JPWO2016038724A1 - Biomass gasification system and biomass gasification method - Google Patents

Abstract

In the present invention, when biomass is gasified, the crushing pump 110 that is supplied from the adjustment tank 100 and that crushes the biomass to be hydrothermally treated by the pretreatment device 140 in advance is installed between the crushing pump 110 and the crushing pump 110. Residue in the crushing pump 110 by a circulation pipe 16 for circulating the crushed biomass to the adjustment tank 100 and an on-off valve 17 provided at the outlet of the crushing pump 110 and opening and closing the outlet of the crushing pump 110. When the crushed pieces of biomass to be accumulated accumulate beyond the processing capacity, the on-off valve 17 is set to the “closed” state. Then, after a lapse of a certain time, the on-off valve 17 is set in the “open” state, and the crushed pieces of the biomass are circulated to the adjustment tank 100 through the circulation pipe 16. Thereby, obstruction | occlusion by the fragmentation of the gasification raw material in a crusher can be avoided, and fuel gas, such as methane and hydrogen, can be produced | generated more efficiently from biomass.

Description

  The present invention relates to a biomass gasification system and a biomass gasification method in which a gasification raw material prepared by adding water and a catalyst to biomass is decomposed in a supercritical state to generate fuel gas.

  In recent years, development of gasification systems that generate fuel gas by decomposing biomass such as livestock excrement and garbage in a supercritical state has been progressing. For example, a biomass slurry containing a nonmetallic catalyst is hydrothermally treated under conditions of a temperature of 374 ° C. or higher and a pressure of 22.1 MPa or higher, and the generated fuel gas is used to generate power with a power generator. A biomass gasification power generation system that heats a slurry body by using exhaust heat from a power generation device is known (see Patent Documents 1 to 3, etc.).

  Here, a general biomass gasification system includes a heat exchanger, a heater, a gasification reactor, and the like, and organic substances are converted into hydrogen, methane, ethane, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, etc. by hydrolysis. Gasify. For example, a heat exchanger is a device that heats a slurry gasification raw material. This gasification raw material is adjusted by adding water and activated carbon (catalyst) to biomass such as shochu residue, egg-collecting chicken manure, and sludge and mixing them. The heater is a device that raises the temperature of the gasification raw material heated by the heat exchanger to near the critical temperature. The gasification reactor is a device that hydrothermally processes the gasification raw material to make a supercritical high-temperature fluid. The fluid in the supercritical state is then separated into gas and liquid, and the gas component is used as fuel gas.

  However, the gasification technology using supercritical water known so far is not always satisfactory in terms of the generation efficiency of fuel gas, and development of a technology that can generate fuel gas from biomass more efficiently. Is required.

  Therefore, the present inventors prevented this gasification raw material from the viewpoint of preventing the blockage of the flow path caused by clogging of the above-mentioned gasification raw material in the heat exchanger and improving the gasification efficiency. It paid attention to crushing in the raw material adjustment part provided in the front | former stage rather than a heat exchanger.

  Specifically, the raw material adjustment unit includes an adjustment tank, a crusher (crushing pump), a supply pump, and the like. The adjusting tank is provided with a crusher (crushing pump) at the bottom of the tank, and when the supplied gasification raw material is larger than a predetermined size, it is crushed until it becomes a predetermined size or less. Yes. The crushing pump is provided with a circulation pipe for returning the gasified raw material after crushing to the adjustment tank.

JP 2008-246343 A JP 2006-274013 A JP 2002-105467 A

  However, in such a crushing pump, crushing pieces (solid content) of the crushed gasification raw material accumulate in the lower part, so that the processing capacity of the crushing pump is exceeded, and clogging is caused by clogging with the gasification raw material in the crushing pump. Could cause. For this reason, the crushing pump cannot be operated continuously, it becomes difficult to perform continuous operation of the system, and there is an insufficient problem that fuel gas cannot be generated efficiently.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and avoids clogging of the crusher due to accumulation of gasification raw material fragments, and more efficiently generates fuel gas such as methane and hydrogen from biomass. It is an object of the present invention to provide a biomass gasification system and a biomass gasification method that can be used.

In order to solve the above problems, a biomass gasification system according to the present invention is:
A pretreatment device for hydrothermally treating biomass under predetermined conditions in the presence of a nonmetallic catalyst;
A reactor that generates gas by hydrothermally treating the biomass slurry containing the non-metallic catalyst obtained by hydrothermal treatment by the pretreatment device under predetermined conditions;
A slurry gas supply system comprising: a slurry supply device that supplies the slurry body received from the pretreatment device to the reactor,
An adjusting unit that is arranged upstream of the pretreatment device and stirs and mixes the supplied biomass, water, and the nonmetallic catalyst,
A crusher for crushing the biomass contained in the stirring mixture supplied from the adjustment unit;
A circulation pipe that connects the crusher and the adjustment unit, and circulates the biomass crushed by the crusher to the adjustment unit;
An opening / closing valve provided on the circulation pipe for opening and closing the circulation pipe,
When the crushed pieces of the biomass remaining in the crusher have accumulated beyond the processing capacity of the crusher, the open / close valve is closed and the open / close valve is opened after a certain period of time. Thus, the biomass fragments are circulated to the adjustment unit via the circulation pipe.

In the biomass gasification system of the present invention,
A flow rate detection unit for detecting the flow rate of the circulation pipe is further provided,
When the detection result by the flow rate detection unit becomes a predetermined amount or less, it is determined that the crushed pieces of the biomass remaining in the crusher have accumulated beyond the processing capacity of the crusher. May be.

Moreover, the biomass gasification system according to the present invention is:
It is good also as providing the opening-and-closing control part which controls opening and closing of the said on-off valve.

Furthermore, the biomass gasification system according to the present invention is:
A timer that detects the passage of time is further provided.
The opening / closing control unit may control the opening / closing valve to be opened when the timer detects that a certain time has elapsed since the opening / closing valve was closed.

Moreover, the biomass gasification method according to the present invention comprises:
A pretreatment step for producing a slurry body of the biomass containing the nonmetallic catalyst by hydrothermal treatment under predetermined conditions in the presence of a nonmetallic catalyst;
A supply step of supplying the biomass slurry containing the nonmetallic catalyst to a reactor using a slurry supply device;
A reaction step of generating gas by hydrothermally treating the slurry body supplied to the reactor under predetermined conditions, and a biomass gasification method comprising:
Before the pretreatment step, an adjustment step of stirring and mixing the biomass supplied to the adjustment unit, water, and the nonmetallic catalyst,
A crushing step of crushing the biomass contained in the stirring mixture in the adjustment step with a crusher;
A circulation step of circulating the biomass crushed in the crushing step from the crusher to the adjustment unit via a circulation pipe connecting the crusher and the adjustment unit;
In the circulation step,
When the crushed pieces of the biomass remaining in the crusher have accumulated beyond the processing capacity of the crusher, the on-off valve provided in the circulation pipe is closed, and after a certain time has elapsed, By opening the on-off valve, the biomass fragments are circulated to the adjustment unit via the circulation pipe.

In the biomass gasification method according to the present invention,
In the circulation step,
The flow rate detection unit provided in the circulation pipe detects the flow rate of the circulation pipe,
When the detection result by the flow rate detection unit becomes a predetermined amount or less, it is determined that the crushed pieces of the biomass remaining in the crusher have accumulated beyond the processing capacity of the crusher. May be.

Moreover, in the biomass gasification method according to the present invention,
In the circulation step,
The opening / closing control unit may control the opening / closing of the opening / closing valve.

Furthermore, in the biomass gasification method according to the present invention,
In the circulation step,
When the opening / closing control unit detects that a certain period of time has passed since the opening / closing valve is closed by a timer that detects the passage of time, it is desirable to control the opening / closing valve to be opened.

  According to the present invention, a biomass gasification system capable of more efficiently generating fuel gas such as methane and hydrogen from biomass while avoiding clogging due to accumulation of gasification raw material fragments in a crusher. And a biomass gasification method can be provided.

It is a figure which shows schematic structure of the biomass gasification system by the supercritical water demonstrated as one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows schematic structure of the adjustment tank demonstrated as one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows schematic structure of the crushing pump demonstrated as one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows schematic structure of the reactor demonstrated as one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows schematic structure of the slurry supply apparatus demonstrated as one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows schematic structure of the catalyst recovery device demonstrated as one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows schematic structure of the biomass gasification system by the supercritical water demonstrated as other embodiment of this invention. It is a figure where it uses for description of the procedure which removes the obstruction | occlusion of the crushing pump demonstrated as other embodiment of this invention automatically.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

== Overall configuration of gasification system using supercritical water according to the present invention ==
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a biomass gasification system using supercritical water described as an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, a biomass gasification system (hereinafter simply referred to as “system”) 200 using supercritical water according to the present invention includes a regulating tank 100, a crushing pump 110, a supply pump 120, and a first heat exchanger. 130, second heat exchanger 131, pretreatment device 140, slurry supply device 150, operating frequency control device 151, reactor 160, heater 161, preheater 162, heater 163, preheater 164, cooler 170, decompressor 171, a gas-liquid separator 180, a gas tank 181, a catalyst recovery unit 182, a power generation device 190, and the like.

