Patent Publication Number: US-8522698-B2

Title: Combustible energy recycling system and method thereof

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a recycling system, in particular to a recycling system capable of introducing outside air into the recycling system for a smoldering combustion of a combustible waste material (such as a waste wood, fabric or plastic material) filled into the recycling system, such that the outside air can be distributed around every cross-section in the recycling system and moved together with a high-temperature dense smoke produced in the smoldering combustion to fully incinerate the waste material, and recycle or reuse a gas (such as carbon monoxide and hydrogen gas) containing combustible energy (produced by an incomplete combustion of the waste materials) in the dense smoke to achieve the effects of energy regeneration, recycle and reuse. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     At present, a waste material (such as a waste wood, fabric or plastic material) that cannot be recycled directly is generally processed by the following two methods:
     (1) Landfill Method: Waste materials are buried in soils, such that the waste materials are decomposed by microorganisms in the soils; and   (2) Incineration Method: Waste materials are disposed and combusted in an incinerator, such that the waste materials are decomposed into ashes by high-temperature heat and then collected and processed, and the volume of the waste materials can be reduced greatly.   

     Since the landfill method requires a large landfill site for burying the waste materials, and some countries have small area and dense population and not much land reserved for burying the waste materials continuously. Furthermore, the landfill method creates an odor problem after the waste materials are buried in soils and gradually decayed or decomposed by microorganisms, and a liquid leachate containing microorganisms and germs is produced and permeated into the soil, which contaminates underground water sources and creates crises to our environmental hygiene and ecological condition, or even affects the health of residents nearby. In recent years, governments have started promoting a “zero landfill” policy as the awareness of the environmental protection rises, and adopted the incineration method as a major method for disposing waste materials. 
     According to related research data, the traditional incinerators presently used for carrying out the incineration method still have the following drawbacks:
     (A) In an incineration process of the waste materials taken place in an incinerator, a large amount of dense smoke is produced, and the dense smoke is discharged to the outside directly through a chimney of the incinerator, such that dusts and impurities in the dense smoke are flew and drifted to surrounding areas of the incinerator, and the dusts and impurities spread all over the surrounding areas causes a poor air quality. People living in the surrounding areas inhaling the dusts and impurities for a long time will be harmed by respiratory diseases.   (B) In general, the dense smoke also includes a gas (such as carbon monoxide and hydrogen gas produced by an incomplete combustion of the waste materials) containing combustible energy in addition to the dusts and impurities. However, the incinerator usually does not come with a mechanism for filtering the dusts and impurities and recycling the gas containing the combustible energy, and thus the incinerator not just causes air pollutions only, but also fails to recycle and reuse the gas containing combustible energy or achieve the green environmental protection requirements for energy saving and carbon reduction.   (C) When the incinerator adopts the smoldering combustion method for processing the waste materials instead of combusting the waste materials completely by fire, then the high-temperature dense smoke produced by the smoldering combustion will move upward continuously, and the combustion-supporting air (introduced from the outside) in the incinerator cannot be distributed uniformly to every cross-section of the incineration, such that the waste materials in the incinerator can be combusted successfully at positions next to an ignition point and above the ignition point only, but the waste materials situated at other positions cannot be incinerated completely, and a poor combustion efficiency of the incinerator will result.   

     Therefore, it is an important subject of the present invention to design an innovative combustible energy recycling system and a method thereof to overcome the shortcomings of the traditional incinerators that cause an air pollution by the combusted waste materials, and enhance the combustion efficiency of the incinerator and recycle and reuse the gas containing combustible energy in the dense smoke when the incinerator adopts the smoldering combustion method for processing the waste materials. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In view of the shortcomings of the prior art, the inventor of the present invention based on years of experience in the related industry to conduct extensive researches and experiments, and finally developed a combustible energy recycling system and its method to overcome the poor combustion efficiency, air pollution, and difficulty of recycling and reusing a gas (such as carbon monoxide and hydrogen gas produced by an incomplete combustion of waste materials) containing combustible energy in the dense smoke produced by the conventional incinerator. 
