λ - LIQUID SYNTHETIC FUELS from SRF to LIQUID HYDROCARBONS

OVERVIEW

Hydrocarbons, the result of the natural degradation of organic-based materials in oxygen-free environments, typically available in nature in the form of petroleum, represent the energy carrier per excellence, as well as being the basic raw material for the realisation of a plurality of different chemical industry products.

The λ technology is able to transform organic materials of various origins into hydrocarbons, such as organic waste from the agricultural sector; forest waste; industrial waste; and the organic fraction of the municipal solid waste.

In particular, λ technology is able to produce hydrocarbons of constant quality, regardless of the quality of the incoming material, thanks to the technology applied to cracking the organic material, which tends to completely dissociate complex organic molecules and then favour their reformation in more stable compounds such as carbon dioxide, water and hydrocarbons.

The process, which reduces the time required for the production of hydrocarbons from millions of years to a few minutes, requires a large amount of energy.

The energy required by the λ plant is generated through the use of process by-products, sufficient to provide all the energy for the operation of the system both in terms of thermal and electrical requirements.

DESCRIPTION

The λ technology, through the integration of different physical processes, converts organic-based materials into a plurality of hydrocarbons.

A cogeneration system, powered by the non-exploitable fractions in hydrocarbons of the organic materials that feed the process, produces the thermal and electrical energy necessary for the total energy needs of the process itself.

The gaseous tributaries and ashes produced by the cogeneration plant, essentially consisting of carbon dioxide, water and mineral salts, are essential elements for the needs of greenhouses, optionally connectable to the plant, aimed at the production of plant substances in a controlled atmosphere.

The plant, dedicated to the transformation of organic material into hydrocarbons, together with its energy cogeneration system, falls within the plant engineering category called BIO REFINERY.

Operation Principles

The λ technology produces synthetic hydrocarbons by accelerating and reducing the process that led to the creation of fossil oil to a few minutes over millions of years.

The raw material, consisting of organic-based materials, as was the case for the process that led to the formation of fossil oil, is first degraded, then deprived of atmospheric oxygen and subsequently mixed under conditions of pressure and temperatures that favour the cracking of the chemical bonds of carbon to favour their recomposition into simpler molecules such as those of carbon dioxide, water and paraffin hydrocarbons.

Main operational steps:

1. 1. The raw material, in solid state, is loaded into the plant;

   2. A high-speed mill causes it to be crushed and partially dehydrated, transforming it into SRF, homogeneous in terms of density, humidity and calorific value;

   3. The SRF is mixed with a carrier oil that dehydrates it completely, deprives it of any contact with atmospheric oxygen and heats it up to its total liquefaction;

   4. The SRF, now liquefied, through a cavitation mill develops a process of flash pyrolysis which, through the input of a high amount of energy for a time of fractions of a second, favours the cracking of organic molecules and their immediate re-composition into simpler molecules;

   5. In the temperature conditions that occur after the cracking phase, most of the molecules formed are in the vapour state, ready to be separated in a special fractional distillation tower according to their subsequent use.

Cracking

The cracking system uses the liquified SRF at about 300°C and sends it to a device specially designed to induce the cavitation process.

The cavitation of the mixture induces in the liquid, in a point-like manner and for a few tenths of a second (flash pyrolysis), extremely high temperatures, which produce the breakdown of the molecules of the mixture and the consequent formation of simpler molecules, increasing the average temperature of the liquid up to 370 ° C.

The formation of new molecules develops naturally according to the enthalpy of formation of each single family, in particular we witness the oxidation of carbon (CO2), sulfur (SO2), silicon (SiO2), aluminum ( Al2O3), calcium (CaO) and hydrogen (H2O), up to the exhaustion of available oxygen and the subsequent formation of paraffin hydrocarbons of the type (CnH2n+2).

The formation of hydrocarbons develops according to the synthesis called High Temperature Fischer Tropsch (HTFS), which in the process described, in addition to its ideal temperature (330-350°C), also finds the presence of different catalysts naturally present in all organic based materials. The λ cracking system, in fact, unlike what happens in Fisher Tropsch systems fed by purified synthesis gas, carries with it, in the liquid phase, also many transition metals catalysing the reaction, such as Fe and in traces the Co, in the presence of excellent concentrations of SiO2 and Al2O3

Fractional Distillation

After the cracking process, a distillation phase follows through a condensation plate distillation tower.

This technology, through a distillation tower containing a series of "condensation plates", separates the various hydrocarbons according to their boiling point.

In particular, the following hamlets are divided inside the tower:

-        liquid hydrocarbons of the C5-C18 group, such as diesel oil, gasoline, kerosene, etc. .., which constitute the "product" of the plant;

-        heavy liquid hydrocarbons> C18, consisting of fuel oils, which are re circulated within the plant as a carrier oil for the fluff;

-        gaseous hydrocarbons <C5, CO2 and water vapor that are sent to the co-generator for energy purposes.

Energy Cogeneration System

In order to produce all the electrical and thermal energy necessary for its operation, the plant is equipped with a cogeneration system.

In particular, energy production takes place through the use of gaseous fuels taken from the head of the refining tower and the syngas formed by the gasification of the carbon residues of the process. 

The heat produced is used:

- in heat exchangers aimed at heating the oil / SRF mixture;

- in the heat exchanger aimed at feeding the electricity production system;

- in the exchanger / economiser aimed at preheating the combustion air of the cogeneration system.

THE HYDROCARBONS GENERATED BY λ

Liquid hydrocarbons are among the most commonly used energy carriers, normally known as gasoline, diesel and fuel oils, owing their success to their very high energy density and simplicity of storage and transport, as well as being the basic raw material for the realisation of a plurality of different products of the chemical industry.

The products of the λ technology consist of hydrocarbons mainly in the form of linear paraffins and to a lesser extent by cycloparaffins and aromatics.

The products of the λ technology, chemically and physically similar to a light paraffin crude oil of fossil origin, can therefore be refined and used in the same way as petroleum of fossil origin.

The hydrocarbon produced by the λ technology, starting from the MSW organic fraction, typically has the following characteristics:

Analyses carried out by the laboratory: VPS (Rotterdam)

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