GB2473528A - Production of wax products by the pyrolysis of plastic - Google Patents

Abstract

A method of manufacturing a wax product (360) comprises providing organic feedstock (320), heat treating (330) the feedstock (320), for example by pyrolysis using microwave energy, to reduce the average molecular weight, and producing a wax product (360). The organic feedstock (320) is an organic waste material (300) including, but is not limited to waste plastic. The quality of the feedstock may be upgraded using a solvent extraction purification step (310). Also disclosed is a wax product (360) or range of wax products produced by the method, and an apparatus (100, 390) for producing wax products (360) from an organic waste material (180,300), the apparatus comprising a pretreatment device (182, 302,304,306,310, see also Figure 1) for pre-treating the organic waste material (180,300) to produce a feedstock (184, 320), a heat treatment device (130,330) for heat treating feedstock introduced therein, and a condensing device (190,350) for separating products resulting from the heat treatment of the feedstock.

Description

IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PRODUCTION OF WAX PRODUCTS BY THE

PYROLYSIS OF PLASTIC.

Field of the Invention

This invention relates to wax products, an apparatus for, and a method of producing said wax products by the pyrolysis of plastic.

Background of the Invention

Many commercially available protective coating systems include a wax product. Among the many services provided by such coatings are: improved visual appearance; enhanced surface texture; protection of the underlying paint from damage from high UV sunlight; a sacrificial layer reducing mechanical damage from scraping or scuffing; a barrier against microbial invasion; and a barrier providing control over the passage of moisture into or out of the protected surface.

Wax is also the major component in candles.

The source of the wax material or product is often dependent on its final use, however waxes commonly used in commercial products are often sourced from: secretions or extraction from plants; secretions or extraction from animals or animal products; isolated as a by-product of crude oil refining processes; or synthesised, usually from petroleum sourced raw materials.

Wax material derived from plants or animals may be used in specialist applications; however most wax coating products, measured by value or volume, are formulated from wax material purified from petroleum sources.

The purification processes applied to the production of lubricating oil base stocks result in by-product paraffin waxes. These waxes are mainly composed of long chains with more than 25 carbon units.

Further purification and processing of the paraffin waxes results in micro-crystalline petroleum wax products that have very fine micro-crystalline structure.

Synthetic waxes with very tight performance specifications can be prepared from: polyethylene synthesis with 20 to 40 carbon units in the molecular backbone; Fischer Tropsch condensation; substituted amides; and polymerised a-olefin.

The largest single use of petroleum wax in New Zealand is as an additive to Hardboard and Medium Density Fibreboard (MDF) to improve the water repellent characteristics of these building products. The wax is introduced into the mix of wood fibres and resin binder as a water emulsion. The water is evaporated off as the mixture is processed further. Most of the wax emulsion used in the New Zealand engineering wood product industry is based on a petroleum slack wax by-product of the lubricant base oil production process.

A small amount of petroleum derived paraffin wax is used in the production of candles.

The number of petroleum refineries which are maintaining the ability to produce lubricating oil base grades is decreasing. Therefore local industries, which use petroleum wax are encountering increasing difficulty in gaining a reliable supply of a basic raw material for their product or process.

Electromagnetic radiation energy transfer has proven to be a highly effective heat source for promoting many chemical reactions. This uniform nature of this energy transfer can accelerate the reaction rate, or selective heating, thereby encouraging greater reproducibility of the target chemical reaction.

Chemical reactions promoted by electromagnetic radiation have been a fundamental principal of many analytical or synthetic laboratory scale apparatus for many decades. These types of apparatus have evolved into two categories, those having: a single-mode; or a multi-mode reaction cavity or chamber.

A single-mode cavity is designed to create a standing wave pattern of the incident electromagnetic radiation. This type of cavity design allows for precise energy transfer to occur at the node regions of the standing wave, while no energy transfer occurs in the anti-node regions.

A multi-mode design actively discourages long term standing waves but arranges for the radiation waves to be randomly and chaotically reflected around the chamber. On average the same amount of energy may be transferred to the target substrate but in the case of the multi-mode design sub-samples of the feed may receive considerably more or less energy than that average figure. The energy transfer range is much tighter for the single- mode system. The possible greater variability of energy transfer of the multi-mode design somewhat undercuts non-varying (even) and controlled energy delivery benefits claimed for electromagnetic radiation energy transfer.

Prior Art

Since 1997 the benefits of microwave electromagnetic radiation heating has been applied to a number of industrial or semi-industrial processes. Mostly these processes have been in the fields of batch pharmaceutical or bio-technology product synthesis.

