A fast pyrolysis heat exchanger system for economically and efficiently converting biomass and other combustible materials into bio-oil. The system employs multiple closed loop tubes situated inside the heat exchanger. As a granular solid heat carrier is deposited at the top of the heat exchanger and caused to move downwardly therethrough, heat is transferred from the tubes to the heat carrier which is then transferred to a reactor where it is placed in contact with the combustible materials.

A fast pyrolysis heat exchanger system for economically and efficiently converting biomass and other combustible materials into bio-oil. The system employs multiple closed loop tubes situated inside the heat exchanger. As a granular solid heat carrier is deposited at the top of the heat exchanger and caused to move downwardly therethrough, heat is transferred from the tubes to the heat carrier which is then transferred to a reactor where it is placed in contact with the combustible materials.

A system for microwave-assisted catalytic conversion of plastics into carbonaceous materials and gases includes a materials sorter to sort and remove metals from a batch of plastics; a metal detector to detect metals in the batch of plastics; a mixer configured to receive the batch of plastics and a corresponding batch of micro or nano-scale metal oxides, and further configured to produce a mixture of the plastics and the metal oxides to achieve an essentially uniform distribution of the metal oxides in the plastics; and a rotary microwave oven in communication with a microwave generator and configured to receive microwaves to heat contents of the rotary microwave oven. The rotary microwave oven receives the mixture; and a processor executing a program of instructions controls operation of the rotary microwave oven to convert the plastics to produce one or more carbonaceous materials and one or more gases.

A system for microwave-assisted catalytic conversion of plastics into carbonaceous materials and gases includes a materials sorter to sort and remove metals from a batch of plastics; a metal detector to detect metals in the batch of plastics; a mixer configured to receive the batch of plastics and a corresponding batch of micro or nano-scale metal oxides, and further configured to produce a mixture of the plastics and the metal oxides to achieve an essentially uniform distribution of the metal oxides in the plastics; and a rotary microwave oven in communication with a microwave generator and configured to receive microwaves to heat contents of the rotary microwave oven. The rotary microwave oven receives the mixture; and a processor executing a program of instructions controls operation of the rotary microwave oven to convert the plastics to produce one or more carbonaceous materials and one or more gases.