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Arnèsis
PROCESS AND PLANT
- Arnèsis process
- Products
- Gaseous mixture
- Acetic solution
- Waxes
- Ash
- Arnèsis plant
- Input/Output
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Arnèsis® Process
Introduction
The Arnèsis process involves pyrolysis, gasification and inertization of waste, eliminat-
ing the negative aspects of traditional pyrogasification. It is not a truly new technology, but
an optimized and patented set of technologies, consolidated in the western world until the
Second World War and then perfected in the light of modern industrial chemistry. These
technologies, of which pyrolysis and gasification are only the most important ones exploited
in the Arnèsis process, were abandoned following the change-over from wood/coal to oil.
The main characteristic behind the Arnèsis process is a different approach towards the
problem of solid urban waste treatment: a process no longer addressed to the destruction of
waste by the production of heat (which, from a thermodynamic viewpoint, is the most de-
graded form of energy), but one aiming at obtaining raw materials for the basic chemical in-
dustry, in which energy is stored, in the form of chemical energy, in valuable compounds
yielded by the process itself. In other words, through the Arnèsis process, solid urban waste
becomes an alternative and renewable source of carbon and hydrogen.
If we consider the chemical industry over the last two centuries, we see that the only
sources of carbon and hydrogen until the Second World War were wood and coal. There-
after oil was used and, from the 1980s onwards, after the Middle East crises of the 1960s
and 1970s had led the chemical industry to differentiate its sources of supply, natural gas
was also exploited.
The Arnèsis process of pyrolysis, gasification and inertization, aiming at producing raw
materials, technologically flanks not the traditional processes of thermodestruction of
waste, but processes aiming at obtaining raw materials for the chemical industry. With the
Arnèsis process, these raw materials, instead of non-renewable fossil fuels like coal, oil and
natural gas, come from a source which is renewable, independent of international markets,
and inexhaustible: waste.
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Briefly, the Arnèsis process consists of the total thermochemical conversion of solid
urban waste into basic chemical products, without the contemporary production of any sol-
id, liquid or gaseous residues, harmful or innocuous, which must in turn be eliminated. No
polychlorodioxins and/or chemically similar and in any case polluting products are formed.
The products yielded by Arnèsis have the highest commercial value of all products of
pyrolysis and gasification until now resulting from similar processes, mainly carbon with
high contents of ash, liquid RDF and low-calorie gases.
The Arnèsis process takes place by means of progressive pyrolysis in rigorously con-
trolled conditions. Carbon residues are gasified by a stream of oxygen, carbon dioxide and
water vapour, with the production of hydrogen and carbon monoxide, together with a quant-
ity of heat sufficient to sustain pyrolysis reactions.
These gases, produced by gasification, permeate the mass of waste in pyrolysis, supply
heat, and create the necessary reducing environment in one or more thermodynamic sec-
tions, physically interconnected, which make up the reactor.
From the operational viewpoint, the waste is suitably pre-treated, glass and metal being
removed, sorted for size, and dried. Then the waste is progressively heated from environ-
mental temperature to about 700°C. The residual carbon mass is then gasified at between
700 and 1,100°C.
Heavy metals and halogenated compounds are blocked during the process by the joint
action of heat and inertizing substances added to the waste.
The main products of the conversion process leave the reactor in the form of gas and va-
pours, and may be condensed and fractionated, according to need, into pure chemical
products (e.g., acetic acid, carbon dioxide) or mixtures (e.g., tarry oils, pyroligneous acid, or
synthetic gases).
The resulting products may be directly marketed or used for further working.
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Arnèsis® plant
The plant is composed of three sections:
• pretreatment
• Arnèsis reactor
• post-treatment
Pre tr e atm e nt
• grinding;
• drying;
• removal of glass (not necessary with waste coming from differentiated collection);
• removal of metals (not necessary with waste coming from differentiated collection).
The thermal and electrical energy needed to work the pre-treatment equipment may be
supplied, entirely or partially, by the Arnèsis reactor and the gases produced. These are in
any case already well-known and consolidated technologies.
Ar nè s is Re a c t o r
The Arnèsis reactor is a cylinder, sized in proportion to the daily quantity of waste to be
treated.
Pretreated waste is loaded into the top of the reactor by a screw feeder.
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Inside the reactor, the waste begins its passage towards the bottom of the reactor itself,
encountering steadily increasing temperatures ranging from about 150°C to about 1,100°C.
Towards the bottom, it is reduced to a carbon mass, and meets a flow of oxygen, water va-
pour and carbon dioxide.
