (IV)A and (V)A-group based metal alloys.
- Alkaline metals include cesium (mp 28°C), lithium (180°C), potassium (63°C), rubidium (39°C), sodium (mp 98°C); (III)A, (IV)A and (V)A-group low melting temperature metals include Indium (m.p. 157°C), gallium (m.p.
- the molten salts are a molten salt of group IA and IIA of the periodic table, preferably sodium nitrate, sodium nitrite, potassium nitrite, potassium nitrate, lithium nitrate, calcium nitrate, or mixtures thereof.
- the molten salts that can be used are nitrate/nitrite mixtures, in particular mixtures of potassium nitrate and sodium nitrate, optionally with the addition of sodium nitrite and calcium nitrate.
- such nitrate/nitrite mixture is the eutectic mixture of 53 wt% potassium nitrate, 40 wt% of sodium nitrite and 7 wt% of sodium nitrate; alternatively, according to another embodiment, such K/Na nitrate/nitrite mixtures are the eutectic mixture of 45.5 wt% potassium nitrate and 54.5 wt% of sodium nitrite.
- such nitrate/nitrite mixture is the so-called “solar salt”, characterized by 60 wt% of sodium nitrate and 40 wt% of potassium nitrate.
- such nitrate/nitrite mixture is the so-called “Hitec XL”, characterized by 7 wt% of sodium nitrate, 45 wt% of potassium nitrate and 48 wt% of calcium nitrate.
- the nitrate/nitrite mixture is 100 wt% of lithium nitrate.
- the nitrate/nitrite mixture is lithium nitrate 25 wt%, sodium nitrate 25 wt% and potassium nitrate 50 wt%.
- the molten salts are mixture of chlorides, such as sodium chloride and mixtures of sodium and potassium chlorides, optionally with magnesium chloride.
- the heat transfer fluid is a molten salt comprising group IA and IIA metal fluorides, preferably lithium, sodium, potassium and calcium fluoride. Even more preferably, the heat transfer fluid consists of a molten salt comprising sodium nitrite, sodium nitrate and potassium nitrate.
- the heat transfer fluid consists of a molten salt comprising sodium nitrate and potassium nitrate.
- this heat transfer fluid has a low melting temperature. More preferably, said melting temperature is at most 340°C, still more preferably at most 270°C, even more preferably at most 240°C.
- this heat transfer fluid has a high decomposition temperature. More preferably, said decomposition temperature is at least 400°C, still more preferably at least 450°C, even more preferably at least 490°C, mostly preferably at least 540°C.
- the melting temperature of the heat transfer fluid is at least 60°C, preferably more than 80°C, more preferably more than 105°C.
- this heat transfer fluid has a low chloride content.
- the chlorides content is less than 1000 ppm by weight. More preferably, the chlorides content is lower than 100 ppm by weight.
- any component of the process such as for instance the reactor, the coker, the preheater, the valves and so on, intended to contain molten salts is drainable by gravity.
- the reservoirs hot, cold, warm
- the heat transfer fluid drains to the reservoirs by gravity.
- any component comprising molten salts which is characterized by the presence of moving parts (such as valves) or by large aspect ratios (e.g. pipes) has an electrical heat tracing which can be activated before starting the plant, so as to melt the heat transfer medium.
- the solar collector assembly can be of any type.
- the solar collector is a “single focal point”, meaning that the Solar rays are reflected to a focal zone that is essentially limited in size. Examples of “single focal point” are the parabolic dish and the power tower.
- the solar collector is a “focal line”, meaning that the Solar rays are reflected to a focal zone that is essentially a line.
- Example of such solar collectors are the parabolic trough and the linear Fresnel.
- parabolic trough and linear Fresnel there are several specific types of parabolic trough and linear Fresnel, such as the “compact linear Fresnel reflector” (CLFR) or the “enclosed trough system”, that can be used in the present invention as well.
- the solar collector is a parabolic trough or linear Fresnel, in the latter case, in particular the compact linear Fresnel. Therefore, according to one embodiment of the process of the present invention, the heating of step a) and b) is carried out by means of at least one solar collector assembly comprising parabolic trough, linear Fresnel, or a combination thereof.