     Therefore, it is a primary objective of the present invention to provide a combustible energy recycling system, comprising an airtight incinerator body and a blower, wherein the incinerator body includes a first gate that can be opened and closed, such that an operator can open the first gate to fill a combustible waste material (such as a waste wood, fabric or plastic material, etc) into the incinerator body, and the blower includes an air outlet pipe, and an end of the air outlet pipe is passed into the incinerator body. The recycling system further comprises a gas intake module installed in the incinerator body and interconnected with the air outlet pipe, and the gas intake module includes a plurality of gas intake pipes, and one of the gas intake pipes is an ignition pipe provided for the operator to ignite the waste materials in the incinerator body through the ignition pipe and allow the waste materials to be smoldered in the incinerator body. The blower introduces outside air into the incinerator body through the gas intake module, and the outside air produces an air whirl flowing with respect to the center of the incinerator inside the incinerator body and surrounding every cross-section inside the incinerator body. The high-temperature dense smoke produced by the smoldering combustion of the waste materials climbs upward, so that the waste materials in the incinerator body can be smoldered uniformly, and the dense smoke produced by the smoldering combustion and the gas containing combustible energy are discharged to a gas recycling mechanism or a burning mechanism for its recycle and reuse. Since the recycling system of the present invention can smolder all waste materials in the incinerator body through the air whirl produced by the outside air to improve the combustion efficiency of the recycling system, and the gas containing combustible energy produced by the smoldering combustion of the waste material in the recycling system can be recycled and reused completely to prevent the dusts and impurities from flying or drifting to the outside, therefore the green environmental protection requirements for energy recycle and reuse, energy saving, and carbon reduction can be met, and the air pollution issue created by the smoldering combustion of the waste materials can be avoided. 
     Another objective of the present invention is to provide a combustible energy recycling system, wherein the incinerator body includes a water storage tank installed at an internal periphery of the incinerator body and interconnected to a water pipe, for storing liquid coming from the water pipe, and the water storage tank includes at least one ventilation hole formed at a position proximate to the top of the incinerator body, such that when the liquid in the water storage tank is heated and evaporated into steam, the steam can be entered into the interior of the incinerator body through each ventilation hole, and condensed into water drops inside the incinerator body, and the water drops are dropped onto the waste material. As a result, when the interior of the incinerator body has a too-low humidity and a too fiercely burning flame, the water drops dropped on the waste materials can slow down the too-fiercely burning flame and lower the temperature inside the incinerator body when the waste materials are combusted. 
     Another objective of the present invention is to provide a combustible energy recycling system, wherein the smoke exhaust pipe is installed at a pipe mouth at an end of the incinerator body and towards the bottom of the recycling system, and the recycling system includes a first filter unit in a shape of a tank disposed at a position proximate to an end of the smoke exhaust pipe for containing a liquid, and the level of the liquid is proximate to the pipe mouth of the smoke exhaust pipe, such that when an air pressure produced inside the incinerator body is greater than a predetermined multiple of the outside air pressure, then the dense smoke containing dusts and impurities will be forced to be discharged to the outside through the smoke exhaust pipe. Now, the dusts and impurities having a larger volume and a heavier weight will fall into the liquid, so that the first filter unit can be used for improving the purity of the gas containing combustible energy discharged from the recycling system. 
     Another objective of the present invention is to provide a method of using the aforementioned recycling system to recycle a gas containing the combustible energy in an incineration of waste materials, so that manufacturers can use the recycling system to increase the combustion efficiency, avoid an air pollution issue caused by a smoldering combustion, and recycle a highly pure gas containing combustible energy effectively to achieve an energy recycling effect. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a cross-sectional view of a combustible energy recycling system of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of a combustible energy recycling system of the present invention; 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic view of an air intake module of a combustible energy recycling system of the present invention; 
         FIG. 4  is a schematic view of a first filter unit of a combustible energy recycling system of the present invention; and 
         FIG. 5  is a flow chart of a combustible energy recycling method of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     After a waste material (such as a waste wood, fabric or plastic material) goes through a smoldering combustion, a large amount of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and carbon (C) is produced, and water (H 2 O) contained in the waste material will be heated and evaporated into steam. When the carbon dioxide and carbon produce an endothermic reaction, then carbon monoxide (CO) gas containing combustible energy will be produced. When steam and carbon produce an endothermic reaction, carbon monoxide and hydrogen gas (H 2 ) containing combustible energy will be produced. Thus, the inventor of the present invention based on this principle to design and test repeatedly, and finally developed a combustible energy recycling system and its method in accordance with the present invention to increase the production of gas containing combustible energy when the waste materials are incinerated or smoldered. 