Pyrolysis occurs as far as the zone at about 700°C, and produces gases, liquids and
waxes.
Gasification occurs at between about 700°C and 1,100°C, and it is in this phase that
most of the gases are produced to yield mineral solids.
Inertization occurs throughout the temperature range of the reactor, and transforms pol-
luting substances into harmless products; inorganic pollutants (heavy metals) in the mineral
solids, now rendered harmless. Inertization may require the addition to the waste, after
grinding, of small quantities of easily obtained and inexpensive substances.
The temperature at the bottom of the reactor (about 1,100°C) is ensured by the exo-
thermic reactions of gasification.
Carbon dioxide is produced in the top part of the Arnèsis reactor and partly re-injected
into the lower part.
Water vapour is obtained thanks to residual heat deriving from heat recovery.
Oxygen is obtained from the air by means of traditional fractionation or adsorption plant
installed in the same area.
The reactor is equipped with condensation plant (formed of a series of condensers and
heat exchangers) required for the recovery and initial separation of products resulting from
the process.
Pos t-tre a t m e nt
The raw materials leaving the condensation section must be initially fractionated or pur-
ified before use. In some cases, this treatment is preferably carried out directly on site (e.g.,
gases, difficult to transport); in other cases, they can be worked elsewhere.
Briefly, it is recommended that the following working phases be carried out at the
Arnèsis plant:
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Mixtures of gases: the following phases of separation and storage are required:
● carbon dioxide, of which part is re-used in the process;
● hydrogen (if produced);
● mixture of hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide (hydrogen, if produced); this mixture
(high heat value: with hydrogen, 5,270÷5,990 Kcal/Nm3; without hydrogen,
5,670÷6,710 Kcal/Nm3) is sent to the electricity generating plant.
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• The maximum processing temperature does not exceed 1,100°C, thus allowing the
use of long-lasting and relatively inexpensive refractory materials.
• Waste is entirely converted into basic chemical products, for sale on the market;
• There are no polluting emissions of any kind, neither polluting, neither harmless,
and the carbon residue is completely converted into gas.
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- Gases 70÷80 %
- Acetic solution 9÷16 %
- Waxes 8.5÷9 %
- Ash 4÷7 %
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• Acetic solution: refining for production of acetic acid and other chemicals, with
membranes technologies, or directly uses how acidifing agent in industrial pro-
cesses, or for pickling of metals, or production of water-soluble paints.
• Waxes: refining for production of chemicals, how ftalic acid, artificial waxes, and
so on. Directly it can used in formulation of bitumen, as a plastifier.
• Gas: use in Fischer-Tropsh synthesis, hydrogen separation and production, ammo-
nia synthesis, methanation, and so on. With the possibility, naturally, of production
of electricity. Very interesting is possibility of carbon dioxide recovery for industri-
al uses.
• Ash: Arnèsis ash may be used either as they are or after suitable treatment, as inert
substances; previous washing to get further chlorides and sulphates in the formula-
tion of cement conglomerates; or – even more interestingly – as raw materials for
cement manufacture, according to the latest technological developments.
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Gaseous mixture
As may be seen, the Arnèsis reactor is flexible: it can be calibrated according to in-
creased production of certain gases instead of others2. The same applies to other products.
1
A variable quantity of carbon dioxide (maximum 95 Nm3/t of pre-treated transformed waste) is re-used in the process.
2
For example, in the case of carbon dioxide, calibration ranges from a minimum production of 9% to a maximum of 30%, again with
respect to the total quantity of gases produced (890-1,110 Nm 3/t of pre-treated transformed waste). In this case, the range mainly in-
volves carbon monoxide.
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Acetic solution
Acetic acid ≤ 7.5 %
Furfurol ≤5%
Methanol ≤ 2.8 %
Phenol 2÷7 %
Acetone <1%
Furans Present
Phenols and polyphenols Present
Alkylbenzenes Present
Formic acid Present
Propionic acid Present
Ethanol Present
Heavy hydrocarbons Traces
Water to 100 %
As may be seen, this mixture is very unlike the classic “pyroligneous acid” resulting
from pyrolysis of wood.
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Waxes
• Aliphatic hydrocarbons;
• Esters of phthalic acid (minimum 5÷15%)
Concentration range 1÷10%:
• Naphthalene (abundant);
• Anthracene;
• Phenantrene;
• Cycloparaffin and derivates (alkylcyclopentanes and alkylcyclohexanes);
• Alkylnaphthalene;
• Alkylbenzenes.
Concentration range < 1 %:
• Phenol;
• Cresols.