  The pretreatment device 140 is a device that forms a biomass slurry. The formation of a biomass slurry consists of hydrothermal treatment of biomass in the presence of a non-metallic catalyst under conditions of a temperature in the range of 100 ° C. to 250 ° C. and a pressure in the range of 0.1 MPa to 4 MPa. Is done.

  The adjustment tank 100 is a tank that mixes biomass, water, non-metallic catalyst, etc. while adjusting the mixing amount of water and non-metallic catalyst according to the type, amount, moisture content, etc. of biomass as a gasification raw material. is there. That is, the adjustment tank 100 stirs and mixes together biomass, water, nonmetallic catalyst (activated carbon, zeolite, etc.) supplied from raw material supply means (not shown).

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 2, the adjustment tank 100 is formed in a substantially cylindrical shape with an upper portion opened and a lower portion formed in a conical shape, and has a predetermined amount of biomass, water, a nonmetallic catalyst, and the like. Can be stored. The adjustment tank 100 is detachably provided with agitation means 10 for agitating the biomass. The agitation means 10 agitates and mixes the biomass, water, and the nonmetallic catalyst in the adjustment tank 100.

  The agitation means 10 is attached to a drive motor 11, a drive shaft 11a of the drive motor 11 and rotationally driven integrally with the drive shaft 11a, and a helical shaft integrally attached to the tip of the rotary shaft 12 to rotate. A stirring blade 13 formed of a so-called ribbon blade that rotates integrally with the shaft 12 is provided.

  The stirring means 10 is integrally attached to the upper lid 101 that closes the upper portion of the adjustment tank 100, and is attached to and detached from the adjustment tank 100 integrally with the upper lid 101 by attaching and detaching the upper lid 101 to and from the upper portion of the adjustment tank 100. In the stirring means 10, when the upper lid 101 is attached to the upper part of the adjustment tank 100, the rotating shaft 12 is disposed at the center of the adjustment tank 100, and the stirring blade 13 is disposed at the bottom of the adjustment tank 100.

  In addition, the stirring blade 13 is not limited to the shape of the ribbon blade, and in summary, various shapes can be widely applied as long as the biomass, water, and non-metallic catalyst in the adjustment tank 100 can be efficiently stirred. be able to. For example, blades that spread radially, such as an umbrella upside down, may be provided on the rotating shaft 13 in a plurality of stages, and these blades may be arranged in a plurality of stages over the entire height of the adjustment tank 100.

  The mixture mixed in the adjustment tank 100 by the stirring means 10 is fed from the adjustment tank 100 to a crushing pump 110 described later by the head pressure of water or biomass. At this time, biomass that is so large that it does not deserve to be mixed is difficult to adjust the above-mentioned mixing amount, and is therefore fed to the crushing pump 110 described later without being mixed.

  The crushing pump 110 is connected to the lower part of the adjustment tank 100, and crushes the mixture mixed in the adjustment tank 100 and the biomass fed from the adjustment tank 100, so that the biomass as the gasification raw material has a uniform size in advance. (Preferably, the average particle size is 500 μm or less, more preferably the average particle size is 300 μm or less).

  For example, as shown in FIG. 3, the crushing pump 110 includes a casing 20, a fixed face 34 attached to the casing 20, a rotating shaft 22 rotatably provided at the center of the casing 20, and a rotating shaft 22. The crushing blade 27 is provided, and a drive motor (not shown) that rotationally drives the rotary shaft 22 is provided.

  Specifically, the crushing pump 110 is provided with a rotating shaft 22 that passes through the center of the casing 20 in which the discharge nozzle 20 a is formed, and the central portion of the rotating shaft 22 also serves as a mechanical seal attached to the center of the casing 20. Supported by the bearing portion 24. An impeller 26 that rotates inside the casing 20 and pressure-feeds fluid from the discharge nozzle 20a is attached to the suction passage 25 side that is the distal end side of the rotating shaft 22 via a key. A crushing blade 27 that rotates integrally with the impeller 26 on the suction passage 25 side is attached via a key. The suction path side end of the crushing blade 27 is fixed by a fixing nut 22 a that is screwed onto the tip of the rotating shaft 22.

  On the suction path 25 side of the casing 20, an intermediate case 28 is fixed with fastening bolts 29. The intermediate case 28 is attached to the suction path side inner peripheral surface of the casing 20 via an O-ring. A grid-like fixed blade 30 is fitted on the inner peripheral side of the intermediate case 28, and the mixture and biomass in the fluid are sandwiched between the grid-like fixed blade 30 and the back surface of the crushing blade 27 for crushing and crushing. A slight gap is formed. In this gap, the mixture or biomass caught in the grid gap of the grid-like fixed blade 30 is cut between the crushing blades 27 rotating.

  The crushing blade 27 is provided with a shroud ring 31 so as to cover the outer peripheral end, and the mixture in the fluid sandwiched between the inner side of the shroud ring 31 and the outer blade formed on the outer periphery of the crushing blade 27. It is designed to cut and crush biomass. A suction casing 32 that forms a suction passage 25 between the intermediate case 28 and the casing 20 is fixed by bolts 33. On the flange surface of the suction casing 32 on the intermediate case 28 side, a fixed face 34 fitted to the peripheral end portion of the shroud ring 31 via a seal portion is formed so as to fit via the seal portion. . A slight gap is formed between the fixed face 34 and the front face of the crushing blade 27 for cutting and crushing the mixture and biomass in the fluid. Then, the mixture or biomass caught in the gap is cut between the fixed face 34 and the rotating crushing blade 27.

  Further, an adjustment handle 35 for positioning the intermediate case 28 in the axial direction with respect to the casing 20 is provided on the outer peripheral side of the intermediate case 28. The adjustment handle 35 is formed in an annular shape, and an inner screw that engages with an outer screw formed on the outer peripheral surface of the intermediate case 28 is formed on the inner peripheral surface. The adjustment handle 35 is not shown on the outer peripheral surface. A plurality of fitting recesses 35a for rotating with a tool are formed along the circumferential direction. When the adjustment handle 35 is rotated with a tool, the intermediate case 28 is separated from the front flange surface 20 b of the casing 20. Thereby, the clearance gap between the lattice-shaped fixed blade 30 fixed to the intermediate | middle case 28 and the crushing blade | wing 27 attached to the rotating shaft 22 is adjustable.

  In this manner, the mixture and biomass supplied from the adjustment tank 100 to the casing 20 of the crushing pump 110 through the suction passage 25 are crushed to a predetermined size by the rotation of the crushing blades 27 of the crushing pump 110. Then, the mixture and biomass crushed by the crushing pump 110 are supplied to the crushed raw material tank 111 via the raw material supply pipe 15 and transferred from the crushed raw material tank 111 to the supply pump 120 via the raw material supply pipe 15. .

  In the case of this embodiment, a circulation pipe 16 for returning the mixture and biomass crushed by the crushing pump 110 to the adjustment tank 100 is provided in the middle of the raw material supply pipe 15 that connects the crushing pump 110 and the crushed raw material tank 111. A mixture or biomass is circulated between the crushing pump 110 and the adjustment tank 100 via the pipe 16 to reduce the particle size of the biomass, and then supplied to the crushed raw material tank 111.

  At this time, an opening / closing valve 17 of the crushing pump 110 is provided in the middle of the circulation pipe 16, and an opening / closing valve 18 as an inlet valve of the crushed raw material tank 111 is provided in the raw material supply pipe 15 on the inlet side of the crushed raw material tank 111. By setting the on-off valve 17 in the “open” state and the on-off valve 18 in the “closed” state, the mixture and biomass can be circulated between the crushing pump 110 and the adjustment tank 100 via the circulation pipe 16. Become. In addition, by setting the on-off valve 17 in the “closed” state and the on-off valve 18 in the “open” state, it is possible to supply the mixture and biomass with reduced particle size to the crushed raw material tank 111.

  Here, in the crushing pump 110, when the crushed gasification raw material (that is, biomass) accumulates in the lower part, the processing capacity of the crushing pump 110 may be exceeded, and the crushing pump 110 may be blocked by the accumulated biomass. It was.

  Therefore, in the system 200 of the present embodiment, when the crushing pump 110 is closed due to accumulation of biomass fragments, that is, when the outlet flow rate of the crushing pump 110 disappears, the on-off valves 17 and 18 are set to “ Closed state. Then, since the outflow from the crushing pump 110 is stopped, the biomass accumulated in the lower part of the crushing pump 110 floats in the crushing pump 110. Then, after a certain time (about 30 seconds in this embodiment) has elapsed, the on-off valve 17 is set to the “open” state, and the biomass in the crushing pump 110 is circulated to the adjustment tank 100. Then, the mixture or biomass is circulated between the crushing pump 110 and the adjustment tank 100. When the particle size of the biomass reaches a predetermined size, the on-off valve 17 is set to the “closed” state, and the on-off valve 18 is set to the “open” state. By doing so, the mixture mixed in the adjustment tank 100 is transferred to the crushed raw material tank 111.