     With reference to  FIGS. 1 to 3  for a combustible energy recycling system in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the recycling system  1  comprises an airtight incinerator body  10 , a gas intake module  11  and a blower  12 , wherein the incinerator body  10  includes a first gate  100  that can be opened and closed, and provided for filling a combustible waste material into the incinerator body  10  after an operator opens the first gate  100 , and the gas intake module  11  is installed in the incinerator body  10  and disposed at a position proximate to the bottom of the incinerator body  10 , and the gas intake module  11  comprises a plurality of gas intake pipes  110  interconnected with one another and extended from the periphery of the incinerator body  10  equidistantly and symmetrically towards the center of the incinerator body  10 , and the gas intake pipes  110  includes a plurality of openings  111  equidistantly disposed on a side proximate to the bottom of the incinerator body  10 , and one of the gas intake pipes  110  is an ignition pipe  113 , and an end of the ignition pipe  113  is extended to a central position of the incinerator body  10 , and another end of the ignition pipe  113  is passed out of the incinerator body  10 , and the another end of the ignition pipe  113  includes a second gate  112  that can be opened and closed, such that an operator can put a pilot fire at the central position of the incinerator body  10  through the second gate  112  and the ignition pipe  113  to ignite the waste material at the central position of the incinerator body  10 , and the waste material starts smoldering in the incinerator body  10 , and an air outlet pipe  120  of the blower  12  is passed into the incinerator body  10 , and an end of the air outlet pipe  120  is interconnected to the gas intake module  11 , such that the blower  12  can guide outside air into the incinerator body  10  through the air outlet pipe  120 . 
     When an operator uses the recycling system  1  for the smoldering combustion of the waste material, outside air is introduced into the incinerator body  10  through the openings  111  of each gas intake pipe  110 . An air whirl is formed uniformly at the bottom position of the incinerator body  10  and flows in circumferential directions of different radii with respect to the center of the incinerator, and the blower  12  produces an air pressure inside the incinerator body  10  which is greater than a predetermined multiple of the outside air pressure, such that the outside air can rise slowly upward together with a high-temperature dense smoke produced in the smoldering combustion of the waste material and uniformly surround every cross-section in the incinerator body  10 , and the waste material at every cross-section of the incinerator body  10  can be smoldered evenly from the bottom to the top at a predetermined air pressure, as well as the appropriate combustion temperature and humidity in the incinerator body  10 . Therefore, the dense smoke and a gas such as carbon monoxide and hydrogen gas containing combustible energy (produced by an incomplete combustion of the waste materials) can be guided from a smoke exhaust pipe  101  of the incinerator body  10  to a gas recycling mechanism  2  or a burning mechanism  2  for recycling or reusing the gas containing the combustible energy. 
     Since the recycling system  1  of the present invention can introduce outside air uniformly through the blower  12  and the gas intake module  11  for an uniform smoldering combustion of the waste material in every cross-section of the incinerator body  10  to fully smolder all waste materials in the incinerator body  10 , so as to achieve the effect of improving the combustion efficiency of the recycling system  1 . While the waste material is being incinerated, the recycling system  1  can recycle or reuse the gas containing combustible energy produced in the smoldering combustion, and thus the invention can avoid the air pollution issue created by the flying or drifting of dusts and impurities in the dense smoke to the outside, so as to achieve the effects of energy recycle and reuse and meet the green environmental protection requirements for energy saving and carbon reduction. 