- the heating of step a) and b) is carried out by means of at least one solar collector assembly consisting of parabolic trough, linear Fresnel, or a combination thereof.
- the Solar rays that are collected by such collectors are reflected to the so-called Solar receivers.
- such Solar receivers consist of a heat exchanger where the heat transfer fluid is heated.
- the fluid flows in tubes which are heated by the solar rays.
- such Solar receivers consist of a tube where the Solar rays are directed to.
- the tube typically a metallic tube, is called the “absorber”.
- the tube is coated with a selective coating which maximizes sunlight absorption, while minimizing thermal losses by infrared emission.
- a glass tube which englobes said absorbing tube is transparent, so that the sunlight can pass through it.
- high vacuum is produced, so as to limit convection heat losses.
- a degassing nozzle and/or a getter is added, so as to be able to maintain such vacuum over time.
- the solar receiver ends with bellows to account for differential thermal expansion of the glass and metal materials.
- Solar collectors and relative receivers can be assembled in parallel, in series, or in combination of parallel and series configurations. The combination of parallel and series configurations is preferred.
- concentration factor is the ratio of the radiant power density at the receiver divided by the radiant power density of the sun without any concentration, therefore it is the factor by which the incident energy flux is optically enhanced on the receiving surface.
- concentration factor according to the present invention is from 8 to 1000, more preferably from 10 to 100, even more preferably from 15 to 80.
- concentration factor of the solar collector assembly 62 heating the hot reservoir 65 is higher than the concentration factor of the solar collector assembly 61 heating the warm reservoir 64.
- the concentration factor of the at least one solar collector assembly of step b) is higher than the concentration factor of the at least one solar collector assembly of step a).
- the hot, warm and cold reservoirs can be any container that can be filled with a heat transfer fluid, such as vertical or horizontal tanks.
- these containers are thermally insulated to limit the heat losses.
- the heat transfer fluid pump 66 is located inside the reservoir.
- the level of the heat transfer fluid in the reservoir is monitored, so as to limit the pyrolysis duty when the level of heat transfer fluid in the hot or warm reservoir becomes too low.
- such first pyrolysis reactor is a vertical vessel, preferably of essentially cylindrical shape.
- the top and bottom ends of the first pyrolysis reactor are conical, ellipsoidal or semi-ellipsoidal. In this way both a better recirculation is carried out and less fouling is observed. Fouling is in fact critical in pyrolysis reactors.
- the first pyrolysis reactor 70 has at least a stirrer.
- stirrer should be of adequate size to ensure that at least the whole volume of the reactor filled with the liquid and solid phase is continuously or semi-continuously wiped (e.g., not necessarily the gaseous phase).
- the stirrer should also be able to periodically move the material near the wall of the reactor, so as to clean the surface and reduce fouling.
- An example of such stirrers are anchor or ribbon stirrers, or in some cases turbine stirrers.
- the speed of such stirrers is typically from 1 to 300 rpm, preferably from 5 to 120 rpm. According to some embodiments, more than one stirrer can be used. In this case, advantageously, the stirrers have different stirrer speed.
- condenser any equipment which receives a fluid in the gaseous state, and capable of removing sufficient heat from said fluid, so as to generate at least a part of the fluid in the liquid state.
- condensers comprising coils inside which a heat transfer fluid, capable of removing heat from the fluid in the gaseous state being processed, flows.
- the condenser can be provided with a jacket in which said heat transfer fluid flows, in order to remove heat.
- Flooded condensers can also advantageously be used, in which the condenser is partially flooded by the produced liquid phase, and whose condensing power is regulated by varying the height of said liquid phase, since only the coil which is not flooded is capable of absorbing calories from the vapour to be condensed. This therefore allows effective regulation of the power of the condenser.
- the condenser can consist of a distillation column. In this case the condensed fluid originates in the condenser of the column and the condensed liquid flows back by gravity or by pumping in the column, condensing the vapours that are inside it. In this way, a better fractionation of the incoming vapours is also obtained, i.e.
