Method and apparatus for treating human remains

Abstract

A process for treating a human remains comprises the steps of subjecting the remains to pyrolysis in a pyrolysis chamber under conditions that convert the particulate material to biochar remains.

1 . A process for treating human remains comprising the steps of subjecting the remains to a pyrolysis in a pyrolysis chamber under conditions that convert the remains to biochar remains. 
     
     
         2 . The process of  claim 1  comprising a further step of oxidation of the biochar subsequent to the pyrolysis step. 
     
     
         3 . The process of  claim 1  in which the remains are dried prior to pyrolysis. 
     
     
         4 . The process of  claim 3  in which the remains are dried to have a water content of about 6-12% (w/w). 
     
     
         5 . The process of  claim 3  in which the remains are dried to have a water content of about 8% (w/w). 
     
     
         6 . The process of  claim 1  in which the remains are fragmented prior to pyrolysis. 
     
     
         7 . The process as claimed in of  claim 6  in which the remains are chilled prior to fragmentation by subjecting the remains, ideally the intact remains, to a cryogenic environment to reduce the temperature of the remains to a core temperature of −20° C. or below. 
     
     
         8 . The process of  claim 1  comprising the steps of:
 subjecting the remains to a cryogenic treatment to reduce the core temperature of the remains to a temperature of −20° C. or below; 
 subjecting the frozen remains to a fragmentation step to provide a chilled fragmented material; 
 drying the chilled fragmented material from the particulate to reduce the water content and 
 subjecting the partially dried fragmented material to pyrolysis in a pyrolysis chamber under conditions that convert the particulate material to biochar remains, whilst releasing the latent chemical energy within the remains. 
 
     
     
         9 . The process of  claim 8  in which the step of pyrolysis generates combustible gases which are removed from the pyrolysis chamber and re-cycled to power the pyrolysis and/or evaporation steps. 
     
     
         10 . The process of  claim 1  including a further step of removing mercury from flue gases produced in the pyrolysis step, optionally by means of a gaseous cleaning process. 
     
     
         11 . The process of  claim 3  in which the drying step reduces the water content of the remains to 1-20% (w/w). 
     
     
         12 . The process of  claim 3  in which the drying step reduces the water content of the remains to 5-10% (w/w). 
     
     
         13 . The process of  claim 1  in which pyrolysis is carried out at a temperature of at least 800° C. 
     
     
         14 . The process of  claim 1  in which the pyrolysis step comprises an anhydrous pyrolysis step, or a hydrous pyrolysis step, or both anhydrous and hydrous pyrolysis steps. 
     
     
         15 . The process of  claim 14  in which the pyrolysis step is carried out in two stages, a first hydrous stage where the partially de-watered particulate matter is heated in the absence of oxygen and presence of water to generate a fully de-watered particulate matter, and a second anhydrous stage where the fully de-watered particulate matter is heated in the absence of oxygen and water. 
     
     
         16 . The process of  claim 1  including a further step of depositing the biochar remains in a container which may be sealed against ambient air. 
     
     
         17 . The process of  claim 1 , wherein flue gases expelled from the pyrolysis chamber are sprayed with an aqueous liquid, typically water, to condense the mercury or other metals for recovery. 
     
     
         18 - 56 . (canceled)