Sorting biogenic materials according to a desired biochar formulation

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12325050-B2
Application number	US-202418903633-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 1, 2024
Priority date	Oct 2, 2023
Publication date	Jun 10, 2025
Grant date	Jun 10, 2025

Abstract

Sorting biogenic material from a stream of heterogeneous materials is disclosed, including: detecting biogenic material within an input stream of heterogeneous material; sorting the biogenic material based at least in part on a desired biochar formulation; and tracking a composition of a sorted mixture of biogenic material.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A sorting system, comprising:
one or more processors configured to:
detect biogenic material within an input stream of heterogeneous material;
determine to sort the biogenic material based at least in part on a desired biochar formulation; and
track a composition of a sorted mixture of biogenic material; and

a sorting device configured to perform a sorting operation on the biogenic material from the input stream of heterogeneous material.

2. The sorting system of claim 1 , wherein to detect the biogenic material within the input stream of heterogeneous material comprises to:
receive, from one or more image sensors, a set of images of the input stream of heterogeneous material;
identify a region within the set of images, wherein the biogenic material corresponds to the region; and
characterize the region within the set of images into a biogenic-related classification.

3. The sorting system of claim 2 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to query a chemical database to determine additional characteristics associated with the biogenic material based at least in part on the biogenic-related classification.

4. The sorting system of claim 3 , wherein the additional characteristics comprise one or more of the following: proximate ultimate data, composition by item types, chemical properties, and moisture data.

5. The sorting system of claim 3 , wherein the composition of the sorted mixture of biogenic material is determined based on one or more of the biogenic-related classification and the additional characteristics.

6. The sorting system of claim 1 , wherein to detect the biogenic material within the input stream of heterogeneous material comprises to analyze sensor data from one or more sensors.

7. The sorting system of claim 6 , wherein the one or more sensors include one or more of the following: an image sensor, a near infrared sensor, a hyperspectral sensor in the ultraviolet to the infrared ranges, a depth sensor, and a moisture sensor.

8. The sorting system of claim 1 , wherein to track the composition of the sorted mixture of biogenic material comprises to obtain sensed data from a sensor located in a container holding the sorted mixture of biogenic material, wherein the sensor includes one or more of the following: an image sensor, a near infrared sensor, a depth sensor, and a moisture sensor.

9. The sorting system of claim 1 , wherein to determine to sort the biogenic material comprises to:
compare attributes of the biogenic material to a set of target object criteria, wherein the set of target object criteria is determined based at least in part on the desired biochar formulation; and
determine that the attributes of the biogenic material match the set of target object criteria.

10. The sorting system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:
determine a discrepancy based at least in part on a comparison of the composition to the desired biochar formulation; and
reconfigure sorting parameters associated with the sorting device based at least in part on the discrepancy to cause additional material to be added to the sorted mixture of biogenic material and an update to the composition associated with the sorted mixture of biogenic material.

11. The sorting system of claim 10 , wherein the sorting parameters comprise target object criteria.

12. The sorting system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:
determine a discrepancy based at least in part on a comparison of the composition to the desired biochar formulation; and
reconfigure process parameters associated with sorting facility equipment based at least in part on the discrepancy to cause additional material to cause the sorted mixture of biogenic material to correspond to the desired biochar formulation,
wherein the process parameters comprise one or more of the following: shredder speed, shredder rotating pattern, screen speed, conveyor speed, drying temperature, drying residence time, pyrolysis temperature, pyrolysis residence time, mill sizing, and pressure associated with wind density separation devices.

13. The sorting system of claim 1 , wherein the sorting device comprises a first sorting device, wherein the sorting system further comprises a second sorting device, and wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:
determine a non-biogenic object on a pathway designated for biomass, wherein the sorting device had performed a previous sorting operation that removed the non-biogenic object from the input stream of heterogeneous material; and
remove the non-biogenic object from the pathway designated for biomass.

14. The sorting system of claim 1 , wherein the sorting device comprises a controllable array of air jets configured to perform the sorting operation by shooting a positive airflow on the biogenic material in a downcut configuration.

15. The sorting system of claim 14 , wherein the controllable array of air jets is configured to perform the sorting operation by shooting the positive airflow on the biogenic material based at least in part on a firing polygon, wherein the firing polygon is determined based at least in part on a location of the biogenic material on a conveyor device.

16. The sorting system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to:
obtain an analysis with respect to biochar produced from pyrolysis of at least the sorted mixture of biogenic material; and
determine to reconfigure sorting parameters associated with the sorting device based at least in part on the analysis.

17. The sorting system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to:
obtain an analysis with respect to biochar produced from pyrolysis of at least the sorted mixture of biogenic material; and
determine to reconfigure process parameters,
wherein the process parameters comprise one or more of the following: shredder speed, shredder rotating pattern, screen speed, conveyor speed, drying temperature, drying residence time, pyrolysis temperature, pyrolysis residence time, mill sizing, and pressure associated with wind density separation devices.

18. The sorting system of claim 1 , wherein the desired biochar formulation corresponds to one or more of the following biochar applications: concrete intermixing, asphalt intermixing, soil amendment, landfill cover, fuel for thermal processes, and a filtration system.

19. The sorting system of claim 1 , wherein the desired biochar formulation further corresponds to a desired syngas formulation, and wherein the desired syngas formulation corresponds to one or more of the following synthetic gas applications: onsite heat, onsite power, and use as a biofuel intermediate.

20. A method, comprising:
detecting biogenic material within an input stream of heterogeneous material;
sorting the biogenic material based at least in part on a desired biochar formulation; and
tracking a composition of a sorted mixture of biogenic material.

Assignees

• Amp Robotics Corp

Inventors

• Potter Carson C
• Douglas Cameron D
• Fitzgerald Jacob
• Castagneri Joseph M
• Horowitz Matanya B

Classifications

• B07B15/00

  Combinations of apparatus for separating solids from solids by dry methods applicable to bulk material, e.g. loose articles fit to be handled like bulk material (using wet methods B03B7/00; using gas currents B07B9/00) · CPC title

• B07B13/00

  Grading or sorting solid materials by dry methods, not otherwise provided for; Sorting articles otherwise than by indirectly controlled devices (grading eggs A01K43/04) · CPC title

• B07B1/00

  Sieving, screening, sifting, or sorting solid materials using networks, gratings, grids, or the like {(ash-sifters for domestic stoves or ranges F24B15/007)} · CPC title

• B03C1/02

  acting directly on the substance being separated · CPC title

• B02C23/14 Primary

  with more than one separator · CPC title