- the condenser of the pyrolysis vapours can be a single condenser or many condensers in series or in parallel. Preferably, when more than one condenser is used, two to four condensers are used in series, even more preferably three condensers in series are used.
- each condenser receives the uncondensed gas leaving the previous condenser, while the first condenser receives the pyrolysis vapours.
- the condenser which receives the pyrolysis vapours (the first condenser) operates at a higher temperature than the second condenser which receives the uncondensed vapours from the first condenser. If there are more condensers, the next one (e.g., the third one) receives the uncondensed vapours from the previous one and operates at a lower temperature.
- part of the fluid in the liquid state condensed in at least one condenser is recycled to the first pyrolysis reactor.
- the fluid recycled to the reactor is taken from the first condenser.
- the heat is removed by the first condenser by means of the heat transfer fluid as already described in Figure 5 (condenser 72A).
- This gas can be burned to supply additional thermal energy that may be useful for the pyrolysis process and related devices, especially the ones requiring higher temperature such as the second pyrolysis reactor and the coker.
- the fluid which is in the liquid state after condensing in said at least one condenser is quantitatively at least 10% by mass, preferably between 20% and 92%, still more preferably between 30% and 85%, still more preferably between 40% and 75%, with respect to the mass of essentially plastic material fed. If several condensers are used, this quantity is calculated by adding the mass quantity of liquid produced by each condenser.
- At least a fluid is formed after condensing in said at least one condenser, which fluid is in the liquid state and comprises hydrocarbons having a standard boiling point not below 25°C, preferably not below 40°C, more preferably between 80°C and 220°C.
- at least the first pyrolysis reactor is operated at a pressure that is atmospheric or supra-atmospheric (that is, more than atmospheric pressure).
- the pressure is between 1.1 and 20 bara, more preferably between 2 and 10 bara, and even more preferably between 2.2 and 6 bara.
- the temperature to which the essentially plastic material is brought in said first pyrolysis reactor is from 330°C to 580°C, preferably from 340 to 540°C, more preferably from 360 to 500°C, still more preferably from 380 to 480°C, even more preferably from 410 to 450°C.
- Any technique known in the art can be used to maintain the pressure in the first pyrolysis reactor at a defined value, wherein the maintained pressure may have different values as a function of the pyrolysis temperature.
- the pressure can be maintained at a defined value by regulating the heat extracted from the condenser located downstream of the reactor and in fluid connection with it.
- pressure can be controlled by introducing a gas, like nitrogen, argon or water steam, and regulating the flow of such gas by means of a valve.
- a gas like nitrogen, argon or water steam
- such gas is introduced in the first pyrolysis reactor and acts also as an inerting gas (that is, a gas that does not participate directly to the pyrolysis reactions and that can displace the oxygen present in the reactor when it is open to atmosphere, e.g. during maintenance or before it is started).
- pressure can be controlled by regulating the flow of the gaseous stream that is not condensed (in case of more than one condenser is used in series, the gaseous stream of the last condenser).
- the pyrolysis of the essentially plastic material of the present invention is carried out in a substantial absence of oxygen, with the meaning of “substantial absence of oxygen” defined before. Therefore, according to this embodiment, the process to produce at least a pyrolysis oil from essentially plastic materials is also characterized by the fact that step f) and step h) are carried out in substantial absence of oxygen.
- Heat power to the first pyrolysis reactor and the second pyrolysis reactor can be regulated by controlling the flow rate of the heat transfer fluid, or its temperature, or both.
- the pyrolysis process of the present invention produces a product particularly useful for use as jet fuel or as virgin naphtha, particularly suitable for steam cracking for the production of monomers of industrial interest, or suitable in the synthesis of polymers.
- the second pyrolysis reactor is operated at a temperature that is higher than the temperature of the first pyrolysis reactor. More preferably, the temperature difference between the second pyrolysis reactor and the first pyrolysis reactor is at least 10°C, still more preferably between 30°C and 300°C, even more preferably between 60°C and 250°C.
