Arrangement and system for feeding biomass material to a treatment process

Abstract

A feeding arrangement for feeding lignocellulosic biomass material such as annual plant material towards a hydrolysis process includes at least one transportation device for transporting the biomass material towards the treatment process; and at least one tearing roll arranged at a predetermined distance from the at least one transportation device and being provided with tearing protrusion. The at least one tearing roll is arranged with a predetermined distance to the at least one transportation device to tear off parts of the transported material to provide a substantially continuous flow of material.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A feeding arrangement for feeding lignocellulosic biomass material towards a hydrolysis or pre-hydrolysis process, the feeding arrangement comprising:
 at least one transportation device for transporting the biomass material towards the hydrolysis or pre-hydrolysis process;   at least one tearing roll arranged at a predetermined distance from the at least one transportation device and being provided with tearing protrusions, the at least one tearing roll being arranged with a predetermined distance to the at least one transportation device to tear off parts of the transported material; and   a housing provided with an upper inlet opening for receiving the biomass material and a lower outlet opening for discharging the biomass material,   wherein the at least one transportation device includes a first and a second revolving drum arranged in the housing, the first drum revolving in a first rotational direction and the second drum revolving in a second rotational direction for transporting the biomass material, wherein the first and second drums are provided with protrusions and wherein the first and second drums are arranged to co-rotate with respect to each other;   wherein the at least one tearing roll is arranged in the housing below the first and second drums seen in a feeding direction of the biomass material, wherein the at least one tearing roll is arranged to tear off parts of the material transported by the first and second drum in order to transport the material to the outlet opening, and   wherein a radius of the tearing roll is smaller than the radius of the first drum and the radius of the second drum.   
     
     
         2 . The feeding arrangement according to  claim 1 , wherein a speed of the transportation device is controlled by a first motor having a variable speed, wherein a rotation of the at least one tearing roll is controlled by a second motor having a variable speed and wherein the speed of the at least one tearing roll is variable independently of the speed of the transportation device. 
     
     
         3 . The feeding arrangement according to  claim 1 , wherein the tearing roll is arranged above the outlet opening of the housing and below a nip between the first drum and the second drum. 
     
     
         4 . The feeding arrangement according to  claim 1 , wherein a rotational speed of the first and second revolving drum are controlled by a first motor having a variable speed, wherein a rotation of the tearing roll is controlled by a second motor having a variable speed and wherein the speed of the tearing roll is variable independently of the rotational speed of the first and second drum. 
     
     
         5 . The feeding arrangement according to  claim 1 , wherein the tearing roll is arranged such that an outer part of the tearing roll is located a first predetermined distance from an outer surface of the first drum and at a second predetermined distance from an outer surface of the second drum. 
     
     
         6 . The feeding arrangement according to  claim 5 , wherein the first predetermined distance is equal to or lower than a radius of the first drum and the second predetermined distance is equal to or lower than a radius of the second drum. 
     
     
         7 . The feeding arrangement according to  claim 5 , wherein the tearing protrusions of the tearing roll are cutting elements. 
     
     
         8 . The feeding arrangement according to  claim 2 , wherein the tearing roll is arranged above the outlet opening of the housing and below a nip between the first drum and the second drum. 
     
     
         9 . The feeding arrangement according to  claim 5 , wherein the first predetermined distance is equal to or lower than half a radius of the first drum and the second predetermined distance is equal to or lower than half a radius of the second drum. 
     
     
         10 . A feeding arrangement for feeding lignocellulosic biomass material towards a hydrolysis or pre-hydrolysis process, the feeding arrangement comprising:
 at least one transportation device for transporting the biomass material towards the hydrolysis or pre-hydrolysis process, wherein the at least one transportation device includes a conveyer belt; and   a first tearing roll arranged at a predetermined distance from the conveyer belt and being provided with tearing protrusions to tear off parts of the biomass material; and   a second tearing roll arranged at a discharge end of the conveyer belt and being provided with tearing protrusions to tear off parts of the biomass material discharged from the conveyer belt to transport the biomass material to the hydrolysis or pre-hydrolysis process downstream the conveyer belt.