Producing coal from waste

Inventor sold his first carbon machine

The Professor of chemical physics and environmental engineering at the Lebanese University, Jamil Rima, demonstrated his newly invented RPC (Rapid Pulse Carbonization) system, which can transform garbage into usable coal carbon.

The machine’s demonstration took place in Ghrifeh, Chouf, yesterday, in the presence of heads of municipalities and hospitals in the region. The machine goes through a process of carbonization of all organic waste, at very high temperature and pressure, and transforms into usable coal. It also produces filtered water that can be used for irrigation. The machine is capable of recycling three and a half tons of garbage per hour. “For 20 hours, the machine can handle 70 tons of garbage per day,” said Christian Cremona, General Manager at iMED, the company in charge of marketing and developing the product’s business and marketing efforts.

The RPC can process all organic household waste, in addition to medical waste. It is targeted at hospitals, ministries, municipalities and other institutions. “In the future, we intend to transform expired medication and slaughterhouse waste,” said Rima.

“The machine is not only a problem solver, it is a profit maker” said Cremona. The company is in the process of carrying out a full feasibility study on the machine’s use by different sectors.

The selling price of the three and a half ton-capacity RPC is around $500,000 dollars, while the one ton-capacity RPC is priced between $300,000 and $400,000. The first three and a half ton-capacity RPC was sold today to an individual in Ain Ebel. “The waste management cost for most municipalities is around $160 per ton, which translates to $16,000 daily,” said Rima. “On the other hand the price of the machine is a one-time cost, which saves money for municipalities,” he said.

The RPC is produced by Rima, with the support of a team of specialists and raw materials provided by suppliers. The new invention was patented and registered at the Ministry of Economy, in 2011.