  In addition, although the case where the above-mentioned on-off control of the on-off valves 17 and 18 was performed manually was described here, this invention is not limited to this. Further, other specific embodiments will be described later.

  The supply pump 120 is a device that transfers the mixture mixed in the adjustment tank 100 to the pretreatment device 140.

  The reactor 160 is a device that gasifies biomass with supercritical water. Biomass gasification with supercritical water uses a non-metallic catalyst, a biomass slurry containing a non-metallic catalyst that has been hydrothermally treated in the pretreatment device 140, at a temperature of 374 ° C. or higher, and It is performed by hydrothermal treatment under conditions of a pressure of 22.1 MPa or more. In addition, the hydrothermal treatment here refers to treatment with subcritical water or supercritical water, among other treatments with high-temperature and high-pressure water. By treating the slurry body with supercritical water in this way, biomass can be decomposed and fuel gas such as hydrogen gas, methane, ethane, or ethylene can be generated.

  The reactor 160 includes a temperature measurement device that measures the internal temperature, external temperature, or heating temperature of the reactor, and a pressure measurement device that measures the internal temperature, heating temperature, or pressurized pressure of the reactor (see FIG. Not shown).

  The reactor 160 is not particularly limited as long as it is a device capable of hydrothermally treating a biomass slurry in the presence of a nonmetallic catalyst under the above-described conditions. A configured reactor, fluidized bed reactor, or the like can be used. In the present embodiment, the case where the reactor 160 is a fluidized bed reactor capable of continuous operation will be described.

  FIG. 4 shows a schematic configuration of a fluidized bed reactor 160 capable of continuous operation in an embodiment of the present invention. The reactor 160 includes an inlet 210 for introducing a biomass slurry containing a nonmetallic catalyst therein from below, and the slurry in the reactor 160 at a temperature of 374 ° C. or higher and 22.1 MPa or higher. A discharge port 220 for discharging the generated gas and ash containing fuel gas generated by hydrothermal treatment under pressure conditions, and the non-metallic catalyst and water (supercritical water) from above to the reactor 160; A fluid medium 230 that forms a fluidized bed in the reactor 160 by introducing the slurry body, and a dispersion unit 240 that disperses the slurry body introduced from the inlet 210 below the fluidized bed are provided.

  The fluid medium 230 has a shape that is not discharged at the introduction speed of the slurry body. That is, the fluidized bed is formed at a speed at which the slurry body is introduced from the introduction port 210, but has a weight that cannot be discharged from the discharge port 220. In addition, when the mesh-shaped plate is installed in the discharge port 220, the fluid medium 230 may be configured with a size larger than the mesh of the plate. The fluid medium 230 is not particularly limited as long as it does not change the particle size even in a supercritical state, that is, the fluid medium is not easily broken. For example, alumina balls, zirconia balls, silica balls, etc. Can be mentioned.

  The dispersion unit 240 may be, for example, a known dispersion plate (for example, a mesh-like plate) used in a fluidized bed reactor or the like, but in order to prevent an increase in pressure due to clogging of the slurry body, It is a layer formed by stacking spherical media (for example, spherical media such as alumina balls) configured in a shape that does not flow at the speed at which the slurry body is introduced (for example, a weight that cannot flow at the speed at which the slurry body is introduced). Is preferred.

  By using the reactor 160 as described above, it is possible to perform a gasification reaction with supercritical water in the presence of a non-metallic catalyst on the slurry introduced from the inlet 210, and the production generated thereby. Gas (including fuel gas) and ash, as well as non-metallic catalyst and water (supercritical water), such as a fluid medium 230 having a small diameter can be discharged from the discharge port 220. In addition, such a reactor 160 can suppress accumulation of ash, nonmetallic catalyst, and the like in the reactor 160 with the above-described configuration, and thus a biomass slurry containing a nonmetallic catalyst. It is possible to continuously introduce the body and continuously perform the gasification reaction with supercritical water.

  The slurry supply device 150 is a device that supplies a biomass slurry containing a nonmetallic catalyst obtained by performing the hydrothermal treatment in the pretreatment device 140 to the reactor 160.

  The slurry supply device 150 includes an operation frequency control device 151 that controls the operation frequency of the slurry supply device 150. By using this control device 151, the amount of slurry supplied to the reactor 160 can be adjusted by controlling the operating frequency of the supply device 150. For example, if the amount of slurry supplied to the reactor 160 is reduced by reducing the motion frequency of the supply device 150 using the control device 151 when the internal temperature of the reactor 160 reaches around the critical point, the criticality can be reduced. The rapid volume expansion of the biomass slurry in the vicinity of the point can be reduced, and as a result, a rapid increase in the internal pressure of the reactor 160 can be prevented. Further, after the critical point is exceeded and the internal pressure of the reactor 160 becomes substantially constant, the amount of slurry supplied to the reactor 160 is increased by increasing the motion frequency of the supply device 150 using the control device 151. Then, a large amount of slurry can be reacted without abruptly changing the internal pressure of the reactor 160. Therefore, biomass gasification can be performed safely and efficiently by appropriately controlling the operation frequency of the slurry supply device 150 using the operation frequency control device 151.

  The slurry supply device 150 is not particularly limited as long as it is a device that can be used in combination with the operation frequency control device 151 and can supply a slurry body of biomass containing a nonmetallic catalyst. A high-pressure pump, a Mono pump, or the like can be used, but an apparatus capable of continuously supplying the above-described slurry body that can be easily separated into a solid component and a liquid component as shown in FIG. Is preferred.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a slurry supply apparatus 150 described as an embodiment of the present invention. The slurry supply device 150 is a device that receives a biomass slurry containing a nonmetallic catalyst obtained by performing hydrothermal treatment in the pretreatment device 140 from the pretreatment device 140 and supplies the biomass slurry to the reactor 160. . The slurry supply device 150 includes two cylinders 310 and 320, a shaft 330, two pistons 331 and 332, two agitators 340 and 350, a water injection device 360, valves 361, 362, 363, 364, 373, 374, and 375. , 376, three-way valves 371, 372 and the like.

  The water injection device 360 is a device for injecting water into the cylinders 310 and 320 by alternately switching the cylinders 310 and 320 for injecting water. The water injection device 360 is, for example, a pump, a high pressure pump, a back pressure pump, or the like.

  The cylinders 310 and 320 are provided with injection / discharge ports for injecting water from the water injection device 360 and discharging the injected water. Further, the cylinders 310 and 320 are provided with receiving / supplying ports that receive the slurry body from the pretreatment device 140 and supply the received slurry body to the reactor 160.

  Pistons 331 and 332 are disposed in the cylinders 310 and 320 so as to partition water injected from the water injection device 360 and a slurry body received from the pretreatment device 140.

  Pistons 331 and 332 are provided at both ends of the shaft 330. The pistons 331 and 332 move in the cylinders 310 and 320 when water is injected into the cylinders 310 and 320 from the water injection device 360, and the slurry bodies in the cylinders 310 and 320 are pressed to make the slurry into the reactor 160. Supply the body. As the one piston 331, 332 moves, the other piston 332, 331 moves in the same direction as the one piston 331, 332, receives the slurry body from the pretreatment device 140, and in the cylinders 320, 310 Drain the water.

  In order to prevent the water in the cylinders 310 and 320 and the slurry from being mixed, a piston ring may be provided on the pistons 331 and 332 to improve the airtightness between the pistons 331 and 332 and the cylinders 310 and 320.

  In the present embodiment, a stopper 333 is provided at the center of the shaft 330. The stopper 333 is a device that prevents contact between the pistons 331 and 332 and the stirrers 340 and 350. When the stopper 333 comes into contact with the cylinders 310 and 320, the pistons 331 and 332 cannot move toward the stirrers 340 and 350.

  The valves 361, 362, 363, and 364 are devices that switch the water to flow from the water injection device 360 to the cylinders 310 and 320 and switch the water in the cylinders 310 and 320 to discharge. The valves 361, 362, 363, 364 are, for example, electromagnetic valves.

  In the present embodiment, the valves 361, 362, 363, 364 are switched so that water flows into the cylinders 310, 320 by the water injection of the water injection device 360. Further, the valves 361, 362, 363, and 364 are switched so that water is discharged by drainage from the cylinders 310 and 320. Such switching can be performed electrically with water injection from the water injection device 360 or drainage from the cylinders 310 and 320, for example. Specifically, when it is detected that the stopper 333 provided on the shaft 330 has come into contact with one of the cylinders 310 and 320, the water injection device 360 changes the water injection destination from the cylinders 310 and 320 to the other cylinders 320 and 310. The valves 363 and 361 are switched to open so that water flows from the water injection device 360 to the cylinders 320 and 310, and the valves 364 and 362 are not discharged from the water injection device 360 to the cylinders 320 and 310. The valves 362 and 364 are switched to open so that the water is discharged from the cylinders 310 and 320, and the valves 361 and 363 prevent the water discharged from the cylinders 310 and 320 from flowing into the water injection device 360. What is necessary is just to perform control which switches to closure, respectively.

