METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR CONVERTING WASTE MATERIALS INTO FUELS AND OTHER USEFUL PRODUCTS

Disclosed is a process for producing a liquid hydrocarbon fuel from organic waste materials, comprising: preparing a slurry from the waste materials to form a process stream; accumulating a volume of the process stream in a stirred vessel after said preparing at a temperature of between about 60-70 ºC; heating the process stream to a temperature between about 125-200 ºC at a pressure between about 20-600 psig to decompose solid organic materials and separate organic from inorganic materials; separating solids resulting from said decomposing from the process stream; accumulating a volume of the process stream in an agitated vessel after said separating at a temperature of between about 115-180 ºC and a pressure of between about 15-175 psig; monitoring at least one parameter of the process stream; heating the process stream to a temperature of between about 200-270 ºC at a pressure between about 210-800 psig to hydrolyse the process stream; flashing the process stream to a lower pressure after said hydrolysis to remove steam and non-condensable gases; removing entrained solids from the process stream after flashing; and separating water from the process stream to produce a liquid hydrocarbon fuel. Further disclosed is a system / apparatus for performing said method, and a liquid hydrocarbon fuel produced by the above process is also described.