Occasional appearance in concentration range 0÷10%:
This mixture is a dark brown to blackish waxy mass, with red reflections, with a melting
point of 100÷110°C.
Both its aspect and chemical analyses have shown that the word “tars” cannot be applied
to this mixture, which is very similar to a mineral wax.
Of note is the very low occurrence of oxygenated compounds and double bonds, mainly
at the ends of the hydrocarbon chains.
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Ash
These white or pale powders, with no traces or organic substances or carbon, are com-
posed of:
• Silicates;
• Inorganic oxides;
• Alkaline alides;
• Chlorides and sulfates: traces.
They are introduced in the form of white or clear color dusts, loose, deprived of
whatever trace of organic substance or carbon.
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onment with respect to other pyrolysis processes, and in the presence of inertizing sub-
stances, conditions favourable to the formation of polychlorodioxins and other aromatic
chlorine derivates do not arise. Halogens, such as chlorine, in the Arnèsis environment tend
to develop in the form of hydrochloric acid and, in the presence of inertizing substances,
form salts such as sodium chloride. Heavy metals are rendered inert as silicates. The process
concludes when the hot calcined residues come into contact with a flow of pure oxygen,
which completely and rapidly transforms carbon and residual organic compounds into car-
bon dioxide.
All the reactions of pyrolysis, gasification and inertization, including combustion and
pre-heating, take place in the same environment.
This process is followed by post-treatment, primary or complete, which refines one or
more of the products resulting from the Arnèsis process.
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Arnèsis® plant
Plant potential
The minimum potential of the Arnèsis plant is linked to its low running costs, its break-
even point, i.e., the minimum threshold value under which plant running would not be eco-
nomical. This threshold is estimated at a potential of about 150 t/day.
The considerations made above, and assessments based on waste cycle management in
the territory in question, identify the mean optimal potential of a Arnèsis plant at 200÷250 t/
day of waste.
The maximum potential of a Arnèsis plant (fluidized bed) is about 1,000 t/day.
The best use of a Arnèsis plant is for production of chemicals, width refinement of
waxes and acetic solution, and conversion of gases in hydrocarbons and alcools (width Fisc-
her-Tropsh syntesis), so much as chemicals, how much as biofuels of second generation.
Plant with a potential of 200 t/day:
3
Theoretical upper limit.
4
Theoretical upper limit, as for carbon dioxide.
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As already mentioned, the Arnèsis plant is flexible, i.e., it can be calibrated according to
the need for increased production of certain gases rather than others.
By varying process conditions, e.g., working at a maximum temperature of 700°C (in-
stead of 1,100°C), combustible gases with high thermal potential and, consequently, electri-
city, can be produced in large quantities.
Composition of gases:
These results refer to the employment of cogenerators of Italian production of series and
of contained power. You give the powers in game it results however more opportune to use
groups of great power.
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Prefeasibility studies
Montevenda Engineering International Association can carry out prefeasibility studies
of Arnèsis plants, showing essential data and guide-lines for proposed solutions.
Feasibility studies
A feasibility study is the first phase of overall planning of a Arnèsis plant. Within the
standard precision limits of this phase, such a study indicates:
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Plant costs
The costs of a Arnèsis plant may vary greatly, due to the following factors:
• Plant potential: the best cost/benefit ratio is reached when the plant works at a rate of
200÷250 t/day.
• Plant siting: the greater or lesser expense involved in siting the plant is due to soil
characteristics and thus to the necessary type of foundations, and to transport costs of
waste and products. It refers to a centrally located site with respect to urban waste
collection points and the industrial areas of working and/or use of resulting products.
• Type of waste: the degree of differentiation of waste collection in the area in question
affects the greater or lesser expense for the pre-treatment plant, but does not signific-
antly influence the cost of the Arnèsis reactor and connected services.
Running costs
Two main items are involved here:
Maintenance costs
Plant maintenance costs, referring to spare parts necessary for the ordinary maintenance
of a normal chemical plant, are 5÷10% annually of the initial invested capital (the mainte-
nance costs of a chemical plant are unlike those of other types of plant and, in some cases,
may reach 20% of the invested capital).
Naturally, these costs are highest at the beginning and end of the life of the plant and
minimal at the end of its running-in period (about one year).
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Input/Output
Mean quantities
Pretreated urban wast 200 t/day
Oxygen 50,000 Nm3/day
Carbon dioxide 15,000 Nm3/day
Water vapour 16 t/day
Mean quantities
Carbon dioxide 45,000 Nm3/day
Other gases 175,000 Nm3/day
Acetic solution 24 t/day
Waxes 18 t/day
Ash 10 t/day
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