Fuel and fuel additives can be produced by processes that provide Fischer-Tropsch liquids having high biogenic carbon concentrations of up to about 100% biogenic carbon. The fuels and fuel additive have essentially the same high biogenic concentration as the Fischer-Tropsch liquids which, in turn, contain the same concentration of biogenic carbon as the feedstock.

Processes for producing high biogenic concentration Fischer-Tropsch liquids derived from the organic fraction of municipal solid wastes (MSW) feedstock that contains a relatively high concentration of biogenic carbon (derived from plants) and a relatively low concentration of non-biogenic carbon (derived from fossil sources) wherein the biogenic content of the Fischer-Tropsch liquids is the same as the biogenic content of the feedstock.

The invention is directed to a co-gasification process that uses biomass and VGO as a feedstock to produce syngas which includes a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen.

Methods and systems for processing construction and demolition (C&D) materials to produce a product gas stream and/or electricity are disclosed herein. In some embodiments, the method comprises pre-processing C&D materials to produce a C&D feed, and processing the C&D feed to produce syngas. The C&D feed can comprise untreated wood, treated wood, paper and cardboard, yard waste, plastic, rubber, and/or foam. Processing the C&D feed can comprise gasifying the C&D feed, steam, and oxygen in a gasifier at a temperature of no more than 950° C. and/or a pressure of no more than 200 psi to produce syngas.

A system for the pyrolysis of a pyrolysis feedstock utilizes a pyrolysis reactor for producing pyrolysis products from the pyrolysis feedstock to be pyrolyzed. An eductor condenser unit in fluid communication with the pyrolysis reactor is used to condense pyrolysis gases. The eductor condenser unit has an eductor assembly having an eductor body that defines a first flow path with a venturi restriction disposed therein for receiving a pressurized coolant fluid and a second flow path for receiving pyrolysis gases from the pyrolysis reactor. The second flow path intersects the first flow path so that the received pyrolysis gases are combined with the coolant fluid. The eductor body has a discharge to allow the combined coolant fluid and pyrolysis gases to be discharged together from the eductor. A mixing chamber in fluid communication with the discharge of the eductor to facilitates mixing of the combined coolant fluid and pyrolysis gases, wherein at least a portion of the pyrolysis gases are condensed within the mixing chamber.

The invention is directed to a co-gasification process that uses biomass and VGO as a feedstock to produce syngas which includes a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen.

Pre-ground plastics of small particle size not more than 2 mm are co-fed into a solid fossil fuel fed entrained flow partial oxidation gasifier. A syngas composition can be made by charging an oxidant and a feedstock composition comprising recycle plastics and a solid fossil fuel to a gasification zone within a gasifier; gasifying the feedstock composition together with the oxidant in said gasification zone to produce said syngas composition; and discharging at least a portion of said syngas composition from said gasifier; wherein the recycled plastics are added to a feed point comprising a solid fossil fuel belt feeding a grinder after the solid fossil fuel is loaded on the belt, a solid fossil fuel belt feeding a grinder before the solid fossil fuel is loaded onto the belt, or a solid fossil fuel slurry storage tank containing a slurry of said solid fossil fuel ground to a size as the size fed to the gasification zone.

Some variations provide a process for producing biocarbon pellets, comprising: pyrolyzing a biomass-containing feedstock in a first pyrolysis reactor to generate a first biogenic reagent and a pyrolysis vapor; introducing the pyrolysis vapor to a separation unit, to generate a pyrolysis precipitate in liquid or solid form; contacting the first biogenic reagent with the pyrolysis precipitate, thereby generating an intermediate material; pelletizing the intermediate material, to generate intermediate pellets; optionally, drying the intermediate pellets; separately pyrolyzing the intermediate pellets in a second pyrolysis reactor to generate a second biogenic reagent and a pyrolysis off-gas; and recovering the second biogenic reagent as biocarbon pellets. Some variations provide a similar process that utilizes a carbon-containing condensed-matter material, which is not necessarily a pyrolysis precipitate. The disclosure provides improved processes for producing biocarbon compositions, especially with respect to carbon yield and biocarbon properties, such as reactivity.

Carbonaceous-containing material including biomass, municipal solid waste, and/or coal and/or contaminated soil, and/or other carbonaceous materials may be gasified at low temperatures utilizing a reactor designed to generate shockwaves in a supersonic gaseous vortex. Preprocessed waste may be introduced into the reactor. A gas stream may be introduced substantially tangentially to an inner surface of a chamber of the reactor to generate a gaseous vortex rotating about a longitudinal axis within the chamber. The gas stream may be introduced using a nozzle that accelerates the gas stream to a supersonic velocity, and may impinge on an impactor positioned within the reactor chamber. A frequency of shockwaves emitted from the nozzle into the gaseous vortex may be controlled. The processed waste discharged from the reactor, which may include a gas component and at least a solid component, can be subjected to separation, and at least some of the gas component and at least one solid component (i.e., tars) may be fed back to the feeding device so that the solids from the processed waste condense on preprocessed waste contained in the feeding device and are reprocessed within the reactor. The gas component from the feeding device may be cleaned after the solids have been condensed out in the feeding device.

A method and an apparatus for treating comminuted waste material the method comprising: •a) providing a heating chamber (28) and one or more combustion heating means (40a-f) for heating the contents of the heating chamber (28), the heating chamber (28) having an inlet (21) and an outlet (22), •b) feeding comminuted waste material through the inlet (21) and into the heating chamber (28); •c) heating the comminuted waste material in the heating chamber (28), using the combustion heating means (40a-f), to generate a combustible gas; and •d) supplying at least a portion of the generated combustible gas to the one or more combustion heating means (40a-f) for heating the heating chamber (28).