HYDROTHERMAL DECOMPOSITION METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING PYROLYSIS LIQUID IN THE RANGE OF DEISEL FUEL

摘要

Conversion of organic matter to higher value hydrocarbon products comprises the step of decomposing the organic matter into liquid, char and gas in a fast catalytic hydrothermal method that has improved efficiency due to a high local energy transfer through a cavitational effect. Organic matter and catalysts are feed to a hydrothermal decomposition reactor to decompose the organic matter into gas, vapours and char that utilizes the high local energy transfer through a cavitational effect. The reactor operates at temperatures from about 200°C to 380°C with a residence time of about 1 to 60 minutes. The product is separated into a heavy slurry of char and oil, vapours and gas where the vapours are then condensed and separated into an aqueous fraction and an hydrocarbon fraction. Part of the char slurry is recycled to a cavitation chamber and excess char is outputted from the decomposition chamber.