Patent ID: 8399228

Claim:
A method for recovering energy from the organic fraction of urban solid waste comprising the following steps: a) pretreatment of said organic fraction in a completely mixed type reactor, of conical design and with internal stirring by means of Archimedes screw with sulfuric acid at a concentration between 0.1 and 5% by volume, at a temperature between 120° C. and 140° C. and for a time of between 30 and 90 minutes by heating by an outer thermal jacket with no steam injection or steam explosion, producing a first slurry containing an insoluble solid susceptible to enzymatic attack by cellulases; b) a step comprising enzymatic hydrolysis by cellulases and simultaneous fermentation, using an ethanol yeast producer of said first slurry at a temperature between 35° C. and 42° C., employing cellulases at an amount of between 10 and 40 FPU/gram during a time of less than 140 hours in order to obtain a second slurry containing diluted ethanol; c) distillation of said second slurry to obtain wet ethanol, a recyclable liquid effluent and a solid.