- the second pyrolysis reactor is always operated at a temperature that is at least 10°C more than the temperature of the first pyrolysis reactor, with the additional condition that such temperature is between 400°C and 650°C, preferably between 440°C and 550°C, more preferably between 460°C and 530°C; that means that when the minimum temperature of these ranges is lower than the temperature of the first pyrolysis reactor plus 10°C, the latter (T first pyrolysis reactor + 10°C) should be considered as the lower range.
- a process to produce at least a pyrolysis oil from essentially plastic material where the gaseous effluent of the first pyrolysis reactor, before condensation, is brought to a second pyrolysis reactor where the gaseous stream is heated to a temperature that is at least 10°C more than the temperature of the essentially plastic material in the first pyrolysis reactor. Therefore, according to one embodiment of the present invention, it is provided a process to produce at least a pyrolysis oil from essentially plastic materials, where the difference in temperature between temperature T2 of step b) and temperature T1 of step a) is at least 10°C, still more preferably between 30°C and 300°C, even more preferably between 60°C and 250°C.
- Residence time of the pyrolysis vapours in said second pyrolysis reactor is at least 10 seconds, preferably between 30 seconds and 6 minutes, even more preferably between 1 and 4 minutes.
- the second pyrolysis reactor is catalytic. More preferably, said effluent in the gaseous state is in relative motion with respect to said solid catalyst in contact with said effluent in the gaseous state, and said relative motion is at a speed of at least 0.5 m/s, more preferably from 2 to 50 m/s. All pyrolysis catalysts known in the art can be used, including in particular zeolites.
- the second pyrolysis reactor can be operated at the same pressure of the first pyrolysis reactor 70 or at a lower pressure, preferably, the second pyrolysis reactor is operated at a pressure comprised between the atmospheric pressure and the pressure of the first pyrolysis reactor. Even more preferably, it is operated at a pressure comprised between the pressure of the first pyrolysis reactor and the same pressure decreased by 10000 Pa.
- the first pyrolysis reactor can be more than one unit, as well as the second pyrolysis reactor. In such way, it is possible to scale up the process easily.
- the second pyrolysis reactors can be fed by the outlet pyrolysis vapours coming from more than one first pyrolysis reactor units.
- the gaseous vapours of from 2 to 20 first pyrolysis reactor units are fed to a single second pyrolysis reactor, even more preferably from 3 to 8 units.
- the char produced by more than one first pyrolysis reactor units is fed to a single char treatment device (such as the “coker”).
- a single char treatment device such as the “coker”.
- the heat transfer fluid accumulated in the hot and warm reservoirs typically, the temperature of the reservoirs is not changed, so as to ensure a stable pyrolysis and not to affect the quality of the pyrolysis oil which is obtained.
- the level of the heat transfer fluid in the hot reservoir decreases, possibly also the level of the warm reservoir decreases (depending on the relative ratio of the mass flows), while the level of the cold reservoir increases.
- the bigger the volume of the reservoirs the longer the period of time when it is possible to operate the process in such “discharging” additional power sources.
- the size of the reservoir can be very large, therefore it can be convenient to split the reservoirs in more units, that can be for instance operated in parallel. It is also possible to increase the energy accumulation, and therefore the hours of operation in full discharge, by let the heat transfer fluid exchange thermal energy with solid materials that can sustain the temperature of the heat transfer fluid, such as, for instance, concrete, sand, stones, etc..
- the additional power source is an energy source different from the concentrated solar power (CSP) that can be used for instance for emergency shut down or for starting the plant.
- CSP concentrated solar power
- additional power sources can be used for instance to stabilize the pyrolysis production or to boost it.
- Such sources can be for instance a so-called renewable source (such as wind, solar photovoltaic, tidal, nuclear, hydroelectric, biomass) or fossil fuel (carbon, oil, shale, natural gas).
- Preferred sources of such additional power sources are the photovoltaic, the biomass, the nuclear and the natural gas, particularly preferred the natural gas. In the case of natural gas, particular preference is given to the gas heaters.
- the gas that is burnt in the gas heater comprises the residual gas of the pyrolysis process (that is, as already described, the pyrolysis gas that is not condensed, e.g. stream 55 in Figure 11).