  In this embodiment, the slurry supply device 150 is provided with valves 361 to 364. However, instead of these valves 361 to 364, two three-way valves are provided, and water is injected into the cylinder by water injection from the water injection device 360. It may be switched so as to flow to 310, 320, or may be switched so that water is discharged by drainage from the cylinders 320, 310. Such switching can be mechanically performed by, for example, a valve that prevents backflow, but can also be electrically performed in accordance with water injection from the water injection device 360 or drainage from the cylinders 310 and 320. Specifically, when it is detected that the stopper 333 provided on the shaft 330 has come into contact with one of the cylinders 310 and 320, the water injection device 360 supplies water from the cylinders 310 and 320 to the other cylinders 320 and 310. One of the three-way valves may be switched so that water flows from the water injection device 360 to the cylinders 320 and 310, and the other three-way valve may be switched so that water is discharged from the cylinders 310 and 320.

  The three-way valves 371 and 372 are switched so that the slurry body flows from the pretreatment device 140 to the cylinders 310 and 320 by the reciprocating motion of the pistons 331 and 332, and the slurry bodies received in the cylinders 310 and 320 are cylinders 310 and 320. To switch to flow into the reactor 160.

  In the present embodiment, the three-way valves 371 and 372 switch so that the slurry body flows from the pretreatment device 140 to the cylinders 310 and 320 when the slurry body is received from the pretreatment device 140. The three-way valves 371 and 372 are switched so that the slurry body flows from the cylinders 310 and 320 to the reactor 160 when the slurry body is supplied from the cylinders 310 and 320. Such switching can be mechanically performed by, for example, a valve for preventing backflow, but is electrically performed in accordance with the slurry body supply from the cylinders 310 and 320 and the slurry body supply from the pretreatment device 140. You can also Specifically, when it is detected that the stopper 333 provided on the shaft 330 contacts one of the cylinders 310 and 320, the three-way valves 371 and 372 cause the slurry body to flow from the pretreatment device 140 to the cylinders 310 and 320. The other three-way valves 372 and 371 may be controlled so that the slurry body flows from the other cylinders 320 and 310 to the reactor 160, respectively.

  Note that the detection of the contact between the stopper 333 and the cylinders 310 and 320 is performed, for example, by providing a switch in a part of the region where the stopper 333 and the cylinder 310 and 320 are in contact and pressing the switch. Also good.

  The valves 373 and 374 are used when the cylinder that supplies the slurry body to the reactor 160 is switched from one cylinder 310 or 320 to the other cylinder 320 or 310, that is, the cylinder 310 or 320 into which the water injection device 360 injects water. Is a device that temporarily shuts off the flow (supply) of the slurry body from the cylinders 310, 320 to the reactor 160 when switching from one cylinder 310, 320 to the other cylinder 320, 310. The valves 375 and 376 are slurries from the pretreatment device 140 to the cylinders 310 and 320 when the water injection device 360 switches the cylinders 310 and 320 into which water is injected from the one cylinder 310 and 320 to the other cylinder 320 and 310. A device that temporarily blocks the flow (acceptance) of the body. The valves 373, 374, 375, and 376 are, for example, electromagnetic valves.

  The above-described blocking by the valves 373, 374, 375, and 376 may be performed electrically, for example, with water injection from the water injection device 360 or drainage from the cylinders 310 and 320. Specifically, when it is detected that the stopper 333 provided on the shaft 330 is in contact with one of the cylinders 310 and 320, the valves 373 and 374 flow (supply) the slurry body from the cylinders 310 and 320 to the reactor 160. The valves 376 and 375 are closed so as to block the flow (acceptance) of the slurry body from the pretreatment device 140 to the cylinders 320 and 310, and the water injection device 360 controls the water injection destination. After switching from the cylinder 310, 320 to the other cylinder 320, 310, one of the valves 373, 374, one valve 374, 373 flows the slurry body from the cylinder 320, 310 to the reactor 160 via the three-way valve 372, 371. Of the valves 375 and 376, one of the valves 375 and 376 Control of opening from the processing unit 140 to flow into the cylinder 310 the may be performed, respectively.

  The agitators 340 and 350 are devices for agitating the slurry body received in the cylinders 310 and 320 from the pretreatment device 140 via the valves 375 and 376 and the three-way valves 371 and 372. In this manner, by stirring the slurry body with the stirrers 340 and 350 in the cylinders 310 and 320, precipitation of solid substances such as non-metallic catalyst and biomass particles contained in the slurry body can be prevented. The slurry body having a constant concentration can be supplied to the reactor 160.

  In the present embodiment, between the slurry supply device 150 and the reactor 160, between the pressure accumulator 380 for accumulating the slurry body supplied from the slurry supply device 150, and between the pretreatment device 140 and the slurry supply device 150. And a pressure accumulator 381 for accumulating a slurry body received in the slurry supply device 150. By providing these, the pressure in the piping connecting the slurry supply device 150 and the reactor 160 and the pressure in the piping connecting the pretreatment device 140 and the slurry supply device 150 can be kept constant, and pulsation And the occurrence of water hammer (water hammer) can be prevented.

  It should be noted that the switching of the water injection destination performed by the water injection device 360 described above may be performed electrically at the timing when the stopper 333 provided on the shaft 330 contacts the cylinders 310 and 320, or in each cylinder 310 or 320. It may be performed by detecting that the pressure has increased. The water injected by the water injection device 360 into the cylinders 310 and 320 is preferably water having the same temperature as the temperature of the slurry body received in the cylinders 310 and 320. Thereby, the cylinders 310 and 320 are cooled by the water injected into the cylinders 310 and 320, and the temperature of the slurry body received in the cylinders 310 and 320 can be suppressed from decreasing. The water injection into the cylinders 310 and 320 by the water injection device 360 is preferably performed at a constant flow rate so that the slurry body is supplied to the reactor 160 at a constant flow rate.

  In the above description, the stopper 333 is provided on the shaft 330 of the slurry supply device 150 to prevent contact between the pistons 331 and 332 and the stirrers 340 and 350. It is possible to prevent the pistons 331 and 332 from coming into contact with the stirrers 340 and 350 by adjusting the length of the water, or to add water in an amount that does not contact the pistons 331 and 332 and the stirrers 340 and 350. 360 may be alternately injected into each of the cylinders 310 and 320 to prevent the pistons 331 and 332 from coming into contact with the stirrers 340 and 350. Moreover, you may provide the stopper (for example, unevenness | corrugation etc.) which controls the movement of piston 331,332 in cylinder 310,320 so that piston 331,332 and stirrer 340,350 may not contact.

  Further, in the above description, one port (injection / discharge port) for injecting water from the water injection device 360 and discharging the injected water is provided in the cylinders 310 and 320, but water is injected from the water injection device 360. Two ports may be provided in each of the cylinders 310 and 320, that is, an injection port for discharging and a discharge port for discharging the injected water.

  In the above description, the cylinders 310 and 320 are provided with one port (acceptance / supply port) for receiving the slurry body from the pretreatment device 140 and supplying the received slurry body to the reactor 160. The cylinders 310 and 320 may be provided with two ports, a receiving port for receiving the slurry body from 140 and a supply port for supplying the received slurry body to the reactor 160, respectively.

  The preheater 162 is an apparatus that preheats a biomass slurry body containing a nonmetallic catalyst, which is supplied from the slurry supply apparatus 150 to the reactor 160. By providing the system 200 with the preheater 162, it becomes possible to supply a slurry body having a predetermined temperature to the reactor 160.

  The cooler 170 is a device that cools the discharge discharged from the reactor 160. The exhaust discharged from the reactor 160 contains a product gas such as highly explosive fuel gas (for example, hydrogen, methane, ethane, ethylene) or water vapor (supercritical water). The cooler 170 is provided in the system 200 of the present invention for the purpose of reducing water vapor or converting water vapor into water. In the present embodiment, the cooler 170 is described as an example of a device for cooling the discharge discharged from the reactor 160, but the device that can cool the discharge discharged from the reactor 160. Any device may be used as long as it is.

  The decompressor 171 is a device that reduces the pressure of the product gas or the like in the effluent discharged from the reactor 160. As a result, the danger caused by the high-pressure generated gas (fuel gas) can be prevented.

  The gas-liquid separator 180 converts the exhaust discharged from the reactor 160 into a gas mixture (for example, a product gas such as a fuel gas) and a liquid component (water, water, ash, a non-metallic catalyst, or the like). ). As the gas-liquid separator 180, for example, an existing gas-liquid separator such as a separator can be used.

