US-12617674-B2 - Pyrolysis and combustion control in pyrolysis reactors, and associated systems and methods

Abstract

A pyrolysis system for conducting a hydrocarbon pyrolysis reaction and related systems and methods are disclosed herein. In some embodiments, the pyrolysis system includes a combustion component, a reaction chamber thermally coupled to the combustion component, and a recycling component fluidly coupled to an output of the reaction chamber. The reaction chamber can be couplable to a supply of pyrolysis feedstock. The thermal coupling allows the reaction chamber to transfer heat from the combustion component to the pyrolysis feedstock to generate a product stream that includes hydrogen gas and solid carbon. The recycling component receives the product stream and can direct a portion of the product stream into the combustion component. In some embodiments, the pyrolysis system includes a controller configured to adjust various operational parameters of the pyrolysis system based on various goals for combustion fuel consumption, hydrogen gas output, energy consumption, reactor efficiency, and/or the like.

Inventors

• Max Nathan Mankin
• Mahdi MAHDI
• Patrick D. Noble
• Peter Jeremy Scherpelz
• Raghul Manosh Kumar
• Daniel Kraemer
• Vikram Seshadri

Assignees

• MODERN HYDROGEN, INC.

Dates

Publication Date

20260505

Application Date

20241024

Claims (15)