- additional power source can be put in series or in parallel with respect of the heat transfer fluid to be heated.
- Figure 11 shows some embodiments of the present invention, comprising such additional power source in parallel (68A) or in series (68B) and (68C).
- In parallel configuration means that the power source, in parallel to the solar collector assembly, withdraws part of the heat transfer fluid from a colder reservoir (cold or warm ones), heats the fluid to the target temperature (usually, the temperature of the destination reservoir) and delivers the heat transfer fluid to said destination reservoir.
- the destination reservoir is the warm reservoir (64) or hot reservoir (65) in case the fluid is withdrawn from the cold reservoir (63) and the hot reservoir (65) in case the fluid is withdrawn from the warm reservoir (64).
- the inlet of such additional power source is the outlet of the solar collector assembly, and its outlet is the inlet of the receiving heat transfer fluid reservoir.
- an embodiment of this solution is the following: the heat transfer fluid from the warm reservoir (64) is sent to the hot solar collector assembly (62), then to the additional power source (68B), then to the hot reservoir (65).
- the inlet of such additional power source is the outlet of the hot reservoir, and the outlet is the discharge circuit of the hot reservoir (the circuit supplying the second pyrolysis reactor and optionally the coker).
- an embodiment of this solution is the following: the heat transfer fluid from the hot reservoir (65) is sent to the additional power source (68C), then to the duties (second pyrolysis reactor 71).
- additional power source 68C
- its power is between 3% and 40%, more preferably between 6% and 20%, even more preferably between 8% and 15% of the power supplied by the hot and warm solar collector assemblies.
- the present Examples report the simulation of a process using the dual heat transfer fluid driven process of the invention (dual loop) in comparison with the conventional single fluid driven process (single loop). For sake of clarity, they are prophetic Examples and therefore the present tense is used.
- Example 1 Solar pyrolysis process driven by two fluids (dual heat transfer fluid loops) of the same composition.
- the process corresponding to this Example is given in Figure 8.
- the heat transfer fluid is the solar mixture of molten salts (“solar salt”) having 60 wt% of sodium nitrate and 40 wt.% of potassium nitrate.
- the solar collectors and receivers (61),(62) are composed by parabolic trough collectors (PTC) of type Luz (SEGS) LS-2 with 70 mm outer diameter evacuated tube solar receivers. This model has width W of 5.0 m and length L of 7.8 m.
- the flow rate of molten salts in the solar collector assembly (62) is 24.2 kg/s.
- the ambient conditions are as per Table 3 of Bellos’paper, except that the specific air humidity (humidity ratio) was taken to be 0.01 (i.e., 10 g of water per kg of air).
- the direct beam solar irradiation (Gb) is chosen to be 650 W/m 2 , since the values of about 900 W/m 2 reported in Table 4 of Bellos’paper are quite high and available only in selected regions of the Earth and for limited period of time.
- the PTC module characteristics and optical properties are as per Table 1 and 2 of Bellos’paper. The equations which are used are the ones described in the Bellos’paper.
- Bellos employed the software “Engineering Equation Solver”, however it is found that they can be solved easily with an algorithm in any programming or script language, as the most difficult equation to be solved is a quartic equation (four degree polynomial) to compute the temperature at the cover (“Tc”, in Kelvin), which has only two real roots, whose only one is positive (so only this root is meaningful and has to be selected), plus two iterative calculations (on outlet temperature and Tc), anyway converging very fast and without the existence of alternative solutions.
- the simulation is carried out for each solar receiver, starting from the first one receiving the molten salts from the cold reservoir.
- the computed temperature of the molten salts at the outlet of the first receiver is set as the inlet temperature of the molten salts at the inlet of the second receiver. So it is possible to compute the temperature of the molten salts at the outlet of the second receiver, which becomes the inlet temperature of the molten salts at the third receiver and so on. In this way it is possible to compute the number of receivers required to reach the target molten salt temperature (in this case, 19 receivers per line to reach 565°C). The total energy and exergy flow is computed by adding the contributions of each receiver.