Since 2004 a number of manufacturers of microwave heated systems have offered apparatus with flow-through reaction chambers offering greater productivity to industrial processes.

However by 2008 the wide spread use of microwave heating systems in general industrial processes has been limited by: difficulties increasing the size or throughput of the apparatus to meet industrial scale operation; and contaminants or by-products which may deposit in the reaction chamber and can only be removed by shutting the system down. This also results in reduced productivity for the system.

Pyrolysis and similar processes have been used to produce high value lower molecular weight products from high molecular weight low value feedstock for many decades. Examples of such products include Town Gas from coal, metallurgical coke from coal, the cracking of crude petroleum to produce liquid fuels such as gasoline and diesel, and activated carbon from coconut fibre.

The transfer of thermal energy to the pyrolysis reaction has traditionally involved a conduction mechanism whereby burners apply heat to the outer walls of the process container or retort. The container walls are usually made of a heat conductive material such as steel which thereby encourages the conduction of the heat to the material inside the container.

The majority of paraffin wax used directly in products such as candles or formulated into wax coating or treatment products is a by-product of the petroleum refining industry process for the production of lubricating oil base grades.

US Patent Number US 6 143 940 discloses the production of heavy wax from waste polyethylene using sub-atmospheric pressure pyrolysis. This has the disadvantage that equipment outlay is high and it is difficult to set up in remote areas.

Wax products are transported in bulk flexi-bag' containers in normal TEE shipping containers. After the bulk product has been removed the dirty and contaminated flexi-bag' poses a significant disposal problem for the importing industry and/ or a local waste management authority.

Summary of the Invention

The present invention relates to the conversion of organic waste materials into one or more of a range of wax products.

According to the present invention there is provided a method of manufacturing a wax product comprising the steps of: providing organic feedstock; heat treating the organic feedstock to reduce the average molecular weight; and producing a wax product.

The organic feedstock is preferably an organic waste material and includes, but is not limited to, municipal, agricultural, industrial and commercial waste plastic, or factions of such waste plastic.

In a preferred embodiment, the present invention makes use of the process of pyrolysis to convert the organic feedstock to the wax replacement material.

For example, the pyrolysis process used by this invention includes any process which encourages the reduction of the average molecular weight of an organic material through the application of thermal energy, under conditions that prevent the process of combustion.

According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided an apparatus for continuous flow chemical reaction comprising: a reaction chamber comprising a substantially straight tube with two sections a first section being substantially transparent to electromagnetic radiation and a second section being substantially opaque to electromagnetic radiation; a substantially circular wave guide at least partially surrounding the reaction chamber and located around the first section of the tube; and an electromagnetic radiation source connected to the wave guide for introducing electromagnetic radiation into the wave guide; characterised in that: the wave guide has three or more circumferentially spaced inwardly facing windows for the introduction of electromagnetic waves into the tube.

There are several aspects to the invention including an apparatus for a continuous flow chemical reaction utilising electromagnetic radiation; a method of process control for improvement of yield of a chemical reaction; and the conversion of biological organic sources including human and animal waste products into products such as anode electrodes and a soil conditioning medium.

The invention is a design of a chemical reaction assembly that allows for the efficient and carefully controlled transfer of electromagnetic energy to the reaction mixture or reagents. The assembly includes the design of the reaction chamber, the design of the ring waveguide and the fitting of the reaction chamber into the waveguide.

Preferably the apparatus comprises an attachment for the introduction of a cleaner into a first end of the tube. This first end of the tube is, in use, the in-feed for reagents/reactants.

Preferably, the apparatus includes an attachment for the removal of a cleaner from a second end of the tube.

The cleaner is preferably a plug made from a material which does not degrade in the presence of reactants and products of the chemical reaction(s) within the reaction chamber. The plug is preferably of a diameter such that it lightly contacts the inner surface of the tube thereby cleaning the tube as it is moved along the tube length by the flow of the reagents within the tube. The plug may also comprise a textured surface to enhance removal of any material which adheres to the tube wall.

In a preferred embodiment more than one reaction chamber is used. This provides convenient up-scaling of the process. The more than one reaction chamber is preferably housed in a single unit to make transport and use of the multi-chambered apparatus easier. Some components of the apparatus are preferably shared between different reaction chambers.