  The gas tank 181 is a container (preferably a pressure resistant container) that stores the gas component (product gas) separated by the gas-liquid separator 180.

  The heater 161 uses a part of the generated gas (fuel gas) stored in the gas tank 181 as fuel, for example, burns together with a gas containing oxygen (for example, oxygen gas, air, etc.) to heat the reactor 160, An apparatus for heating the slurry body to a predetermined temperature. The heater 163 heats the preheater 162 by burning a part of the generated gas (fuel gas) stored in the gas tank 181 with, for example, a gas containing oxygen (for example, oxygen gas, air, etc.). And the slurry body is heated to a predetermined temperature. The heaters 161 and 163 are existing devices that burn and heat fuel gas, such as a burner, for example.

  The catalyst recovery unit 182 recovers the nonmetallic catalyst from the liquid component when the liquid component separated by the gas-liquid separator 180 contains a nonmetallic catalyst other than water, ash, or the like. An apparatus for separating a metal catalyst from a liquid component. In FIG. 4, the schematic block diagram of the catalyst collection | recovery device 182 which isolate | separates ash in a liquid component, a nonmetallic catalyst, and water each demonstrated as one Embodiment of this invention is shown. In the present embodiment, the case where the nonmetallic catalyst is activated carbon having a lower sedimentation rate (termination rate) than ash will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the catalyst recovery unit 182 includes a mixed liquid injection unit 410, a water tank 420, a circulation pump 430, a supply pipe 440, an ash receiving unit 450, valves 460, 461, and 470.

  The liquid mixture injection unit 410 is a pipe for injecting the liquid component (mixed liquid containing ash, activated carbon, water, etc.) separated by the gas-liquid separator 180. The water tank 420 is a cylindrical container in which water for slowly sinking ash and activated carbon in the mixed liquid injected from the mixed liquid injection unit 410 is placed. The water tank 420 has a discharge port 421 for allowing ash in the liquid mixture injected from the liquid mixture injection unit 410 to settle and discharge the water from the water tank 420, an activated carbon receiving part 422 423 for receiving activated carbon in the liquid mixture, and an ash floating in the water tank 420. And a drain outlet 424 for discharging suspended matter such as activated carbon and water together with water.

  The ash receiving unit 450 is a container that receives the ash that has settled from the discharge port 421. The circulation pump 430 is a pump that circulates the water in the water tank 420. The supply pipe 440 is a pipe that introduces water circulated by the circulation pump 430 into the water tank 420 through the discharge port 421. The water circulated by the circulation pump 430 is supplied from the discharge port 421 to the water tank 420 at a flow rate that is faster than the sedimentation rate of the activated carbon and slower than the sedimentation rate of the ash. As a result, the ash in the mixed liquid injected from the mixed liquid injection unit 410 settles in the ash receiving unit 450 through the discharge port 421, but the activated carbon in the mixed liquid injected from the mixed liquid injection unit 410 is It moves to the activated carbon receiving part 422,423 without passing through the discharge port 421.

  In the present embodiment, the activated carbon receivers 422 and 423 are provided with ridges 425 and 426 made of finer mesh than the activated carbon particles so that the activated carbon collected in the receivers 422 and 423 can be collected. The ash receiving unit 450 is provided with a ridge 451 made of a mesh finer than ash particles so that the ash collected in the receiving unit 450 can be collected.

  The valves 460 and 461 are valves that discharge water from the water tank 420. After separating the ash and activated carbon in the mixed solution injected from the gas-liquid separator 180, the activated carbon accumulated in the tanks 425 and 426 is recovered by draining the water in the water tank 420 through the valves 460 and 461. Can do. Further, the valve 470 is a valve for draining water from the ash receiving unit 450. After separating the ash and activated carbon in the mixed solution injected from the gas-liquid separator 180, the ash collected in the tub 451 can be recovered by draining the water of the ash receiving portion 450 by the valve 470. .

  By providing the catalyst recovery device 182 as described above in the system 200 of the present invention, the mixed solution can be separated into the nonmetallic catalyst, the ash, and the water, and the nonmetallic catalyst can be recovered. This makes it possible to reuse the recovered nonmetallic catalyst.

  The catalyst recovery unit 182 includes an existing solid-liquid separator that separates the mixed liquid containing the ash, the nonmetallic catalyst, and water separated by the gas-liquid separator 180 into a solid component and a liquid component; It may be a combination with an existing sieve device that separates the ash in the separated solid component and the nonmetallic catalyst by sieving.

  The first heat exchanger 130 is obtained by hydrothermal treatment in the pretreatment device 140, and uses the heat of the biomass slurry containing the nonmetallic catalyst to be hydrothermally treated in the reactor 160. 140 is an apparatus for preheating biomass or the like to be subjected to hot water treatment.

  The second heat exchanger 131 is hydrothermally treated in the reactor 160 using the heat of the effluent discharged from the reactor 160 including the product gas generated by hydrothermal treatment in the reactor 160. An apparatus for preheating a biomass slurry containing a non-metallic catalyst.

  As described above, by providing the heat exchangers 130 and 131 in the system 200 of the present invention, energy can be used effectively, so that fuel gas can be generated from biomass with low energy and low cost. Moreover, since the heating time in each apparatus 140,160 is shortened, fuel gas can be efficiently generated from biomass. Therefore, it can be said that the system 200 provided with the heat exchangers 130 and 131 is excellent in economic efficiency.

  The power generation device 190 is a device that generates power using the generated gas (fuel gas) stored in the gas tank 181 as fuel. The power generation device 190 is an existing device such as a gas engine (reciprocating engine or rotary engine), a gas turbine, a Stirling engine, or a fuel cell.

  In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, biomass is heated by using heat (exhaust heat) of exhaust gas discharged from the power generation device 190 when the power generation device 190 generates power using the generated gas as fuel. The system 200 includes a preheater 164 having a heat exchanger that preheats a fuel used in the heaters 161 and 163, for example, a gas containing oxygen. As described above, since the system 200 of the present invention includes the pretreatment device 140 having the heat exchanger and / or the preheater 164, energy can be efficiently used. In addition to being able to produce fuel gas such as hydrogen, it is also possible to generate electric power and supply electric power with low energy and low cost. Accordingly, it is possible to reduce the amount of heated fuel used, reduce the amount of exhaust gas generated, and the like.

  As described above, the exhaust heat of the power generation device 190 may be used by the pretreatment device 140 and the preheater 164 regardless of the temperature of the exhaust heat of the power generation device 190, but the exhaust heat depends on the exhaust gas temperature of the power generation device 190. You may change how to use heat suitably. Specifically, when the exhaust gas temperature of the power generation device 190 is higher than the reaction temperature in the reactor 160, the exhaust heat may be used only by the preheater 164, or the exhaust heat is used only by the pretreatment device 140. May be. Further, when the exhaust gas temperature of the power generation device 190 is lower than the reaction temperature in the reactor 160 and higher than the treatment temperature in the pretreatment device 140, the exhaust heat may be used only by the pretreatment device 140. As described above, by appropriately changing the method of using the exhaust heat according to the exhaust gas temperature of the power generation device 190, the exhaust heat of the power generation device 190 can be used more effectively.

  Further, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the heat of exhaust gas obtained by burning the generated gas in a fuel, for example, a gas containing oxygen, by a heater 163 is used to make a nonmetal. The reactor 160 is provided with a heat exchanger for heating the biomass slurry containing the system catalyst. Further, the heat of the exhaust gas used to heat the slurry body in the reactor 160 and / or the exhaust gas obtained by burning the product gas in the gas containing oxygen, for example, with the heater 161 as a fuel. A pre-heater 164 having a heat exchanger for preheating the biomass used for the heaters 161 and 163, for example, a gas containing oxygen, is provided in the pre-processing device 140 using the heat of the biomass. Are provided in the system 200. As described above, the reactor 160, the pretreatment device 140, the preheater 164, and the like are provided with a heat exchanger, and the product gas obtained by the heater 163 is burned in a gas containing oxygen, for example, as a fuel. Heat of exhaust gas, heat of exhaust gas used to heat the slurry body in the reactor 160, heat of exhaust gas obtained by burning in a gas containing oxygen, for example, with the product gas as fuel by the heater 161 By using the above, energy can be used more effectively.

  In the above description, the heat of the exhaust gas obtained by the heater 163 is used in the pretreatment device 140 or the preheater 164 after being used in the reactor 160, but in the pretreatment device 140 or the preheater 164. You may use it directly. Further, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the introduced material (specifically, gas containing biomass or oxygen, etc.) introduced into the pretreatment device 140 or the preheater 164 is discharged from the power generation device 190. After heating with a heat exchanger using heat, the heat of the exhaust gas used to heat the slurry body in the reactor 160 and / or the gas containing oxygen, for example, using the product gas as fuel by the heater 161 Although it heats with the heat exchanger using the heat | fever of the waste gas obtained by burning in, these positions may be changed suitably according to the temperature of each waste gas.

