WHAT IS THE EDEN ENERGY PROCESS? PART 2: THE PROCESS FLOW.

In our first post, we explained the key component that separates the Eden Energy Process (EEP) from all other waste disposal methods. Now, we will dive into The Process Flow.

Again, the question we receive every time we speak of the tech is HOW DOES IT WORK!? Well to answer that question we need to look at Mother Earth, and how she deals with naturally occurring carbon waste. Carbon waste is created by the natural cycles of everything on the planet. The earth processes these naturally occurring carbon materials into natural and reusable elements to rejuvenate the biosphere in a continuous process utilizing Heat, Pressure, and Time. The carbon materials are converted into a liquid, gaseous, or solid form which are often called Hydrocarbon fuels (crude oil, natural gas, coal, etc.) that we use to power our industrial age and way of life (80%+ of all global energy comes from hydrocarbons). Hydrocarbons are mined from below the surface of the earth and in doing so we pull entrapped carbon out of the ground and release it into the environment through combustion, typically in the form of carbon dioxide (which isn’t destroying our world - but that’s a discussion for another day).

Now that we reviewed how Mother Earth deals with carbon, we need to look at how she deals with man-made carbon and carbon emissions. We, humans, produce billions of tons of carbon-based products every year using the carbon elements the earth provides. We refine fuels to run our vehicles and machinery, generate our electricity, produce products to store and protect our foods (plastics), and the list goes on. Mother Nature is not suited to deal with the solid carbon wastes produced by human actions, so we try to dispose of them utilizing landfills, incineration, and other forms of technology, typically with harmful results. Some of these issues posed by waste carbon are the pollution of our oceans, our lands, and even the creatures inhabiting the world (microplastics) - including us. 

So back to why you’re here… What is the EEP!? Simply put, the Eden Energy Process is a series of well-known and established industrial process steps, put into the right sequence with the right parameters to simulate the Earth's natural process of Heat, Pressure, and Time - now that I’m reading it - that wasn’t so simple… The EEP imitates these principles but improves upon them. The EEP is configured in a fashion that unlocks the ability of these industrial processes to restructure the carbon waste back into regenerative or renewable carbon compounds. As mentioned the EEP consists of 8 stages which are Raw Material Prep, Thermal Depolymerization, Hydrolysis, Physical Separation, Thermal Cracking, Concentration, Polishing, and Power Generation. All of our steps are necessary components giving the EEP its immensely high energy efficiency (third-party validated over 90%) that far exceeds industry standards. Below I will break down these steps - what happens in each stage, and the purpose for that stage in our process. 

EEP PROCESS STEPS

1 - RAW MATERIAL PREP

In this stage, all the carbon-based materials are put through a grinder for proper particle size reduction. By decreasing the particle size, this stage increases the contact surface area of the feedstock to be processed and allows for simple process flows and lower energy usage. If non-carbon-based compounds, such as rocks, metal, or glass, get by our preprocessing system, Thermal Depolymerization and Hydrolysis have mechanisms built into their systems to remove these compounds.

2 - THERMAL DEPOLYMERIZATION (Depol)

In this stage, all the carbon-based wastes are mixed together and put in a wet, moderate-temperature, and low-pressure environment to start the breakdown of the carbon bonds and facilitate the unfolding of proteins. The inorganic materials are removed (rocks, glass, etc.) from the process via a blowdown which removes them from the reaction, and the remaining materials are sent to the next stage. The key to the success of this stage is the environment they are exposed to; wet, moderate temperatures, and low pressure.

3 - HYDROLYSIS

In this stage, the carbon-based materials are exposed to a higher temperature and pressure environment than Depol. Here, the further breakdown of the carbon bonds resumes and significant other reactions occur - such as metals being oxidized, making them water soluble, safe, and non-leachable - this means compounds like mercury and lead can be safely removed from the waste and process. Speaking of mercury, this metal produces an interesting reaction; when it is oxidized in our system it converts into its more environmentally friendly substrate called cinnabar. Also, the materials become hydrophobic, meaning they repel water - which is crucial in the next phase of physical separations. Pathogens such as viruses and bacteria are destroyed - in fact an earlier, less advanced version of the process flow is the only technology to ever receive 100% pathogen destruction from the NYS Dept of Health, due to Hydrolysis. Meanwhile, the broken-down carbon-based materials are fully converted into a hydrophobic organic phase consisting of solids and liquids. During the breakdown of the carbon-based materials in the depolymerization and hydrolysis reactors, non-condensable gases (NCG) are formed. These NCGs are released from the Depol and Hydrolysis reactors into an air treatment system that captures and binds up a large portion and limits the amount of NCG gases released back into the environment.