According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a method of heat treating reagents using electromagnetic radiation comprising the steps of: providing a reaction tube having two ends; introducing electromagnetic radiation into at least a portion of the reaction tube; and introducing a flow of reagents into one end of the reaction tube whereby as the reagents flow through the reaction tube, the reagents are heated by the electromagnetic radiation causing a chemical reaction, the products of the chemical reaction exiting from the other end of the reaction tube.

According to a further aspect of the invention there is provided a process control method suitable for a heat treatment process comprising the steps of: providing a substrate; introducing one or more agents/additives for example: coupling agents; a catalyst; catalyst control agents; side reaction suppressants; materials for aiding recovery and/or isolation of a desired side product; and materials for aiding isolation or nullification of an undesired side product; utilising accessory processes on the substrate plus additives to produce an intermediate product; processing the intermediate product in a main process to produce a product; and metering the flow of substrate and products through at least one of the processes.

Accessory processes include those that increase or concentrate desirable material in the substrate; that will improve or optimize the physical contact between the substrate and any! all introduced agents; that fluidize' the substrate; that; isolate products, condition products for further processes; isolate coupling or other agents that may have been introduced as part of a accessory process or processes, isolate agent(s) that may be used in an accessory process or processes, and/ or isolate agent(s) that may be used to recycle process energy to any of the accessory processes.

This invention includes the use ER (electromagnetic radiation) energy transfer mechanism, along with any of the accessory processes which optimize or improve the efficiency of the ER energy transfer mechanism, to facilitate any or all of the accessory processes to the main process, or to a set of main processes being operated in series or in parallel.

According to yet another aspect of the invention there is provided a method of processing biological raw materials comprising the steps of: heat treating biological raw material in a controlled atmosphere; producing a gaseous product; producing a liquid product; and producing a solid product.

Preferably further treatment is provided: in the cases of gaseous product this provides fuel that can be used in any of the heat treatment processes described herein; in the case of liquid product it is densified the liquid into a pitch like material (bio-pitch); in the case of the solid it produces a similar in character to petroleum or coal derived coke.

The bio-pitch is preferably further heat treated to de-volitilise, calcine and graphitise the material producing a bio-electrode i.e. a material which is comparable to and can be used instead of conventional carbon electrodes.

The solid product is also suitable for use as a blo-electrode or a soil conditioning agent.

Preferably, the pie-treatment step includes, but is not limited to a solvent extraction purification step to upgrade the quality of the feedstock into the heat treatment step.

The solvent extraction step preferably uses aromatic, aldehyde, ketone or alcohols as pure solvents or a solvent mixture but is not limited to these solvents.

The solvent extraction step preferably is used to concentrate a particular component or components of the feedstock mixture, such that the pryolysis process or heat treatment step will deliver a higher concentration of a desired product.

Alternatively or additionally, the solvent extraction purification step is used to isolate a contaminant that may hinder the production of a desired product, or deleteriously affect the quality of that product.

The production of the wax product preferably includes further processing steps such as separating different wax types and removing untreated material. However, it may be a case of merely collecting the treated product and cooling it in a suitable container.

According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a wax product or range of wax products produced by the method described herein.

The wax product range includes but is not limited to replacements for paraffin wax, polyethylene wax, waxes produced by the Fischer Tropsch process or a-olefin condensation in products in which such waxy materials are used.

According to an even further aspect, the invention provides an apparatus for producing wax products from an organic waste material, the apparatus comprising: a pre-treatment device for pre-treating the organic waste material to produce a feedstock; a heat treatment device for heat treating feedstock introduced therein; and a condensing device for separating products resulting from the heat treatment of the feedstock.

Preferably, the heat treatment device uses electromagnetic radiation such as microwave radiation to heat treat the feedstock.

In a preferred embodiment, the heat treatment device is a continuous flow device.

The pre-treatment step includes, but is not limited to a solvent extraction purification step to upgrade the quality of the feedstock into the heat treatment step.

The condensing apparatus fitted after the pyrolysis process is used to isolate desired products from the process stream.

The invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:-

Brief Description of the Drawings

Figure 1 is a plan view of an apparatus according to the invention; Figure 2 is a schematic representation of an alternate apparatus according to the invention; Figure 3 is a flow diagram of steps used in the heat treatment of organic waste materials to produce wax products; Figure 4 is a view of an apparatus embodying the invention; and Figure 5 is a perspective view of the apparatus of Figure 4 showing the water cooling system;

Detailed Description of the illustrated embodiment

Figure 1 shows an apparatus 100 comprises a reaction tube 110, an electromagnetic radiation supply 130 for heat treatment of a feedstock, in this example microwave energy is used, and a microwave cavity 140 is used to focus the microwaves from the microwave supply 130 into the reaction tube 110. Control electronics for controlling the microwave supply are provided and controlled by a microprocessor control unit 150. The microwave cavity is protected against damage from high temperatures using a water cooling system 160.

