Patent CA-2611533-A1 (CA)
Title: New energy, methods/techniques/processes used to produce various products technologies
Inventor: VOON GERARD
IPC: C10C3/08
Filed: 2007-11-27
Abstract: Several method of Microwave assisted extraction of oils that we will use on oil/tar sands and/or refuse plastic and/or rubber (eg. tires), bituminous coal, and/or biomass, and/or kerosene and/or naphtha and/or propane and/or oil/tar sands with corn, eucalyptus, oil palm, and coconuts, maize, jatropha and other possibilities algae bagasse, miscanthus, sugar beet, sorghum, grain sorghum, switchgrass, barley, hemp, kenaf, potatoes, sweet potatoes, cassava, sunflower, fruit, molasses, corn, stover, grain, wheat, straw, cotton, other biomass.  One method/process add a non-aqueous organic extractant to the source material (with a some content that absorbs microwave radiation and mixing it with a solvent that is transparent to microwave radiation) and there is our newly invented tumbler to expose the mixture to microwave radiation. Then suddenly raise the temperature via microwave, cool it down (that is has a more concentrated source of volatile oils), add more source material and alternate back and forth (heat - cool).   Co-solvents (dipole moment), some of which are, alkanes, hexane, carbon tetrachloride, liquid CO2... (don't heat that much from microwaves and are microwave transparent) so the source material (heats up and releases oils) and the oils are cooled as they are released into the non-aqueous organic. For source materials that need rehydration we can use ethanol, methanol, saline solutions, and other mixture of solvents.   Other methods, is to suddenly raise the temperature via microwaves and apply pressure until the source material's boundaries explodes. The microwave-transparent extraction medium cools the substance that flows out of the source material.     Extracants can be used singly, mixed or in a series (continuous).   For the oil/tar sands in addition to hexane we plan to add deionized water. We may use impregination of saline solution (eg. KCL).   To extract plastic from garbage land fills and real time collections or processing we:   1. Run agitated water to loosen the organic material, possibly use a tumbler to unstuck and remove caked together materials. 2. Then further loosen and sifts larger pieces from smaller (biodegradable material; less durable, unlike plastic and metal of which are very durable and the larger pieces are of more economical use to us) by a grate the horizontally spins spilling out the smaller pieces and possibly. 3. Finally we run the processed material down an assembly line to separate plastic form metal. 4. We could use mixers of some type using flexible spatula like (spinning) blades that will tear large any pieces of less durable materials such as cardboard, while leaving hunks of plastic (largely) undamaged. 5. We could use Artificial Intelligence or sorter with a remote camera that decides if the material's contents are made up of what, such as cardboard versus plastic. If there is cardboard (probably torn by the spatula mixer into smaller pieces) the batch could be re-agitated with water and possibly the tumbler and the grate again 6. The sorting in the assembly line work can done by automated (eg. robots run by Artificial Intelligence) to sort between, plastic, glass and metal versus toxic components of for example of computers.