     In the preferred embodiment as shown in  FIG. 1 , the incinerator body  10  further comprises a water storage tank  13  installed on an internal periphery of the incinerator body  10  and interconnected to a water pipe  131  for storing a liquid coming from the water pipe  131 , such that when the recycling system  1  carries out the smoldering combustion of the waste material and the temperature inside the incinerator body  10  rises, the water storage tank  13  is provided for preventing heat energy from conducting directly to an external surface of the incinerator body  10  and preventing an operator from being burned by accidentally touching the external surface of the incinerator body  10 . In addition, the water storage tank  13  includes at least one ventilation hole  130  formed at a position proximate to the top of the incinerator body  10 . When the liquid in the water storage tank  13  is heated and evaporated into steam, the steam can be entered into the incinerator body  10  through each ventilation hole  130  and condensed into water drops at the top inside the incinerator body  10 , and the water drops can be dropped onto the waste material to retard a too fiercely burning flame of the waste material when the interior of the incinerator body  10  has a too-low humidity, and lower the combustion temperature of the interior of the incinerator body  10 , and maintain the temperature and humidity of the waste materials in the incinerator body  10  at predetermined ideal values to enhance the production of gas containing combustible energy and the using safety of the recycling system  1 . 
     In the preferred embodiment as shown in  FIGS. 1 and 4 , the smoke exhaust pipe  101  has a bent position situated at the top inside the incinerator body  10  for aligning a pipe mouth of the smoke exhaust pipe  101  towards the bottom of the recycling system  1 , and the recycling system  1  further comprises a first filter unit  14  in form of a tank disposed at a position proximate to the pipe mouth of the smoke exhaust pipe  101 , and the first filter unit  14  is capable of containing liquids, and the level of the liquid is adjacent to the pipe mouth of the smoke exhaust pipe  101 , wherein the first filter unit  14  has an opening with a diameter greater than the diameter of the pipe mouth of the smoke exhaust pipe  101  for receiving water drops formed by the condensing the steam at the top of the incinerator body  10 . When the interior of the incinerator body  10  has an air pressure greater than a predetermined multiple of the outside air pressure, the dense smoke containing the dusts and impurities is forced to be discharged to the outside through the smoke exhaust pipe  10 . Since the smoke containing the dusts and impurities will pass through a gap formed between the pipe mouth of the smoke exhaust pipe  101  and the position of the level of the liquid, the dusts and impurities having a larger volume and a greater weight can be attached to the moisture and fallen into the liquid more easily due to the heavier weight, so as to improve the purity of the gas containing combustible energy discharged from the recycling system  1  and prevent the dusts and impurities from sticking onto the inner wall of the smoke exhaust pipe  101  to avoid clogging the smoke exhaust pipe  101 . 
     In the preferred embodiment as shown in  FIGS. 1 and 4 , the first filter unit  14  comprises at least one overflow vent  140  formed at a horizontal position proximate to the pipe mouth of the smoke exhaust pipe  101 , such that when the liquid level exceeds the height of each overflow vent  140 , the liquid with a level higher than each overflow vent  140  will be discharged to the outside of the first filter unit  14 . When the steam is condensed into water drops at the top of the incinerator body  10  and fallen into the first filter unit  14  continuously, and the liquid inside the first filter unit  14  has a level higher than each overflow vent  140 , the liquid will be discharged to the outside through each overflow vent  140  and dropped onto the waste material under the first filter unit  14  to retard the too-fiercely burning flame of the waste material and lower the combustion temperature inside the incinerator body  10  to maintain the temperature and humidity of the waste material in the incinerator body  10  at predetermined ideal values, so as to improve the production of gas containing combustible energy and the using safety of the recycling system  1 . 
     In the preferred embodiment as shown in  FIG. 1 , the incinerator body  10  includes at least one insulating layer  15  disposed on an internal wall of the incinerator body  10 , such that when the recycling system  1  carries out the smoldering combustion of the waste materials, and the temperature of the incinerator body  10  rises, each insulating layer  15  is provided for preventing heat energy from conducting directly to the external surface of the incinerator body  10  and preventing an operator from being burned by accidentally touching the external surface of the incinerator body  10 , and enhancing the using safety of the recycling system  1  effectively. 