Organic feedstock is introduced via an in-feed 184. A solvent extraction purification step 182 is preferably used to upgrade the quality of the feedstock from organic waste material 180 prior to the feedstock being introduced into the in-feed 184 for subsequent heat treatment.

The solvent extraction step 182 uses aromatic, aldehyde, ketone or alcohols as pure solvents or a solvent mixture but is not limited to these solvents and is added to the feedstock 180.

The reaction tube 110 is made from alumina or alternative material that is transparent to the microwave radiation being used and is mechanically tough under high temperature conditions. Other suitable materials will be apparent to the skilled person. Cajon fittings 112, with silicon 0-rings (not shown) are attached at each end of the reaction tube 110 to seal the tube from the atmosphere. These fittings 112 can be undone to enable the whole assembly to slide out of the way of the feed axis to allow easy replacement/cleaning of the alumina tube.

The Cajon fittings 112 are removably attached to a double gland system (not shown). The cavity between the two glands can be flooded with nitrogen gas providing a non-combustible protective gas blanket and an additional barrier against atmospheric oxygen leaking into the reaction tube. The double gland system is mounted on fixed flanges 114 using 0-rings (not shown) again to provide good sealing so air is excluded from the reaction tube and any gases produced during a reaction process are retained in the reaction tube.

In a preferred embodiment the reaction chamber comprises a straight tube 110. The tube can be mounted at any angle, including horizontal or vertical.

If the reaction chamber is mounted other than horizontal it can be arranged for the reagent mixture to flow through the tube in an up-flow or down-flow as required by the desired reaction conditions or pre or post reaction processes.

The region of the reaction chamber 110 where electromagnetic radiation is introduced into the chamber is made of material that is transparent to that radiation. The reaction chamber is constructed from material that is resistant to the conditions produced by the reaction materials in the mixture, the conditions produced by the reactions being induced and all by-products of those reactions. This reaction chamber construction material may or may not include quartz, glass or other ceramics.

The microwave power supply 130 is provided by a magnetron or klystron valve system. The microwave power supply 130 is fitted with its own control system which is integrated with the system microprocessor control unit 150.

Microwaves from the supply 130 are guided through a waveguide 132, to the microwave cavity 140 and subsequently to the reaction tube 110. The microwave cavity 140 completely surrounds the reaction tube 110. The waveguide 132 provides the means for the microwaves to pass from the source 130 to circular section 140. The design of this preferred embodiment enables a standing wave to be produced within the circular part of the wave guide 132 and so to be focused in the middle of the reaction tube 110, as shown in Figures 4 and 5.

Referring now to Figures 1 and 5, water cooling 160 is provided by loops of 6mm copper water pipe and the flow of water and the thermal protection provided to the microwave cavity 140 is measured using a flow meter 162 and modified to ensure adequate cooling water flow. The microwave cavity 140 also has two 12mm OD ports, one central and another 40mm downstream (not shown), to enable the external temperature of the reaction tube to be monitored.

The microprocessor control system 150 monitors and controls in-feed speed using an in-feed control 152; which is used to set and alter the microwave power 154. Microprocessor control system 150 monitors water flow 156 when required using data from the water flow meter 162; and reaction tube temperature 158, that is measured by thermopile 162. Magnetron temperature 134 is measured by a thermistor 136. All temperature readings are sent to and monitored by the microprocessor control system 150.

Processing data and parameters are preferably stored in a memory 180 provided in the microprocessor 150.

Water cooling 160 is provided by loops of 6mm copper water pipe and the flow of water and the thermal protection provided to the microwave cavity 140 is measured using a flow meter 162 and modified to ensure adequate cooling water flow. The microwave cavity 140 also has two 12mm OD ports, one central and another 40mm downstream (not shown), to enable the external temperature of the reaction tube to be monitored.

The dimensions of the central and downstream ports are tuned to the microwave frequency being delivered to the microwave cavity 140 to prevent leakage of microwave radiation from the cavity. The dimensions quoted above concern the preferred embodiment operating at a microwave frequency of 2.45 GHz. A thermopile detector 142 is included for this purpose.

To enhance the usefulness of the thermopile 142, the area of the reaction tube 110 that the thermopile views is preferably blackened so emissivity is 1.0.