- the solar assembly (62) receives the solar salt from the warm reservoir (64), heats the solar salt to the target temperature, then send the hot solar salt to the hot reservoir (65).
- the solar salt is sent to the units that require the maximum operating temperature: the coker (76) and the secondary pyrolysis reactor (71).
- the molten salts are sent to the coker directly, i.e. without a weir device.
- the weir device would allow fine control of the temperature and high flow rate (not required in the coker), but at the expenses of a reduced value of the same, whereas the coker benefits of high temperature of molten salts in the jacket.
- the molten salt feeding for both the first pyrolysis reactor (70) and the second pyrolysis reactor (71) is carried out by means of the weir devices (78), (79). These weir devices have two chambers.
- the first one receives the hot molten salts and delivers them to the pyrolysis reactor jacket (for instance by means of a submersible pump).
- the return of such molten salts from the reactor is sent to the second chamber.
- the flow rate of the molten salts that is circulated in the pyrolysis reactors is much higher than the flow rate of the hot molten salts delivered from the reservoir. This high flow rate is desirable as it reduces the temperature difference inside the pyrolysis reactors, as well as it maximizes heat transfer. Therefore, part of the molten salts in the second chamber overflows the weir between the first and second chamber and falls in the first chamber.
- the molten salts from the coker are delivered to the weir device (79) which feed the molten salts to the second pyrolysis reactor (71).
- the molten salts exiting the weir device (79) are sent to the warm reservoir (64), thus closing the “hot loop” of the heat transfer fluid.
- the solar receiver (61) receives the solar salt from the cold reservoir (63), heats the solar salt to the target temperature (485°C in this case), then send the warm solar salt to the warm reservoir (64).
- the solar salt is sent to the first pyrolysis reactor (70) by means of the weir device (78). Part of the solar salt exiting the first pyrolysis reactor is sent to the hot oil exchanger (81).
- the hot oil exchanger is a heat exchanger which heats an organic heat transfer fluid (Marlotherm SH by Eastman), dubbed “oil”, to about 320°C by means of molten salts at “low” temperature coming from the first pyrolysis reactor.
- an organic heat transfer fluid for use at low temperature is advantageous as it has low melting temperature, thus eliminating the risk of freezing of solid salts in the zones where circulation is scarce or thermal insulation insufficient.
- electrical tracing is not required for oil-jacketed lines. As the required duty is far less than the duty of the first pyrolysis reactor, only a part of the fused salts exiting the first pyrolysis reactor is deviated to the hot oil exchanger.
- the solar salt exiting the first pyrolysis reactor is collected in the cold molten salt reservoir (63), closing the “warm loop” of molten salts.
- the heat losses in the solar receiver (62) are computed in the aforementioned model of Bellos. Heat losses in the so-called headers and connecting pipes of the solar collector assembly is neglected as considered negligible when compared with the heat losses in the receivers.
- the heat losses in the molten salt circuit, comprising the coker and the second pyrolysis reactor and related connecting pipes, are lumped in a concentrated heat loss (83), named “Enthalpy loss 2”.
- the heat losses in the molten salt comprising the first pyrolysis reactor, the hot oil exchanger and related connecting pipes are lumped in a second concentrated heat loss (82), named “Enthalpy loss 1”.
- the exergy balance is carried out considering as the control volume the inner walls wherein the fused salts circulates, except for the solar collector assembly (SCA), where the calculation is carried out following the aforementioned model and equations of Bellos. Therefore, for the SCA only (e.g. for the exergy input) the boundary is on the incoming radiation coming from the Sun.
- SCA solar collector assembly
- the only exergy streams are: - the incoming Sun irradiance exergy (sign “+”) - the outcoming exergy associated to the thermal flow at: o Pyrolysis reactors, coker, hot oil exchanger o Thermal losses lumped in the “enthalpy loss” devices.
- the temperature at the boundary changes linearly with the heat flow. This assumption is even more realistic considering that the temperature change along the heat flow boundary is low compared to its absolute value (in Kelvin). Therefore, the exergy flow at such boundaries can be computed with the following equation: where: - T1 and T2 are the temperature at the beginning and at the end of the heat exchange boundary, in Kelvin.