     In the preferred embodiment as shown in  FIGS. 1 and 4 , the smoke exhaust pipe  101  includes a second filter unit  102  disposed at a pipe mouth proximate to another end of the smoke exhaust pipe  101 , such that when the dense smoke containing dusts and impurities enters from the incinerator body  10  into the smoke exhaust pipe  101 , the second filter unit  102  can further filter the dusts and impurities having a larger size to prevent the dusts and impurities from being adhered onto pipe walls of the smoke exhaust pipe  101  or clogging the smoke exhaust pipe  101 . The second filter unit  102  is provided for assuring a smooth flow of the gas in the smoke exhaust pipe  101  to improve the exhaustion efficiency, such that the recycling system  1  can discharge the gas containing combustible energy more efficiently for the recycle and reuse by the gas recycling mechanism  2  or burning mechanism  2 . 
     In the preferred embodiment as shown in  FIG. 2 , the incinerator body  10  further comprises a third gate  103  installed on a side of the incinerator body  10  and the third gate  103  can be opened and closed, such that when the waste material is incinerated by the recycling system  1  continuously and ashes are produced by the incineration of the waste material and accumulated in the incinerator body  10 , an operator can open the third gate  103  to remove the ashes remained after the smoldering combustion of the waste material. 
     In the preferred embodiment as shown in  FIGS. 1 and 5 , a combustible energy recycling method is applied to the recycling system  1  of the present invention comprises the steps of: 
     ( 401 ) filling a combustible waste material into an airtight incinerator body  10  of the recycling system  1 ; 
     ( 402 ) igniting the waste material, so that the waste material can be smoldered in the incinerator body  10 ; 
     ( 403 ) introducing outside air into the incinerator body  10  through a gas intake module  11  and a blower  12 , so that the outside air produces an air whirl flowing with respect to the center of the incinerator inside the incinerator body and in circumferential directions of different radii and surrounding every cross-section inside the incinerator body, such that the interior of the incinerator body  10  has an air pressure greater than a predetermined multiple of the outside air pressure, and the outside air moves upward slowly together with the high-temperature dense smoke produced in the smoldering combustion of the waste material, and uniformly surrounds every cross-section in the incinerator body  10 ; 
     ( 404 ) spraying water drops onto the waste material smoldered in the incinerator body  10 , when the temperature of the smoldering combustion inside the incinerator body  10  reaches a predetermined value and water drops are condensed in the incinerator body  10  and stored in the aforementioned water storage tank  13 , or the liquid overflowed from the overflow vent  140  (as shown in  FIG. 4 ) of the first filter unit  14  to retard the too-fiercely burning flame of the waste material and lower the combustion temperature inside the incinerator body  10 , such that the temperature and humidity of the waste material can be maintained at ideal values for a continuous smoldering combustion; 
     ( 405 ) using each filter unit  14 ,  102  (as shown in  FIG. 4 ) to filter the dense smoke and remove the dusts and impurities of a greater size; and 
     ( 406 ) recycling or reusing the gas containing combustible energy in the dense smoke by a gas recycling mechanism  2  or a burning mechanism  2 . 
     With this method, all waste materials in the incinerator body  10  of the recycling system  1  can be incinerated completely by the smoldering combustion to improve the combustion efficiency of the recycling system  1 . While the recycling system  1  incinerates the waste material, the gas containing combustible energy produced by the smoldering combustion is recycled and the dusts and impurities are prevented from flying to the outside, so as to achieve the recycling and reuse effects, meet the green environmental protection requirements for energy saving and carbon reduction, and prevent an air pollution issue caused by the smoldering combustion. 
     In summation of the description above, the present invention overcomes the low combustion efficiency, air pollution, and difficulty of recycling the gas containing combustible energy in the dense smoke of a conventional incinerator effectively, and further achieves the effect of reducing contaminations and meets the green environmental protection requirements for energy saving and carbon reduction. In addition, the recycling system  1  further prevents an operator from being burned by accidentally touching the external surface of the incinerator body  10 , and thus the invention provides a better safety for operators. 
     While the invention has been described by means of specific embodiments, numerous modifications and variations could be made thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention set forth in the claims.