A thermistor 136 is preferably attached to the microwave magnetron housing at monitor the temperature therein; this is calibrated using a thermocouple meter.

The microwave cavity 140 has been designed to maximise the continuous flow of material through it. To ensure this the cavity has been fitted with guide sleeves at each end so that microwave energy is focused into the centre of reaction tube 110 which passes through microwave cavity. The dimensions of the guide sleeves must be tuned to the microwave frequency being used to minimise loss of microwave energy.

The absorption of microwave energy results in dielectric heating and this is caused by dipole rotation. Molecular rotation occurs in materials containing polar molecules that have electric dipole moments that will attempt to align themselves in an electromagnetic field. If the field is oscillating, as in an electromagnetic wave, the molecules rotate to try and maintain alignment with the continuously changing field. However the molecular movement may lag behind the electromagnetic field. This lag is measured as the dielectric loss constant.

The oscillations induced in the target molecules are also measured as a rise in temperature. Therefore a material that has a high dielectric loss constant (when irradiated with microwave radiation) exhibits a rapid rise in temperature. It should be noted that the dielectric loss constant of a particular material changes with both temperature. Microwaves of 2.45 GHz frequency used in the preferred embodiment used to illustrate the system operate most effectively on liquid water because of the inherent polarity of the water molecules, but this has negligible effect on fats and sugars because of their lower polarity or frozen water because of the inability of the molecules to move within the ice crystal structure.

Microwave ovens, including this apparatus, should not be operated without absorbing material in the cavity/oven. The reason for this is that the unabsorbed energy will be directed back into the microwave magnetron, causing it to overheat, and discharge. This will eventually destroy the magnetron. Similarly, the material in the cavity should not have a very large dielectric constant, nor should the material have a high conductivity. If the cavity is filled with water, the large dielectric constant disturbs the electromagnetic field, and too much energy is transmitted back to the magnetron. This problem is countered in this invention by inserting an appropriately tuned microwave circulator, 3 stub tuner and dead load into the waveguide 136 between the microwave generator 132 and the microwave cavity 140.

In the event that the feedstock has a low dielectric loss constant an additive such as carbon powder can be added to ensure good microwave absorption.

This increases the dielectric constant to enable better adsorption of the microwaves. In this document a high dielectric loss constant additive that is designed to improve the microwave energy absorption of the feedstock is referred to as a microwave coupling agent or just coupling agent.

Materials other than carbon can be used but as carbon is cheap and readily available and is an element contained in the feedstock it is preferred. Carbon is a product of the pyrolysis of organic material and can therefore be recycled back to the feedstock as a microwave coupling agent.

One or more condensing apparatus 190 is preferably provided, fitted after the pyrolysis or heat treatment process, to isolate desired products from the process stream.

The condensing apparatus 190 may also be employed to remove insufficiently treated material which may be returned to the start of the process, or undesired by-products of the process which can be diverted to waste. The condensing apparatus may be of up-flow' or down-flow' design. The condensing apparatus may also be of a fractionating' design isolating a number of products, insufficiently treated, waste grades. The condensing apparatus 190 may also include a static electricity attachment (not shown) to aid the condensation process of any or all of the grades being isolated by the system.

Figure 2 shows schematically an alternate apparatus 200. In this example, the apparatus is used for batch processing not continuous as was the case with Figure 1.

Organic material 210 is optionally first treated using a solvent extraction purification step 212 to upgrade the quality of the feedstock 220 that is introduced into a heat treatment device 230. The product 232 of the heat treatment is advantageously input into a condenser 240 resulting in an improved product 250.

The heat treatment device 230 is preferably a microwave device and may be based on a commercially available microwave oven. The feedstock is introduced into the microwave device, heat treated and then removed. In this manner the apparatus provides a batch process whereby a quantity of feedstock is treated. For reproducibility, the feedstock is prepared, for example by cutting or shredding, in the same manner for each batch and is weighed so undergoes a similar heat treatment process whilst in the microwave.

Other type of heat treatment device may be used and the options will be apparent to the skilled person however, microwave is preferred as the heating rate and energy input can be controlled and monitored providing reproducible products.

Figure 3 is a flow diagram detailing the steps used to produce wax products from organic waste material.

Organic waste material 300 is converted into feedstock 320 via one of more processes. These processes include washing 302, shredding 304, cutting 306, and introducing a solvent to facilitate a solvent extraction process 310.

