Reactor for hydrothermal carbonization with optimized mixture of sludge and steam

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10151480-B2
Application number	US-201615324270-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 3, 2016
Priority date	Jun 5, 2015
Publication date	Dec 11, 2018
Grant date	Dec 11, 2018

Abstract

Disclosed is a reactor for treating, particularly by hydrothermal carbonization, sludge containing organic matter, including, with:
a vessel ( 100 ) including an inner chamber arranged to receive the sludge and to form a path of travel for the sludge adapted to allow for circulation of the sludge, a sludge inlet ( 1 ) arranged to introduce the sludge into a sludge introduction area of the inner chamber, a sludge outlet ( 11 ) arranged to discharge at least part of the sludge contained in the inner chamber, and a steam inlet ( 3 ) arranged to inject steam in a steam injection zone of the inner chamber along a steam injection direction, the steam injection direction being different from a sludge circulation direction in the steam injection zone along the circulation path, the steam injection zone being separated from the sludge introduction zone.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A reactor for treating sludge containing organic matter, particularly by hydrothermal carbonization, including:
a vessel ( 100 ) comprising an inner chamber arranged to receive the sludge and to form a circulation path for the sludge adapted to allow the sludge to circulate,
a sludge inlet ( 1 ) arranged to introduce the sludge into a sludge introduction area of the inner chamber,
a sludge outlet ( 11 ) arranged to discharge at least part of the sludge contained in the inner chamber, and
a steam inlet ( 3 ) arranged to inject steam in a steam injection zone of the inner chamber along a steam injection direction, the steam injection direction being different from a sludge circulation direction in the steam injection zone along the circulation path, the steam injection zone being separated from the sludge introduction zone,
wherein the circulation path comprises at least a closed loop; and
said reactor further comprising, in an upper portion of the inner chamber, a degassing volume ( 8 ) arranged to collect gaseous effluents contained in the sludge, the reactor further comprising at least one vent ( 10 ) arranged to discharge these gaseous effluents.

2. The reactor according to claim 1 , wherein the inner chamber is of vertical dimension L, and wherein the steam injection zone is separated from the sludge introduction zone by a distance greater than L/12.

3. The reactor of claim 2 , wherein the steam injection zone is separated from the sludge introduction zone by a distance greater than L/8.

4. The reactor of claim 2 , wherein the steam injection zone is separated from the sludge introduction zone by a distance greater than L/4.

5. The reactor according to claim 2 , wherein the steam injection direction is against the sludge circulation direction ( 2 ) in the steam injection zone.

6. The reactor according to claim 2 , further comprising a circulator ( 6 ) arranged to circulate the sludge in the inner chamber along the circulation path.

7. The reactor according to claim 1 , wherein the steam injection direction is against the sludge circulation direction ( 2 ) in the steam injection zone.

8. The reactor according to claim 7 , further comprising a circulator ( 6 ) arranged to circulate the sludge in the inner chamber along the circulation path.

9. The reactor according to claim 1 , further comprising a circulator ( 6 ) arranged to circulate the sludge in the inner chamber along the circulation path.

10. The reactor according to claim 9 , wherein the inner chamber comprises an inner space ( 2 b ) located inside the tube ( 101 ) and an outer space ( 4 b ) located outside the tube ( 101 ), the reactor being arranged:
so that the steam injection zone is located in a lower region of the inner space ( 2 b ) of the tube ( 101 ), the lower region comprising a first end of the tube ( 101 ),
so that the circulator ( 6 ) is located, at least in part, in an upper region of the inner space ( 2 b ) of the tube ( 101 ), the upper region comprising a second end of the tube ( 101 ) opposite the first end, and
so that the sludge introduction zone is located between the lower region and the upper region of the inner space ( 2 b ) of the tube ( 101 ).

11. The reactor according to claim 1 , further comprising at least one orifice ( 9 ) arranged to inject the acid to the vessel ( 100 ).

12. The reactor according to claim 1 , wherein the vessel ( 100 ) comprises a wall ( 101 ) arranged to separate two parts of the circulation path having opposing sludge circulation directions ( 2 , 4 ).