  Furthermore, in the above description, the system 200 of the present invention includes the second heat exchanger 131 that preheats the slurry body using the heat of the exhaust discharged from the reactor 160. A heat exchanger that preheats biomass or the like to be hydrothermally treated in the pretreatment device 140 using the heat of the exhaust discharged from the reactor 160, including the product gas generated by the System 200 may be provided.

  In addition, in the system 200 according to the present invention, in the crushing pump 110, the processing capacity in the crushing pump 110 is exceeded due to the crushing pieces (solid content) of the crushed biomass (gasification raw material) being deposited in the lower part. In some cases, the crushing pump 110 may be clogged due to blockage by biomass.

  Therefore, in such a system 200, the on-off valves 17 and 18 are set to the “closed” state at the timing when the fragments of biomass accumulate and the flow rate at the outlet of the crushing pump 110 disappears. Then, since the outflow from the crushing pump 110 is stopped, the biomass accumulated in the lower part of the crushing pump 110 floats in the crushing pump 110. Then, after a certain time (about 30 seconds in this embodiment) has elapsed, the on-off valve 17 is set to the “open” state, and the biomass in the crushing pump 110 is circulated to the adjustment tank 100. Then, the mixture or biomass is circulated between the crushing pump 110 and the adjustment tank 100. When the particle size of the biomass reaches a predetermined size, the on-off valve 17 is set to the “closed” state, and the on-off valve 18 is set to the “open” state. By doing so, the mixture mixed in the adjustment tank 100 is transferred to the crushed raw material tank 111. In this way, in this system 200, clogging due to broken pieces of biomass in the crushing pump 110 can be avoided.

  In addition, by providing the system 200 according to the present invention with the pretreatment device 140 that preliminarily treats the biomass with hot water, the biomass can be decomposed from a high molecular weight to a low molecular weight. In addition, the efficiency of contact with non-metallic catalysts can be increased, the generation of char and tar can be prevented, and fuel gas can be efficiently generated from biomass.

  Furthermore, since the biomass slurry body having excellent fluidity can be formed by hydrothermally treating the biomass in the pretreatment device 140, clogging of equipment and piping due to the biomass is prevented in the supply to the reactor 160. It becomes possible to do.

  In addition, the non-metallic catalyst used in the hydrothermal treatment in the pretreatment device 140 can be used in the hydrothermal reaction in the reactor 160 by the system 200 according to the present invention, thereby reducing catalyst consumption. It becomes possible to do.

  Furthermore, by providing the reactor 200 as shown in FIG. 2 in the system 200 according to the present invention, ash (residue) obtained by gasifying biomass with supercritical water is not accumulated in the reactor 160. In addition, gasification treatment of biomass with supercritical water can be performed continuously, and fuel gas can be generated more efficiently from biomass.

  Further, by providing the system 200 according to the present invention with a slurry supply device 150 as shown in FIG. 3, the above-mentioned slurry body that is easily separated into a solid component and a liquid component can be continuously supplied to the reactor 160 at a constant concentration. Therefore, it is possible to continuously supply a slurry body containing a non-metallic catalyst or biomass at a concentration with the highest gasification efficiency of supercritical water to the reactor 160 to generate fuel gas more efficiently from biomass. It becomes possible.

  Furthermore, by providing the system 200 according to the present invention with the cooler 170, the pressure reducer 171, the gas-liquid separator 180, etc., the produced gas containing the fuel gas can be safely recovered from the exhaust discharged from the reactor 160. Will be able to.

  Moreover, since the biomass can be previously crushed by providing the crushing pump 110 as a crusher for crushing biomass in the system 200 according to the present invention, it is possible to increase the efficiency of biomass slurrying and gasification. Become.

  Furthermore, since electric power and exhaust heat can be obtained by performing power generation by a gas engine using the fuel gas obtained by the system 200 according to the present invention, resource saving of fossil fuels such as coal and oil is achieved. It becomes possible.

  In the present embodiment, a mixture obtained by mixing a nonmetallic catalyst, biomass and water in the adjustment tank 100 is processed by the crushing pump 110 and supplied to the pretreatment device 140 by the supply pump 120. The system catalyst may be supplied directly to the pretreatment device 140, or the mixture of biomass and water may be processed by the crushing pump 110 and then the nonmetallic catalyst may be mixed and supplied to the pretreatment device 140.

  Here, in the system 200 described above, the case where the opening / closing operation of the on-off valves 17 and 18 is manually performed has been described. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and such opening / closing operation is controlled by a computer. Also good. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 7 in which the same reference numerals are assigned to the corresponding parts as in FIG. 1, the flow rate of the circulation pipe 16 near the outlet side of the circulation pipe 16 (that is, near the inlet side to the adjustment tank 100). And a controller 113 as an opening / closing controller for controlling the opening / closing operation of the on-off valve 17 based on the detection result by the flow rate transmitter 112. The controller 113 may be controlled by a computer, or may directly open and close the on-off valve 17.

== Biomass gasification method using supercritical water ==
Next, as an embodiment of the present invention, a method for gasifying biomass with supercritical water while adjusting the supply amount of biomass and water contained in biomass will be described.

  First, the mixture which mixed the biomass, the nonmetallic catalyst, and water with the adjustment tank 100 is prepared (adjustment process). The mass ratio between the nonmetallic catalyst and the biomass (the dried biomass) is preferably in the range of 1: 5 to 20: 1, and the biomass gasification efficiency is high of 1: 2 to 20: 1. It is particularly preferable that it is within the range. Moreover, it is preferable to adjust the quantity of the water to mix so that the moisture content of biomass may be 70-95 wt%. Thereby, the gasification efficiency by the supercritical water of biomass can be improved.

  As described above, the amount of non-metallic catalyst and water to be mixed with the biomass is adjusted, and the mixture obtained by mixing these and the biomass before mixing are crushed by the crusher 110 and are supplied to the adjustment tank 100 via the circulation pipe 16. After being circulated (circulation process), it is transferred to the pretreatment device 140 via the first heat exchanger 130 by the supply pump 120. The biomass supplied to the pretreatment device 140 is hydrothermally treated under the conditions of a predetermined pressure and a predetermined temperature in the presence of a nonmetallic catalyst supplied together with the biomass (pretreatment step).

  The conditions for the hydrothermal treatment are not particularly limited as long as the temperature is in the range of 100 to 250 ° C. and the pressure is in the range of 0.1 to 4 MPa. From the viewpoint of the efficiency of the treatment of decomposing into low molecules, it is preferably the saturation temperature of water under a pressure within these ranges, and from the viewpoint of energy saving, a temperature of 179.8 ° C. and a pressure of 1.0 MPa It is particularly preferred that Here, the reason why the hydrothermal treatment is performed at a temperature within the range of 100 ° C. to 250 ° C. is that the decomposition reaction rate of biomass is low below 100 ° C., and if it exceeds 250 ° C., generation of tar and char is concerned. is there. In addition, the hydrothermal treatment is performed at a pressure within the range of 0.1 to 4 MPa because the biomass decomposition reaction rate is low below 0.1 MPa, and the influence on the decomposition reaction rate is much higher even when a pressure higher than 4 MPa is applied. This is because I thought that it might not be.

  Thus, biomass can be efficiently decomposed from a polymer to a low molecule by hydrothermal treatment of the biomass in the presence of a nonmetallic catalyst.

The biomass slurry containing the nonmetallic catalyst obtained as described above provides heat to the mixture supplied from the supply pump 120 to the pretreatment device 140 by the first heat exchanger 130, and the slurry supply device 150 is transferred to the reactor 160 via the second heat exchanger 131 and the preheater 162 (feeding step). By adjusting the motion frequency of the supply device 150 using the motion frequency control device 151, the amount of slurry transferred from the slurry supply device 150 to the reactor 160 can be easily increased or decreased. For example, in order to avoid a sudden increase in the internal pressure of the reactor 160, when the internal temperature of the reactor 160 becomes close to the critical point, the controller 151 is used to decrease the motion frequency of the supply device 150, From the viewpoint of safety, it is preferable to reduce the amount of slurry supplied to the reactor 160. After the critical point is exceeded and the internal pressure of the reactor 160 becomes substantially constant, the amount of slurry supplied to the reactor 160 is increased by increasing the motion frequency of the supply device 150 using the control device 151. Increasing and reacting a large amount of slurry without changing the internal pressure of the reactor 160 rapidly is preferable from the viewpoint of efficiency.
In addition, the slurry body which passed the preheater 162 is heated to predetermined temperature.

  The biomass slurry supplied by the slurry supply apparatus 150 is introduced into the reactor 160 and hydrothermally treated under the conditions of a predetermined pressure and a predetermined temperature in the presence of a nonmetallic catalyst supplied together with the biomass. (Reaction process). The conditions for the hydrothermal treatment are not particularly limited as long as the temperature is 374 ° C. or higher and the pressure is 22.1 MPa or higher, but the generation of tar and char is suppressed and the reaction efficiency is increased. It is preferable to carry out under the temperature (600 degreeC) and pressure (within the range of 25-35 MPa) which can be performed, and it is especially preferable to carry out at 600 degreeC and 25 MPa from a viewpoint of the burden of equipment, deterioration prevention, and energy saving. In addition, when it is desired to control the ratio of components in the fuel gas converted from biomass, the temperature and pressure conditions are adjusted, and the fluid density and reaction time (the residence time of biomass in the reactor 160) It becomes possible by controlling the above.