- T1 and T2 correspond to the inlet and outlet temperatures except when a weir device is used. In fact, in this case the recirculation pump inside the weir device reduces the temperature difference between inlet and outlet of the recirculated molten salt flow (in the limit of infinite flow rate, T1 equals T2).
- T1 the limit of infinite flow rate
- exergy imbalance accounts for exergy losses (associated to heat losses), only for the SCA, plus exergy destruction (associated to irreversible loss of heat quality, i.e. when mixing two fluids at different temperature: the enthalpy before and after the mixing is the same, but on the contrary exergy is lost).
- the present Example is applied to the pyrolysis of mixed plastics waste as follows: - The essentially plastic material (mixed plastics waste) is fed to a screw heater whose jacket is heated by the organic heat transfer fluid (Marlotherm SH) that was heated by means of the hot oil exchanger, bringing its temperature to about 290°C.
- Marlotherm SH organic heat transfer fluid
- the heated essentially plastic material from the extruder is fed to the first pyrolysis reactor, heated by molten salts at “warm” temperature, where it is pyrolyzed, forming a gaseous phase and a semi-solid phase (char).
- the reactor is a substantially vertical cylinder with an anchor stirrer.
- the gaseous effluent of the first pyrolysis reactor is fed to a second pyrolysis reactor.
- This reactor is substantially a tubular heat exchanger, which can be optionally filled with a catalyst, where the pyrolysis vapours are heated and further pyrolyzed to smaller molecules.
- the gaseous effluent of the second pyrolysis reactor is fed to a condensing section, where at least one liquid stream, which is quantitatively more than 10 wt% of the initial weight of the plastic material fed, and which comprises hydrocarbons by a large fraction, is obtained.
- the char obtained in the first pyrolysis reactor is sent to a coker heated by hot fused salts, so as to produce a solid material having better HSE profile (health, security, environment) and useful not only as an energy source, but also as a filler.
- the gases developed in such treatment are brought to the condensing section, thus increasing the yield of the pyrolysis.
- Comparative Example 2 Solar pyrolysis process driven by a single fluid (single heat transfer fluid loop.
- the process corresponding to this Example is given in Figure 9.
- the heat transfer fluid is the same solar mixture of molten salts (“solar salt”) of Example 1, and the same correlations of the physical properties were used.
- the solar collector assembly (62) is of the same type of Example 1.
- the code used to compute the performance of the solar receivers is the same code used in Example 1, and with the same values of the geometric, optical, physical constants and ambient conditions.
- the duties of the molten salts were the same as in Example 1, both in terms of heat flow power (in Watt), and inlet and outlet temperature of fused salts. With these constraints, the required mass flow rate of fused salts through the solar receiver (63) is 42.6 kg/s.
- the inlet temperature of the solar salts is 418°C and the outlet temperature is 565°C.
- the hot receiver (64) receives the solar salt exiting the SCA (62).
- the hot solar salt coming from the hot reservoir is sent, in parallel, to the units that require the maximum operating temperature (e.g. the coker 76 and the secondary pyrolysis reactor 71), and to the first pyrolysis reactor (70).
- the first pyrolysis reactor requires a larger heat flow at lower temperature.
- the setup shown in Figure 9 and herein detailed is therefore specifically designed to maximize effectiveness in such configuration: the solar salt, after passing through the coker and the second pyrolysis reactor, is still sufficiently at high temperature to heat the first pyrolysis reactor, but its quantity is insufficient for the required (large) heat to be supplied. Therefore, an additional stream of solar salt is fed directly from the hot reservoir to the first reactor.
- the heating of both the first pyrolysis reactor (70) and the second pyrolysis reactor (71) is carried out by means of the weir devices (78), (79). These weir devices were the same used in Example 1.
- Part of the solar salt exiting the first pyrolysis reactor is sent to the hot oil exchanger (81).
