IMPROVEMENTS IN THE VORTEX REACTOR DESIGN

Over the years, a variety of improvements have been incorporated into the vortex reactor that considerably increase its efficiency, durability, and operability. These improvements have included an internal rib to guide feed particles into a tight helix, an easily replaceable wear plate located at the vortex entry, a recycle loop that ensures complete pyrolysis of large feed particles, reorientation of the reactor from horizontal to vertical, better conservation of kinetic energy in the recycle loop with a new eductor design, and the ability to periodically remove inert particles from the reactor. A mathematical model that describes the vortex reactor was used to guide the design of a reactor with a nominal capacity of 32 dry tonnes of biomass/day. This reactor was fabricated with the internal spiral rib using large, but conventional, machining equipment. Other techniques of fabrication exist, but have not been proven. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory is interested in scaling up this technology in cooperation with industry.