The solvent extraction step 310 uses aromatic, aldehyde, ketone or alcohols as pure solvents or a solvent mixture but is not limited to these solvents and is added to the material 310. The solvent extraction step 310 is preferably designed to concentrate a particular component or components of the feedstock mixture, such that the pryolysis process or heat treatment step 330 will deliver a higher concentration of a desired product 340.

Alternatively or additionally, the solvent extraction purification step 310 may be employed to isolate a contaminant that may hinder the production of a desired product, or deleteriously affect the quality of that product 340.

Following any optimisation steps carried out on the initial material 300 to produce the feedstock 320, the feedstock is heat treated 330. This may be using any of the apparatus described herein or using other suitable apparatus which would be appreciated by the skilled person.

A product 340 results from the heat treatment process 330. This can be used as is or may be subject to further process steps, for example a condensing step 350 which separates different molecular weight materials so different wax products 360 and untreated or partially treated feedstock 370 can be separated from each other and collected.

Any untreated or partially treated feedstock 370 is advantageously reintroduced into the feedstock 320 or organic waste material 300 for further processing 380.

This invention offers a number of advantages including the diversion of variable waste(s) from landfill disposal. Such materials previously thought of as waste include, but may not be limited to: * Flexi-bag and other plastic liners or containers used for the importation of bulk liquid products; * Plastic off-cuts or off-spec materials from industrial processing or production; * Post use plastic industrial or commercial packaging materials; and or * Post use municipal waste plastic.

This invention additionally produces high value product(s) from these waste materials that may improve the overall economics of local waste management. The range of possible products includes, but is not limited to, materials that can be used in part or complete replacement of any or all grades of: * Paraffin wax; * Microcrystalline wax; and/ or * Slack wax; or * Any wax by product of the petroleum refining industry; and/ or * Any hydrocarbon product with a carbon chain back bone between 25 and 50 carbon atoms in length.

Also, as the traditional source for some or all of these high value products may not be found locally, the invention provides the raw material for the local product of wax based commercial products. These raw materials include, but are not limited to those that restrict local production due to: * Unreliability of a supply source; * Transport difficulties concerning the movement of the raw material within the public transport system; and/or * Health, safety or material handling issues regarding the processing of a raw material delivered on-site in bulk units.

It is to be appreciated that these Figures are for illustration purposes only and other configurations are possible.

The invention has been described by way of several embodiments, with modifications and alternatives, but having read and understood this description further embodiments and modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art. All such embodiments and modifications are intended to fall within the scope of the present invention as defined in the accompanying claims.

Claims (11)

1. Claims 1. A method of manufacturing a wax product (360) comprising the steps of: providing organic feedstock (320); heat treating (330) the organic feedstock (320) to reduce the average molecular weight; and producing a wax product (360).
2. 2. A method according to claim I whereby, the organic feedstock (320) is an organic waste material (300) including, but is not limited to, municipal, agricultural, industrial and commercial waste plastic, or factions of such waste plastic.
3. 3. A method according to claim I or claim 2 whereby, heat treatment (330) of the organic feedstock (320) is via pyrolysis.
4. 4. A method according to any preceding claim whereby, the method includes a solvent extraction purification step (310) to upgrade the quality of the feedstock (320) into the heat treatment step (320).
5. 5. A method according to claim 4 whereby, the solvent extraction step (310) uses aromatic, aldehyde, ketone or alcohols as pure solvents or a solvent mixture but is not limited to these solvents.
6. 6. A method according to claim 4 or claim 5 whereby, the solvent extraction step (310) is designed to concentrate a particular component or components of the feedstock mixture, such that the pryolysis process or heat treatment step (330) will deliver a higher concentration of a desired product.
7. 7. A method according to any of claims 4 to 6 whereby, the solvent extraction purification step (330) is used to isolate a contaminant that may hinder the production of a desired product, or deleteriously affect the quality of that product.
8. 8. A wax product (360) or range of wax products produced by the method described in claims 1 to 7.
9. 9. An apparatus (100, 390) for producing wax products (360) from an organic waste material (180,300), the apparatus comprising: a pre-treatment device (182, 302,304,306,310) for pre-treating the organic waste material (180,300) to produce a feedstock (184, 320); a heat treatment device (130,330) for heat treating feedstock introduced therein; and a condensing device (190,350) for separating products resulting from the heat treatment of the feedstock.
10. 10. An apparatus according to claim 9 whereby, the heat treatment device (130,330) uses electromagnetic radiation to heat treat the feedstock.
11. 11. An apparatus according to claim 9 or claim 10 whereby, the heat treatment device (130) is a continuous flow device.