An integrated biomass conversion system and a method of starting and shutting down the system are disclosed. The integrated biomass conversion system comprises a syngas generator, such as a gasifier, a cleanup engine and a syngas utilization system, which could be a power producing engine or a chemical reactor for chemical or fuel synthesis. The cleanup engine operates rich and at high temperatures so that the tars exhausted by the syngas generators are destroyed and not allowed to foul other components. An orderly sequence to start and shut down the integrated biomass conversion system is disclosed.

The invention provides a system for pyrolysis, comprising: (i) a gas producer comprising a gasification zone and a producer gas outlet, wherein the gas producer is configured to: oxidise at least one carbon-containing feed in the presence of an oxidising gas in the gasification zone to form a producer gas; and discharge the producer gas from the gasification zone via the producer gas outlet, wherein a residual oxygen content of the producer gas is substantially depleted or maintained below a maximum predetermined amount by controlling a ratio of oxygen fed to the gasification zone to the carbon-containing feed, (ii) a pyrolyzer comprising a pyrolysis zone and one or more pyrolyzer gas outlets, wherein the pyrolyzer is configured to: feed the producer gas discharged from the gasification zone to the pyrolysis zone; pyrolyze a pyrolyzable organic feed in the pyrolysis zone in the presence of the producer gas to produce a carbonaceous pyrolysis product and a gas mixture comprising combustible components comprising pyrolysis gas; and discharge the gas mixture from the pyrolysis zone via the one or more pyrolyzer gas outlets, and (iii) a first combustor comprising a combustion zone, wherein the first combustor is configured to: receive the gas mixture discharged from the pyrolysis zone in the combustion zone; feed an oxygen-containing gas to the combustion zone; and combust at least a portion of the combustible components present in the gas mixture in the combustion zone to produce a combustion product gas.

The invention relates to a method for the disposal of a composite material, in particular a composite material contaminated, for example, by radioactivity and containing fluorine impurities. The inventive method for the disposal of a component containing a composite material with a composite matrix and a technical fiber, is characterized in that the component is chemically gasified, wherein the composite material is technically completely decomposed into its basic components, wherein in a first step the composite matrix is dissolved and in a subsequent step the remaining starting materials and intermediate products are thermally decomposed and reacted with added process gases, wherein at least in the subsequent step a reactive gas is supplied and the subsequent step is conducted endothermically.

A method for processing feedstock is described, characterized in that incoming feedstock is processed to selectively recover biogenic carbon material from the incoming feedstock. In some embodiments the incoming feedstock is comprised of mixed solid waste, such as municipal solid waste (MSW). In other embodiments the incoming feedstock is comprised of woody biomass. In some instances, the incoming feedstock is processed to selectively recover biogenic carbon material from the incoming feedstock to produce a processed feedstock having biogenic carbon content of 50% and greater suitable for conversion into biogenic carbon Fischer Tropsch liquids. The high biogenic carbon Fischer Tropsch liquids may be upgraded to biogenic carbon liquid fuels. Alternatively, the incoming feedstock is processed to selectively recover plastic material from the incoming feedstock to produce a processed feedstock having biogenic carbon content of 50% or less.

Gasifiers, gasification systems, and methods for producing synthesis gas are disclosed. A gasifier can include a gasifier body. A feeder can be positioned to feed an organic material into the gasifier body. A pulse detonation burner can be located under or above the gasifier body and connected to the gasifier body to direct supersonic shockwaves upward into the gasifier body to heat the organic material and to form a jet spouted bed of the organic material or to operate as an entrained flow reactor. An outlet can be located at the gasifier body to allow removal of synthesis gas, residual ash, and other reaction products.

A method of processing MSW, either sorted or unsorted, which can be carried out through the use of canisters to hold the waste feedstock, and autoclaves specially designed to process the waste at suitable temperature and pressure combinations is disclosed. The final solid product is a mixture of carbon ash and non-combustible materials, such as, metals, drywall, etc., and syngas that has an enhanced BTU value, typically between about 300 to 700 BTU/ft.sup.3. The remainder solid material generally amounts to approximately 5% of the original MSW volume. This material can then be sorted for metals with the balance being sent to a landfill or other recycling processes depending on its composition.

A method of online control of a slag-forming process of gasification of a carbonaceous solid fuel, especially coal, in a gasification reactor with supply of a gasifying agent and a moderator is provided. Certain embodiments relate to a gasification process for producing a product gas including carbon monoxide and hydrogen from a solid fuel, to a computer program for online control of the slag-forming gasification process, and to a plant for conducting a gasification process for producing a product gas including carbon monoxide and hydrogen from a solid fuel. Certain aspects of the invention combine an online solid fuel analysis with a process model in order to operate a gasification process for solid fuels by the feed-forward principle at the thermodynamically optimal operating point. The invention permits the establishment of the operating point in real time in order to react to rapid variations in the composition of the solid fuel. Certain embodiments also permit the complete automation of the gasification process.

An ASG system for polygeneration with CC includes a devolatilizer that pyrolyzes solid fuel to produce char and gases. A burner adds exothermic heat by high-pressure sub-stoichiometric combustion, a mixing pot causes turbulent flow of the gases to heat received solid fuel, and a riser micronizes resulting friable char. A devolatilizer cyclone separates the micronized char by weight providing micronized char, steam and gases to a gasifier feed and oversized char to the mixing pot. An indirect fluid bed gasifier combustion loop includes a gasifier coupled to the gasifier feed, a steam input to provide oxygen for gasification and to facilitate sand-char separation, and an output for providing syngas. A burner provides POC to a mixing pot which provides hot sand with POC to a POC cyclone via a riser, where the POC cyclone separates sand and POC by weight and provides POC and sand for steam-carbon reaction.

A thermochemical energy conversion unit includes a heat expansion assembly including a reactor configured to receive a biomass and convert the biomass into a burnable gas having undesirable materials therein and a biochar. The heat expansion assembly also includes a heat expansion discharge pipe configured to discharge the burnable gas from the heat expansion assembly. The thermochemical energy conversion unit also includes a gas scrubber assembly operatively connected to the heat expansion assembly and configured to receive the burnable gas therefrom and to remove the undesirable materials from the burnable gas. The gas scrubber assembly includes a scrubber discharge pipe configured to discharge the burnable gas from the gas scrubber assembly. The heat expansion assembly and the gas scrubber assembly are configured to be continuously fluidly connected from the heat expansion discharge pipe to the scrubber discharge pipe for generating a continuous flow of the burnable gas therealong.

A continuous system for gasification of a biomass feedstock comprising: a fuel conditioning zone, a gasification zone and a char cooling area.