A process for pretreatment of biomass and an installation for practicing the process, the process including, as well, the subsequent biological treatment and obtaining of biofuel from the biomass. The process is based on the use of at least one scraped surface exchanger and comprises the following steps: heating the biomass to a temperature equal to or lower than 110? C. in an exchanger; further heating the heated biomass so obtained to a temperature between 150 and 175? C. in a scraped surface exchanger; thermal hydrolyzing the biomass at a temperature between 150 and 175? C.; and cooling the thermal hydrolyzed biomass for the subsequent biological treatment thereof.

The present disclosure provides a catalyst composition for conversion of biomass to crude bio oil. The composition comprises at least one metal compound, at least one support and at least one stabilizing/solubilizing agent. Also disclosed are processes for the preparation of catalyst composition, and hydrothermal conversion of biomass to crude bio oil.

During hydrothermal carbonization, the carbonization reaction takes place in a reaction tank, at high pressure and high temperature, and with steam feed. Because reactor charging takes place using a batch method, the biomass should be kept on hand in a pulper beforehand, and heated there. Slurry that leaves the reactor, in contrast, subsequently should be cooled in a buffer tank. For this purpose, cooling of the slurry and pre-heating of the biomass are linked. For this purpose, a heat exchanger in the pulper and a further heat exchanger in the buffer tank, which are connected to form a heat circuit, are supposed to be kept on hand. In this way, the slurry to be cooled can give off its heat to the biomass to be heated up, with the effect that significantly less energy leaves the system and has to be supplied to it again at a different location.

Tools and techniques for biochar production and biochar products are provided in accordance with various embodiments. For example, some embodiments include a method of biochar production that may include introducing a compound that includes at least carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen into a reaction chamber. The compound may be heated to a temperature of at least 1,000 degrees Celsius in the reaction chamber such that the compound reacts through a pyrolysis reaction to produce biochar. The produced biochar may be collected and/or further processed in some cases. In some embodiments, the compound includes at least biomass or a waste product. In some embodiments, the temperature of the reaction chamber is at least 1,100 degrees Celsius. In some embodiments, the compound has a residence time in the reaction chamber between 10 seconds and 1,000 seconds to produce the biochar. Some embodiments include biochar that may include graphite or graphene.

The present invention relates to a system for the treatment of organic waste and/or waste, particularly waste from biogas plants, slurry and the like, cut or green waste and/or sewage sludge.

Provided is a discharge device for discharging pretreated biomass from a pressurized reactor. The device comprises: a vessel having an opening to a high pressure region at the top, and configured to be connected with a pressurized biomass pretreatment device; one or more inlet openings situated along the sides of the vessels through which water or liquid may be added; an orifice or valve at a lower part of said vessel, said orifice or valve being configured to eject pretreated biomass, optionally into a pipeline. The discharge device is characterised in that it comprises mechanical agitation means, said agitation means comprising an agitation element arranged in the interior of said vessel at a lower part of said vessel, and being configured to provide agitation of the content of said vessel, wherein said agitation means being adapted to withstand a pressure in the interior of a said vessel of 10 bar or more. The agitation means provides for a temperature equalization within a specific vertical range of heights of an aqueous slurry present in said vessel, thereby eliminating disadvantages of the prior art devices and methods.

A method and apparatus for producing a solid biofuel from hydrocarbonaceous feedstock is described. The process includes loading a hydrocarbonaceous feedstock into a reactor vessel, adding an aqueous catalyst solution into the reactor vessel, wherein the catalyst solution resides at the bottom of the reactor vessel under the hydrocarbonaceous feedstock position, heating the reactor vessel at or above 170? C. to catalyze a reaction of hydrocarbonaceous feedstock under saturated steam conditions for a time sufficient to yield a polymeric biofuel, and isolating the polymeric biofuel from the reactor vessel.

The present disclosure provides for a composition comprising a hydrochar, wherein the hydrochar comprises microwave-irradiated biomass. Further provided herein is a method of making the composition of claim 1, the method comprising: irradiating the biomass with microwaves under an inert atmosphere at conditions effective to yield the hydrochar. Also disclosed herein is a method of improving the quality of a soil comprising combining the soil with the composition disclosed herein.

During hydrothermal carbonization, the carbonization reaction takes place in a reaction tank, at high pressure and high temperature, and with steam feed. Because reactor charging takes place using a batch method, the biomass should be kept on hand in a pulper beforehand, and heated there. Slurry that leaves the reactor, in contrast, subsequently should be cooled in a buffer tank. For this purpose, cooling of the slurry and pre-heating of the biomass are linked. For this purpose, a heat exchanger in the pulper and a further heat exchanger in the buffer tank, which are connected to form a heat circuit, are supposed to be kept on hand. In this way, the slurry to be cooled can give off its heat to the biomass to be heated up, with the effect that significantly less energy leaves the system and has to be supplied to it again at a different location.

During hydrothermal carbonization, biomass is converted to biocoal. The reaction yield depends on the reaction conditions, including duration of the carbonization reaction or time period within which the slurry composed of water and biomass remains in the reaction tank and is exposed to pressure and temperature. These conditions should be selected so that the greatest possible dry residue of carbonized material remains in the slurry. It has been shown that the dry residue amount changes during the carbonization reaction with a curve that is similar, to a great extent, to that of the slurry pH value. Because determining the dry residue is difficult during the ongoing reaction, but determining the pH value can be easy during the entire reaction period, the reaction is terminated at a maximum of the pH value corresponding to a maximum of the biocoal dry residue, to the greatest possible extent.