There is disclosed a method of producing a soil remediant from liquid organic waste material in which the liquid organic waste material is concurrently pasteurised and digested by thermophilic aerobic digestion in the liquid phase in a single digester vessel. The organic waste material in the digester is maintained continuously at a temperature of at least 70° C. for at least an hour and the liquid organic waste material comprises at least 70% water and can be pumped. After a period of at least an hour a small amount of pasteurised organic waste material is removed and a corresponding amount of fresh organic waste material is added to the single digester vessel such that the temperature is maintained in a comfort zone of the thermophilic bacteria. In a preferred embodiment the thermophilic aerobic digestion is facilitated by micro-organisms including crenarchaeota. The liquid organic waste material can be combined with a microporous adsorbent. Also disclosed is a soil remediant comprising a microporous adsorbent and liquid organic waste material from the novel method. The microporous adsorbent may be a volcaniclastic sedimentary rock or diatomite or of vegetable origin such as biochar. The microporous adsorbent may be a powder or a granular material and may have particle sizes up to 2000 microns.

In an embodiment, a circuit includes: a transformer defining an inductive footprint within a first layer; a grounded shield bounded by the inductive footprint within a second layer separate from the first layer; and a circuit component bounded by the inductive footprint within a third layer separate from the second layer, wherein: the circuit component is coupled with the transformer through the second layer, and the third layer is separated from the first layer by the second layer.

In an embodiment, a circuit includes: a transformer defining an inductive footprint within a first layer; a grounded shield bounded by the inductive footprint within a second layer separate from the first layer; and a circuit component bounded by the inductive footprint within a third layer separate from the second layer, wherein: the circuit component is coupled with the transformer through the second layer, and the third layer is separated from the first layer by the second layer.

A system and method for treating a fluid that includes a particulate fraction and a soluble fraction includes feeding the fluid to a hydrothermal treatment apparatus and subjecting the fluid to heating to a temperature of 121° C. or more to obtain treated fluid, subsequently feeding the hydrothermally treated fluid to a vacuum-integrated reactor, wherein at least the particulate fraction is subjected to fermentation or digestion, during the fermentation or digestion, subjecting the fluid in the vacuum-integrated reactor to a vacuum pressure, and collecting from the vacuum-integrated reactor at least a portion of the soluble fraction of the fluid as condensate and thereby thickening a remaining portion of the fluid, and recovering thickened fluid from the vacuum-integrated reactor. The vacuum may also be applied upstream or downstream of and separate from a non-vacuum-integrated reactor.

A system including biogas purification and provides biogas as feedstock to a solid oxide fuel cell. The biogas purification treatment process provides a polished biogas that is substantially free of carbonyl sulfides and hydrogen sulfide. The system uses a biogas treatment apparatus, that includes apparatus such as a packed columns, comprising copper oxide or potassium permanganate packing material, and an activated carbon component configured to treat the biogas by polishing it to remove carbonyl sulfides and deleterious trace residues, such as hydrogen sulfide, that were not removed by any prior bulk H2S removal steps. In addition, an oil removal device is used to remove any entrained fine oil droplets in the biogas. A polished biogas having in the range of 60% methane is charged to the fuel cell. Electricity generated may be fed into a grid or used directly as energy to charge electrical-powered vehicles, for example. Energy credits are tracked in real time and are appropriately assigned.

A device for treatment of organic waste includes a heating unit, a hydrolysis tank, a regulating tank, an aerobic fermentation reactor, an organic waste feeder, an aerobe feeder, a delivery mechanism, a deodorization unit, and an air distributor. The hydrolysis tank is connected to the regulating tank, and the regulating tank is connected to the aerobic fermentation reactor. The delivery mechanism is disposed between the regulating tank and the aerobic fermentation reactor. The heating unit is connected to the hydrolysis tank and is configured to heat an organic material in the hydrolysis tank. The organic waste feeder and the aerobe feeder are connected to the regulating tank. The deodorization unit is disposed on and connected to the aerobic fermentation reactor. The air distributor is disposed in the aerobic fermentation reactor and is configured to provide oxygen to the aerobic fermentation reactor.

A procedure for producing a liquid fertilizing product from a biosolids cake that has been de-watered to a biosolids content of 18% or more. The procedure includes positioning a process amount of the biosolids cake in a reactor vessel, heating the biosolids cake process amount, and adding a quantity of an alkali and mixing it into the process amount of the biosolids cake to form a reactor mixture. The reactor mixture incubated for a period, and then cooled. The alkali includes pH-raising and hydrolysis-procuring components. The quantity of alkali in relating to the biosolids process amount is sufficient that a residual amount of the alkali remains in the cooled reactor mixture, the pH of the reactor mixture remains at a saturation level during and after the incubation period, and the cooled reaction mixture is pumpable.

A procedure for producing a liquid fertilizing product from a biosolids cake that has been de-watered to a biosolids content of 18% or more. The procedure includes positioning a process amount of the biosolids cake in a reactor vessel, heating the biosolids cake process amount, and adding a quantity of an alkali and mixing it into the process amount of the biosolids cake to form a reactor mixture. The reactor mixture incubated for a period, and then cooled. The alkali includes pH-raising and hydrolysis-procuring components. The quantity of alkali in relating to the biosolids process amount is sufficient that a residual amount of the alkali remains in the cooled reactor mixture, the pH of the reactor mixture remains at a saturation level during and after the incubation period, and the cooled reaction mixture is pumpable.

A heat exchanger (10) for a thermochemical biomass converter, the heat exchanger (10) comprises first and second conduits (12a, 12b) that are configured to carry, in use, process medium of the converter, and a heat transfer member (14) that thermally connects the first and second conduits (12a, 12b) to one another to define a heat transfer medium between the conduits (12a, 12b). The thermal expansion coefficient of the first and second conduits (12a, 12b) is matched to the thermal expansion coefficient of the heat transfer member (14) to continually provide thermal connection between the heat transfer member (14) and conduits (12a, 12b) under changing temperature conditions.

The present invention provides a device for controlling steam explosion of biomass having a dry solids content above 1%, a VS content of above 20%, and including abrasive material, in a pressure relief vessel, which includes one or more blowdown conduits having at their outlets an adjustable open area for regulating the blowdown discharge rate. The adjustable open area of each of the one or more blowdown conduits are constructed in such a way that expansion/spray due to flashing takes place either inside the pressure relief vessel itself or in an additional inlet device through which the discharged biomass is directed from the adjustable open area and into the pressure relief vessel and which either have a large enough dimension to avoid the discharged biomass hitting essential parts of the construction or is made from a highly resistant/durable material.