Apparatus and associated methods relate to cooling hot biochar based on applying cool gas directly to the hot biochar. The gas may be steam comprising water vapor. Biochar may be cooled in a cooling chamber by cool steam injected into a steam loop configured to cool the steam. The biochar cooled with steam may be dried in a drying chamber by dry gas injected from a gas loop. The gas may be hydrocarbon gas. Biochar may be heated in a processing chamber. Heated biochar may be cooled in a cooling chamber by cool hydrocarbon gas injected to the cooling chamber. Biochar in the processing chamber may be heated with heat recovered from cooling. Filtered byproducts and tail gas may be recovered from the cooling chamber. Tail gas may be recycled. Various direct biochar cooling implementations may produce biochar having enhanced carbon content, increased surface area, and a hydrogen stream byproduct.

Apparatus and associated methods relate to cooling hot biochar based on applying cool gas directly to the hot biochar. The gas may be steam comprising water vapor. Biochar may be cooled in a cooling chamber by cool steam injected into a steam loop configured to cool the steam. The biochar cooled with steam may be dried in a drying chamber by dry gas injected from a gas loop. The gas may be hydrocarbon gas. Biochar may be heated in a processing chamber. Heated biochar may be cooled in a cooling chamber by cool hydrocarbon gas injected to the cooling chamber. Biochar in the processing chamber may be heated with heat recovered from cooling. Filtered byproducts and tail gas may be recovered from the cooling chamber. Tail gas may be recycled. Various direct biochar cooling implementations may produce biochar having enhanced carbon content, increased surface area, and a hydrogen stream byproduct.

Apparatus and associated methods relate to cooling hot biochar based on applying cool gas directly to the hot biochar. The gas may be steam comprising water vapor. Biochar may be cooled in a cooling chamber by cool steam injected into a steam loop configured to cool the steam. The biochar cooled with steam may be dried in a drying chamber by dry gas injected from a gas loop. The gas may be hydrocarbon gas. Biochar may be heated in a processing chamber. Heated biochar may be cooled in a cooling chamber by cool hydrocarbon gas injected to the cooling chamber. Biochar in the processing chamber may be heated with heat recovered from cooling. Filtered byproducts and tail gas may be recovered from the cooling chamber. Tail gas may be recycled. Various direct biochar cooling implementations may produce biochar having enhanced carbon content, increased surface area, and a hydrogen stream byproduct.

The present invention is directed to a process for the production of a syngas suited for further conversion to fine chemicals and/or automotive fuels from biomass by a thermochemical process conducted in a several steps procedure, said process comprising; a) Providing a stream of biomass material; b) Providing an aqueous alkaline catalyst stream comprising sodium and/or potassium compounds; c) Mixing comminuted biomass and alkaline catalyst and optional additives to form an alkaline biomass slurry or suspension; d) Treating alkaline biomass slurry or suspension in a hydrothermal treatment reactor at a temperature in the range of 200-400° C. and a pressure from 10-500 bar, forming a bio-oil suspension comprising liquefied biomass and spent alkali catalyst; e) Directly or indirectly charging the bio-oil suspension from step d), after optional depressurization to a pressure in the range 10-100 bar, heat exchange and separation of gases, such as CO2, steam and aqueous spent catalyst into a gasification reactor operating in the temperature range of 600-1250° C. thereby forming a syngas and alkali compounds; and f) Separating alkali compounds from a gasification reactor or from syngas and recycling alkali compounds directly or indirectly to be present to treat new biomass in the hydrothermal biomass treatment reactor of step d) and/or recycling aqueous alkali salts to a pulp mill chemicals recovery cycle.

A slag discharge system includes a slag bath at a bottom portion of a gasifier; a slag cooling water circulation line that discharges a mixture of slag and a slag cooling water from the slag bath; a coarse slag separator device that separates coarse slag contained in the slag cooling water; a fine slag separator device connected to the coarse slag separator device downstream side, the fine slag separator device separating fine slag; and a circulator pump connected to the fine slag separator device downstream side, the circulator pump creating a water flow in the slag cooling water circulation line; wherein the fine slag separator device includes a branch section where the slag cooling water circulation line branches into a plurality of branch lines and again joins together as one line, a fine slag filter portion, and a shutoff valve and disposed in each of the plurality of branch lines.