  Thus, by reacting the biomass slurry body with supercritical water, it becomes possible to generate combustion gas from the biomass slurry body. In addition, by reducing the biomass from a polymer in advance, the contact efficiency with water or a non-metallic catalyst can be increased, and furthermore, the gasification reaction time of the biomass can be shortened. Fuel gas such as hydrogen gas, methane, ethane, and ethylene can be generated more efficiently from the slurry body.

  The product gas generated by hydrothermally treating the biomass slurry in the reactor 160 is discharged from the reactor 160. This discharged material is supplied to the reactor 160 by the second heat exchanger 131 from the slurry supply device 150, and then supplies heat to the biomass slurry including the nonmetallic catalyst, and then the cooler 170 and the decompressor 171. It is cooled and decompressed and transferred to the gas-liquid separator 180. The exhaust gas supplied to the gas-liquid separator 180 is separated into product gas (gas component) containing fuel gas and water or a mixed solution (liquid component) containing water, ash, non-metallic catalyst, etc. The generated gas is stored in the gas tank 181. When the mixed liquid separated by the gas-liquid separator 180 contains ash other than water, a nonmetallic catalyst, or the like, the mixed liquid is ashed by the catalyst recovery unit 182, the nonmetallic catalyst, and Each may be separated into water to recover the nonmetallic catalyst. Thereby, it becomes possible to reuse the nonmetallic catalyst.

  The generated gas (fuel gas) stored in the gas tank 181 is supplied to the power generator 190 and the heaters 161 and 163. The power generation device 190 generates power using the supplied generated gas and provides power. Further, the heaters 161 and 163 use the supplied product gas as fuel, for example, burn in oxygen-containing gas to heat the reactor 160 and the preheater 162, and heat the slurry body to a predetermined temperature.

  The exhaust gas discharged from the power generation device 190 when the power generation device 190 generates power using the generated gas as fuel is supplied to the pretreatment device 140 and the preheater 164, and the mixture supplied from the supply pump 120 to the pretreatment device 140 is heated. In the preheater 164, heat is supplied to the fuel used in the heaters 161 and 163, for example, a gas containing oxygen.

  Further, the exhaust gas obtained by burning the produced gas as fuel with the heater 163, for example, in a gas containing oxygen is supplied to the reactor 160 to provide heat to the slurry body. The exhaust gas provided with heat in the reactor 160 and the exhaust gas obtained by burning in the gas containing oxygen, for example, with the product gas as the fuel by the heater 161 are supplied to the pretreatment device 140 and the preheater 164. Then, heat is supplied to the mixture supplied from the supply pump 120 to the pretreatment device 140, and heat is supplied to the fuel, for example, oxygen-containing gas, used in the heaters 161 and 163 in the preheater 164.

  In addition, as a nonmetallic catalyst used in this embodiment, activated carbon, a zeolite, a mixture thereof etc. can be mentioned, for example. Thus, by using a nonmetallic catalyst instead of an alkali metal catalyst, it is possible to prevent deterioration due to corrosion of equipment or piping caused by the alkali metal catalyst, and the system 200 can be used for a long time. Become. In addition, a processing step for neutralizing the alkali metal catalyst is not required, and the efficiency of workability can be improved. As the non-metallic catalyst, it is preferable to use a powder having an average particle size of 200 μm or less, and more preferably porous. By using such a nonmetallic catalyst, it is possible to increase the surface area and increase the reaction efficiency, and to prevent clogging of equipment, piping, etc. in the system 200 due to the nonmetallic catalyst.

  In addition, when the biomass to be treated in the present embodiment is wastewater sludge or manure containing foreign substances such as sand, a known separation technique (for example, before and after the biomass is hydrothermally treated in the pretreatment device 140). Foreign substances such as sand contained in biomass may be removed by a separation method using a trainer or a separation method using a sediment layer. As a result, troubles caused by foreign matters such as sand can be prevented.

  Further, in the above-described circulation step, the on-off valves 17 and 18 are set to the “closed” state at the timing when the fragments of biomass are accumulated and the outlet flow rate of the crushing pump 110 disappears. Then, since the outflow from the crushing pump 110 is stopped, the biomass accumulated in the lower part of the crushing pump 110 floats in the crushing pump 110. Then, after a certain time (about 30 seconds in this embodiment) has elapsed, the on-off valve 17 is set to the “open” state, and the biomass in the crushing pump 110 is circulated to the adjustment tank 100. Then, the mixture or biomass is circulated between the crushing pump 110 and the adjustment tank 100. When the particle size of the biomass reaches a predetermined size, the on-off valve 17 is set to the “closed” state, and the on-off valve 18 is set to the “open” state. By doing so, the mixture mixed in the adjustment tank 100 is transferred to the crushed raw material tank 111. In this way, in this biomass gasification method, clogging due to broken pieces of biomass in the crushing pump 110 can be avoided.

  In the biomass gasification method described above, the case where the opening / closing operation of the opening / closing valves 17 and 18 is performed manually has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the opening / closing operation is controlled by a computer. May be.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 8, when the gasification raw material is supplied (input) to the adjustment tank 100 and the gasification raw material containing biomass is crushed and circulated to the adjustment tank 100 by the crushing pump 110, the circulation pipe The detection result by the flow rate transmitter 112 provided in the vicinity of the 16 outlet sides (that is, the vicinity of the inlet side to the adjustment tank 100) detects the flow rate “0” or an approximate value thereof. Then, the controller 113 monitoring the detection result from the flow rate transmitter 112 determines that the crushing pump 110 is in the closed state, and controls the opening / closing operation of the on-off valve 17.

  That is, the controller 113 controls the open / close valve 17 to be in the “closed” state based on the detection result from the flow rate transmitter 112. Then, after a certain time (about 30 seconds in this embodiment) has elapsed, the on-off valve 17 is set to the “open” state, and the biomass in the crushing pump 110 is circulated to the adjustment tank 100. At this time, for example, if a timer or the like is provided in the on-off valve 17 and the predetermined time is set, the control can be further simplified.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be specifically described by way of examples. These examples are for explaining the present invention, and do not limit the scope of the present invention.

[Example 1]
A biomass slurry obtained by stirring and mixing 97.6 parts by mass of water, 2 parts by mass of chicken dung, and 0.4 parts by mass of activated carbon having a particle size of 20 μm and hydrothermally treated at 180 ° C. and 1.1 MPa was used as a high pressure pump. Was pressed into a tubular reactor, and a reaction with supercritical water was performed under conditions of 600 ° C. and 25 MPa. As a control experiment, a gasification reaction with supercritical water was similarly performed without adding activated carbon. As a result, it is clear that the carbon gasification rate is 73% when no activated carbon is added, whereas the carbon gasification rate increases to 88% when 0.4 parts by mass of activated carbon is added. Became.

[Example 2]
Next, 80 parts by mass of water, 20 parts by mass of cellulose powder, and 20 parts by mass of activated carbon having an average particle size of 100 μm were stirred and mixed to prepare a slurry. Thereafter, 40 ml of the slurry was poured into a 167 ml autoclave equipped with a stirrer, and the temperature was raised to 400 ° C. while stirring at a pressure of 25 MPa and held for 1 hour to perform a gasification reaction with supercritical water. After the reaction, the reaction mixture was cooled to room temperature, and the product gas was recovered to determine the carbon gasification rate. As a control experiment, the same treatment was performed without adding activated carbon. As a result, it was found that the carbon gasification rate was 10% when no activated carbon was added, whereas the carbon gasification rate increased to 30% when activated carbon was added.
From the above, it became clear that the gasification efficiency of biomass can be increased by the addition of a non-metallic catalyst such as activated carbon.

[Example 3]
As shown in FIG. 4, a dispersion plate (net) is provided below a fluidized bed reactor 160 (φ12.3 mm × 2400 mm) provided with an inlet 210 and an outlet 220, and alumina balls having an average particle diameter of 1 mm are flowed. Installed as a medium. In this fluidized bed reactor 160, a mixture of alumina particles (average particle size of 180 to 250 μm or average particle size of 250 to 300 μm) mixed with water instead of biomass (ash) or non-metallic catalyst is mixed with alumina. The particles were ejected and introduced from the inlet 210 at a flow rate (0.19 m / s to 0.60 m / s) at which the alumina balls as the fluid medium did not eject, and the alumina particles discharged from the outlet 220 were collected.

