TORWASH® TECHNOLOGY
Image provided by TNO
In the F-CUBED process, the hydrothermal treatment is executed via TORWASH® reactor technology.
This is a patented TNO wet biomass treatment (WO2013162355).
TORWASH® is a high temperature treatment of wet biomass streams.
This treatment:
(1) enables efficient mechanical dewatering of the biomass,
(2) enables efficient removal of salts,
(3) allows for sufficient biogas production from the effluent because of the mild conditions used,
(4) facilitates the recovery of phosphorus and (5) makes the use of additives redundant.
Basically consists of a reactor vessel in which chemical reactions are performed by means of high pressure and temperature, without additives, after which the water content can be pressed out of the biomass, and the salt is removed. No evaporation process is required. This technique present significant advantages than other existing ones, such as centrifugation and decantation.
The result is a largely dry substance suitable for making fuel pellets, and the aqueous material can be efficiently fermented into biogas.
TORWASH® has an enormous potential on different industrial applications in the fields of water treatment, energy, agriculture and farming amongst others.