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a furnace wall in which a throat section with a smaller channel diameter than other regions can be formed using all peripheral wall tubes. Provided is a furnace wall comprising: a plurality of peripheral wall tubes (142), which are disposed so as to form a cylindrical shape when aligned in one direction and through the interior of which cooling water flows; and fins (140) that connect neighboring peripheral wall tubes (142) in an airtight manner. In a throat section in which the diameter of a horizontal cross-section of the cylindrical shape is reduced in comparison to other regions, the peripheral wall tubes (142) are disposed so as to be in mutual contact and the fins (140) are disposed on the inner circumferential sides of the cylindrical shapes.

An object is to curb damage localized in a slag capturing portion caused when slag passes therethrough. A slag discharge device includes: a screen mesh (6) that is a porous member including a plurality of through-holes (6a) formed therein; and a crushing device (7) that crushes water-granulated slag (S2) captured by the screen mesh (6). The crushing device has a crusher head (12) that breaks, with a pressure, and thus crushes the water-granulated slag (S2), a hydraulic cylinder (13) that reciprocates the crusher head in a predetermined direction, a guide plate (14) that restricts movement of the crusher head caused by the hydraulic cylinder, and a plurality of crushing spaces (15) in which the water-granulated slag (S2) is crushed. A communication opening that causes the crushing spaces (15) to communicate with each other is formed in a partitioning wall guide plate (14a) of the guide plate.

The present invention is directed to a process for the production of a syngas suited for further conversion to fine chemicals and/or automotive fuels from biomass by a thermochemical process conducted in a several steps procedure, said process comprising; a) Providing a stream of biomass material; b) Providing an aqueous alkaline catalyst stream comprising sodium and/or potassium compounds; c) Mixing comminuted biomass and alkaline catalyst and optional additives to form an alkaline biomass slurry or suspension; d) Treating alkaline biomass slurry or suspension in a hydrothermal treatment reactor at a temperature in the range of 200-400 C. and a pressure from 10-500 bar, forming a bio-oil suspension comprising liquefied biomass and spent alkali catalyst; e) Directly or indirectly charging the bio-oil suspension from step d), after optional depressurization to a pressure in the range 10-100 bar, heat exchange and separation of gases, such as CO2, steam and aqueous spent catalyst into a gasification reactor operating in the temperature range of 600-1250 C. thereby forming a syngas and alkali compounds; and f) Separating alkali compounds from a gasification reactor or from syngas and recycling alkali compounds directly or indirectly to be present to treat new biomass in the hydrothermal biomass treatment reactor of step d) and/or recycling aqueous alkali salts to a pulp mill chemicals recovery cycle.

This slag discharge system (1) includes: a slag hopper (5) of a coal gasifier (2); a slag discharge line (7) that discharges a mixture of slag and slag water (W); a slag separation device (10) that separates the slag from the mixture of slag and slag water (W); a circulation pump (24) that forms a water flow from the slag hopper (5) to the slag separation device (10) in the slag discharge line (7); a lock hopper (14) that stores slag which has been separated at the slag separation device (10) and discharges the same out of the coal gasifier (2) system; a slag discharge valve (15) that is provided on a lower outlet of the lock hopper (14); and a slag water return flow line (20) for returning the slag water (W) which has been separated at the slag separation device (10) to the slag hopper.

A carbon-containing material gasification system includes: a gasifier that includes a combustion stage and a gasification stage, and generates generated gas; char providing means that separates char from the generated gas, and provides the combustion stage with the char, the combustion stage including carbon-containing material combustion means and char combustion means; and distributing ratio setting means that sets, according to a ratio of distributing material defined in Expression [1], a ratio of distributing oxidizing agent defined in Expression [2] to be smaller as the ratio of distributing material increases.
(ratio of distributing material)=(providing amount of the carbon-containing material for gasification stage)/(total providing amount of the carbon-containing material to gasifier)[1]
(ratio of distributing oxidizing agent)=(providing amount of the oxidizing agent to oxidize carbon-containing material for the combustion stage)/(total providing amount of the oxidizing agent to the combustion stage)[2]