  As a result, when alumina particles having an average particle diameter of 180 to 250 μm are introduced into the fluidized bed reactor 160, 97.5% alumina particles can be recovered, and alumina particles having an average particle diameter of 250 to 300 μm are recovered. When introduced into the fluidized bed reactor 60, it was found that 98.9% alumina particles could be recovered. From this, a slurry body of biomass (average particle size is 300 μm or less) containing a nonmetallic catalyst is supplied to the fluidized bed reactor 160 as described above at a predetermined flow rate (for example, the maximum at which the fluidized medium does not jump out from the discharge port). The generated product gas and ash, as well as non-metallic catalyst and water (supercritical water) are obtained by performing a hydrothermal reaction at a predetermined temperature and a predetermined pressure while being introduced from the inlet 210 at a flow rate). It was shown that it can be discharged from the outlet 220.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Adjustment tank 101 Top cover 10 Stirring means 11 Drive motor 11a Drive shaft 12 Rotating shaft 13 Stirring blade 15 Raw material supply pipe 16 Circulation pipe 17 Open / close valve (open / close valve)
18 On-off valve (inlet valve) 110 Crushing pump 20 Casing 20a Discharge nozzle 20b Front flange surface 22 Rotating shaft 22a Fixed nut 24 Bearing (mechanical seal)
25 Suction path 26 Impeller 27 Crushing blade 28 Intermediate case 29 Clamping bolt 30 Grid-shaped fixed blade 31 Shroud ring 32 Suction casing 33 Bolt 34 Fixed face 35 Adjustment handle 35a Fitting recess 111 Crushed material tank 112 Flow rate transmitter 113 Controller ( 120 Supply pump 130 First heat exchanger 131 Second heat exchanger 140 Pretreatment device 150 Slurry supply device 151 Operating frequency control device 160 Reactor 161 Heater 162 Preheater 163 Heater 164 Preheater 170 Cooler 171 Pressure reducer 180 Gas-liquid separator 181 Gas tank 182 Catalyst recovery unit 190 Power generation device 200 Biomass gasification system

In order to solve the above problems, a biomass gasification system according to the present invention is:
A pretreatment device for hydrothermally treating biomass under predetermined conditions in the presence of a nonmetallic catalyst;
A reactor that generates gas by hydrothermally treating the biomass slurry containing the non-metallic catalyst obtained by hydrothermal treatment by the pretreatment device under predetermined conditions;
A slurry gas supply system comprising: a slurry supply device that supplies the slurry body received from the pretreatment device to the reactor,
An adjusting unit that is arranged upstream of the pretreatment device and stirs and mixes the supplied biomass, water, and the nonmetallic catalyst,
A crusher for crushing the biomass contained in the stirring mixture supplied from the adjustment unit;
A raw material supply pipe for connecting the crusher and the pretreatment device, and transferring the biomass crushed by the crusher to the pretreatment device,
A first on-off valve provided in the raw material supply pipe for opening and closing the raw material supply pipe;
A circulation pipe that is provided in the raw material supply pipe, connects the crusher and the adjustment unit, and circulates the biomass crushed by the crusher to the adjustment unit;
A second on- off valve provided on the circulation pipe and opening and closing the circulation pipe;
The crusher is connected to the lower part of the adjustment unit,
A casing in which a suction passage for taking in the biomass supplied from the adjustment unit is formed above, and a discharge nozzle for discharging the biomass crushed below is formed;
A fixed face attached to the casing;
A rotating shaft rotatably provided at the center of the casing;
A crushing blade provided integrally with the rotating shaft,
While crushing the biomass between the crushing blade and the fixed blade rotating integrally with the rotating shaft,
After crushed pieces of the crushed the biomass remaining in the crusher is, that when deposited beyond the processing capacity of the crusher, said first and second on-off valve is closed, after a fixed time, the By opening the second on- off valve, the crushed pieces of biomass are circulated to the adjusting unit via the circulation pipe.

Moreover, the biomass gasification method according to the present invention comprises:
A pretreatment step for producing a slurry body of the biomass containing the nonmetallic catalyst by hydrothermal treatment under predetermined conditions in the presence of a nonmetallic catalyst;
A supply step of supplying the biomass slurry containing the nonmetallic catalyst to a reactor using a slurry supply device;
A reaction step of generating gas by hydrothermally treating the slurry body supplied to the reactor under predetermined conditions, and a biomass gasification method comprising:
Before the pretreatment step, an adjustment step of stirring and mixing the biomass supplied to the adjustment unit, water, and the nonmetallic catalyst,
A crushing step of crushing the biomass contained in the stirring mixture in the adjustment step with a crusher;
A circulation step of circulating the biomass crushed in the crushing step from the crusher to the adjustment unit via a circulation pipe connecting the crusher and the adjustment unit;
In the pretreatment step,
The biomass crushed in the crushing step is transferred to the pretreatment device via a raw material supply pipe connecting the crusher and the pretreatment device,
In the crushing step,
In the crusher connected to the lower part of the adjustment unit,
A fixed face that is attached to a casing in which a suction path for taking in the biomass supplied from the adjustment unit is formed and a discharge nozzle for discharging the crushed biomass is formed in the lower part, and the center of the casing While crushing the biomass between a rotating shaft provided rotatably and a crushing blade provided integrally,
In the circulation step,
When the fragments of the crushed biomass remaining in the crusher have accumulated beyond the processing capacity of the crusher , the first on-off valve provided in the raw material supply pipe and the circulation pipe are provided. The second on- off valve is closed, and after a predetermined time has elapsed, the second on- off valve is opened to circulate the biomass fragments into the adjusting unit via the circulation pipe. .

Claims (8)

A pretreatment device for hydrothermally treating biomass under predetermined conditions in the presence of a nonmetallic catalyst;
A reactor that generates gas by hydrothermally treating the biomass slurry containing the non-metallic catalyst obtained by hydrothermal treatment by the pretreatment device under predetermined conditions;
A slurry gas supply system comprising: a slurry supply device that supplies the slurry body received from the pretreatment device to the reactor,
An adjusting unit that is arranged upstream of the pretreatment device and stirs and mixes the supplied biomass, water, and the nonmetallic catalyst,
A crusher for crushing the biomass contained in the stirring mixture supplied from the adjustment unit;
A circulation pipe that connects the crusher and the adjustment unit, and circulates the biomass crushed by the crusher to the adjustment unit;
An opening / closing valve provided on the circulation pipe for opening and closing the circulation pipe,
When the crushed pieces of the biomass remaining in the crusher have accumulated beyond the processing capacity of the crusher, the open / close valve is closed and the open / close valve is opened after a certain period of time. Then, the biomass fragments are circulated to the adjustment unit via the circulation pipe. A flow rate detection unit for detecting the flow rate of the circulation pipe is further provided,
When the detection result by the flow rate detection unit is a predetermined amount or less, it is determined that the crushed pieces of the biomass remaining in the crusher have accumulated beyond the processing capacity of the crusher. The biomass gasification system according to claim 1, wherein the biomass gasification system is characterized.   The biomass gasification system according to claim 1, further comprising an opening / closing control unit that controls opening / closing of the opening / closing valve. A timer that detects the passage of time is further provided.
The said opening / closing control part controls to make the said on-off valve open when it detects that the fixed time passed since the on-off valve was made into the closed state by the timer. Biomass gasification system. A pretreatment step for producing a slurry body of the biomass containing the nonmetallic catalyst by hydrothermal treatment under predetermined conditions in the presence of a nonmetallic catalyst;
A supply step of supplying the biomass slurry containing the nonmetallic catalyst to a reactor using a slurry supply device;
A reaction step of generating gas by hydrothermally treating the slurry body supplied to the reactor under predetermined conditions, and a biomass gasification method comprising:
Before the pretreatment step, an adjustment step of stirring and mixing the biomass supplied to the adjustment unit, water, and the nonmetallic catalyst,
A crushing step of crushing the biomass contained in the stirring mixture in the adjustment step with a crusher;
A circulation step of circulating the biomass crushed in the crushing step from the crusher to the adjustment unit via a circulation pipe connecting the crusher and the adjustment unit;
In the circulation step,
When the crushed pieces of the biomass remaining in the crusher have accumulated beyond the processing capacity of the crusher, the on-off valve provided in the circulation pipe is closed, and after a certain time has elapsed, The biomass gasification method characterized by circulating the said fragment of the said biomass to the said adjustment part via the said circulation piping by making the said on-off valve into an open state. In the circulation step,
The flow rate detection unit provided in the circulation pipe detects the flow rate of the circulation pipe,
When the detection result by the flow rate detection unit becomes a predetermined amount or less, it is determined that the crushed pieces of the biomass remaining in the crusher have accumulated beyond the processing capacity of the crusher. The biomass gasification system according to claim 5, characterized in that: In the circulation step,
The biomass gasification system according to claim 5 or 6, wherein opening and closing of the opening and closing valve is controlled by an opening and closing control unit. In the circulation step,
The on-off control unit controls the on-off valve to be in an open state when it is detected that a certain time has passed since the on-off valve was closed by a timer that detects the passage of time. The biomass gasification system according to 7.

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