Obtaining biogenic material from a stream of heterogeneous materials

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12397322-B2
Application number	US-202418903639-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 1, 2024
Priority date	Oct 2, 2023
Publication date	Aug 26, 2025
Grant date	Aug 26, 2025

Abstract

Obtaining biogenic material from a stream of heterogeneous materials is disclosed, including: receiving an input stream of heterogeneous material; separating a sub-stream of at least biogenic material from the input stream of heterogeneous material using a screen; removing a set of non-biogenic material from the sub-stream of at least biogenic material based at least in part on density separation; and drying the sub-stream of at least biogenic material after removal of the set of non-biogenic material, wherein the sub-stream of at least biogenic material after removal of the set of non-biogenic material comprises biogenic material that is suitable to produce biochar.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for sorting biogenic material, comprising:
receiving an input stream of heterogeneous material;
separating a sub-stream of at least biogenic material from the input stream of heterogeneous material using a screen;
removing a set of non-biogenic material from the sub-stream of at least biogenic material based at least in part on density separation;
adding another set of sorted biogenic material into the sub-stream of at least biogenic material after the removal of the set of non-biogenic material; and
drying the sub-stream of at least biogenic material after the removal of the set of non-biogenic material, wherein the sub-stream of at least biogenic material after the removal of the set of non-biogenic material comprises biogenic material that is suitable to produce biochar.

2. The method for sorting biogenic material of claim 1 , wherein the screen comprises one or more of the following: a trommel, a disc screen, a ballistic separator, a finger screen, a flip-flow screen, a vibratory screen, a paddler separator, an auger screen, a trommel screen, a debris roll screen, and a star screen.

3. The method for sorting biogenic material of claim 1 , further comprising removing a set of inert material from the dried sub-stream of at least biogenic material.

4. The method for sorting biogenic material of claim 1 , wherein the input stream of heterogeneous material comprises municipal solid waste (MSW).

5. The method for sorting biogenic material of claim 1 , further comprising reducing material size within the input stream of heterogeneous material into smaller fractions using one or more of the following: a reducer, a shredder, and a bag breaker.

6. The method for sorting biogenic material of claim 1 , wherein the density separation is performed using one or more of the following: a wind shifter, an air knife, a cyclonic separator, an air magnet, and an air conveyor.

7. The method for sorting biogenic material of claim 1 , wherein removing the set of non-biogenic material from the sub-stream of at least biogenic material further comprises:
receiving, from an optical sensor, a sensed light signal with respect to an object;
determining the object comprises non-biogenic material based at least in part on the sensed light signal; and
using a sorting device to remove the object from the sub-stream of at least biogenic material.

8. The method for sorting biogenic material of claim 1 , wherein removing the set of non-biogenic material from the sub-stream of at least biogenic material further comprises:
receiving, from a near infrared sensor, a spectral signature with respect to an object in the input stream;
determining the object comprises non-biogenic material based at least in part on the spectral signature; and
using a sorting device to remove the object from the sub-stream of at least biogenic material.

9. The method for sorting biogenic material of claim 1 , further comprising removing one or more hazardous objects from the input stream of heterogeneous material.

10. The method for sorting biogenic material of claim 1 , further comprising removing one or more metallic objects from the input stream of heterogeneous material using a magnet, wherein the magnet comprises one or more of the following: an electromagnet, a permanent magnet, a drum magnet, and a belted magnet.

11. The method for sorting biogenic material of claim 1 , further comprising adding a set of lignocellulosic material into the sub-stream of at least biogenic material after removal of the set of non-biogenic material, or replacing at least a portion of the sub-stream of at least biogenic material after removal of the set of non-biogenic material with the set of lignocellulosic material.

12. The method for sorting biogenic material of claim 1 , wherein the drying comprising drying the sub-stream of at least biogenic material after the removal of the set of non-biogenic material until a measured moisture level reaches a desired range.

13. The method for sorting biogenic material of claim 1 , further comprising removing a set of fines from the dried sub-stream of at least biogenic material, wherein a fine comprises a fraction with a diameter that is 0.5 inches or less.

14. The method for sorting biogenic material of claim 1 , further comprising pyrolyzing the dried sub-stream of at least biogenic material to produce biochar or stabilized organic carbon, wherein the pyrolyzing the dried sub-stream of at least biogenic material is performed using one or more of the following: a rotary kiln, a screw auger, a vat, a tank, and a thermal composition unit.

15. The method for sorting biogenic material of claim 14 , further comprising adding inert material into the biochar according to a desired application of the biochar.

16. The method for sorting biogenic material of claim 14 , wherein the pyrolyzing is performed at a temperature range of 600° C. to 800° C.

17. The method for sorting biogenic material of claim 1 , where the drying of the input stream of heterogeneous material is performed using one or more of the following: a drum dryer, a thermal belt dryer, press drying, and passive drying.

18. The method for sorting biogenic material of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining a discrepancy based at least in part on a comparison of a composition of the sub-stream of at least biogenic material after removal of the set of non-biogenic material to a desired formulation; and
reconfiguring process parameters associated with sorting facility equipment based at least in part on the discrepancy,
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.

19. The method for sorting biogenic material of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving, from one or more image sensors, a set of images of the input stream of heterogeneous material;
identifying a region within the set of images, wherein the biogenic material corresponds to the region; and
characterizing the region within the set of images into a biogenic-related classification.

20. A method for sorting biogenic material, comprising:
receiving an input stream of heterogeneous material;
separating a sub-stream of at least biogenic material from the input stream of heterogeneous material using a screen;
removing a set of non-biogenic material from the sub-stream of at least biogenic material based at least in part on density separation;
adding a set of lignocellulosic material into the sub-stream of at least biogenic material after the removal of the set of non-biogenic material, or replacing at least a portion of the sub-stream of at least biogenic material after the removal of the set of non-biogenic material with the set of lignocellulosic material; and
drying the sub-stream of at least biogenic material after the removal of the set of non-biogenic material, wherein the sub-stream of at least biogenic material after the removal of the set of non-biogenic material comprises biogenic material that is suitable to produce biochar.

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