4 - PHYSICAL SEPARATIONS

In this stage, physical separation techniques are used to separate the different phases from one another. The first form of separation is flashing the material over from high pressure to low pressure. By dropping the pressure rapidly, a portion of the water flashes into a vapor and is directed to cooling water exchangers. It will then be recondensed and captured to be further processed in the concentration stage, or it can be redirected and reused as heating energy in the front end of the process. Flashing also is another component which helps further break carbon bonds creating smaller chains which create better and lighter fuels. 

The second form of separation is mechanical. Mechanical separation uses density and gravitational forces to separate materials of differing densities from one another. The process mixture is run through a high-speed liquid/solid centrifuge where the liquid phases and the solids phase are separated. The solids phase is separated for further processing in the next phase - Thermal Cracking. The remaining liquids phase consists of two parts, the nutrient-rich process water, and the organic liquids phase. This mixture is run through a high-speed liquid/liquid centrifuge to separate them, and are sent to their respective following stages. The organic phase is captured and sent to the Thermal Cracking stage while the water phase is captured and sent to the Concentration stage.

5 - THERMAL CRACKING

In this stage, the organic phases from the physical separation stage are subjected to moderate pressure and high temperature. This causes the long-chain carbon bonds to shear into smaller chained hydrocarbons from a C1 up to C20 (Methane to E-icosane). These fuels remain consistent in their composition whether you are processing food waste, plastic waste, human and animal waste,  etc. (all carbon waste) separately or in a mixed stream. The hydrocarbons are removed as a vapor and sent through a cooling exchanger. The C1 through C4 hydrocarbons (Methane, Ethane, Propane, and Butane) do not condense in the exchanger and remain in a gaseous form of Regenerative Natural Gas (RNG). They are directed to a gas compression system to be utilized in the system power generation stage (steam and power generation). The C5 through C20 hydrocarbons (Pentane through Eicosane) are condensed back into liquid form and sent to the polishing stage in the form of Regenerative Fuel Oil (RFO). These hydrocarbon chains can either be used as is (in its crude form) in the power generation stage or be sent through a fractionation system to be separated into their respective hydrocarbon fuel forms (LPG, Gasoline, Kerosene, Diesel, etc.) for use in any hydrocarbon powered system or hydrocarbon-based processes as a direct carbon-neutral replacement. The remaining large carbon chains exit the Cracker in a solid form known as Biochar. Unlike the fuels which remain consistent no matter what the raw material is, the biochar does change in composition. Although the composition changes, the biochar is always a valuable end product. This biochar can be used as a direct replacement for coal or as a soil remediation product (as mentioned depending on initial feedstock composition).

6- CONCENTRATION

In this stage, the process water is run through a distillation process to drive off and capture a large portion of the water. The effluent water (evaporated phase) can be reused in the process, used for irrigation, released into a gray water (sewer) system, or further processed into potable water utilizing reverse osmosis or similar techniques. The remaining liquid fraction composed primarily of amino acids, micronutrients, non-leachable oxidized metals, and bound natural nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium (depending on feedstock composition) is transferred and stored in tanks. This concentrate is an all-natural, organic, environmentally positive, stable, chemical-free fertilizer. Think of it as the leading available consumer fertilizer on steroids.

7 - POLISHING

In this stage, the RFO is run through a filtration system to remove any large chain hydrocarbon particles (Biochar) that are carried over in the vapor head during the Thermal Cracking stage. Once the RFO has been filtered it is transferred to final storage to be either utilized in the Power Generation stage or to be further processed in a fractionation system as mentioned above.

8 - POWER GENERATION

In this stage, the RFO and RNG are used to run generators to generate the needed power (electricity) used to power the equipment's needs and the needs of whoever is processing the waste. The excess energy (and there likely will be excess) can either be fed back into the power grid or used to power communities or events. 

As you can see above, every stage we utilize serves a distinct and important function, which has allowed us to look at Mother Nature and her system and improve on her process. Each step is critical and the process will falter, and create subpar products, unless all stages and systems are properly implemented. 

Now that we have explained the Process Flow, stay tuned for Part 3: The Products where we will dive deep into our Regenerative Fuel Oil, our Regenerative Natural Gas, our Biochar, Liquid Fertilizer, and Process Water.

The Future will be Green,

The Future will be Pristine,

The Future will be… Powered by Waste!

Jonathan Appel

Founder & CEO