13. The reactor according to claim 12 , wherein the wall ( 101 ) forms a tube.

14. The reactor according to claim 1 , further comprising a hydrocyclone ( 400 ) arranged to selectively eliminate heavy particles contained in the sludge circulating in the vessel ( 100 ).

15. A reactor for treating sludge containing organic matter, particularly by hydrothermal carbonization, including:
a vessel ( 100 ) comprising an inner chamber arranged to receive the sludge and to form a circulation path for the sludge adapted to allow the sludge to circulate,
a sludge inlet ( 1 ) arranged to introduce the sludge into a sludge introduction area of the inner chamber,
a sludge outlet ( 11 ) arranged to discharge at least part of the sludge contained in the inner chamber, and
a steam inlet ( 3 ) arranged to inject steam in a steam injection zone of the inner chamber along a steam injection direction, the steam injection direction being different from a sludge circulation direction in the steam injection zone along the circulation path, the steam injection zone being separated from the sludge introduction zone,
wherein the circulation path comprises at least a closed loop, and
wherein the vessel ( 100 ) comprises an inner jacketing ( 101 ) arranged to delimit the circulation path so as to constitute:
an ascending channel ( 4 b ) in an annular passage between an internal face of the inner chamber and jacketing ( 101 ),
a descending channel ( 2 b ) in a cylindrical conduit formed by the jacketing ( 101 ),
an upper transverse section ( 21 ) arranged to allow sludge to circulate from the ascending channel ( 4 b ) to the descending channel ( 2 b ),
a lower transverse section ( 22 ) arranged to allow sludge to circulate from the descending channel ( 2 b ) to the ascending channel ( 4 b ).

16. The reactor according to claim 15 , further comprising, in an upper portion of the inner chamber, a degassing volume ( 8 ) arranged to collect gaseous effluents contained in the sludge, the reactor further comprising at least one vent ( 10 ) arranged to discharge these gaseous effluents.

17. A reactor for treating sludge containing organic matter, particularly by hydrothermal carbonization, including:
a vessel ( 100 ) comprising an inner chamber arranged to receive the sludge and to form a circulation path for the sludge adapted to allow the sludge to circulate,
a sludge inlet ( 1 ) arranged to introduce the sludge into a sludge introduction area of the inner chamber,
a sludge outlet ( 11 ) arranged to discharge at least part of the sludge contained in the inner chamber, and
a steam inlet ( 3 ) arranged to inject steam in a steam injection zone of the inner chamber along a steam injection direction, the steam injection direction being different from a sludge circulation direction in the steam injection zone along the circulation path, the steam injection zone being separated from the sludge introduction zone,
wherein the circulation path comprises at least a closed loop,
said reactor further comprising a circulator ( 6 ) arranged to circulate the sludge in the inner chamber along the circulation path, and
wherein the circulation path is defined by:
a first tube defining an ascending path ( 4 bc ),
a second tube defining a descending path ( 2 bc ),
a first transverse conduit ( 5 ) arranged so that the first and the second tubes emerge, at their upper portions, in this first transverse conduit ( 5 ), the reactor comprising, in an upper portion of the first transverse conduit ( 5 ), a degassing volume ( 8 ) arranged to collect effluent gaseous contained in the sludge, and
a second transverse conduit ( 12 ) arranged so that the first and the second tubes emerge, at their lower portions, in this second transverse conduit ( 12 ).

18. The reactor according to claim 17 , wherein the circulator ( 6 ) is arranged to generate the circulation of sludge in the second transverse conduit ( 12 ).

19. The reactor according to claim 17 , further co

Assignees

• Suez Int

Inventors

• Pardo Pierre Emmanuel
• Bourdais Jean-Louis

Classifications

• C02F11/10 Primary

  by pyrolysis · CPC title

• Y02W10/40

  Valorisation of by-products of wastewater, sewage or sludge processing · CPC title

• C02F1/38 Primary

  by centrifugal separation · CPC title

• C02F2303/06

  Sludge reduction, e.g. by lysis · CPC title

• F23G5/0276

  using direct heating · CPC title