- the hot oil exchanger is a heat exchanger which heats the organic heat transfer fluid by means of molten salts at “low” temperature coming from the first pyrolysis reactor, in the same way of Example 1. As the required duty is far less than the duty of the first pyrolysis reactor, only a part of the fused salts exiting the first pyrolysis reactor is deviated to the hot oil exchanger.
- the solar salt exiting the first pyrolysis reactor is collected in the cold molten salt reservoir (63), closing the (single) molten salt loop.
- the heat losses in the molten salt circuit comprising the coker and the second pyrolysis reactor and related connecting pipes are lumped in a concentrated heat loss (83), named “Enthalpy loss 2”.
- the heat losses in the molten salt comprising the first pyrolysis reactor, the hot oil exchanger and related connecting pipes are lumped in a second concentrated heat loss (82), named “Enthalpy loss 1”.
- the exergy balance is carried out in the same way as well.
- Example 1 Comparison of Example 1 with Comparative Example 2
- the following table shows the duties of Example 1 in comparison with Comparative Example 2:
- EXAMPLE 1 COMPARATIVE EXAMPLE 2 Heat Exergy Heat Exergy T in T out flow flow T out flow flow Item Description [°C] [°C] [kW] [kW] T in [°C] [°C] [kW] [kW] 76 COKER 565 555 -387 -327 565 555 -387 -327 79
- ENTHALPY LOSS 2 495 485 -387 -321 495 485 -387 -321
- ENTHALPY LOSS 1 455 451 -581 -477 455 446 -581 -477
- Example 1 and Comparative Example 2 deliver the same duties with the same temperatures towards the loads, therefore the pyrolysis process shows no differences.
- the exergetic balance is different: in fact, Example 1 has 14918 kW of imbalance, while Comparative Example 2 has 16570 kW, that is about 11% more. This means that Comparative Example 2 is less efficient as it requires energy at the same quantity but at higher quality level (more energy at high temperature). The reason is that whenever two streams at different temperature are mixed, energy is conserved but exergy is not.
- SCA solar collector assembly
- Solar collectors are more efficient when used to heat low temperature heat thermal fluids as the thermal losses are much lower, in particular because the evacuated tube allows a strong reduction of thermal conductivity, but it does not limit the radiative emissions, which increases with the 4 th power of the temperature, not even considering that also the emissivity of the cermet material applied to the receiver tubes (to limit emissivity) increases considerably over 500°C.
- the pyrolysis process of mixed plastic waste to produce a pyrolysis condensate comprising hydrocarbons requires a first pyrolysis reactor (plus optionally a preheater) at relatively low temperature but high duty, and in addition a second pyrolysis reactor (plus optionally a coker) at higher temperature but lower duty.
- the number of total solar receivers in the Example using the dual circuit of molten salts, according to the present invention is 980.
- the number of solar receivers for the same duties, but using one single loop of molten salts is 1050, that is about 7% more. This not only implies larger installation and operation costs, but also (obviously) a larger occupied land.
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| IT102023000001860A IT202300001860A1 (en) | 2023-02-06 | 2023-02-06 | PROCESS FOR PRODUCING PYROLYSIS OIL INCLUDING LIQUID HYDROCARBONS FROM PLASTICS WITH HIGH EXERGETIC EFFICIENCY AND RELATED PLANT |
| PCT/IB2024/050844 WO2024165942A1 (en) | 2023-02-06 | 2024-01-30 | Process to produce a pyrolysis oil comprising liquid hydrocarbons from plastic material at high exergetic efficiency, and relative plant |
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| US4582590A (en) | 1984-07-23 | 1986-04-15 | The Unied States Of America As Represented By The Administrator, National Aeronautics And Space Administration | Solar heated oil shale pyrolysis process |
| US20110315539A1 (en) | 2009-03-10 | 2011-12-29 | Boaz Zadik | Solar powered method and system for sludge treatment |
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| US10544936B1 (en) * | 2018-12-04 | 2020-01-28 | Hélio Da Igreja | Thermochemical treatment system for plastic and/or elastomeric waste |
| KR102787291B1 (en) | 2019-01-15 | 2025-03-27 | 사빅 글로벌 테크놀러지스 비.브이. | Use of intermittent energy in the production of chemicals |
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