Atomic Vaporiser and Mass Separator
Take solid residue apart into its elements on sunlight. A direct current arc vaporises the char and ash from the Pyrolysis Reactor at 1,500 to 2,400 degrees Celsius, the atoms are sorted by mass into 3 streams, and each metal condenses out on its own as powder, ingot or bullion.
Vaporise, Sort, Condense
- 1The Arc Vaporises
The tray enters the chamber. A direct current arc, straight from the array, takes the residue to 1,500 to 2,400 degrees Celsius and vaporises the metals, the sodium, magnesium and calcium oxides and about a third of the silica. 697 kilowatt hours a tonne of waste. - 2The Atoms Are Sorted by Mass
The vapour divides into 3 streams by atomic mass: gold, silver, palladium and lead in the heavy stream, iron, copper, tin, nickel and zinc in the middle, aluminium and silicon in the light. - 3The Metals Condense
Each metal in the middle stream condenses as spherical powder at its own temperature, iron first, copper and nickel together, then zinc, then tin, under nitrogen from the Gas Separation Unit. - 4The Rest Is Cast
The heavy stream is cast as bullion. The light stream is cast as aluminium silicon alloy ingot and silicon lump. The sodium, magnesium and calcium leave as a mixed oxide powder.
Specification
| Temperature | 1,500 to 2,400 degrees Celsius at the arc |
| Streams | 3, sorted by atomic mass: heavy, middle and light |
| Intensity | 697 kilowatt hours per tonne of waste |
| Powder grade | Industrial: 50 to 60% in the 15 to 45 micrometre window, 60 to 80% spherical, 500 to 1,000 parts per million oxygen |
| Materials | Off the shelf components |
| Power | Direct current from the array, with zero inverters and no grid connection |
| Duty | Sunlight hours |
| Accepts | Char and inorganic residue from the Pyrolysis Reactor, on the same tray |
Five Cells and the Sun
Resource recovery: 5 Cells in a row with 1.5 megawatts of solar take in 2,675 tonnes a year of residual municipal waste and send out raw materials. Waste arrives by truck, a gate fee is paid to take it, and every atom leaves as a product.
Thermal 425
Pyrolysis Reactor, 425 °C
Takes the waste in, shreds it and pyrolyses it at 425 degrees Celsius into fuel gas, bio-oil and char.
Atomic
Atomic Vaporiser and Mass Separator
Vaporises the char and ash in a direct current arc, sorts the atoms by mass and condenses every element out on its own.
Fluid
Gas Separation Unit
Makes the 99% nitrogen the powder line and the bagging run under, 15 cubic metres an hour.
Thermal 1000
Calcining Kiln, 1,000 °C
Steam activates 17 kilograms of char a tonne into water filter grade activated carbon, 47 tonnes a year.
Power
Sunlight
1.5 megawatts of direct current from the array, 1,971 megawatt hours a year, with no inverters, no grid connection and no fuel to buy.
Every Element, Sorted
A year of residual waste, 2,675 tonnes, leaves the Atomic Cell as metal powders for powder metallurgy and additive manufacturing, cast ingots, bullion for the refiner and slag for the Crushing and Milling Plant.
What It Makes, a Year
- Iron powder
33.4 tonnes at 85% purity - Silicon metal
13 tonnes of lump, for aluminium smelters - Aluminium silicon alloy
6.3 tonnes of ingot - Reactive metal oxide powder
6.4 tonnes of sodium, magnesium and calcium oxides - Copper nickel alloy powder
1.5 tonnes, the 2 metals condense together - Lithium powder
1 tonne, from the batteries in the waste - Zinc and tin powder
935 kilograms of zinc and 454 kilograms of tin at 92% purity - Lead ingot
454 kilograms - Bullion
6.2 kilograms of silver, 375 grams of gold and 51 grams of palladium - Slag
358 tonnes, crushed and screened to aggregate in the Crushing and Milling Plant
Front elevation