1. 1 . A pyrolysis system, comprising: a combustion component; a reaction chamber couplable to a supply of pyrolysis feedstock, wherein the reaction chamber is thermally coupled to the combustion component such that the reaction chamber transfers heat from the combustion component to the pyrolysis feedstock to generate a product stream that includes hydrogen gas and solid carbon; and a recycling component fluidly coupled to an output of the reaction chamber such that the recycling component directs a portion of the hydrogen gas from the product stream into an input channel fluidly coupled to the combustion component, wherein the recycling component comprises: a carbon separator; a byproduct separator downstream from the carbon separator, wherein the byproduct separator is configured to send a partially purified gas product to the reaction chamber and/or the combustion component; and a gas separator downstream from the byproduct separator, wherein the gas separator includes a first output fluidly couplable to a hydrogen output channel and a second output fluidly coupled to the combustion component via the input channel.
2. 2 . The pyrolysis system of claim 1 wherein the product stream further includes byproducts from a pyrolysis reaction, and wherein the recycling component directs at least a portion of the byproducts from the product stream into the input channel toward the combustion component.
3. 3 . The pyrolysis system of claim 1 , further comprising: a valve fluidly coupled to the input channel such that the valve controls a volume of the hydrogen gas flowing through the input channel and into the combustion component; and a controller operably coupled to the valve such that the controller sets a position of the valve to adjust the volume of the hydrogen gas flowing through the input channel and into the combustion component.
4. 4 . The pyrolysis system of claim 1 , further comprising a heating element thermally coupled to one of: the product stream between the reaction chamber and the recycling component; an input channel for the pyrolysis feedstock upstream from the reaction chamber; an input channel for a combustion fuel upstream from the combustion component; or the reaction chamber.
5. 5 . The pyrolysis system of claim 1 wherein the input channel is a first input channel, wherein the product stream further includes byproducts from a pyrolysis reaction, and wherein the recycling component directs at least a portion of the byproducts from the product stream into a second input channel fluidly coupled to the reaction chamber.
6. 6 . The pyrolysis system of claim 1 , further comprising a carbon dioxide sequestration component fluidly coupled to an output of the combustion component.
7. 7 . The pyrolysis system of claim 1 , wherein the reaction chamber is configured to direct a portion of the product stream from the reaction chamber to the input channel fluidly coupled to the combustion component and/or a second input channel fluidly coupled to the reaction chamber.
8. 8 . The pyrolysis system of claim 1 , wherein: the recycling component comprises a hydrogen conditioning system; and the hydrogen conditioning system is configured to: separate at least a portion of the byproducts from the product stream; and direct at least a portion of the separated byproducts to an input stream for the reaction chamber.
9. 9 . The pyrolysis system of claim 3 , further comprising a plurality of sensors operably coupled to the recycling component and the controller such that the plurality of sensors obtain measurements of output parameters related to the product stream and provide the measurements to the controller, and wherein the controller is configured to: receive the measurements; determine one or more adjustments to operating parameters of the combustion component; and update a position of the valve based on the one or more adjustments to the operating parameters of the combustion component.
10. 10 . The pyrolysis system of claim 3 , wherein: the controller is configured to balance an amount of hydrogen gas recycled back into the reaction chamber and the combustion component to satisfy one or more targets, the one or more targets comprising at least one of a hydrogen production rate target, a hydrogen gas purity target, a GHG emission target, and a total production rate target.
11. 11 . The pyrolysis system of claim 1 , wherein: the carbon separator is configured to remove the solid carbon from the product stream; and the carbon separator comprises a third output couplable to the reaction chamber such that at least a portion of the removed solid carbon is directed from the third output to the reaction chamber.
12. 12 . The pyrolysis system of claim 1 , wherein: the byproduct separator is configured to remove byproducts from the product stream; the byproduct separator comprises a third output couplable to the combustion component and a fourth output couplable to the reaction chamber such that at least a portion of the removed byproducts is directed from the third output to the combustion component and/or from the fourth output to the reaction chamber.
13. 13 . The pyrolysis system of claim 1 , wherein: the gas separator is configured to separate filtered byproducts and filtered gas product.
14. 14 . The pyrolysis system of claim 13 , wherein: the gas separator further comprises a third output fluidly coupled to the reaction chamber; and the gas separator is configured to direct at least a portion of the filtered byproducts from the third output to the reaction chamber and/or from the second output to the combustion component.
15. 15 . The pyrolysis system of claim 13 , wherein the gas separator is configured to redirect at least a portion of the filtered gas product to the reaction chamber and/or the combustion component.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S) This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/592,904 filed Oct. 24, 2023, the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference. TECHNICAL FIELD The present technology is directed generally to pyrolysis reactors, and more specifically to combustion-powered pyrolysis reactors and associated systems and methods. BACKGROUND Pyrolysis reactors are used to produce various types of compounds, such as phenolic compounds, biochar, and hydrogen gas, and can convert environmentally unfriendly fuels into usable chemical feedstocks and clean-burning hydrogen fuel. Pyrolysis reactors heat hydrocarbon reactants or other feedstock materials in a low-oxygen or oxygen-free environment to enable a pyrolysis reaction. A pyrolysis reactor used to produce hydrogen gas as a target output can often produce additional byproducts, such as hydrocarbon byproducts, solid carbon particles, carbon dioxide, etc. The proper disposal or additional processing of these byproducts can be important for the long-term viability of pyrolysis reactor operations. SUMMARY Embodiments of the present technology include pyrolysis reactors configured to heat feedstock components to decompose them into one or more target materials, such as hydrogen gas, ethylene, or other materials usable as fuel or feedstock for downstream operations. For example, pyrolysis reactors can decompose the hydrocarbon components in natural gas, such as methane and ethane, to generate hydrogen gas and carbon particulate, where the hydrogen gas and/or the carbon particulate can be target outputs of the pyrolysis reactor. In some embodiments, changing the way a pyrolysis reactor operates can change the composition of the pyrolysis reactor outputs or the efficiency of pyrolysis reactor operations. Embodiments of the present technology can vary in the types of inputs (e.g., compositions, gases, fluids, etc.) they are designed to receive, types of target outputs and target output distributions they to produce, and types of operations they are capable of performing. In many cases, the difference between a successful or failed set of pyrolysis reactor operations will depend on the successful integration of the various components of the physical reactor into an efficient, cohesive system. This system can be able to achieve necessary performance targets by optimizing heat distribution in a pyrolysis reactor, recycling heat in a system, reducing the amount of undesirable byproducts produced by the reactor, and processing different fuel systems. Pyrolysis reactor features capable of achieving such goals can provide a more environmentally friendly reactor. Embodiments of the present technology can form an engineered combustion zone to produce heat. For example, a reactor system can include a burner having an end in a combustion chamber. The burner can include a first set of channels for oxygen-containing fluids (e.g., air, a specialized oxygen-rich environment, etc.) and a second set of channels for fuel fluids (e.g., methane, ethane, mixed gases, liquid fuels, etc.). The burner can be formed such that one or more injection orifices of the burner direct flame production in a radially distributed shape, which can create a corresponding radially distributed combustion zone that permits fast redistribution of heat produced at the combustion zone across an axial direction throughout the combustion chamber. This redistribution can provide a more uniform heat distribution from the combustion chamber to a pyrolysis chamber (or another type of reaction chamber), which can increase hydrogen production and reduce undesirable greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In some embodiments, a system can effectively allocate the produced heat to pyrolysis chambers by using concentric tubular chambers that are operated in a counter-current manner. In some embodiments, efficient heat transfer is performed under laminar flow conditions to maximize the size of an ideal reaction zone for pyrolysis. Furthermore, operating a reactor under a laminar flow regime can create a more controllable flow with respect to fuel consumption or other controllable parameters of a pyrolysis reactor and reduce reactor susceptibility to carbon deposit fouling. In some embodiments, a system can effectively make use of chemical byproducts for additional combustion, and for effectively preserving radiant heat. While pyrolysis reactor operations can produce various types of byproducts in addition to any target, plant configuration can provide a way of recycling these byproducts that can enhance the efficiency of the pyrolysis reactor. The efficiency of recycling operations in a pyrolysis reactor can play an important role in the viable environmental sustainability of the pyrolysis reactor. Furthermore, the physical complexity of some reactor embodiments can correspond with an integrated approach to adjusting different reactor parameters. Features of some reactor embodim