Prometheus designed and constructed a pilot plant capable of achieving the required process conditions and generating the necessary process steam on-site using natural gas. The objective was to define the operating conditions and engineering criteria for an industrial demonstration plant capable of processing 5 metric tons per day of organic waste. 

Taking advantage of the electricity and steam available at the Italiana Coke industrial site, the pilot plant was built in a simplified configuration. Continuous operating tests, reconciled material balances, and thermo-fluid-dynamic simulations provided the technical, economic, and environmental data required for the design of the industrial demonstration plant with a processing capacity of 5 metric tons per day. 

The bubbling fluidized-bed reactor configuration was retained, while the critical issues identified during pilot-scale operation were addressed. 

The reactor, configured as a vertical floating-head heat exchanger and constructed from INCOLOY® 800H and AISI 310S stainless steel, operates at temperatures of up to 800°C, ensuring effective fluidization, efficient heat transfer, and compensation for thermal expansion. 

The plant includes an inerted feed system, a combustion chamber, heat recovery equipment, a cyclone, a char cooling system, a condensation unit, three-phase separation, and syngas compression. 

Char produced from walnut shells can be upgraded into activated carbon, thereby improving the overall economic viability of the process. The syngas, containing NH₃ and H₂S, can be treated using Italiana Coke’s existing gas-cleaning facilities.